Author's Note: Things are starting to heat up! The Deception party is here and BLQ is definitely in for a night to remember.

Part 7

She looks so out of place, standing in the middle of her studio apartment in an evening gown. Its bright colors directly contrast the drabbness of her walls (she spots a few places where the paint is cracked and beginning to peel). She wants to laugh but she can't. After all, this is her lot in life. She has brought this on herself and she will be the one to dig herself out of it. She might be a Quartermaine by name, but she has been fighting tooth and nail for her place in life for a very long time now.

Heaven help the person who gets in her way (there are a few bodies littered on the floor already).

Still, she sighs as she smooths a hand over the front of her dress. This is her night. She can feel it. She can't help but wish that she could be enjoying it with her family instead of actively hoping they stay away to avoid a scene. She has no idea what her father will do but she will just have to cross that bridge when she gets to it.

Brook Lynn grabs her clutch from the middle of her bed and heads to the door. She needs to be at the Deception party before the guests start showing up. She is the talent after all. She has a feeling that Lucy will want to do some hand holding positivity circle and she will just have to grin and bear it.

When she opens the door she finds herself face to face with Julian. Her eyes widen with surprise as his roam over her appearance appreciatively. Then she is placing a hand on her hip and frowning. "What are you doing here?"

"I crossed that invisible line, didn't I?" he begins, leaning in the doorway. He takes up the entire space, effectively trapping her in her little hovel. She resists the urge to glance over her shoulder to see the mess he now has a front row seat to. She doesn't want to draw his attention away from her curves (they have always been a good distraction for him).

She nods her head. "You know the rules."

"Your rules. I never agreed to them," Julian points out. He tilts his head slightly and then reaches out to brush his fingers over her cheek. The move is so soft in comparison to the fight that is brewing between them. She is almost disarmed and shakes her head in response. He is not going to make her melt at his feet so he can step over her. This is her space.

"I don't care," she quips. "You're not coming in - and you certainly aren't getting me out of this dress. This is a very important night for me."

"I know," Julian tells her. "Which is why I am here. I wanted to wish you luck. Although, knowing you the way I do, you don't need it. You are going to have them all at your feet."

For the first time she realizes that he is dressed in a suit and tie. Something pools in the pit of her stomach (excitement maybe?). "Are you coming?" She is still trying to work out how she feels about that possibility. She tries to picture herself on the makeshift stage, crooning softly about deception all the while knowing he is watching.

Yes, that is excitement.

Julian nods, letting her soak in that feeling before throwing cold water all over it. "Nelle insists. If she can't be mommy to Wiley, she is going to make sure her face is all over the social scene of Port Charles." He pauses for a moment and something crosses his face.

Brook Lynn takes this opportunity to remind herself that being jealous of Nelle is ridiculous. Julian despises her very existence - and their marriage is the dictionary definition of the word sham. "That's why I am here."

"To warn me that you are bringing your wife to my party?" Brook Lynn asks with a laugh. "Don't worry, I am not the jealous type." Wait, did she just tell a teeny tiny lie?

Julian raises an eyebrow and she feels like he has been inside her head for the past few moments. She does her best to remain passive at the silent accusation. "No and I might question that statement at another time. But I am not here to see if you can turn a lovely shade of green, Brook Lynn," he begins with a smirk that softens into a genuine smile moments later. "I am here to wish you good luck. I won't be able to do that tonight. Not with a shrew dangling me on her arm like I am this season's accessory. I know you really don't need my well wishes - you will blow everyone out of the water. Just as you always do. But I wanted you to hear me say it just the same."

Brook Lynn doesn't quite know how to respond to that. There is something so touching about the gesture and she can't help it. She softens, moving back just enough so he can come into her apartment. He doesn't look around like she has feared. Instead he simply wraps his arms around her and leans down. His mouth covers hers and for a moment she loses herself in him.

Then she remembers that she has carefully applied her lipstick and is nearing the point where she will be late.

She pulls back and makes a face when she notes how his lips are now tainted with a dark shade of red. She makes a quick swipe of her thumb across them. "Best not let your wife see that," she tells him quietly. Then she can't help but add, "And thank you. For coming. For wishing me the best."

She knows all too well that some rules are made to be broken.

X

Brook Lynn had been right on the positivity circle. Sure, they didn't have to hold hands but there had been a rather rousing speech on Lucy's behalf while she, Maxie and Sasha stood in line like dutiful minions.

Now she is tucked away in her makeshift dressing room, applying a fresh coat of one of Deception's signature shades. She dabs at her bottom lip as there is a knock on the door. Although she knows it won't be him, she can't help but ride the high of her intimate moment with Julian. She calls for the person to come in.

And scowls in the mirror when she sees that it is Ned.

She should have known. Her father has no choice but to intrude on this moment. He is a Quartermaine - it is a family trait to dig in your heels and keep going no matter what the opposition does. Like Julian, he is dressed in a suit, meaning he is staying for the night.

"You look…"

She turns and eyes him expectantly as he trails off. The dress is something she has chosen without her father in mind so heaven knows what he will say next.

"...so grownup."

"I am, Dad," she reminds him. She has been for years. The fact that he is saying stuff like this now only points to how much of her life he has missed out on. She refuses to let him get sentimental over it. It is way too late now. "I am a fully functioning adult. Sometimes you tend to forget that. Or just choose to."

Ned's features tighten. He can tell she is on edge (good for him) but still he doesn't turn away completely. "Look, the other day in the park...seeing you with Leo...it made me realize just how badly we have to fix this."

"We?" Brook Lynn laughs, the sound echoing in the same room. "I am not the one who banished the other from your house. From your life."

"But you set things in motion…"

"I may have done what I thought was necessary to free myself from a bad situation but I am not responsible for how you react to it," she shoots back. This is not the vibe she wants for this night. She is meant to be climbing to the top, not sliding back down because her father wants to rehash something when it should have been done awhile ago. The fact of the matter is that this is shaping up to be their longest conversation in weeks. She can't help but be suspect about its timing. "Olivia pushed you to this, huh? Bless her, really. She can't help but be optimistic when it comes to family. But some things you just can't fix. You threw me out and you know what, Dad, I am starting to be grateful for that fact. Maybe I needed to realize once and for all that the Quartermaine family has never truly had my back…"

"Brook Lynn!"

"I am sure you want to argue that fact but I don't want to hear it. I've always had too much of my mother in me or maybe too much of my grandmother in me to be fully appreciated for who I am. You want me to act like a Quartermaine but you have to remember I was barely around. I have no real loyalty to a family that doesn't have loyalty to me," she points out. She is cutting low and she knows it. She also knows that, like her father, she is speaking of a carefully curated version of her history with her family. She figures if Ned can cherry pick which moments to throw in her face then she can do the same in return. "So when you talk about family...or more accurately, a company that is supposed to represent our family I don't feel the same connection to it that you do. And I won't apologize for that. Just like I won't apologize for doing what I had to do to avoid being sexually harassed."

For a moment, Ned is speechless (and wounded). Then he is pulling himself together, inhaling deeply and pushing forward. "I know I have hurt you. Not just that night. But so many times before. I hurt you by not being there enough as you grew up. It would be easy for me to blame it on the state of the relationship between your mother and I but that is no excuse. Or at least not a valid one." He presses his lips together and Brook Lynn wonders for the first time if he is understanding all his transgressions towards her and not just the latest one. "God, Brook Lynn, I am sorry that I let it get to this."

Brook Lynn begins to chew her lip, her body reacting to those words automatically. He is sorry. She knows he is. Despite everything, she knows her father loves her in his own little way. She loves him too (even in the moments where it hurts her to do so). She just doesn't know if it is enough to fix the widening void between them. "I know you are," she tells him because she needs him to know that she believes him. He isn't deliberately cruel. He doesn't set out to hurt her. He just does and she has no idea if they can stop this cycle or if they are bound to it for the foreseeable future. She can feel herself cracking and knows that this is hardly the time to have this conversation. Just dancing around the edges of it is enough to make her crumble. She can't.

Not tonight.

Not when she is finally taking that step back into the spotlight.

"This isn't a good time, Dad," she says, her voice firm even though her eyes suddenly threaten to fill with tears. "I have to finish getting ready." Which now includes retouching her makeup. She has to look flawless. After all, she is selling a product as well as her voice.

"Of course not," Ned agrees and his head falls. She wonders if he has felt it. Like if he had pushed her just a little bit more they would be in the middle of a conversation they have needed to have for decades now. "But it has to happen sometime."

The thought terrifies her. "Maybe."

"In the meantime, I am here to wish you good luck," he says as he begins his retreat. "I have a feeling you won't need it but I am wishing it for you just the same." He gives her a sad smile. "I will be in the crowd watching you."

Despite everything, Brook Lynn finds herself heartened by that thought.