A/N: This is the last bit of the night. I have one or two more parts in mind. Then….free for all. Hope you are all still enjoying my version of events. Not exactly a wish, but darn close.

Snoopy – jealous Patrick makes you so nervous you make me so nervous that I'm missing something! I might not be doing it all justice in this rushed story. but I think you can see where his head is going.

And for all those liking Robin and Nikolas, I have no preference either way I just like to see another man appreciating her as a friend and a woman. And I like Nikolas when he's not with Umily or Courtney (which means I haven't liked him much in years). He might come into play later, depends.

>>>>>>>>
If You're Not the One
>>>>>>>>
'Cause I miss you, body and soul so strong that it takes my breath away
And I breathe you into my heart and pray for the strength to stand today
'Cause I love you, whether it's wrong or right
>>>>>>>

"Can I talk to you?"

Robin looked up at Patrick hovering tensely over her. Her instincts told her to run, but she couldn't find an excuse to refuse him. They were friends and colleagues, after all. But there was that wild card factor and it seemed to be rearing its ugly head in a big way.

"Sure." She looked at Nikolas briefly before she turned away and followed Patrick through the casino and out the doors to the deck. Nikolas just raised his eyebrows and offered her a silent toast.

"Are you cold?" Patrick asked her as he sat down on a deck trunk and Robin rested her arms on the rail and looked out over the water.

"No. What did you want to talk about?" Robin turned her head and looked at him, for once he was at eye level. Then again, he had been that time she kissed him in the hospital. That was when she had aired their private business in public. Not that he minded, she mentally rolled her eyes and dropped her eyes to look somewhere at his chest and away from his piercing eyes.

"You look beautiful," Patrick couldn't help himself from saying as she glowed before him in the moonlight.

"Thank you. You look handsome. Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"No." Patrick shook his head and looked down at his hands, smiling wryly. "Last night was car crash."

"I prefer to think of it as a train wreck." Robin turned and leaned back against the railing. She was curious to hear what he had to say. He had never particularly struck her as a chatty guy.

He chuckled at her input. "Tempers were flaring, emotions were running high and we made some decisions that I feel might have been made in haste. I wasn't prepared to talk when we finally got to share something of a meal together, which by the way doesn't cancel your debt of dinner." He made a disgusted face. "I wanted to take a step back and talk about it again now while calmer heads prevailed."

"What's changed since last night?" Robin's heart starting beating hard and fast in her chest. A hope that she couldn't tamp down was building.

Patrick looked at her silently, thinking seriously about her question, looking at her shining in the moonlight. This was the woman who attracted his attention no matter where they were and who else was in the room. The woman he wanted to do nothing more than reach out and touch when he was supposed to be forgetting about her. This didn't just happen to him. But neither did he ever walk away from getting something that he wanted, easy or not. His hands didn't shake when performing surgery in a black out with a gun pointed at him. Medical school hadn't been easy, building a career in the shadow of his father's flame out hadn't been easy and Robin Scorpio wasn't going to cow him. He knew the value of hard work and had a deep disdain for failure.

"I've never had a long-term relationship. I'm not even sure when I decided that it would be like that or if I did. Maybe it was when my mother died." He shrugged. "Maybe it's just because women have always been…"

"Easy?" Robin interjected.

Patrick shot her a look of surprise and then chuckled. "Available. I admit I never had to try very hard to find a woman to spend time with, have a good time with, have sex with. But my focus has always been on school, then on my career and sometimes on my dad's various attempts at sobriety." At the mention of his father, his face tightened and he ran his hand through his hair nervously. "No one has ever held my attention for long or been a particular challenge. Not until you." He held her gaze with his, willing her to see the truth of his words, to accept them. And to not throw them back in his face as she did the night before.

"What are you saying?" Robin felt so many things she didn't know which feeling took precedence. Hope. Fear. Anxiety. Giddiness. And, surprisingly, a streak of lust. She dug her nails into the palms of her hands.

"I'm saying that maybe our goals aren't all that different."

Robin sighed and looked down. He still wasn't coming right out and saying what he wanted, leaving her a lot of room to interpret and misinterpret. And a lot of wiggle room if she wanted to take it – a quick thanks but no thanks and go back inside and let herself bask in the attentions of Nikolas Cassadine and the other men she had danced with tonight. There'd be, she admitted, a period of longing, but maybe they'd avoid ripping each other to shreds like they had last night. He was a neophyte at this and her own history didn't speak well of her relationship ability. Maybe they'd already done the best they could do?

At the thought, her instincts started screaming. They had the voice of her mother – Devanes do not go quietly, they yelled at her.

"Was this a bad idea?"

Patrick's question interrupted the frantic thoughts in her head and she looked up at him. When she looked at him all she felt was a longing. A longing to feel his attention on her, to see him smile, to savor his kisses, and yes, even engage in the bickering that seemed to be their hallmark. Devanes did not go quietly, but neither did they go easily. A secretive smile curved her lips and she looked him squarely in the eyes.

"I'm not sure what this is, Patrick. Last night we agreed that I'm interested in committed relationships and you're not. Are you saying that you, overnight, have changed?"

"I'm saying that in light of my intense preoccupation with you I'm willing to consider that it's something that I might be interested in."

"Forgive me if I don't swoon." Robin straightened up and prepared to walk away.

"Do you expect me to suddenly propose marriage to you?" Patrick held up his hands.

"You said that yesterday. It was stupid then and it's stupid now." She crossed her arms.

"I'm trying to be honest with you. Would you believe me if I suddenly told you that I can't get my mind off you, that you're all I think about and the only woman who I'm remotely interested in."

Robin froze. That was exactly what she wanted to hear. But would she believe it. Probably not.

What she didn't know was that this was the first completely honest thing Patrick had ever said to her regarding his feelings for her. Though it was swiftly becoming apparent to him that this was the case, that this was true. But neither did Drakes go down without a fight.

"I need to get back inside. I'm cold." Robin's voice was as cool as the spring night air. Her mother would be proud, she thought.

"Wait!" Patrick reached out, but didn't touch her, not wanting to manhandle her. He just desperately didn't want her to leave yet. He had come out here with a clear goal and he wasn't sure where he had so utterly cocked up. He took off his suit jacket and handed it to her.

Robin automatically took the coat, hating that she halted at the sound of panic in his voice and at the feeling of desperate hope it evoked inside her. She hated that she let him churn her up this way, over and over again. She hated that she was helpless to just walk away and that doing so would make her a coward. She had tried that last night and she had failed utterly. But she knew that she couldn't compromise on monogamy. Both because of her HIV status, but also because of her emotional make up.

Then she remember Carly.

She made to hand him back his coat. Frustrated, he stood up and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Could you wait a damn minute! Please."

"Nothing has changed since last night, Patrick. You're friends with Carly and I can't go through that again. I just saw you talking to her!"

"I don't know what 'again' means, but beyond telling you that nothing has ever happened or will ever happen between me and her I don't know what you expect me to do. You have no right to dictate my friends and acquaintances no matter what our relationship is." His words were clipped. No matter how much he wanted her, he wouldn't be controlled.

"You're right. I don't. And the fact that you're friendly and acquainted with her in the way that you are doesn't work for me so we have nothing to talk about." She tried to tear his coat off, but he held it firm, his hands on her shoulders.

"Will you just talk to me! You keep throwing out all these pronouncements and do's and don'ts of Robin Scorpio and you never let me get a word in edgewise. You mess up and you apologize, but you don't give me the same opportunity."

"You've never tried to apologize for anything. I thought that was because you think you're perfect!"

At that Patrick couldn't help the smirk that curved his lips. For the most part that was true. The look caused Robin to utter an oath and try to walk away again. "I'm sorry! There, you happy?" he yelled.

"Sorry for what? Not that it matters." Robin crossed her arms and raised her chin.

"I'm sorry that I made you apologize and air our business in front of Carly, in front of anyone. It was immature and I only did it because I was angry and…very hurt by the things you said."

"I accept your apology."

"But?"

"When Jason and I were together, Jason was sleeping with Carly. He was her nameless boy on the side."

Patrick winced as something Carly had said the night before came back to him.

"Then when she was pregnant with Michael she convinced him to pretend Michael was his son, even though it humiliated me. Then she ran off and left Michael with us because she couldn't handle being a mother. When she came back she…things happened and Jason invited her and Michael to live with us. His first loyalty became Carly and always at my expense."

She looked up and saw that Patrick was listening and gained the strength to continue. "She hated that Jason was with me and she went out of her way to come between us and he let her. When Carly gets a hold of people they never come out of it the same." She thought briefly, sadly of Tony Jones. "Now, she's managed to get her hooks in Jax and he knows what she's like! She destroys people, especially men, and I won't be involved in all that again. No, I can't dictate who anyone is friends with, Patrick, but I can choose not to put myself in that danger zone again."

Patrick was quiet for a long moment and he sat back down. "I would never choose Carly over you. I would never be so disloyal. And if…if it would make you feel better I would no longer associate with her. It's not like we were ever close." Patrick shrugged. Now that he no longer felt he was being strong armed and was given some insight, he was able to choose to do the respectful thing. "And I'm really sorry for making you apologize to me in front of her last night now that I know all that. But it did mean a lot to me that you did. It means a lot more now." It told him just how honorable she was and maybe, just maybe, that she had deeper feelings for him than she had ever let on.

Robin looked away, her lips pursed. What the hell did this all mean, she wondered? He still hadn't said he wanted to even date her, never mind try commitment. She hadn't decided whether she could take that chance. Still, she couldn't walk away.

"Robin," Patrick whispered. He cupped her chin with his strong, surgeon fingers and turned her back to face him. They stood and stared at each other. She let him pull her forward into the circle of his arms. Her eyes dropped to his plump lips, lips that she knew delivered staggering kisses.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Patrick cupped her face and initiated a knee-melting kiss.

Robin's hand came up and grasped his arm, her other held on to his shoulder. After the initial heat, the kiss changed. It gentled, slowed, went on and on. They were drowning in it.

For right now, not caring that nothing had been settled.