Chapter 8

Emily walked down the stairs, dressed in a black turtle neck and faded jeans. Her hair was straight and her face had a nice soft layer of makeup on. She was so frustrated! She had called Nikolas' cell at least 10 times and he still hadn't answered. She left about 5 messages on his machine and he wasn't answering his home phone either. Every time she called one of the maids or servants would tell her that he was busy, he wasn't home, or he wasn't taking any calls. Each time the excuse was different.

She grabbed the phone off of the hook on the wall next to the stairs on her way out and dialed Nikolas' house again. She knew he was there and that he was avoiding her, and she couldn't stand it. She needed answers and she needed them now. Why the hell did he kiss her? Not that she minded. The kiss was incredible, nothing that she had ever experienced before. What was the end result? Nikolas not talking to her. She would have preferred the kiss to have never happened.

Emily was once again greeted by his answering machine. She slumped down onto the sofa waiting for the beep.

Nikolas sat at his desk, staring at the phone like he had been all morning. Emily had called him repeatedly, and each time he couldn't bring himself to pick up the phone. What was he going to do? What had he done? He was afraid that he had ruined the only friendship that he so desperately wanted to hold onto. He just needed to clear his head. He needed time to figure out if he was going to tell Emily the truth and pray that it doesn't ruin their friendship, or lie and make sure their friendship is safe.

Nikolas wasn't sure if he was ready to admit his feelings for her, at least out loud. What if Taylor was right though? What if Emily did have those feelings for him? She did kiss him back. Nikolas snapped his head towards the phone when it started ringing. He looked at the caller Id and it confirmed what he had already figured, it was Emily.

He listened as the machine picked up and wondered if she would leave another message. He had listened to each of her messages at least 5 times.

"Nikolas… Nikolas, please answer the phone. I know you're there." She sighed. "Nikolas, please talk to me." The desperation in her voice tore his heart apart. "Fine, you won't answer the phone, but you can't hide forever. I know where you live, and you have to go to school sometime." Nikolas heard her start to cry and hated himself even more. "Nikolas, I'm sure your answering machine is pretty much out of tape, so I'll stop calling you. If you want to talk to me then you know how to reach me." She sniffed and hung up.

Nikolas felt like scum. He hated making her cry. He had to talk to her. He couldn't sit here, knowing that she was hurting because of him.

Emily slumped down into her couch as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She shouldn't be agonizing over this. It couldn't be that big of a deal. She and Nikolas had had fights before and they always got past it. Of course this wasn't a fight. Nikolas was her best friend. She didn't know what she would do without him, and now that that was a possibility, it scared her to death.

Emily was determined to get him to talk to her. She knew that he was home. Where else would he be? If she knew Nikolas the way she believed she did, then he wouldn't leave the house because there was a good chance that he would run into her, and he was obviously avoiding her.

Emily stood up, determined, grabbed her coat and keys and headed out the door in hopes that she could get Nikolas to talk to her.

Emily hopped off of the launch and made her way to the front door. There were guards posted there, which meant Nikolas more than likely gave orders not to let anyone, especially her, in to see him. Luckily, she knew one of the guards. George, he was a nice old man that she had met many times while she was visiting Nikolas on the island. She knew that he liked her. One day she was talking to him about how grandmother loved old vintage quilts and he had recommended a nice place for them.

She slowly approached him and smiled softly, "Hey George."

"Hello Ms. Quartermaine, how are you today?" He asked politely.

"I'm doing alright, but I really need to see Nikolas."

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Cassadine is not seeing anyone right now."

"Not even me?"

"He gave me direct instructions not to let anyone in right now."

"Listen, George, it's really important that I see him right now. You know that I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." She reasoned, and hoped to god that it worked.

She knew she liked George for a reason. He sighed and moved from the door. He opened and turned away, "I never saw you." He said and smiled at her.

"Thank you George!" She exclaimed before walking inside. The living room was dark which unnerved her. She walked slowly through the room to the back study and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Nikolas leaning back in his chair, staring at the phone.

"Waiting for a call?" She asked softly.

Nikolas' head snapped up at her voice. He sat up straight and stared at her for a few minutes. She was leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed. She looked exhausted and worried. He knew that look all too well. Her eyes were red and puffy, obviously from crying. Tears that he had caused; and he hated himself for it. What was he going to say to her? He had been thinking about this moment for hours but still hadn't come to a decision. Maybe he would let her talk first. He had never been this nervous around her before. Even when he had first met her, he still wasn't this nervous. He stood up slowly, but didn't make any effort to move from his place. "Emily, WH-what are you doing here?" He finally stammered. "How did you get in here?"

Emily stood straight now and uncrossed her arms, "I have my ways." She whispered. She started to walk toward him and he fell back into his chair while trying to back away from her. The closer she came, the more nervous he got.

Emily stopped in the middle of the room when she saw his look. He had never been this agitated in front of her before. She couldn't believe that it had come to this. Why was he acting this way? It wasn't that big of a deal. They just … kissed. No biggie, right? But if he didn't want to talk to her then why was he staring at the phone when she came in. She knew that he wasn't expecting her so he must have thought that she would have kept calling. He clearly underestimated her.

Nikolas couldn't believe the way she got to him. He had never had any problems getting girls before. Although, this wasn't just any girl, this was Emily, The woman that he had been in love with since he had first met her. He had never been nervous around girls, ever. He was always calm, cool and collected. Why was she getting to him like this? It was Emily; they had been friends for years.

After a few minutes of silence, Emily finally asked, "Nikolas, why won't you talk to me?"

It took him a while to answer the question. He just stared at her, his confused emotions evident on his face. "I'm sorry, Em. I-I um… just needed some t-time to clear my head." He stated as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Clear your head?" She laughed slightly. "Clear your head on what, Nikolas? On what you were going to tell me when you saw me again? On how you were going to tell me that we are better off friends and that kiss meant nothing? How you were caught up in the moment and didn't know what you were doing? That you had lost all common sense?"

Nikolas just gaped at her, staying silent. He had no idea where this was going. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out.

She stared angrily at him and she started to yell at him. "Are you going to tell me that things are going to be too weird between us now and tell me that I'm better off without you? That you don't want to see me anymore? That you think it would be in our "best interests" if we aren't friends anymore?" Her eyes filled up with tears as she frantically yelled at him.

When she came over here she was determined to have a civilized conversation with him about what had transpired between them. She was so afraid that she was going to lose her best friend, and she wasn't going to let that happen. Now her emotions and confused feelings about him were clouding her judgment and taking over her self control.

"Not friends anymore? What? Em, what are you talking about?" He asked gently as he finally built up the nerve to stand and walk towards her. He stopped in front of her and her tears worsened. "You're afraid that I don't want to spend time with you anymore because I kissed you?"

"Yes! Okay, I do and I won't let you do it, Nikolas." She exploded. Nikolas couldn't believe what he was seeing. He pulled her into his arms as she sobbed into his chest, and she gripped him tightly.

"Em… I'm sorry for what happened, but there's no way in hell that I would ever want you to stay away from me." He pulled back slightly and cupped her face in his hands. "You are my best friend, Em. Nothing is going to change that, do you understand?"

Emily stared down at her feet and he gently forced her to look up at him by lifting her chin with his hand. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that, I was just so confused, and afraid." She confessed.

"Em, about that kiss…" He hesitated as her eyes found their way back to his. He couldn't tell her the truth, even though it killed him inside. Seeing her react that way opened his eyes to the truth. If she reacted that way when she thought she was going to lose him, he could only imagine how she would react if she found out that he was in love with her. "I'm sorry. I-I guess I was… just caught up in the moment. I don't want to do anything to ruin what we have, do you understand? I can't lose you Em, and the last thing in the world that I want to do is hurt you, so if I'm hurting you by telling you this, then please tell me."

She shook her head, quickly trying to hide her disappointment and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I understand, Nikolas. I mean, I did kiss you back. It's best if we just put this behind us and go back to the way we were."

He nodded. This was for the best, he kept telling himself as he wrapped his arms around her and held onto her like there was no tomorrow.

Emily sniffed and lifted her head from his chest. She stared deeply into his eyes and whispered, "So, I'm not going to lose you?"

He smiled ruefully and shook his head, "I'm not going anywhere," He vowed.

She nodded and relaxed as he secured her into his arms.