Chapter 10

Nikolas pulled into the driveway of the Quartermaine gatehouse anxiously. He hadn't seen a lot of Emily since their kiss and he truly missed her. He couldn't wait to hang out with her again. He couldn't wait to see the soft light in her eyes again, or the way her face lit up when she saw him. 'Stop it!' He told himself. 'Emily thinks of you as a friend and nothing more. You need to get over this and move on.' Even though he knew that the chances of that were slim.

He checked his appearance in his rear view mirror like a giddy school girl and stepped out of the car. He rang the doorbell nervously, and waited patiently as Emily made her way to the door. She was beaming as she opened the door. She felt a lot better than she had earlier. Her nap had rejuvenated her.

Nikolas broke out into a grin as soon as he saw her. That smile, he loved that smile. He hadn't seen it in a while. It took him a while to find his voice, "You ready to go?" He asked, his voice cracking softly as his nerves started to kick in.

"Yea," She stated. She grabbed her purse and coat and let Nikolas lead her to the car. She almost melted when he instinctively placed his hand on the small of her back. If this is how she reacted from just one touch, then she didn't have a prayer in lasting the entire afternoon without spilling her undying love for him.

Nikolas felt it too. Now that he had a taste of her, all he wanted to do was kiss her into submission. He had to have some self control left. He just had to find it, and then grasp a hold on it. Finding it wasn't the problem. The problem was holding onto it after he had it in his grip.

About an hour later they were both in his living room, covered in paint. It was awkward at first, but within no time they had fallen into the comfortable feeling that they had always had when they were together. It was almost like old times, almost.

Nikolas had been staring at Emily all night. He couldn't help it. She was so beautiful. Even though she had paint on her hands and all over her clothes, her hair was tied up in a messy bun on the top of her head and she had no makeup on, in his eyes she still looked like an angel sent down from heaven.

Emily was oblivious to his consistent gazing. She honestly hadn't noticed. She was just happy to be in the same room with him and grateful for them being able to get back what she thought they had lost forever. Although it was taking almost all of her self control not to fling herself into his arms and kiss him, at least not without having him catch on to her true feelings toward him. 'I'm sure that wouldn't scare him away forever.' She thought sarcastically. She couldn't help but remind herself that he was the one that had kissed her to begin with.

Trying to clamp down on the feelings that thought brews, she climbed the small foot ladder they had set up in the living room and started to paint the top of the wall. "Hey prince boy, can you hand me that brush?" she teased. She knew he hated that nickname.

"Prince Boy?" He mocked, pretending to be offended.

"You heard me prrrrrince boy." She exaggerated.

"Say the magic word." He insisted.

"Hmm would the magic word be Prince Cassadine?"

Emily laughed as he rolled his eyes and shook his head, dropping the brush to his side. Exasperated, she climbed down the foot ladder and made a grab for the brush. He stretched it over his head and, because he had a few inches on her, she couldn't reach it. With her previous thoughts far from her mind, she grabbed a smaller paint brush with a little bit of paint on it and smeared it on the side of his face.

His mouth hanging open he said "oh my god. I can't believe you just did that."

She almost doubled over laughing. He wiped his face, making the paint worse, and cocked his eyebrow. "You think this is funny?" He asked, pointing to his paint covered face. It would have worked a lot better if he hadn't had a huge grin on his face.

"Fine, you wanna play dirty?" He started to chase her around the room with the brush in hand. She was almost laughing hysterically now. When he caught up with her he grabbed her waist and held her still as he put the paint on her forehead. Before long, an all out paint war was going on in his living room. If it weren't for the plastic covering on the floor and the fact that there was no furniture in the room, there would have been paint everywhere.

Nikolas decided to forget the paint and try a new tactic. Once he got a hold of her he started tickling her and she fell over laughing, dragging Nikolas with her. Emily fell flat on her back with Nikolas on top of her, still laughing. His face was hovering right above hers, and she suddenly found it very hard to breathe.

He was right on top of her. His mind was telling him that this was a mistake, but every other instinct in his body was telling him other wise. He looked into her eyes and he could have sworn that he saw the same desire reflecting his own. He didn't know what he was thinking, or maybe he wasn't thinking. A thing he was never capable of doing when she was around.

As if acting out of instinct, he slowly leaned down until his lips descended on top of hers in a soft, slow kiss. Emily responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. She moaned softly as his tongue entered her mouth and danced with her own.

Emily was in a complete daze, aside from her confused feelings. She felt like she was in a wonderful dream that someone forgot to wake her up from. The thoughts of pushing him away and demanding an explanation vanished from her mind almost immediately.

Nikolas reluctantly drew back, the need for oxygen overpowering him. Breathing heavily, they stared at each other in wonder; their faces not even an inch away from each other, until he heard a ringing in his ears. He wished he could tell what she was thinking. He stared deeply into her chocolate brown eyes and felt as though he could drown in them when Emily's voice broke him out of his trance.

"Nikolas" she whispered softly, still breathing wildly. "Nikolas?"

He finally came back to reality when he realized she had said something, "Yea?" He whispered.

"My phone"

"What?"

"My phone is ringing. I have to answer it."

"Oh right your-uh-phone- right answer-uh phone. Yea," he stammered as he lifted himself off of her.

Emily walked over to the counter and picked up her phone slowly, still trying to process what had just happened. Nikolas stood off to the side nervously running his hand through his hair while trying his best not to make eye contact with her. Now what was he going to say to her?

Emily glanced over at him as she answered her phone, trying to read him but he just looked nervous and embarrassed. "Hello?" She asked shakily.

"Emily, I'm glad you answered. Where are you?"

"Ned? She asked. "I'm with Nikolas, why?" His voice sounded worried, and a knot started to form in her stomach.

He hesitated, "You need to come to the hospital, now." He said slowly.

"What happened?"

"Emily I would rather wait until you got –"

"Ned, please just tell me." She said forcefully.

Ned sighed, "There's been an accident and it … it doesn't look good." He whispered that last part.

"Who?" She asked softly.

"Aj."

Emily felt tears sting her eyes, "I'll be right there." She hung up her phone and turned back to Nikolas with tears starting to fall down her cheeks.

He was instantly worried and carefully walked over to her, the kiss far from his mind. "Em?" He asked. She didn't say anything, just started crying. Instantly, Nikolas had her in his arms as she sobbed into his shirt, holding onto him as if he were her lifeline. He held her tight, willing her tears to go away. What the hell happened? He thought to himself.

Nikolas wasn't sure if he should push the subject or just hold her. He pulled away slightly, not letting her out of his embrace, and pushed a few strands of hair out of her face. "What happened?" He asked delicately.

"I have to get to the hospital." She looked up into his eyes, silently asking him to come with her.

Nikolas winced at the deep pain he saw brewing there. There was no way in hell he would let her face this alone.

"Aj was in an accident, and" she took a deep breath trying her best to stay strong, "it doesn't look good."

Nikolas nodded his head and grabbed her coat and his keys and hurriedly led her to the car.

Emily barreled into the ER where almost her entire family sat, Nikolas close on her heels. Emily quietly walked up to her Monica, who sat in one of the plastic chairs with a distant look in her eyes, and hugged her tightly.

Nikolas, deciding to let them have some time together, observed the room. The entire Quartermaine clan was there. In the waiting room sat Tracy, Dillon, Georgie, Justus, Monica, Emily and Edward was, of course, arguing with Ned while Skye was trying to break it up. He even thought he saw Jason and Carly there. He walked over to where Monica and Emily sat and quietly told her that he was going to get a cup of coffee. She thanked him and turned her attention back to her mother.

"What happened?" Emily asked.

"They think he was drunk." She said sadly.

Emily stared at her in disbelief. Aj had been sober for months. He was doing so well. It had to be a mistake. "Mom, that's impossible."

Monica shook her head and looked at her daughter. "When he found out about your father, he was so angry and upset. He stormed out of the house and none of us had seen him since. We had no idea what had happened. We just chalked it up to him needing some time alone." She took a deep breath as her eyes filled with tears once again. "Then I get a call that he was brought into the ER."

"I'm so sorry mom." Emily said before embracing her again.

Monica pulled away and looked at her daughter, really looked at her. "How are you holding up? I haven't seen much of you lately."

"I've been keeping myself busy, trying to deal with everything that's been going on."

Monica looked up to see Nikolas talking to his aunt at the nurse's station. "Have you been spending a lot of time with Nikolas?" She asked innocently.

"Yea, he's been helping me a lot with everything. To be honest, I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been there with me." She said as she looked over at him.

Monica saw the look in Emily's eyes, "I'm really glad that he's been with you." She faintly smiled knowingly, stood up and walked away without another word.

Emily watched her mother walk away and turned her attention back to Nikolas. 'So am I,' she thought to herself.

Nikolas walked back to Emily, who was staring off into space with a frown taking over her features. He quietly sat next to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She snapped her head up and sighed. Nikolas smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

She smiled weakly, "its ok, I was just thinking."

"Care to share?"

Emily looked down at her clasped hands, "I was just thinking about how screwed up my life had become in the past week or so," Nikolas rubbed her back soothingly, "and about how much you helped me through everything."

"It was my pleasure." Nikolas heard her faint laugh and couldn't help but smile. "That's what friends are for right?"

Emily smiled up at him and nodded. Nikolas wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him, gaining strength from him.

About an hour later the waiting room was still filled with Quartermaines. Everyone was behaving themselves, even Edward. Nikolas was sitting on the couch with a half asleep Emily leaning on his shoulder. She shifted slightly and Nikolas looked down at her angelic face. He loved her so much and he desperately wished he could take her pain away. She sat up a little, looking apologetic.

"Has the doctor come out yet?" She asked sleepily.

Nikolas regretfully shook his head. Just then the doctor came out of the ICU with a bleak expression on his face. Everyone rushed towards him like a crowd of bulls. Emily noted the sad look on his face and knew the news wasn't good.

"George, how is he?" Monica asked, somewhat frantically.

The doctor sighed, "Monica, your son's injuries were very severe. His blood results showed that he had an immense amount of alcohol in his system. He had internal bleeding in his brain, and he began to hemorrhage. He flat lined twice on the table," He looked at all the expectant faces in the room and paused, contemplating his next words, "We were able to revive him the first time, but we weren't so lucky the second." He finished softly. "I'm so sorry."

Emily felt her knees buckle underneath her and if it weren't for Nikolas wrapping his arms around her, then she is sure she would have fallen. Emily cried softly into his chest and he held onto her even tighter.

Edward wrapped his arms around Monica who was crying softly, his own eyes brimming with tears. Skye was trying to comfort an obviously devastated Ned, and Dillon had his head in his hands. Even Jason's eyes were shining with tears.

Everyone started to clear out of the hospital and there was only Monica, Nikolas and Emily left in the waiting room. Monica was talking to the doctors while Nikolas sat on the couch with a very shaken Emily still in his arms. She hadn't said a word since she had gotten the news and Nikolas was really beginning to get worried about her. Her face was stained with tears and she looked exhausted.

Monica walked over to them, her own eyes shimmering. "Nikolas, can I speak with you for a moment." He looked at Emily and she nodded softly.

Monica led him a few feet away from Emily, out of her hearing range. "How is she?" She asked softly.

Nikolas looked down and sighed. "Not good."

She sniffled softly, "I just want to thank you for being such a good friend to her. She's been dealing with so much lately and it means a lot to me that she's had someone to help her through it all."

"I really care about your daughter, Monica, and I assure you that I will do anything I can to help her." He said as he gazed back at Emily. "I'd do anything for her."

Monica observed his actions, "You love her," she stated matter-of-factly.

Nikolas snapped his head back, obviously caught off guard by the statement.

Monica smiled a genuine smile and she could tell by the yearning in his eyes. "I can tell."

Nikolas blushed slightly and smiled.

"My lips are sealed," She said. "Although, if you don't mind my opinion," she paused. At his nod she continued, "I think you should tell her. Every time she talks about you she gets that little sparkle in her eyes. I was really worried about her before. She seemed really unhappy until you came back into her life. I think you too would be great together. But that's just my opinion." She smiled

"Thank you Mrs. Quartermaine, that means a lot coming from you."

"It's my pleasure, Nikolas." She looked back at her shattered daughter who was still staring at nothing in particular, and back to Nikolas. She gently rested her hand on his arm, "Nikolas, can you take her home and make sure she's ok for me?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"And my condolences to you, Mrs. Quartermaine. I'm really sorry about AJ."

She nodded her head softly. "Take care of my little girl, ok?"

"Of course."

Nikolas walked back to Emily and kneeled in front of her. He cupped her chin with his hand so that she would look at him and he winced inwardly at the depth of pain he saw in her eyes. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, "Are you ok?" he whispered.

She shook her head softly and looked down at the ground, "No," her eyes found their way back to his, "but I will be… eventually."

He nodded and extended his hand to her. "Come on, let's get you home. You look exhausted."

She nodded and stood up shakily. She felt completely drained, the events of the night finally catching up with her. Nikolas helped her into her coat and grabbed her purse and led her to the elevator.

Nikolas had walked Emily inside and they were now sitting on the couch in her living room. She had asked him to stay for a little while because she didn't want to be alone right now and he had accepted with no hesitation. Now she sat there, with a devastated expression replacing the beaming smile she had earlier that day.

"This is because of my dad." She said quietly. So quietly in fact, that Nikolas had to strain to hear her, but he did and he moved closer to her, needing to comfort her. "My dad was his role model and after what happened, he just kind of spiraled down." She looked up at Nikolas with tears in her eyes. "Alan's court date was this morning, did I tell you that?"

Nikolas shook his head, "no."

"Oh, well it was. I didn't go but, my mom did and so did AJ."

"What happened?" He asked softly.

"He was found guilty for second degree murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison."

"I'm so sorry, Em. You don't deserve any of this."

"Maybe I do." She whispered.

Nikolas stared at her incredulously. "How could you believe that?"

Emily looked straight into his deep soulful eyes. "I'm not perfect, Nikolas. I have my share of mistakes and regrets. I've done some pretty stupid things in my days." She finally tore their eye contact and looked at her hands. "I wasn't close with my dad. After his first affair I lost all respect for him. He really would try, but I wouldn't. He would ask me if I wanted to have dinner with him or go see a movie because hey, my mom forgave him so why couldn't I?" She let out a small, watery laugh and Nikolas just listened. He didn't say anything, letting her get out what she wanted to say. "I always made excuses though. I had to do a report for school, or I was working on some project for an event coming up or something like that."

"I still loved him but I couldn't understand how my mom could forgive him after what he did to her. He cheated on her." She initiated eye contact again and held it as she spoke. "How could the one person that you're supposed to love and trust with all of your dreams and secrets, and share your entire life with share that with someone else? That is the ultimate act of deceit and she forgave him," She snapped her fingers, "Just like that."

Nikolas gently took her hand. He couldn't stand the pain he heard in her voice. It was breaking his heart.

"Maybe this was god's way of telling me that I should have given him another chance." A few tears spilled down Emily's cheeks. "That maybe, just maybe, if I had put in a little effort my father wouldn't be rotting in some jail cell and my brother would be alive."

Nikolas had never felt so helpless. He wished more than anything he could somehow shield her from this pain. "Emily don't, please don't blame yourself for this. You had no way of knowing that any of this would have happened, and to speculate the what-ifs just adds more pain."

"Maybe, but sometimes I can't help it."

"We all have regrets Emily, it's called being human and no one is perfect."

"You're right, but I shut him out of my life. I barely spoke to him and I avoided him at all costs. It wasn't fair to him."

"You did what you thought best at the time. You didn't feel comfortable with him after what he did to your mother. I don't blame you. If the positions were reversed I probably would have done the same thing."

Emily nodded her head. "Anyway, after the trial Mom and AJ came home with these looks on their faces." She sighed. "I will never forget the way they looked. Like their whole world just came crashing down on them. Mom was pale and her eyes were red and puffy. You could tell that she had been crying. Aj looked as though he had lost his best friend and in a way, I guess he did. Out of the entire family, they were the closest." She intertwined their fingers, drawing comfort from him. "Aj didn't say a word. He just left and… that was it. Aj definitely didn't deserve this. He was doing so well. He had been sober for almost a year."

"I remember one night, AJ and I were up real late talking in grandfather's study. He told me that he was planning to go back to college and get his business degree so that he would be more suitable for running ELQ with grandfather." She laughed softly, "He told me that he wanted to make dad proud of him. I just sat there and listened to him and he sounded so happy and I was happy for him. He was so excited to finally make something of himself, ya know?"

Nikolas nodded. "He was ambitious."

"Very. He sounded so determined. I mean, I've never heard him speak with such conviction in his voice." She shook her head as a few more tears fell freely. "Then, everything went crazy and he just… lost it, I guess."

Nikolas placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She sighed and Nikolas winced at the pain he heard in it.

"How could god take Aj away from us? If I've learned anything from attending mass every year, it's that everyone deserves a second chance. Aj proved that he was one of those people actually worthy of a fresh start and god didn't even give him that."

"Do you believe in the saying, everything happens for a reason?" He asked.

Emily thought about it for a second, and then nodded her head.

"Me too. Maybe god wasn't taking Aj away from you and your family for immoral reasons. Maybe he took him away because it was his time. Maybe Aj had to serve a bigger purpose and god needed him more. Maybe it was all a divine plan."

Emily sniffed and looked up at him, "weren't you the one who just told me that speculation can cause more pain?"

Nikolas smiled at her teasing; at least he hasn't lost her for good. Somewhere, the Emily that he knows and love will come shining through to replace a shell of a colorful woman that occupies his time right now. "Sometimes it can also help. Help you try to understand the reasoning behind it."

She nodded softly and tucked her head underneath his chin. "I feel as though I'm about to shatter into a million pieces."

"Well, if you shatter into a million pieces, than I will find each and every one of them and glue you back together."

Emily smiled and snuggled into him. "Thank you for staying with me Nikolas, and for listening. You helped more than you know."

"Good, because that's what I was going for." She laughed softly.

The room grew into a comfortable silence as each of them were encompassed in their own thoughts.

After a few minutes, Nikolas broke the silence, "Listen Em, I just wanted to apologize for earlier."

Emily waved a hand to dismiss the matter and slightly tightened her hold on him. "I don't want to talk about that right now, ok?"

"I understand." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, "but I know that you are exhausted because I'm exhausted and your day has been much longer than mine." He stood up and extended his hand to hers, "come on, you need to get some rest."

She nodded and accepted his hand as he helped her up. "I'm sorry for keeping you out so late." She said quietly and looked down.

"Hey," he cupped her chin so that she would look at him, "don't apologize. I already told you that I will always be here for you, no matter what, and I'm glad that I was with you tonight. If you need anything at all, I'm just a phone call away, ok? I'll be over in a flash." He smiled.

"Thank you, Nikolas." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly as he kissed her on the cheek and secured her small frame in his muscular one.

After Nikolas had practically forced her upstairs, resorting to threatening her by picking her up and carrying into her room, he made sure she was upstairs before he headed home himself.