Chapter Five

"Congratulations."

Dillon whipped around at the sound of the voice behind him. Standing there was a petite, pretty brunette. She looked familiar...

"You're...Elizabeth, right? You're Emily's friend?"

She smiled. "That's right. And you're Dillon." She paused a second. "We've never officially met," she put out her hand, "hi."

He shook it. "Hi. So what are the congratulations for?"

She blushed a bit. "I didn't mean to eavsdrop, but I was talking to my grandmother at the nurses' station and I, uh, I heard what you yelled at Maxie. About Georgie?" Dillon could feel himself getting a bit red. She went on. "And well, Emily told me about-"

"About the bumbling jackass I made of myself waxing moronic about Georgie."

Elizabeth laughed. "She told me everything you said was...very romantic. That she could tell you meant every word."

"I did." Dillon was emphatic. Then something occurred to him. "Wait a minute, Emily told you about that?"

"Well, yeah. Is that okay?"

"How many people did she tell? I mean, how many people am I going to have to encounter with that same look that you have now?"

Elizabeth tried to look innocent. "What look?"

"You know, that 'oh my god isn't that just the cutest thing in the world' look. Emily and Maxie had the same one."

She acquiesed. "Okay, okay. I see what you mean. I'm sorry."

"S'okay."

"It's just that especially in this particular situation, well - you know what, nevermind."

"No, tell me, what?" Dillon was dreading what he was going to hear, but his curiousity just got the better of him. Elizabeth bit her lip.

"It's just that, well, Em and I both used to babysit Georgie, so it's just, well, it's kind of cool for us to see her, you know-"

"Blossoming?" Dillon mocked, but he was smiling. Elizabeth laughed.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, at least it's better than 'how dare you try to corrupt this sweet, innocent girl, you hormonal heathen," he conceded.

"Yeah, I think that's Mac's job." He nodded vigorously. "And maybe Bobbie's and Lucas's." At the mention of Lucas, Dillon gritted his teeth. Georgie hadn't even given Lucas a glance since the day of that incredible kiss in her living room, but the thought of the guy still burned him. Elizabeth noticed. "What?" She sounded concerned.

He shook his head. "I really, really don't want to go there."

"Okay." She respected his privacy. They stood in silence for a moment, the air a bit thick between them. "Listen, I was on my way to visit Emily. Why don't you come with me?"

"Oh, I don't want to intrude."

"No way, she'll be so glad to see you. Come on, she said you owe her follow up information..."

"Well, actually, I do have a movie I promised to bring her," Dillon said, shifting his backpack from his right shoulder to his left.

"All right then." They walked down the hall together and stopped in front of Emily's door. Elizabeth knocked.

"Come in!" Emily sounded like she was laughing. Elizabeth entered the room, Dillon behind her. "Elizabeth! Dillon, hi! Dillon, this DVD player is the best, it's prevented hours of boredom - thank you so much."

"You're welcome. So what are you watching?"

"The DVDs of Friends. Lucky brought them to me - we used to hang out with his cousin Sly and watch when we were younger." She smiled, reminiscing, and then looked at her friend and cousin. "So wait, I didn't know that you two even knew each other. What's going on?"

"What's going on, dear cousin," Dillon put on an accusatory tone, but his eyes were sparkling, "is that you have a big mouth."

Emily understood. She tried to look sheepish. "Ooops."

"Oh give her a break," Elizabeth interjected, "she's a newlywed. She's all gushy about love."

"I accept that," Emily smiled. She turned to Dillon, gesturing to the chair. "So..." He sat in the chair, while Elizabeth sat on the bed by Emily's back, playing with her hair. Dillon noticed a protective, tender quality in the way that Liz braided Emily's hair. He could tell that Em's near fatality had had a strong impact on Elizabeth.

"So what?" Dillon played dumb.

"So tell me what happened with your girlfriend." Dillon had that shocked look again.

"Well, Georgie is your girlfriend, isn't she?"

"Well, well, yeah, it's just, no one's called her that before." He shifted his eyes. "It sounds kinda cool." Emily and Elizabeth squealed. Girls, Dillon noticed, did that a lot.

"What's got you girls so excited?" They hadn't even heard the door open. Ned stood in the doorway, smiling curiously. Em nodded at Dillon, who was red-faced, staring at the floor, trying to suppress the huge grin from spreading across his face. Ned grinned, nodding sagely.

"Let me guess, a girl." Dillon didn't say anything. "And more specifically, the lovely Miss Jones." Dillon lost it. The smile he'd been trying to hold back broke free and stretched his lips across his face. He put a hand over his mouth and avoided the eyes of the three others in the room.

"He's in love," Emily supplied, sounding dreamy. Dillon snuck a peek at Ned, who looked more proud than anything. He didn't really know how to handle so many people knowing about his, his love life, he realized. Hell, he didn't know how to handle so many people knowing about any part of his life. He pretended to go on the defensive.

"Man, you know, I don't know why I put up with you people. Why don't you go and torture someone else for a change?" But he was smiling when he said it.

A knock came on the door. Ned opened it and chuckled when he saw who it was. "We might be able to do that sooner than you think," he laughed. Dillon looked up as Georgie entered the room. She didn't notice him for a second.

"Hi Emily, can I get-" Georgie's eyes suddenly went wide as she noticed Dillon "-you anything?" Emily, Elizabeth and Ned were smiling widely, touched, watching Dillon and Georgie. The two teenagers were clearly not accustomed to being a couple in public.

They both stared at their shoes, trying unsuccessfully not to smile, stealing sidelong glances at each other, then quickly averting their eyes any time they made contact. Emily smiled slyly at Elizabeth."

"Actually, I'd love if you would take a seat." Em gestured to the chair in which Dillon was sitting. Both Dillon's and Georgie's eyes popped wide open. Did she mean for Georgie to sit in Dillon's lap? She didn't move.

"Dillon and Ned were just leaving," Elizabeth explained, even though Ned had just arrived. "So Georgie can take the chair. Come on."

Georgie walked slowly to the chair as Dillon got up. As they passed by each other, their eyes locked for a moment. He couldn't resist. He reached out and brushed his fingers along her cheek, risking the others noticing. The girls' appreciative sighs did not go unnoticed by the young couple. Dillon let his hand trail off of Georgie's face before the urge to kiss her got too overwhelming and moved toward the door, where Ned stood.

"Bye boys!" Emily called.

"Bye Emily. Elizabeth. Bye Georgie." Ned looked directly at her with a smile. She blushed.

"Nice meeting you Dillon," called Elizabeth. He smiled at her.

"You too. Bye Em." A magnetic force pulled Dillon's eyes to meet Georgie's and they stared adoringly at each other, their breathing growing more rapid. They were being watched intently again, only this time they didn't notice.

Until Ned clapped his hand down on Dillon's shoulder. "Come on, Romeo."

Dillon smiled at Georgie. "Bye," he whispered.

"Bye," she mouthed back. Still holding on to Dillon's shoulder, Ned turned him around and guided him out of the hospital room and into the hall, letting the door close behind them.

"In love, eh?" Ned asked Dillon once they were out in the hall. Noticing Dillon's awkward look, he pulled back a little. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business. It's probably a little late for me to get all big brother on you."

"Hey, Ned, man, it's fine. It's not like you were the one who stayed away." Dillon knew that Ned really wanted them to be brothers and friends and he wanted the same thing. It was just a little strange after having no interaction for seventeen years.

Ned nodded, agreeing. They walked down the hall. "Well, is there anything you'd like to uh...discuss?"

Dillon rolled his eyes good naturedly. "You mean about Georgie?" he pressed.

"Well, if you'd like to talk, I'm here for you, but if not, I'll certainly respect your privacy, I mean, I doubt-"

Dillon laughed out loud. Ned was trying so hard. "Ned, I'll talk to you. As long as you promise not to ooh and ah the way Emily does. I can only take that from so many people."

"Deal. You know, I don't even know how you and Georgie met. Was it at school?"

"Nah, she kissed me at Kelly's." Dillon kept his tone casual, as though that was a perfectly typical way to meet someone. Ned's eyebrows shot up.

"What!"

"You know the day Tracy" - Dillon had taken to referring to his mother as Tracy, as that's what the rest of the Quartermaines did - "and I showed up, and you let me take your car out?" Ned nodded, eager to hear how the story played out. "Well, I wound up at Kelly's and I was using a payphone when this frantic looking girl ran over and took the phone out of my hand. Then she said 'I need a really big favor,' and before I could say anything, she just grabbed me and kissed me."

"Quite an introduction..."

"Yeah," Dillon blushed. "Turns out she had lied to Maxie and Lucas about having a date because they kicked her out of some party they were having, so when she saw them coming in, she had to cover her tracks."

"And so then I guess the rest is history?"

"Well, not exactly." Dillon gritted his teeth. "She was completely hung up on Lucas for a while. You know, she even asked me to help her practice kissing so that she would be prepared for when she got to kiss him."

Ned raised his eyebrows. "So did you do it?"

Dillon nodded wryly. "Yup. I'm a masochist."

"That bad, huh?" Ned was sympathetic.

"You try kissing some girl who you can't stop thinking about for no other reason than she needs to practice her technique for kissing the guy she really likes, a guy who you kind of can't stand, mostly because she likes him so much."

Ned winced. "Ouch."

"Oh yeah."

"So when," Ned was still trying to be delicate, "when did things change between the two of you?"

"Couple months later. I walked her home one afternoon and Maxie was trying to get her idiot boyfriend to leave, but he wouldn't so I made up some lie about the Commissioner coming up the walk and the guy bolted. Georgie gave me a hug and when we pulled back, there was just this-"

"Connection?"

Dillon nodded. "Yeah, exactly. You know..." His breath caught in his throat, remembering, as Ned listened intently. "...every time I kiss Georgie, it's amazing, you know? But that time - the first time we kissed for real, because we both wanted to kiss each other - it was...I don't even have words."

Ned looked proud and happy, but a little hesitant at the same time. "That's amazing, that's great that you found someone who can...give you that kind of feeling..." He told Dillon, trailing off.

"But..." Dillon asked, picking up on Ned's hesitation.

"But, well, these kinds of feelings can be very overwhelming and sometimes confusing and well, Georgie is a young girl, well what I mean to say is, she's a bit younger than you, so you should be particularly careful with her, and well, you two did have your first kiss - albeit a technical kiss for mitigating circumstances - fairly quickly, very quickly in fact, and well, I'm just hoping, not that it's any of my business, but well, you are my brother, so I do have some cocern, that the...the pace, if you will, of your relationship from that point on not well, match that of the very beginning insofar as-"

Dillon couldn't take any more. He cracked up. "This is about sex."

Ned was flustered. "Well, well yes. You see, I'm not trying to lecture you or tell you what to do-"

"I'm not having sex with Georgie."

Ned looked relieved. "Okay, okay. That makes this much easier."

Dillon chuckled. "It's okay."

"But, well..."

Dillon put a hand on Ned's shoulder. "It's okay man, just talk to me straight. Don't worry about offending me. If there's something I don't want to answer, I'll say so."

Ned was impressed at his younger brother's directness. He looked Dillon in the eye. "But do you want to? And what's more, do you plan to?"

Dillon respected the question. After all, it was an important one. "Of course I want to," he said honestly, "but no, I don't plan to, not right now. Not until she comes to me and says that she wants to. Then it will become an actual possibility. And hell, I hope that day does come, but if it doesn't that'll be all right too. Cause I just want to be with her, you know?

The sex part is just something else. It doesn't have to be there for Georgie and I to be great together."

"And you can do that?" Ned asked. "You can just put that aside?"

"No, of course not," Dillon told him. "Of course I think about it, but I'm good at patience, you know? Look," he looked Ned directly in the eye and spoke unwaveringly.

"I'm in love with Georgie. I'll never pressure her."

Ned gave Dillon a look of appreciation. "You've got a lot more sense and honor than most people twice your age. Especially the Quartermaines."

Dillon laughed. "Well, sense and honor don't exactly seem to be strong words for the Quartermaines. Or holding off on indulging oneself, in any way."

Ned laughed and clapped Dillon on the back. "True, very true."

Meanwhile, in Emily's hospital room, Em and Elizabeth were engaging Georgie in a very intense girl talk session. They had laughed at Georgie's admittance of their bizarre introduction and listened intently to the story of Dillon telling Georgie that he loved her, growling at the mention of Faith, groaning at Dillon's inadvertent reveal, and sighing wistfully when Georgie told them about Dillon caressing her face with a pink rose, which was now hanging on the side of her dresser to be dried and preserved.

"He's good to you, takes care of you?" Emily asked.

Georgie nodded, smiling shyly. "Yeah, he's really, really gentle you know? Every time he ki-" She hesitated. "Is this okay for me to tell you this? After all, he is your cousin, I don't want you to be grossed out."

Emily laughed. "It's fine, it's fine," she assured Georgie. "I want you to tell me. Go on. Every time he kisses you..."

Georgie felt herself blushing. "Every time he kisses me, he's really, really soft, you know? Like does it really gently, not all mack-y, the way you see in the cafeteria at school or something. And he always touches my face. Like, tilts my chin with his fingers or puts his hand on my cheek or brushes my hair behind my ears, you know?" Emily and

Elizabeth sighed, both moved by Georgie's words and the pureness yet intensity of the feelings between her and Dillon.

"He just...he makes me feel like I'm special, you know? And he looks at me like I'm...like I'm pretty, you know?" Georgie blushed, looking down at the floor. Emily reached over from the bed and used her fingertips to tilt Georgie's chin up so that she was looking at the two women sitting on the bed.

"You are pretty, Georgie. You're beautiful. And you're special. And Dillon is very smart to see that."

"Thank you," Georgie whispered.

There was a silence. Elizabeth shifted her weight next to Emily, looking quickly about the room. Her eyes came to rest on Georgie.

"And he...respects...you?" She was pointed on the word "respects." Emily's eyes went directly to Georgie as well.

"You mean, with...with...sex?" Georgie whispered the last word. The two girls nodded. They knew that this wasn't really their business, but they had both known Georgie for so long and with Felicia out of town and Maxie, Elizabeth knew, in and out of trouble lately, they both just wanted to make sure Georgie was okay. "Oh, we aren't..."

They both looked relieved. Emily approached the next question carefully. "Georgie," she began gently, "have you ever...well, what I mean is, are you a virgin?"

Georgie nodded. "Is Dillon?" Elizabeth asked. Georgie shook her head, biting her lip. Emily noticed.

"How do you feel about that?" She asked.

"Well, it was before he moved to Port Charles, so you know, I can't exactly say anything since we didn't even know each other existed then-"

"But how do you feel?" Elizabeth interrupted.

Georgie looked at the wall and spoke quietly, yet firmly. "I hate it."

The two older girls nodded sympathetically. "We know," Elizabeth told her. "But don't, don't let it bother you. And don't let it come between you."

"I won't," Georgie said.

Emily spoke up. "Sex really doesn't matter that much. It's all about the meaning behind it, and sex without love doesn't really have much meaning. You're obviously the first girl Dillon has ever loved - anyone can see that. Just as long as he never pressures you..."

"He won't," Georgie said quickly. "We talked about it. He told me that he, that he wants to, someday when I'm ready, but that he doesn't expect to." Em and Liz raised their eyebrows, impressed.

"What exactly did he say?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, that. That he doesn't expect or plan to have sex. And that he wants to sleep with me-" the girls' eyebrows shot up - "but in the literal sense of the word." -relief- "He said he wants to...wants to hold me some night, all night long and that he won't even kiss me unless I tell him it's okay, and he-" Georgie stopped, embarrassed to reveal too much.

"No, you can tell us," Emily coaxed.

"Please?" wheedled Elizabeth. "If it doesn't make you too uncomfortable to tell us."

"Okay," agreed Georgie. "He said that..." her voice was shy and quiet. Emily and Elizabeth leaned forward in anticipation. "He said that holding my hand felt more like making love than having sex ever did."

"Wow." Elizabeth was touched. The way Georgie described Dillon reminded her of how Lucky had been with her. She tried to push the thought aside.

Emily noticed and smiled. She knew that look, the "Lucky look." Lucky had an "Elizabeth look." Even after all these years and all the change and heartache. But now wasn't the time. "Wow," she quipped. "A romantic and honorable Quartermaine, how novel."

Elizabeth snapped into place. "Alert the media!" She chimed in.

Em smiled fondly. "He must have a lot of Grandmother in him," she said affectionately.

"Or else he's adopted too." Elizabeth added.

"Tracy? Adopt a child? I don't think so," Emily told her.

"Switched at birth?" chimed in Georgie.

They laughed loudly.

Several hours later Dillon sat in the waiting area. Georgie came toward him dressed in her street clothes. She wore her lavender coat open over her blue jeans and wine colored sweater. A white scarf hung loosely around her neck. In her hand, she carried her white knit hat.

Dillon stood up and went to meet her. "Hi." He smiled. She was so pretty.

She smiled back. "Hi." She giggled.

"What?" Dillon asked.

"Your cousin and Elizabeth were asking me all about us and asking about.." Georgie looked to the floor, embarrassed.

"Yeah, Ned did the same thing with me," he told her.

"Oh..." They both shifted their eyes about a bit, both slightly pink.

"Come here," Dillon ordered gently, pulling Georgie closer to him. He took the soft white hat out of her hand and, smoothing her hair down, placed it on her head. He buttoned her pale purple coat and wrapped the scarf snugly about her neck. Then he pulled her in even closer and lowered his lips to hers, closing his eyes and kissing her softly. When the kiss ended, he pulled away only a fraction of an inch.

"Let's get out of here," he whispered into her mouth.

She smiled against his lips. "Okay."