Thank you to those who review/follow/favorite. It is greatly appreciate. Thank you to those who also let me know you want another update. It inspires me more when you ask for another update because it shows you enjoy this story. Thank you to Ninlil, TerryGyimah, ABCSOAPFAN1963, reina13, and Star-Lilac for reviewing in the last chapter. Thank you to ABCSOAPFAN1963 for letting me know about the Liason challenges you posted on the site. I liked two of them and will use them in two future stories. Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. A few of you commented that there aren't a lot of Niz stories out there. One of the stories that ABCSOAPFAN1963 told me about is a Niz story, but that one will be completed or almost done before it is posted. I hope you will tune into that one when it is done. There is a guest who trash talked the couple again in response to Chapter 2. I deleted it as I felt it was very inappropriate. I don't have a problem with those who are not Niz fans, but the ones who go out of their way to speak negatively, that I have a problem with. The way I see it, if you don't like Niz, then don't read this story. Thanks again for leaving feedback. Please keep them coming. I don't own GH, but do the story.

Title: Confessions from the Heart

Chapter 3

(Later on that day, AJ decides to go to Nikolas' house on the island. He knew he should be at ELQ right now doing work and attending meetings, but he was too fired up to do anything else. He knew if he didn't get a few things straight with Nikolas, he would blow up during the boys' play date and that's the last thing he wanted. He was sure Nikolas would use that as an excuse to get closer to Elizabeth. Elizabeth made her choice to be with AJ, but it was like Nikolas still had it in the back of his head that he had a shot with her. Well, one thing's for sure, AJ thought, Nikolas was gonna be told very clearly that Elizabeth was AJ's, no one else's. He didn't really want a fight, but if Nikolas wanted one, he sure as hell would get it)

(When AJ arrives at Nikolas', he knocks at the front door. A lady answers the door and briefly smiled at him)

Lady: "Can I help you?"

AJ: (nodding) "Yeah, hi, uh, I was wondering if Nikolas Cassadine was here? I was hoping I could talk to him."

(The lady studied AJ's facial expressions before speaking)

Lady: "Does he know you?"

AJ: "Yeah, he does, but he doesn't know that I stopped by." (chuckles nervously) "I guess you could say I wanted to surprise him."

Lady: "He's in his office right now on the phone. I'll bring you to the living room where you can wait until he's finished. It may take him awhile depending on who he's talking to."

AJ: "Oh trust me, I don't mind. Thank you, Miss…uh…" (chuckles softly) "Sorry, I didn't get your name."

Angela: "It's Angela."

(AJ nods politely before Angela excuses herself. A few minutes later, AJ is sitting on the couch in the living room when he hears a voice call his name)

Nikolas: "AJ, this is a surprise. I didn't know I'd be receiving a visit from you today. What brings you by?"

(AJ looks at Nikolas with a serious look on his face)

AJ: "You can start by staying the hell away from Elizabeth."

(Nikolas studies AJ's serious face and shakes his head as he goes to his liquor cabinet and pours himself a glass of water that's by the alcohol)

Nikolas: "I wasn't aware that you owned Elizabeth."

(Nikolas turns around and takes a drink of his water before giving AJ his full attention)

Nikolas: "Spencer and Elizabeth's boys are cousins so we're all bound to get together sometimes."

AJ: "Did she call you and tell you she accepted your invite to bring the boys so we could all hang out?"

Nikolas: (shakes his head) "No, not yet. It must not be her break yet, but I'm sure she'll tell me soon." (raises his eyebrows) "I take it you're not happy about the plans regarding the kids?"

AJ: (scoffs) "It's not the kids' plans I'm not happy about and you know that, Cassadine. Cameron and Aiden would have been fine here with you and Spencer, but you just couldn't resist asking Elizabeth to join, could you?"

Nikolas: (shrugs) "I didn't want to leave her out. She is their mother after all. I thought it would've been rude."

AJ: (sarcastically) "Somehow I doubt that's what you were really thinking. You just wanted to see her again." (shakes his head angrily) "Doesn't it make a difference that she chose me? She picked me, Nikolas. Why can't you just stay the hell out of our lives?"

Nikolas: "It sounds like you care more about your happiness than hers."

AJ: (shakes his head) "No, her happiness means the world to me. But I also know you're making it difficult for her when you keep popping up into her life."

(Nikolas laughs at AJ's comments. He shrugs, putting his hands in the air)

Nikolas: "How am I making her life difficult, AJ? All I do is include her when the kids are all playing. She's Cameron and Aiden's mother. I'm not gonna just leave her out. And if I'm not mistaken, didn't she tell you that I offered for you to join? I know you're together, AJ. It's kinda hard to forget that. If you don't want to accompany her and the boys, that's your choice."

AJ: (scoffs) "Yeah, and if I don't come, you'll use that time to turn her against me."

Nikolas: (shakes his head) "You're doing that all on your own. I don't need to do a thing. With the way your mind works, you'll find a way to ruin it."

(AJ puts his hands on his hips angrily)

AJ: "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

(Nikolas picks up his water, takes another drink of his water and then sets the glass down and walks to AJ)

Nikolas: "Don't you get it? You lost part of her trust when you cheated on her with Carly." (raises his eyebrows) "Which is kinda ironic because don't you two despise each other?"

AJ: "I hate Carly, but I tolerate her because she's Michael's mother. That's it."

Nikolas: (raises his eyebrows) "Really? So, if you despise each other, how the hell did you end up in bed together?"

(Nikolas shakes his head and can't help but laugh)

AJ: (rolls his eyes) "I'm sure you've done stupid things, too."

Nikolas: "Yeah, well, except for the affair with Elizabeth, at least I owned up to it." (shakes his head) "Can't say the same about you. Because not only did you kiss Carly, but you slept with her, too."

AJ: (angrily) "Yeah, because I caught her with you! The way it looked, you sure did a lot more than hug. She also told me you two kissed."

(As Nikolas speaks, he puts his fingers up at AJ)

Nikolas: "Okay, one…when you caught her with me, I was comforting her after she saw you and Carly together. That one is on you, buddy. Two…yes, we kissed. I kissed her and she kissed back but then pulled back and immediately felt remorse and she even went to confess to you. That's why she went to the Quartermaine house…to talk to you." (scoffs lightly) "But you were too busy between the sheets to notice." (shakes his head) "AJ, you don't deserve her. You never did. She can do so much better than you."

(AJ scoffs and shakes his head. He then laughs and points at Nikolas)

AJ: "Who? Like you?"

Nikolas: (shrugs) "Yes, as a matter of fact. I love her and will always love her. I never denied that. She knows how I feel."

AJ: (laughs) "And I bet you'd just swoop on in, wouldn't you Prince Nikolas?"

Nicholas: (shakes his head) "Elizabeth has never cared that I'm a prince. Neither do I. Granted, Elizabeth and I got together under horrible circumstances."

(AJ folds his arms and laughs)

AJ: "Is that what you call it? Nikolas, you and Elizabeth slept together while she was still with Lucky! She cheated on him! You're damn right those were horrible circumstances!"

Nikolas: "I never pretended to be someone I'm not. I have never denied my feelings for her. Yes, I know it was wrong that we slept together, but to be honest, I'm more in love with her than I've ever been."

AJ: "Yeah, well, she didn't choose you, did she?" (shakes his head) "No, she chose me."

Nikolas: "She may have chosen you, but if you were honest with yourself, you'd know where her heart really lies…" (shakes his head) "And it's not with you."

(AJ shakes his head angrily at his enemy)

AJ: "She doesn't love you. How could she? You went after her. If I had it my way, you would be out of our lives."

Nikolas: "There's one major difference between me and you, AJ. And you seem to have forgotten it."

AJ: (tilts his head) "Oh yeah, what's that, Cassadine?"

(Nikolas looks at AJ right in the eyes and smiles proudly)

Nikolas: "I never cheated on her. I've always been faithful even when we were figuring out our relationship. Versus you…you cheated on her not once, but twice and with the same woman."

(AJ shouts and puts his fists in the air)

AJ: "She kissed me! It didn't mean anything!"

Nikolas: (scoffs) "Oh yeah? Well, tell me this…if the roles were reversed and you saw her kissing me and she told you that it meant nothing…" (raises his eyebrows) "…would you believe her? Or would you still run to Carly about it?"

(AJ stares at Nikolas and shakes his head angrily, causing Nikolas to nod)

Nikolas: "Yeah, that's what I thought. Face it, AJ, Elizabeth will never fully trust you again after what you did and you have no one to blame but yourself. When you love someone, you love them with your whole heart and accept the good as well as the bad. When you saw me comforting her, you didn't think to ask her what's going on." (shakes his head) "No, you didn't trust her enough to explain the situation."

AJ: (yelling) "Quit interfering! Quit trying to wreck our relationship!"

Nikolas: (shakes his head) "You're the one that's hurting your relationship, not me. You're doing it all on your own."

(AJ punches Nikolas in the eye, causing Nicholas to fall back from the force. AJ then looks at Nicholas with rage in his eyes)

AJ: "Elizabeth is mine! Stay the hell away from her!"

(Nikolas gets up and briefly touches his eye before looking at AJ)

Nikolas: "You should know by now that I don't control Elizabeth. She's free to love whoever she wants."

AJ: "Yeah, well, get it through your thick head that she chose me."

Nikolas: "Yeah, well, maybe if you had never had sex with Carly, Elizabeth wouldn't be second guessing herself. You just remember one thing: you cheated on her. I never did and never would. I would never do that to someone I love."

AJ: "It was a mistake! Can't anyone get that?!"

Nikolas: (tilts his head) "Which time? When you kissed Carly or the sex?"

AJ: "It was Carly's idea on the kiss. I wanted no part in it."

Nikolas: "Yeah, well, it doesn't change the fact that you still went along with it, didn't you?"

(Nikolas shakes his head angrily at AJ)

Nikolas: "You don't deserve her. You never have."

(AJ attempts to punch Nikolas in the nose, but Nikolas blocks himself and punches AJ really hard in his right eye, causing him to fall back a few feet but he regains his balance)

Nikolas: "Face it, AJ. Sooner or later, Elizabeth will admit how she truly feels towards me. She loves me, not you. And you will be left out in the cold like you deserve."

(AJ shakes his head, his eyes looking at Nikolas with anger)

AJ: "I will never let her go. You will never have her. Not if I can help it."

Nikolas: "Not if she chooses me in the end and face it, she will."

AJ: (shakes his head angrily) "I'll see you in hell first."

Nikolas: "You're kidding yourself. Do you really want to be with someone whose heart belongs to someone else? Elizabeth and I love each other. If you were really honest with yourself, you'd know she doesn't look at you the same way she looks at me."

AJ: (raises his head a little) "Go to hell."

(AJ then gathers himself and walks out of the living room and out of Nikolas' house. Meanwhile, Elizabeth stops by Laura's hotel suite. The petite woman hopes that her formal mother-in-law is home as she really needed some guidance right about now. She knew that Laura was Lucky and Nikolas' mother, but she also knew that Laura was a fair woman who saw the good as well as the bad in everyone and tried to give everyone a chance. Elizabeth walks to the front door of the hotel suite and knocks. After a few seconds, the door opens, revealing Laura)

Laura: (smiles) "Elizabeth. This is a pleasant surprise."

Liz: (hesitantly) "Am I catching you at a bad time?"

Laura: (shakes her head) "Not at all. Please come in."

Liz: (smiles) "Thank you."

(Laura lets Elizabeth in. Laura offers the young mother something to drink, but she politely declines. They both get comfortable on the couch before they face the other)

Laura: "As much as you love chatting with me about life and the boys, I gather this is a personal visit?"

(Elizabeth looks at Laura in confusion, wondering how she knew)

Laura: (chuckles softly) "I've known you for a really long time, my dear. I know when something is troubling you."

Liz: (chuckles nervously) "You're right, Laura. I know technically we're not in-laws anymore, but I will always consider you a mother."

(Laura puts her hand on Elizabeth's hand and gently caresses it and smiles tenderly)

Laura: "And I will always consider you a daughter." (shakes her head) "No matter where we are in life, you will always be family."

Liz: (smiles a little) "I appreciate that."

Laura: "I suspect there's a reason why you came over here?" (shakes her head) "I'm not turning you away, honey. But I can tell something is on your mind."

(Elizabeth sighs deeply as she looks down in sadness. Laura looks at the young woman and can tell something is eating away at her)

Laura: "Oh, honey, whatever it is, you know you can tell me. Everything we say to each other always stays between us."

(Elizabeth nods slowly and talks in a low voice)

Liz: (whispers) "Thank you, Laura."

Laura: (softly) "Can you tell me what it's about?"

Liz: "AJ and Nicholas."

Laura: (nodding) "Okay. Did something happen?"

(Laura can tell Elizabeth's torn about her feelings, which broke her heart. She knew Elizabeth is having a tough time committing to her choice to be with AJ. Laura offers comfort by placing her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder and massages it)

Liz: (tears in her eyes) "I-I don't know what to do. I made the choice to be with AJ because I felt it was the right choice. I know he's trying to change and he's proving that with me and the boys, as well as what he's doing at ELQ."

Laura: (nods slowly) "Okay. Go on, honey."

Liz: "My affair with Nikolas…it hurt a lot of people. Lucky most of all. I vowed to Lucky that there was nothing more between me and Nikolas. I also told that to Nicholas…and even myself."

(A few tears fall down Elizabeth's face)

Liz: "But there was one thing that I didn't count on."

Laura: (tilts her head, confused) "What's that?"

(Elizabeth puts her head down, as if in shame)

Liz: "I fell in love with Nicholas."

(Laura looks at Elizabeth and has a surprised look on her face. Laura knew this already from the way Elizabeth's been talking and acting, but hearing the young mother finally admit to it, that she didn't see coming. Laura privately knew this since Nikolas and her started going behind Lucky's back. Laura also knew it was unintentional, but she saw how hurt Lucky was by the betrayal. Nikolas tried to take the blame for everything, which Laura wasn't surprised about. Nikolas had his faults, but he never tried to run from the responsibility or the fall out. All Laura had to do was look in her son's eyes when he talked about Elizabeth or looked at her and she knew Elizabeth always had his heart. She was well aware of the fact that the love that Lucky and Elizabeth used to have is now gone. It's been gone a long time. They both grew apart long before the affair took place, even if neither realized it)

(Laura looks at Elizabeth and speaks in a low yet gentle voice)

Laura: "I know you love my son, sweetie. Truth be told, I knew it all along."

(Elizabeth looks up at Laura in confusion)

Liz: "W-What? H-How…H-How did you…?"

Laura: (smiles softly) "How did I know?"

(Elizabeth nods in puzzlement)

Laura: "A mother knows these things. I could tell from the way you'd talk about him or talk to him or the way you'd look at him."

(Elizabeth shakes her head quickly and nervously, as if scared about Laura's reaction)

Liz: "I-I swear to you, Laura. It-It was never my intention for it to happen. I-I didn't mean to. I hope you can forgive me."

Laura: (chuckles) "Oh, honey, I know it wasn't intentional. As much as you'd like to, you can't choose who you fall in love with. It can happen out of nowhere. And in this case, it happened to you and my son." (smiles) "And for the record, my son loves you just as much."

(Elizabeth looks at Laura weirdly, and leans back a little)

Liz: "I don't understand."

Laura: (smiles) "How do I know this? Oh trust me, sweetie, mother's can sense these things." (sighs) "He knew what he did with you regarding the affair was wrong, but he told me he never intended on falling in love with you." (chuckles softly) "He'll probably kill me for telling you all of this, but…" (winks) "…something tells me he'll forgive me for it."

Liz: (laughs) "Yeah, he is pretty forgiving. He's always said that's one of his weaknesses."

Laura: (sighs) "Now, as for AJ…"

Liz: "I care about him, Laura, a great deal. I know I probably shouldn't have taken him back, but he begged me and he sounded really sincere."

Laura: "Are you second guessing your decision?"
Liz: (sighs sadly) "I don't mean to. I know I don't have a right to be upset over what happened with Carly considering how I hurt Lucky, but AJ never even gave me a chance to explain. He went right to Carly."

Laura: (scoffs) "Yeah, someone he claims to despise."

Liz: "I don't understand that relationship."

Laura: "Oh, dear, I don't think anyone does in this town."

(Elizabeth and Laura can't help but share a laugh at the comment)

Liz: "What time is it?"

(Laura checks her watch)

Laura: "Five o'clock."

Liz: "Ooh, I almost forgot. I have to pick up the boys from the sitter. Haley was nice to come in at the last minute to get them after school while I was at the hospital. I better go relieve her."

Laura: (smiles) "Well, then, I guess you better go."

(Elizabeth smiles at Laura before getting up from the couch. As she's walking to the door, Laura speaks)

Laura: "I hope you're able to come to a decision between the two. Don't let anyone persuade you either way."

(Elizabeth gets to the door and turns around, smiling at her former mother-in-law)

Liz: "Thank you, Laura, for everything."

Laura: (nods & smiles) "No problem, sweetheart. I'm always here."

(Elizabeth and Laura share another smile at the other before the young mother leaves)

Laura: (sighs) "I can tell she's torn, but if I know my former daughter-in-law as well as I think I do…" (smiles a little) "…she'll make the right choice."

Thank you for reading. I appreciate the feedback. Thank you to those who follow/favorite/review. It is appreciated. If I ever have major errors in this story, kindly let me know. I'm not perfect, so there may be times where I make mistakes. Until next time!