Chapter Thirty:
Familiar

Nikolas had known this was going to happen.

Oh, he hadn't figured on it happening this way -- clearly he wouldn't have left the boat if he'd thought his father would have THIS much gall, but he'd known this was coming. Since when did Stefan ever sit down and watch Nikolas's life unravel as it may?

Nikolas exhaled and turned his eyes to Carly, to check on how she was handling this.

It took him a moment to completely digest what he was seeing. She was sitting on the bench in front of him, her face tilted up to him. Wearing a look of apprehension on her face, and their bed sheet around her body. He knew exactly what she had on under that sheet. The same thing she'd been had on the whole night he'd been lying under that sheet with her.

Yeah. This was just getting worse.

He took a careful step down from the deck to the cockpit, his eyes moving warily between the two factions, trying to catch some glimpse of what had been unfolding before he'd arrived. Both parties were watching him with the same look of anticipation. Nikolas had the distinct impression that it was his serve.

"I..." he stopped, out of words before he had even begun. He looked over at his father, and started to say something again, but found that nothing came out. He turned, finally, back to his wife and thrust the cup of coffee and take out bag at her. "Breakfast."

Carly looked momentarily confused, then a slow smile spread across her face. "You went to get breakfast..."

Nikolas was already becoming familiar with that tone. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it usually followed his doing anything that Carly considered bizarre behavior. Like asking her to marry him. Or feeding her.

"I don't know what it is," his voice sounded as rigid as his arms felt, holding the items out to her. "But the coffees black."

"Good boy," Carly nearly purred as she rose to her feet. Nikolas didn't move his eyes from hers, but he was acutely aware of how present his father was at the moment. He had a feeling that, whatever had happened here, he was well off to have missed it. That didn't change the fact that his mouth felt suddenly dry at the sight of her coming towards him, at the look of challenge in her eyes. God, how did he get himself into situations like this?

Carly took the cup of coffee from Nikolas, her finger tips lightly brushing his. He cleared his throat, though he had no plans to say anything. Carly pulled the bag from his other hand, taking it in the same hand that was holding the coffee. Her other hand slid up his chest and around his neck.

"Good morning," she whispered the words to him, like she was telling him a secret, some kind of confidence. He opened his mouth to respond, but only managed breath. He had no idea what she was doing, but no part of him was capable of turning away from it. He felt Carly's body press against him and her lips moved on a slow and unavoidable trajectory to his. Her kiss was soft, romantic -- just walking the line between chaste and sensual. Nikolas's arm slid around her waist without hesitation. His hand closed around the sheet that was resting dangerously low on her back, and lifted it, covering up the exposed skin in a strangely modest gesture for someone who was letting himself kiss his wife in front of his father.

Carly pulled back, her hand sliding from his neck, over his shoulder, and then down his chest. Then it returned to it's primary job of the day thus far -- holding up the sheet. This, Nikolas realized, as Carly withdrew from the embrace, was going to be a very weird day.

"I think I'm going to go slip into something less comfortable." Carly threw a look at his father over her shoulder. "Nice to meet you again, Mr. Cassadine."

Nikolas knew no one was meant to believe her. If he hadn't, it was clear when she turned back to him, her face hidden from his father, and cringed. It was beautiful, and he had to fight the urge to laugh. Carly handing people exactly what she figured they expected from her, and following it immediately with complete insecurity. He understood what was happening then. She was showing his father that they were together. No question. He could feel his blood rush through his veins at the realization, and it was all he could do not to just pull her back to him, kiss her again.

God, he loved his woman.

Moving his eyes to Stefan, Nikolas felt a strange mixture of fatigue and outrage. It was hard to reconcile how radically different his feelings towards these two people were. Having them in the same place, knowing he had to deal with one before he could deal with the other... It just made him weary. Not to mention, a little frustrated.

"I'll be down soon," he spoke to Carly without looking at her.

"I'll be waiting."

She brushed past him, moved through the hatch into the cabin. Nikolas didn't blink, didn't move, just watched his father and waited until he could no longer hear Carly's footsteps or the drag of the material along the steps. Then he stepped forward, blocking the entry to the cabin with his body.

"I'm tired," he announced, almost surprised at how flat his voice was.

Stefan sat back and pressed the tips of his fingers together. "Understandably."

Nikolas shook his head. Didn't care to think about what that might mean. "What do you want?"

Stefan's previously impassive demeanor had dissolved as his eyes intently examined his son. "You must have expected I'd come looking for you."

"For me," Nikolas strained to keep his voice down. There would be no scene here. He didn't have the energy for it. "But I didn't think you'd sweep down on my wife like a vulture the moment I left her alone."

Stefan frowned. "Do you really think my motives to be that nefarious?"

"Right now, I'm not sure what your motives are."

"No," Stefan rose, drawing himself up to his full height. The small space between them shrunk and Nikolas found himself standing eye to eye, toe to toe, with his father. "No," he repeated, as if speaking gospel. "You are always aware of my motives, Nikolas."

Nikolas's stomach contracted at the implication. He hated fighting with his father like nothing else on this planet. It was always painful, bitter and he always lost. The moment his father played that card -- the second he was reminded of the devotion, the fierce protective loyalty his father had displayed his entire life, he would lose all ability to hold his ground. From that instant on, the argument would belong to Stefan. And there was nothing he could do to change that.

"I can't do this right now," Nikolas pushed past Stefan, but only had a few feet pacing room. The space was too small for everything he was feeling right now. "It's not fair to Carly, and it's entirely possible that it's not fair to you."

"I'm not one to retreat from the challenges you present me with," Stefan spoke softly, behind him.

Nikolas laughed bitterly. "No matter how much I might want you to." He heard his father exhale.

"Much of what happened yesterday was bourn of emotion -- on both our parts."

"Maybe." Nikolas swallowed against the tightening in his throat. "But it felt more honest than any conversation we've had in recent memory."

"Nikolas --"

Letting out a groan, Nikolas turned on his heel, and threw out his arms. "I'm not going to argue with you!" His arms dropped heavily against his sides. "You said what you were thinking, you can't take any of it back."

"You're not willing to even grant me the chance to admit I was wrong."

Nikolas blinked. All right, he must be more tired than he thought. "You... What?"

Stefan pressed his lips together -- making a thin bloodless line of them, before consenting to speak. "I admit, much of what I said was foolish. There is no point in arguing the merit of a marriage you're already in."

Nikolas drew in his breath. This... This was very far from what he'd expected. His eyes narrowed. "Is this where you pull out the annulment agreement?"

A look of injury flicked across Stefan's face before he folded his arms across his chest. "I have no plans to do anything of the kind."

"No," Nikolas felt his breath quicken. "No, of course not. You wouldn't need to talk to her alone for that." His hands tightened into hard fists. "How much did you offer her?"

Stefan's hand came up to hold his chin. He regarded Nikolas with an expression that was stern and disapproving.

"You think I have an interest in seeing you hurt again, perhaps?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm everyone else!" Nikolas bit off the words. "I know you. I know what you're capable of -- what you've done in the name of my care and protection -- so don't act like I'm insulting you."

"All right," Stefan lifted his chin, resting it on his hand, his thumb absently stroking his goatee. "Then my next question is -- What do you think I'd have to gain from such transparent and clearly unwelcome behavior?"

Nikolas shook off the logic. "You did this with Sarah, you did it with Robin, and there is absolutely NO reason I can see why this isn't going to happen again -- "

"It isn't going to happen again, because you have made it very clear that you will not tolerate it."

That took the wind out of Nikolas's sails a little. "I won't."

"After yesterday, I'd think it's far more likely I'm here to mend fences rather than burn bridges."

Nikolas stared at him, searched familiar eyes for some sign -- any sign -- of what was going on in his father's head. He did this all the time -- EVERY time they fought, every time he confronted him when he sensed a plan brewing. And after all these years... There was never anything there. No hints, not even for him.

"And you started with Carly." He put up a hand, stopping his father's answer. "Don't insult me by saying that wasn't a purposeful move."

"You do know me, Nikolas," Stefan answered after a moment. "I don't deny that. But yesterday I reacted without any knowledge of the situation."

"Which is why you've come here to pump my wife for information?"

"Had that been my objective, I would have been out of luck," Stefan glanced back at the hatchway. "She's very protective."

Nikolas felt his face heat. His father knew him too well. If he wanted him to say something that would expose him completely... Protective. God. He felt suddenly unsteady, and turned, sinking onto the closer bench. Clearly he wasn't getting any less transparent.

"I know," Nikolas spoke finally, his voice barely audible. "You have that in common." He rubbed his hand over his face roughly. "Why ARE you here, then?"

There was a silence, one during which, Nikolas was sure, he was being watched intently. Then, he heard the sound of Stefan's approach. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor of the boat as his father sat on the bench beside him.

"I saw Barbara last night."

Nikolas closed his eyes. Oh, Bobbie must have loved that. "And..."

"She agreed that we should all meet -- on neutral ground -- to renew ties."

Nikolas sighed and lifted his head. "She agreed, or she just didn't want to let you out of her sight near her daughter?

Stefan gave a wan smile. "Can you blame me for wanting to know more about the woman who married my son?"

"No, I expect it," Nikolas turned his eyes on his father. "But that's not something you've ever gone about by actually TALKING to someone."

"These are new circumstances."

"It's not a circumstance," Nikolas snapped. "It's a marriage."

Stefan didn't respond -- didn't nod, didn't so much as blink. His eyes just looked into Nikolas's like there was no end to them. Nikolas turned away first.

"I'll talk to Carly," He looked out at the dock, but didn't really see it. "We'll call."

"I'll make reservations. In anticipation."

Nikolas considered answering back to that, but there was no use in pretending. He said maybe, Stefan knew it was yes. Unless Carly put up a particularly impressive fight... And from the display she'd made before disappearing into the cabin, Nikolas somehow doubted that. Though really, she wouldn't have to put up much resistance for him to fold. Right now he had all the fight in him of a loofa sponge.

"I really need to be alone now." He knew he sounded cold. He knew his father no doubt wanted something more for him.

"Very well." Stefan rose, next to him. Turned towards him. Nikolas kept his eyes stubbornly on the boardwalk. "I'll expect your call."

Nikolas kept his eyes unfocused and staring blindly in front of him as his father said his good-bye, ascended out of the cockpit, and moved to disembark from the boat. He didn't blink when Stefan moved along the dock, past the boat, and began to walk out of the marina. The moment his father turned onto the main dock -- the one that lead up to the parking lot -- Nikolas's eyes snapped back into focus and he watched the retreating figure -- noticed the driver appear out of nowhere to accompany him on his walk out of the Marina.

My father, Nikolas thought. Family contained in one man, for so long. Even Alexis -- wasn't a member the 'immediate family' the way they were. Cassadines, for so long, meant The Prince and The Regent. Their own small but important branch. They were a universe of two, somehow revolving around each other and no one else. And now he'd brought someone else into that. He still couldn't make himself grasp what that meant. Really, grasped so little outside of the desire, the need, the way she made him feel weak and strong in the same moment. That wasn't the sort of thing he felt moved to try to explain to anyone.

Stefan disappeared from sight, and Nikolas told himself to shake the mood off. To move. Get up. Just get up, go find her, get this over with. Start having a day that isn't about other people.

He didn't move.

"So. Are you mad at me?"

Nikolas blinked, and turned toward the source of the voice. Carly was standing in the doorway to the cabin -- dressed now, in a pair of faded jeans and a tank top. She was leaning against the door jamb, the cup of coffee and take out bag in her hand. She looked ready for a confrontation, but there was just enough apprehension in her posture to give her away. Her hair was still wild and untamed, her eyes still looked a bit sleepy. A small smile managed to make it to his lips at the sight of her.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

She stepped out onto the deck, squinting in the bright noon sun. "I have a history of screwing things like this up."

"Not that I can see..." Nikolas extended his hand towards her. "Come here."

Carly looked momentarily wary, then reached out her hand, taking his, and allowed him to pull her towards him.

"There are, like... way too many muffins," she mumbled as she approached him, tossing the bag onto the bench as she came to stand between Nikolas's legs. "How many of us do you think there are?"

"You don't like muffins?"

"It's fine," she pulled her hand free of his. "it's just... a lot." She was occupying herself with pulling the lid off her coffee cup like it was higher engineering. Nikolas watched the steam escape from the cup and spiral up into the air, suspecting that however many muffins Elizabeth had given him, they weren't the actual issue here. Sure enough, Carly lifted her head and pushed out her breath. "He just showed up, ok? It wasn't like I had prep time."

"That wasn't a mistake."

Carly gave a short laugh, her breath rippling the surface of her drink. "I know."

Nikolas raised his hand, carefully, and placed it on her hip. Look at me, he willed her, his eyes raised, waiting for hers. She put a hand on his shoulder, a sudden and steadying gesture, but kept staring at the water as she drank her coffee.

"He didn't ask you a lot of questions, did he?"

Carly took a long sip before answering. "No."

"Did you tell him about the window?" Nikolas spoke softly. Carly nearly choked on her drink before looking down at him in shock. Nikolas gave a fought against a smile, and she seemed to relax a bit.

"Did I tell him I had to get you drunk to get you interested?" She gave a short, bitter laugh. "No."

Nikolas's hand slipped around Carly's waist to rest on the small of her back. "I wasn't drunk."

She narrowed her eyes at him, though a smile started to make it's way onto her face. He rolled his eyes.

"Ok, I was a little drunk," he allowed. "But I'm extraordinarily sober at the moment, and I haven't lost interest."

"Hmmm," she granted a full-fledged smile now. "Is that your way of saying you want the rest of your morning kiss?"

He shook his head as her lips moved towards his. "Rest?"

"The unedited version."

Carly's body leaned towards him, and she paused a moment to put the coffee down on the ledge, before turning her attention back to him just in time to catch him licking his lower lip in anticipation. She paused, then slowly moved closer, putting one knee on the bench, sliding down to sit on his thigh. Nikolas let out a long breath, his eyes fixed on hers. She teasingly let her tongue run along the part of his lips. Nikolas's hand slipped behind her neck, his other arm pulling her body tight against him. His lips moved against hers eagerly with more than a trace of hunger. The kiss was long, deep, provocative. The more awake version of all the kisses they'd exchanged over the course of the night. As she pulled back, he lifted his head, caught her bottom lip between hers, and pulled her back to him for a long moment before finally releasing her. Carly looked down at him, her expression a little glazed. Nikolas couldn't help but smile.

"Good morning," he breathed. She groaned, and put her head down on his shoulder. He tightened his arm around her. "If it still counts as that."

Carly gave a half laugh, and turned her head against his neck. "It wasn't that bad."

"You're ok, then?"

She let out a long breath before answering. "I really didn't think I'd be waking up alone today."

Nikolas sighed. He'd been so busy reacting to his father, he hadn't thought about that angle. "You were supposed to sleep until I got home."

"Darn," Carly pulled back and made a face. "Too bad you didn't clue me in on that plan."

"I won't make that mistake again." Nikolas watched her. She wasn't looking at him again. He cupped a hand against her cheek, slipped his fingers into her hair. "Why? Did you think I'd left?

She shrugged, playing absently with the top button on his shirt. "I just wanted to wake up next to you."

She spoke so softly the words hardly seemed real. More than that, they were words Nikolas had never even imagined hearing from someone. He struggled with the absolute euphoria of hearing someone say that to him, while assaulted by the guilt of not giving her that.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not a big deal."

"No," Nikolas's fingertips brushed against her cheek, directing her eyes to his. She looked at him, but her gaze was fixed on his chin. He pressed a kiss against her mouth, speaking against her lips. "I loved sleeping next to you," he kissed her again, pulling her lips gently with his before pulling back to look at her. "You can't know how much... " He let the words die in his throat. Carly was looking at him with disbelieving, watery eyes. She was so exquisitely, incredibly, breathtakingly beautiful. He shook his head, slowly. "God..." he murmured. "I can't believe this is my life."

Carly gave a sharp laugh, and turned away. After a moment, she asked "Are we going to dinner?"

Nikolas groaned. Right -- Definitely his life. "If we don't, he'll just keep trying."

"So that's a yes."

He closed his eyes. "He's my father," he said finally. The words always made him feel weak. He did so much in the name of it.

"So we'll go," Carly's voice was deceptively light, cutting into his ruminations. Nikolas didn't buy it for a moment. He opened his eye and tried to catch hers again. "My mom, your dad... It'll be a party."

"By someone's definition," Nikolas rubbed her arm, gently. "He's agreed to neutral ground, so it's not like we'll have to go out to the island."

"What, so we're going some place with witnesses? Like the..." She stopped dead, her eyes widening.

"What?"

Carly turned her gaze on him, a look of alarm on her face. "I'm not going to the Grille!"

Nikolas furrowed his brow. "Ok."

"I mean, there isn't anything getting me into that place," Carly's voice rose a few octaves. "I have a list as long as my arm why --"

"All right." Nikolas repeated. "I said I'd call. I'll tell him we won't go to the Grille."

Carly exhaled. "Good. I have nothing to wear as it is, without... " her voice trailed off. She shook her head and looked back at him. "Can we not make our whole day about this? I mean... is that possible?"

"I think that's very possible."

Carly seemed to soften at his words. Her body relaxed, and she leaned into him again, slipping her arms slipped around his neck, and Nikolas had to tilt his head back to look up at her.

"We could just spend the rest of the day in bed," Carly confided, looking down at him. "Recover." Her hair draped down to hide them, the edges brushing against Nikolas's neck.

Nikolas's arms circled her waist. "That... sounds decadent."

"You don't think we earned it?" She pulled back, brushing her lips enticingly against his. "Or are you worried that we're going to get more visitors?"

Nikolas cleared his throat. "Nice thing about boats... They move."

Carly's eyes lit up and she pushed herself back from him. "Can we take it out?"

"In fact, I think that would be a wise decision."

Carly grinned. "Oh, God... That's brilliant," she gushed. "That ALMOST makes up for having to go out in public and..." she stopped dead, her eyes staring at nothing.

"Something wrong?"

His answer was contained in both her expression when she turned back to him, and the open-hand slap she delivered to his upper arm. Three times. Nikolas started, more in surprise than due to any actual pain.

"HEY!" He protested. "What's that for?"

Carly glared at him. "I have to go out in public!"

Nikolas just stared at her. "Ok..."

Carly bent her neck, pulling her hair to one side, and gave him a pointed look. Nikolas winced.

"See, that's why I apologized..." he reached out and tentatively touched the mark he'd left on her during their tryst in the galley the day before.

"There is no way your father isn't going to see this!"

"Carly... " Nikolas laughed and immediately regretted it and tried to turn it into a cough. "There's no way my father missed it when you greeting him this morning in that fetching sheet."

She sat back, her arms folded across her chest. "It was a fetching sheet -- you would have thought so if you'd been there to appreciate it."

Nikolas exhaled. "You have no idea how sorry I am that I wasn't."

Carly snorted. "That's what you get for going all hunter and gatherer on me."

"I don't think he's going to expect us to go any place really... Crowded."

"Oh right," Carly's expression tightened. "Not too anxious to show off the new white trash daughter-in-law."

Nikolas flinched. "Hey."

Carly shook her head. "Come on, Nikolas. We're going to have to get used to this. Everyone pointing and staring and coming up with little theories --"

"It doesn't matter."

"Says the one with the blue blood in his veins."

"Look at me," Nikolas put his hand up to the side of her face, touching her cheek lightly as she turned her head away from him. "Hey, look at me." Her breath was unsteady as she pushed it out of her lungs and turned back to him. Nikolas held her eyes with his, a resolute expression on his face. "You're a Cassadine," his voice was adamant, words reminding himself as well as her. "That's what they'll be talking about. There is no one you can't buy, sell or scare the hell out of." Carly's eyes clouded, and Nikolas gave a small smile. "All right, maybe there is, but you're related to all of them."

Carly stared at him, her eyes searching his. "That doesn't change who I am."

"Thank God," Nikolas murmured. He raised his lips to hers and kissed her gently. Then again, a little more intent on pulling her closer to him. Carly sighed when he pulled back, and moved her arms around his neck. She held him tightly for several moments before pulling back and kissing him again.

"I still have to walk in there with a hicky on my neck."

Nikolas brushed his lips along her cheek, then lay a soft kiss under her ear. "Maybe they'll think we're having sex," he repeated her words of the day before to her. Carly, much to his relief, laughed. Nikolas kissed the spot where her jaw met her neck. "It doesn't change anything."

"Nikolas..." Carly sighed against him, and dropped her head back, allowing him better access. "A matched set isn't going to make this any better."

"Don't worry," he murmured, kissing down her neck. "I'm being very careful."