Chapter Thirty-One:
Party of Four

"Are you ready to go in?"

"No."

"You look beautiful."

"I have to fix my lipstick."

"It looks fine."

"It won't."

Carly turned on her heel, and reached out, grabbing the lapels of Nikolas's jacket, pulling him towards her. She pressed her mouth hard against his, bringing a soft sound of surprise from him, before his hands moved to her hips and he drew her body close. They were in the parking lot of the Continental Hotel, only a few short steps down the pavement to the lobby, the restaurant, their parents. This was the furthest thing from Nikolas's mind as he parted his lips, inviting Carly to deepen the kiss as she pushed him back against the door of the Jag. They drank each other in, both grabbing desperately onto this feeling -- this feeling they'd been nurturing all day. This dizzying, magnetic, exhilarated feeling that kept pulling them together. They both coaxed it forward, and let it wash over them. Bind them. They were going into war. No harm in reminding themselves what they were fighting for.

"God, all I'm trying to do is be with you," Nikolas breathed, "Why is everyone being so difficult?"

"They're bored?" Carly brushed her lips against his, before sinking into him again. "We're just so irresistibly star-crossed that everyone wants to play along?"

"We're miles beyond star-crossed," Nikolas murmured against her lips. "Our stars are so far crossed, they're aligned."

Carly let out a short laugh, and pulled back, only to lean her body against his, laying her head on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her waist and held her tight against him.

"Why'd we stop sneaking around again?"

"We wanted more," he reminded, his words spoken close to her ear. She felt a shot of electricity shoot up her spine.

"Right."

"And this is just one dinner."

"Yep."

"And it would be so much worse if we were just trying to date."

Carly made a face. "I don't want to think about it." She extricated herself from his embrace and occupied herself with the task of smoothing the lapels of his jacket. "Ok," she raised her eyes to his. "Up for another round of 'Justify My Love'?" She cracked a smile that dimmed when she saw the slightly startled expression on Nikolas's face. "It's a song."

His brow furrowed. "Oh."

Good, Caroline. Start bandying around words like 'love', that's going to go some place you want to be. She took a step back, and gave him a grin that was a little too happy for the occasion.

"I'll have to start watching my references."

"I'll never learn that way."

Carly laughed, turning her face away. His hands slid from her hips, down her thighs, smoothing the material of the skirt.

"You really do look beautiful."

"You don't look bad yourself..." She tossed her hair, turning back to him. Her eyes were bright, and crinkled in amusement as she looked at him. "Even if you are wearing more of my lipstick than I am, now."

He grimaced. Carly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his handkerchief. He took it from her with a smile, and wiped his mouth, while she fished her lipstick out of her purse and reapplied. She pressed her lips together, then looked up at him inquiringly. "Good?"

"Very good."

"Then bring on the lions."

Bobbie saw them the moment they moved into her line of sight. She'd had her eyes trained stubbornly on the door every moment they weren't on her watch. She'd known this wasn't going to be a laugh riot, but frankly?

She'd forgotten how intensely uncomfortable -- check that; hadn't yet REALIZED how intensely uncomfortable it could be to sit at a table with her ex-husband. At the hospital, they had always kept things on the hostile side of civil, nicely mired in bureaucracy. It seemed to suit both of them. Let them leave things off as unfinished and unaddressed as they wished. No part of her had expected any of her history with Stefan to come up and start slapping her around.

So here she sat -- knowing her daughter was going to be mad at her, knowing that she would invariably say the wrong thing at some point during this night, and waiting for it like a kid on Christmas Eve waits for Santa Claus just because there was no earthly way it could be worse than trying to make small talk with Stefan -- who, apparently, was refusing to talk small. King of the pointed comments, he was turning out to be. This had been the longest five minutes of her life.

And so, when she spotted Carly and Nikolas being lead across the room by the Maitre'd, it had been all Bobbie could do not to just leap out of her chair. The moment Carly's eyes met hers, though, he daughter stopped short, and pulled Nikolas aside, much to the obvious annoyance of the Maitre'd. Bobbie leaned back in her chair, deflated. This was taking years off her life.

"There seems to be a last minute strategy session," Stefan mused, watching this scene with much less consternation.

Bobbie snorted. "Some sick part of you is enjoying this, isn't it?"

Stefan frowned. "To what possible end, Barbara?"

"You ask me one more question like that, and I'm going to do something unspeakable with my fork."

She wasn't entirely certain, but the look Stefan gave her before turning away, might have contained just a little bit of curiosity.

Across the room, Carly and Nikolas -- and the Maitre'd -- seemed to come to some sort of mutual agreement and started back to the table. Stefan, ever the gentleman, rose to his feet as they approached the table. Carly stopped dead and looked at the man like he was a talking cabbage. Her confusion wasn't helped any when he pulled out the chair beside him and offered it to her.

"Carly," the word sounded just wrong on his tongue. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

Carly looked back at Nikolas who was staring hard at his father with barely concealed distrust. He looked as suspicious as Bobbie felt, but she wasn't sure if she should find that comforting or terrifying.

"Yeah..." Carly stretched out the word, looking over at Bobbie. "Ditto. Bobbie?"

Bobbie sat up, and plastered an unconvincing smile on her face.

"You made it."

Carly's expression darkened immediately. "Five minutes," she said pointedly. "It happens." Carly turned her eyes back on Stefan and gave him a look that made Bobbie unspeakably queasy. "Thank-you," she over enunciated the words before taking the seat Stefan offered. The seat that, Bobbie couldn't help but noticed, made Carly the furthest person from her at the table.

Wow. That didn't take long. One sentence out of her mouth, and she'd already fouled out. She turned her eyes on Nikolas, hoping for better luck.

"Nikolas..." she faltered, realizing that Nikolas didn't seem to have so much as noticed her, as his eyes were still fixed on his father -- and now Carly -- seated together at the table. Bobbie frowned. She was here why, exactly? She pushed the chair beside her out with her foot, hitting Nikolas's leg and gaining his attention. "Have a seat," she shot a quick look at Stefan before turning back on her chair to face him.

"Sorry we're late," Nikolas apologized as he sat down. The words didn't appear to hold much meaning. Bobbie noticed Carly shift in her chair,

"I hadn't noticed," Stefan murmured, brushing something from the top of the table. "You had an enjoyable afternoon, I trust."

"It was all right," Nikolas cut off Carly's response to the question. Bobbie cringed inwardly, seeing the wary look on her daughter's face. Amazing. Not even a minute into this, and Carly looked insecure, Nikolas looked ticked off, she was going out of her skin and Stefan...

Stefan was in his element, turning to Carly and flashing a smile that Bobbie remembered, distantly, from the days when she first met him. It had been years since she'd seen it and she was a little surprised it wasn't dusty.

"You look as if your day agreed with you."

Carly, who looked, frankly, like a cornered animal, gave Stefan a thorough look before answering.

"Yeah, I had a good time." She glanced quickly at Nikolas before turning back and giving Stefan a smile that bordered on coy. "But then, I guess that's just the kind of girl I am."

"Good evening!" a waiter materialized at Bobbie's elbow, distracting her from her study of Nikolas's nonplused expression. The waiter was wearing an expression that had to be assisted by some kind of pharmaceutical. "Welcome to the Continental! Can I interest you in our specials?"

Bobbie pushed out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "I think we've got all the special we're going to need."

"How are you enjoying your bisque, Carly?"

Carly stared down at the cream soup. That made six direct questions, four innocuous-but-nice comments and three attempts at using her name. He was rapidly becoming her favorite person at the table. But that wasn't saying much.

"It's lobster-y," Carly dipped the spoon into the soup and lifted it to her lips, blowing lightly. She glanced over at the first course in front of Stefan. "How's your..." She paused, trying to remember what the heck he had ordered. "Green stuff?"

"Rather salty," Stefan looked at the food accusingly. Carly stifled a giggle by shoving her spoon in her mouth and concentrating on the task of eating. That was safe. She didn't want to look directly at Nikolas, because she was pretty sure she was either going to hit him with something, or... hit him with something else. God, this was getting typical. Everything is all sweetness and light when they're alone, and the second they are WITH other people he gets all moody and cold.

"Are you fond of seafood?"

Seven direct questions, four nice comments, three...

"The ones that have legs."

Stefan nodded. "You're from Florida, yes?"

Bobbie made a noise that smacked suspiciously of contempt and Carly saw Nikolas shift in his chair out of the corner of her eye. He was itching to put an end to this, she could tell. Exactly why wasn't she supposed to answer questions? Why did he keep looking at her like she about to stick her fingers in a light socket? She wasn't STUPID. She knew a snake when she saw one. She could answer a few simple questions and let him pull out a chair for her without Nikolas leaping in to run the show for her. This was his FATHER, for God's sake. If he'd raised him, then he couldn't be entirely evil. Besides. She could tell that talking to him was ticking off her mother something fierce.

Carly swallowed another mouthful of her bisque, then lifted her head and looked directly at Stefan, giving him a brilliant smile. "Born and bred."

"Inland? Or were you on the Ocean?"

Carly turned her body towards Stefan. "Ocean."

Nikolas sat back in his chair, watching this. Something was going on here. Something he wasn't privy to. He hated that -- the feeling, in this case, that everyone else was in on the joke here except him. The weird cocktail party exchange between his wife and his father. The suspicion that Carly was mad at him for something. The look of irritation on Bobbie's face. The fact that he appeared to be becoming invisible. Every time he spoke, though, he could see Carly tense across from him. So he kept quiet. For the moment.

"You grew up the water, then," Stefan was continuing.

"Pretty much my whole life."

"So The Zephyr suits you."

Nikolas groaned, despite himself, as the conversation that had started with Lobster Bisque had somehow been maneuvered to the boat. That was it. He wasn't going to listen to any more of this.

"Is that what you've been getting at?" There was no hiding the hostility in his voice. Both Stefan and Carly turned and looked at Nikolas as if he'd just done something incredibly impudent. Nikolas felt himself flush with anger. He turned to Bobbie, finding at least one person who didn't think he was out of line. "The Zephyr is my boat."

Bobbie, who was floundering in this situation, nodded, a little too appreciative of the information.

"The sailboat."

"The Zephyr suits me just fine," Carly spoke pointedly to Stefan, putting an end to Nikolas and Bobbie's conversation. "I've lived much worse places than a sailing yacht."

Bobbie sat up. "You're LIVING on the boat?"

"We're doing all KINDS of things on the boat," Carly snapped at her mother before the words had really passed through her brain. She knew that was exactly the sort of statement that always made Nikolas cringe. Well -- Good for him. Cringe away, for all she cared. If he thought she was acting out of line, she'd show him just how far IN the lines she'd been playing.

"Can we stop this?" Nikolas asked, leaning forward in his chair and interrupting Carly's line of thought. "Can we actually talk about this in something resembling a straightforward manner? We know that neither of you are particularly happy with us at the moment --"

"That's not true," Bobbie finally spoke.

Carly laughed bitterly. "Oh, I'm sorry. What was all that stuff at the house yesterday? I must have nodded off and missed the ticker tape parade."

"That's not fair, Carly."

"Hey, neither are most health insurance policies, we learn to live with these things."

Bobbie sighed, and dropped her fork to the plate with a clatter. "I'm on your side here, for God's sake!"

"Do I need to be on a side?" Carly looked over at Stefan, her eyes wide. "While we're getting things out in the open. Should I be armed? Do you plan disposing of me in the middle of this crowded restaurant?"

"Certainly not."

Bobbie leaned her forehead into her hand. "Carly."

"Look, I thought this was about everyone trying to get along for once," she caught Nikolas's eye. "Ok, so I'm not an idiot. I didn't think that -- but I thought it was about at least PRETENDING to get along for once."

Nikolas shook his head. "My father does nothing without an agenda, Carly."

Carly narrowed her eyes at him. "Thanks for the tip."

"My only agenda here is to come to grips with what your plans might be."

Nikolas cut off both Carly and Bobbie, his eyes fixed on his father. "We don't have any plans."

"Do you think that's advisable?"

Nikolas laughed hollowly. "Do I appear to be acting under any advisement at the moment?"

"No," Stefan's mouth tightened. "You do not." He leaned his body forward, his eyes locking on Nikolas's. "How long do you plan to stay on The Zephyr?"

Nikolas shrugged, careful not to give away any indication that he cared about this interrogation. "Indefinitely."

"There is virtually no way to secure that boat from interested parties."

Carly, sat back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest. "Meaning my family?"

"Meaning..." Stefan's gaze rested pointedly on Nikolas. "Curious onlookers. Tabloid Journalists. And my mother."

Nikolas felt himself go cold. His father must be desperate. There was no card anywhere bigger than his grandmother. It was the proverbial big gun that only proceeded an offensive attack.

"Helena's in Greece."

"You don't think she'd make a trip back in light of this news?"

"I don't know why she'd care," Nikolas fought to keep his voice light. "I'm not the prince anymore."

"You're still a Cassadine. You're still the heir to our line. And there is Timoria to consider," Stefan turned his eyes to Bobbie. "I don't have to tell you that my mother's sense of justice isn't something easily sated, and it does not respond to logic."

"She's my daughter," Bobbie's voice was raw. "She has nothing to do with any of this Timoria crap -- and I thought you people had given that up."

"That was before the world was presented with yet another Spencer/Cassadine union. The first since my mother recovered from the illness that kept her out of our marriage, Barbara."

Nikolas's hand reached across the table and grabbed Carly's. She started in her seat. She'd been engrossed in the intense look passing between Stefan and her mother. Bobbie looked legitimately concerned -- scared, even. And now Nikolas was gripping her hand and looking at her like she was a ghost.

"What?"

"They're playing our song."

Carly looked at him, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be mad at him. "We have a song?"

"Apparently." Nikolas stood up, pulling Carly to her feet with him. "We'll be right back."

"Nikolas."

"We'll be RIGHT back." He was already pulling Carly away from the table -- from the conversation -- and the idea that was being tossed around like it wasn't the most morbid, horrifying and sickening thing ever discussed within these walls. Nikolas placed a hand on Carly's back and steered her -- something Carly was noticing he did fairly often -- towards the sunken dance floor that marked the middle of the room. The final verse of Fly Me To the Moon was being crooned by a very flamboyant singer backed by a four-piece jazz band.

"What's going on?" Carly asked through her teeth, as Nikolas turned to face her.

"We're taking a break."

Carly studied her husband's face. He looked just little pale.

"Were they seriously just discussing how likely it is that I'm going to get killed for marrying you?"

Nikolas slid his arm around her waist and walked with her down the two steps to the dance floor. "They were just sending off flares. Ignore them."

"Ignore them?" Carly laughed, incredulously. "Are you going to ignore it when my uncle shows up on our doorstep -- excuse me -- deck -- with a sawed off shotgun with your name on it?"

Nikolas turned Carly in his arms, and took her hand in his. His eyes did not meet hers. "That's not outside the realm of possibility."

"Kinda my point." Carly paused, realizing the position she suddenly found herself in. "Hey. What are we doing?"

The band struck up the next song.

"Dancing," Nikolas said simply, pulling her against his body. Carly looked wildly around at the other couples populating the dance floor, then shook her head.

"I can't dance like this!"

Unseen, Nikolas closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of Carly's hair. It calmed him down almost immediately. Brought him out of the horror show his imagination was taunting him with. It would be Ok. He'd just hold her a little, regroup, and then they'd find a way to get through the rest of this. He swayed just a little to the music, pulling Carly's body with him.

"Like what?"

"Like this!" Carly protested, as Nikolas started to actually move his feet. She managed to emulate whatever mysterious pattern Nikolas was following for a few steps. "I only like dancing when there aren't rules. I can't do this stuff."

"You're doing fine." The words were scarcely out of Nikolas's mouth when Carly tripped over her own feet and fell against Nikolas's chest.

"You were saying?" Carly pushed herself off him. "I don't want to do this."

Nikolas stopped, and looked down at her. His eyes fixed on hers, held them as he brushed his knuckles lightly down her cheek. "Are you sure?"

Carly let out her breath slowly, convinced that Nikolas knew exactly what he was doing. Oh, he acted like a novice, but sometimes Carly got the distinct impression that he was capable of playing her like no one else. She glared at him, as her knees felt decidedly weak.

"I'm really pissed off at you."

A look, a very sincere and sad look, moved across Nikolas's eyes. "I know."

Oh, God damn him. Really, he had to be stopped. Carly glowered as she moved back into his arms, and grasped his hand in hers.

"One dance. Your way. Don't kill me."

"Give me... a Kiss to build a dream on. And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss..."

Back at the table, Bobbie was fuming. She couldn't believe this. Count on Stefan -- always count on Stefan -- to manipulate a situation in such a way that you'd actually end up agreeing with him.

"You're going to suggest they move in with you, aren't you?"

Stefan carefully folded his napkin, placing it on the table. "I'm legitimately concerned for their safety. Apart from my mother, there are concerns that have always accompanied Nikolas and our family's name. We both know they'll be better protected from all outside interference on Spoon Island."

Bobbie raised her brow. "What about your interference?"

"I doubt very much Nikolas would tolerate that for a moment. And your daughter seems more than capable of taking care of herself."

Bobbie averted her eyes. Oh, yeah. Carly was a hellion. She could take on the world, and win, if you ignored the fact that she bled from the inside afterwards. God, there was so much room for disaster here. So much room for her daughter to get hurt. And that was the reason she was here tonight. As messy and wrought with miscommunications as this night was, she still had that nugget to hold onto. She wasn't about to trust anyone else with the task of taking care of her daughter.

So far, the only comfort this night had afforded her was the sneaking suspicion that Nikolas was feeling just as protective as she was.

"So give me a kiss before you leave me... and my imagination will feed my hungry heart..."

Carly had gradually caught on to the rhythm and motion of Nikolas's dance, and was managing to keep up, if she divided her time between watching him, and watching her feet. This was just SO galling. He so clearly knew what he was doing and it was all she could do to fake it. Sort of the theme of the evening thus far, really.

"You're leading."

Carly's eyes snapped back to his. "I am not!"

"I know when I'm being led," Nikolas bowed his head, pressing his cheek to her temple. "Relax, Ok? I'm not going to steer you into any walls."

Carly scowled. "You're trying to edit everything I do tonight, aren't you?"

"I'm trying to keep my head above water," there was a defensive edge to Nikolas's voice. "I'm sorry if I'm missing some of my cues."

"I thought we were on the same side."

"We are."

Carly pulled back and looked directly at him. "It doesn't feel that way."

Nikolas stopped dead and moved his hands up to her shoulders, gripping them firmly, his eyes boring into hers.

"I don't trust him. I'm sorry, I know I'm being overbearing, but I don't trust him. Not where you're concerned."

Carly blinked. Wasn't a lot of arguing with that look. She searched his eyes a long moment looking for the loop hole. Finally she nodded.

"Ok."

Nikolas looked momentarily surprised. "Ok?"

Carly shrugged.

"Parents are hell." She reached up and pulled his hands from her shoulders. "You're wasting your dance."

"When I'm alone with my fancies I'll be with you... Weaving romances... Making believe they're true"

Bobbie let out a long sigh, as she watched Carly and Nikolas from a distance. She still wasn't used to the sight of it -- these two people who had been in her life for so long, together like this. They looked so careful with each other -- this strange mix of the familiar and the unknown. It was the strangest feeling. Watching her face, the way she moved. The tension in her body, and how it seemed to seep out and then return as she and Nikolas talked, and danced, and looked together. She could see it -- clearly -- how Carly seemed to hold back, then yield, then try to pull back again. She could see her lose, over and over again. She feels something, Bobbie thought to herself. She's really falling for him.

"Do you really think Helena would try something?" Bobbie didn't take her eyes from the dance floor as she spoke.

"I don't know my mother's mind. But I didn't stay alive this long giving her the benefit of the doubt." Stefan's words held no trace of any emotion whatsoever, but Bobbie knew there was more than a grain of truth in them. She picked up her glass of water off the table and gulped it down in one shot. She put it down on the table with a little more force than necessary. "Shall I have the waiter bring you something stronger, perhaps?"

"Pepto Bismol, maybe?" She drummed her fingers on the table top with nervous energy. She couldn't say she blamed Carly and Nikolas for beating a retreat. She was feeling a bit claustrophobic her, herself. "Is it always so crowded on Sunday?"

Stefan's eyes moved momentarily away from Bobbie to take in the room, then went right back to their mark. "I wouldn't know. I prefer to take my meals at home."

Bobbie popped her eyes. "Well. So sorry to drag you out like this."

"Not at all," he maddeningly ignored the sarcasm dripping of Bobbie's words. "I don't object to the company."

"Oh, please," Bobbie snapped. "I drugged you and plotted with my brother to betray you. You damn well BETTER object to the company."

"At present, it seems to make more sense to focus on the positive." Stefan leaned forward ever so slightly. "We had moments together that were not unpleasant. We were never at each other's throats. Some parts, if I recall correctly, were quite pleasurable."

Bobbie opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again. She tried again, but nothing came. She finally managed a glare, and shifted in her chair, crossing her legs only to have her foot collide with Stefan's leg. She pushed the chair backwards, reflexively at the inadvertent touch, and found herself on her feet. Stefan looked up at her with an expression that would pass for amusement if she had to name it.

"Barbara..."

Bobbie shook her head. "You're already winning, Stefan. Don't overreach your goal." She pulled out Nikolas's chair and sat down on it, defiantly crossing her legs away from the table and fixing her eyes on the young couple on the dance floor.

"Give me your lips for just a moment... And my imagination will make that moment live.... Give me what you alone can give..."

Carly let out a slow breath, and felt some of the tension in her body dissipate gradually as the song continued -- ignoring the fact that no part of her had given it permission to respond that way. She was just sick of trying to work so hard at this night. She let Nikolas nudge her feet with his when they were supposed to move, and found it disturbingly easy to let him direct her, move her with him. Damned if he wasn't good at this. Carly let her head lay against his shoulder.

"We've never danced together before."

Nikolas smiled slightly. "You noticed that too."

Carly lifted her head, looking up into dark eyes. She knew she didn't look happy; he didn't either. They were making a wonderful impression, weren't they? Misery twins, under the watchful eye of their parents and anyone who happened to wander into this place. God, this was awful.

"Something's going on, right?" Carly sighed heavily. "Something's bothering you?"

"It's not you."

"Whoopee."

Nikolas slid his hand from the small of her back, around her waist so that he was holding her quite close to him. "My father's going to suggest we move into Wyndemere."

Carly blinked, pulled back. "You sure?"

"He's going to try to get us off the Zephyr, at the very least."

"He's being too nice to me."

"He doesn't have anything to gain from being anything else."

Carly felt a twinge in her stomach. Of course not. Why would anyone ever be nice to her just for the sake of being nice? Not even Nikolas, who was constantly trying to get her to be easier on herself... He didn't believe Stefan had any sincere interest in being human to her. Why should that be some kind of disappointment? She shook her head out.

"Do you think he has a point?"

He made a gesture his head that wasn't clearly committing to yes or no. "We're not going any place you're not comfortable with."

"Ok." She stared at the opposite wall, her forehead creased with concern. This whole thing was passing out of the realm of annoying and deep into scary. She put her head down on Nikolas's chest, leaned her body against him. She felt strongly that she didn't want to play this game anymore.

"Are you worried?" Nikolas's movements were slowing.

"Hey, we knew this wasn't going to be fun," she tried to shrug it off, but Nikolas stopped, his hand still holding hers, his arm still clamped tight around her waist. "Nikolas?"

"I don't want any of this to touch you." His eyes searched hers urgently. "I'll keep it away from you, I swear."

"Nikolas," Carly cut him off. "I knew I was marrying a Cassadine, you know? The whole Gothic thing is part of the package."

Nikolas's eyes clouded. "I'm going to spend this entire marriage apologizing to you, aren't I?"

"Only when I'm not apologizing to you." Carly cocked her head at him. "You know," She let a teasing edge move into her voice. "The Spencers usually come out on top of these things anyway."

"Don't start," Nikolas looked serious, but she could tell he was a little relieved. Around them, she caught couples shooting them looks for being at a dead stop in the middle of the floor.

"Look," Carly sighed, "I figure if I protect you from my family and you protect me from yours, at the end of it... we'll probably both end up with the same amount of blood on our hands."

"Can I kiss you?"

He smiled, and it looked beautiful. She didn't know why, but it made her heart swell a little.

"You have to stop asking me that."

Nikolas lowered his mouth to hers, lightly brushing her lips before allowing himself to gently kiss her bottom lip. It was soft and restrained, controlled. She could feel him holding back, making sure that nothing they did was going to move them into the realm of public spectacle. Carly shivered a little and a warm tingly feeling started to spread through her. God, he had this ability, this amazing ability to make her feel so incredibly... special. Maybe it was just the way he was -- she's always felt like this with him, from their first night together. Whatever it was, she was grateful for it at this moment.

"Nikolas," she smiled up at him, as the kiss broke. "You're better than Prozac."

"So give me... A kiss to build a dream on... And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss..."

Evil Stepmother, Bobbie thought. How was it that Carly, her only biological child, always made her feel like a fairy tale troll -- even from across the room. God, look at them. Look at the smile she was giving him. The way she moved in his arms. She watched Carly drop her head back and Nikolas's arms support her. Her daughter straightened up again, laughing, giving him a brilliant smile.

Now, Carly looked... Oh, god. Carly looked... happy. Momentarily, and it would probably -- looking at the circumstances they were in -- be a brief attack, but... she looked happy. And Bobbie couldn't remember the last time she'd looked at Carly and thought that. She felt tears spring to her eyes. Oh, she had no idea what she thought of this anymore. Hadn't, really, since Nikolas had given her that speech in the kitchen. Was it a disaster? Was it serendipity? Was it something she was going to have any control of either way?

It was a chance. Maybe that was all that mattered. There was a chance here that Carly might get to get out from the rock she was under. Might be able to have something that wouldn't get taken away from her.

On the other hand, this was Port Charles.

"Do you think there's any way that this wasn't a terrible idea?"

Stefan glanced up from what were probably deep ruminations she didn't care to know that origin of.

"This world is full of possibilities."

"That," Bobbie lamented, tossing her napkin down on the table, "is the problem."

"Sweetheart, I ask no more than this... A kiss to build a dream on..."

The song came to an end, and Carly and Nikolas stayed glued to their spot in the middle of the floor, gazing at each other like lovesick teenagers. Carly's eyes were taking his in without apology -- searching them, reading them. Really easy. She felt no desire to turn away, to feel self-conscious about the fact that he was doing the same thing to her. She just let herself melt into him. Ignore everything else.

"Do you want to go back to the table?"

Nikolas groaned, and moved his eyes from hers to look towards their table. "What do you think?"

"Are they both still there?"

Nikolas nodded.

"Is there a lot of blood?"

He shook his head, his eyes moving back to hers and staying there. Carly let out a sigh of contentment. This was nice. They really should have done something like this sooner. Just -- without the parents. And the intrigue. Another song started, the band leader making some kind of patter as the intro was played, that Carly didn't hear and didn't care to. But as the song began to play, she moved closer to him. It was a slower number and she didn't feel like moving away from him any time soon.

"This... " Carly slid her one hand down Nikolas's arm. "This is my speed. We dance to this my way."

Nikolas took her hand, let her reel him towards her. "What's your way?" Carly took the hand that was still holding hers and moved it around her back. She raised her arms and clasped them around his neck, her eyes still drinking deep from his. The singer began to croon.

"Tonight you're mine, completely..."

Carly smiled as she watched Nikolas pull in a very careful and controlled breath. She began to move to the music, slowly. Her body commanding his move with her. So maybe she did lead... At the moment, he didn't seem to mind so much.

"You give your love so sweetly"

Carly's hand slid along Nikolas's collar and down along his chest. She turned slowly in his arms and leaned back against him. Nikolas's arms automatically moved to hold her against him.

"Tonight..."

She closed her eyes, breathing in the smell of his cologne. Nikolas lifted one hand and let it trail along Carly's arm. She opened her eyes and bit her lip to try to banish the grin that wanted to take complete possession of her.

"...The light..."

Carly exhaled, and looked out at the restaurant around them. This was so strange, she thought. Out in public, some place without a jukebox or a pool table, being held like this. Being openly...

"...Of love..."

Her eyes caught something; something so familiar and almost expected, that it took half a second for her brain to process it as wrong.

"...Shines in your eyes."

The moment it did, her heart leapt into her throat and the word came out of her mouth in a gasp.

"Jason."

"But will you still love me tomorrow?"