Chapter Thirty-Two:
Reunion

The last time Carly had seen Jason he hadn't seen her. She'd been standing on the patio of the club where his wedding reception had been held, wearing a bad dress with uncomfortable shoes, and watching him over the shoulder of Nikolas Cassadine. Ten seconds from absconding with a bottle of champagne and the local aristocratic stud. The only thought in her head had been 'get me out of here'.

That sentence was making a reappearance. Closely followed by 'This can't be happening' and 'Somebody up there hates me.'

Jason's cool eyes were fixed on hers with his typical lack of embarrassment or apology. She knew the look he was giving her, too. That look of caution that was usually followed by irritation. The heavy sigh. The "What do you think you're doing NOW, Carly?"

"Oh, God," she moaned, turning in Nikolas's arms, her eyes not coming anywhere near his. "Oh, God, what do we do?"

Nikolas shook his head hard. The sound of Jason's name on his wife's lips had hit him like a bucket of ice water, shattering the intoxicating spell Carly had been weaving around him. Now that reason for it was sinking in... No. No, he didn't feel any less thrown.

Funny how unprepared you can be for something that you know is unavoidable. They'd known this was coming. But they hadn't talked about it. Hadn't acknowledged it, not once. The names had come up only to antagonize, and had been pushed aside as fast as they could both manage. Staring at the stiff and unmoving figure of Jason Morgan, Nikolas was immediate aware of why. Nothing -- Nothing -- stopped you cold like watching the man your wife is in love with watch her.

The moment Carly turned towards him, Nikolas's arms tightened around her of their own accord. If there was any way he could keep her against him like this, her face turned away from her ex, he would. But that clearly wasn't going to work. So he had better start working out plan B.

It was at that point that Nikolas realized that Jason wasn't alone. Not even close to it. Robin was standing on the other side of the table, her hand on the back of a chair as if she'd been in the midst of pulling it out. She'd stopped mid-action and was now staring at him like he was an apparition. After a moment, she closed her mouth and gave him a small-but-confused smile. Nikolas felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck as their eyes met. After a moment, he nodded in return. Robin, apparently released from her paralysis, pulled out the chair and turned to say something to the other people she was with -- Jason, Mac, and Felicia. Family dinner. How cozy.

"Ever wonder who you wronged in your previous life?" Nikolas murmured slowly, not taking his eyes from the party across the room. Couldn't help but notice that, even as everyone else sat down, Jason stayed on his feet.

"No," Carly pulled herself free of his embrace, and ran a self-conscious hand through her hair. "Cause I wronged 'em all in this one." She pulled in a bracing breath, and turned to look back at Jason, pasting a weak smile on her face. He narrowed his eyes slightly in response, then turned as someone spoke to him, pulling his attention away from her. Carly watched as he bent to listen to something Robin was telling him.

Robin. ROBIN. Oh, Christ, where one was, the other followed. Why oh WHY couldn't Jason be here on a business meeting? And what was he doing HERE? No one ever came to the Continental. It was the Mercy Hospital of hotels; the place to go to be decidedly not seen. Who the hell were the happy couple avoiding?

Her, maybe?

Carly looked down at the floor. Yeah, and that was flattering herself. She wasn't the Wicked Witch they'd thought she was. No, it'd been a long time since she'd felt like anything but a soggy heap of brown sugar.

"We should probably go back to dinner," Nikolas's voice brushed up against her ear. His hands a firm grip on her hips. Carly let out a quick, slightly hysterical laugh.

"Decisions, decisions," Her eyes shot over to the table they'd been escaping when they'd come over here. Stefan had turned in his chair and was, for the first time this evening, wearing an expression that didn't look particularly congenial. Bobbie was on her feet. She looked horrified, her hands clenched into fists. Like there was something she should do. Like she was standing there prepared for Carly to go crazy all over again. Poor Mama, Carly thought bitterly. Such a hard job, taking care of the deranged daughter. How incredibly disappointed she'd be if Carly just went back to the dinner table like a good little girl.

"Come on," she grabbed Nikolas hand determinedly, her eyes darkening. Nikolas pulled back on her hand as she moved out of his grip, not moving from his place.

"Where are you going --"

"We, Kimosabe," Carly tossed a quick look at him. "It would be rude not to say hello."

Nikolas stomach tightened. He could deal with rude. Rude was just fine. It was everything else that was giving him trouble at the moment.

"Carly."

Carly turned on her heel and looked directly at him. Her voice was shaking when she spoke. "We're together or we're not, Nikolas. Which is it?"

There was only one answer to that question. Only one response to that look in her eyes. He moved forward, trying to pull her back to him. Carly turned away, though, and started on her marked trajectory to the table, her hand still holding her husband's.

Nikolas followed. As much as he hated it, he followed.

"Well," Carly's voice was light and breezy as she approached the couple. "Imagine meeting you here."

Nikolas felt very much like an accessory, following behind her. It brought him back to the day before -- The Quartermaine Mansion, AJ... He had to fight with himself to remember that he'd been wrong about what she was thinking that time. This was just how Carly was. When she's threatened, she fights. He'd learned this. And right now... She looked like a cat caught on a high wire. Just the way she is, he told himself sternly. None of it's going to mean anything. No. Of course not.

Every single person at the table -- except Jason -- put on the same thin smile. They looked like group of people who had just been locked in a room with a lion and told they'd be fine if they didn't make any sudden moves. Robin spoke first. "We were just saying that..." she met Carly's eyes for a moment, then looked over at Nikolas. Her smile warmed. "Hello, Nikolas."

Nikolas felt Carly's hand tighten with surprising force around his hand as Robin spoke. He forced himself not to wince. "Robin." God, that word felt strange in his mouth.

"I didn't know you were back," Carly directed the words at Jason. He took longer than necessary to respond.

"I'm back."

It seemed to mean something to Carly, but Nikolas couldn't catch anything in the way Jason said the words.

"Yeah..." Carly stared at her ex-boyfriend, and tried to think of something to say. She was so far from prepared for this. Standing here, looking into his familiar face, anticipating everything that flickered across it, knowing what words were going to follow what statements. He was, for the first time since she'd taken Nikolas to her bed, real again. From the line of his jaw to the faint smell of his cologne. There was suddenly no denying... No amount of marrying other people changed that there was just something basic that happened between them when they were together. She'd run out of words for it a long time ago, but at this moment, the only thing she really knew was that she couldn't look at him to be her safe harbor in this conversation. Just looking at him was driving her over the edge into panic.

"So, how do you like this place?"

Robin's voice drove Carly back from the edge. She turned herself -- eyes, body and thoughts -- away from Jason, and realized that while she'd been trying not to get sucked into the Morgan Vortex, Robin and Nikolas had started what looked way too much like a friendly exchange.

"It's... New," Nikolas said with a smooth tone Carly wasn't prepared for. She stared at him, smiling at Robin, looking at her like no one else was around. Carly dropped his hand and crossed her arms. Waited for Nikolas to notice. He didn't look at her.

Robin gave a slight laugh. "Well, it's no Cafe Matisse, but I like the atmosphere."

Nikolas nodded slightly. Apparently this meant something. A joke -- of some sort -- Carly felt her throat close up. This wasn't what she came over here for. No -- She had to come up with something fast, or Robin was going to keep talking to Nikolas, and then Carly was going to have to kill her.

"So," Carly tossed her hair in an attempt to look unaffected. "You guys look recovered from the wedding."

"Barely," Robin grimaced, shooting Jason a look. Carly tried not to hunch her shoulders in response. She and Robin had played quite the pretense of friendship the last few months, and now... Well, now there wasn't much point, was there? Jason had married her, she'd been crowned Queen Pixie for a day, and Carly had lost out. She could be as much of a bitch to her as she wanted to now. On the other hand, if Nikolas said one word to her -- just one syllable -- about her not being nice enough to Robin...

"Pretty crazy, huh?" Carly's voice shook with the effort of being nice. She could still feel Jason watching her.

Robin smirked. "Well, I don't feel the need to do it again," she gestured to her company, who were both looking at Carly with strained looks. "That's why we decided to take Uncle Mac and Felicia out tonight. They put up with a lot, throwing all that together."

"The Grille's closed for a private party," Felicia spoke up, her voice wavering a little more than usual. "And Mac and I are both sick of the Outback, so we thought we'd give this place a try." Felicia put a hand on her husband's, some sort of sign of solidarity in the face of unnecessary weirdness, no doubt. "Are you both here with your parents?"

"Yeah," Carly gestured vaguely. "They're over there." She wasn't going to look at the table, lest her mother take it as an invite to come over.

"Oh," Felicia breathed, sitting back in her seat. "That's... interesting."

Interesting. That was one word for it. Carly wanted to scream -- what was wrong with these people? How was it the table hadn't collapsed under the weight of the giant pink elephant so clearly sitting in the middle of it. And every second Nikolas looked at Robin, she felt less confident, less sure of what to say, less able to forge any kind of plan. This was a mistake. Yep -- the whole out in public thing, the dance, the coming to the table. Time to cut and run.

"Well," Carly found herself saying. "Maybe we should just let you... Get back to it. Watch out for the Soup of the Day. It's salty."

"Thanks for the warning," Robin's eyes looked a little desperate, Nikolas thought, as she and Carly spoke. This was perhaps the most surreal five minutes of his life -- and that was really saying something. He was keeping his eyes fixed on Robin because looking at anyone else was going to lead him to do something stupid -- like punch Jason, who seemed physically incapable of saying or doing anything besides looking at Nikolas's wife.

"I guess we'll see you around, Carly," Robin was saying. "Since we won't be meeting up at dress fittings."

"Tragedy," Carly rolled her eyes. "No dresses to try on, no menus to plan. What are you going to do with your time?"

"Oh, I'll manage somehow."

"Yeah, I can imagine."

"I recommend eloping," Nikolas said suddenly. It was something of a non sequitur, but it got attention. Robin looked momentarily confused, then glanced over at Jason. "In contrast to a large wedding."

"A lot of people say that. Once it's over, you feel differently," Robin shifted her weight in her chair. She was looking at Nikolas as if he might have just suffered a small stroke. "It's nice to have your friends and family there. Around you."

"Perhaps in some situations," Nikolas didn't take his eyes from her as she reached over and caught Carly around the waist. There was no way he was going to walk away from this without Morgan knowing plainly that Carly was taken. "In others, it might be ill advised."

Robin frowned "I... I think I'm missing something here."

Jason's voice cut off the end of Robin's sentence.

"They're married."

He said it matter-of-factly. As if he'd already been told. Carly felt just a little lightheaded. The sound of voices in the room were dimmer than they'd been a moment ago, and she was pretty sure the floor had been stationary. He didn't just... He didn't just... Wait. He'd gotten so bent out of shape when she'd let AJ know, and he'd just... She shook her head out.

"It's..." Carly tried not to look as thunderstruck as she felt. "A recent development."

Robin still looked just as confused as she had a few minutes earlier. "I'm... Wait. You..." she stopped, her eyes flitting down to Nikolas's hand. She looked up at him, her eyes wide. "You got married!"

Carly moved her left hand, which hand been clenched at her side, up to hold her collar bone. Her fingers splayed slightly, making the simple gold band impossible to miss.

"Oh," Felicia said suddenly. "OH! Well." She was the only person at the table who looked relieved. "So... You're... You're having dinner with your parents. Of course."

"Family gathering," Carly's voice sounded a little numb, even to her. She leaned against Nikolas, uncertain what else to do. "We would have told you, but..." she glanced quickly at Nikolas.

"Spencer/Cassadine fraternization demands certain precautions."

Carly gave a weak smile. Ok, Nik. Whatever you say. It's a marriage! It's an international incident! It's fun for the whole family!

"Um..." Robin seemed to be regaining her powers of speech. "I... didn't know you guys had met."

Carly physically bit her tongue to prevent herself from making a comment about the grand total of things Robin didn't know.

"We thought it was best to let you know now, before..." Nikolas cleared his throat. "Well, some people have already heard."

"W... w... When?" Robin was looking from one to the other as the struggled with the words.

"When what?"

"We've been married nearly... Forty-eight hours."

Carly couldn't help it. "I think that's the disposable Tupperware anniversary, isn't it?" Everyone stared at her. "Maybe the Zip-loc bag." Ok! Tough room. She stepped back from the table. "Look, my mother's probably about two seconds away from an apoplectic fit, so we should get back to the table." She looked up at Nikolas, her eyes bright. "Honey? Shall we?"

Nikolas didn't allow the frown that wanted to appear on his face out. Carly had not, in all the time they'd spent together, called him anything but his given name. Ok, 'Sport'. Once. And he hadn't liked it.

"Well," Robin blinked several times in a row. "I... I guess we'll see you Friday, then."

There was a long, confused silence that Nikolas eventually broke. "Friday."

Robin looked surprised. "The Nurse's Ball. You're coming, aren't you?"

Carly felt something in her snap. That was it. She couldn't do this conversation anymore. If she stayed here one more minute, things were going to get violent.

"Oh, with bells on," she muttered, turning from the table. She felt Nikolas pull her back, his hand moving across her back, and grabbing her hand.

"We'll see you Friday," Nikolas nodded. "Enjoy your meal."

She wasn't aware of how, exactly, Nikolas ended up steering her away from the table. Leading again. When they were several steps away from the party, she heard his voice against her ear. "Are you ok?"

Carly stopped dead in her tracks. She turned and looked at him, her mouth open slightly. "I ..." she shook her head. "I need... To... Freshen up."

She cringed inwardly. On the list of phrases she'd always sworn she'd never use, that was right up there. Nikolas stopped and turned her to look at him.

"We don't have to go on Friday."

Carly choked on a laugh and turned away. "I'll be right back," she spoke none-too-steadily.

"Carly."

"Right back," she insisted, pulling herself free of him. She didn't even look at him as she turned away and walked hurriedly across the restaurant. Nikolas watched her walk away, feeling something he hadn't thought possible a few moments earlier: worse. He pushed out his breath, and turned to head back to their table, alone.

"Where's she going?" Bobbie asked, as Nikolas approached.

"For an intermission, I suspect."

Bobbie's forehead was creased with worry. "Was she ok? Did she look..." her voice trailed off under Nikolas's stare. She cleared her throat. "I just... I can't imagine you were expecting that."

"It had to happen eventually," Nikolas said stoically, his eyes traveling to the table behind his mother-in-law. "Bobbie."

"What?"

"Where's my father?"

Carly dove through the door of the woman's washroom, and looked around wildly. She was standing in a large room with mirrors and counters lining the far wall, and a couch against the other, a large piece of modern art mounted on the wall behind it. A woman was washing her hands in the next room, having some trouble with the automatic taps. Apart from that, she was alone.

Breathe, she told herself as she walked unsteadily towards the couch. Breathe.

He'd told them!

You wanted him to tell them.

WHY did he tell them?

Um... Sorry. No answer.

And he SMILED at her! He just smiled at her, right in front of me, like I wasn't even there.

And she smiled BACK.

Carly shook her head hard. No. No panicking allowed. He was wearing a ring, damn it. HER ring. And Robin was with Jason. They could smile at whoever the hell they wanted.

Except each other!

She was going to throw up. She was going to be violently ill, no doubt about it. And then... Then she was going to cry.

Why couldn't it have been someone else, Carly thought miserably as she sunk onto the couch. She couldn't do this again. She couldn't be with someone who wanted to be with Robin.

And Jason! Jason, Jason, Jason... She didn't know what she'd felt seeing him, besides complete and unadulterated hysteria. It was something in the way he looked at her. In the way he'd always looked at her, even when they hated each other. Like she was marked as his. And he didn't have to love her, or even like her very much. It was just way it was. She still felt that draw towards him -- just like she always had -- and... and...

And she wanted Nikolas to pull her away from him so badly. She'd wanted him to grab her, or step between them. Put a stop to it. And he hadn't.

Jason had been just as he always was. Cool, removed, and suspicious. And she still felt something when she looked at him. But... There'd been something else, too. It wasn't that she didn't want him anymore. It was that.... Somehow. Somehow in the mix of his getting married, her falling into whatever was happening with her and Nikolas... She'd stopped wanting to want him.

Well. That's a start.

Carly blinked back angry tears as she bent her head to stare up at the ceiling. God, she'd been trying so hard. SO hard to pretend that Jason and Robin weren't going to matter. But one look at them, and she'd felt their influence like poison spreading through something she'd thought was so simple. God, how could she be that stupid? There was nothing simple about her and Nikolas. There never would be.

And yet... And yet, he did a remarkably good job of convincing her it could be. Today, for instance... They'd made love that afternoon, in the bed they'd shared the night before, and it had been so unbelievably tender. Nikolas, apparently, wanted to take his time, and Carly had just let herself sink into the light floating feeling he could inspire in her. Let herself have butterflies in her stomach, and to feel the small jolts of electricity when his hands touched new places. Twining fingers together as they kissed, slowly running her hands over his chest, arms, as they lay together. All the time, she had been thinking... when had anyone ever been moved to touch her like this? To just lay with her and pour over her body before getting to the 'good' stuff.

Now, another thought was seeping into her mind. What if nothing about her had inspired that in Nikolas? What if he'd been thinking of Robin? What if he had ALWAYS thinking of Robin? She didn't think she made a very convincing substitute, but... She was the only woman Nikolas had ever been with. How do you want someone for that long and never ever come close to having her -- how do you do that and then just let go of it? God, at least with Jason she'd known he didn't do the imagination thing. What was, was. Nikolas... he was a whole other game.

And he'd smiled at her.

And told her he was married.

And Carly didn't know what any of that meant.

The woman from the sink had finally admitted defeat at the hands of the air-dryer, and came into the entrance room, shaking water from her hands. She paused at the mirror, preening a moment, before catching sight of Carly. Carly had no idea what look she gave the woman, but it must have been a doozy, because she turned on her heel immediately and strode out of the room.

Yeah, Carly thought bitterly. I can always get 'em running. It's a talent. No autographs, please.

She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, feeling unbelievably tired. You know what this is, Caroline, she told herself. This is jealousy. Somehow in the middle of this, you forgot what was going on and let yourself start thinking Nikolas was yours. Completely. All that passion, all that stuff about falling in love and wanting to be with her... Carly had let herself ignore the fact that he was still in love with someone else. You didn't just shrug that off.

Carly stayed on the couch, several moments, and didn't bother to open her eyes when she heard the door open. The person, who she expected -- wanted -- to glide right past her, stopped inside the door. Stayed. Waited.

"Carly."

Carly started, and opened her eyes. Some timbre of voices, you just don't expect to hear in the ladies room. And to be honest, she'd really thought this was going to be her mother. She stared, instead, at her Father-in-law, who was looking grimmer than he had in the dinning room.

"What the hell --"

"We need to talk," Stefan said simply, as he turned the lock on the door. Carly blinked.

"What?"

"I doubt we have much time."

"What is your problem?" She demanded, struggling to get off the overstuffed couch. "You know, there are laws about trespassing, and coming in places like this. Don't you pay any attention to that?"

Stefan gave a smile that bordered on a smirk. "I wasn't aware that laws were something you held in high regard."

"Oh," Carly sighed, moving towards the spot on the wall that seemed to be the furthest away from Stefan. "We're getting real now, are we? Goody. Cause I've just been having the most stress-free, easygoing day. I was just thinking what would really top it off is you telling me what you really have planned for me."

Stefan crossed the increasingly small room. "What do you think I have planned for you?"

Carly crossed her arms and leaned her back against the wall, next to the machine that dispensed feminine hygiene products. "I'm not sure. I think it might involve a fire, a large spit, and some kind of archaic Greek War God."

"That seems unlikely."

"Right. You usually want virgins for something like that."

Stefan pointedly ignored the comment, his eyes flitting about and taking in the room. Carly wondered, mildly, if this man frequented women's restrooms, he seemed so blase about his surroundings. "I hope you realize that I had no idea of Morgan's plans to be here tonight. I wouldn't have subjected Nikolas to that."

Carly hadn't actually given any thought to Stefan and his power to summon ex-boyfriends at will. She was beginning to suspect he had a bit of a God Complex.

"I'll let it go," she said, icily. "This time."

"It seems to have put you at ill at ease."

"No," Carly stretched out the word. "I think that was you locking me in the bathroom, that's put a damper on things."

Stefan paced the room, pausing by the couch and pressing a hand to the arm to check it's firmness. Deciding it was unsuitable, he moved on. "I wish to speak to you about your intentions."

Carly let out a laugh, a sharp burst. "My INTENTIONS? Towards Nikolas? You're kidding, right?"

"I'm speaking more generally, Carly. My son's life is now indisputably linked to yours, and I therefore am curious as to what your plans are. Clearly you are more receptive to my inquiries than Nikolas."

Carly's eyes narrowed immediately. So that's what this was about.

"The man with the plan," she sneered. "How stupid do you think I am?"

Stefan shook his head. "It's not a question of intelligence. It's a question of history. You and I have none to speak of. Therefore, we can talk openly without fear of past wrongs interfering."

"Unless I decide to hold everything you put my mother through against you."

Stefan's smile bared teeth. Carly moved away from the wall, not taking her eyes from him, and circled cautiously back to the couch.

"If you chose to do that, there is little I can do to stop you. But I was hoping you would respond to logic."

"Stop talking like a Vulcan, maybe you have a chance." She sat down on the edge of the couch and surveyed the Cassadine Patriarch intently. "You want us to move to Wyndemere. Right?"

Stefan moved to stand directly in front of her, his arms crossed. "I had thought of a proposal, yes."

"And you think Nikolas will say no."

"I think Nikolas is in a state of agitation. He's not very receptive to suggestion at the moment."

Carly shrugged. "Might have something to do with how you're managing things. I mean, if you're giving us this much space now, I can imagine the expanse of privacy we're going to get in your Spook House."

Stefan shook his head. "I was not aiming to scare you when I mentioned my mother earlier. These are legitimate concerns. But really, my interest lies beyond the interference of my mother, your uncle..." he sighed, a sound that made him momentarily human. "Nikolas is the only child I am likely to have, Carly. Do you understand what that means?"

Carly's body tensed. "I assume it means you're not having any more."

"He is very sensitive about his paternity --"

"Yeah, funny about that," she snapped. "I guess he should just suck it up like everything's normal. I mean, nothing CHANGED, right?"

Stefan paused, before continuing as if the outburst hadn't occurred. "He occasionally attempts to reject the Cassadine name. As if his not being the Prince any longer matters. As if his position in the family has permanently shifted."

Carly frowned. "Uh. Hasn't it?"

Stefan raised a hand to his goatee, and stroked it as if he was in deep thought. "He's a Cassadine," he said, finally. "As long as he is my son, that is what the world will see him as. He will never be the Prince. That title will, it seems, die with me. But he will always be the heir to our line and the future of our family. He's lost sight of that. He's abandoned his identity on the basis of a lie. A lie he feels changes who he is."

Carly met his eyes unflinchingly. "I don't know where you're going with this, but you're barking up the wrong tree if you want me to feel sorry for you. I'm on Nikolas's side."

"You think I would change that?"

"If it'd help you? Hell yeah."

Stefan narrowed his eyes, and Carly resisted the urge to squirm at the intense scrutiny he was unapologetically subjecting her to.

"Robin Scorpio was never a woman I would have chosen for my son."

Carly laughed and turned her head away. "You have good taste."

"Miss Scorpio never would have truly understood Nikolas's heritage. His family. The ways of the Cassadines. She was too much her father's daughter. Too invested in ideal values that he, to be truthful, was known to betray on occasion. In the end, I'm greatly relieved he found his wife elsewhere."

Carly stared hard at the wall. "I'm a Spencer."

"Yes."

She looked back at him. "How does that make me any different?"

"You are capable of seeing the gray that exists within us. Nikolas won't have to worry about harsh judgment of his actions."

Carly felt her face heat and tried not to acknowledge it. This was the first time anyone had ever compared her to Robin with her coming out on top. "So... you're saying we should move into Wyndemere so that we can all be one big creepy family?"

"That is one choice..." Stefan cleared his throat. "Another is the second house on the grounds. Recently rebuilt. The Guest Cottage."

"Uh huh..."

"I submit it for your consideration. That's all."

Carly gave a short laugh. So simple. She stared him down, trying to see something in his manner that would confirm what she knew he was really thinking. When nothing revealed itself, she just spit the question out. "You wouldn't have picked me for him either, would you?"

"No," Stefan answered without hesitation. "It's safe to say I would not."

Hey, points for honesty. "Do you think I'm going to destroy him?"

He paused just long enough for Carly to know that the idea had passed through his mind.

"I believe you can give him things that Miss Scorpio couldn't. Perhaps the most important of that being... an understanding of who he is. Of who he must be."

Carly let out her breath. This was just getting a little too bizarre.

"You don't think I know what that is already?"

Stefan stepped closer, bent slightly at the waist, bringing his face dangerously close to hers. It took ever ounce of self-control Carly possessed not to back away. "You are a Cassadine wife," he whispered the words to her as if they were charged. "Nikolas, at the moment, wants nothing more from you than any young husband would want from his bride."

Carly swallowed. "But."

He straightened, pulling out of her personal space. "Eventually the bloom falls from the rose, and after that... You are his wife. His partner. And when that time comes, it will behoove you to understand what that truly means to a Cassadine." He gestured lightly with his hand. "You aren't going to learn that by staying away from us."

Carly struggled a moment, knowing that he could see the effect his words were having. "I... I will always be better for him than Robin."

"I have no doubt."

"Why do I get the feeling that's not saying much?"

"It won't be my opinion that matters, long term. It will be Nikolas's."

Carly sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, in an attempt not to bite it. He was right. Nikolas's opinion was what was going to matter. And eventually, that was going to matter to him -- what kind of wife she was. She had no idea what being a Cassadine Wife consisted of. Which had to be exactly what Stefan wanted her to realize. She shook her head slowly.

"You're good, you know that?"

"Its important you know what you are dealing with," Stefan put his hand out to her. She looked at it impassively. "We should return to our party."

The main course was served by the time Nikolas got back to the table after searching in vain for any sign of Carly or his father. It hadn't been long -- a few minutes -- but he didn't like this. The conversation with Robin and Jason -- if that's what it had been -- wasn't anything close to what he'd have come up with if pressed to imagine their first encounter. It was the lack of cohesion that was bothering him. The feeling of being apart from Carly, being outside of what was happening with her. Add in the fact that his father had excused himself just minutes before they'd started to return to the table, and the whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth.

Bobbie was twirling her fork absently in her pasta and looked up when Nikolas approached the table.

"Any luck?

"No," Nikolas said bluntly, sitting down beside her.

"They'll..." She sighed, and leaned her fork against the dish. "How bad was it? Can I ask that?"

It took a moment for Nikolas to digest the question. "It... Wasn't bad," he said, finally. It really wasn't. Apart from the fact that he could very comfortably go the rest of his life without sharing air with Jason Morgan, Nikolas wasn't nearly as thrown by the meeting as he'd anticipated. Looking at Robin... He hadn't felt anything. No anger, no regret, not even rejection. Just... she wasn't who he was supposed to be with. Suddenly that was ok. Product of falling in love with someone else, he guessed. Fringe benefit. It had been easy to look at her. Hard not to laugh with relief. It was an incredibly heady feeling, realizing you're over someone.

Now, if anything in Carly's behavior had suggested she was over Jason, he would be suffering from unrestrained gaiety. Which might be worth trying out, just once.

"How long has she been in love with him?"

He hadn't wanted to ask the question. And he was pretty certain he didn't want to hear the answer either. But he let it lay once the words had tumbled out of his mouth, and waited for Bobbie to provide him with enough rope.

"Nikolas. Don't let this drive you crazy."

"I just..." He stopped. There was no point in going further with this. Exposing himself, hearing something that was not going to do anything to make him feel better, and probably couldn't even work to make him feel worse. He picked up the water glass off the table and took a quick sip from it.

"Nikolas?"

He glanced up from his moody examination of the glass, and looked over at his mother-in-law. Bobbie was looking at him apprehensively.

"Yes?"

"You're..." she licked her lips, working on the words. "You're good for her."

He blinked. "What?"

"From... what I've seen. From... Just knowing my daughter. You're what she's really been looking for. You have to be patient with her. I know, that's asking a lot of --"

"She's my wife."

Bobbie nodded. "Exactly."

"What do you mean...I'm what she's been looking for."

"If you love Carly..." she took a deep breath. "If you really love Carly, it'll be all she needs. She might not even understand it yet, but in the end, all she's going to want is for you to love her. That will be all she'll ever need from you."

Nikolas looked down at the table.

"She's got that."

"I know."

He shook his head. "It's too soon."

"I saw her on that floor with you, Nikolas." Bobbie cast a quick look in Jason's direction. "I really don't think you're going to have anything to worry about."

Nikolas searched for something to say, for some kind of response. He wanted to ask her why -- why she felt that way. Wanted to hear something concrete and inarguable that he could believe. But the words wouldn't let themselves come forward.

"Thank-you," he managed finally.

Bobbie smiled. He was certain that her eyes were misting over. She shook her head and pointed to the plate in front of Nikolas with her fork.

"Your food's getting cold. Eat up."