CH 9

Nikolas walked into the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast; he turned and glanced at his brother as he walked in. They were quiet as they went about getting their food; it had been like this all week. When Nikolas got home from his trip to the mall with Gia, he was confused by Gia’s actions and it frustrated him. This didn’t help his poor mood and he and Brandon had argued when he came home. Nikolas demanded that Brandon stay away from Gia, and unsurprisingly his brother refused. So since that evening, things were tense in the Cassadine household. “So how’s Gia?” Brandon broke through the silence in the room and Nikolas glared over at him. “I actually haven’t heard from her. I was thinking I should call her today, maybe we’ll get together again.” Nik’s eyes connected with his brother’s when he said this. Brandon smirked. “I was thinking about calling her myself, I thought we could go out sometime.” Brandon said. Nik stepped up to his brother. “I said to stay away from Gia.” He said angrily. Brandon shook his head stubbornly. “I will do what I want to Nikolas. I like Gia and I think she might like me too, and from what I saw the other day, you two don’t seem like you have a connection like she and I do. Sorry brother but if there is a chance I’m taking it. I think you’re going to lose this one Nikolas.” Brandon said, confidently walking out of the kitchen. Nikolas felt his anger flaring, his fists tightened and his jaw clenched. But underneath the anger, he felt scared, scared that his brother wasn’t joking and that he could very well win this fight.

Gia took a deep breath before pressing the send button on the number that had been selected on her cell phone for several minutes now. Her heart began to pound when Nikolas answered the phone. “Nikolas this is Gia.” She said after his greeting. Nikolas smiled and instinctively brought his hand up to his heart at the sound of her voice. “Gia, I’ve been thinking about you. How are you?” Nikolas asked. “I’m good, I know that you’re probably on your way to school right now so I’ll try and talk fast. I was wondering if you would want to come with me to the park today? I’ve been promising Jacob a trip and it won’t be much fun with just the two of us and Jacob really likes you, I was wondering if it’s not too late of notice, if you would want to come with us?” Gia asked. Nikolas smiled. “I would love to.” He said. “OK well we’ll be there at about 3:00 if you want to come by.” Gia said. “Sounds great, I’ll see you then.” Nik said. His chest felt lighter then it had all week as he hung up the phone.

“Jacob, please stop bouncing we are on the bus.” Gia said pulling her brother down and sitting him next to her. Jake fussed and stood back up again. “Swings, swings.” He said bouncing. “Jacob Christopher, sit down right now. I know you’re excited to play but we are on the bus and it is not safe to bounce.” Gia said pulling him over to sit on her lap. She was always nervous riding the bus with the two year old. Her second thoughts about meeting with Nikolas were not helping her already on edge nerves either. Jacob immediately displayed his usual reaction to being scolded and began to pout. Her brother rarely yelled or hit but he sure knew how to pout. He covered his face with his hands and pressed his face into her chest, hiding, blocking out the world around him. Gia felt his warm breath through her white uniform blouse as he breathed heavy with sadness, and lifted his head up to look at him. “I love you. I just want you to be safe OK?” She said. Jacob smiled at her and nodded his head, leaning in and placing a sloppy kiss on Gia’s lips. Gia laughed as she wrapped her arms around him, kissing his cheek and holding him the rest of the ride.

Stepping off of the bus, Gia looked up and her heart fluttered as her eyes landed on Nikolas. He was already sitting on a swing as he waited for she and Jake to arrive. “Hey you two.” He said smiling as they neared the sidewalk. “Hii!” Jake shrieked as he pulled away from Gia’s hold and ran up to Nikolas, holding his arms open to him. Nikolas laughed as he scooped Jake up and lifted him onto his lap. Gia took longer, apprehensively approaching him; her arms were crossed over her chest, her feet dragging slightly. “Want to swing?” Nik asked into Jacob’s ear. “Yea.” Jake said nodding. Nik smiled and began to swing with the little boy on his lap. He glanced up at Gia, for the first time since they arrived, his attention was finally off of Jacob. His heart began to pound as he looked at her; her hair was up in a high ponytail that caused her braids to sprawl wildly around her face and onto her shoulders. He then noticed her apprehension, her awkward stance. “Are you OK Gia?” He asked. Gia looked down. “Yeah I’m fine, it’s nice to see you.” Gia said softly. Nikolas looked at her; he could tell something was wrong. “Gia, you know you can tell me anything. If something’s bothering you, you can tell me.” Nik said. Gia looked down at her feet. “Nikolas, you’re popular, you have lots of friends, and you play sports. You’re royalty for crying out loud! My life is really complicated, you don’t need that in your life, so if you don’t want to be my friend, I’ll understand.” Gia said, fighting back tears. “No Gia, I like you. I like this.” Nik said noting the swinging with Jake. “I need this in my life, I want to be your friend!” Nik said looking at her. “You’re sure?” Gia asked looking up. Nik smiled. “Come swing with us Gia.” Nik said motioning to the swing next to them. Gia smiled and walked over to the swing, sitting down and pushing herself back to start.

“Again, again.” Jake shouted as Nikolas put him down after spinning him around. “OK, one more time.” Nik said lifting him up and swinging him in the air again. After Jake had fun on the swing, the slide and the all other fun play equipment on the playground, he found that Nikolas was the most fun. Nikolas collapsed on the grass next to Gia where she sat watching the two of them play. “How does a person this small have so much energy?” Nik asked, his breathing heavy as Jake ran up to Gia and sat on her lap. Gia laughed. “I have no idea. He’s a two year old boy I guess.” Gia said. Nik laughed. “I bet you were just as hyper when you were his age.” Gia said, watching Jake as he got up and ran to play in the sandbox. “Nah I was a mellow kid, Cassadine’s don’t do hyper.” Nik said. “Well my mother says that I was worse then Jake when I was little. I was always getting into trouble I guess.” Gia said. “Yeah I can see that.” Nik laughed. Gia glared at him as her cell phone rang. “Can you watch him while I get this?” Gia asked picking up her phone. Nik nodded his head and went to play with Jake so that Gia could have some privacy. “Hello this is Gia.” She said into the phone. “Gia this is Brandon, how are you?” He asked. Gia glanced over at Nikolas. “I’m doing good, how are you?” Gia asked. “I'm fine, thanks. Hey I was wondering if you would like to go play miniature golf with me next week?” He asked. Gia laughed. “Really?” She asked. Nikolas looked over at Gia for a second, having heard her laugh. He wondered who she was talking to. He turned around and started to play with Jake again. Brandon laughed into Gia’s ear. “Yeah I was just thinking that it’s been forever since I’ve done that and I was wondering if it’s been as long for you?” He said. “Yeah actually I can’t even remember the last time I went.” Gia admitted. She looked over at Nikolas again who was still happily playing with her brother. She wondered if he would be upset if she said yes to Brandon. She then reminded herself that he was just her friend. “Sure, how about Saturday? Weekends are usually good for me, I’m usually very busy during the week.” Gia said. “Saturday sounds great Gia, I’ll talk to you later.” He said. Gia said goodbye and hung up.

“Hey you two.” Gia said walking up to Nikolas and Jake who were digging a hole in the sand. “Hello.” Nik said smiling up at her. “Uh Nikolas, I wanted to let you know that your brother just called and we’re going to play miniature golf on Saturday, that doesn’t bother you does it? Me spending time with your brother?” Gia asked. Nikolas was doing his best to hide his anger and disappointment; he just hoped she wouldn’t notice the way his chest was heaving slightly. “No that’s fine. We’re just friends so why would I mind?” He said. Gia looked down. “Right. OK I just wanted to make sure. Hey you know the bus is coming soon so I think we should be going, thank you for hanging out with us today.” Gia said. Nikolas nodded his head. “I had fun Gia.” He said softly. “OK Jacob, time to go.” Gia said, sensing a tantrum coming on. Just as she thought, Jake got up and ran to Nikolas, burying his head into his chest. “No.” Gia heard his muffled voice say. Nikolas smiled slightly as he looked down at Jake’s head. Shocked that he would be so attached to him. Gia was socked too. She looked at Nikolas and smiled slightly. “Hey buddy, Gia says it’s time to go and you need to listen to her OK?” Nik said pulling the little boy back slightly. Gia walked up to them. “Jakie, the bus will be here any minute. Say goodbye to Nikolas OK? We’ll see him later.” Gia said to her brother. Uncorrupted by gender differences at his young age, Jacob leaned in and kissed Nikolas right on the lips. Gia’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god I’m sorry.” She said blushing slightly as she picked the little boy up. Nikolas smiled as he stood up. “It’s OK really.” Nik said. Jake became embarrassed by his sister’s reaction and hid in Gia’s arms. “You’re so good with him. He really loves you.” Gia said looking up at Nikolas. Nikolas leaned in, Gia’s eyelashes fluttered as he bent down and kissed the back of Jacob’s head, he was so close to her face. “It’s OK buddy, don’t be embarrassed, I like you too.” He said into Jake’s ear. Gia’s heart was pounding as Nikolas whispered the words, his breath on her neck sending shivers of excitement down her spine. Nik pulled back slightly still so very close to Gia’s face. “Thank you for today Gia, I had fun.” He said, leaning and kissing her cheek. Gia was numb, she didn’t even say anything, and she just nodded her head and went and got on the bus. Nikolas stood and watched the bus pull away; he was feeling so many emotions. He shook his head to clear his mind. “This is crazy Nikolas, she’s just a girl, just give up.” He said to himself as he headed to his car. But as he thought about the day he just had, he knew that Gia made him feel things he had never felt before.