CH 27

He sat and waited, the woman at the desk said that it would be a while but Nik was determined to wait. The meeting should be over by now, Nik had considered busting in there but he knew it would be only seconds before security came busting in. When he heard voices on the other side of the door, he listened as they faded and the doorknob turned. Casey never looked up as he stepped inside his office. Nik was leaning against Casey’s desk, he watched his shocked face when he finally looked up and noticed him standing there. Casey looked momentarily stunned to see him, but quickly recovered, smiling at him. Nik looked at the man that had hurt him so badly. He studied his face and noticed how smug he looked. He realized he always looked that way. Nik’s fists balled in anger as he looked at the man before him. He could see the obvious damage that his brother had caused to his face. He was mad that he wasn’t the one to put those marks there. But he was sure to put a few there him self.
“Hey man what’s up?” Casey asked smiling at him. In an instant Nik spun him around and wrapped his arm around his neck. “Did you touch my wife?” Nik said viciously as he tightened his grip. “No man I didn’t sleep with her, I swear.” Casey said panicky. “That’s not what I asked, I said did you lay one finger on my wife?!” Nik yelled. “I just touched her hair.” Casey pleaded. Nikolas tightens his grip so that Casey was gasping for air. “I thought you were my friend, and this whole time you’ve been f*cking with me!” Nik yelled in his ear. Casey was desperately trying to remove Nik’s grip, he nodded yes when Nik jerked his arm towards his chest. “I could kill you right now but if I got caught, I could get into trouble and then I couldn’t be with Gia. So I’m just going to warn you. You are going to pack up your things and leave Port Charles right now and don’t look back. If you don’t, I will just have to have you killed.” Nik pushed Casey away from him. Casey began to cough viciously, rubbing his throat. Nik walked over to the door but stopped and turned around. “Oh and Casey.” Nik lunged forward and punched him in the stomach, kicking him in the ribs while he was on the floor. “That was from Gia.” Nik said smiling, he turned and walked out of the office.

“I can’t take it anymore Lucky, I’m going to go find Casey and kick his ass!” Gia said, pacing the room. “Gia I’m sure that Nikolas is doing that as we speak.” Lucky said. Gia scrunched her face at him. “Oh thanks, that really calms my nerves.” Gia said sarcastically. Lucky laughed and reached up, pulling Gia down to sit on his lap. “Gia you know that Nikolas would never do anything too stupid, he’s so determined to be with you he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that now.” Nik said reassuringly as he held onto his friend. Gia wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his chest. “I love him so much Lucky.” Gia said softly. “I know, and he loves you too. And soon, you will be together and you can focus on this little one.” Lucky said rubbing her belly. Gia smiled up at him and a smile spread across Lucky’s face as he looked down at her. “Maybe sooner than you think.” Lucky said.

Nik walked into Wyndemere to find his uncle’s bags in the entryway and was reminded that he would be leaving tomorrow morning. Nik walked into the office to find Stefan reading some of the many Cassidine account files. Peering over his reading glasses, Stefan smiled at his nephew. “Uncle I am so sorry. I completely forgot that you were leaving tomorrow.” Nik said apologetically to his uncle. “Nikolas, come here son.” Stefan said removing his glasses as he walked around the desk and walked over to the couch. Nik fallowed his lead and sat down next to Stefan. They sat in silence for a while, just looking into each other’s eyes. “Nikolas, you’re drowning. I can see it when I look in your eyes. There are people who want to save you but you need to open up to them, and let them help.” Stefan finally said. Nik looked down and nodded his head slowly. “I know that, it’s just really hard for me to trust people.” Nik said. “Well, hopefully you can work on that with Dr. Core.” Stefan said. “Yeah Andrew and I have talked about it, among other things. I’m hopeful about my sessions with him.” Nik said. “That’s good Nikolas.” Stefan said as he gripped his nephew’s shoulder. “I got you something for the baby.” Stefan said. “Uncle, the baby won’t be born for another 7 months.” Nik said smiling. “I know that, but this is something for you too.” Stefan said as he walked over to his bag and pulled out a box. Nikolas opened the white gift box and pulled out the baby quilt that was inside. “You use to carry that thing around all the time when you were a baby. It was your security blanket. I know it was special to you because your mother made it for you. It was something that kept her sane while she was on the island, making that quilt. When you were about 6 years old and were told about the choice your mother made, you became angry with her and tried the throw the quilt away. Well I found it and hid it; I thought that I would hold onto it until you were ready to see it again. I thought that you could give it to your baby now.” Stefan said beaming at Nikolas. Nikolas had tears streaming down is face, he held the quilt to his face and inhaled deeply, it smelled like his uncle, and something else he couldn’t quite place, but it reminded him of his childhood. “Thank you father.” Nik said as he pulled an emotional Stefan in for a hug. He clung to Stefan and cried like a baby. Stefan rocked him as he stroked his hair, like he had done when he was a child. Nikolas said goodnight to Stefan and headed up to bed, never seeing the smile on his uncle’s face.

Nikolas opened the door to his lonely room and turned on the lights, he looked over at the bed and gasped. Gia, who had been sleeping looked up at him when she heard the noise. Nik broke down into sobs as he made his way over to the bed. He dropped the quilt that was in his hands as he got up on the bed and wrapped his arms around Gia. Gia held him and whispered soothing words in his ear. “Gia, are you really here?” Nik said softly as he pulled away to look at her. His hands shaking as they reached to touch her face, scared that she would pull away at any minute. Gia’s eyes filled with tears, she had no idea how much her being gone had affected him. It made her sad to think that he would be scared to touch her. “I had to come and see if you were OK.” Gia said. “You were worried about me Sparky?” Nik asked. Gia was shocked that he would ask this. “Nikolas, yes I was worried about you, I love you.” She said as she reached up to caress his cheek. Nik grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing it tenderly. Gia leaned in, making the first move; she placed a soft kiss on his lips. Nik quickly accepted and opened his mouth to deepen it. He pulled back and rested his forehead on hers, his hands still lingering on the back of her neck. “Will you stay with me tonight?” Nik begged. Gia nodded her head and tears of relief fell down Nik’s face. Gia helped him strip down to his boxers and pulled back the covers for him to join her. He eased into bed and quickly pulled Gia to him, they kissed once more before Nik rested his head on the pillow, allowing Gia to lay her head down on his chest. They both fell into a deep sleep, the best sleep they had had in months.