"Oh wow, this place hasn't changed at all."
Emily smiled as Elizabeth glanced around the parlor. "That's exactly what I
thought when I first came in."
They seated themselves around the coffee table. Emily poured three more
glasses of wine for her friends and then settled onto the couch beside Lucky.
"So, Elizabeth, was that your artwork I saw at the museum the other day?"
Nikolas asked.
Elizabeth smiled. "It could be. I've been in love with painting, ever since
I painted the boxcar and the apartment walls for Lucky." She turned to Lucky
and with a teasing smile said, "I do hope that you moved out of that apartment
of yours."
Lucky laughed. "I'm living in the penthouse now, actually. And you?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Still living in Colorado with Brandon." She held out her
hand and wiggled her finger. "He proposed last week."
"Lizzie, that's fabulous!" Emily exclaimed. She leaned across Lucky to admire
the engagement ring. "It's so beautiful."
"Congratulations, Liz." Nikolas and Lucky said in unison.
Elizabeth beamed. "Well what about you two?" She wanted to know. "It's been
so long, what have you been doing with yourselves?"
    "Well, I've been working at L&B records along with Lois and Ned." Lucky
replied.
Nikolas cleared his throat and took a sip of wine. "I took after my father
and work at the hospital."
"You're still living on Spoon Island?"
    Nikolas looked over in Emily's direction and held her gaze. "I never left."
Emily's eyes clouded over, as her face grew hot. "What exactly was that
supposed to mean?" She demanded, sitting up straight.
    "It was just a statement."
"A statement with a hidden meaning, you mean." She replied angrily.
"Perhaps."
    The woman stood, trying to calm her temper. "Nikolas Cassadine, it has been
twelve years and you are still the most obnoxious, selfish, arrogant man I
have ever known. And believe me, Nikolas, I have known quite a few."
    Grabbing her wineglass, she stalked out of the room. The others watched her,
surprised at the scene that had just taken place. Lucky turned to his brother
and glared at him. "She's been through enough hell today, Nikolas, she
doesn't need any from you."
    He stood and hurried out of the room to check on Emily. Elizabeth glanced at
Nikolas, wondering exactly what had triggered the scene just moments before.
He looked up and saw her gazing at him. Sighing, he stood. "I guess I should
apologize."
    They found their way to the kitchen, where they saw Emily absentmindedly
twirling the wineglass by the stem. Lucky was leaning against the counter.
He looked up as the two adults walked in.
    Nikolas cleared his throat. Emily looked up, set the glass down, and pushed
back her chair. "Forget it, Nikolas, you don't have to apologize."
"I didn't mean for it to come out like it sounded."
    "I know," she told him, going over to the sink. "It's okay."
"Why did you leave?" Nikolas stepped closer to her.
Emily's laugh held no humor as she shook her head and turned around. "Are you
kidding? Go upstairs and see. Everything is still the same from when I was
sixteen years old. My whole life was falling apart then, everything was a
mess. I couldn't stay like that."
"But you never came back."
Emily stared at him and responded softly, "You know why I never came back."
    Lucky coughed quietly, causing the two to break their gaze.
"Maybe we should go back inside", Liz suggested.
    Emily nodded and told them to go ahead. A few minutes later, she walked into
the parlor carrying a large platter. "Reginald came by earlier and helped fix
this up." She told them as she set the platter, which was filled with various
assortments of cold meats, cheese, crackers, tiny cakes, and fruits, down on
the coffee table.
    "Wow, Em." Lucky's eyes were wide as he regarded the large amount of food.
"You didn't have to go all out."
Emily laughed as she sat down once again. "Are you kidding?" she asked,
reaching for a cracker, "this is what the family used to eat before the main
course."
    Elizabeth smiled as she spread some cheese on a cracker. "This reminds me of
the time when we were sixteen. Your parents were away, Em, and the house was
deserted. And you invited us all over, without your families' knowledge, by
the way, and we had the best slumber party."
    Emily grinned. "Do I remember? I'll never forget it! That night was one of
the best times I had as a teenager."
"And one of the worst." Lucky said quietly.
    The three adults paused, their smiles fading, as they turned to look at him.
Lucky looked up over the rim of his glass. "You couldn't have forgotten."
"No one forgot, Lucky." Nikolas spoke up for everyone. "No one could ever
forget."



    "Lizzie!" Emily Quartermaine flung open the door and excitedly ushered her
friend in.
"Is everyone gone?" Elizabeth Webber asked, looking around the foyer.
Emily nodded. "They left for Italy this morning. No one is here except for
Cook and Reginald, and Cook promised that if we stay out of the kitchen, she
wouldn't tell."
"What about Reginald?"
"Don't worry about him, he won't say a thing."
"Really?" Elizabeth's smile was doubtful. "And why not?"
Emily grinned slyly as she closed the door. "Trust me."
"Oh, I don't know, Em." Her friend teased, "I don't like that smile."
    The two hurried upstairs to drop off Elizabeth's bags. As they were headed
back downstairs, they heard the doorbell ring. Emily smiled as she opened the
door. "Come on in." She said to her guests.
    Nikolas Cassadine and Lucky Spencer entered the house and glanced about.
"God, it's been forever since I've been here." Lucky commented. He smiled as
he noticed Elizabeth.
    "So, what do you have planned for tonight, Em?" Nikolas wanted to know.
Emily shrugged as she guided her friends into the parlor. "Whatever we want,
the house is ours."
Lucky chuckled and winked at Liz. "Anything?" He asked slyly.
Elizabeth elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't get smart, Spencer."
    Lucky stopped walking and lifted his hands in a questioning gesture. "Who's
getting smart?"



    A few hours later, the four walked outside through the garden to the lake.
Taking off their shoes, they hung their feet in the water as they sat on the
dock. Emily rolled up her pant legs and swung her legs back and forth,
letting the water drip from her toes back into the water, creating tiny
ripples.
    "Emily," Elizabeth spoke up. "Truth or dare?"
Emily whirled around to look at her. "Are you kidding?"
"Dead serious, truth or dare?"
She shook her head. "I haven't played that since Arizona."
    "Aw, come on, Em." Lucky grinned.
Emily rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She muttered. "Fine, truth."
"If you could go anywhere other than Port Charles, where would you go?"
Emily leaned back on her hands and thought a moment. "Europe." She decided at
last.
"Why Europe?" Nikolas asked.
    She shrugged. "It's nice there, less worries, less problems. And it's far
away from here."
    "You always want to go away, don't you?" Lucky stared at her, an expression
of wonder on his face.
"If it means leaving Port Charles, then yeah. I want to be something, be
someone other than a Quartermaine. I want to get away from all this
manipulation and deceit."
    "You mean Michael?"
Emily nodded at Nikolas' question. "When AJ told me that he was Michael's
father the other day, I ran straight over to Jason's and I asked him. And he
told me that even though AJ was Michael's biological father, Jason was his
true father." She stared down at the water before continuing. "And me being
the naive person that I am believed him. Now, he's off who knows where with
Michael. Sonny told me that I might not see him or Michael again."
    "Em, I'm so sorry." Elizabeth put an arm around her friend's shoulder.
Emily sighed and glanced up at the dark sky. "Now you know what it's like to
be a Quartermaine."
"Hey," Lucky objected. "It's pretty bad being a Spencer too."
"And a Webber." Liz offered.
    The three glanced at Nikolas, who looked up in surprise. "Between my uncle
and Helena, I've got it worse than any of you."
    The trio nodded in agreement and laughed. They stood, Nikolas helping Emily
to her feet, and slipped on their sneakers.
    "What do you say we head into town?" Emily suggested. The others agreed and
soon they were walking through the park on their way to Lucky's dad's club.


    "I swear if one more guy hits on me like that, they'll be gasping for
breath."
"You mean you didn't like having handsome men fawn all over you, Liz?"
Elizabeth tried to suppress a smile as the four walked out of the club.
"Well, not that it was such a bad thing." She glanced over at Lucky, who had
his hands thrust into his pant pockets, his head down low as he stared at the
ground as he walked. Turning back around, she saw Emily come up beside her as
they past by Kelly's.
    "I do believe that Lucky's a little jealous," She whispered, looking at the
boy.
Elizabeth stared at her, "what?"
"You mean, you don't see it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Emily smiled as she caught Liz sneaking a glance towards Lucky's direction.
"Right." She said before walking ahead.
    "Hey Emily?"
Emily turned around to see Lucky staring at the docks.
"Isn't that the guy that Jason and Sonny are after?"
    The four stopped walking and turned toward the dimly lit docks, where four
men stood talking. Emily took a step forward and peered into the darkness.
"That's Moreno." She answered.
    They moved closer and watched the men from a distance.
Although they couldn't make out what they were saying, it was clear that there
was an argument. Moreno stood tall and calm, facing a smaller man, with two
other men at his side. His expression was unreadable as the smaller man
gestured wildly.
    The four moved even closer, trying to understand their shouts.
    "You told me that you would have him taken out already. I didn't expect any
mistakes."
"There wasn't supposed to be any mistakes, Moreno, but that bodyguard of his
almost saw me. If he did, he would have killed me."
Moreno's laugh was deep. "He was going to kill you, was he?"
The man nodded slowly, unsure of the large mob boss.
    Moreno's smile faded as he reached into his breast pocket. "You should have
let him."
    Their eyes widened in terror as they watched Moreno pull out a small gun.
"Oh, no." Emily muttered.
    A round of gunshots pierced the air, and just as quickly as it began, it
ended.
The smaller man fell back onto the ground, blood quickly beginning to stain
the wood.
    "Clean this up." Moreno gestured to the body.
"Oh, no." Emily continued as she began to back up. "Oh, no, oh, no."
Lucky looked towards Emily, but her eyes were fixed on the docks. "Emily."
    "Oh, no, oh, no." Her voice continued to grow louder.
"Emily, shhh, they'll hear you."
    Nikolas and Elizabeth turned around, their eyes wide with fright.
"Emily." Lucky began to move toward her, but it was too late...Emily screamed.

   
    "We never told anyone." Emily recalled. "There were no bloodstains on the
docks when we went back the next day. There was no missing person, there was
no body."
"I had nightmares about it for months." Elizabeth added. "I've never watched
anyone die before. Especially not violently like that."
    Nikolas watched Emily as her eyes traveled down to the floor of the mansion.
"It affected all of us. How could it not?"
"I thought we'd eventually forget." Emily murmured.
Nikolas reached over and grasped her hand. "Something like that you can't
forget, even if you spend your life trying."
    "There are memories I'd like to take with me." Elizabeth said quietly. "And
memories I'd kill to leave behind."
Lucky turned and watched her, understanding exactly which memories she meant.
He patted her leg reassuringly. "Let's just hope that the good ones have
outnumbered the bad."

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