Emily and Nikolas are in the bed, Emily is under the covers curled up next to him. Her head is resting on his shoulder and he has his left hand bent up under his head. His right hand is stroking her hair. Interspersed throughout his words are kisses to her hair.
Nikolas: Hmm. You having trouble falling asleep?
Emily: Yes.
Nikolas: Yeah?
Emily: Sometimes when I -- when I close my eyes, I'm -- I’m afraid I’ll never open them again.
Nikolas: No. You'll wake up tomorrow and the next day and every day through chemo and beyond until the cancer's completely gone from your body. When it's over and you're well, I'm going to throw you a party to celebrate, a bacchanalia in your honor.
Emily: Then we can waltz again.
Nikolas: Every dance if you want.
Emily: I remember when your -- when your uncle and Katherine Bell got engaged.
Nikolas: Yeah?
Emily: Yeah. Every time you -- you danced with me, it felt like I was flying.
Nikolas: No, this will be even better than that. I'll fill the house with orchids and candles in the garden. All your friends and family will come. We'll have champagne and brownies and all the toffee-crunch ice cream you can eat. The musicians will only play waltzes, and we'll dance till dawn. How's that?
Emily: Flying around the ballroom.
Nikolas: Flying.
The camera pans out as Emily slowly falls back to sleep. Nikolas seems to join her.
Between the scenes, we met Lydia who had a meeting with Stefan.
Stefan comes out of the tunnels and into the drawing room as Nikolas comes down the stairs and into the room.
Nikolas: Hello, Uncle.
Stefan: Oh, Nikolas. You're just in time. Will you join me?
Stefan pours Nikolas a glass of wine.
Nikolas: Sure. We can toast to your big secret.
Stefan: What secret would that be?
Nikolas: The one that would explain why you've been prowling around the tunnels tonight. What are you up to?
The men are still in the drawing room, Stefan is gesturing with his glass of wine, he is pacing through the room.
Stefan: I was estimating the number of guards that will be required to patrol the tunnels.
Nikolas: Why do they need patrolling?
Stefan: Luke Spencer, of course. He's a sociopath, and now he's crossed the line into clinical insanity.
Nikolas: You're overreacting.
Stefan: No, I'm being realistic. You, on the other hand, seem to be losing all sense of perspective. Your entire life is tilting out of control.
Nikolas: No, you mean out of your control. That's what really bothers you, isn't it?
Stefan: Oh, Nikolas, you can't honestly believe that this dalliance with Emily Quartermaine has any sort of future.
Nikolas: It's -- it's not a dalliance.
Stefan: Be reasonable. It was one thing to be infatuated with Gia. I knew that eventually you would become bored and move on, but --
Nikolas: I didn't become bored with Gia. She's the one who broke off the -- all right, you know what? We've been through this before. You need to stop monitoring my relationships. We disagree. I'm not going to change your mind. You're not going to change mine. Let's just leave it at that.
Stefan: You have a position. You need to honor that and conduct yourself in ways that are appropriate.
Nikolas: I do.
Stefan: Nikolas, you may think you're in love with Emily, but in time you will realize that she's just a diversion. You know the Quartermaines won't take that lightly. You need to stop this before you hurt the poor girl.
Nikolas: I would never hurt Emily.
Stefan: You know what I mean.
Nikolas: No. No, I don't know what you mean. There's nothing fleeting about my relationship with Emily. In fact, I’ve made a serious commitment to her.
Stefan looks stunned as Nikolas says commitment.
Stefan: What do you mean by "commitment"?
Nikolas: What does "commitment" mean to you?
Nikolas sets down his glass and walks out the room, pausing to look back at Stefan, who sighs heavily. The camera pans across the bedroom showing an empty bed with the covers pulled back. We see Nikolas enter the bedroom as we hear water running.
Nikolas: Emily?
Emily: I'm here.
Nikolas: Are you all right?
The water stops as Emily comes out of the bathroom. She's wearing a grey set of sleepwear and holding a marroon washcloth. Nikolas takes the cloth and guides her into the bed. He tucks the covers around her and sprawls down on the bed across from her.
Emily: Oh. Chemo kicked in.
Nikolas: Oh, you're nauseous?
Emily: Big time.
Nikolas: All right, come on. There you go. Okay? I'm sorry I left. You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to wake you up.
Emily: Oh, that's okay. Not exactly an experience I -- I want to share. Hey, it's okay. You don't have to baby-sit me.
Nikolas: I -- it's nothing quite that noble. I was using you as an excuse to hide from my uncle.
Emily: You had another fight?
Nikolas: Naturally.
Emily: About me again?
Nikolas: It's just he's so determined to make decisions for me. And when I tell him it's not going to happen, he just pushes harder.
Nikolas is emphasizing his points by using his hands.
Emily: I'm so sorry.
Nikolas: No, don't be. I'm not. You should've seen the look on his face when I told him I made a commitment to you.
Emily: Oh, you didn't.
Nikolas: I didn't specify what -- what sort of commitment. I just let his imagination fill in the blanks.
Emily playfully hits Nikolas on the arm. They are laughing at each other.
Emily: Oh, you're evil, Nikolas. You're a true, twisted Cassadine.
Nikolas: Yeah, I thought he was going to pass out.
Emily: He's probably imagining our engagement.
Nikolas: Oh, and marriage and children and -- oh, my --
Emily: Did he clutch his heart and keel over?
Nikolas: Close. I almost wish that you and I were in love just for the sake of torturing my uncle.
Emily: Who knew I was unsuitable, huh?
Nikolas: Yeah. That's the part I'm wondering about. See, he's always had this -- this grudging respect for the Quartermaines, you know, and he said that they wouldn't approve of me treating you as a diversion or --
Emily: So?
Nikolas: So it makes me think something else is going on with him.
Emily: Hmm.
Nikolas: The question is, what?
Nikolas and Emily are lying in the bed, sleeping. Emily’s hand is on Nikolas’s chest, covered by his own. The camera pans to the door opening, Lydia comes in and watches them sleep. Nikolas is stirring, his hands moving up to rub his neck, suddenly he jerks awake and looks around. He checks Emily and then looks around.