Nikolas: Hi.
Elizabeth: Hey. What on earth are you doing here? Where's Em?
Nikolas: I was about to ask you that.
Elizabeth: Well, she's not here. I assumed she was --
Nikolas: What, assumed she was with me?
Elizabeth: Yeah, she called in for a personal day off.
Nikolas: Oh, yeah, and I'm sure she'll spend it as far away from me as possible.
Emily: You're killing me, Michael.
Michael: You're stronger than me, but my guns are stronger than yours. And --
Emily: Oh, no!
Michael: Get him! Yes!
Game buzzes.
Emily: Oh!
Michael: Gotcha!
Emily: Smarty-pants.
Michael: Destroyed your base.
Emily: You're too good, Michael.
Michael: You're a better player than my mom. It's funny to watch her play. She destroys her own base somehow.
Emily: I bet you miss your mom.
Elizabeth: Aren't things getting better between you and Em at all?
Nikolas: Well, that depends on which hour of the day you ask, Elizabeth. One day, we spend a couple hours together, you know, having a good time. Then she gets scared and takes off. And then the next day, we're dancing and -- her idea, by the way -- and then she remembers that she has something important to do and disappears again.
Elizabeth: Well, maybe do you think you're being just a little too sensitive?
Nikolas: What? Are you serious? When was the last time that Emily missed a shift a work, huh? You know, the sky could be falling on top of her and she'd be here like clockwork.
Elizabeth: I know, but do you really think she's avoiding you on purpose?
Nikolas: What else would be important enough to make Emily miss work?
Sonny: I'm sorry to interrupt. Nik, you mentioned Emily? Okay, she's at my house. She's been helping out with Michael. She's been there for the last couple days.
Emily: No. Oh!
Game buzzes.
Michael: Gotcha!
Emily: Ugh! I can't believe Carly’s worse at this than I am.
Michael: Yeah, she gets all the buttons backwards; everything ends up going in the wrong direction.
Emily: Yeah, I can understand that. It's pretty complicated.
Michael: But when she does, she tells these dumb knock-knock jokes to try and get me distracted. It doesn't work but, hey, sometimes I let her win just so that she'll be happy.
Emily: It's important to you that your mom feels good.
Michael: Doesn't matter. She doesn't care how I feel.
Emily: What? What are you talking about, Michael? That's not true. Your mom loves you so much. Both of your parents worship you.
Michael: Then how come everything's so messed up?
Emily: Listen, before Monica and Alan adopted me, I had another mom. We were really close. You know, sometimes when I see you with your mom, it reminds me of how we were. And when I was your age, she got sick. But up until then, I thought she was the strongest, like, most perfect person in the whole world. I mean, I'm sure she made plenty of mistakes, but you know how parents are. They never let you see that.
Michael: Yeah, they act like they know everything.
Emily: I know. I thought that, too. But my mom was too sick to pretend with me. So for a while, even though I was young, there were times when I had to be the parent and she was the child.
Michael: That's weird.
Emily: Yeah. But it taught me something so shocking that I've never forgotten it. Our parents aren't perfect, Michael. They do the best they can. But they were kids just like us once. They get scared a lot and their feelings get hurt and they need us to love them. You know, I guarantee that your mom is upset that you're mad at her.
Michael: I have one good reason. She married Lorenzo Alcazar.
Emily: Oh, I know, but you can't stay angry forever.
Michael: What happened to your mom?
Emily: She died. But, you know, I feel her with me every day, Michael. I only wish that I'd told her how much I loved her more often. You know, moms need to hear that.
Emily: Michael.
Carly: Mr. Man. What's going on?
Emily: Oh, I'm getting clobbered by the video whiz kid here.
Carly: Land Racer?
Michael: She's almost as bad as you.
Emily: I'm going to take Michael to his appointment with Dr. Thomas this afternoon.
Carly: Oh, nice. Actually, that's a perfect chance for us to go over and see our new place. There's so much fun stuff for you to do.
Michael: Will he be there?
Carly: Well, yeah. Lorenzo bought the house for you and Morgan and me. He's my new husband. Of course he's going to be there.
Michael: I won't like it.
Emily: Michael, you'll never know if you don't give it a chance.
Carly: Emily's right. Look, just go over there. We'll just go look at it. We'll go check out the stables and the lake and your new room. What do you say?
Emily: Sounds like a plan to me. What do you say, Michael?
Michael: Okay.
Carly: Oh, great.
Nikolas: Hey.
Emily: Hey.
Nikolas: Guy outside let me in, knew I was your husband.
Emily: Is something wrong?
Nikolas: I don't know. I went to the hospital to find you, and Sonny said you were here.
Emily: Yeah, I've been helping with Michael. He's had such a hard time lately, and for some reason, he listens to me.
Nikolas: That's nice that you can help him. Where is he? Is he here?
Emily: He left a little while ago with his mom.
Nikolas: Well, I am glad I came. I can give you a ride home. Let's go.
Emily: You know, I think I'm going to wait here for Morgan to wake up from his nap. You know, I hardly ever get to see him and Michael’s been getting so much attention lately and I just don't want the little guy to feel neglected.
Nikolas: Love those boys, huh?
Emily: Yeah, I do.
Nikolas: That's great. It is. And, hey, look at this place. Guards, gates, security systems. It's the perfect place to hide.
Emily: You don't understand what Michael’s been through.
Nikolas: I'm not talking about Michael. I'm talking about you. You're using that kid and his problems as a way to hide from me. That is what we've come to.
Emily: Nikolas, you should leave.
Nikolas: So you can shut me out again? Let me tell you something -- if we can't be straight with each other, then we have absolutely no chance at all.
Emily: Not everything I do is about you.
Nikolas: Oh -- oh, come on, Emily. I know that you love your nephew, okay, but you're making this up as you go along. The other night when we were together, you never planned to go with Michael to his doctor's appointment. As soon as I asked you to come back to Wyndemere with me, you panicked. All right? Even the slightest hint of intimacy between us, it sends you running, and Michael’s just an excuse.
Emily: That is so unfair.
Nikolas: So what? Just be honest about it, though. You know, you're using Michael as an excuse to avoid dealing with us. You know, just be honest about it, don't run from it.
Emily: Okay, my life isn't only about how we get back together, Nikolas. Michael needs me.
Nikolas: I need you. Look, you and I agreed that we were going to get through this together, okay, but we only spend a couple hours of time with each other and then you find another excuse to run away from me.
Emily: I can't speak to you when you're like this.
Nikolas: You can't speak to me at all! Emily, that's the problem here! Look at me. I'm your husband. Your husband. And I'm -- I'm trying to deal with this with you.
Emily: And I'm grateful.
Nikolas: I don't want grateful. I want my wife back. Look, you've been through something terrible, something awful, okay, and I am not trying to take that away from you, but that is not a good reason to throw away everything that's good between us.
Emily: Nikolas, please stop.
Nikolas: No, no, no. I have loved you and I have supported you through everything, but -- okay, no, you know what? I'm going to say it. I'm going to say it. I am tired of paying for what Connor did to you.
Emily: Okay, I --
Nikolas: No, look, you're running away from me again. Don't walk away from me!
Emily: Nikolas, don’t.
Sonny: Hey, hey, hey, what -- what the hell do you think you're doing?
Nikolas: Sonny, this is between me and my wife.
Sonny: Emily is a guest in my house. You weren't even invited. Last thing you want to do is threaten her.
Nikolas: But this is none of your business, okay?
Emily: Okay, stop it, both of you. It's not Nikolas' fault. I got him upset.
Sonny: Don't do that, Emily. Don't blame yourself when he gets out of control.
Emily: He's not.
Sonny: I saw him grab you. Why would you do that when you know what she's been through, Nikolas?
Nikolas: What -- wait a minute, you told him about Connor? What are you --?
Emily: I wanted Sonny to know about my therapy so he'd understand why I'm trying to help him with Michael.
Sonny: Why wouldn't she tell me? She didn't do anything wrong.
Nikolas: Because it's none of your business, that's why!
Sonny: Get out of my house!
Nikolas: Listen to me. We need to get through this, okay?
Sonny: I'm not going to tell you again, and next time I'm going to have you thrown out.
Nikolas: Come with me, please?
Emily: I can't go anywhere right now.
Nikolas: Damn it, don't do this!
Emily: Okay, we both need to calm down. Nikolas, I --
Sonny: You heard her.
Nikolas: Oh, my --
Door slams.
Emily: He's really upset.
Sonny: I don't care about him. What about you?
Emily: There's a lot more to this than you know about.
Sonny: That's what my mother used to say. That you don't know what's going on in a marriage until you've lived in it, and then she'd show up with black eyes and make excuses for the pig who hit her.
Emily: No, Sonny, Nikolas would never hurt me.
Sonny: Emily, Emily. I know a loose cannon when I see one. Do not lie to protect him.
Emily: You have to believe me. Nikolas would never hurt me.
Sonny: Never? So what would've happened if I didn't show up?
Emily: It's not because Nikolas is angry, Sonny. He's frustrated, okay, and I don't blame him. He has tried so hard to help me get past the rape, and I keep shutting him out.
Sonny: Well, it's going to take as long as it's going to take there, you know?
Emily: But the truth is he's right, okay? I've forgotten -- I've forgotten how to trust. I love Michael, but I'm as much here to hide from my husband as I am to help your son.
Sonny: You trust your instincts?
Emily: Yeah.
Sonny: Yeah? Your instincts are telling you to be here in a place where it's safe, right? I got a big home, okay? I am offering you my home for as long as you need it.