I wouldn't talk to a friend the way I talk to myself

Nick appreciated getting to remove himself from the whole Emmy situation for a while. Yes, he was glad that Carly had been reunited with her daughter- everyone was! But as great as that was, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Dakota’s motives had been somewhat less than altruistic. The fact that she had brought Carly’s deceased daughter onto a sex show like this and then aged her up to be 18 years old (how convenient…) had dubious implications, and ones that left him feeling thoroughly uncomfortable about all of this.

But he buried those uncomfortable feelings, telling himself that not even Dakota would sink that low. And that there was absolutely no chance that she’d think that someone with Emmy’s circumstances would be a person who could make him “happy”. Not after everything that had gone down between him and Sylvia.

Which reminded him… he still hadn’t confronted THAT, either.

…So maybe leaving the Banquet Hall early was a bit like running away. But he just felt out of place there, he couldn’t help it. And Carly had made her desire for space so that she and Emmy could reconnect in private (well, with Marley, too) very clear.

Everyone was happy to oblige. Not a single soul voiced even the tiniest complaint about being asked to leave, even though half of them hadn’t even finished breakfast yet.

“So that was really something, huh?”

Dani turned to face Nick. It was just the two of them in the lobby right now. Dani had taken him there not long after they’d all been kicked out of the Banquet Hall, as the “start” of their “date” for the day. Her emotions were plain to see, as usual. The brash tomboy had never been good at hiding how she felt. And right now, she looked troubled.

“I’m happy for her,” Nick said honestly. He decided to keep his concerns about Dakota’s motivations to himself. Until those concerns actually manifested as something tangible, there was no point in worrying anybody about possible motivations behind Emmy’s revival.

“Yeah, me too…” Dani’s smile showed the sincerity behind her words; her happiness for Carly was the truth, but Nick could see it wasn’t the whole truth.

A wave of concern rolled through his body. He remembered the rules of her Skinned Our Hearts and Skinned Our Knees transformation. Of all Dani’s transformations, it was one of the ones that he found most troubling.

• Skinned Our Hearts and Skinned Our Knees: Dani has always put on a brave face. She’s never been one to cry, even when she gets hurt. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t hurt. She’s just trying to push through the pain and be tough like a tomboy should. When she does feel upset or hurt, whether emotionally or physically, the only person who can make her feel better is her best friend, the master. His hugs are the only ones that really comfort her. His words are the only ones that truly relieve her. His kisses are the only ones that can heal her booboos. (Tomboy)

“…Do you want to talk about it?” He asked quietly, not sure what answer he expected- or hoped- to receive. Because of Dani’s transformation, he was the only one who could truly comfort her when it came to serious issues. He had been afraid it would make the tomboy totally dependent on him, but the fact that it had been so seldom relevant since she was given it meant that it had to take a significantly high threshold of seriousness for the tomboy to need comfort.

Something like this.

Dani bit her lip. “Do you think I need comforting over it?” She asked, correctly guessing what Nick was thinking.

Nick flinched, showing he wasn’t much better at concealing his emotions than she was.

Dani sighed. “I’m fine, Nick, I’m not upset or anything,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t worry. I’m not so fragile I need your consolation after every little thing.” She cracked a small smile.

Nick frowned. “…But it does bother you.”

Dani looked down at the pattern of faeries dancing along the rug. She followed it with her eyes, trying to take her mind off the serious issue plaguing them both.

Then she raised her head and looked at Nick directly.

“I don’t think ‘bother’ is the right word to describe how I feel,” she said honestly, shaking her head. “I’m not bothered, Nick. I just… don’t know where I fit in now, you know? I mean… Carly is amazing, and we’re so happy together. But there are times when… well… she would become inconsolable. And we both know the reason.”

Nick nodded politely. “The reason” was currently reconnecting with her teary-eyed mother back in the other room.

Dani sighed. “There were times when I thought about telling Carly that she could use her wish if she won this whole thing, and bring Emmy back, you know?” She murmured. Again, she and Nick were on the same page with this. “But I was afraid that if I pushed the issue, then she would get her hopes up, and, well… it would all come crashing down.”

“I know what you mean,” Nick said solemnly. “Carly only recently started healing from Emmy’s loss. But now she has Emmy back, and, well…”

“Yeah, it’s completely thrown everything off,” Dani said. “…In a good way, I mean! Agh, I guess I’m not very good at explaining things…” She ruffled her feathery hair and sighed again. “…I just want her to be happy, you know?”

“But you’re wondering what your relationship with her is going to be like now, moving forward,” Nick said, sensing the real truth Dani was hesitant to reveal.

He couldn’t really blame her for being worried about that.

Dani shrugged. “She’s a mom now, you know? When we got together, we were two girls just trying to make it in the world, but she’s responsible for, like, this whole other person now, and I mean… …I’m 28 years old! Emmy’s 18! That’s weird, right? To have your mother be dating someone who would have been 10 years old when you were born?!”

Nick winced. When she put it like that, it did sound like a major complication to their relationship.

“Well, uh… if it makes you feel better, Carly’s only 26,” Nick pointed out. “So it’s not like she’s dating a much younger woman or something! She would have been 8 when Emmy was born, and that, uh…”

Somehow, what he had been thinking sounded better before he actually said it out loud. Dani just looked sick to her stomach.

“…It’s weird, right? I’m not crazy for thinking this is weird?” Dani asked with a sigh, hanging her head. “Dating a 26-year-old with an 18-year-old daughter?”

“Yeeeaaah, I think we’re both in a pretty weird situation right now,” Nick wholeheartedly agreed. A lot of people would think that Dani is trying to find a way to break things off, or vent her frustrations, but she’s not that kind of girl. She’s trying to work through this awkward situation the best way she can, so that all of us can be happy together.

“…Are we finished, do you think?” Dani’s voice was small and afraid, so completely unlike her that Nick couldn’t believe she’d actually said that.

He looked at her in shock as she raised her glum eyes to meet his.

“She’s gotta look after Emmy… she’s a parent now… do you think Carly and I… are we…?” Dani hadn’t felt like she needed to seek comfort from Nick when the conversation started. But as they’d gotten deeper into the heart of the matter, it reached a point where she did need him after all.

And as her heart pounded in her chest, she prayed he could say some sweet, naïve, stupid thing that would make her feel all better.

“Well… what do you think?”

Dani felt like a fool for getting her hopes up.

“Agh, what kind of answer is that?” She groaned, slumping down into the plush armchair. As comfortable as the furniture in the lobby may have been, Dani certainly wasn’t getting as much appreciation out of it as most people would.

“Sorry, but it was an honest one,” Nick apologized. He winced, knowing that he should have expected a response like that. “Look, Dani, right now Carly just faced a massive upheaval in her whole freaking life. Okay? Everything she thought she knew, everything that she had come to accept, all of that just got completely turned over on its head, yeah?”

Dani sighed and nodded. “Yeah, you’re not wrong there.”

“Like, this is bigger than coming to this show, I think you can argue that it’s even bigger than when her whole life got flipped on its head by Marley turning into her sister. Her daughter just came back to life.” Nick looked down at the floor. “…Take it from me, when someone you love comes back from the dead like that… it’s like a part of you gets revived along with them.”

Dani contemplated what Nick said in silence. She nodded slowly as his words sank in. They helped her come to terms with this a little, but she still hadn’t solved the root of her concern.

She raised her head and looked him in the eyes.

“…So what do you think we should do then?” She asked finally. “Should I just step back and let her and Emmy be happy together?”

“Haven’t you already done that?” Nick pointed out. “Aren’t you doing that right now? That’s why you left the Banquet Hall with the rest of us, right? Well, that, and to talk with me.”

Dani frowned. “I guess, but I meant…”

“I know what you meant,” Nick cut her off. “And I’m telling you, you’re thinking about this the wrong way. Taking a step back doesn’t mean you have to break things off, you idiot.”

“Hey!” Dani’s cheeks reddened and she scowled. “Don’t call me-!”

“What, an idiot? But you’re behaving like an idiot,” Nick said bluntly. “Thinking that you need to remove yourself from Carly’s life just so she can be happy with her daughter? Come on, you’re not dumb enough to actually think that, are you?”

“Stop calling me dumb!” Dani snapped. “And no, that’s NOT what I meant! Not at all! I don’t want to break up with her! I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant that since Carly has Emmy in her life now, she’s going to pull away from me! I didn’t mean that I was going to break up!”

“Yeah, I figured,” Nick said, not bothered by Dani’s outburst. It was always easier somehow, dealing with Dani. Compared to the other women in his life, anyway. With them, he had to constantly consider their feelings when interacting with them. He always had to be afraid of hurting them by saying the wrong thing.

It was different with Dani. Sure, his words could hurt her, words could hurt anyone. But not only was Dani tougher than most people, but she only thought of him as a friend. It meant he could talk with her and connect with her the way only a friend could.

And that was a great relief to him.

Nick felt a smile reach his lips in spite of himself. “Dani, I don’t think you have to worry about anything. You and Carly aren’t finished. Not unless YOU want to break up with her.”

“No way!” Dani snapped immediately. Then she actually processed the rest of his sentence. “…Wait, really? You don’t think I need to worry?”

Nick shook his head. “I think you need to accept that Carly might not be able to devote as much time to you as before, now that she has to take care of Emmy. But that’s true for any parent. Are you okay with that?”

Dani rolled her eyes. “What jerk wouldn’t be okay with that?”

Nick sighed. “You would be surprised. But yes, that’s the important part. As long as you’re okay with that, and aren’t going to break up with her over it, then the two of you are going to be just fine I think. And Carly and I are going to be fine, too.”

Dani was relieved. But at the same time, she felt hesitant, embracing that relief. “You sound so sure,” she murmured. “How are you so confident?”

Nick smiled. “Maybe because I’m not as close to her as you are,” he said, shrugging. “I can see things from the outside a little better. I think the fact that you’re so swept up in your relationship made it so you forgot the kind of girl Carly is.”

Dani blinked. “The kind of girl…?” She knew full well the kind of girl Carly was. Her girlfriend was open, eager, and funloving, the kind of person who always made the most of each day with a smile on her face. The kind of girl who would do her best to put a smile on your face, too, if she thought you needed that.

Nick nodded. “Carly is incredibly selfish.”

Before Dani punched his lights out, he clarified what he meant by that.

“Carly is the sort of person who wants it all,” he explained. “You think she’s gonna pick between her daughter and her girlfriend? No. You know how stubborn she is! She’ll work her butt off to keep both of you to herself, because she absolutely can’t and won’t give up any of you.”

He smiled as he pictured Carly gleefully hoarding Dani, Emmy, and even Marley, insisting that they all have fun together.

Dani smiled. She could picture it too. And along with that, she pictured the distressed look on Carly’s face as she grappled with the choice between loving Dani as a girlfriend and fulfilling her sexual needs with Nick. Dani remembered how difficult that period of time had been for their budding relationship, and how much smoother everything went when she let Carly be herself and show her feelings for them both in their own ways.

“…Yeah, you’re right,” she said finally, nodding and cracking a grin. “Carly’s not the type of girl to do something like that. She’ll try her best.”

“Exactly, see? You’re getting it!” Nick said with a laugh. “You and Carly are going to be fine. In fact, I think this honestly worked out the best way it could, Emmy being brought back today of all days. Since you’ve got me to take your mind off of it.”

Dani laughed. “Yeah, you’ve got a point there,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “While we’re on our ‘date’,” she made quotation marks with her fingers, “Carly and Emmy can catch up. Works out perfectly, honestly.”

Nick smiled, glad to see that Dani’s mood had turned around and she was feeling more confident about integrating Emmy into her life. But behind his smile, he felt concern bristle again.

Yeah… almost too perfect. Again, Dakota… I really hope you aren’t planning to use Emmy for any ulterior motives.

He wouldn’t go along with that. Absolutely not.

Dani let out a sigh, and fanned herself. “Well, I feel way better now,” she informed him. “Talking with you really helped a lot more than I thought it would!”

“Well gee, thanks,” Nick replied with a sarcastic sneer.

Dani stuck her tongue out at him. “Come on, you know what I mean!” She replied. “You’ve gotta admit, our relationship is a little… tricky.”

“Fair enough.” He couldn’t argue with that.

After a brief pause, Nick shared something he was grateful about. “I’m just glad you’re always the way you are, Dani.”

The tomboy looked at him in confusion. “Huh? Come again?”

Nick shrugged. “I mean, come on. You could have tried to keep these feelings bottled up, and just gone around the whole day letting it fester before it finally came out tonight over dinner. That’s been happening way too recently lately…”

Dani laughed. “Oh, I see what you mean. Yeah, no, I’m not a bottler I guess. If I’ve got an issue, I tackle it head on!”

Well, maybe after a bit of prodding that was the case. At least in this instance, anyway. Nick politely decided not to push the issue and just smiled.

“So since you’ve gotten that massive weight off your chest, what now?” Nick asked, realizing far too late that he’d used the worst possible expression with Dani.

She cracked a cheeky grin and his heart sank in his chest.

Oh great! What was I thinking?! How could I have talked about getting “weight” off her chest with Dani!? Nick turned pale.

“Well, since you asked…” Dani rose to her feet and stretched her hands over her head. “I guess I could think of a couple things we could do…”

While Nick was panicking, in another part of the island, Kim was slumped over the counter, staring daggers at the clock.

“Come on…” she grumbled, dapping her finger on the counter. “It hasn’t even been an hour yet… I want to gooooo…”

The incident with Emmy had really thrown off her plans. Kim had been hoping for a quick breakfast, then to get to her shift at the boutique. After sitting through a couple hours of work, she would then be free to hook up with Nick and Dani, and there would be plenty of time left over.

Now there was less time for their date, since she’d gotten a late start.

“I know it was going to be four hours either way, so why does it feel like it’s so much longer than it would have been if I started earlier?” Kim grumbled to herself. It didn’t make sense, and yet, she couldn’t really argue with how she felt.

“What’s up? Feeling disgruntled?”

Of course, the last person Kim wanted to see right now just happened to walk through the door. Vivian Carrington.

“What do you want?” Kim grumbled, not even bothering with her customary smile.

“I just came by to give you some good business advice,” Vivian said with a grin.

“No thanks. I’m pretty sure Emmy is walking proof we can’t bring any children onto the island, not even for **** labor,” Kim said sarcastically.

Vivian let her words wash over her like water.

“Emmy’s actually exactly what I was talking about,” she chirped.

“Huh?” Kim stared at Vivian in confusion. What did Carly’s revived daughter have to do with business advice?

Vivian leaned over the counter and smiled. “She’s so cute, right? Dakota brought her to the island, but she doesn’t have a stitch to wear! Isn’t that a shame?”

A lightbulb went off over Kim’s head.

“…Oh.”

Vivian nodded, seeing the other girl finally got it.

“She’s going to need to get her clothes somewhere,” the heiress pointed out. “Dakota’s not running a charity, you know.”

“She doesn’t have any BP,” Kim pointed out. She wasn’t exactly thrilled by the prospect of milking Emmy’s needs for cash, either.

“Right, that’s why we need to get everybody to pitch in!” Vivian said eagerly. “We can all buy her some new outfits! Wouldn’t that be a sweet gift?”

Kim blinked. That… wasn’t at all where she’d been expecting Vivian to go with this. She looked at the heiress suspiciously. “…Are you serious right now?”

It almost sounded like Vivian wanted to do something nice.