I have been riveted – JUST RIVETED – the past few days on General Hospital.

And NOT because of the (yawwwwn) – Liz/Nik/Lucky who’s-the-daddy storyline.

I have been fast forwarding through those scenes.

The polar opposite to that is the teen dating abuse storyline.

Back in July, Soapbox1 reported the teen dating abuse storyline was coming up. But, I must admit, I had no idea how loooooong it would take to play out.

Be that as it may, the payout, so far, has been worth the wait.

The performances have been extraordinary on all fronts.

First of all, HUGE KUDOS to Lexi Ainsworth as Kristina. She’s been so good all around since she was brought on after SORASing the character.

But this storyline has really showcased her acting talent.

Btw, whoever did the makeup after Kristina’s brutal beating…..so realistic that it was really hard to look at.

Lexi Ainsworth as Kristina and Nancy Lee Grahn as Alexis Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC

Christian Alexander as Kiefer has been soooo good in making us hate the character…..at least I do. I cannot STAND Kiefer and what he represents.

And, of course, really strong performances (as always) from Nancy Lee Grahn as Kristina’s mother, Alexis Davis. I so empathized with her every moment.

Then there was Maurice Benard, who makes me, alternately, love Sonny one moment and hate him the next. In this case, I hated him when he pointed the gun at Ethan, threatening to kill him in his very Sonny way.

Dominic Zamprogna (Dante), Jane Elliot (Tracy), Jonathan Jackson (Lucky), Maurice Benard (Sonny) and Nathan Parsons (Ethan). Photo: ABC/Adam Larkey

But, the next minute, I sympathized with Sonny when he was in Kristina’s hospital room, talking about watching his mother getting beaten back when he was a boy…..which, we know, helped propel the whole mob thing.

I also loved the tender moments between Kristina and her newly-discovered brother Detective Dante Falconeri (Domenic Zamprogna). Zamprogna is so earnest and so caring as Dante…..Ya gotta love him!

And it was quite interesting watching Dante eavesdrop on Sonny’s above-mentioned soliloquy to Kristina.

Is Dante softening toward Sonny? It seems so.

I also like the close sisterly relationship developing between Kristina and Sam (Kelly Monaco). Sam, who had been abused, had a heart-to-heart with Kristina in the hospital and put on a brave front for her. Sam broke down in tears afterward with Jason.

For me, it’s really hard to watch everyone believing that Ethan did this to Kristina when we all know that he didn’t.

Nathan Parsons as Ethan Lovett. Photo: Rick Rowell/ABC

I guess, from what I’m gathering, the abused person protects her attacker.

But, in this case, it could mean that an innocent person could die. And that’s the part of the storyline that I don’t like

Kristina told Kiefer that she didn’t want him to die and that she knew if she named him that Sonny would kill him.

But what about Ethan? She doesn’t care that Sonny would kill him?

That part, I don’t get. And that part makes me want to scream at the TV that Ethan didn’t do this!

I’m interested to see what happens between good friends Luke (Tony Geary) and Sonny when Luke gets back into town.

I know the truth will come out. It always does.

I had a feeling today, when Kristina started to tell Alexis that she lied, it wouldn’t lead to her telling the truth about who really attacked her.

It was too early for that.

I just hope it doesn’t take too long for the truth to come out.

I want to see Kiefer get his due – and his smug, pompous parents too!