General Hospital's Braedyn Bruner and Giovanni Mazza discuss the buildup to Gio and Emma's first kiss

When Outback, the smart and adorable beagle, ran away and went missing on General Hospital, Emma Scorpio-Drake (Braedyn Bruner) and Gio Palmieri (Giovanni Mazza) turned their focus on finding the sweet and smart pup.

When it looked like they may never find her, Emma was in tears and angry with herself for not protecting Outback enough. When they were out for a drink at the Brown Dog bar, Gio tried to console her, and for a moment, he was thinking about kissing her. But he didn’t.

Gio and Emma teamed up to find their dog on General Hospital

Later, Gio found out that Outback was safe and sound with Cody (Josh Kelly) and Molly (Kristen Vaganos) at the Quartermaine stables. Gio called Emma to invite her there without telling her the pooch was with him. When Emma saw the beagle, she smiled in delight. And then, with Outback sitting with them, for the first time, they moved in and shared their first kiss.

The buildup to that moment made it worth the wait for both actors, who have enjoyed portraying their characters as their friendship has deepened in the past few months.

Both Bruner and Mazza shared their thoughts with Soap Opera Digest in an interview after the moment aired.

Mazza said after the near-kiss at the bar, he knew that his character was ready to take the next step.

“He became extremely conscious of those feelings,” Mazza told SOD. “I think he really wanted to kiss her at that point, and then for whatever reason, he just didn’t. All his impulses were there — he just didn’t act on it.”

Said Bruner: “I think Emma’s attraction to Gio was (sparked) really early on. I think it’s probably been there the whole time. But I think she’s been so hyper-fixated on taking down Dalton (Daniel Goddard). Yes, there’s been this push-and-pull (between Gio and Emma), but I don’t think it necessarily clicked until quite recently.”

The General Hospital characters have helped guide each other through some traumatic times in their lives. Emma stayed by his side for days and kept an eye on him after he found out in surprise fashion that his birth parents are Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna).

When Emma’s cousin Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) was sent to General Hospital after having a heart attack, Gio comforted her at the Metro Court pool. Bruner told SOD she thinks that was a turning point in their relationship, combined with their moment at the Brown Dog.

“That scene where he takes my hand at the table to comfort me, we just kind of had that moment where we were looking at each other, and I know that for me as an actor, that felt like such a special moment," Bruner shared.

Both General Hospital stars said their characters fear the risk of losing their friendship, particularly with their family situations in turmoil and not having many other people to turn to. Gio, for instance, is still figuring out if he can trust the Quartermaines again and give his birth parents another chance.

But as Gio and Emma navigate their new status moving forward on General Hospital, the actors are excited about portraying that love, and they know that “Gemma” has a lot of love from the fans. The actors said they have been anxiously waiting for that kiss to show up in a script, and they’re glad it took a long time to arrive.

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“I personally love a slow burn,” Bruner said. “I don’t know if that’s the hopeless romantic in me, but also just as an audience member, I know that’s a trope that I love to see. But we’ve done the ‘been there for each other’ thing for a while now, and I think it’s time!”

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.

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