Making Things Right

By Morganperidot

1.

Katie Spencer stood on the beach looking at the ocean. She tried not to think about him and the sound of his soft voice, but she couldn't stop. Even though every thought of him hurt her, those thoughts kept coming, one after the other in a chain of the most exquisite painful pleasure.

Ridge Forrester: For years and years and years she had sat across from him at tables and made small talk with him at various locations, always knowing that he was Brooke's man – even when he was with Taylor there was still a part of him that always drew him back to Brooke. So when Ridge suddenly turned to her, looking into her eyes and speaking to her in the way he had always reserved for Brooke, Katie could only think one thing, that he was temporarily redirecting the feelings that would one day be returned where they belonged – to her sister.

And so, she had pushed him away, back toward Brooke and their family with their son. She had looked into his sweet warm eyes and at the soft lips she had wanted to kiss and told him that there could never be anything between them. She had told him that she couldn't do that to her sister, to Brooke, the woman who had slept with her husband and destroyed her marriage and her family. Katie had rejected Ridge outright and the possibility of a future with him because of Brooke, who would never know or care that she had broken Katie's heart again.

Katie heard her cell phone ring, but she ignored it. She knew what it was. She was late for the fitting for the dresses for Brooke's millionth wedding to Ridge. He had gone back to her and finally proposed to her, because that, of course, was how things were meant to be. Hadn't Katie herself told him that? "You belong with Brooke," she had said. "Go to her and put that ring on her finger. You know that's how it's meant to be." And he had done it; he would be Brooke's husband again, despite everything Brooke had done. He would be with her; he would forgive her. And he would love her again, because he always did.

Katie sighed and turned away from the water. She took the phone out of the pocket of her jacket and listened to the voicemail. It was Donna asking where she was. Katie deleted the message before it was finished. She wanted to run away, to just take Will and get in the car and drive until they were out of gas and so far away that she wouldn't ever have to see Brooke or Bill or Ridge again. She couldn't stand the thought of being near any of them, and yet she knew she would have to play out the farce her life with a phony smile on her face and dark shadows in her heart.

2.

Brooke's dress was white; of course it was. Katie almost choked when she saw it. "Ridge likes for things to be traditional," Brooke said, modeling the off-the-shoulder, satin and lace gown for her sisters. "And I've always looked good in white," she added. That was when she had turned to Katie and asked, "So what do you think?"

Katie smiled and said, "It's beautiful. You're beautiful."

Brooke glowed. "Thank you," she said. "And thank you for talking to Ridge. I know whatever you said to him helped him see that this is the right thing to do."

"You two," Katie said, struggling for a moment to find the rest of a sentence that was just so obvious, "belong together."

"Yes, well I was afraid he may have forgotten that," Brooke said, admiring herself in the mirror. "I was starting to wonder if he might have found someone else."

Donna laughed. "Ridge would never look anywhere else when he has you," she said.

Katie looked over at her other sister who was dressed in the same tasteful if conservative black and white bridesmaid's gown. Donna rolled her eyes, and Katie smiled again. Ridge looked at me, she thought. But she couldn't say that; she could never say anything to her sisters about those moments that had almost been something between her and Ridge, those moments when she had denied that possibility, when she had chosen the sister who betrayed her in the worst possible way over a good man with whom she could have built a new life.

"Are you OK, Katie?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, of course," Katie said.

"You just seemed far away," Brooke said.

"No, I'm right here," Katie said. "I'm not going anywhere."

3.

The days passed on their way toward the wedding date. Katie made excuses to avoid any event that put her in the same room with Ridge, but she couldn't avoid the wedding rehearsal and the dinner at the restaurant afterward. As Brooke practiced walking down the aisle, Katie could feel Ridge's gaze on her rather than his bride-to-be. Katie didn't look at him; she just watched Brooke. And when it was over she walked away without a glance in his direction, though she could still feel his eyes on her.

At the dinner she continued to avoid him, occupying herself in conversation with anyone else. But then she heard her name in his soft tones, and she realized she had to look at him. "Yes?" she said, hoping she wouldn't see that same warmth in his eyes that she had before, and he would just be the Ridge that she had always known.

"You aren't eating?" he asked.

Katie looked down at the plate of food that she had been ignoring. "I'm not really hungry," she said.

He was silent, and then Katie finally met his gaze. She saw the look there, the same look she had seen before when they had been alone together. Shaken, she excused herself from the table and headed in the direction of the ladies room before going outside into the warm night air of LA. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she stood there; she tried to hold them back but knew it was a losing battle.

Katie heard the door open behind her, and she knew it would be Brooke or Donna. She would have to come up with some lie for them. But she was too tired for that, and if they saw the tears she didn't care. She had the right to shed a few after all of this. So she turned around with those tears already rolling down her cheeks. But it was Ridge standing there; of course it was Ridge.

"You said this was what you wanted," he said quietly. Katie wiped her tears away but didn't respond. She didn't trust her voice not to break or her words not to betray her. "You said I should go back to Brooke," he added.

"Yes," Katie managed, the tears still pooling. She looked away. "I have to go," she said. "Tell Brooke I wasn't feeling well, a stomach bug or something…"

Ridge put his hand on her arm gently, and Katie closed her eyes. "Look at me, Katie," he said.

"I have to go, Ridge," she said.

"One minute," he said.

"Ridge…"

"One minute," he repeated.

She sighed and turned toward him, and he released her arm. "You're marrying my sister," Katie said. "You have a family with her."

"We've already had that conversation," Ridge said. "But we didn't have the one where you told me the truth. I want you to do that now. I want you to tell me the truth."

"It doesn't matter," Katie said. "I know that…"

"I don't love Brooke," Ridge said.

"Don't say that," Katie said. "The two of you…"

Ridge pulled her to him and kissed her, his warm, soft lips against hers as he held her body against his. Katie's brain short-circuited; she couldn't do anything but respond in kind. The kiss ended, but he still held her to him, and Katie for her part made no move to end his embrace. "Tell me the truth," he whispered, his lips against her ear.

Katie slid her arms around him, but her brain still told her to lie and end all this before it got out of control. She knew she had to, for Brooke, for RJ – but what about her, and what about Ridge? She hesitated a moment, and in that moment she felt all of that obligation slip away. "I want you," she said.

Ridge lifted his head and gently put his hands on her cheeks. "Ah, Katie, I'm so glad to hear it," he said. Katie's heart soared as he brought his lips back to hers so gently and tenderly.

"Ridge?"

Katie's heart dropped to her toes at the sound of Brooke's voice. Ridge turned to face her, and Katie saw Brooke's face and the questions there that would have to be answered.