JR was in the den at Southfork, reading a book. Since it was fairly late at night, he was the only one in the family who was still downstairs. JR had to admit that it was nice to have the den to himself like this sometimes.

JR had felt a lot more relaxed ever since he and Katherine had renewed their friendship. While it was true that JR still worried about Katherine's affections for Bobby, he didn't doubt her when it came to being his friend anymore. JR believed that Katherine really did regret her decision to help Bobby. JR still remembered how Katherine had looked during their argument and when she had told him that the deal with Bobby was off. In those moments, Katherine had looked like a woman who was terrified of losing everything. JR believed that he must be important to Katherine since she had prioritized their friendship as more important than a chance to get closer to Bobby by ending the deal. It made JR feel special. In a way, he felt like the whole experience had actually brought him and Katherine even closer to each other. At Katherine's insistence, JR had even started to open up about his painful childhood to her. More than anything else, it felt good to have his best friend back.

A voice interrupted JR's thoughts. "JR, I wanna talk to you!" Bobby said.

JR silently groaned to himself. Of course Bobby would be the one to spoil his good mood.

"What is it, Bob? It's late." JR grumbled.

"I want to know just why you are spending so much time with Katherine. And don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about either. I've seen you with her a few times. And I know that you also talked her out of giving me the Tundra Torque!" Bobby said angrily.

"For a man that is happily married, you sure are jealous. Oh, wait. I forgot. Your marriage isn't exactly happy right now, is it?" JR taunted.

"Don't change the subject, JR! Katherine is my friend, so you better not just be trying to get closer to her just so that you can use her to help you win this contest!" Bobby threatened.

"You mean like you just did? No, I'm not." JR replied coldly.

Bobby looked even more furious now. "How dare you put me on your level! I'll admit that I have done some things that I'm not proud of during this fight, but I would never hurt anyone! And besides, Katherine offered to help me on her own!" Bobby said furiously.

"And I didn't try to pressure her into ending the deal! I only told her that it hurt me! Despite what you believe Bobby, I really do care about Katherine. So you better stop playing games with her like this! And I'm sure Pamela would feel the same way, too. Somehow I don't think that she would be too happy to know that her husband is spending so much time with her sister!" JR said angrily.

"JR, please don't tell me that you are actually jealous!? I told you that Katherine is my friend! I don't have those kinds of feelings for her, and I never will! She's like a sister to me!" Bobby said.

"I'm not jealous!" JR lied.

"Look JR, I'm not trying to pry into your personal life here, and it's not like I believe that you are incapable of caring about someone else. I just don't want Katherine to get caught in the middle of our contest. I can tell that she cares about you a lot. So please, just be careful about what you do." Bobby said.

"I will. Now, do you mind leaving me alone?" JR asked.

"Fine, I'll see you in the morning." Bobby said. He then turned around and left.

JR was furious with his brother. How dare Bobby suggest that I would just use Katherine as a tool to win the contest like he tried to! He is such a hypocrite! I love her! He doesn't! JR thought to himself angrily. But at the same time, JR also felt hopeful because Bobby had admitted that he didn't have any feelings for Katherine. Maybe there was still hope for JR after all...

The next evening, JR was at Katherine's house again. It was starting to feel like his home-away-from-home. JR had just finished telling Katherine more about his childhood.

"I still can't believe that I had never even known about Gary in the first place. As a former journalist, it's quite embarrassing." Katherine said.

"Well, he does try to keep a low profile." JR said. For a moment, he wondered what his first younger brother was doing right now, all the way out in California.

"Do you think that I'll ever get to meet him?' Katherine asked curiously.

"I don't know. Gary doesn't like to come here unless he feels like he absolutely has to. You would probably only get to see him if one of us died or... got married." JR said. His voice had faltered a bit on the last part of his sentence. For a moment, JR had imagined himself and Katherine getting married.

Katherine gave JR a curious look. She then changed the subject. "I can certainly see how hard everything was for you now. No matter what the reasons they had, your parents should never have openly expressed who their favorite children were! It's cruel! Especially for you JR, because you were the one that got left out! Sure, I was hurt when mama started to spend almost all of her time with Cliff and Pam instead of me. But at least she never said that anyone was her favorite! And she didn't label us, either. I mean, what are children supposed to think after hearing their parents always saying who they thought loved the land the most, or whatever? It's ridiculous!" Katherine said angrily.

"Thank you, Katherine. It's nice of you to say that. I just hope that it doesn't sound like I'm trying to get you to feel sorry for me. Because I'm not." JR said.

"It's alright, JR. I know that you're not trying to do that. I'm just happy to learn more about you. Ever since I've come back, I knew that there was a lot more to you than what other people believe." Katherine admitted shyly.

Whenever Katherine made comments like this with a soft tone in her voice, JR couldn't help wondering if he was possibly having an effect on her. JR had never had such a hard time trying to get a read on a woman's possible affections for him.

"Well, I'm glad that you feel that way. Because despite what other people like to believe, there is a lot more to me. And I'm sure that there is to you as well." JR said quietly.

Katherine looked lost for words. She couldn't seem to find a response to what JR had just said. For a few minutes, they both just looked into each other's eyes, caught in the moment.

Katherine finally broke the silence. "It's pretty late." She said awkwardly.

"You're right. I guess I'll head home now. I had a nice time. Goodnight, Katherine." JR said. He headed towards the door.

"Yeah, I had a nice time, too. Goodnight, JR." Katherine said.

On the drive back to Southfork, JR couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in Katherine's house. It was as if they had both been frozen in a moment together; with neither of them being able to speak. Now more than ever, JR knew that he had to tell Katherine how he felt about her. But the truth was that he was terrified that Katherine wouldn't feel the same way. JR wasn't just afraid of Bobby being the reason. JR knew that Katherine had a vulnerable side to her. He had a feeling that were secrets that Katherine didn't feel like telling him, or anyone else. If JR told Katherine the truth, and she just ended up rejecting him, then what would happen to their friendship? But JR also knew that he had to try. He didn't want to pass up a chance on something this special. I'll tell her after the contest is over. JR decided to himself.

JR noticed that there was a car driving rapidly towards him. Terrified, he tried desperately to swerve around it, but the driver seemed intent on ramming right into JR's car. Before JR could even try to do anything else, the other car crashed into his. Then, everything went black.