Thank you to Sunny, Cynthia, beachtree, Jen, JenJenxx, Mariana, Becky, Mickey, Shellie, Panz, don't think about it, Lauren and Natalie for you reviews, they mean a lot to me! I feel like I've neglected this fic a bit recently, so I'm going to try and update it quickly.

The Mallpisode

The house was silent when Kirsten arrived home. It was nearly midnight and she assumed that everyone was safe in bed. She walked through the house and up the steps to the bedroom, surprised to see Sandy still awake and waiting for her. He looked up when he heard her at the bedroom door.

"Sorry, I didn't think I was going to be so late," she apologised.

Sandy closed the book he was reading and shrugged. "I didn't find your ring."

Kirsten felt guilt rush through her. Of course he wouldn't have found her ring. It wasn't lost.

"Oh, you were looking for my ring?"

"Me and your father," Sandy answered. "We made a day of it. He was upset about Lindsey and I was upset about…well, I was just upset."

"Well, we'll find our groove. And my ring," Kirsten said, wishing she believed it herself.

He was upset? He hadn't been the one who had been lied to for the past couple of months; he wasn't the one who was still hurting.

"In the meantime, we're gonna have to do the dishes and things in the bathroom sink, because I…I lost the bolt, you know, that keeps the pipe and the thing together," Sandy rambled, getting up from the bed and walking around to stand in front of her. "But just know this…"

He took out a plastic egg from his pocket and popped it open, pulling out a plastic ring. Kirsten gasped when she saw it, knowing what it meant. Sandy slid the ring onto her wedding finger and she looked up to meet his eyes.

"…I love you and I'm so sorry I did anything to make you doubt it."

Kirsten softened and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. For the first time since Rebecca, she believed him. She believed that he was sorry.

She looked down at the ring, remembering the night that Sandy proposed and remembering how she felt. Sandy had won the ring at the Cliff House arcade and he had hidden his prize from her until he had taken her down to the beach. He had proposed in the traditional way, getting down on one knee, and Kirsten hadn't hesitated in saying yes. She already knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. They were so madly in love back then and Kirsten missed that feeling. She missed the man she fell in love with.

Since Rebecca, they couldn't deny that things had changed. They had changed. She was still in love with him, of course, but it was a different feeling now. Holding her hand out in front of her, a glimmer of that old feeling came back and, at least for tonight, Kirsten wanted to hold onto it.

She pulled back from the hug, resting her hands on Sandy's shoulders. She stared deep into his eyes, seeing the man she married twenty years ago. She wasn't prepared to give up twenty years of happiness for a couple of months of troubles.

"I love you," Kirsten spoke eventually, smiling gently.

Sandy smiled back, happy to hear her say those words. Seeing Kirsten without her wedding rings on had scared him. A voice inside his head kept telling him that losing her rings had not been an accident and he tried to push them away. He realised now how deeply he had hurt her and hoped that this was another step towards forgiveness. He tentatively leaned towards her and Kirsten caught his head between her hands, covering his lips with her own. She kissed him passionately, allowing herself to get caught up in her feelings. She wrapped her arms around his neck and Sandy ran his hands up and down her back, holding her tightly against him.

It had been so long since they had felt so close, both physically and emotionally. They fell onto the bed, their lips finding each other again while their hands roamed each other's bodies. Sandy fought his urges and worked slowly as his hands worked at removing her clothes. He didn't want to rush her. Kirsten was silently grateful and her fingers carefully undid the buttons of his shirt, pushing it off his body. Every now and again, Sandy would pull away and look at his wife. Kirsten would pause, before drawing him down towards her again.

They made love for the first time in months, eventually spooning together under the sheets. It was all so familiar and Kirsten revelled in that feeling as she lay in Sandy's arms. She held out her left hand in front of her and studied the plastic ring on her finger.

Sandy saw her and planted a kiss on her temple. "I love you," he whispered.

Kirsten closed her eyes, guilt running through her again. She had taken off her wedding rings and he had spent the whole day trying to replace them; trying to do something to make her happy, to prove his love to her. Did he doubt her love?

She turned her head towards him. "I love you too."

Sandy kissed her forehead. Kirsten smiled, snuggling back against Sandy's body, and she looked back at her new ring.

"You really spent the day with my father?" she asked, frowning. It was no secret that there was no love lost between her father and her husband.

Sandy chuckled in her ear. "Yeah. It was actually kinda fun."

Kirsten raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "You had fun with my Dad?"

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm softening towards the guy," Sandy admitted.

"It's only taken twenty years," Kirsten said, amused. "You said he was upset about Lindsey?"

"He really loved her. He's taking her leaving really hard," Sandy said. "Have you spoken to her?"

Kirsten shook her head. "I've called a couple of times and left messages. I guess she decided that being a part our family wasn't what she wanted after all," she said sadly.

"Oh, honey, don't take it personally. It must have been hard on her, finding out that Caleb was her dad, and then that he might not be, and then that he is," Sandy comforted her.

"I suppose I just got used to having a sister around again," Kirsten said. "What about Ryan? Is he doing ok?"

"He's pretty quiet," Sandy answered. "You know what he's like, he doesn't say much about how he's feeling. Seth's been keeping him busy this weekend, they went off to the mall or something. Were they back when you got home?"

Kirsten twisted around to face him. "They're not home?"

"No, I had a strange message from Seth earlier, something about being trapped in the mall and needing to use his emergency credit card," Sandy said.

"What? Was he serious?" Kirsten asked, worried.

"I doubt it. You know what Seth's like," Sandy reassured her.

"Maybe we should call his cell phone," Kirsten said, sitting up and reaching for the phone.

"I'm sure they're fine," Sandy tried to stop her, but she was already punching in the numbers. He stared at her bare back as she waited for Seth to answer, her foot tapping the floor nervously.

"Seth? Where are you? Are you ok? Is Ryan there?" Kirsten fired questions down the phone as soon as Seth picked up. "Ok. I want you home in an hour, ok? No arguments. Bye sweetie."

"Everything ok?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah, they're with girls grabbing some food," Kirsten answered over her shoulder.

Sandy sat up and reached over to her, running his finger down her spine and dropping a kiss on her shoulder. Kirsten felt her body tremble under his touch.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," Sandy said softly. "Wanna join me?"

Kirsten let out a small laugh. "No, I'm good."

Slightly disappointed, Sandy swung his legs out of the bed and went through to the bathroom. Kirsten heard the water start to run and he started to sing softly. Kirsten pulled on her pyjamas and went through to the bathroom, craving her husband's company.

"You know, Julie was acting strange today," Kirsten mused, leaning back against the sink.

"More than usual?" Sandy teased from the shower.

"Yeah, actually," Kirsten laughed.

"You think there's something going on?" Sandy asked.

"I don't know. I mean, all day she kept complaining that the publishers were sending in someone else to edit the magazine, but then when he did show up, she made her excuses and disappeared," Kirsten said.

"Sounds like a Julie Cooper thing to do to me," Sandy said.

"Yeah, I guess," Kirsten said.

"I hope whoever they send in is brave enough to face Julie Cooper."

Kirsten laughed and her mind turned to Carter Buckley. They had only just met but he had already called her on taking off her wedding rings, seeing through her lies immediately. She wondered if Sandy had seen through her lies too. She could only hope not; because if taking off her wedding rings had taught her anything, it was that she wanted to wear them. She wanted to be Mrs Kirsten Cohen. The feeling she had had twenty years ago of wanting spend the rest of her life with Sandy was still there and still just as strong as it had always been. It had just got a little lost; she had got a little lost. She just had to find her way back to the place where she belonged.

She stared at the ring that now occupied her hand. Her finger had felt naked without her rings. She had found herself searching for it, so often twisting it round her finger as she thought, and it had felt strange when she found nothing. She looked towards the bedroom, knowing where her real rings were safely hidden.

"I'm gonna go curl up in bed," Kirsten said to Sandy. "Don't be long, ok?"

"Ok."

She left Sandy in the shower, taking her robe off as she went back through to the bedroom. She paused, listening to make sure he wasn't following her, before walking round to the drawers that stood by her bed. She took off the plastic ring that Sandy had given her and pulled open the top drawer. She opened the book that sat there to find her rings exactly where she had left them. She picked them up carefully and slid them easily onto her finger.

She looked down at her hand and smiled. That was where they belonged.