"I can't believe all the scandals your family gets into out here. It's crazy." Caroline said as she and Thomas walked up the stairs to Steffy's apartment.

"They might all be crazy, but they're my family." Thomas said grinning. "Just warning you, Steffy can be pretty nasty when she's mad at our dad. Don't take it offensively if she lashes out at you."

"I won't, I understand frustrations with family."

"Okay, brace yourself," Thomas said as he unlocked the door with his key.

The two of them walked inside and didn't see Steffy anywhere.

"That's odd," Thomas remarked, "her car was outside."

"Think maybe she's upstairs?"

"Steffy!" Thomas yelled, "You home?"

/\/\/\/\/\

Steffy and Bill stopped. They looked at the door and were grateful they had locked it. They were both almost-naked and all over each other.

"Again?" Bill asked, clearly aggravated.

"What the hell?" Steffy said, pulling a tee shirt from her drawer, "Why is Thomas here?"

"How did he get in?" asked Bill angrily. Bill Spencer did not have his work interrupted.

"He has an extra key, but it's for emergencies only, so this should be important." Steffy explained as she finished getting dressed, "Stay here. I'll tell him I have a visitor and then you can come down. Thomas won't tell anybody you're here."

As Steffy left, Bill walked over to her dresser without bothering to put his shirt back on or to properly zip his pants. He opened her jewelry box, not really knowing why, and he was taken aback by what he saw. A Spencer sword was staring back up at him. Bill picked it up and sure enough, it was the necklace he had given Steffy when he promised they would get married and he would leave Katie. He turned it over in his hands, reminiscing when he had given it to her. She had been so elated when he had given it to her; he wanted to shower her in surprises like that to see her smile that way. Why did she still have this? Bill hadn't thought about the necklace identical to his since he went back to Katie. Now he realized how much it had meant to Steffy, what that promise to her meant.

/\/\/\/\/\

Steffy ran down the stairs. "Thomas?" She asked.

"Steffy, there you are!" Thomas said, "We were getting worried."

Steffy saw who was with Thomas, now she didn't know if she could say that Bill was here. Caroline was his niece after all.

"What brings you guys by? Why didn't you knock?" Steffy asked, not wanting to sound like she was accusing them of barging in.

"Dad's worried about you." Thomas told her and Steffy rolled her eyes.

"I'm just fine. I talked out the issue with a friend and I'm over it now."

"Can I ask who?" Thomas asked being the overprotective older brother he was.

"Me," said Bill Spencer, walking down the steps, still shirtless and hidden in the palm of his hand was Steffy's Spencer sword.

Thomas and Caroline were appalled that Bill was shirtless in Steffy's apartment. Thomas broke the awkward silence.

"Bill, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for Steffy when the rest of her family isn't. And I don't see a problem with that. We used to be family and we still are. I don't understand why you two look so disturbed."

"Uncle Bill, where's Aunt Katie?" Caroline inquired.

"Katie is with her sisters. I don't see why that is an issue." Bill answered her calmly.

Thomas answered for her aggressively, "Um, because she's you're wife. And you're here in my little sister's apartment half dressed." Thomas could tell that they hadn't done anything serious by the way Steffy was acting, but he wasn't about to let Bill Spencer take advantage of her.

Steffy glanced at Bill quickly. "Thomas, don't get carried away. Bill and I were just talking, nothing else. I still love Liam, remember?"

"You're the one that told me you can love more than one person at once, remember?" Thomas retorted.

"Bill and I would like some privacy, if you don't mind." Steffy walked Thomas and his girlfriend to the door.

"Steffy, don't get involved with Spencer again! Remember last time he stomped on your heart? Don't let it happen again. Don't let him use you."

Bill stopped Steffy from closing the door. "I never used Steffy and I won't. If her brother and dad are concerned about what I am doing with Steffy, they can talk to me about it."

"Okay then," Thomas said angrily, pushing past Steffy back into her apartment. Steffy gave Caroline a helpless look saying 'Are you going to control your boyfriend?' Caroline replied with a sneer. 'Great,' Steffy thought, 'just one more person that's against me.' Evidently Caroline didn't support her uncle hanging around other girls' apartments.

Thomas started, "I want you to stay away from my sister."

"Why do you want me to stay away from Steffy? We're just friends." Bill said testily.

Steffy hoped Bill was just saying that to calm Thomas down. They were more than just friends, right?

"Just friends? The how do you explain your lack of clothing? What were you doing to my sister before Caroline and I came? What would you have done to her if we hadn't shown up?" Thomas was challenging Bill now.

"Thomas," Steffy interfered, "I think it would be best if you left now."

"No," Bill said, tenderly sliding Steffy to the side, his eyes never leaving Thomas. "I think I need to set things straight with Mr. Forrester here. What exactly are you accusing me of Thomas? I'm not a rapist; I wasn't going to rape your sister."

"How do I know you wouldn't?"

Bill was getting angry, his face was reddening and the point of the sword in his hand was digging into his skin. "Are you really asking me that question? Are you accusing me of something?"

"I'm telling you that you had better not take advantage of Steffy again."

"I never took advantage of Steffy."

"You toyed with her, and then you broke her heart. She almost died because of you."

"If you don't recall, I was there for Steffy when her own brother lied to his entire family and got her hopes up. I think maybe it would be best if you stayed away from her, not me."

Thomas stepped forward and Bill didn't flinch. Steffy stood frozen, not knowing what to do or who's side to take.

"Don't tell me to stay away from my sister." Thomas growled.

"Don't tell me to stay away from my Steffy." Bill said through grated teeth.

Caroline looked at Steffy, befuddled. Steffy looked back innocently, as if to say she weren't his girlfriend. When did Bill come up with that?

"Oh so Steffy's yours now? You own her? And what about that wife of yours? Did you forget about her?"

"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand adult relationships."

"So you're cheating on Katie? And what does that make Steffy, your mistress? I won't let her be treated like that."

Steffy cut in-between them. "Thomas, leave now."

As Steffy pushed Thomas and Caroline out the door, Thomas yelled, "I told you to stay away from Steffy!"

"And I told you no!"

Steffy whispered, "Thomas, Caroline, not a word of this gets out. Not a word." She shut the door in their face's and turned to look at Bill.

"Thomas is quite an ass, isn't he?"

"Bill! I might be outraged with him right now, but he's still my brother."

"My bad, I just don't enjoy being falsely accused."

"It's just… it's complicated." Steffy sighed and sat down on the sofa.

"It's okay to cry. I don't mind. Everybody has to cry sometime."

"Not Dollar Bill Spencer. He never cries."

"I'm sure that even the flawless Bill Spencer has cried before."

"Tell me why," Steffy pulled him onto the couch and she leaned into him. His bare skin was so hot, a pleasant sensation.

"Some things you just don't tell people."

"Even me?" Steffy asked as she looked up at him imploringly. "Tell me one time you cried. Just once."

Bill sighed and reluctantly tried to think of the last time he had cried. "When you were unconscious in Mexico."

"Was that worse than when Katie had her heart attack?"

Bill thought for a moment. "No. Because when Katie had her heart attack, I had to tell you goodbye."

Steffy didn't know what to say. He was flattering her and she didn't know why. Did he love her or did he just want revenge on her family and an escape from him wife?

"What happened when I was unconscious in Cabo? Other than you switching my brain scans and making me believe I was going to die?"

"Steffy, it wasn't like that. I wanted what was best for you. I thought you belonged with Liam."

"Yeah, I know, I've heard it all before. But what happened? Was Liam guilty or mad at me?"

"He was mad that you tried to keep him and Hope apart. He was guilty that you were in the hospital because of him."

"I almost wish that he had gone back to Hope then."

"Why would you say that? I thought you loved him!" Bill said, roughly moving her so that he could look at her face.

"Because," Steffy said quietly, "It was the exact same situation that Katie, you, and I were in. You went back to Katie. Liam went back to me. And Hope and I were left in the dust."

Bill didn't know what to say, he had never thought of it that way before. He kissed Steffy affectionately, not wanting to stop. In just one night, he already wanted to leave Katie for Steffy. But could he go through with it this time?

Steffy pulled away and Bill could tell she wanted more but she was too nervous to ask.

"I know you flew in on your jet, but what happened after that? Who visited me? What did I do? What did people say?"

"Everyone visited you; there were many tears, your mother especially.

"Did you visit me?" Steffy asked, completely unaware of what he had done when he visited her.

"Yes. I was urging to get world-class neurologists flown in."

Steffy smiled. "I meant what did you say to me? You know the sappy bedside speech?"

"I had quite a nice one worked up for you. Shame you didn't hear it."

"Tell me now!" Steffy was excited.

"It was something about your family needing you and that you had better wake up or I would have to disown you."

Steffy laughed, "What you really said."

Bill got serious and so did Steffy.

"That I had done the impossible for you and that I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I told you that I couldn't fight all your battles and that you had to do this one on your own. I told you that people needed you to wake up. I told you to do it for me." Bill paused and tried to read the expression on Steffy's face. "Then I kissed you, and I prayed to god that you would open your eyes."

The silence following was long, but not uncomfortable. Bill was stunned he let all that out. Steffy was stunned he let all that out.

"But I didn't." Steffy said, feeling like she was going to cry but knowing she had no tears left.