When Ridge arrived at the Spencer house; he was greeted by a very awake Katie. She kissed him and this time he kissed her back, still very mad at Brooke.

"Ridge, I'm so glad you're here! I've been so lonely without you! Come in!"

Ridge walked into the house, remembering the time he rescued Steffy from selling her shares of Forrester Creations here to Bill. 'What a deceitful guy' Ridge thought.

"Oh Ridge, you're wearing your pajamas! I'll go put mine on!"

Ridge didn't want to be on his guard all night watching for Bill to come home. Ridge sat down on the couch and picked up Katie's phone and was surprised to see a text Bill saying, 'Ran into issues with Anthony's case, be home late. It might take all night. Be safe."

Katie returned in a silk nightgown that highlighted her baby bump.

"You got a text," Ridge told her.

Katie looked at the text and smiled at Ridge. "Looks like we've got the whole night together."

/\/\/\/\/\

Bill texted Katie the moment he left Steffy's. The second the door closed, Bill's chest started to ache and he knew he couldn't leave Steffy tonight and go home to Katie and act like nothing had changed. Bill turned around and knocked on Steffy's door. When she opened it, she was utterly confused.

"I couldn't leave," Bill started to explain.

"Maybe I won't let you back in." Steffy joked.

"Then I'll stand in your doorway all night." Bill went back inside Steffy's apartment, which he had just left minutes before.

Steffy had set the Spencer necklace down on her table. Bill walked over and picked it up and brought it to Steffy. She stood still as Bill slowly, carefully, brushed her hair to the side. As he fastened the necklace around her neck, Steffy felt as if something had just fallen into place, like everything was going to be all right.

"Now don't do anything crazy while I'm gone, got it?" Bill warned her.

"That'll depend on how long you're gone."

/\/\/\/\/\

"What happened with Brooke?" Katie asked, overly concerned.

"It was only a small disagreement."

"About what?" Katie asked again. Ridge didn't want to tell Katie because he knew she would take Brooke's side.

"Steffy is getting a line."

Katie's jaw dropped. "Why?"

"Because, if the press finds out that Hope's wedding wasn't perfect, we need a line to fall back on."

"So why not give it to someone else? Why Steffy?" Katie hated Steffy in every way imaginable. She couldn't believe she hadn't just fired Steffy the first time she kissed her husband.

"She's my daughter, Katie, I love her. She's a fantastic designer and she deserves a chance to shine."

"Not after all she's done! You shoved Thomas in the basement when he messed up!"

"Steffy didn't do anything wrong." Ridge said calmly.

"If Hope's line crashes, it will be Steffy's fault. If it wasn't for her, Hope and Liam would already be married."

"I get this enough from Brooke." Ridge stood up and walked towards the door. "Goodbye Katie."

"No!" Katie chased after Ridge and caught his arm. "I'm not going to insult Steffy anymore. I know that isn't why you came here. You came here to see me."

"Yes I did," Ridge sighed, "I want everyone to know that this is our baby, but at the same time I don't want Brooke to know."

Katie began to whisper alluringly in his ear. "Just leave her Ridge. She's making you miserable, throwing you out like this. Come to me. I won't walk out on you, make you leave, anything that would inflict pain on you. I would love you the ways Brooke can't." Katie nibbled on his ear then moved over to kiss him. Ridge kissed her back. He loved Brooke. But he also loved Katie and he couldn't abandon her and their baby. Ridge was completely torn.

/\/\/\/\/\

"Liam, I'm so glad that we could get past everything. I don't know what I would do without you." Hope told Liam as she rested with him in bed.

"Me too, Hope. I know that we're meant to be." Liam told his wife. Almost his wife. They were now making plans for a do-over ceremony.

"Do you think I should get another dress for the wedding? I was thinking about going more modern, like a cute white outfit instead."

"I think you'll look beautiful either way."

"I really like our plan for this wedding. Just the two of us, no one else accept the priest. The best part is that it's less than a week away!"

Liam just smiled and nodded as Hope rambled on about their wedding. It wasn't that he didn't care, he was just sick of talking about it. Steffy never wanted to make plans, just roll with the punches. Whoa, where did Steffy come into his thoughts? He shouldn't think about her, he was marrying Hope. He and Steffy were just a memory.

/\/\/\/\/\

They didn't talk much. They kissed, drank, even though Katie wasn't supposed to, and kissed some more. Ridge didn't know what to do. The truth needed to come out, but he was terrified of the after effects. Things were getting blurry. How many glasses had he had? Ridge couldn't remember. Katie didn't think a little alcohol would hurt the baby, but she played it safe and only had two glasses. Ridge on the other hand, had a few more than her.

"So," Katie said, "What do you think about our situation?"

"What about it?" Ridge slurred.

"What are we going to do? Can we tell everyone that we're a couple?"

"Katie, we're not a couple. We're more like friends with benefits."

"Friends with benefits that lead to consequences." Katie corrected.

"Katie, I don't even know why I came over here. Every time I talk to you this is all you talk about."

"But Ridge,"

"No!" Ridge protested as he got up and walked for the door. "Call me when you've ready to have a real conversation. Maybe about how I feel about all this instead of what's going to happen to you?" He left.

Katie didn't know what he meant. A real conversation? Hadn't she made it clear she wanted to be with him? He wasn't in his right mind tonight. She wanted to go after him, make sure he got home ok, but she knew it would only make it worse. He was never coming back to her anyway.

/\/\/\/\/\

Insomnia. Try counting sheep? Doesn't work very well when your thoughts keep wandering to things it shouldn't. Bill was what Steffy shouldn't be thinking about, but she couldn't help herself. She couldn't believe that only a few days ago she hated him. It was impossible to stay mad at him, even after all the things he had done. And now they had almost slept together, if Thomas hadn't busted in and ruined it. Steffy would belt him for it at work tomorrow. Work tomorrow. She should get to sleep. Even surrounded by numerous pillows and blankets the bed felt empty. Steffy touched the sword around her neck and suddenly, she didn't feel so alone.

/\/\/\/\/\

Thomas couldn't sleep knowing Bill was still at Steffy's. He didn't want his little sister to get hurt. Couldn't she see that Bill didn't love her, that she was just his mistress? Thomas wanted to go back to Steffy's, to make sure everything was all right. But he couldn't, his mom would hear him leave. She couldn't know about Steffy and Bill. She would blow up. She hated Bill Spencer for unknown reasons. Thomas wasn't a huge fan of him after what he had done to Steffy, but he had saved his life and helped him keep his shares of the company. Thomas crept slowly out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. He really wasn't hungry, but eating would get his mind off Steffy. As he opened the fridge he heard a voice.

"Thomas?"

"Mom? What are you doing up? It's the middle of the night."

Taylor sniffled, "Thorne and I are over."

Thomas gave her a strange look.

"I know, I know, I said I never could love Thorne because I love your dad. But it felt so nice to have someone care about me."

"Mom, Steffy and I are here for you."

Taylor wiped a tear from her eyes. "I know Thomas, but it's my job to take care of you two, not for you to take care of me. Enough about me, what are you doing in the refrigerator at," Taylor glanced at her watch, "2:47 in the morning?"

"I was just worried, I couldn't sleep."

"Is it Caroline? What's wrong?" Taylor asked, suddenly very concerned.

"No, Caroline and I are great. It's just guy stuff."

"Tom, I know when you say 'guy stuff' it means you don't want to tell me something."

Thomas didn't know what to do. He couldn't betray Steffy. "I can't tell you mom. I'm sworn to secrecy."

"In other words," Taylor had figured it out, "Steffy threatened you and you can't tell anyone?"

Thomas took a seat at the table with his mom but didn't say anything.

Taylor knew she was right. "So what trouble did your sister get herself into now?"

"I'm not going to be a snitch."

"Does it have anything to do with Liam?"

"No it doesn't," Thomas answered truthfully. He wished it were Liam instead; at least he knew Liam wouldn't do anything bad to her. With Liam, Steffy knew what she was doing. With Bill, he was in control. Steffy was naïve and Bill knew what he was doing. Thomas was sure Bill would take Steffy to the mat and not think twice about it and Steffy would let him.

"Thomas, I won't let her know you told me. If it's something serious, I should know. I'm her mother." Taylor knew it had to be something big if Thomas couldn't sleep.

"Promise you won't let Steffy know I told you?"

"Cross my heart."