"It's an olive branch," RJ lied, handing his dad the snow globe. Caroline was also there, because of course Caroline was there. Just seeing the two of them in the same room made him sick. "Some things have happened recently that made me realize I've been a selfish brat. I'm glad you two are happy. I shouldn't have been such a little bitch when you proposed to Caroline. I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry, Caroline."

While RJ had never been the best actor, he was relieved to see that Ridge and Caroline were stupid enough to fall for it.

"Thank you for the apology, Son." Ridge took the snow globe and looked it over, a big smile on his face. "It's the Eiffel Tower."

"A reminder of when we lived in Paris together: me, you, and Steffy. We were happy then, and I want to give it another try. I hope you guys can accept my apology. Especially you, Caroline. I was horrible to you and I barely even know you. I want to make up for that somehow. What can I do?"

"This is enough." Caroline was smiling through her tears and hugged RJ. He gingerly hugged her back and did his best to maintain his fraudulent smile. "I accept your apology, RJ. You were shocked and hurt. It makes sense that you lashed out, but I respect you for apologizing for it."

"Don't make excuses for me," RJ insisted as he fought the urge to push Caroline away and vomit in her face. She pulled away on her own but kept holding RJ's hands. It only hardened his resolve to pull the deception off.

These two were just talking to him, accepting him, but he wasn't the only one who had gone months without contact. Neither one made overtures of forgiveness towards RJ. They were too busy making Layla's work life hell. It just pissed RJ off even more. Everything about his dad and Caroline pissed RJ off.

"I know you're at L&M now, RJ, but you can still come here to Forrester any time you want. You're my son and you are a Forrester, even if you did change your name to Logan." Ridge smiled and RJ wanted to stab him in the eye with a drawing pencil. Remembering that it was a fake reconciliation wasn't hard.

"I promise I won't be an industrial spy when I do." RJ pulled away from Caroline and held his right hand in the air with his fingers crossed. Everyone in the room laughed. Ridge sat the snow globe on his desk and RJ locked his eyes onto it. "If I do come out here, I need to ask you to make me a promise. I know I have no right to ask for one, not after the way I behaved..."

"Just tell me what it is, Son." Ridge clapped his hand on RJ's shoulder. All RJ wanted to do was shrug it off.

"Just... Can you keep that right there? So that I can remember that you loved me enough to forgive me, even after the horrible things I did and said?"

Ridge nodded. "For you, Son? I'll have it glued to my desk. I love you."

"Same to you," RJ returned, deciding he deserved the Oscar more than the Golden Globe for his performance.

Ridge hugged his son, and an excited Caroline joined them. RJ just stood between them and wished for nuclear oblivion.

B&B

"That was RJ," Rick told Layla after his call was finished. He was ecstatic and so was she. "The bug has been planted. They bought everything. Ridge and Caroline have no idea what's about to go down."

"Just remember, you don't come into their office until you hear someone yelling." Layla sat her drawing pad and pencil down, then cracked her knuckles. "This is your last chance to call it off."

"If we don't do this Layla, they'll never stop. They'll just get worse and worse," Rick reminded her, even though it wasn't necessary.

"You say that like you're the one that has to deal with them." She screwed up her courage and brushed invisible dirt from her shoulders. "Okay then, let's do this. Let's save this company from those two."

B&B

"Hold the elevator!" Noah yelled, his arms full of printed off page view stats and the like. Jenna, his editor, had tasked him with delivering them to Liam. Most of Noah's duties seemed to involve delivering things or scrubbing comment sections of offensive material.

A woman's hand reached out and triggered the motion detector, keeping the doors open just long enough for Noah to slide in through them. When he saw who the woman was, he dropped everything he was holding.

"Eden," he said quietly as the elevator doors closed behind him.

"You dropped your paperwork," she pointed out, looking right at Noah. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her. His brain reminded him that he had promised RJ that whatever was happening with Eden was over, but his heart told him otherwise.

Noah closed his eyes and stood as still as possible, trying not to notice how much her scent had changed. She never wore perfume before. Now it was all he noticed.

The sound of paper rustling caught Noah's attention. He turned his head and dared to look. Eden was on her hands and knees, gathering everything up for him. He stepped as far away from her as he could. It was a good thing nobody else was in the elevator. Security must have been wondering what was wrong with him as they watched the camera.

"They aren't in order. Sorry." Eden stood up and held the papers out for Noah. He stared at them, fear running through his veins like ice. His hand trembled as he reached out and took the papers. As soon as they were in his possession, Eden reached around Noah and hit a button. The elevator stopped.

"What are you doing?" Noah croaked nervously. She was so close. He inhaled her perfume and shuddered.

"We need to talk. This won't work, Noah." Eden pulled away and crossed her arms. She stared him down: her face didn't show anger, just disappointment. "You can't work here, the same building where I work, and freeze up every time you see me. You chose RJ. That's fine. I didn't come here for you. All I want is to finish my internship and get my degree and get a writing gig at one of these magazines."

"I'm sorry," was all he could say. "I knew you were interning here, just like me, but I didn't think... I didn't think."

"You never think, Noah." Eden sighed and pressed her palm to her forehead. "You always do something stupid and expect everyone else to clean up your mess. And this time, I'm your mess. Me and RJ. You kissed me, then slammed the door in my face!"

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

Eden tucked her hair behind her ears. "Yeah, Noah. You are. But so am I. Because I moved on with my life and then you made me fall back in love with you with one kiss."

For the second time, Noah dropped his papers. Neither person moved to pick them up.

"Imagine how I felt, Noah. All those years in Paris, you and me and RJ, and I had no idea you would... You and RJ? I've tried to understand and I can't. You never told me that you were bisexual. Not before I left Paris, and not after you left RJ. You made him your dirty little secret, and then you tried doing the same thing to me."

"Never," Noah insisted, finding his voice. "You were never that. I don't know why I didn't tell RJ you were in LA. I think I was scared, but I'm not sure why. I just don't know!"

"You never answered me when I asked you if you still love me." Eden walked up to Noah, standing atop his papers for Liam. He didn't care. She put her hand over his heart and looked into his eyes. "It's racing. You never answered me because you were afraid of what the answer would be. You do, don't you? You still love me just like I still love you."

"But RJ..." Noah protested before Eden kissed him. His resistance melted and he kissed her back. She slammed him into the wall of the elevator and he welcomed the aggression.

They broke apart to breathe and Noah began to return to his senses. He pushed Eden away.

"I can't, Eden. I can't." Noah thought of his boyfriend, of the look on RJ's face when he asked if Noah would leave him. "I'm with RJ. I love him."

"Do you love him like you love me? Do you stop in your tracks at the mere mention of his name? Would you fly across the world for him like you did for me?"

"I did." Noah wiped his mouth and looked at Eden. The ice in his veins had become a fire in his stomach. And, as much as he wished otherwise, Noah knew it wasn't burning for RJ. "After I slept with his mom, I flew to Paris because I knew that's where RJ would go to get away from me."

"And did you tell him you loved him in Paris, Noah? Did you beg him to forgive you and take you back?"

And Noah knew he hadn't. When he followed RJ to Paris, he hadn't planned on a reconciliation. He hadn't planned much of anything. He didn't even consider getting back together with RJ until they stood on that bridge as the rain fell: until RJ told Noah that he still loved him.

Now Eden, the woman Noah had never been able to get over, she was telling Noah that she was still in love with him. And he kissed her, even after seeing how much pain it had caused RJ.

"I'm shit. Why do you even want me? If I can do this with you, what makes you think I won't do it to you?" Noah slid to the floor, back against the wall and hands on his knees. "Do you really want me to leave RJ? For you? Because I did that already, three years ago, for a chance with you. A chance! And we agreed that it was a disaster."

"I didn't know about RJ then." Eden crouched down beside Noah and caressed his face with one hand, laying the other atop one of Noah's. He didn't pull away. "RJ survived it the last time. He'll do it again. He's older now, we're all older now. RJ's not a kid you need to protect. He has his own fashion company and he's here in LA surrounded by his friends and family. They can take care of him."

"God, I love you." All Noah wanted to do was kiss Eden again. He wanted to inhale her scent and taste her tongue and explore her body with his hands. "But I can't. I won't. I'm sorry, Eden. I love you more than I could ever possibly love anyone else, but I'm not leaving RJ."

The expression on Eden's face changed to one of disbelief, then anger. "You had better remember what you said today, Noah Newman. You just remember."

She released the lock on the elevator. He was still picking his papers up when she got off at the next floor.

B&B

"He actually talks to you like that?" RJ stared at Layla.

She nodded and looked away. When it was in the heat of the moment and she could fight back, the digs didn't bother her as much. Layla had a pretty thick skin and she was proud of it. Things were different, though, hearing the vile words spewing out of Ridge and Caroline's mouths after the fact. Listening to the things they said in front of people hearing them for the first time… It was so much worse than she actually believed.

"Now you know why they need to go," Maya answered for Layla. She closed the audio app on the tablet and opened an email one in its place. "We have a burner email account all set up and ready to send it to whom ever."

"Just not any publication affiliated with Spencer. Bill would get this shut down before we got any traction," Rick said, hands on Maya's shoulders.

"I am so sorry," RJ told Layla. The kid was clearly still in shock.

Layla reached over and patted his cheek. She didn't know why she was comforting him, not when she had been the one abused by Ridge and Caroline. Maybe it was the way the hateful fire in RJ's eyes died out when he heard the recording.

"All you did was walk in the door and say hello, and Caroline..." RJ continued before Layla hushed him.

"It's okay. You didn't know. Nobody did, not really. That's the point." Layla smiled through her anxiety and pulled at the neckline of her top, giving her breasts some air with which to breathe. The entire room was suddenly stifling. "RJ, do you want to stop this?"

He shook his head. "No. This isn't about me. It's about you. You and Maya. And after what those two assholes said, they need to go. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to say it anymore." Layla turned away from RJ and nodded to Rick and Maya. "Go ahead. Do it. Let's bring holy hell down on those two."