"Here, this should help," Tessa said, as she handed Rachel an ice pack. Sitting at a table with Kyle and Billy, Rachel winced as she applied the pack.

"What would make Lola attack you like that?" Kyle said.

Rachel looked at Kyle, without any words.

"Me," Kyle said, "You were fighting because of me."

"She came in here and accused me of stealing her boyfriend," Rachel said, "She completely flipped out on me."

"Nobody stole anyone," Kyle said, "Maybe I should talk to her and make her understand why we aren't together."

"I think you should leave her alone and let her cool off first," Billy said, "She's not adjusting to the single life well."

"She's not well period," Rachel said.

"Well, I'm going to talk to Sharon and Lola won't be allowed in here anymore," Tessa said, "She's not going to get away with this."

"Tessa don't do that," Rachel said, "I appreciate it, but if she was banned it would just increase her animosity towards me."

"Which is what we want to avoid," Kyle said, "If she's prohibited from coming in here, it keeps her away from you."

"It makes sense," Billy said.

"I don't know," Rachel said, rubbing her forehead.

"Well, I can see you are in good hands," Billy said, grabbing his coat, "I have to get back to work."

"Thank you for helping me," Rachel said.

"You bet," Billy said, giving her a smile as he left.

"I must be hallucinating," Rachel said, "Billy was civil to me, nice even."

"He knows you didn't deserve this," Kyle said.

"Are you sure you don't want to see a doctor?" Tessa said.

"That's not a bad idea," Kyle said.

"I am fine," Rachel said.

"You look you are not feeling well, aside from the facial injury," Kyle said, "It is best to air on the side of caution."

"I appreciate your concern, both of you, but I am okay," Rachel said.

"What is going on here?" Sharon said, walking in from the patio, with Mariah in tow.

"What's with all the broken dishes and overturned chairs out there?" Mariah said.

"Oh, sorry I haven't had a chance to clean that up yet," Tessa said.

Noticing Rachel's bruise and swollen lip, Mariah said, "Oh my…what happened to your face?"

"Rachel…" Sharon said, concern in her voice.

"I was attacked by a crazy woman," Rachel said, "I'll give you one guess what her name is."

"Why would someone attack you?" Sharon said.

"Because of me," Kyle said.

"Lola?" Mariah said, "Wow, you think you know a person."

"Sharon, Rachel didn't start the fight," Tessa said, "Lola attacked her. Rachel was just trying to defend herself. You can ask Billy Abbott, he was here too. He helped to break up the fight."

"We'll talk about it later," Sharon said. Examining Rachel's bruise, Sharon said, "That looks pretty nasty. Maybe you should see a doctor."

"Thank you, that's what we've been trying to tell her," Kyle said. Standing up he said, "Come on, I am taking you to the hospital."

"If you do that, they will call the police and then I'll have to tell them what happened," Rachel said.

"I will be right by your side the entire time," Kyle said.

"I don't need a doctor," Rachel protested.

"Humour me," Kyle said, helping her stand up as Tessa grabbed Rachel's coat for her.

Mariah noted Tessa's attentiveness to her friend, watching Tessa help Rachel, to put on her coat. "Go with Kyle," Tessa said, "And don't worry about Lola. She's not going to hurt you again. Not on my watch." Tessa gave Rachel a quick hug.

"Easy does it," Kyle said, putting his arm around Rachel and leading her out of the coffeehouse.

"Sharon, I want Lola banned from here," Tessa said.

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Mariah said.

"She shouldn't be near Rachel anymore," Tessa said, "As her friends, isn't our job to make sure she's protected?"

"You're certainly making it yours," Mariah said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tessa said.

"Nothing, never mind," Mariah said.

"No, I won't forget it," Tessa said, "Why did you say that?"

"You seem to be paying a lot of extra attention to your friend," Mariah said, "Now you're being protective. It's almost like you have a thing for her."

"I can't believe you just said that," Tessa said, "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer."

"As for the ban," Sharon said, "I need more information before making that decision."

Kyle stood by as a doctor Nate Hastings examined Rachel's visible injury. "I don't think it's anything too serious," the doctor said, "How did you say this happened? Someone hit you?" Nate looked at Kyle as he spoke his last sentence.

Realizing the doctor was suspicious, Rachel said, "No, it wasn't him."

"I would never do such thing to her," Kyle said defensively.

"This woman came in to where I work and physically attacked me," Rachel said.

"Did you contact the police?" Nate said.

"Not exactly," Rachel said, "I know the woman who hurt me, her brother was there today and he's an officer. I told him I wasn't going to press charges."

"I still think you should," Kyle said.

"That's good advice," Nate said. Examining her a more closely, the doctor said, "As I said, not too serious. I would watch that swelling and make sure it does not get worse. If it does or you start to experience have any other symptoms come back and see me. Use ice, get some rest and you should heal within the next couple of weeks."

"A couple of weeks," Rachel said, "Merry Christmas to me."

"It's still a week away," Kyle said, "You will be much better by then."

"Thank you Dr. Hastings," Rachel said.

"How could he think that I was responsible for this?" Kyle said.

"Doctors have to cover all their bases," Rachel said.

"You know I never would, right?" Kyle said.

"I do know that," Rachel said. Kyle gave her a kiss on the forehead. As he helped her on with her coat, the room door opened and a police officer walked in.

"Rachel Brantford?" he said.

"Yes?" Rachel said.

"I understand you suffered a physical attack today," the officer said, "What can you tell me about the incident?"

As Tessa cleaned up the mess on the patio, Sharon spoke to Mariah. "You seemed rather suspicious of Tessa earlier," she said.

"I just thought I saw something between them," Mariah said, "It was probably nothing. Me being paranoid again."

"If you're concerned maybe you should discuss it further with her," Sharon said.

"There's no reason for concern," Mariah said, "Tessa and I are good."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Sharon said.

"All cleaned up," Tessa said.

"Thank you," Sharon said.

"So, what happened to Lola after the fight?" Mariah said.

"Her brother, Rey was here," Tessa said, "I think she left with him."

"Actually, she is right here," Rey said, entering the coffeehouse with Lola.

"You have a lot of nerve coming back here," Tessa said.

"Lola has something to say," Rey said, prompting his sister to speak.

"Sharon, I am sorry for fighting in your coffeehouse," Lola said, "If I caused any damage I will pay for it. I should never have acted in such an aggressive manner. I don't know what came over me. That's not who I am."

"I appreciate your apology," Sharon said, "But I am not the one you should be saying you're sorry to. You should be saying this to the person you fought with."

"You're right," Lola said.

Rey's phone beeped. Checking it, he said, "Excuse me." He walked a few feet away.

"Do you know where she is?" Lola said.

"Her boyfriend took her to the hospital," Tessa said.

"Do you even realize what you did?" Mariah said, "I saw what she looked like. You must have hit her pretty hard."

"I let my emotions get the best of me," Lola said, "I will make it right."

Turning his phone off, Rey said, "I'm afraid it won't be easy."

"What are you talking about?" Lola said.

"That was the station," Rey said, "Lola, I'm sorry, but I have to take you in. You have been charged with assault."

Lola looked at her brother in disbelief.

Billy came downstairs the next morning to find Rachel sitting on the couch, sipping a glass of orange juice. Peering at her, Billy said, "I was told I could find the female wrestling champion here."

"More like the punching bag," Rachel said.

"You don't look so bad to me," Billy said.

"Make-up covers the bruise," Rachel said, "But not the swelling."

"Did you sleep okay?" Billy said.

"Off and on," Rachel said, "Kyle tried to comfort me, but he ended up sleeping better than I did."

"You mean you two are sharing…" Billy paused, before saying, "None of my business."

"I didn't want to be alone last night," Rachel said.

"Too much information," Billy said.

"You might be interested to know, I took everyone's advice," Rachel said.

"What advice was that?" Billy said, pouring himself some coffee.

"I pressed charges for what happened," Rachel said.

"You did?" Billy said, "Reasonable move."

"I hear she spent the night in jail," Rachel said, "But she's already been released. I guess her super cop brother worked some magic to get her out."

"I guess that happens," Billy said.

"Billy?" Rachel said.

"Yeah?" Billy said.

"Why are you being so friendly to me?" Rachel said.

"Am I?" Billy said, sitting next to her.

"You offer me a job, you helped me out yesterday and now you're still being nice to me," Rachel said, "I thought our friendship was done."

"That was before," Billy said.

"Before what?" Rachel said.

"Before I went to re-hab," Billy said, "I get it now."

"What's that?" Rachel said.

"With my gambling, I hit bottom," Billy said, "I lost control. The desperation, the anxiety, the pressure, it was a nightmare. I thought about that day and what happened between us, and realized you must have felt the exact same way. I lost control and couldn't help myself, just like you. So, I get it now. You were not entirely responsible for what you did."
"Of course I should be," Rachel said, "I hurt you and Victoria, that's my fault."

"What you and I did," Billy stared, "With us, it's an illness," Billy said, "We didn't set out to do these things on purpose. We didn't want to hurt people, but we did, because we couldn't handle the situation. I got the help I needed and was forgiven. You got the help you needed. Rachel, I forgive you."

Tears welled up in Rachel's eyes as she stared at Billy. "You do?" she quietly said.

"Yes, I do," Billy said

"Well, that's something I never thought I would hear you say," Rachel said, a few tears slipping out.

"I said it, I meant it," Billy smiled. Holding out his hand he said, "Truce?"

Smiling Rachel took his hand and said, "Friends?"

"Friends," Billy agreed.

Touched by Billy's forgiveness, Rachel lost more tears. "Would it be okay to ask my friend for a hug?" she said.

Billy gave her another smile and they shared an embrace.

"You look better now," Tessa said, standing behind the counter at the coffeehouse.

"I feel better," Rachel said, sitting on a stool, on the other side, "I should be helping you."

"No," Tessa said, "Sharon said you are entitled to the day off today."

"It's the Christmas break, it's bound to be extra busy," Rachel said.

"You can say that again," Tessa said, "Don't look now, but here comes something not so merry and bright."

"Ladies," Mia said, stopping by the counter. Looking at Rachel, she said, "You didn't do too bad a job of covering that up. I could do something for you to better hide the bruise."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Rachel said.

"I said I could," Mia said, "I didn't say I would."

"If you are here to chastise me on behalf of what's her name, I am not listening," Rachel said.

"It seems like trouble just follows you around," Mia said.

"Don't bother Mia," Lola said, strolling up behind her, "Your wasting your breath."

"You can stop right there," Tessa said, "You're not to bother her, understood?"

"What are you, her bodyguard?" Mia said.

"Her friend," Tessa said, "I wouldn't expect you to understand that concept."

"Do you know I spent a night in jail, because of you?" Lola said.

"I heard," Rachel said, "I'm sorry I missed it. I would have liked to see that."

"I guess you didn't hear me, when I asked you to stay away from her," Kyle said, walking over to them.

"You're not the boss of her," Mia said.

"Was I talking to you?" Kyle said.

"She had me arrested," Lola said.

"And?" Kyle said.

"You know, Lola you have this bad habit of projecting all your misfortunes onto me and saying it's my fault," Rachel said.

"It is you fault," Lola said.

"I'm not the one who came in her acting like a crazy woman," Rachel said.

"From what I hear you're the crazy one," Lola said.

"You can say that again," Mia said.

"Back off," Kyle warned.

"We have the right to refuse service to anyone and I'm refusing it to both of you," Tessa said.

"I think that means you're supposed to leave," Kyle said.

Walking by the patio, Rey noticed the altercation and hurried to put a stop to it. "What's going on here?" he said, "Didn't you two get this animosity out of your system already?"

"They were in the process of trying to throw us out," Lola said.

"They have the right," Rey said, "Come with me, I need to talk to you." He put a hand on her shoulder, to lead her away continuing, "I need to warn you about something."

"Warn me?" Lola said.

A man approached the front counter and after a few seconds, Kyle pointed to Lola and said, "That's her."

The man approached her, "Lola Rosales?"

"Yes?" Lola said.

"I have papers for you," he said, handing and envelope to her.

"What is this?" Lola said.

"You have been served," he said, walking away.

"Wait…what?" Lola called after him.

"That's what I was going to tell you," Rey said.

Mia noticed Kyle and Rachel exchange a knowing look.

Opening the envelope and lifting out the papers inside, Lola said, "What does this mean?"

"It's a restraining order," Rey said, "You're legally not allowed to be near Rachel Brantford."

"This is going too far," Mia said.

Lola looked in Rachel's direction, "I don't believe this."

"You better believe it," Rachel said, "Leave or you're going to spend Christmas Eve in jail too."

"Come on," Rey said, leading Lola away. Mia gave them an angry look, before she followed.

"Merry Christmas," Kyle sarcastically called after them.