Tuesday, January 13, 2009, Episode #5479

Nick seems distracted while talking to Katie.

Katie sits on the couch with Nick and shares some ideas for their wedding, but Nick seems distracted. When Katie asks if he's listening, Nick snaps to attention and tells her to get whatever she wants, no matter what it costs. He wants her to remember her wedding day for the rest of her life. Katie is sure that her big day will be memorable, since she's hopelessly in love with her Prince Charming. Nick doesn't want to let her or Jack down. Katie assures him that he never could and kisses him, but Nick doesn't look convinced. Looking through one of her bridal books, Katie gushes about how happy the brides look; that's just what she always dreamed of for her wedding, she raves, even when her parents' marriage was falling apart. But now things are working out for her parents and for her, and she gives thanks for that every day. She promises to never take Nick or their life for granted, because Nick is her dream come true. She leans toward Nick with a big smile on her face and kisses him again.

Katie is surprised by what she sees on Nick's laptop.

While Katie goes to check on Jack, Nick makes a mysterious phone call. He tells the person on the other end that he wants results, not excuses, and hangs up the phone. Frustrated, he sits down on the couch and looks at his laptop. Katie returns and asks Nick what's so interesting. Nick snaps the laptop closed and asks how Jack is. Katie reports that Jack is sound asleep, just like she thought; if she didn't know better, she'd think he sent her to check on Jack just to get her out of the room. Nick asks why he'd do that. Katie isn't sure, but she sees that he's tense and sits down next to him on the sofa to help him relax. She asks Nick what's going on; claiming that everything's fine, Nick abruptly gets up to make another call and leaves the room. Wondering what's wrong, Katie opens Nick's laptop and turns it on. Looking through his files, she sees something shocking and gasps, "Oh, my god. This can't be." She quickly shuts the laptop down. When Nick returns, Katie asks him if everything's OK. He apologizes for leaving the way he did. Katie accepts the apology and gives him a hug, but she still looks worried.

Steffy and Rick lie by the fire.

At the Big Bear cabin, Steffy and Rick lie on the floor and make out by the fire. Steffy tells him not to stop. As they cuddle, Steffy strokes Rick's bare chest and sighs that she didn't think this was possible. She doesn't want this moment to end. But when the moment does end, they get dressed and Rick goes to get firewood. When he returns, he advises that it's snowing pretty hard, so they might be snowed in. Steffy laughs that it might be nice for the two of them to be cut off from the rest of the world. Rick agrees, as it's so amazing for him to be here with her. It feels so right that he doesn't even care what anyone else thinks; he wouldn't mind being cut off from the company or even from his family if it means that they can be together. Cupping her face, he kisses her. Rick then promises that the two of them will always be together, no matter what. He asks her if that's selfish. If it is, Steffy states, then she's selfish, too, since she can't stop seeing him. Still, she warns that they have to be careful once they get back to L.A. Rick agrees, but he doesn't want to think about that now. Right now, he just wants to think about all the wild and crazy things they can do together, so he suggests that they go snowboarding. Steffy likes that idea, so Rick gets out the snowboards and they head for the slopes, leaving his cell phone behind on the table.

Marcus tells Bridget that Steffy turned down his proposal.

Bridget is in Eric's office looking at a photo of Rick when Marcus comes in. Bridget is surprised to see him, since she thought he was at Big Bear with Steffy. Seeing the look on his face, she asks if everything's OK, since he doesn't seem like himself. Marcus confides that he's not himself and shares that he went up to Big Bear to propose to Steffy, but she turned him down. Bridget guesses that Steffy said no because she's still dealing with everything that's happened to her, but Marcus thinks there's more to it since Steffy didn't deny that there was another guy. Bridget asks where Steffy is now. Marcus informs her that Steffy stayed at Big Bear to clear her head. Marcus guesses that he should get back to work. Bridget tells him how sorry he is and he leaves. Bridget then tries to call Rick's cell phone, but she doesn't get an answer, so she drives up to Big Bear. On the way, she tries to call Rick again and gets Rick's voice-mail. "I pray to god that you're not with Steffy," she sighs.

Rick tells Steffy that she was his lifeline.

Rick and Steffy return from snowboarding and decide to have some tea to warm them up. Rick goes looking for the tea and finds a slew of bear shaped honey bottles. Showing the bottles to Steffy, Rick realizes where his father got his nickname from. Seeing the "honey bears," Steffy tells Rick to put the bottles back, since she can't bear to think about what her granddad and Donna do with the honey. Rick laughs that it is kind of gross when he thinks about it, but he sits down with the bottles and gives one to Steffy, remarking that it feels good to laugh again with everything that's been going on back home. He feels lucky to have Steffy in his life, even if nobody can know about it right now. The pair lie down again by the fireplace, where Steffy recalls how she and Phoebe used to sit and talk in front of the fire about boys and school and their dreams for their weddings. Rick chuckles as Steffy remembers that Phoebe wanted to marry a rock star or a brain surgeon, while she didn't care about what her husband-to-be did as long as he had piercing blue eyes. Steffy then asks Rick what he dreamed about. He says that he wanted to be like his father and run a fashion house, although he wonders if he'll ever have a chance to do that given how everyone views him at Forrester these days. "It's just a mess," he laments, apologizing for being such a downer. He admits that he doesn't want to think about that now, since he'd prefer to think about how much he admires the way Steffy has handled herself in the face of a horrible tragedy. He wants her to know how much it meant to him when she told him that she didn't blame him for Phoebe's death. "You were a lifeline for me, one that I desperately needed," he declares.