Previously...

After Brett made a scene at the Lauren's album premiere, Lauren told Stormy that Brett had blackmailed her into sleeping with her.  An angry Stormy attacked Brett by the pool and a vicious brawl ensued.  Brett told Heather there was more going on between Stormy and Lauren than she realized.  Heather followed Stormy to Lauren's dressing room and found them making love.  Brooke was rushed to the hospital and was successfully kept from going into premature labor. When Ethan learned that Winter was with Brooke when she fell, he angrily broke off their relationship.  Alex revealed to Will that she signed over Sunset Studios back to James, and then served him with annulment papers.  Later, Will cornered Alex at home and threatened to seek revenge against her and James.  

Episode 23

Season Finale

"Too Late"

Stormy stood in front of the window at Lauren’s apartment, staring outside at the crowds of care-free beachgoers frolicking in the sand and surf.    He closed his eyes, remembering a time when his life was much simpler.  Simple certainly wasn’t the case now, especially since Heather had thrown him out of their house the night before.  His marriage was over, his friendship with Brett was over, and he felt like his entire family was against him because of his affair with Lauren.   Meanwhile, Brett was still sitting pretty back at his father’s house, unsuspected of any wrongdoing whatsoever.  If anyone was the bad guy in the whole scenario it was him.  He blackmailed Lauren into sleeping with him.  He cheated on his wife and lied to everyone about it.  Who knows how many other evil deeds Brett Armstrong had done since he came into their lives.

Before he knew it, Lauren was wrapping her arms around him from behind and gently kissing his neck.  She loved having him spend the night.  It was the first time he’d ever been able to since they started their affair.   Little did Stormy know she was secretly thrilled that Heather was finally in the know.  Maybe now they could get on with some sort of a normal relationship.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

Stormy sighed and turned toward her.  “Everything,” he replied.  “Mainly about Brett and the way he seems to have gotten off squeaky clean in this whole mess.”

Lauren shrugged.  “So why don’t you tell Miranda?  She’s your sister.  She has a right to know that her husband is a cheating, blackmailing liar.”

Stormy stared off in concentration and shook his head.  “I don’t know.  Telling Miranda bad news is kind of like lighting a firecracker while it’s still in your hand.  You’re bound to get your head blown off.”

Just then there was a knock at the door and Lauren walked over to answer it.  After she pulled the door open, Jordan Rydell rushed inside and landed his gaze on Stormy, his eyes flaring wildly.

Stormy looked up at him and gulped.  He knew why he was there.  As Heather’s father, he was doing his obligatory visit to threaten him and tell him that he always knew he’d wind up hurting his daughter.

Before he could react, Jordan was rushing up toward him and sending him flying to the floor with a swift punch in the nose.   “You son of a bitch,” Jordan seethed, glaring down at his son-in-law.  “How could you treat my daughter like this?”

Lauren quickly ran to Stormy’s side and tended to his bloody nose.   She looked up at Jordan and scowled at him.  “I don’t know who you think you are, but you can’t just come barging into someone’s house throwing punches!   Now you’d better leave before I call the police.”

Stormy shook his head and struggled to his feet.  “Lauren, it’s okay,” he replied.  “I guess I had that coming.”

“You’re damn right you did,” Jordan said.  “I told my daughter from the minute she met you that you were nothing but trouble.  She chose not to believe me, but now it seems she’s singing a new tune.   You just couldn’t keep it in your pants, could you, Blackthorne?”

“Look, Jordan, you don’t understand,” Stormy protested.  “I love your daughter.”

“That’s a bunch of bull and you know it,” Jordan exclaimed.  “You don’t cheat on someone you love.  But then again I guess I shouldn’t expect anything else from you.  Look at your parents, for God’s sake.  They wouldn’t know a moral if it bit them on the-“

“Now hold it right there,” Stormy cut him off.  “Is this about my mother?  Are you just pissed that she dumped you and married Will Thomerson instead?  Because you were the one who gave her the ultimatum.  You can’t bully my mother into doing anything.  She won’t stand for it.”

“This has nothing to do with your mother,” Jordan said.  Truthfully it had more to do with Alex than he let on.  The whole Blackthorne family seemed to be administering one painful blow after another to his family.  He was fed up with it. 

“Whatever you think of me or my family, I swear to you, I never meant to hurt your daughter,” Stormy went on.  “That’s the truth.”

Jordan shook his head angrily.   “Now that we’ve seen you for the snake you are, I expect you to be out of my daughter’s life for good.  I don’t need her coming crying to me again because of something you did.   So stay here with your trampy lounge singer and leave Heather alone.”

Stormy sighed in desperation as Jordan turned and bounded back out of the apartment.

Meanwhile, at Cedars-Sinai, James walked into Brooke’s private room and flashed her a handsome smile.  “Good news, Darling.  Dr. Mitchell signed your release papers so I can take you home right away.”

Brooke smiled and sat up on her bed.  “Oh that is good news,” she said with a certain amount of relief.   “So everything’s okay with the baby?”

James nodded and kissed her warmly.  “It’s more than okay.  She says our baby is perfectly healthy and as long as you stay reasonably stress-free, there shouldn’t be any more problems.”

Brooke threw her arms around him and pulled him close.   She was more than relieved by the news.  After her fall down the stairs, she was terribly afraid that she would lose the baby.

“Listen, why don’t you get dressed and I’ll be back in a few minutes after I pull the car around, okay?” James said.

Brooke nodded eagerly and hugged him again.    James smiled and walked out into the hall.  He started toward the elevators and paused, nearly doubling over from the searing pain that coursed through his head.    Holding himself up against the wall, he closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain.   But it wouldn’t subside.   It persisted just as it had for the last couple of days. 

Before, his headaches were brought on in times of stress or when something happened to upset him.  But as the days went by he began getting them for no reason.  It was a sure sign that his condition was worsening far sooner than Dr. Farraday predicted.  But he couldn’t let it happen now.  He couldn’t lay down and die before he ever got a chance to hold his baby.

Stormy sat down on the sofa and Lauren followed him, trying to guess what was going through his mind after Jordan’s impromptu visit.  She put her arm around him and tried to calm him down but it was useless.  He was already in a tailspin over Heather.

“I need to go see her,” he said, holding his face in his hands and staring down at the floor.  “I can’t just leave things the way they are.”

Lauren sighed and pulled away from him in protest.  “But what is that going to solve?” she asked.

“I don’t know!” Stormy insisted, standing up and pacing the room.

Following him with her arms folded, Lauren searched for something to say to get him to reconsider.  “Do you want to stay married to her?  Is that what you’re saying?”

Frustrated, Stormy shrugged and shot her a look.  “Maybe.  I don’t know.  I just know that I can’t go another day without talking to her and trying to explain.”

“Oh that’s just great!” Lauren exclaimed.  “So where does that leave me?  I thought we were going to be together, Stormy.  I asked you to go on tour with me, remember?  Have you even given that any thought?”

“Of course I have!”

“Well you haven’t given me an answer!” Lauren replied hostily.  “And now you tell me that you might want to get back together with her?  To save your marriage.  Is it just me or are you trying to give me the brush-off?”

The truth was that Stormy didn’t know what he wanted.  He did still love Heather and he always had.  Falling in love with Lauren was an accident.  It had nothing to do with his marriage.  “Look, I just need to talk to her.  That’s all.  If you can’t understand that then I’m sorry.”

Lauren opened her mouth to respond but Stormy was already barreling out the door and down the steps to his car.   She threw her hands up in resignation and ran into her bedroom, slamming the door angrily.

Back at the hospital, James sat on an examining table while Dr. Farraday checked his vitals and examined a new set of x-rays. 

“I wasn’t expecting this,” said the doctor, shaking his head as he looked at the x-rays.

“What?” James asked nervously.

“The brain swelling is progressing more rapidly than I’d anticipated.  I may have overestimated the time table we’re dealing with.”

James closed his eyes with regret.  “So you’re saying I could die much sooner than you originally thought?”

“I’m afraid so.”

James buttoned his shirt and jumped down from the table.   He was at a loss for words.   He was now faced with the possibility that he wouldn’t survive long enough to see Brooke give birth to his baby, much less have a hand in raising it.

“James, I told you there was a procedure that could make a difference,” said Dr. Farraday, taking off his reading glasses and looking at him sympathetically.  “There are no guarantees but it’s the only option you have.”

“You said the chances that I’d survive the operation are less than half,” James said.

“That’s right,” said Dr. Farraday.  “But at this point, I don’t see there are any other alternatives.  If you go without the surgery, you could be looking at a matter of weeks before you die.”

James cursed to himself and turned around in despair.  The last thing he wanted was to go through a risky operation and cause more stress on Brooke and the rest of his family.  They’d all been though so much already.  But if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have the joy of watching his baby grow up, or the pleasure of having Brooke as his wife again.

Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the doctor and nodded hesitantly.  “Okay,” he said with some regret.  “Schedule the surgery.”

Heather opened the front door of her house and immediately tried pushing it closed again when she saw Stormy standing on the porch.

“Go away,” she said, trying to force it closed.

“We need to talk,” Stormy insisted, pushing his way inside.

Heather glared at him and ran into the living room.  “There’s nothing to talk about so why don’t you just leave.”

“How can you say there’s nothing to talk about?” he asked, pulling her toward him.

Refusing to look into his eyes for fear that she would cave, Heather resisted, turning away and looking out the window.  “Do you have any idea what it’s been like for me?” she asked, growing into a daze.  “All those months that I begged you to help me with my career.  To at least just take me seriously.   You ignored me and told me that you didn’t have time, that someday you’d get around to it.”

“Heather, that’s not what this is about,” Stormy protested.

“Don’t you dare tell me what this is about!” Heather yelled, finally turning and glaring at him.  “This is about what I say it’s about.  I’m angry and you have no right to tell me that I shouldn’t be.”

Stormy backed up a step.  He’d never heard her talk like that before.  The anger showed in her eyes and all over her face.  

After deciding she had his attention again, Heather turned away and continued.  “I asked you over and over again to just give me a chance.   Then when Lauren showed up and you took her under your wing and signed her to your label, I thought it was just because I wasn’t good enough, and I accepted that.”  She glanced at him and felt a tear forming in her eye.  “But I never thought that you’d start sleeping with her and that I’d have to accept that I wasn’t good enough in that department either.”

“Heather, that’s not how it is!” Stormy insisted.

“Yes it is!” she exclaimed.  “That’s exactly how it is!  I wasn’t good enough to be a singer, and I wasn’t good enough to satisfy you in bed!  Just admit it!”

“No!”

“Admit it, Stormy!” Heather screamed, walking forward and hitting his chest with her fists.  “I wasn’t good enough so you went out and found someone who was!”

Stormy grabbed her arms to stop her from hitting him.   He hated the fact that she blamed herself for everything.  It wasn’t like that at all, but how could he convince her of that?

Before he could say anything else, Heather ran past him and dashed up the stairs to their bedroom.  He ran his fingers through his hair and turned around in frustration.   Maybe now wasn’t the best time to try to get through to her.  Maybe he’d have to wait until she’d had time to calm down.

Brett drove up to the driveway of a house in the Valley and parked the car, smiling with excitement at Miranda who sat next to him in the car.

“Brett, what are we doing here?” she asked with irritation.  “Whose house is this?”

Brett got out of the car and opened her door for her.   “It’s our house,” he said, taking her hand and leading her up to the front porch.

“What?” Miranda asked with a frown.  “What are you talking about?”

Turning the key in the knob, he opened the front door and led her inside the quaint cabana style house.  “This is our house,” he said, beaming from ear to ear as he walked around the wood floors of the living room.  “I just signed the papers this morning.”

Miranda looked around the small surroundings, shaking her head in dismay at the surprising news.  “You bought a house?” she asked.  “What’s wrong with where we live now?”

“Nothing,” Brett replied, walking up and putting his hands on her waist.  “But it’s your father’s house.  Besides, Brooke's living there now and the baby will be following soon after.  I thought you’d be thrilled to have a place of our own.  Somewhere we can start our own life together.  Away from your family.”  He was desperate to get away from the rest of the Blackthorne’s.  After everything that went down with Stormy and Lauren, James wouldn’t rest until he had him exiled from L.A.  If they continued living in the mansion, it would only be a matter of time before things hit the fan.  They needed to be as far away from everyone as possible.

“I guess I never thought about it like that,” Miranda said, looking around and touching the bare walls with her hands.  “Living with Brooke would be like a nightmare.  And once that baby comes who could get any sleep?”

“So you like it then?” Brett asked with excitement evident in his eyes.

She shrugged.  “Yeah.  I mean, it’s kind of small, and it’s in the Valley.  But I guess it might be okay.”

Brett smiled and picked her up, spinning her around as he kissed her cheerfully.

The butler opened the door to the vast mansion in Beverly Hills and led Alex into the sitting room.  He disappeared through the giant paneled doors and she looked around nervously.  Wringing her hands together, she paced the floor of the stylish room and admired a photo of Jordan and his two children. 

The sound of the doors opening again sent her into a panic and she looked up, spotting Jordan entering the room with a somber look on his face.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.  “Shouldn’t you be at home with your new husband?”

Alex put the photo down and ran across the room toward him.  “Jordan, please.  I wanted to talk to you before it was too late.”

He frowned.  “Too late for what?”

“For us,” Alex replied, her eyes pleading.  “Jordan, I love you.”

He scoffed and walked over to where she’d been standing.  He looked down, noticing the picture she’d been holding when he entered the room.  “Unless I’m mistaken, the minute you said I do to Will Thomerson kind of signified the end of us.”

“But there’s something you don’t understand,” Alex said.  “Will and I aren’t married anymore.  I had the marriage annulled.”

He looked at her with surprise.  “That was quick.”  He walked over to the window and looked outside at the flowing green lawns.   “I can’t imagine what could have happened to change your mind in the two days you were married to him.”

“That’s just it,” Alex continued eagerly.  “It was a setup.  I was helping James get his studio back.  We wanted to stick it to Will just like he stuck it to James.”

Jordan turned toward her and rolled his eyes.  “Ahhh, so James is the catalyst here.  Why am I not surprised?”

“What does that supposed to mean?”

“It means that James seems to be your first priority lately,” Jordan replied.  “It was James that you ran off to be with when we were supposed to be getting married.  It was James that you manipulated into thinking you were still married back on that island.  It seems that he’s the one you should have married, not Will, and certainly not me.”

“No, that’s not the way it is,” Alex said in desperation.  “I was just trying to undo some of the damage I’d done.  It was partly because of me that James lost his studio, and he’s been having headaches because of that plane crash and it was my fault that he-“

“Enough!” Jordan yelled.

Alex stopped mid-sentence and shot him a troubled look.

“All I’m hearing is how you did everything for James,” Jordan continued.  “Well what about me, Alex?  I’m the one who asked you to marry me.”

“Yeah, so you could manipulate me into starring in your damn movie!”

“At first, yes!” Jordan replied.  “But then I fell in love with you!  I was planning our life together, Alex!  I wanted to be the envy of every couple in Hollywood!