2007
Episodes #439-477

As the year began, Tim was distressed to learn of Claire’s engagement to Ryan. She tried to put her ex-husband’s doubts to rest by investigating Ryan’s whereabouts on the night that Lola was killed--the same night that Ryan proposed to Claire. Ryan saw through the questioning and took it to mean that Claire suspected him of the murders. He demanded the ring back. Claire insisted that she wanted to marry him; Ryan wanted her to prove it by marrying him soon. They hurriedly began to plan a wedding.

Tim, awaiting trial for Nick and Lola’s murders, struggled to accept that he might go to prison and lose even more time with his children. He was crushed to see that even his family now doubted his innocence, as they feared the trauma of captivity had pushed him over the edge. Meanwhile, Molly grew suspicious of Camille, who made some strange comments about Nick’s death. In private, Camille recalled having argued with Nick on the night he was killed.

For his kids’ sake, Tim insisted to Diane that they attend Claire and Ryan’s wedding. The guests gathered at the Fisherman’s Pier. Katherine was in attendance and brought Brian as her date. When she suggested a romantic trip together, Brian’s response made it clear that he was only interested in being friends. Mortified, Katherine grew cool toward him.  Tim shared a tender moment with Claire as he urged her to enjoy her new life with Ryan.

They were interrupted by thugs with guns, who herded everyone down to the basement. However, Ryan was nowhere to be found. Tim took it as proof that Ryan was behind this and had finally snapped. Then a beaten Ryan was dragged to the basement and forced, at gunpoint, to confess that he shot Nick to protect Claire, Travis, and the Fishers, whom Nick had threatened after finding out that Ryan had set him up in the Objection drug bust.

Then, even more shockingly, a weak but alive Nick entered in a wheelchair! He confessed to having faked his “death” at the hospital and having framed Tim for Lola’s murder as a test of Ryan’s integrity. Ryan had failed by letting Tim take the fall for both deaths. The Fishers were horrified by this revelation about the man they had accepted into their family. Nick detailed the various crimes that he felt had been committed against him by those assembled and revealed his plan to blow up the restaurant with all of them inside.

After the wedding fiasco, Danielle came clean with both Molly and Josh about her time in rehab. Molly was understanding, and Danielle moved with Molly and Brent into their new house to continue caring for the twins. Brent developed an infection in his leg, and the doctors felt that a below-the-knee amputation was necessary. Brent bravely faced the procedure, though Molly was certain that he was keeping his emotions to himself and wanted him to open up to her. Brent pushed his wife away as he focused obsessively on his rehabilitation and learning to live with his prosthetic. Meanwhile, Camille’s will named Molly Chief Creative Officer of Objection. The couple made slow progress in bridging the gap between them, but through it all, they remained supportive of one another.

Sarah withdrew from everyone, especially Matt, in the aftermath of losing the baby. She insisted on going about business as usual but avoided any kind of closeness with Matt. When they received word that Mia had given birth to a boy, both Matt and Sarah’s pain grew even worse. Matt tried to get Sarah to talk, and the conversation grew heated. As things escalated, she insinuated that she only got pregnant in the first place because Matt was pressuring her, and he retaliated that she had no regard for the baby when trying to be a hero. Tori overheard the argument and realized how bad things were between her parents. The gap between Sarah and Matt widened even further.

Jason asked Courtney to work with him at the arena. She accepted, glad to quit her waitressing job. They hired an office manager, a young woman named Sabrina Gage. After a night out to celebrate Courtney’s career move, Jason kissed Courtney. They went as dates to Claire’s wedding, and in the horrific aftermath, individually realized their feelings for each other. They agreed to take things slowly… and then had sex in the office. It developed into an ongoing sexual relationship, though neither was able to address what was really going on.

Things took a serious turn when Courtney discovered she was pregnant. She pushed Jason to define their relationship, but he remained hesitant to do so. In turn, Courtney pushed him away. She confided in Lauren, with whom she had begun to reconnect, and Lauren assured her that she and Jason would be great parents. However, when Sabrina discovered Courtney’s prenatal vitamins, she warned her against having a baby she wasn’t ready for and encouraged her to have an abortion.

Josh worked hard to win her back. Finally he made a dent, and they fell into bed together. Things came to an abrupt halt when his hand felt a lump in her breast. Josh was unsure of what had happened, but Lauren panicked and walked out. She covered what was truly worrying her by claiming that it was foolish to think anything could change in their relationship. Angry, Josh went to a bar and hooked up with a woman who turned out to be Jason’s office manager, Sabrina. He was firm with her about having a no-strings-attached arrangement, and to his surprise, she was amenable; she said she was working toward reuniting with an ex, anyway. A terrified Lauren saw a doctor about the lump and scheduled a biopsy, but she kept the situation to herself until Christmas, when she confided in her family.

An unmarked DVD arrived at the Brooks home, and Trevor was horrified when his parents, Lauren, and Alex all saw it: it was one of the movies he had done for Cliff! He explained that he made the movies years before and regretted it. Alex realized that Trevor had been hiding the blackmail and the real reason for his trips to New York, and he was unsure if he could continue their relationship. Trevor was devastated but focused on repairing relationships with Lauren and their parents; luckily, they all tried their best to be understanding and supportive. He learned that DVDs had also gone to his agent and to Objection. Fearing a scandal, Camille regretfully ended Objection’s association with Trevor.

Jason convinced Alex not to throw away his relationship with Trevor over the porn. Trevor was grateful for the renewed relationship. Then Seth Ashby turned up in King’s Bay, having lost his job working for Miriam’s father. Though reluctant, Alex spent time talking to Seth, and Trevor discovered them together. He learned that Alex had seen Seth recently and had even been at the wedding. Trevor accused Alex of only having forgiven him so quickly because he was hiding secrets of his own.

Alex tried to focus on his new novel, which was receiving a lukewarm-at-best reception from the people at Vision, and had to deal with Seth’s continued presence in King’s Bay after he took a job working at the arena. Cliff reappeared and offered Trevor, who was having trouble finding modeling work, a substantial sum of money to do another porn video. Trevor considered the offer but finally tore up Cliff’s card and made up his mind to break free of the past. By year’s end, Alex and Trevor’s relationship had completely deteriorated.

In the aftermath of Nick’s terrifying final stand, Katherine landed in the hospital. Brian tried to be there for her, but she continued to reject him. She was stunned when her son, Andy, showed up at the hospital. Brian had arranged for Andy to visit his mother. When Andy told Katherine about this, she realized what a wonderful friend she had found in Brian, and they made up. However, she also decided that it was time for a fresh start, and she left King’s Bay to join her son in Seattle.

Travis lashed out at Claire for having put them all in danger by getting so close to Ryan. Hoping to give Travis some time to cool off, Tim took him and Samantha on a trip to New York. When they returned, teenaged Travis refused to stay at Claire’s new apartment and continued to blame the family’s recent troubles on his mother. Tim and Claire agreed that sending him to a therapist was the best course of action, but Travis skipped his first appointment.

On Elly’s first night in King’s Bay, she was trying to find Danielle’s home when the power went out. During the blackout, she approached two boys in the park--who turned out to be Travis and his friend, Landon. Travis was intrigued by this mystery girl and later spotted her at the mall with Danielle. He tried to talk to her, but she seemed uninterested in his advances. He then cooked up an excuse to drop by Molly and Brent’s house, where he knew Elly was staying. She again rejected him, until he explained that he had been through some equally ugly things with his family and was willing to listen if she wanted to talk. Elly planned to return to her parents in San Francisco, but they made plans to keep in touch.

Travis agreed to return to therapy after Samantha helped him to see it as the key to being independent from his parents. He even began to patch up his relationships with them, until it seemed that Claire and Tim were growing close again. Travis lashed out at Tim, urging him not to make that mistake again, because it would inevitably blow up and throw everyone’s lives into upheaval all over again. Tim felt guilty for all they had already put their son through and promised that he and Claire were merely friends.

As the Fishers dealt with the fallout of Nick’s final revenge, Paula worried about Ryan’s shattered life. On Thanksgiving, she went to see him and found him in a severely disheveled state. She followed him to a seedy bar, where he was playing a game of poker.  Ryan spotted her and took it as a sign that she was ready to forgive him, but Paula hurried off, saying that she merely needed to see him. She returned to her family and concealed the fact that she had gone looking for her other son.

Brian pushed Diane to give a relationship between them a real shot. Diane found the idea ridiculous. He brought her Thanksgiving dinner and was irritated when she did not seem to appreciate the gesture. Brian’s rage surprised Diane, and they wound up sleeping together. The next day, however, things were back to normal: she was uninterested in anything but friendship. Brian discussed the situation with Sarah, who helped him realize that the traditional romantic approach would never work with Diane.

Diane’s higher-ups at Vision ordered her to publish something high-profile and salacious. She set her sights on Ryan, hoping to convince him to publish his account of Nick’s “death” and the subsequent chaos. Meanwhile, Ryan revealed to Claire that he would be moving out of his loft. Claire relayed this news to Paula, who grew even more worried about her son but felt that she could not help him without betraying her family. Diane discovered that Ryan was moving because the bank had foreclosed on his loft, and she offered him a book deal. Ryan refused.

While walking in the park with Elly, Danielle discovered Ryan passed out, drunk, on a bench. She brought the incoherent man back to Molly and Brent’s house to sleep it off. Molly and Brent were initially upset but understood Danielle’s need to help someone struggling with a drinking problem. It seemed that Ryan had finally hit rock-bottom.

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