"To what almost was." ~ Gabrielle Pascall making a toast with Steve on the night Jack married Kayla.

After watching this again, I�ve decided this is the most heart breaking story line in the Steve and Kayla saga.

Steve had decided he wanted to spend his life with Kayla. After they�d cleared his name Steve went to Washington DC to tell the ISA his side of the story. While he was there he bought an engagement ring. He was planning to propose to Kayla.

Shane Donavan made him a proposition that if he lied in court about Agent Daniels and became a double agent he would get ISA protection and they could farther investigate the case, therefore incriminating Daniels and his boss, who they still haven�t discovered the identity of. Steve refused, saying he was done with the ISA and he wanted to go on with his life. Even after Shane told Steve he was next on the hit list Steve was determined to start a life with Kayla.

During this time Jo Johnson was hired as the maid in the Curtis house where the Deveraux�s were staying, and stumbled across a very familiar looking ring. The ring she�d given to the woman who adopted her baby, Billy. Steve too saw the ring, and Jo and Steve now realized that Jack was Billy Johnson, the baby brother Steve loved so much who was adopted from the orphanage. They both agreed that it was best not to tell Jack he was Billy.

Steve was haunted by the memories of his baby brother Billy. The times he told baby Billy he would always take care of him.

He went to Kayla�s apartment that night and intended to propose to Kayla, ring ready. He told her that he loved her more then words could even say. With tears in his eyes, having just found out about his baby brother and about ready to make a lifelong commitment to Kayla he started to ask her. Then the phone rang!

Anjelica Deveraux told Kayla that Jack had taken a turn for the worst, he was in the hospital and was worse then he�d ever been. He�d have to go through chemotherapy. Steve followed Kayla to the hospital and overheard Jack tell Kayla that he intended to get well so they could be married. Steve made the most heart breaking decision of his life. (And a stupid one if you ask me�but you didn�t). He told his mother, "My baby brother is in the hospital maybe dying and he loves the woman I love. And he needs the only person I�ve ever let myself need."

A few days later Kayla came by his apartment to ask why Steve had been avoiding her. He told her he didn�t love her and used her like a sailor on shore leave. Kayla didn�t believe him. (She actually slapped him a few times. Go girl!) Steve was so heartbroken at seeing Kayla torn up that he gave in and they made love.

Next morning as Kayla slept Steve recited "The Rose" to her. Then when she woke up he told her it was done with them. He was moving on without her. He left her in his apartment and went outside and sobbed, saying "She�s yours now, Billy. Kayla�s yours."

Steve tried to push Kayla away and to help him with this process he decided to help the ISA. He became a spy for them. He also went into court and testified that he lied about everything he�d told Kayla about Daniels, thus making Kayla�s testimony on Daniels irrelevant. This made Kayla furious and she became angrier with Steve. So did pretty much every one else in Salem.

Jack proposed to Kayla and she reluctantly accepted, after talking to Steve about it and he assuring her there was nothing between them anymore. In the sad scene where Kayla told Steve Jack proposed Steve played it cool. He walked her outside and as Kayla was walking down the stairs of his apartment he whispered, barely audible, "I love you." Kayla stopped briefly, then kept walking. She hadn�t heard him.

Steve continued his ISA project, but it was slow going. After a month or so he was able to discover who was in charge of the plot to assassinate the Senator. Surprise, it was Victor Kiriakis. Steve went to Greece for Adrienne�s wedding to Justin Kiriakis (he gave Adrienne away, it was so sweet.) and to keep an eye on Victor. During the wedding, at which Kayla was supposed to be a bridesmaid, a letter was delivered to Steve. Kayla was too sick to come to Greece and sent this letter instead. It assured Steve that Kayla was blissfully happy with Jack and she thanked him for letting her go. Steve didn�t buy it.

Caroline Brady was concerned about her daughter�s health and had come to Steve and asked him if he�d seen Kayla. (Steve and the Brady�s were still not friendly, so this was strange to Steve.) Steve said he hadn�t seen her, even though he was working at the Deveraux house. It turns out, none of the Brady�s had seen her and neither had any of the staff at the Deveraux house. Kayla was very sick and this was strange that nobody could tell Steve what her condition was. Steve called Melissa Anderson, who also worked in the Deveraux house to inquire about Kayla. She didn�t know anything either, but she did mention that it was strange that she was fine when Jack and Kayla were on their honeymoon when she�d forgotten her medicine. Steve put two and two together and called his ISA friend, Gabrielle Pascall, to have the pills tested. They tested positive for atropine, a poison.

Steve broke into the Deveraux mansion and saw Kayla lying in bed, looking horrible and barely conscious. She called out to Steve and he gathered her up and took her to Gabrielle�s house, where she eventually recovered. She wouldn�t believe that anyone in the Deveraux house would try to poison her. When Steve left to get them some food Kayla went to escape. She went to the Deveraux house but stopped before she entered. It was starting to come together, every time she was in the house she was sick. She went to the pier to call Roman but passed out before she could give him any information.

A weird man, Professor Shenkle, found her and was convinced she was the most pure and beautiful woman he�d ever seen. He took her back to his house where Kayla became sick again, this time from the bad weather. Professor Shenkle went to the hospital to ask Marcus Hunter to help him. Marcus was a new doctor in Salem and Steve�s best friend from the orphanage.

Steve went with Marcus to the house to check on the lady Professor Shenkle referred to as his wife. They discovered it was Kayla, but the man wouldn�t let them take her. He pulled a rifel on them.

Steve sat outside the cabin in the snow with Marcus. Crying he said, "We�re connected man. If one of us is in trouble the other one knows. Man, if she dies, I die." The strange man heard this and let them take Kayla, now realizing how much Steve loved her.

They took Kayla back to Gabrielle�s house and she got over her infection. She was happy to be with Steve and she wanted to leave Salem with Steve. When Steve pushed her to go back to Jack Kayla became angry and asked him why he was keeping them apart. Steve then told her Jack was his brother Billy.

Kayla became even more angry that Steve did what he did, even after Steve told her he didn�t think he had a choice. They fought for a while, then eventually made up and made love.

Steve: The day you married Jack that was the worst day of my life. I thought I was going to lose it standing there watching you.
Kayla: You were there?
Steve: Yeah, I was there. I was there watching you give your vows to him telling him you'd be there for him. Half of me was happy for my little brother but the other half of me wanted to...
Kayla: What?
Steve: I don't know, baby. I was going to lose it. For a second it didn't matter that that was my baby brother up there. I wanted to go up there in front of everyone and tell them you can't marry Jack Deveraux because you don't love Jack Deveraux, you love me!
Kayla: I wish you had.
Steve: That's all I wanted to do, baby. You don't know how hard it was for me.
Kayla: I think I do.
Steve looks at her and moves closer to her: I love you Kayla. I never stopped loving you.
He takes her and kisses her, then picks her up and carries her to the bed.

On New Years Eve 1987 half the town was invited to a party at the Deveraux mansion. Steve was not one of them, but was still worried that someone in the Deveraux house was trying to kill Kayla so he kept an eye on her from outside. Kayla saw Steve outside and snuck away from Jack to meet him. They met in the barn and began kissing. A photographer took several pictures of them.

In January Jack won the position of State Assemblyman. During his victory party the photographer gave him the pictures he�d taken of Steve and Kayla together. Jack saw the pictures, but played it cool, even inviting Steve to another celebration party. Steve refused and when Kayla told Jack she had to stay behind to get her car, Jack spied on them as they once again met and began kissing and confessing their love.

When Kayla got back to the loft, where she was living with Jack at the time, Jack tried to get romantic with her. She told him to stop, she didn�t like that. Jack then pulled out the pictures he�d been given and confronted Kayla with them. Kayla tried to explain that she and Steve and planned to tell Jack but they never got the chance. "It�s okay, a reporter told me," he said. Jack became enraged and raped Kayla. (This scene, and a few others, is available via the Matthew Ashford site for download in my clips section.)

Afterward they went back to the cabin and were starting to get intimate when Kayla stopped Steve. He asked her what was wrong and she told him she would tell him in the morning, but now she just wanted him to hold her.

Steve held Kayla all-night and noticed the bruises on her shoulder. The next day when he asked her about them she told him. Jack raped her. Steve was visibly heartbroken and left the cabin to get firewood. There he was met by more of Jack�s goons who beat him up again. Meanwhile, Jack found Kayla in the cabin and took her back to the loft, where he held her a virtual prisoner.

Steve came to rescue her and Jack found them on the roof. Steve and Jack fought and Steve pushed Jack off the roof, badly injuring him. Once at the hospital it was discovered Jack needed a kidney transplant. Steve donated his kidney. Jack refused it at first, but after some convincing from Melissa, Jo and Anjelica he decided to accept the transplant.
While in the operation Jack's transfer went remarkably well, but Steve's heart stopped. Marcus had come to observe the operation and was able to start Steve's heart again, but Steve was in a coma. During this time Steve had a "death" experience.
"Angel Steve" visited him and in a Days of Our Lives version of The Christmas Carol showed Steve how he'd helped people in his past, how Kayla was begging for him not to leave her in the present and scenes from his future; he and Kayla married, having children and growing old. This was enough to convince Steve and he woke from the coma.
The transplant, however, caused a rift between Steve and Kayla as Kayla was still trying to deal with the trauma of being raped and Steve invested so much time into his brother. Kayla felt (and so did I actually) that Steve was more concerned for Jack then he was for Kayla.
Steve was unsure how he could help Kayla and she kept telling him that he couldn't. He convinced her to get counseling and even went to Adrienne to have her talk to Kayla.
One night they had a huge fight where Steve said he just wanted to help and Kayla replied, "You can't help because you are part of the problem." Steve asked if she wanted him to move out of the loft. He didn't, but he did make a decision, Jack wasn't the baby Billy Steve remembered. And he would do what he had to do for Kayla, even testify against his own brother. Kayla was more important.

Kayla pressed charges against Jack and filed for divorce. Jack swore he wouldn�t give her a divorce and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge to avoid the rape charge.

One night while Kayla was in the basement of her building the Riverfront Knifer came in to attack her. Kayla struggled and managed to get away, but in the process knocked over a can of gasoline. There was an explosion and Kayla was caught in it. Steve rescued her from the explosion but the noise had caused damage to Kayla�s ears and she couldn�t hear. The trauma from the explosion and everything else that had happened in the past months caused her to lose her speech.

Once they return home from the hospital they go to the roof where they dance to one of their songs "Lady In Red." Kayla fantasizes about dancing to the song. It�s a beautiful scene. And they keep dancing even after the music stops, because Kayla doesn�t know the music has stopped. Over time Steve and Kayla learned sign language with the help of Kimberly and a speech therapist named Peggy.
Steve took a trip to Los Angeles to see if he could get the files on Billy after learning Jack was looking for Billy Johnson. Jack wanted to find Billy cause he thought it would add more stress to Steve's life. He imagined Billy as a hick or an alcoholic, someone like Duke. Steve was determined Jack not find out that he was Billy.
Steve found out that Melissa Anderson had a copy of Jack's adoption papers. He broke into her apartment one night and started to burn them when she and Jack came in. Jack saw the documents saying he was adopted and that he was born Billy Johnson but refused to believe it. He confronted Jo Johnson who told him she was in fact his mother and showed him the ring she'd give to his mother, and the necklace and earrings that went with it. Jack asked Harper about it and he denied it was true, but upon farther pressing from Jack Harper finally admitted Jack was Billy.
Kayla was at the loft with Kimberly one night when she suddenly remembered the identity of the Riverfront Knifer. As she told Kimberly that it was Harper Deveraux Harper showed up and took Kayla and Kimberly to the roof of the loft. He told them he was going to finish off what he started and he wanted to kill Kimberly because she was a former prostitute. Steve and Shane showed up in the knick of time and Harper was arrested for being the Riverfront Knifer.
Jack refused to believe that Harper was guilty so Steve planted a bug on an interrigation room and had Jack listen. Jack heard the entire confession. Soon after Jack came to the loft and told Steve he was granting Kayla a divorce.
Steve planned a romantic evening with Kayla when he signed the last verse of "The Rose" to Kayla and told her the song was about how love survives. He then proposed to her. Kayla said no, telling him she loved him but that she wasn't ready to be married. She wanted to be able to hear and speak. Steve told Kayla he didn't care about that, but Kayla was adimat.
A few days later Kayla was given the news that a doctor was coming in from Los Angeles. He was the best doctor in the country and he had agreed to do a surgery on Kayla that could restore her hearing. However, if the surgery failed Kayla would never be able to get her hearing back. She was frightened at first and refused. But eventually she decided in order to have the life she wanted, children and to be married to Steve, she had to have the surgery.
During the surgery "Angel Steve" made another appearance and helped Kayla accept her life and accetp that even if she never heard again Steve would always be there for her. When Kayla woke from the surgery Steve placed the engagement ring on her finger. He told her she didn't have to give him an answer, he just wanted her to wear the ring again. Kayla told him to ask her one more time and Steve proposed again. This time Kayla accepted.
The night before their wedding Kayla had a ringing in her ears. Panicked Steve called Mike Horton, Kayla's doctor. Mike hurried to the loft and asked Steve what happened. As Steve explained to Mike what happened Kayla stopped him and corrected him. Steve: How do you know what I said to Mike, I didn't sign it? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Kayla nodded and her and Steve hugged joyfully. She was frusteratd that she still couldn't speak however. Mike told her she'd be able to speak when she was emotionally ready.
After Mike had left Steve made the calls and told the family the news that Kayla's hearing was back. After the calls were made Kayla told Steve there was something she wanted to do. She walked to the radio and turned it on. "Lady In Red" played. They danced once again, this time Kayla could hear the music.

"This is the day Kayla's fairy tale comes true." ~ Steve to Marcus

(The entire wedding as it aired over 2 days is available for download in my clips section.) Go to the Wedding for details on this story.