‘Trying to move on’

The battle over Kristen continues as Sami gets herself into the fray. She and Brady have some nasty words about it. He finally turns to Kristen to offer her the words she’s been dying to hear. Meanwhile, Marlena tells John something he really didn’t want to hear. She has known that Brady has been playing with his former almost-step-mom for quite awhile. John  is so angry that he moves out of the apartment!

Daniel is stopped in his tracks when he opens his door and finds Chloe standing there. He attempts to avoid dealing with this awkward situation by telling her that he has a date but she won’t let him go. His date may have to wait since accident prone Jennifer manages to injure herself on her way to meet her dear doctor. When Daniel escapes from Chloe, the diva hunts down Nicole and tells her old drinking partner that she is determined to get the surgeon back!  She instantly finds a job and is sure to tell Daniel that she will be staying in town. He keeps trying to avoid her. When Chloe turns around, she may have second thoughts about sticking it out in Salem. She comes face to face with Kate. The old enemies still loathe each other and it only gets worse when Chloe tells her that she will never see Parker again. Kate wants to destroy her for that. Meanwhile, Daniel explains to Jenn that he is still committed to her, regardless of Chloe and Parker’s return.

Cameron clues in to the fact that Nick can’t have actually been the one to get Gabi pregnant. She tells Cameron that he better keep his mouth shut about it. He promises that he will. Unfortunately for them, someone has been eavesdropping. Meanwhile, Will and Nick have another unpleasant run-in as the wedding heads into rehearsal mode. The rituals are rekindling memories for Sami and Rafe, who overlook the fact that they were supposed to be finished with each other. When the wedding day arrives, Rafe tells Sami that he’s now decided that she’s the one for him. She likes that and tries telling EJ to get lost, but is interrupted before she can do so. Later, she and Rafe nearly make it to the bedroom, when Hope walks in on them.

Abby helps Gabi get ready for the big day when Chad drops in and, surprisingly, doesn’t raise hell. The upset happens elsewhere. Gabi asks Will to be the baby’s godfather and Nick freaks out about it. He insists that can never happen. It isn’t all bad for Will though. At least Sonny offers him a key to his apartment. When the wedding ceremony begins, everything seems to run along smoothly until the end, when someone stands up and publicly smashes Gabi and Nick’s baby story to pieces.

Updates:

John will leave Marlena.

Chloe will have a big reveal.

Chad plans to ruin the wedding and will interrupt the service.

Sami & Rafe will try to get back together (does it really matter?)

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December 31st-January 3rd

‘Letting it all out’

Marlena feels bad when she nearly gives John a heart attack by deliberately sending him off to catch his son in bed with his ex. While she beats herself up about it and turns to Hope to moan, Brady is busy trying to convince his father that his feelings for Kristen extend beyond her nether-regions. All of this has worked into Kristen’s hands. She rubs it in the shrink’s face and looks forward to the new year. She starts it off by confessing everything to John and making it clear that it was all planned. She still hasn’t gotten over the way he treated her. He clues in that she has been banging his son for revenge. When Brady shows up after John storms off, Kristen tells him his dad was acting like a maniac. It isn’t long before John returns with Marlena, looking for a fight. John attempts to convince his son that Kristen is a vengeful harpy but Brady is so smitten that he winds up pounding on his papa for besmirching the honor of his lady love. Kristen thinks this is awesome. Marlena is so horrified that her eyebrows curl. John and Brady have to be hospitalized, but each refuses to talk to the cops. John feels bad for not believing Marlena. That makes her feel bad and she nearly confesses for sending him to walk in on the traumatic scene. Meanwhile, Kristen apologizes to Brady for the situation. She admits to herself that she is actually developing feelings for him and decides to end things. He won’t let her do it. She moans to EJ about her situation. He suddenly realizes that what she is up to could get in the way of his plans for Samanther.

Will convinces his grandma that Nick is actually a decent guy, even if he acts like a jerk sometimes. That’s good enough for Kate to want to hire him. Nick’s distracted by other things. He worries that Gabi will open her gob to Eric. He runs off and stops her just before she confesses everything to the priest. Sami simultaneously drops herself in the middle of all of this and insists on telling Eric everything herself, not that she actually knows what’s happening. Gabi gives the priest her cover story anyway and he agrees to go along with the wedding.

Adrienne tells Sonny how happy she is that he is happy with Will. Then she bumps into Kate and apologizes for trashing Will a couple of months ago. Meanwhile, Will has convinced himself that Nick is actually a good guy. He calls him out for his ‘gay boy’ comment and Nick tells him that he won’t put up with him if he keeps flip-flopping about the paternity issue. At that moment, Gabi and Sonny decide to make peace for Will’s sake.

Sami and Rafe continue obsessing over each other while they prepare for their dates with Nicole and EJ. Rafe is noticeably distraught when he sees Sami and Elvis together. Nic prods him to talk to her when EJ goes off for booze. Nicole decides to keep EJ distracted by pretending to be wasted and pulling him into a smooch. That gives Rafe the chance to ring in the New Year by locking lips with Sami. They’re both moved. EJ stalks over and plants his lips on her. Rafe does his best not to react to the fact that he and EJ just shared a pair of lips. Sami still doesn’t know which man she wants. As the clock ticks over, Chad spends the evening with Abby and they share a kiss while her mom pays Daniel a visit at the hospital and manages to get him to give her a peck. The next day, EJ makes another move on Sami. Eric interrupts to tell her about the brawl between John and Brady. She runs off to deal with the family drama. Both EJ and Rafe remain confident that they have her heart. She later bumps into Rafe and weeps all over him. Meanwhile, Marlena hunts down Elvis and lashes out at him because of his sister. At that moment, Kristen tracks down John. He doesn’t want to deal with her, but she says their business is far from over.