Steve Johnson and Kayla Brady

Steve and Kayla
Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans as Steve and Kayla
Duration	1986–90, 2006–09
Introduced by	Betty Corday Ken Corday Al Rabin
Profile
Other names	Stayla & Payla
Family Brady Johnson Spouse 1988–89, 1990–2012, 2017– Children Stephanie Johnson Joey Johnson

Steve "Patch" Earl Johnson and Dr. Kayla Caroline Brady are a supercouple on the American soap opera Days of Our Lives. Steve is portrayed by Stephen Nichols and Kayla is portrayed by Mary Beth Evans. On the Internet message boards[5] the couple is often referred to by the portmanteau "Stayla" (for Steve and Kayla). The couple was initially popular from 1986 through 1990 until the "death" of Steve. Both characters have recently returned: after Steve being presumed dead for 16 years, Steve returned to the show on June 9, 2006; Kayla returned on June 12, 2006. Steve and Kayla were dropped off canvas in February 2009. Kayla returned in December 2011. In August 2015, Steve returned to Salem.

Steve Johnson was a former Merchant Marine who came to Salem working as a mercenary. He had a vendetta against his former best friend, Bo Brady (Kayla's brother) who had gouged out his eye during a fight long ago. His bad boy image and criminal actions were no match for the beautiful good girl, Kayla Brady. One night, he rescued her from a street gang and left a note with his number on her car, and eventually, the two fell in love.

Kayla pushed Steve away, but he was undeterred. He kept trying to convince her that they were meant to be together. Kayla's family were opposed to the pairing, most especially Bo Brady, who believed Steve to be dangerous. Steve received an incredible shock when his sister came to town. Adrienne had been born after Steve's mother had brought Steve and baby Billy to an orphanage. Steve had been 5, Billy had been a young baby. Jo Johnson (Steve's mother) was afraid her husband Duke would kill the children (or vice versa) due to Duke's extremely violent nature. Steve wanted nothing to do with Adrienne or Jo, but deep down, he was yearning for the mother he had loved and hoped to see again.

Duke ended up raping his virgin daughter, Adrienne, when she refused to tell him where to find her mother. She shot him in self-defense when he staggered over to her to do it again, and then she blocked out the memory of the rape and the killing. Steve tried to take the blame and developed a strong protectiveness towards his sister. Adrienne remembered what had happened just in time, during the trial, and Steve was exonerated. He started to push Kayla even further away, blaming her at first for not letting him kill Duke when he had had a chance (before the rape) and then fearing that he would be just like Duke, after his mother angrily told her children that Duke hadn't always been so bad when they confronted her on her decision to ever hook up with a man like him. She told Steve that Steve reminded her of Duke in many ways, not realizing how painful those words would be.