The Young and the Restless spoilers: Victoria and Nate's reunion faces one major challenge?

As The Young and the Restless brings the now-infamous French getaway at Cane’s (Billy Flynn) estate to a close, many residents of Genoa City find themselves in interesting predicaments.

For example, Lily (Christel Khalil) is forced to come to terms with the fact that the guy she was falling for, Damian (Jermaine Rivers), is now gone, arguably in large part due to her ex-husband’s antics.

We also acknowledge that Chance (Conner Floyd) is dead, Nick (Joshua Morrow) nearly died, Kyle (Michael Mealor) busted Audra (Zuleyka Silver) and Billy (Jason Thompson) essentially is opting to throw his new company away in an attempt to partner with Cane and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) to take over Chancellor.

While there were certainly many things that occurred in Europe over these past few weeks, Genoa City was also experiencing some turmoil. Let’s not forget that Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Claire (Hayley Erin) lost Cole (J. Eddie Peck). And while Damian was murdered in France, when Lily calls Nate (Sean Dominic) in The Young and the Restless episode airing on July 29, Nate is absolutely gutted by the news.

Speaking of Victoria and Nate, we couldn’t help but notice how they’ve managed to gravitate toward one another while their loved ones have been in France. Outside of a moment with Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan), Nate has been Victoria’s support system as she dealt with her emotions surrounding Cole’s illness and eventual death. Heck, again in the episode from July 29, before Nate finds out about his brother, he shows up at Victoria’s house to be with her and Claire as they plan to lay Cole to rest (the funeral is ultimately postponed until their loved ones return home).

Conversely, after Lily told Nate via phone that Damian had been killed, he turns to Victoria for comfort. He is in such disbelief that a brother he had only recently discovered existed could be dead before they could really develop a solid bond. Plus, he’s dreading having to deliver the news to Amy (Valarie Pettiford), as Damian was her only child, and they just reconnected.

With all this mutual exchange of support between Victoria and Nate, we can’t help but think they could be headed toward a reunion. Sure, some may argue that they’re just two exes turned platonic friends leaning on each other during a time of grief. However, in the soap world, this is the kind of stuff that lays the groundwork for a romance (unless you’re Jack [Peter Bergman] and Nikki [Melody Thomas Scott]).

Now, if the two are headed toward a #Vate 2.0 relationship, they likely face a major challenge. Given how spectacularly their previous relationship flamed out, many may assume we’re talking about Victor coming between them.

That’s certainly a possibility, as Victoria can never have a romance without her dad interfering. However, we think if Victoria and Nate give it a go again, Victoria will do more to stand up to Victor and fight for her love life, and Nate, in turn, will be appreciative. Perhaps seeing Claire fight for her relationship with Kyle will give her inspiration.

With all that being said, we think Audra could present a problem. Although Audra was willing to cheat on Nate with Kyle to ensure she had a firm grasp on Vibrante, going as far as to make out with him, we suspect she’s hoping to keep her relationship with Nate intact. Nate, on the other hand, may not be so willing to stay in a relationship with Audra, especially in light of him grieving his brother. But even if Nate wants to end things, we can’t say that’s it for Audra.

Because her plans for Kyle failed and Victor won’t be pleased to hear that she hasn’t successfully kept their end of their bargain, he might pull funding for Vibrante. That may leave her a bit desperate. We can imagine a desperate Audra resorting to one of the oldest tricks in soap opera history to keep Nate in her orbit — a pregnancy.

Is it possible that Audra fakes a pregnancy with Nate to keep him around and maybe even get herself a position at Winters in the process? Sure, it is. She would ultimately have to then get pregnant by Nate for real or pretend to be with child for nine months until she can adopt a child or get a surrogate.

Look, we’re fully aware that this hypothetical storyline sounds dramatic and maybe even far-fetched. But again, this is the soap world, so anything can happen.

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.