Unbroken Season 1

Chapter 7 When I Wake Up In The Morning

“…If all I need is your crystal heart to get me right, won’t you be my fix tonight?…”

With her mind still in a daze, the woman’s body functioned automatically as she found herself sucking in a mouthful of air. The warmth that was generated from the body beneath her made the woman more reluctant to stir from her position. The small blonde raised one of her hands slowly toward her mouth then, after removing the few strands of hair that had decided to take up residence between her lips, she stifled a yawn, letting her body stay where it was. Now, through fluttering lashes she tried hard to focus one weary green eye on what was in front of her. After staring at it for what seemed like forever, Sam finally realized that she was looking directly at an unclasped button on Brooke’s open shirt. Sam turned her gaze toward Brooke’s eyes and smiled when she saw the sparkling blue.

“God, is it morning already?” Sam asked, her voice thick with sleep as she yawned again. “Oh, excuse me,” she mumbled as she tried to raise the other eyelid open.

Brooke tried stretching her long frame without disturbing the woman resting against her as she gazed out of the window. “Looks like it.”

“I guess we never made it to bed.” Sam stood up slowly as her muscles protested the movement from sitting in the same position all night. She stretched, trying unsuccessfully not to yawn.

Grabbing Sam’s small hand in hers, Brooke traced her thumb over its back “Maybe next time?” The older woman’s brow furrowed with concern.

“Next time what?” Sam turned her eyes toward the woman sprawled at her feet. She smiled coyly at first then let it explode into a smile so bright it could rival the sun that peeked into the room. The dark-haired woman basked in its glow knowing that it was meant only for her.

Placing her unoccupied hand against the couch, Brooke stood up, grunting as she did. “Maybe next time, Mario will let us make it off the floor and into bed.”

At the sound of his name, Mario lifted his head and looked back and forth between his mistress and her friend.

“Aww, Brooke…who would he sleep with?” Sam asked as she reached down to scratch the Husky behind his ears. Then noticing the dog hair all over her pants, she began to brush it away. “He seems to have been up against me all night,” Sam added with a slight giggle.

“Then I guess he’ll have to sleep with you. He seems to like you.” Brooke released Sam’s hand that she had been holding, only to place both of her own hands against the small of her back, leaning into them to stretch the kinks out from the night before. She groaned as she did so.

“You are old…aren’t you, ‘Auntie’?” Sam teased the tall woman as the creaks of old bones could be heard.

Brooke rolled her eyes at Sam’s comment, causing the younger woman to let a small laugh escape from her lips. “Yep. You know how people get when they get old, dontcha?”

“Depends.”

Confused, Brooke looked at Sam. “Depends? Depends on what?”

Sam clasped her hands behind her back and twisted her foot against the carpet, looking like an embarrassed child. She tilted her head forward; batting her eyelashes. She looked up through them at Brooke. “Do you use them? Depends, I mean…”

Eyes filled with amusement, Brooke reached out for Sam, and pulled her back onto the couch. “Alright, that does it.” She began to tickle the blonde in her arms as Sam attempted to squirm out of Brooke’s grasp.

“Hey, I just asked,” Sam’s speech was cut off by her own laughter. “You know, Methuselah, you keep telling me you’re old.”

This only caused Brooke to tickle her harder, more determined than ever to win.

“Okay…okay! So we’ve established that you can hold your water…and that I can be tic…tickled.” Sam slapped at an insistent hand as she tried with all her might but couldn’t break free. Finally in desperation she squealed, “Brooke!”

With a speed faster than Methuselah could ever move, Brooke flipped the two of them over so that Sam’s back was on the couch and the taller woman was now straddling her hips. The tickling frenzy stopped. The tall woman leaned forward to whisper into the curve of a small ear. “What?”

Green eyes flashed as Sam felt the tingling sensation that she was quickly learning could be caused by Brooke’s lips as they brushed against her sensitive ears. “Wh…what do you mean…what?”

Brooke sat back on her haunches, and then placed one hand to either side of Sam’s waist as she answered. “You,” the tall woman leaned forward now to emphasis her point. “You’re the one who called my name.”

“Hmmm…” Sam smiled as she reached up to pull Brooke down for a proper good morning kiss, letting the long, dark hair cover her in a veil of privacy.

“Mmmm…that was a very nice wake up call,” Brooke whispered into Sam’s ear as she nuzzled the skin just below it.

“Can we consider this our first fight? Because I think I like the way we make up.” The small blonde wiggled her eyebrows and smiled.

Even though it was said in a joking manner, it still left Brooke a little concerned. “I don’t know…were you angry with me?”

Green eyes sought out the blue ones above her as Sam lovingly placed both hands on either side of Brooke’s face. “Not now…not ever.” And within seconds, she was rewarded with a bright smile for her answer.

“Then, from now on,” Brooke placed a kiss on her captive’s lips and quickly pulled back. “I guess we’ll have to have lots of tickle fights so we can make up afterwards.”

“That sounds like a great plan to me,” Sam agreed as she pulled Brooke back down for another kiss to seal their pact.

“Wait a minute. Sam was that…make up or make out?” The dark-haired woman paused for a moment in thought. “Because I honestly don’t think that I can tell the difference,” she teased the younger woman. Her thought process was stopped abruptly when she felt two hands moving further down her back until they ran lightly over her buttocks.

“Hey, make out comes later,” the rakish smile looked almost out of place on the young woman’s face. “Do I have to show you the difference?” she asked as her small hands grabbed the flesh and squeezed Brooke’s behind.

“Well,” Brooke whispered. “You could explain the basics to me.” The older woman took in a deep breath as she felt the small hands running up and down the length of her spine.

“I don’t know, Brooke. That could take some time. Do we have it?”

Glancing at her watch, blue eyes bugged out as if they were animated. “Oh shit! No, we don’t,” she quickly righted herself from the couch and pulled Sam up along with her. “It’s six-thirty.”

“What?” Sam grabbed Brooke’s arm to look at the watch. “I can’t go to class showing up like this,” she picked up her shirt, indicating the chocolate fingerprint stains from the night before.

“Come on,” Brooke grabbed Sam’s hand and hurriedly ran up the stairs. “You can take a quick shower upstairs. What about your overnight bag?”

Sam ran a hand through long, blonde locks. “I thought I’d be back in time to change for class so I didn’t bother to put a good shirt in there. Damn, Brooke, let’s do this on a Saturday night next time.”

They reached the top of the stairs and Brooke made her way to the linen closet for a towel and washcloth. “Deal. You remember where the bathroom is?” The dark-haired woman watched Sam nod in reply then continued, “Good. I’ll get you a shirt to wear.”

Sam made her way into the guest bedroom where she had left her bag the night before. “Yeah, like your shirt would even fit me.” She yelled down the hall then mumbled her after-thought as she glanced at her image in the full-length mirror. “Then again, it’s got to be better than looking like the cookie monster in a chocolate chip explosion.”

Brooke couldn’t help but to laugh at the idea as she met her at the bedroom door to hand her the towel and washcloth. “Here, I think you’ll need these.”

Accepting the items, Sam placed a quick kiss on Brooke’s cheek. “Thanks, Hon.”

The endearment caught the older woman by surprise, causing her eyes to twinkle as her mouth turned upward into a smile. “My pleasure.”

Almost dumbfounded, she watched Sam walk into the bathroom and place her bag on the floor. Grasping at wit’s end for a reason to spend a few more seconds in the same room as the young woman, Brooke rushed in and grabbed her toothbrush. Giving Sam her best toothy grin, she hastily grabbed the toothpaste and spread it over the bristles on the brush then walked out the door, brushing as she went.

Soft laughter carried on the air as Sam shook her head in disbelief of Brooke’s antics. Leaving the door open, she began to strip out of her clothes before shutting it and stepping into the shower. It wasn’t until she stood under the spray of warm water that she realized her omission of shampoo in her packing. Looking swiftly at the few bottles that occupied the shelf, she could find none labeled as shampoo.

“Hey Brooke,” Sam raised her voice over the noise of the shower. “Where’s the shampoo? I don’t see any”

“Wharrpt?” came the garbled response around a mouthful of toothpaste, barely audible through the bathroom door.

“Shampoo…do you have some?”

Brooke took the toothbrush out of her mouth before talking, “Check the cabinet under the sink.”

“Damn,” Sam cursed softly as she stepped out of the shower and moved over to the sink. She looked underneath but couldn’t find the item she was searching for. “Not in here, Brooke. I’m not seeing any shampoo.”

A few seconds later there was a quick knock at the half-opened door. Brooke stuck her arm in the doorway and held out the new shampoo bottle. “Here you go.”

Reaching for the outstretched hand, Sam made sure she tugged on Brooke’s arm as she asked, “Wouldn’t it be faster if we both showered together?” First the blonde heard the gasp then felt the muscles grow tense under her fingers. Sam held back a laugh knowing all too well the effect she was having on Brooke.

“Actually, Sam…it uhm…well…I uh…” Brooke squeezed her eyes shut and grimaced at the taste of the toothpaste she had inadvertently swallowed.

“On second thought…maybe not. I don’t think you’re ready for that. Maybe next time,” she teased before kissing Brooke’s hand as she took the shampoo from it. “Thanks, Hon.”

Brooke stood on the other side of the door with her back against the wall, trying to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. As her mind ran over the events of the last few minutes, her body slowly relaxed enough to slide down the wall’s surface until she was seated on the floor of the hallway where she called out rather weakly from, “Sam?”

“Yeah,” she answered sweetly, stepping back into the shower.

“Save me some cold water…pleeeeeeease.” Trying to regroup her shattered resolve, Brooke cleared her throat before asking, “Would you like some coffee to take with you? I can go make some.”

Sam found herself laughing quietly at the pleading tone of Brooke’s voice. “Sure, if you have the time.” Sam washed the shampoo out of her hair and knitted her eyebrows in confusion when she realized that Brooke’s voice was no longer muffled through the door. “Hey, Brooke…” she called out. “What are you doing out there?”

“Just sitting here,” came the answer through the door.

“Are you done foaming at the mouth?”

Foaming at the mouth, she mouthed to herself with a perplexed look on her face. “Huh?”

Sam laughed as she lathered up her body and proceeded to rinse off the suds. “Did you forget what you were doing?”

“No. I uhm…” the tall woman made an awful face, “swallowed the toothpaste. You kind of caught me off guard when you grabbed my arm and well, I uh…I mean when you said that…I uhm…” The confusion of the moment wasn’t helping her clear her mind and Brooke quickly decided to distance herself from the situation. “I’m gonna go make that coffee now.”

Brooke got up from the floor and ran a hand down the bathroom door, picturing the woman unadorned by clothing on the other side as warm drops of water were buffeting her. She shook her head to try and clear the images from her mind’s eye as she turned to go downstairs.

“I hope you don’t do that in bed.”

Stopping dead in mid step, Brooke turned her head and looked back at the door. “Do what?” She yelled out, not realizing that the water had been turned off in the shower.

“Forget what you’re there for.”

The tall woman could only groan as she repeated her previous statement. “I’m gonna go make that coffee now.”

Sam stood in the bathroom, drying off her body as she heard Brooke run down the stairs. She was rather proud of herself at having rendered the older woman senseless. She walked up to the sink, glancing into the mirror, and wiped off the accumulated condensation for a better view. Well, you have to admit for a first date, last night was…the blonde stared at her own image, while the image of a tall, dark-haired woman came to her mind, fabulous…dreamy. She took in a breath and made a wish of her own. By the gods, let her want this as bad as I do. I could be happy as a clam waking up next to her for the rest of my life. And having sex…She shook her head when the words sank into her brain. Nope…making love, Sam nodded as the shy grin grew into a blushing smile, would be icing on top of the cake.

Standing with the towel now wrapped around her body and brushing her teeth, the blonde heard a knock at the door.

Gingerly cracking open the door just barely enough to hand Sam a cup of coffee on a small white saucer, Brooke spoke up. “Thank God for automatic timers on coffee pots. I went ahead and poured you a cup. I wasn’t sure how you like it, so I put cream and sugar in it.”

“Thank you,” Sam responded as she took the cup from Brooke’s hand, unable to resist the temptation to run her fingers along the smooth skin in the process.

Feeling the delicate fingers against her skin Brooke whined through the door. “Are you dressed yet?”

“Almost, I just need to put my clothes on.” Sam took a sip from her mug when she heard a loud thud come from the wall and jumped. Placing her mug on the back of the commode she asked, “You didn’t fall did you Brooke?”

“Uh… no, just uhm…hit something on the wall. I’m okay.” Suddenly remembering that her friend still needed something to wear, Brooke hurried into her room to grab a shirt for the younger woman.

Oh, that really sounded like her head. I’m gonna have to be careful if I frustrate her any more. “Good, I’ll be out in a minute. I just have to put my pants on.”

Once again Brooke’s arm was thrust through the door, this time holding a shirt for Sam to borrow. “Here’s that shirt.”

“Thanks, Brooke” Sam slipped it on, amused at how it seemed to swallow her body from sight. Outside she could hear the sound of footsteps on the carpeting as Brooke paced back and forth in front of the door waiting for her turn at the shower.

A moment later the door opened and Sam walked out; the large blue rayon shirt covering her body to mid thigh. Her jeans were in her left hand while the small overnight bag was in the other. “It’s all yours. I’ll put these on out here,” Sam held up the jeans in her hand, waving them for the tall woman to see.

Brooke stopped pacing at the sight of the blonde emerging from the bathroom. Suddenly it felt as if her feet had developed roots, deep roots, like the kind that hold redwood trees in place. She stood there, her mouth gaping at the sight of the young woman in front of her, so much so, that she dropped her own boots and clothes onto the floor.

“Uh…Sam?” was all that she could say.

“Uh…Brooke?” The little blonde couldn’t hide her amusement at the older woman’s reaction as she imitated her speech.

“Can I uh…” the woman stood there pointing toward the bathroom door and swallowed hard.

Sam sighed as she placed her bag on the hall floor with her jeans on top of it. Taking the few steps over to Brooke, the smaller woman placed her hands against the strong back and pushed her gently in the direction of the shower. “Shower? Of course you can. I left you plenty of cold water.” Then the sassy, little blonde leaned in and whispered softly in Brooke’s ear. “Trust me, Hon…you look like you need it.” Small hands gave way with an urging nudge and the older woman found herself walking mindlessly toward the bathroom.

Brooke didn’t argue with her guest, she did need a shower, a very cold shower indeed. With her back turned to Sam; she placed one hand on the material of her shirt between her shoulder blades and pulled it over her head in an almost trance-like state, mindless of the clothes she’d left in the hall.

Picking up Brooke’s things and placing them in the bathroom, Sam withdrew, letting her eyes roam as she retreated through the door. That was when she caught another glimpse of the tattoo on the small of Brooke’s back that consisted of a set of drums in the middle of a pool of flames with: ‘Tell Me What It Takes To Play With Fire…’ scripted above it. Smiling inwardly, Sam shook her head. She’d only seen one person with that tattoo…Brooke Loran.

Now that’s funny. Sam wondered why her Brooke would have the same tattoo? Being pressed for time, she didn’t give it much thought. She just shrugged her shoulders as she stepped into her jeans. She probably got it on a dare… the big ‘Loran’ fan that she is. I wonder…Nah, my back would be too small.

Her thoughts were cut off as she heard the muffled sound of Brooke’s shriek coming from the bathroom. “Guess I saved you the cold water that you wanted.” Sam chuckled and continued to get dressed, thinking about goose bumps on top of goose bumps. She found her head filled with images of little blue Brookes dancing in showers of ice cubes.

“Something wrong, Brooke?” Damn, I just have to do it, Sam thought as she tapped lightly on the door. “You don’t need me to wash your back, do you?”

She pressed her ear to the door to see what effect her words had on her now definitely frustrated friend. The only thing she heard in the form of a response was a groan, a long, agonizing groan. Finding it hard not to giggle, the blonde felt proud of her accomplishment as she sat in the hallway chair to finish putting on her socks and shoes.

After listening to several minutes of steadily streaming water, it abruptly stopped. A few short moments later, Brooke walked out of the bathroom giving Sam a dose of her own medicine.

The appearance of the tall, dark beauty caught Sam’s eye immediately when she noticed Brooke’s state of dress, or rather undress, to be more exact. Green pools of wonderment followed the contrast of the open black silk shirt as it moved seductively, gliding effortlessly over the golden hued expanses of flesh. The poor blonde couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting down the woman’s chest to the unbuttoned, unzipped black jeans that clung to the slightly rounded hips. The unbuckled belt dangling from the belt loops only added to her distraction as it swayed like a slow moving pendulum with each step, daring her to follow it back and forth as it moved from jean to boxers as its background.

Sensing that her efforts were not going unnoticed, Brooke rallied her troops and sent out her final assault on the small blonde’s mind as she leaned over to pull on her boots. Glancing upward, blue eyes watched the effect that all of this was having on the younger woman opposite her.

Sam’s eyes widened as the silky black material fell away from the tall woman’s body. Before she realized it, green eyes were filled with golden hued cleavage, outlined by the black bra as it held on tightly to the mounds. Thoughts ran rampant through the blonde’s mind and she found her feet mindlessly backing away from the vision. Her progress was halted only by the chair in the hall as the backs of her legs bumped into it and she sat down, her eyes still fixed on the mounds of flesh.

Looking up, Brooke noticed her friend’s odd behavior and she went over to kneel down in front of Sam. Blue eyes leveled into green and concern filled the woman’s voice as she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I…I was uh,” Sam tried to stutter out a response but couldn’t. Then it dawned on her. “Time…” and she glanced down at her watch instead. “Shit, look at the time,” she cried.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make it on time.” Brooke calmly placed her hand over Sam’s and flashed her a sincere smile. “I promise.” She stood up to button and zip her jeans.

Sam rubbed her right eyebrow with thumb and forefinger as she searched for words. “Look…at…look…ah…we definitely can’t be doing this when I have to be in class the next day, Brooke.” There’s no way I’m going to be able to concentrate on classes today.

“Do what?” the dark-haired woman smirked as she began to button her shirt starting at the bottom.

“Get up so late,” the blonde said not wanting to say what was really on her mind. Sam stood up and brushed the larger hand away from the silk shirt. “Here…let me do that,” she finished buttoning Brooke’s shirt and straightened out the collar. I can see you like to tease too. God I’m going to have to work hard to keep my wits about me with her around.

“Well, maybe next time we’ll have to sleep next to an alarm clock,” Brooke joked as she tucked in her shirt.

“And the operative word there would be what…sleep or alarm clock?”

Brooke shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “How about both?” She grinned and leaned forward, kissing Sam lightly.

Coming out of the kiss, Sam ran her hand down the front of Brooke’s shirt to smooth out any imaginary wrinkles. “So…does this job come with any other benefits?”

Brooke closed her eyes at the feeling of the small hands. “Job? What job?”

“Your button closer,” Sam replied as she kissed Brooke again. “Cause if it does, I’m applying right now.”

The older woman seemed to consider this for a moment as she opened her eyes. “Hmmm…yeah, actually, it does. The button closer can also apply for the button opener position.”

“Hmmm…double the pay?” The blonde smiled then asked. “I mean, for doing both jobs?”

“Wanna try for triple?”

“And what would that entail?”

Brooke held up her belt buckle and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Sam. “I need a buckle closer too.”

With a growing smile, she ran her hands down Brooke’s chest then to her waist and buckled the belt. “Why not go for quadruple pay,” then the blonde leaned in and whispered in the taller woman’s ear. “I can open it too.”

The taller woman took a breath then croaked out, “Maybe later, Darlin’.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sam kissed Brooke on her cheek and pushed off from her. “I’ll just get my bag and we can go.”

A dark eyebrow rose as Brooke nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Jogging down every other step until she hit the first floor, Brooke headed for the kitchen. “Let’s see. Coffee pot’s turned off.” Reaching for it, she poured the remainder of it into two travel mugs and went over to the door, checking Mario’s food and water for the day. Satisfied that everything was in order, she called Mario into the house.

The frisky pet came running in through his doggie door and up to his mistress, who got down on one knee to greet him. “You have a good day, boy.” She scratched him behind his ear. “I’ll see you tonight.” Grabbing his face, she kissed him on his nose, then stood up to leave when she heard Sam come down the stairs.

“Ready?” Brooke asked, grabbing her briefcase as she rounded the corner by the front door.

“Yep,” was the immediate response from the blonde with a nod of her head as she headed toward the door.

Brooke grabbed her keys off the table by the door then turned to face Sam as Mario came running in to say goodbye to his new friend. “Look, Sam, thanks for coming over last night. I’m glad you were here. I had a great time. Maybe…we should do it a little more often.”

The small woman smiled at the honesty she saw in the depth of the blue eyes before her. “I did too. And I agree that maybe we should.”

Not wanting to be ignored any longer, Mario licked the younger woman’s hand. Looking down at the dog, Sam scratched the top of his head and let her sentiments come to the surface. “Yes, I loved being with you too, Mario. Only next time, how about if you don’t snore.”

Mario huffed a response as Brooke laughed and the two women left to start their day.

They made great time on the way back to campus, mostly due to Brooke’s constant weaving and dodging from one lane to the other. A rash of sputtered words that usually denoted the surrounding driver’s inability to stay out of her way occasionally broke the woman’s intense driving pattern.

“You idiot.” Brooke let her eyes fix on the driver as she passed by. “Learn the rules, buddy.”

Sam watched as Brooke concentrated on not hitting the jerk in the Camaro that cut her off in the HOV lane. “I’m not going to make you late for work or anything, am I?”

The woman looked over at the blonde, her anger at the stupid driver forgotten as she grabbed the smaller hand in hers and kissed the back of it lightly. “Not at all. I’m the boss so I can show up late if I want to.”

“Mmmm…nice job. You’ll have to find me one like that.”

“Yeah? I’ll see what I can do about that,” she winked in Sam’s direction before focusing her attentions to the road in front of her once again.

“Well, don’t wait too long, I’ll be needing to do an internship next semester to fulfill my requirements for graduation. We spend the last semester in the field.” Sam looked out the window at the passing scenery, as they got closer to the campus.

“Oh really?” Brooke asked, her interests now peaked. “So…anything else? I mean…what else is required?”

“Nothing much, really. I just have to do a project for a company in promoting something. That’s what Public Relations is all about, right? We just have to be in on the ground floor, at the start. Not like we’re walking into something already happening. If the promotion works, we pass.”

Brooke took the exit for the college off the interstate. As they came to a stoplight, she looked over at Sam and grinned, “The whole second semester, huh?”

“Yeah, the whole second semester.” Sam looked away from the window and over to Brooke. “Why are you grinning? What’s up with you?”

“Seriously?”

Sam rolled her eyes and turned in her seat so her entire upper torso was facing Brooke. “No, I said that to be polite. Yes, seriously.”

“I’m going to have a job opening in January,” Brooke said matter of factly.

“What do you mean, job opening?” Sam asked as she looked towards Brooke’s shirt. “I’m being replaced already? You’re dissatisfied with my buttoning so soon.”

This time, it was Brooke’s turn to roll her baby blues. “No, silly, not that job.” The woman flashed a smile then continued, “Brownstone just took on this band from Jersey. We signed the contract on Saturday and they should be done recording in December. I’m going to need help with their promotions. Everything involving PR will be done after the recordings.” Brooke looked away from her companion, noticing the light had changed and began to move the car forward.

Pursing her lips together, Sam traced a finger along the rim of her travel mug, deep in thought. “I don’t know, Brooke. You’d have to apply to the college and accept whomever they sent you. I can see where it would be a great project, though. I guess the applicant would have to match your specifications.”

“So, I’ll just make sure that my specifications match you.” Brooke winked at the woman sitting in the passenger seat, “What do you think?”

Sam shook her head. “And just how are you going to do that, specify no blondes over 5 foot 4 inches?”

“Hmmm…” the dark-haired woman mused. “No, better yet, no blondes over 5’4″ and must have green eyes,” she smiled, proud of her ability to narrow the specifications. “Oh, and now, older then twenty-one,” Brooke added as she glanced over to her passenger to see what effect it was having on Sam. “So, who’s your PR professor that I’ll be giving my wish list to?”

The young woman smirked, then took a sip from her coffee before answering, “Humphrey.”

With surprise evident on her face, Brooke quickly turned in Sam’s direction. “Janet Humphrey?”

“Yes,” Sam answered. “Did you have her?”

Brooke’s laughter filled the car as they continued down the street. “No, I never had her, but I have known her since I was four.” A broad smile flashed across the driver’s face.

“Owww!” Brooke couldn’t help but flinch as Sam smacked her in her arm.

“I didn’t mean that way, Smartass,” Sam pointed out.

“If you’d let me explain, I was just about to tell you that we have the same birthday and practically lived in each other’s houses when we were growing up.” Brooke rubbed her right shoulder as she warned, “Hey, watch how hard you smack me. I’m getting brittle as it is.”

“Okay, Methuselah…remind me to have milk handy for you the next time we have dinner together,” Sam grinned as she teased the older woman.

“Uh-huh…Go on and yuck it up.” She leaned over and placed a light kiss against Sam’s cheek when they came to a stoplight. “But you’ll be right here with me in a few years saying the same thing. Then you’ll understand.”

Sam shook her head in the negative as she pointed to the light that was now green. “Nah…I’ll never be as old as you.”

“Sure you will,” the driver nodded her head, “just not at the same time.”

The younger woman sighed as she entwined her fingers with Brooke’s. “But, you are right about one thing. I will be right here with you.”

Brooke smiled pleasantly as she brought their joined hands up to her lips and kissed Sam’s. “We’re almost there.”

“I know,” Sam sighed. “You don’t have to remind me.”

If the truth were to be known, Brooke wasn’t happy about their time together ending either. “Do you have to go by the dorm first?”

Sam looked up to see the building for her first class come into view as Brooke parked the car down the street. “No, I’d better head right to class. I wouldn’t want your sister to think I forgot. Besides, she agreed to bring my notebook with her just in case I was running late.”

“Is this okay?” Brooke looked around at the students walking by on their way to class.

“It’s fine.”

“I’ll just drive out the back way so nobody sees me. I mean, I wouldn’t want our cover blown.”

“I’d tell you that I really enjoyed last night but it’s been more like I’ve enjoyed the last 15 hours. I’ve had a wonderful time with you, Brooke.” Sam leaned over and kissed Brooke on her cheek, then opened the door to leave when she felt a hand on her other arm stop her. The smaller woman’s heart picked up its pace as she looked in Brooke’s direction.

“Sam, can you close the door for a moment, please?”

The blonde did as she was asked, never letting her eyes leave the ocean of blue in front of her. “Yes?”

Brooke cleared her throat, finding her nerves were more like that of a teenager on her first date than they ever were. “You know,” she glanced at the various windows around the car. “The windows are tinted and I was just wondering if I could kiss you goodbye.”

Needing no further encouragement, Sam leaned in closer to Brooke and kissed her solidly, placing her hands at the nape of Brooke’s neck then tangling them in ebony tresses as the kiss deepened. Finally, when air became a necessity, both women reluctantly pulled away from each other.

Placing her forehead against Sam’s, Brooke tried to calm her racing heart. “Will you call me later?”

Sam put her hand on the door as she leaned in to kiss Brooke again. “As soon as I get a free moment later today.” Before she could stop herself, Sam spoke what was in her heart, “Bye, Brooke, I love you.” The young woman stepped out of the car then, turned around to face Brooke and wiggled her fingers in a wave as she shut the door.

Brooke was left speechless in the driver’s seat as Sam walked away, amazed at the effect that this barely legal college girl had on her. There it was, all out in the open. With those three little words, Brooke felt that what was left of her resolve had vanished.

She didn’t even stick around long enough to see my reaction so, obviously, she’s not expecting me to feel the same way. But what if I do? Oh dammit, Brooke, quit fooling yourself. You haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since the day she walked into Mom’s kitchen with C.C.

The woman in the driver seat tried to look away but couldn’t. That’s when blue eyes flashed with alarm. This is all happening so fast though. But I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to and God knows I don’t want to stop this. I can’t. She means too much to me. She means…everything. God…how does that old saying go?

Brooke thought for a moment before it came to her. “It takes a second to like, a minute to crush, an hour to care, and a day to love” Yesterday must have been my day then because I…I love her. God help me, I actually love her. Then a little voice came crying out from the deep recesses of her mind. Now, what are you going to do about it?

As the older woman sat in the car having a private conversation with herself, her eyes never left the blonde figure that moved away from her. She never took her eyes off Sam, watching as the blonde would occasionally look back, seemingly wondering what she was up to.

The dark-haired woman waited for Sam to look away from her before stepping out of the car and hurriedly grabbing the cell phone from her hip, punching in a number.

Sam was nearing the entrance to the building when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, not recognizing the number off the top of her head. “Sam here…what’s up?”

Brooke stood with her back leaning against the passenger side of her car as she stole glances in Sam’s direction, her eyes hidden now by the sunglasses that she had put on. It was now or never. Come on, Brooke say it. It’s just three tiny little words. All they are, are words. Three tiny little words that could change the rest of your life. You can do it. Her inner voice urged her on.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

The sound of Sam’s voice brought Brooke out of her musings. Do it. Say you love her…say anything…say her name at least. Damn it, anyhow.

Just as the younger woman was ready to hit “End”, she heard a quiet voice say, “Sam?”

“Yes?” She stopped walking and turned around to see Brooke leaning against the 300Z with sunglasses on and a phone in her hand. “Brooke, is that you?”

“Sam…I love you, too.”

A warm smile came to Sam’s face as her heart leapt into her throat. “Oh my God…I uh…I love hearing you say that.”

“Well, I mean it, Sam. Have a good day, Darlin and I’ll talk to you later.”

Sam smiled and waved at Brooke, then blew her a kiss. “I will, now. You too, Hon, later.” The blonde lingered for a moment, savoring what she had just heard before disconnecting the call. She watched as Brooke did the same, then walked nonchalantly around to the driver’s door and climbed back into the car. Within seconds the engine roared to life and the 300Z pulled out, blending into traffic.

“How about that? She loves me.” No words could express the happiness and warmth that Sam felt at that exact moment. She had known the night she went to the movie with Brooke that she loved the older woman. The first inklings had come to her when she noticed how polite and honorable Brooke was being in the theater. Sam didn’t really mean to tell her how she felt so soon, but she realized that sometimes your heart has different ideas then your mind.

As Sam turned back towards the door to the building, she noticed C.C. standing there, blocking the entranceway. Clearing her throat, the blonde swallowed hard and tried to act indifferent to the way she was feeling. “Hey, Roomie,” Sam gave a little wave. “Great, I’m not late. Have you got my notebook and pen?”

“Well, of course I do, what are roomies for?” C.C. handed Sam her book as they walked into the building and took the stairs up to the second floor.

“Thanks, C.C. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Sam voiced her opinion to her roommate while she rolled up the right sleeve of her shirt.

The tall brunette waved off Sam’s comment. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t know what I’d do without me either but…I probably wouldn’t be here. Hey, nice shirt.” C.C. indicated the shirt that she knew she had seen numerous times before on her sister. Something was definitely up between her older sister and her roommate. Now, she just had to find out exactly what that something was.

Sam looked down at the large shirt. “Oh this? I …uhm…just got it.”

“Interesting, Brooke has one just like it. As a matter of fact, it’s about that size.”

Sam cleared her throat and willed the blush not to take over her fair features. “Really? Well then, it just proves that she has good taste.” Then, feeling like she had to say something, Sam offered, “Actually, I like to wear big clothes on Mondays, it keeps me loose from the weekend.” Yeah, she bought that like Eskimos buy ice cubes.

They walked into the class at the end of the hall and took their seats while waiting on the professor. C.C. placed her bag on the floor next to her seat and then turned around to face Sam who was going over her notes from the previous week. Placing a hand against Sam’s arm, C.C. rubbed the material with her fingertips. “You know, it’s kind of funny actually. Brooke was uhm…working one day and her right bicep ripped out the seam in the sleeve. It took me forever to sew it for her. She’s just so butch like that.” C.C. released the shirt and laughed to herself, not noticing the ‘oh shit’ look on Sam’s face or the fact that Sam began to rub the sleeve in question.

“Well, that’s not me. No bulging biceps here,” the blonde feigned a weak smile and turned her attention back toward her notepad.

“So…where’s your bag?” C.C. asked as she opened her own book as well.

“My bag? Damn, I left it in the car. I wonder if Br…” she stopped short realizing what she was about to say. “Ah, Crystal…yeah, Crystal will find it. I guess I had other things on my mind when I got out.”

C.C. looked over to Sam and whispered when she noticed their professor walk in and call the class to attention. “Crystal? I thought your aunt’s name was Sandy.”

Sam kept her attention focused on the professor as she whispered out of the corner of her mouth, “It is. Crystal is my cousin. She ahh…was the one who dropped me off. Trust me, Auntie was a little sore and uhm…distracted this morning.” Sam still couldn’t believe how much she was able to tease and frustrate her new friend.

“Really?” C.C. shuddered. “TMI, too much info for me.” C.C. decided she really didn’t want to hear anymore.

“Yeah, well, they get that way sometimes.” Sam said with a grin, as she thought about the morning with Brooke, oblivious to the lecture going on around her.

Brooke walked into the Brownstone offices and took the stairs two at a time up to the third floor. She whistled as she walked down the hall toward her office. Opening the large glass door and stepping through, she smiled at the two women in the office.

“Good morning, Ida. I trust you had a lovely weekend.” Brooke stopped next to the two women.

“Yes, Ms. Gordon, I did. Thank you for asking. I covered the phones for you while you were out.”

“Wonderful! Thank you.” The executive turned to the other woman who was from accounting and smiled at her, “And you Melissa, how was your weekend?” Brooke asked the young accountant.

“Just fine…uh…thank you, Ma’am.” The woman looked at her boss rather oddly.

Brooke waved a hand to dismiss part of Melissa’s answer. “Please, Ma’am is my mother and I do not see her in this office, do you?”

Melissa stood still while Ida chuckled at their boss. “You’re in an awfully good mood, Ms. Gordon.”

“I am in a great mood, Ida. It’s a wonderful morning.”

The C.E.O. excused herself from the two women and continued into her office, placing her briefcase next to the desk. She then turned on her computer. “So, Ida, any calls this morning?” Brooke called out as she typed in her network password.

The woman walked up to Brooke’s office door, sticking her head into the office, “Nothing important. Someone has been calling since 8:00 this morning but he hangs up when I tell him you’re not here.”

“Thank you, Ida. I think I’ll be fine now by myself. I remember how to answer the phone.” Brooke grinned at the older woman in her doorway.

“Thank you, Ms. Gordon. Will you be needing anything else?”

“No, thank you. I’m just fine.”

Ida smiled in return and walked out. Melissa joined her as they made their way to the break room for a refill on their coffees.

“Wow, I don’t think she’s ever been late on a Monday. Then again, I don’t think she’s ever been late,” Ida pointed out as she poured the hot beverage into her mug.

“Yeah, she must have finally broke down and got some.” The two women laughed as Melissa refilled her mug as well.

“Lucky girl. I wonder who could have turned her head. Hell, who turned her on? I know a lot have tried.” Ida chuckled to herself as she added cream and sugar to her coffee. “Did she sign anybody new to the label?”

Melissa thought for a moment before answering. “Some band from New Jersey over the weekend but, I’ve already had the paperwork on each individual member. All men and knowing our boss, she’s not going there.” The accountant marveled at how open her new boss had been when hiring her. She left nothing to mystery about her sexual preference for the office rumor mill and no one seemed to have a problem with it. “Does she have any old flames? I mean, you would know, you’ve been here the longest.”

Ida thought about the question as she took a sip from her mug. “None that I can remember. But, you know, she doesn’t seem like the type anyway. She seems very private and honorable when it comes to real love.”

Melissa considered this for a moment and started to walk back to her office.

She stopped at the door and turned around to face the older woman. “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

Ida looked up at the young accountant with a raised eyebrow nodding in agreement. She watched as the woman walked down the hall, then raised her cup to her own lips and pondered who could have been the one to turn the business woman’s head.

Brooke was sitting in her office going over some new contracts when her phone rang. Without taking her eyes off of the documents in front of her, she picked up the receiver and placed it against her ear. “Brownstone Records, Brooke Gordon.”

“What’s up, Sis? Didn’t see or hear from you all weekend and you didn’t show up at Mom’s for dinner yesterday so… what gives?”

Brooke set down her paperwork and leaned back in her chair. She placed one booted foot against the edge of her desk and began to swivel from side to side. “Hey, C.C., nothing much is going on. I just uh…hung around the house over the weekend, pretty much.”

“Oh, just curious since we didn’t see you yesterday.” C.C. cleared her throat as she planned her attack, “So uhm…Brooke, did you happen to find a bag in your car this morning?”

Without thinking, Brooke began to answer. “Yeah, I did, Sa…” Brooke stopped short.

C.C. realized that she had her answer and mentally pumped her fist in the air. “Sorry, Brooke…what was that?”

“Uhhh…ah, nothing. Sa… Say, how about you and I go get a beer on your birthday? Sound alright?”

The younger sibling smiled at the way Brooke decided to cover her slip. “Yeah…that sounds great, and you said I wouldn’t make it to see twenty-one.”

“Well, Chase, just remember that you’re not there yet. Hey, uhm…if Sam’s not doing anything…why don’t you ah…bring her along.”

The younger sibling couldn’t believe her ears. Oh my God, this is just getting too good. “Sure, Brooke. You sure you don’t mind?”

“Positive. I think I can survive another night around her.” More like several nights.

“That sounds great, Brooke, thanks. I’ll talk to Sam about it but right now I’ve got to get to class. So, I’ll talk to you later this week?”

Removing her foot from the desk, Brook sat up straight in her chair. “Yeah that sounds good. I’ll talk to you later. Bye, C.C.”

“Later!”

Brooke hung up the phone and noticed Ida standing in her doorway. “Yes, Ida?”

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Ms. Gordon, but a young lady by the name of Sam called while you were on the other line. She said she’d try to call you later.” Ida wondered exactly whom Sam was when she noticed the instant smile that appeared across the face of her boss at the mention of the young woman’s name.

“Thank you, Ida. You know, I’ve told you several times that you can call me by my first name, Brooke. You’ve known me for years and ‘Ms. Gordon’ just seems too formal.”

Ida’s response was to smile warmly at the younger woman and answer, “Yes, Ms. Gordon.”

Brooke simply shook her head at the older woman, then picked up the papers on her desk and resumed her work.

With her coffee mug in hand, Brooke returned to her office from the break room.

“Yes, oh…she just walked in. Just a moment, please.” Ida motioned Brooke into her small office as she put the call on hold. “Ms. Gordon, the caller from earlier is on line two.”

Brooke’s heartbeat sped up. Sam. “Thank you, Ida. I’ll take it in my office.”

The executive walked into her office, shutting the door as she entered, and sat at her desk. Taking a calming breath before picking up the phone, Brooke hit the flashing button for line two before leaning back in her chair.

“Hi…I wondered when you would call,” Brooke spoke quietly into the phone.

A shocked voice answered, “Oh really? Since when did I move onto your good side?”

Brooke straightened her posture as she spoke seriously into the phone, her eyes narrowed and glared. “James?”

“Yeah. Who did you think it was? I’ve been trying to call you since eight this morning.”

“I didn’t know. I just got into the office a little over an hour ago and Ida mentioned that someone had been calling but didn’t leave a name. How was I supposed to know it was you?”

“Hmmm…must have been a good one then for you to just dump your routine. Now I know why you answered the phone like that. Obviously, it wasn’t for me.”

Brooke began to rub her temples. She could feel a headache coming on by just talking to her former band mate. “Not now, James,” she warned. “You have no idea what you’re talking about so I suggest that you just not say anything at all.”

“When then?”

With irritation evident in her voice, she snapped. “When what? To listen to your line of bullshit about my routine as you call it? Never. Now, if you’d like to tell me that you actually have a reason for calling…”

Laughter could be heard across the phone line. “Just like you, Brooke. You’re always hiding from the truth. Face it, Babe, you’re just like the rest of us.”

As hard as she tried, Brooke could not hide the anger from her voice. “I am nothing like you. I never have been. Now, either you tell me your reason for calling or I’m hanging up.”

“You forgot already, didn’t you? You were supposed to get back to me.”

“I didn’t forget anything. I told you I’d think about it.”

“Well, what’s it going to be, huh? Dammit Brooke, I can’t sit around here waiting for you to think it all through. The bottom line is I want the best and you’re it. So, what’s it gonna be?”

“James, you know, I thought I could work with you and Peter again but if you’re going to be pulling this kind of shit…” Brooke was cut off by the deep voice on the other end of the line.

“So what’s the hold up? Too scared to come out of retirement?”

“I was never scared. And I’ll do it but, it’ll cost you.” There was silence on the other end of the line as she waited for James to speak, curious as to what his answer would be.

“Yeah, what’s the price then because I’m not going to say that I’m sorry. If that’s your price, forget it.”

Brooke searched through her desk drawer for some aspirin. She found the bottle and shook it. Unhappy to discover it was empty, she made a mental note to go get some as soon as she got off the phone.

“Well, for one, if we do this, you leave the bullshit attitude at the door, you and Peter, both. Before you walk into that studio, leave the egos at the door. Do you understand that?”

“Is that all?”

“No, I want one night.” Brooke couldn’t believe she was actually going to ask for what was on her mind.

“One night for what?” James smirked as a thought entered his head. “I didn’t think you were a switch hitter but if that’s what you want, no problem.”

The angered woman swore she could actually hear James smile. “I’m not.”

“Into threesomes then? Cool. That’s fine too.”

The actual thought of what James had indicated made Brooke physically ill. “No, wrong again. I want one night of Anti-Zero, for a…a friend.”

“Anti-Zero is dead. You should know that, you killed it.”

Brooke could hear the venom dripping in his tone of voice. “You know, James, I really don’t want to get into this with you right now. We’ll just re-vive it long enough for one night.”

“Why? What’s so damn important about Anti-Zero to your friend?” As much as he didn’t want to do it, James was interested to hear exactly what Brooke had in mind.

“God knows why, but she loves the band.”

“I see. So, what’s the gig, some charity event for music? That would be your type.”

“What do you mean by ‘my type’?”

“Some freebie event for music’s sake. Who’s gonna handle the publicity?”

Her head was pounding and Brooke couldn’t stand it anymore. She knew that the voice on the other line was the cause of it. Muting the phone, she walked over to her door and opening it, she called out, “Ida.”

The older woman stuck her head out of her office. “Yes, Ma’am?”

Rubbing her forehead, Brooke asked, “We got any more aspirins around here?” She held out the bottle from her desk drawer and turned it upside down. “Could you find me some?”

Ida nodded and took off down the hall in search of over the counter painkillers for her boss.

Brooke turned back into her office as she unmuted the call. “There will be no publicity. This will be done privately. It’s for her birthday. I want this to be my present to her. It will be a private party, at my house with no one but her friends and family present. You want a great record? That’s my price.”

James sighed into the phone. “So what do you want, just a couple of songs? Is she a looker, or some over-the-hill oldster?”

“No, I want one full night of all the Anti-Zero songs. Even the ones we never released.” Brooke drew in a breath and blew it out slowly, then continued. “And you, James, will stay away from her. She’s not some groupie like you’re used to. She’s not even as old as we are.”

“What’s wrong, Brooke? Afraid that I’d persuade her to be something you don’t want her to be?”

“No, I’m not afraid of something that won’t happen. But for some reason, she fucking loves Anti-Zero. She doesn’t know how deluded you really are and I don’t want to take that away from her.”

There was a knock on Brooke’s office door and Ida poked her head in, waving a bottle of aspirin. Brooke held out her hand and mouthed “Thank you” before turning her attention back to the matter at hand.

James mumbled, “We’ll see.” He coughed and started to speak again. “Okay. You’ve got your night. But when? I’ve got things scheduled already.”

Brooke knew the answer immediately. “October 30.”

James laughed. “Devil’s night. How appropriate. You always said Hell would freeze over if we ever played together again.”

Even Brooke had to laugh at the truth in James’ statement. “Yeah, I guess so.” Brooke popped two aspirins with a big swig of her coffee. “So, will you do it?”

“I hate to say this, but you’ve got me over a barrel here. If I have to do it to get you, then I will. What time?”

Brooke breathed out a sigh of relief, not because she was looking forward to playing with James again, far from it. She was just happy that he agreed. After all, this was for Sam, not her and she would do anything to make Sam’s twenty-first birthday a memorable night for the young woman.

“We’ll talk about that the closer we get to it then. When do you wanna start recording? I can do it any time after next Sunday.”

“With you, the sooner the better…before you change you mind.”

“Look, James, you agreed to the one thing I really wanted. I won’t change my mind. You’ve got my word on that.”

“Okay, then you set up the recording time. I’ll keep my schedule open for a week after Sunday. So, what’s the cost? How much per hour?”

“Cost for the studio? Nothing.”

James couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You must want this pretty bad. Why, Brooke?”

“It’s simple. Because it would make her happy, that’s all. She wants this, James. So, I want it for her.”

“Damn, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that you finally found something other than music to invest yourself into, didn’t you?”

Brooke thought about how strange it was that the conversation with James had turned in this direction. She had no qualms about informing him just how important this was to her. “Honestly? Yes, but that’s just it. It’s like she’s a part of it. She loves music and she loves those old songs.” Brooke smiled when she remembered the enthusiasm Sam had shown the night before as she marveled at all the musical equipment. “She’s like a five year old on Christmas morning when she hears them.”

“I can’t believe it, the great Brooke Loran has finally fallen in love.”

The sound of James laughing on the other end brought Brooke back to the present. “I uhh…James, I haven’t…Aww, Hell!” Brooke couldn’t believe James had noticed. Oh my God, if James noticed, how am I going to hide this from everyone else?

“Oh my God, you did, didn’t you?”

“Are you going to rag me about it from now until we’re done recording?”

“Maybe. Just maybe.”

“Well then, I guess you’ll just have to wait for an answer.” Brooke heard James sigh on the other end of the line.

“Ahhh… it’s kind of nice knowing that it can happen to anyone. Hell… maybe you are human after all.” James laughed into the phone.

She couldn’t help but join in and laughed as well. “Asshole,” tumbled out of her mouth. It was her traditional name for him in times like these.

“Yeah, yeah, I know that answer already. I’ve heard it before.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that? That you’re an asshole?”

This time, James snorted into the phone. “Glad to see that you haven’t changed that much. Same old Brooke, only…getting older.”

“Hey, I’ve changed plenty and just what is it with everyone giving me shit about my age?”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see. I’ve got to get moving. Talk to you later, Grandma.”

“Yeah, bite me.”

James thought it ironic that even as a joke, Brooke had chosen those words to comment with. “I tried, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Brooke shook her head, “I’m trying to forget.”

He rubbed his jaw as the memory of the punch Brooke landed on him that last night three years earlier still stung him today. “So am I…” he whispered, “So am I.”

“Talk to you later, shithead.”

“Right.”

Brooke hung up her phone and laughed at the situation. She was going to play with Anti-Zero again. It would be for only one night and just for Sam. Brooke thought for a moment about the last few lines of conversations between James and herself. If just for a moment, she thought she had heard her old friend on the phone…just for a moment.

The tall brunette walked into the dorm room and was literally shocked at the sight that greeted her eyes. Sam was taking down posters and various pictures of Brooke and Anti-Zero.

“Oh my God. What’s up? You over that phase?”

Sam folded each poster carefully and placed them in a small box. “It was always just a dream. Besides, I’ve found something better, something that I love even more.”

C.C. placed her bag on the floor next to her bed and sat down, cross-legged on top of it. “Wow, something you love more than Brooke Loran?”

“Yeah, funny, huh? I thought that I’d never say that.” Sam replied as she stood on her bed to reach a picture high on the wall, near the ceiling line.

“Nah, I don’t think it’s funny, not really. So, can I ask, or do I need to? “

Sam turned her head in the direction of her roommate. “Why do you say that?”

The woman just grinned. “You know, Sam, I’m not as dumb as everybody thinks I am.”

Sam stopped what she was doing altogether and sat down on her bed. “When did you…” she eyed her roommate suspiciously. “You do know, don’t you?”

C.C. nodded her head in the affirmative. “Your shirt, or I should say, Brooke’s shirt. She had that shirt custom made. There’s not another one like it.”

Sam’s face flushed a bright red. “It figures.”

“What? Why are you so red, Sam? Everyone deserves to fall in love sometime, even my sister.”

“I hope that you’re not mad. I mean, me dating your sister.” Sam looked up to meet the warm, brown eyes of her roommate.

“Are you kidding? I think it’s great. Why would I be mad?” C.C. immediately stood up from her bed, crossed the room and sat down on Sam’s bed, next to the blonde. “Besides, your aunt called last night, so it was more than just the shirt that clinched it for me.” The brunette winked at her roommate.

Sam’s eyes got as big around as saucers. “She did? What did she want?”

“Don’t worry. She just wanted to see how you were doing. I told her you had a study group and would call her tonight.” The woman turned a stern face to her friend. “Hey, and don’t try to change the subject on me, young lady.”

“Big secret that was,” Sam placed her head in her hands and covered her eyes.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” C.C. pulled Sam’s hands away from her face and took one of them in her own. “Nobody else has to know. Look, Sam, I know when to keep my mouth shut and that means anything concerning Brooke.”

The blonde looked over to her roommate, “I can’t believe that you’re taking this so well. I was afraid that you’d be pissed at me for seeing her.”

C.C. rolled her eyes at how absurd Sam’s statement sounded to her ears. “Of course I’m taking it well. Besides, I saw her before she pulled off this morning.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen her smile like that ever. Let me put it this way. I was close enough to read her lips.”

Sam thought about Brooke’s phone call and what was said. “C.C., I…I…”

“You know, she’s never told anybody that she loved them.”

“She hasn’t?” Sam couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Well, except for us girls, Mom and Dad, but that’s always been more of a grunt and a ‘yeah, love you too’. She’s never come right out and actually put all three words together to form the whole ‘I Love You’ bit.”

“I never thought I’d be this lucky, at least not this early in my life,” the young woman’s smile lit up the entire room.

“Sam, believe me, those are not words she takes lightly. If she said them, she really means it.”

“Oh my God, C.C., what do you think all of this means?”

“It means, you better get used to seeing me, girlfriend, because you are stuck with my sister, now.” C.C. smiled as she got up from the bed and made her way into the bathroom to prepare for bed.

“Good thing I only have to room with you for a year,” Sam called out, as she got up to take down some more pictures.

C.C. stuck her head out the bathroom door and spoke around the toothbrush in her mouth. “Yeah, but, I kind of come with the package. Believe me Sam, if she said those words to you, she means it with all her heart.”

“Package? What package?” The blonde’s brows furrowed with concern.

“I’m one of the sisters, so get used to me. You’re family now.” C.C. disappeared back into the bathroom to rinse the remaining toothpaste out of her mouth.

“I always was family, C.C.” Sam said with a laugh at her own joke as she watched the brunette walked back into the room wearing a large T-shirt that covered her to mid thigh.

“You know, Sam, I think you’d be quite surprised at what you’ll find out about my dear sister.” She pulled the covers down on her bed and got in.

“I’m beginning to think that myself, C.C.”

The brunette watched as her roommate took down all but one of the pictures of Loran and one band shot. Sam placed the rest in the box and stored it in the top of the closet. “Hey, C.C.?”

“Yeah?”

Sam turned around to face her friend. “You’re not going to say anything to the others, are you?”

“No, nobody else knows. You two can handle that when you’re ready to.”

Sam smiled in relief. “Thanks, Sis.” Sam couldn’t help but throw that last word in as she made her way to the bathroom.

“Let me put it to you this way. Right now, it would probably ruin Terri’s and Randi’s image of her.”

“Huh? What image?” Sam asked as she stood in the bathroom doorway brushing her teeth.

“The whole ‘Stud Puppet’ image they have of her. Let me put it to you this way, Sam.… Brooke has always believed that love and body go together.”

Sam shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t sure where C.C. was taking this conversation. “So?”

“So,” the woman motioned with her hands trying to pull it all together for her friend. “She’s never given her heart to anyone so…” CC looked at Sam and smiled, wondering if the blonde had caught on to what she was trying to tell her.

“Okay…I think I’m getting the picture.”

“Yep, and I’m the only other one who knows. Its amazing what I can get her to tell me when she’s drunk, which is not that often, mind you.”

After changing into her nightshirt, Sam turned off the bathroom light. She walked over to her bed and sat down, facing C.C. “Physically, she loves a lot, but only for the feel,” Sam thought about the night before at Brooke’s house. “…She didn’t even try to push me for sex. I mean.” She shrugged her shoulders, “we just kissed and did a little petting.”

C.C. rolled her eyes in exasperation. She thought Sam had understood what she was saying. “Of course she didn’t push you for sex. Haven’t you heard me? She wouldn’t do that.”

Blonde eyebrows knitted in her confusion. “C.C., I’m not sure what you’re saying here.”

“She’s never given her heart to anyone…or her body.”

“Holy Shit! Do you mean to tell me that she’s a virgin?”

“Yeah, she is.” Somebody give the girl a cookie!

“But, she kisses so damn good. I thought she was experienced. I mean…”

“Sam, I said she was a virgin. I didn’t say she was dead. Besides, I’m sure she has a damn good idea of what goes on when things…ah…go on.” C.C. watched, amused, as Sam sat on the opposite bed with her mouth open in shock. “What, you’ve never met a thirty-year-old virgin before?”

“Well, let’s face it, C.C.,” Sam tried to sound coherent but was having a bit of trouble, as reason seemed to be a fleeting fancy. “You don’t meet many of them nowadays.”

C.C. fluffed her pillow up until she was happy with it and placed her head on it. “What can I say? Brooke is old-fashioned. Like I said, I’m the only one other than her who knows. Well, and James,” C.C. glared at the mention of his name. “And now you.”

“God, what she must have thought about that dessert.” Sam hid her face in her hands as she thought about their ‘chocolate play’ the night before.

At the same time, both women looked up at each other and spoke at the same time.

“Dessert?”

“James?”

“What dessert?”

“Who’s James?”

Both of them laughed at their timing and C.C. was the first to answer.

“He…ahh…he was her best friend. She and James grew up together. They were best friends and then a couple of years ago, they got drunk one night and he hit on her. As far as I know, they haven’t spoken since.”

Sam thought about the information she had just been given. “Hmm…I bet he was sorry.”

“Sorry? Why?”

“Oh, come on, C.C. She’s your sister. I can’t see Brooke just saying no. I bet she clocked him.”

C.C. thought about the day Brooke came home from the tour. It was the day after the “incident” that broke the band up. Even unto this day, C.C. was the only person other than the three band members to know a portion of what really happened that night. “Uhm…yeah, she did.”

“Serves him right,” Sam answered, angered at anyone who could hurt Brooke that bad.

“He couldn’t understand why she never saw anything in him. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he was cool with the fact that she’s gay. He just didn’t understand that she loved him like a brother and not something more. He secretly had a massive crush on her. It was a major blow to his ego.”

“Wow, this is a lot for me to take in. Any more skeletons that I need to know about?”

“None that Brooke won’t tell you about. Oh yeah, while I’m thinking about it, Brooke said that she planned on taking me out for a drink on my birthday. She wants you to come along.”

“She does, huh? But, I can’t drink. They won’t let me into a bar.”

C.C. waved off Sam’s last comment. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t think she cares. I doubt she wants you there as a drinking companion, anyway. Besides, she can get you in.”

Sam thought about it for a moment and was more than a little excited about seeing the older woman again soon. “I can’t wait. When and where?”

“Sunday, and she didn’t say where.”

“Okay, Sunday it is then.”

The young blonde reached over and turned out the lamp on the nightstand between their beds while C.C. rolled over to go to sleep. Sam laid on her back with her arms clasped behind her head, thinking about how her life had changed all in a matter of weeks since she moved in with C.C.

Finally, the silence in the room was broken when Sam spoke. “Hey, C.C.? Did you set that Friday movie date up for us to meet…kind of as a blind date?”

The brunette chuckled into her pillow. “What do you think?”

“I think it seems awfully convenient that one of her favorite movies is playing, you forget about your class and knew I wanted to see it.”

The young woman innocently looked up at the ceiling and started to whistle.

“Were you playing matchmaker? Be honest.”

C.C. rolled over to face her friend, barely able to make out her form in the darkness of the room. “Maybe. It worked didn’t it?”

“Yeah, it did.” There was a moment of silence as Sam thought about the events of that night and the kisses they had exchanged. “Ah, C.C., thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Oh, by the way, Brooke found your bag in the back seat of her car.” C.C. chuckled to herself as she remembered the way she had trapped Brooke into that one earlier in the day.

“Does she know that you…”

“Nope.” C.C. continued to laugh.

“You’re laughing at me. Why?”

“Nothing, I just think it’s kind of cute how you’re both trying to be so secretive about it. It’s so…”

Both girls spoke at the same time again.

“High school.”

“Juvenile.”

They shared a laugh at their timing again and Sam spoke. “We’re getting a bit too good at that. And hey, what do you expect from two virgins?”

C.C. propped herself up on her elbow. “Speaking of which, does she know?”

“Know what?”

“That you’re a virgin?”

Sam thought for a moment, shaking her head at her boldness where Brooke was concerned, “No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“I was just curious.”

“Does that make a difference?” Sam became a bit worried as she asked.

“Are you kidding me? Hell no, girl, you two are the perfect match. It won’t make one bit of difference to her. It’ll just mean that much more when you two,” C.C. cleared her throat, “two…ah…ah…you know.”

Even though she knew that C.C. couldn’t see her, Sam blushed. “God I can’t believe I’m having this discussion with her sister.”

C.C.’s laughter filled the small room. “Hey, what did I say at dinner a couple of weeks ago? Inquiring minds want to know. Don’t worry about it. It’s all good.”

“Yeah, say that when we try to do it while reading the manual.”

“Sam, I told you, she’s not dead. I’m sure she’ll have a damn good clue about what she’s doing. Just, please, don’t give me any details.”

This time, it was Sam’s turn to laugh. “Don’t worry,” she smirked, “I won’t.”

They lay there as the laughter drifted off. After a few moments of silence C.C. spoke, softly. “Well, except for maybe one small detail…”

The blonde groaned, afraid to ask. “And that would be?”

“Well you know, she never did answer us that day. You could let me know if she inherited that tongue rolling gene.”

Sam covered her mouth and laughed hysterically at her roommate then held up one finger, just barely visible in the darkness of the room. “Okay, C.C., but that’s the only one!”