Hey, this is just a little one shot that wouldn't leave me alone. I hope it's okay, I've very much shied away from writing anything Sam/Dylan but I thought you can't go wrong with only ~600 words right? I'd love to hear what you thought :)
Dylan awoke to the sound of rain hammering against his window. No, no it wasn't just rain; there was a dull thumping as well, further away. He blinked in the darkness, the glowing red digits of the alarm clock reading 3:22am. Turning his head he saw a piece of paper lying on the pillow.
A note?
In the sliver of moonlight coming through the curtains he could make out her distinctive, scrawly script… 'Dear Dylan,'
Sam.
Despite his state of sleepiness Dylan got out of bed, although oblivious to the fact he was half dressed. He frowned as he heard the front door open, then suddenly the pieces clicked together. She wasn't supposed to be leaving yet, not for at least another week.
"Sam," he called out loudly, running down the stairs as fast as he could.
He caught her just as she was closing the door behind her. Why was she leaving in the middle of the night without telling him? "Samantha," he said again, softer this time. He reached out and gently clasped her arm.
She didn't turn to look at him and instead pulled away with a strength that belied her small frame. The rucksack she dragged behind her hit the stone steps outside as she pulled it down towards the taxi he hadn't noticed until that moment.
"Why?" he pleaded, following her out into the driving rain.
"I can't be here any more, Dylan," she said, continuing towards the taxi.
"Is this because of the baby?" he asked, his voice suddenly an uneven pitch as the pain of the recent months came flooding back to him all at once.
She suddenly stopped; flinching at his words, but still she did not turn around. "Amongst other things," she replied, failing to conceal the sob at the end of her sentence.
Dylan knew she was crying, but it didn't stop the anger he suddenly felt from bubbling to the surface. "What things?" he asked, his frustration evident, "why don't you tell me and we can work this out instead of you leaving in the dead of night?" His voice wobbled as he fought to stop himself from shouting.
After a few seconds his words had seemingly sunk in and she turned slowly to face him. Dylan's heart sunk at the look of pure anguish on her face, her features were a mirror of the pain he felt deep within himself. He felt his anger dissipate with every tear he saw streaming down her cheeks.
"I need some time before I go back," she whispered, "away from here," she added, putting an emphasis on the last word.
"Then let's take a holiday for a week, go away…I can take compassionate leave, I'm due time off," he offered, his hopes rising slightly as the words tumbled out of his mouth. Words he knew he should have said months ago.
"Away from you," she whispered, so quietly he almost couldn't hear what she had said. She covered her mouth with her hand as she attempted to muffle the sobs that were increasing in intensity.
"I-I want to help," Dylan protested, though he knew in his heart that he was too late. Sam had reached her breaking point and he'd done nothing to stop it.
She let out a broken wail and when she shook her head, he felt like his heart; seemingly having been held together by little more thread throughout the whole awful situation, was finally being broken in two.
"It's too… you can't… I've explained in the letter…Dylan please," she pleaded; she was crying harder now, harsh sobs punctuating her words.
"Don't make this any harder," she whispered, standing on her toes to kiss him softly on the cheek. "I'm so sorry." And with that she turned and walked away from him, the torrent of rain deciding in that moment to increase in ferocity.
"No," he called, making a move to follow her and ignoring the pain of the gravel that crunched under his bare feet. "Sam, you can't just leave,"
But this time she didn't stop; she didn't turn around. She didn't reply but he wasn't sure if he'd have heard her over the rain anyway. She just slung the backpack into the taxi and climbed in.
Defeated, Dylan sat down on the cold wet step as the car turned around; and the pouring rain mixed with the hot salty tears running down his cheeks, as he watched the tail lights until they faded from his view.
Thank you for reading :) x