A/N: This is a birthday gift for Carylfan 10 for all of her support and friendship! *hugs* This is also my first attempt at writing a Sam and Diane story, but I'm sure that it won't be my last!

Sam eyed his employee suspiciously as she repeatedly glanced at the front door of Cheers and then at her watch.

"Carla, what are you doing?"

"Proving a point, Sam! Hiring Diane was the biggest mistake you ever made!"

"Hey, don't say things like that!" Sam warned.

"Why not? It's the truth! Do you see anybody else around here that comes in as late as she does? Not only did I get here ten minutes before my shift, but in only forty five minutes, I've managed to score big bucks in tips!"

In an attempt to hide his annoyance, Sam laughed and returned the clean glass to the shelf above the bar.

"Yeah, well I bet Diane could double that easily. She's a terrific waitress!"

"Oh sure, when she's here, which is practically never. And guess what? She's not here now! A fact that stuns even me!"

"Will you cut the sarcasm crap?" Sam yelled. "She'll be here! She just... well, let's just say that she's had a rough week."

"Oh Really? And how would you know? Sam, in case you haven't noticed, she hasn't been to work in two days."

"Right... Two days. What makes you say that? She was here just yester-oh... I guess she wasn't here, was she? Well... not to worry. We got along fine without her."

Carla stopped cleaning the counter and put her hands on her hips. "What about the day before?"

"What about it? Look would you just forget about Diane? I'm sure she's fine! In fact, I'm going to call her right now. You know, it's possible that she thought that the last two days were her days off. I mean... I'm not the best person when it comes to making schedules."

Carla scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Sam. But just because you two were in a life and death situation... which reminds me, you never did tell me what you two talked about when you were in that plane."

Sam swallowed hard, remembering that fateful night.

"Um... you know... the Celtics, the Red Sox..."

To his surprise, Carla laughed so hard that he thought she might faint.

"What's so funny?"

Still laughing, Carla tried to catch her breath by putting her hand on her chest. "Oh God Sam, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard! You and Diane Chambers talking about sports!"

Sam turned in an effort to hide his reddening face. "It could happen! Women do like sports, you know!"

"All right, just forget about it. I'll go and call her. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this!" He took off his apron and threw his towel over the bar counter, making a bee line for his office.

Grateful to be away from Carla's annoying laughter, he shoved his hand through his hair and looked around his office. What a mess it had become! Diane would have a fit if she saw this!

"Diane..."

Just the sound of her name on his lips made his heart soar. He meant what he'd said to her on that plane. His deepest desire really was to marry her. She was beautiful, funny and intelligent, even if Carla didn't think so. And who cared what Carla thought anyway?

When he looked at the clock, he realized that he'd been stalling. And then he began to feel afraid. Diane was now exactly one hour and thirty seven minutes late for her shift and he knew in his heart that she wouldn't be coming in at all.

How could he not have noticed that the woman hadn't been to work in three days? Something was definitely going on with her. All the signs were there, so how could he not have seen them?

It was the type of question that was perfect for Dr. Frasier Crane. The psychiatrist loved getting into people's heads and messing with them as well. This was just the sort of problem that Dr. Crane relished and Sam had no doubt that Frasier would have the perfect answer.

But who was he kidding? Frasier was the last person that Sam would ask for advice from when it came to Diane. Sam barely had to mention Diane's name and Frasier would launch into a tyrant of angry, complicated words that Sam didn't understand-and probably didn't want to.

It was best to handle this problem by alone. But first he had to call her.

Without another thought, Sam picked up the receiver and dialed her number. As her phone began to ring, he rehearsed in his mind what he'd say to her. It had to be polite, yet firm.

He was still her boss after all and she'd broken a cardinal rule of working at his bar. This simply couldn't continue. And before he was ready, the ringing stopped.

"Diane, this is Sam. Listen-."

"You've reached the answering machine of Diane Chambers. I'm sorry I can't come to the phone right now but if you'll leave your name-."

He slammed the phone down in a sudden fit of anger and then found himself wondering where the anger had come from. He tried to will it away, but it remained, taunting him like a bad date.

"Damn it..."

He paced the empty office in disgust. Something was going on and by God he was going to find out what it was. He grabbed his leather jacket from the coat rack and walked out of his office, slamming the door shut.

"Carla, watch the place for me, will ya? I'm going out!"

"Going to fire Diane in person, huh?" Carla laughed. "Can't say I blame you but I'm kind of disappointed that I won't get to see it!"

Frasier's mouth fell open in surprise at what he'd just overheard and he sat down the glass of wine he'd been drinking.

"Fire Diane? Sam, what's going on?"

"What do you care, Frasier?" Carla snapped. "You should be happy about this! She dumped you, didn't she?"

"Well, yes but... Sam, what's going on?"

"Beats the hell out of me." Sam lied. "Why don't you ask Carla here? She seems to know everything!"

Not wanting to hear another word, Sam walked out of Cheers and into the brisk Boston air, headed for Diane's apartment. When he arrived he stood at her front door contemplating about whether or not to knock. What if she wasn't home? Or worse, what if she was?

Maybe Carla was right. Maybe he should fire Diane. After all, she hadn't been to work in three days and didn't even have the common courtesy to call and explain why.

Damn her...

Damn her for doing this and damn her for making him love her so much.

The wind started to pick up and he wished he had called first.

Come on, Sam. You can do this... just knock on the door!

He took a deep breath and pounded hard on the door; his heart pounding even harder.

The irrepressible anger filled him again and he pounded on the door so hard that the windows began to rattle.

"Diane, open up! It's Sam!"

Again he waited... and finally his reward came. He heard movement and then the rattling of the door chain. The door thrust open and he found himself staring into her beautiful eyes.

"Hello, Sam."

"Hello? That's all you can say? Hello?"

"I said Sam, didn't I?"

For a moment he thought he saw her smile but it quickly disappeared.

"All right very funny! Now, you want to tell me why you're not at work?"

"Why aren't you?"

"If you're going to be cynical about it, can you at least just let me come in?"

She opened the door wider, allowing him to come inside.

"Well..."

"Well what?"

"Are you going to answer my question or aren't you?"

"About what?"

"Oh come on Diane, I don't want to play this game! Why haven't you been to work in three days?"

"Well... to tell you the truth, Sam... I haven't been feeling very well."
He stood and put his hand on her forehead, and then slid his fingers down her cheek.

"You don't feel warm."

"I-I think my fever's finally broken."

"If you're that sick, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Um... no... This is a... different kind of illness."

"Really? And what kind would that be?"

"I can't say exactly. Even the doctor isn't sure."

"Diane come on, it's me you're talking to. What in the hell is going on? Is this... Is this about the other night?"

"What other night?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten! The other night when Jack Dalton showed up at the bar and persuaded us to go flying with him."

"Oh... that... Yes, I've hired a lawyer."

"A lawyer? For what?"

"To sue Jack for emotional damages."

Sam laughed. "Oh please Diane, the man has his own plane! You wouldn't stand a chance against him in court! And besides, he didn't force you in the plane. You agreed to go with him!"

"Well yes, but what he did was inexcusable!"

"Which was?"

"The nerve of that man, pretending to be dead while we were..."

"What?"

She was silent for a long time and when she spoke again her voice was broken and pained.

"We were fighting for our lives, Sam! I mean... I didn't know how to fly that plane and neither did you! I swear I went back there and pulled back the curtain to look for Jack and he had no pulse! I thought we were going to crash... or die... or both! And then when I saw that he was alive I wanted to kill him right then and there! How could he do such a horrible thing to me? All I could think about was that I was never going to get married, never have children... I was terrified Sam!"

She was sobbing now, leaving him no choice but to go to her and take her into his arms.

"There there... everything's all right now. You're safe. It's all right."

"Everything's not all right, don't you see?"

"Diane, you did the best you could! I mean, I was terrified too! We were up there above the clouds and then the plane stared going down. I kept thinking about how I was never going to get married or have children... and who would run the bar?"

"Carla..."

"No way."

Diane laughed for a moment but then resumed crying.

Once more he took her into his arms and let her cry on his chest.

"Oh hey, come on, it's all right. Everything's all right. You're safe and no one will hurt you."

"Oh...okay... I'm sorry Sam."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"I let you down."

"What? No... You were great as a pilot, even if the plane was flying itself!And hey, it'll make one hell of a story to tell our grandchildren one day."

Her head rose as her eyes met his. "What did you just say?"

"I said... it'll make one hell of a story to tell our grandchildren one day."

"Our... Grandchildren?"

"Or children. I mean, I don't think I can wait that long to tell this story again."

She stared to cry again and threw her arms around him "Children? Oh Sam, you do love me!"

"Of course I love you Honey, but-."

"You said our children. Does that mean that what you said was true? Your deepest desire is really to marry me?"

"Oh... Well, yeah. I mean, I love you so why not?"

She took his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly. "I love you too Sam. But I can't marry you. Not right now."

He shook his head. "Right... I understand. It's not the type of proposal you were probably expecting."

"It's not that. It's about what I said before. I let you down."

"Diane I told you, the way you flew that plane was-."

"Not the issue either. I'm talking about the bar. I know I should have called and I'm sorry about leaving you short handed. But I haven't been getting much sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see that horrible plane, and it starts going down, down, down and..."

He drew her close, holding her while she cried once more. And it was then that he was aware of her trembling body.

"You must have been terrified but I never thought about what it would do to you after we landed safely. Diane, I mean it. Marry me. I'll keep you safe and you'll never have to go through that again."

"Sam, that's so sweet of you, but I can't."

"Right... I understand."

"No, I don't think you do. You see I can't marry you right now because... well...I'm afraid."

"Honey, I already told you. I understand. We were in a life and death situation."

"But I'm talking about Frasier."

"Frasier? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Well... I still feel terrible about what I did... leaving him at the alter. But Sam I had a good reason. I was afraid... afraid of making a commitment that might be a mistake. You can understand that, can't you?"

"Sure, Honey. But..."

"Then that's all you need to understand."

Silently they held each other tightly, remembering the terrifying night they spent together.

"Well... I guess you should be getting back to the bar. I'll be in tomorrow. I just... needed a few days to... collect my thoughts."

He looked at her thoughtfully, brushing a lock of hair from her forehead.

"Actually, I have a better idea."

Diane watched in confusion as he stood and crossed the room. "May I use your phone?"

His polite question made her laugh. "Of course you may!"

He picked up the receiver and dialed the number he knew by heart.

"Carla? Yeah, it's Sam. Listen, um... I'm gonna be away for a few days so would you mind watching the bar for me?"

"Sure Sam. Going out of town to celebrate Diane? Or lack thereof?" Carla laughed.

Sam stole a glance at the woman he loved. "Um... something like that."

"All right. I'll keep the place running while you're gone. Is there a number where I can reach you?"

"That won't be necessary, Carla. I think things will be just fine."

"Fine. Goodbye Sam."

"Bye Carla."

He hung up the phone and turned to find Diane watching him in amazement. "Why did you do that?"

"You shouldn't be alone right now."

"Sam, I'm fine. I told you ... that frightening experience is behind me and I don't need someone holding onto me and telling me that they love me anymore."

"Well, suppose I do."

"Sam, that's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. The idea of you-."

His lips stopped anything she was about to say, and it was several seconds before she had a chance to speak again, or even breathe. Their kisses became more and more intense and she found herself being swept weightless into his arms.

As he carried her to the bedroom, their lips never separated and he laid her on the bed so gently, it was like being on a cloud.

"I do love you, Sam. I hope you know that."

"Really? Because I think I'm gonna need more proof than just words, Diane."

She grinned mischievously and slowly began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Well... you are the boss..."

THE END