Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 59th cycle. Now cycle 60!

This is a shift day. There are two updates today.

"Clock Running Out"
Sam & Nell, Sam/Rachel
Sam & Nell/Samchel series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

A/N: This story and all stories for two weeks (days 1240-1253) are dedicated to
a very dear and awesome friend on the occasion of her birthday ;) Here's to you, Anne!

For as long as she could remember she had dreamed of this place, of living under its skin, of letting it get under hers and fill her with its life… New York. So many things she had only ever been able to dream of, only now she was living them, and her dreams had very little to hold up to the actual thing, that much became clear before long.

She had discovered so much she didn't know in only three short months of living here, and day by day she found yet more reasons to love being there. As enriching as her days at NYADA could be though, not much compared to the times when she was out of school and going about town. She could get lost in it, not so literally as not knowing where she was, but losing grasp of the time and how fast it could…

The time… Oh, the time…

In all this flourish she had gone and let it slip her mind. She had a call that day, she had to be in front of that computer screen, so she could talk to them, her family back in Lima. She had never been late, she could not be late… How could she have been so stupid to let time get away from her when she knew this was the day, and… No, she wouldn't be late. She could make it, would make it… if she hurried as fast as she could.

The further she ran, closer and closer to home, all she could think of was appearing in front of that screen and having them know… Nell wouldn't notice, not if she actually managed to make it on time, but Sam… He would see how out of breath she was, and she was going to be so very out of breath. She could be excused something coming up, and she knew he would understand that, but how could she hide the fact that she had very plainly and honestly forgotten? He would see that most of all, and if he didn't then she would have to tell him, whether she liked it or not. They had always been honest with each other, that was how they had made it to where they were. They had grown with each other, and she hoped for them to be able to continue to.

She fumbled with her keys even as she could see her building up ahead. Her hands jerked and shook as she tried to get the right key in the hole and make it turn. When she made it through her door and got the computer on, she finally allowed herself to look at the clock.

Barely a minute to spare. Her lungs were burning with every breath she attempted to take, and she moved to fill a glass of water, downed it and poured herself another. She was finishing the last of that glass when the call prompt came on. She moved back to sit in front of the screen, clicking the green icon.

Nell's face appeared, half obscured by a pair of sunglasses much too big for her face. "Hi," Rachel laughed. "Is that you, Nell?" she asked, and the girl nodded, which sent the glasses pitching down her nose. She gasped and reached to push them back up.

"Mommy, I'm famous!" she declared.

"You are?" Rachel asked, and Nell held the glasses in place when she nodded this time. "Well you'll have to give me your autograph then."

"Hey," Sam put in, and she smiled to him now.

"Hey," she returned. He gave her a look, silently asking if she was alright. She made a signal as though to say 'I'll explain later,' which meant she would call him after Nell was asleep. He understood.

The call with Nell had gone on without a problem. The girl had been oblivious to anything being off, as Rachel had suspected. She had ended the call by expressing how anxious she was to see her again. Sam and Nell were due to come up to New York the following weekend.

Later that night, she waited for the time to be right before she called Sam. It took a few rings for him to answer, and she could practically see him, sitting next to his sleeping daughter, finding his phone was vibrating, and quietly walking away before he would answer. "Hello again," he replied.

"Sam, I'm so sorry," she started.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"I forgot about the call, earlier. I was out, just going around, and then I remembered we were supposed to be talking, so I ran as fast as I could. I barely made it back on time. I feel awful, I know how much it means to her, and to you, and it means just as much to me too, it just…"

"Rachel, it's okay," he jumped in before she could grovel any further.

"No, it's not," she wouldn't let herself off the hook so easily.

"These things happen," he insisted. "And technically you didn't forget, you just remembered… very late," he told her, and it made her laugh.

"It won't happen again, I swear," she told him, and she meant it.

"Maybe there's a way you can make up for it," he spoke after a beat.

"Name it," she nodded to herself.

"Next weekend, when we come over, instead of going out, we should stay in. All three of us, at home. We don't get to be that way most of the time, so how about for once…"

"Sam Evans, are you asking me to play house with you?" she smirked.

"Maybe…" he replied, and she stifled back a laugh.

"You've got yourself a deal. I'll see you then, both of you. Just hug her good for me until then?"

"I do. Every day."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!