Far Away

Author's note: I do not own Days or any of their characters if I did things would be very different in Salem right now.

This story takes place before EJ had sex with Nicole in the elevator so that never happened in this fic. Hope you enjoy.

Far Away
Chapter 1

Nicole watched them walk out of Chez Rouge together, disappointment instantly flooding her as soon as EJ's eyes had met Sami's moments earlier when Sami had taken him by the chin and asking him to please come home with her. Of course EJ went, the man was in love with Sami and that sentiment rankled Nicole's ire more than anything. Why was that incredible man interested in Sami? Couldn't he see that she was only going to hurt him?

She felt her eyes fill with unshed tears, she thought she couldn't fall in love again, but somehow EJ had made her start to feel things that she had long ago pushed aside. Well Sami had another thing coming to her if she believed she could have two men vying for her attention. Nicole had a plan too, one that involved getting EJ DiMera in her bed because she knew the man was already in her heart.

Sami was going to lose EJ, Nicole vowed to herself and she would be the one to ensure that EJ would never go back to that lying, scheming back-stabbing bitch ever again.

Sami was having a difficult time keeping EJ from falling as they made their way to her SUV in the almost deserted parking lot of Chez Rouge. She now realized why Maggie had called her to pick up EJ; the man was definitely drunk, more drunk than Sami had ever seen him before.

EJ always carried himself with such an elegant grace for a man that Sami was caught off guard by having to help him navigate a pathway to her vehicle. He was laughing under his breath over something he had said that Sami couldn't quite decipher. No, she wasn't used to having to take care of him; most times EJ didn't let his vulnerable side show.

Then her mind flashed back to their talk, the talk that led to them making love and her face flushed crimson over the memory. How things had gone so far astray since that night made her want to cry. She was extremely conflicted, Lucas had caught them in bed together and she had raced to her ex-husband trying to make him understand something that she fully couldn't wrap her mind around at the time.

EJ confused her, excited her, infuriated her to no end, which was one reason she had grabbed those annulment papers from his briefcase and signed them. Her move to prove to Lucas that she still loved him instead of EJ had made her be impulsive again and now after her anger had cooled off concerning EJ, she was sad.

Where had sad come from she questioned herself and then dismissed the emotion as EJ started to sway more heavily against her.

"EJ, you have to help me," Sami urged, struggling to keep from falling herself as she managed to lean him back against the passenger side of the SUV.

"Help you do what love?" He asked, as he started to slide down the side of her vehicle, laughing all the way down until his backside was firmly planted on the parking lot.

"EJ, get up!" Sami said gritting her teeth, wondering how in the world she would be able to pull him up from the ground.

"You're so beautiful when you are angry," EJ remarked, not doing anything to get up from the ground, it was rather comfortable he thought as he looked up to see Samantha glaring at him with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"EJ, I mean it," Sami warned him. "Get up!"

"Come down here with me instead," he suggested, pulling on her making her fall into his lap as he instantly wrapped his arms around her. "See this is much better," EJ murmured into her ear, his breath hot and tickling her ear as he whispered.

"EJ, you're drunk," Sami said with a sigh, she didn't need to be this close to him because when they got close she somehow lost all sense of self control. Control she had been battling to maintain ever since Lucas had showed up at the mansion.

"I know," EJ started to laugh some more making Sami want to do the same, she couldn't believe they were actually sitting on the ground in the parking lot and she could tell that her sitting in his lap was causing a reaction in both of them that they shouldn't revisit.

Sami squirmed in his lap, trying to extricate herself away from him before she did something incredibly stupid, like kiss him and before she knew it that was exactly what was happening…

Far Away
Chapter 2

She opened up her mouth to him, tasting the tang of tequila that permeated from him as his tongue did a tentative dance with hers. A groan escaping his throat as he began to deepen the kiss, she could feel her resistance fading away into the distance as she instinctively ground herself into his lap.

EJ lowered his mouth and started his assault against her neck, the five o'clock stubble of his beard scraping ever so temptingly on her skin. Sami thought he didn't play fair, he knew she liked to be kissed there, a fact that was making her resolve to only take him home seem idiotic because she was sure EJ was planning to take her other more exotic places that her body craved, but going to the mansion was not in his immediate plans.

What was she doing? They were in the middle of a parking lot behaving like love starved teenagers groping at one another. He was now trailing his tongue up her neck, curling it ever so slightly as he pushed her pony-tail away from her ear as he kissed behind it, nipping at the earlobe in the process.

"EJ, you have to stop," Sami said not too convincingly as she tried to move her head away from him and his maddeningly fantastic kisses.

"I know you don't want to," he said in a sing-song voice as he shifted her in his lap, letting her know without a doubt the effect she had on him whenever she was near him.

"It doesn't matter what I want," she said with a sigh, trying to come back to reality, her sanity slowly gaining the upper hand once more to remind her that she shouldn't want to be with this man, she needed to be home with Lucas, at least that is what she kept trying to tell herself. She found the strength to get up and then looked away from him staring off into the night sky.

EJ tried to focus, his head was spinning as he also managed to get up from the ground while he watched her steel her shoulders, he knew she was fighting so damn hard against just letting go and being with him. Why had he tried so much to get Lucas released from prison? If he'd only had a few more days with her before Lucas had come home things might have been different, but somehow karma had a strange way of coming back and biting him in the arse.

He reached out to her, wishing his reflexes were a bit better at the moment, but he had consumed a mass amount of alcohol this evening and he was proud he could even stand up albeit it was a wobbly stand he was making. "Samantha, it does matter what you want."

He could see her mentally fighting within herself, she wouldn't turn around and face him, not yet because she had to make herself not cry in front of him. The past few days had taken a tremendous toll on her mentally so much so that she didn't know what she needed to do with her life. He watched her take a deep breath and then she turned on her heel finally facing him.

"Let's go home," she quietly said, reaching past him to open up the passenger door in which he reluctantly slid into, immediately laying his head back against the seat as he loosened up his tie and unbuttoned his shirt while she slammed the door.

Sami walked around and got into the driver's seat, trying to find her keys with not much success, her mind not on her task at all, especially when EJ reached over to still her hand, causing her to look at him instead.

"I'll go home with you on one condition," EJ slightly slurred his words as he was pointing a swaying finger in her direction.

"What's that EJ?" Sami asked instantly noting how dark his skin looked against the opening of his white shirt. Why did he have to look so devastatingly handsome? It made things so much harder for her.

"We have a minor detour on the way home," EJ said with a tempting smile and a wink.

"EJ, no we need to get home," Sami said trying to maintain some authority in her voice.

"Okay, I'm going back inside," EJ reached for the door handle ready to reopen it when Sami reached over him to keep him from opening the door.

He could tell she was getting irritated with him or rather more irritated with him, but he couldn't help it, he wanted to be with her alone even if it were for a short amount of time and he would brave her aggravation if she would agree to his simple request.

"EJ, you are not going back into Chez Rouge to be with that whore Nicole! No way is that going to happen," Sami said determinedly, her anger instantly arising when she thought of EJ spending time with that slut.

"Drive us out to the lake, just for a few minutes, please I just want to talk to you," EJ said softly as Sami moved back onto the driver's side of her vehicle.

"Just talk?" Sami asked, not too convinced that was all EJ had on his mind, but she didn't want him going back inside to be with Nicole either. She knew Nicole would be more than eager to take EJ home with her and Sami just couldn't stand the thought of that tramp being with EJ.

"Yes, I can't get a moment alone with you otherwise," EJ stated truthfully, he wasn't going to let his pride get in the way of telling Samantha how he felt about her, especially now that she seemed so hell bent on being with Lucas instead of him. "So can we go?"

Sami didn't say anything for a few minutes as she weighed out her options, if they only went to talk, she didn't see the harm in it. "Okay, just for a few minutes and then we go home."

She found her keys and put them into the ignition, trying to ignore the smile on EJ's face as they pulled out of the parking lot and headed in the direction of the lake.

Far Away
Chapter 3

It wasn't that far of a drive to the lake, but to EJ it felt like it was taking forever until Sami finally parked her SUV in a secluded spot on the back side of the lake. They both sat in silence for a few minutes; the only sound reverberating inside the car was the minute clicking of the engine as it cooled down.

"So we're here, what did you need to talk to me about?" Sami asked already on the defensive because she knew better than driving out here with EJ to a place where lovers went late at night sneaking off for a midnight rendezvous. She was venturing into dangerous territory, EJ was drunk and she was crazy for giving in to his request. She should have just driven home instead, but that little small voice inside her goaded her on just to see why EJ wanted to come out here with her.

He turned in his seat to face her, the moonlight partially shadowing his profile as he looked at her, still not saying a word, but there was something about the look in his eyes that bothered her because maybe it mirrored her inner thoughts more than she cared to admit. She averted her eyes, this was a bad idea, no good would come from this she thought and she placed her hand back to the key ring that was dangling from the ignition readying herself to start the car again, when he finally spoke.

"I really didn't think you would sign the papers," he said the sadness resonating in his voice making her instantly remove her hand from the key ring.

"You had already signed your part months ago," Sami stated matter of fact not wanting to feel any more guilty about pulling the papers out of his brief case in front of Lucas and signing them for his benefit.

"I only signed them because…"

"You wanted out of this sham of a marriage as badly as I did," Sami answered for him, before he could say something else that might make her regret her impromptu decision more than she already did.

"I wanted our marriage to be real," EJ slumped back in his seat, his brow furrowed as he struggled to find the right words to say to her, but in his inebriated state he was having a difficult time choosing how to articulate his thoughts in a coherent manner. Frustrated, he opened the door and stepped outside, he needed to get a breath of fresh air, maybe it would clear the muddled thoughts in his head before he ended up telling Samantha how heartbroken he was over her decision to go back to Lucas, to chose a man so unworthy of her love and affection.

She watched him stumble slightly as he got out and then he steadied himself and headed off in the direction of going toward a tree knowing that she would follow him, she didn't want him to hurt himself that was all she told herself as his words of wanting their marriage to have been a real one echoed in her head.

Far Away
Chapter 4

She watched him walk for a while, he trying his best not to stumble, his pride ever present even if he wasn't in the best shape mentally from drinking tonight. He looked around as he walked and then settled for a spot that was close to the lake's edge. He settled against a big tree, his back resting against the trunk of it. He sat there staring out over the lake, the silvery shadows of the moon reflecting on the still darkened water.

She stood behind him in the distance, afraid to venture closer, there were so many things they needed to say to one another, but she knew she was better at avoidance, a trait she had honed over the years to perfection. EJ was the man who tied her up in knots emotionally, Lucas was safe, and she could usually predict what he would say or do. Anger fueled Lucas, she could handle anger, and it was an emotion she knew well. EJ was more complicated, a mystery she couldn't solve, for he didn't give up on her even when she gave him no reason to stay, much less care for her.

"I know you are there," EJ's voice brought her out of her reverie, and she smiled a grim smile as she came out of the shadows of the night and walked up to him.

"I'm here even though we need to go home," she stated simply.

"Samantha, please sit with me for a few minutes," EJ held up his hand to her which after a few moments she reluctantly accepted. He carefully pulled her down to him, widening his legs so that she could sit in front of him, she was tense at first and then she leaned back against his chest, and he put his arms around her waist.

It felt so comforting to sit with him this way; the silence was all around them, no interruptions, no screaming from Lucas, just the two of them, something that hadn't occurred since the night they had made love.

They sat that way for a while, until EJ quietly said, "Samantha, I've come to a decision. I'm going to move out of the mansion."

"What?" she asked. EJ saying he was going to move out was something she was not expecting to hear that from him at all, the calmness surrounding them had lulled her into a false sense of security apparently. She turned to face him; surely he had to be joking.

"I can't do this anymore," EJ sighed. "It really has turned into a three ring circus and the children don't need to be involved in our fighting. The tension isn't good for them and I can't do this to Allie and Johnny. They deserve better from all of us and I thought I could be civil to Lucas, but I really despise him."

She was silent trying to absorb what EJ was saying to her. It was hard to imagine that he would not be living there with them; she had grown accustomed to him being there. "EJ, I don't know what to say."

"You can't say the words I long to hear," she could feel him shrug behind her, their bodies shifting closer even as what he said was going to take them further apart.

"EJ…" she turned to look at him, feeling her heart doing a strange flip flop as she looked at him.

He put a finger to her lips for a brief second, "It's okay, I know you don't love me. Sadly I thought I could love you enough that one day you'd come to love me too." She could feel the tears starting to form; surely EJ wasn't giving up on her. She was about to say something, but then he added, "Samantha, just promise me one thing."

"What EJ?" she was surprised to find that she could speak without her voice cracking because her heart felt like it was cracking on the inside with this latest turn of events.

"That I can still see the twins, I love them both so much."

"Of course you can EJ, there has never been any doubt that you love them," she said without adding she hadn't had any doubt of him loving her too, but now she could see that she had turned him away one too many times.

"You'll let me be a part of Allie's life too? I know she isn't mine, but I love her just the same," EJ stated whole heartedly.

"I promise," Sami agreed with a shake of her head, wishing she could run away, she wasn't anticipating EJ to let her go. She couldn't cry, she had to summon up her inner strength to prevent the tears from falling.

"I'll draw up the papers, next week; maybe you can come by the office and look over them before you sign them. I won't do anything underhanded, I just want to be able to see my children," EJ's voice wavered as if he might cry, but he took a deep breath and kissed her forehead.

"Okay," she nodded her head, repeating over and over in her mind not to cry. She was getting what she had said she wanted EJ out of her life so that she could be free to be with Lucas again.

"One more thing," EJ said, pulling his lips away from skin. "Can I just hold you for a while? I just want to have a good memory to take with me."

"EJ, you're not going away," she said quietly as she reached out to stroke his cheek, not being able to help herself from touching him.

"But I won't be in your life anymore," he replied with resignation, he was going to let her go even if it killed him. "Samantha, I can't do this anymore, I'll take what is left of my pride and go, but for tonight let me believe the impossible that you care for me." She was about to say that she did care for him, but he shook his head not wanting her to say anything else and drew her back against him and they stayed there in each other's arms not saying anything else. Both wishing things could be different even though neither one of them spoke those words aloud.

Far Away
Chapter 5

Sami couldn't recall exactly how long they stayed at the lake that night, she leaning back against EJ, wrapped tightly in the shelter of his arms. Not another word was spoken between them. Sami wanted to speak, to tell EJ that their marriage although quite unconventional, was real, that her feelings had been slowly evolving into something more for him with each and every passing day. In the end, she kept quiet, now more afraid than ever to put a voice to those feelings since EJ had informed her that he would be moving out of the mansion in the morning.

She would not allow herself to shed a tear over this news, especially since her actions toward him had to have prompted this momentous decision from him. For to cry it might bring forth the possibility of her not being able to control her fate anymore, not that she had been such a great captain of her destiny, but at least she would not give EJ more mixed signals and she had to admit to herself she had thrown out every kind of signal she'd had in her vast arsenal. Why she was almost dizzy from the twists and turns of their complicated relationship.

No, they weren't going to have a relationship anymore, she quickly reminded herself, at least not one beyond co-parenting the twins. She knew Lucas was going to pitch a fit that she had agreed for EJ to continue to see Allie, but she would just deal with his temper tantrum when the time came because she was Allie's mother and EJ had shown as much love and attention toward her daughter as he had to their son.

She could withstand this latest disappointment; she had weathered far worst things in her life. She was a survivor even when she had felt like throwing in the towel on things, much like what EJ was doing right now. How could he give up on her? She never thought she would see the day that he wouldn't be around. Well she guessed she was about to find out firsthand what her life would be like with him involved and the prospect wasn't a happy one like she thought it would be all those months ago when she had raged for him to leave her be, now the time had come or would come in the morning.

"I guess it is time that we should go," EJ's voice broke her out of her latest reverie.

She nodded her head, feeling it rub up against his chest, "You're right we've been here long enough." She placed her hands on his thighs and pushed herself upward from her current sitting position. She stepped away from him, from the warmth of his embrace and immediately felt the coldness of the night air start to invade her being, both physically and mentally. She shivered involuntarily, rubbing her arms as if to rejuvenate life back into her that was slowly seeping away.

Finally she had enough courage to face him once more, after she had put on a false mask to her features, ones that conveyed that everything was all right and she was okay with his decision to leave when she was not okay with it in the least. She even extended her hand to him to help him up, just to relay to him that there were no hard feelings, at least on her part anyway.

He looked at her for a moment, trying to size up her countenance in the waning moonlight, and then shook his head no at her proffered hand. Pushing himself up on his own instead without giving into her assistance, he needed to start thinking of his life in terms without her in it and now was just as good of a time as any to begin this new phase he had decided upon.

His refusal although a small gesture hurt her as much as if he had denounced her in pubic and it must have shown by the way he was looking at her now. She wished she wasn't so transparent sometimes because her emotions surely had to be playing outwardly on her face while he studied her.

They looked at one another in the moonlight, in the stillness that surrounded them and longed to be with each other, both not willing to take the first step toward the other until EJ brushed the hair back from her forehead to place a simple kiss upon it, not a gesture of passion rather one of kindness instead. Then he straightened up to his full height and spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, "I am going to miss you Samantha Gene Brady."