A/N: Loosely as a follow up to the episode 'Manhunt' (S3) except that I've only seen clips and not really much of the rest of that season, but hey, I can improvise! Basically… Samantha and Martin have had an argument (those of you who've seen 'Manhunt' will recognize it). I may have the facts wrong… especially family wise… but like I said, I haven't seen season 3 so I may not have found out stuff I should have or whatever! This is just going to be a couple of chapters… don't expect anything long.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it… not a sausage… zilch!
PROLOGUE:
She felt terrible, knowing it was all her fault made it even worse, and now he was blanking her, walking straight past her as if she wasn't there. It was like he'd ripped out her heart, spat on it, chewed it up and puked it out. She'd brought it on herself, but it didn't change anything. She just didn't see how he could not understand how she felt. Taking a deep breath, she followed him out.
"Martin!" Running in heels having just got changed, not the best idea, "Martin wait!"
He stopped, turned and looked at her. There was no expression on his face, and his eyes had lost the shine that was usually there when he looked at Samantha. Nevertheless, he didn't turn back around, or try to continue on, leaving her.
"Can we please talk? Look, I am sorry, I didn't… I don't…" Now that she'd finally caught up with him, she didn't know what to say, and by now, tears were slowly running down her cheeks.
His face softened, and for a split second he forgot what they'd been arguing about in the first place, wrapping his arms around Samantha. Then he remembered again, but continued to stroke her head gently, murmuring words that she didn't quite catch.
"It's okay… I understand. I'm not going to tell anyone, not until you're ready,"
Samantha woke up, blonde hair covering her face, only one eye open, and reaching for the comfort of the pillow next to her. It wasn't there. Well, the pillow was, but the comfort most certainly wasn't. An awful thought came to her. What if that was just a dream? She sunk back into the pillow, pulling the covers over her head and hoping to fall back asleep.
"Sam?"
Groaning, but not in a bad way, if that's possible, she lifted the covers, looking up at the man standing over the bed. He looked so handsome in this light, it was unbelievable. Sandy brown hair shone in the sunlight, and sparkling blue eyes glittered as they looked contently at Samantha. She smiled.
"Morning… wait… what's this?" She looked confused at the wooden tray piled with food which Martin had carefully placed in front of her.
"Birthday breakfast!"
Sam laughed, eyeing the pancakes, burnt toast, and cereal swimming in too much milk. It's the thought that counts… I guess. "I thought you'd forgotten!"
"How could I forget?" He leant in and kissed her gently, "What kind of rubbish boyfriend do you think I am?"
Grinning, she picked up the tray and set it down on her lap, poking at the pancakes with her fork. Martin smiled, leaning across her to drop a pile of letters and cards onto the pillow next to her. Taking a second to look at what he was doing, Samantha smiled back at him, finding herself unable to stop being happy.
"You read your mail and I'll go get you something to drink… coffee or juice?"
Sam thought for a moment, "Orange juice would be great, thank you,"
Whilst Martin went downstairs to fetch her something to drink, she started to open the first envelope on the pile, finding a card from her old high school friend, Mia, who never seemed to forget a birthday. Next was one from one of her old boyfriends, and then her ex-husband – weird! She'd just gotten through the pile, when Martin came back, a glass in his hand.
"Here's your… what's wrong!"
Seeing Samantha sitting in bed, crying, he leaned over her, letting her flop onto his shoulder, tears still falling down her cheeks. The cards and letters were clutched in her hand, all of them opened. Neither of them said a word, the only sound in the room was Samantha's sniffs every now and then, until she sat up, her cheeks tear stained.
"It's stupid… I didn't even expect them to… why would they anyway?" She rubbed her eyes with one hand, "I'm just being silly. I don't even know why I was crying, sorry,"
"Who?"
Sam looked embarrassed, "My mom, my sister… my family,"
Martin put an arm around her, kissing the top of her head lightly. She'd never really mentioned her family; it seemed nobody knew why they never spoke. Everybody knew everything when it came to Martin's parents, especially his father… but that was a whole new story, and one he'd rather not go into. It was hard to understand what Sam was going through, and harder still to see her cry like that.
"I just expected them to at least remember it, since it is my th…"
"Oh no you don't! Nobody is mentioning that number at all today!" Martin grinned, letting Samantha sit up properly, "And now…"
Just as he was about to finish, Sam's cell phone interrupted them, ringing from inside her purse, under the bed. He gestured for her to ignore it, but shaking her head; she reached under and took it out. Acknowledging that it was Viv, and therefore probably important, she answered it.
"Viv? Yeah… okay… want me to tell Martin? He ummm… slept on the couch… yeah okay… bye Viv," She pulled a face, flipping her cell phone closed, and putting it back in her purse, before turning to Martin, "We have to go in. They need us,"