Alternate version of I'll be seeing you- Sam and Diane's first official break-up
As Diane paced the steps of Cheers, trying to decide whether or not to go back to Sam, all she could think about was that this was one of those life-changing moments that you could never take back, whatever you did. Should she swallow her pride and go back to Sam, begging for him to reconsider the rash decision that they had both made in a heated moment? Should she do what he recommended and walk out the door and out of his life-permanently? This was Sam for God's sake. This was the man she had spent the better part of a year with, whom she had shared her bed, her innermost thoughts, her trust, and her beliefs. She did not give those values away easily, and when she did, it was often with her whole heart. It was funny; she had been engaged to another man when she met Sam Malone, but she did not grieve for Sumner the way she was beginning to now, and over a bartender. A bartender!
Maybe this was fate trying to tell her something. Maybe they were square pegs trying to make a round hole work. They had pushed and pulled each other in every direction and yet still found their way back together, every time. Diane couldn't explain it; she was a strong woman but yet she had a weakness for the very man who was the cause of her misery at this very moment. Every time she tried to walk away he pulled her back, without reason. Their love was a magnetic force, and they were definitely polar opposites.
They had shared something that no one could understand, and maybe it was better that way. Diane had tried time and time again to understand it, to put a label on the force that had drawn her to Sam, to figure out what it was that kept them together for all of those months. She'd analyzed it to death, searching the depths of her soul, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together that was the mystery of Sam and Diane. However she did it, she had only come to the same conclusion every time- there was no explaining them. They were just together because they wanted to be, not for any other reason. Now it was clear what she had to do.
Turning around on those steps was one of the hardest decisions she had ever had to do. Swallowing her pride was never easy; that's why she rarely did it. But she loved Sam, lord knew why, but she did. And if that meant setting aside their differences and trying to make things right then so be it. She was adult enough to make the first move. Now if only Sam could do the same, that was the question.
"Did you forget something?" Sam asked casually but bitterly, not even trying to hide the resentment in his voice.
"No, Sam. I came back…I came back to try to try to salvage what is left of you and I. I know that we did not part on the best of terms and I thought it best that we try to resolve things rather than leave things as we did," Diane replied, with a note of hurt in her voice.
"I don't know what you mean. I dumped you, you left, it seems to me there's nothing left for us to talk about."
"Sam, you did not dump me, I ended things, why can't you admit it?"
"How many times can a woman be dumped in one day? When I said it was over, I meant it was over! Do I have to spell it out for you?" Sam reiterated.
"Look," Diane sighed. "I did not come here to squabble over trivialities."
"Then why did you come back?"
"I came back to see if we could try to salvage what was left of our relationship. I don't want to end things the way we did and I don't think you do either."
"You sound pretty confident for a woman out of a job, out of love, and out of luck."
"Now look here, buster,"
"Now you look, I let you come in here and say your piece, but it's getting old to tell you the truth. I said what I said because to be honest, I haven't been happy with you for quite some time. I just haven't had the courage to tell you what I should have told you a long time ago- I don't love you Diane and I don't think I ever have," Sam stared at her.
Diane took a deep breath. That was the last thing she had ever expected to hear. At least he was honest, which was she deserved. She would not cry, not in front of him.
"Very well. I can see that I am wasting my time. I wish you nothing but the best Sam. I hope you find whatever it is that you are looking for. Good luck in your business, with your health- and with your life. I want nothing but the best for you. Farewell." Diane took one last look around the place that had been a second home for her and slowly walked out the door, and once she had made it outside she finally allowed herself to break down, and she knew that she was in deep trouble.