Your Love Is a Lie
Summary: Stuart/Sam/Phil. Sam and Stuart are in a relationship but both of them are aware that it is Phil who Sam really loves. Stuart's POV as he finds out Sam has been having an affair. One-shot songfic.
Song is 'Your Love Is a Lie' by Simple Plan.
Reviews are appreciated, especially as this is a lot different to any of the previous SSP fics I have written. Mainly because I've come to quite like Stuart recently! If anyone is interested I might bring the OC character into more of my fics where Stuart plays a part. Love you all xxx
She thinks I'm already asleep when she returns home at two o'clock in the morning but she should know better. How am I supposed to sleep when I suspect that my girlfriend of a year has been spending the night with another man? I know that makes me sounds awful, like some jealous and possessive boyfriend but I know my suspicions are there for a reason. I'm a trained a detective, I'm supposed to notice things like this. I hear her swear as she trips over something and then flicks the light switch on. The sudden bright light burns my eyes even though they are closed in my pretence of sleep. I can hear her slide the zip of her boot open, she knows how good she looks in those calf hugging boots with the killer stiletto heels and I expect whomever she spent tonight with knows too. It makes my guts churn just to think of another man looking at her in the way I do, touching her the way I do and, God forbid, loving her in the way that I do.
When I awake the next morning after finally being able to drop off to sleep at about 5am, the place in the bed beside me is empty once more but I can hear Sam moving about the kitchen downstairs. I wonder how she can survive on so little sleep; she can't have been asleep for more than about five hours. I also wonder how she can sleep so easily when she's so obviously harbouring a guilty secret. For once I am the innocent party and I'm the one whose sleep is disturbed.
As I walk into the kitchen Sam pecks me on the cheek and sets a mug of coffee into my hands, but something feels awkward. Maybe my suspicions are just getting the better of me but the cooked breakfast waiting on the table makes her guilt seem more obvious.
"It's the work Christmas party tonight," Sam states as we sit and eat breakfast. Although bacon and eggs seems like the perfect food to wake up to I can barely taste the food as I hurriedly swallow.
"I know." I reply, hoping we can avoid it and stay in with a DVD and a bottle of wine instead.
"I want to go." Sam tells me, putting down her knife and fork and reaching for her mug of tea.
"You do?" I can't hide my surprise.
She simply nods and adds. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, Jo and Grace will keep me company."
That settled it then, Sam would go to the work Christmas do and I'd sit alone at home in front of the television, or would I?
I try and concentrate on my work but it is impossible not to notice them standing at the water cooler, trying to look natural but there is so much more going on there than meets the eye. I tell myself that I am just being paranoid but my gut knows that Sam is not being true to me. I think it hurts more that it is Phil Hunter whom she is being unfaithful with rather than any other man in the world. If she was cheating on me with anyone else I don't think I would be so torn up inside, but Phil has been jealous of our relationship from the very beginning and I hate the thought of losing Sam to him. My insides churn as I see them laughing at something, Sam placing her hand on his arm as they share a private joke. For an irrational moment I am sure that they were laughing at me but I try and force the feeling down. I really will push Sam away if I behave like a jealous boyfriend, clearly I must be doing something wrong if she's looking for a relationship with someone like Phil the philanderer.
"Are you sure you don't want to come to the Christmas party tonight, babe?" Sam asks as she applies make up in front of the floor length mirror in our bedroom. Her voice sounds hopeful but I know that it is because she wants me not to go.
"I don't know so." I sigh. "I don't really feel up to it."
"Aww, okay." She fakes disappointment and it is almost convincing if I didn't know better. She put her make up back in its bag and crosses the bedroom to where I'm perched on the corner of our bed. She leans down and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek but this show of intimacy only makes things more painful for me.
"Have a good night." I tell her as she leaves and I feel the emptiness of losing her envelope me. Still, I know that it is her I should be angry with and not myself. I have to do something about this situation or once again I'll be left as the laughing stock.
"Hey, glad you could make it." Phil said to Sam as she arrived outside the Seven Bells pub where the Sun Hill Christmas party was being held. "No Stu tonight?"
"No, he didn't want to come." Sam replied, feeling a little guilty now that she was actually here and Stuart was alone at home.
"Thank God for that!" Phil grinned, leading Sam inside, his hand on the small of her back.
Once they were inside and mixing with their colleagues and the relief, Sam felt her guilty feelings begin to subside.
"Are you having a good time, Sam?" Phil asked her, his mouth close to her ear as he handed her another glass of wine.
"Yes, thanks." She smiled, setting her wine glass down on the table. "Dance with me, Phil."
"Okay," He agreed. They headed towards the other dancing couples, conscious of the glances from their colleagues but most of them were too drunk to be able to remember what they had seen the next morning. However, they failed to notice one pair of watchful eyes.
I watch from the doorway as Sam drags Phil towards the dance floor where many other couples are already dancing together. It hurts my heart to see them look so happy and I realise that Sam has never looked that happy and that relaxed when she is with me. I'm about to turn and leave, having seen more than enough when a tall brunette I don't recognise before I would know if I had seen her before.
"Are you okay?" She asks, clearly having seen the lost and hurt expression on my face.
"Yes, thanks." I reply but I think she knows it's a lie.
"Do you want to dance?" She asks me.
"Okay," I agree. What have I got to lose? "I'm Stuart." I tell her.
"Libby." She replies, taking my hand and leading me towards the other dancing couples, including Sam and Phil.
"Oh my god!" Sam exclaimed looking around and spotting her boyfriend amid the crowd. "Stuart's here!"
"What?" Phil groaned, following the direction of where Sam was pointing. "Wait, is he actually with that woman?"
Sam had been too afraid to utter those words out loud but Phil's casual observation made her more rational. She had been so worried about hurting Stuart but at least now they could find real love, rather than pretending they were truly happy in their relationship. As Phil took her back into his arms she felt an immense sense of relief; they didn't have to lie anymore.