Chapter 2
The young woman stared at the hand for a moment before placing her smaller one lightly into his grasp. "Nice to meet you" she said looking at the ground. She herd Sam chuckle, "There's no need to be nervous. I know what you've been through and I want to help you, if you'd let me". His tone went from overly friendly to brotherly like. Scarlett looked into his dark brown eyes, searching for some sort of hidden agenda but finding only kindness and compassion. She sighed and nodded slowly, "OK" she conceded. Sam placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly before turning to Deanna, "Would you like to come inside?" he asked. Deanna shook her head, "I can't. It's about time I start heading back home". She put down the last of Scarlett's bags before climbing back into her truck. Hugging Scarlett would only stop her from leaving. Scarlett watched her aunt pull out of the driveway in silence. It was hard watching more of her family leaving but there was nothing she could do the stop her. When the ford was out of sight, Sam walked over to where Deanna had sat Scarlett's bags. For living 19 years, all her belongings could fit in three large suitcases, and two large cardboard boxes. It was kind of sad if you really thought about it. Scarlett followed him after picking up the two large cardboard boxes that were filled with her shoes and books. Sam picked up all three of her suitcases, each one stacked on top of the other, holding them tight in his arms. "Follow me. I'll show you your room" he said moving back towards the house. Scarlett looked back at the road with a long sigh before she fallowed her new landlord into the house.
The inside of the dwelling wasn't that much different from the outside. The furniture looked feminine and slightly pampered. The colors held to that effect, soft shades of green and tons of white. Scarlett couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at the stained couch cushions in the living room and the sink full of dirty dishes. It was odd that these things were out of place when the house was clearly meant to be kept pristine. "Emily's been out of town for a couple of days. I'm not use to cleaning up," a voice resounded from the bottom of the wooden staircase. "Not that I think cleaning is her job or anything" Sam added quickly. Scarlett chuckled, surprising herself. She stopped immediately and bit her lip. It had been almost three months since she had even smiled let alone laughed. The depression had come back full force right after she had confessed to her aunt about her 'changes'. She could barely eat and sleep was hard to come by. Her three little cousins would try to get her to crack one but to no avail. It made her even more depressed because she couldn't do anything about it. She could feel tears welling up behind her eyes and squeezed them shut. But it was too late, some had already escaped. She herd her suitcases drop to the ground before a warm hand landed on her shoulder. "Scarlett, what's wrong?" Sam asked, concern deeply imbedded in his voice. She just shook her head, "Nothing. Just a lot to think about I guess". Sam just stared at his new roommate. He knew she was hiding something. It had to be something big too. He had a feeling this girl wasn't the type to cry very often. But, he also knew she was overwhelmed right now and probably just needed some time to calm down and get used to this new situation. "Alright," he said with a sigh. "Let's go get you settled in and then we can talk". Scarlett nodded before heading over to the staircase, "Show me the way". Sam smiled sadly before gathering up her suitcases again and heading up the stairs. He made a sharp left and headed down a long hallway, stopping when he came to two large wooden doors. He pushed open the one to his left with his shoulder revealing a fairly large bedroom for being in a cabin. The walls were painted a sapphire blue with snow white trim. The vaulted ceiling made it feel even bigger. The furniture looked brand new, made of dark mahogany wood. The bed was big enough to fit three Sam's in it. Sure, she had grown from a previous 5' 5" to 6' 2" but even she was too small to fit in that bed alone. The only other furniture in the room was a large writing desk, an armoire and a comfy looking brown leather recliner sitting by the one floor to ceiling window in the room. "It's beautiful, Sam" she breathed sitting down the boxes she was carrying by the door. Sam couldn't help but to smile, "I'm glad you think so. Your aunt said your favorite color was blue so Emily thought painting the room would make you feel more at home". Scarlett couldn't keep the smile off her face. It was nice to know someone else cared about her feelings. "Thanks" she said sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down into her lap and playing with her fingers. Sam shook his head, "It was no problem. The room needed a little sprucing up anyway". "No. Not just for the room," she looked up at him, "For everything. You don't even know me and yet you're letting me stay with you. I'm like a fucking barnacle that just so happens to be stuck to you". "Stop that," Sam roared, making Scarlett jump in surprise. "Do not do that to yourself. I know what it feels like to not know what's happing to your body. To be left with someone you barely know. You're a grown woman. You can make decisions for yourself. But the one thing I will not allow you to do is make yourself feel bad about something you can't control" he said sitting next to her on the bed. Scarlett leant forward laying her elbows on her knees and placing her head in her hands. "I can't help it, Sam. I've never been super confidant in myself and this," she paused for a moment, "this change is making me feel worst. I don't know anything about this thing that's inside of me" she sniffled. Tears began falling yet again. God, she had not cried this much since the day she had learned her mother was killed. She felt Sam place his arm around both of her shoulders and could not help but to lean into him. They both sat there for over an hour, him letting her cry and holding onto her as tight as he could and her letting all the emotions she had been feeling for the past three years out into the open. When her tear ducts had finally dried out, she sat up and wiped her eyes. She knew she ought to be embarrassed because of her breakdown but she was not. Sam would not allow it anyway. "How about I let you get settled into your new room and then we can eat some lunch and talk some more?" he asked. She nodded and got to her feet, turning and picking up boxes to place on her bed. Sam watched his new roommate for a moment, pondering whether he should call Billy over. Sure, he was the alpha of the pack and he knew a majority of the secrets from their history but something was bugging him about Scarlett. He just chucked it up intuition but his gut kept telling him to ask Scarlett more questions. When had she changed? Had anything else been happening to her because of the change? What had triggered the change in the first place? He sighed to himself and left the room, figuring he would get the answers soon. Bringing Billy in may just freak Scarlett more. It was already hard for her; there was no need to make it even worse.