iStand My Ground

The following week was a rough one in the Shay-Puckett household. Sam loved her sister and had even taken to telling her so recently, but began to resent her ever so slightly for – in Sam's view – slacking off at home.

"Samantha! I love you, Baby, but please try to see it from Melanie's point of view… Honey, she's trying so hard… she's got a full slate of classes and she's basically working seventy hours a week on top of all that working on her music. It's not something she really has control over, Baby… She has a contract and, unfortunately it isn't really up to her…"

Sam squirmed. She knew Carly was right. She wasn't trying to pick on Melanie or mistreat her or anything even remotely like that. She had simply gotten used to having the extra pair of hands around the house. It wasn't even about the work. Sam was willing to put in the sweat equity. This wasn't about doing the work. This was about being only two-thirds complete. It wasn't just Sam and Carly anymore. It was about Sam, Carly and Mel.

"Cupcake… you know I don't mean… it's just…" Sam felt defeated. Carly knew exactly what Sam was trying to say.

"I know, Sweetheart… just try not to be so…prickly… around Melanie. She's under a lot of stress. It can't be easy for her, Hun…"

Carly leaned in and kissed her. All of the tension in Sam's shoulders slowly ebbed away. Carly knew this was rough. Melanie had been fighting her record label for days. She didn't want to seem ungrateful, but, given that she was still a college student – albeit a famous one – she argued that the combined responsibilities of education, family, and recording should dictate that her album be recorded in Seattle, rather than have Melanie miss a days' worth of classes a week and fly from Seattle to Los Angeles every Friday morning, returning every Sunday night.

Melanie knew that music was a business like any other, and like any business, it came down to being a matter of dollars and cents. Once Melanie was able to point out a substantial cost savings involved in her recording locally, production of her first album – as yet untitled – shifted from Los Angeles to the foggy streets of Seattle. Score one for Team Puckett.

"Cupcake?"

"Yes, my love?"

"How late's Mel going to be tonight?"

"Freddie's picking her up and then they're coming back here."

Leave it to her Cupcake to completely evade the question. Sam didn't care.

"Cupcake?"

"Yes , my darling…"

Carly giggled. It would occasionally happen like this. They'd go back and forth with their play-baby stuff, telling each other how much one loved the other. She loved it.

"Carls?"

"YES, Samantha Ann…"

"Can you believe that Melanie picked a fight with that record producer just so she could record here?"

Carly believed it. She and Mel had a heart-to-heart over it one night while Sam was in class. Melanie was prepared to break the contract over it. To her, it was a deal breaker. Family came before music, before success, before fame, before money, before any of it. The truth was that Melanie refused to be away from her little sister for any period of time longer than a few hours. Six months of no weekends with Sam was an absolute deal breaker, as far as Melanie was concerned. She'd sworn Carly to secrecy. She knew her sister's precious partner would never betray her confidence.

"I love you, Sam"

Carly's arm slipped from around Sam's shoulders further down her back. Sam felt warm and fuzzy. She'd grown to realize that Carly Shay would never harm her. She had even warmed to Carly touching her in the one place that had previously been off limits. Her scar was no longer a source of shame. Carly had helped her learn that the past was simply the past. The past was filled with ghosts who could no longer harm her in any way. "The Dead stay dead", Carly told her. Sam actually welcomed Carly's touch now. It was part of the healing process.

They had begun truly opening up to one another of late. Sam had told Carly all about her mother's alcoholism – most of which Carly already knew, thanks to Melanie. Carly had painted a dark and foreboding picture of life as the Colonel's little girl, a life made all the more hellish once the passing of Carly's mother was factored into the equation. It was all okay.

When Carly spoke of That Man, she would wilt under the pressure of having been a soldier's little girl – the darkness hidden behind the uniform. It was still too much for her to bear, but she didn't need to do it alone anymore. Sam was perfectly comfortable and capable being Carly's 'big strong man', for want of a more apt description. Sam was more than willing to be strong enough for the both of them. She'd done it before, and would do it until the end of time, if that's what Carly Shay required.

"Mama…"

Carly turned to speak to Sam, only to have Sam cut her off. Her lips had smothered Carly's own. She needed Carly. She needed her more now than she had in the recent past. They'd gotten used to this, this symbiotic, manic need. They had no idea when it would strike them, but they both knew that it would. Recently, they'd been fortunate, in that it seemed to occur only when they were alone. Had it happened when Melanie or – Dear God – Freddie were in the house, that would've been far too much to bear. They had to behave far too often – in class, out on the town, around campus. They had to be other people – separate but equal. It made them insane.

Carly could hear Sam's voice. It was throaty and rushed; her breath hot against her ear and neck.

"Do you trust me, Cupcake?"

Sam knew the answer. The question was a mere formality, designed solely to get Carly going. Before she could answer, Sam was on her feet and had swept Carly off of hers. They both knew that Freddie wouldn't be home with Melanie for several hours yet. This was a blessing. Carly needed time alone with her big, strong blonde. She needed to feel like a princess.

She could only smile as Sam crossed the threshold into their bedroom. It conjured images of all she would ever want in the entire world. She was safe and secure here. Sam deposited Carly onto her side of the bed. It was all over. Carly Shay's world went hazy.