Tuesday
Haley couldn't sleep. She knew firsthand how it felt to not know where your child was. She hated that her best friend was feeling that way, and she couldn't do anything to help. Why did bad things happen to good people?
Nate looked at Haley with concern in his eyes. "Hey, you OK?"
Haley shook her head. "Not really. Brooke is worried sick. Sam just lost her mom. She's only fourteen. She's just a kid. I want to help, but there's nothing I can do."
Nate smiled sadly and pulled Haley to him. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back comfortingly.
They went to school early. Haley smiled as she watched her husband shoot hoops. It reminded her of high school. She knew he was busting his butt to get back to where he'd been before he got hurt. "I'm proud of you."
"Come here and show me how proud you are." Nate smiled and pulled his wife toward him.
Haley shoved him away playfully. "You're all sweaty. Hit the showers, Scott." Nate grinned and patted Haley's butt.
They walked into the school together. Haley stopped dead in her tracks. "Nate," she said. Nate looked up in concern. He could tell by Haley's tone that something was wrong. He followed her gaze to a car in the shop class they were passing through. Sam and Seth were curled up in the backseat.
Haley knocked on the window. Sam shot bolt upright. When the teen's eyes met her teacher's, the color drained from Sam's face. Nate took Seth outside to shoot hoops while Haley took Sam to her classroom to talk.
"What happened, Sam?" Haley asked gently.
"Life happened," Sam muttered.
"If someone's hurting you, I can help you," Haley said.
"You want to help me?" Sam asked skeptically. Haley nodded. "Then let me go. Let me take my brother and go."
"Go where? You're sleeping in shop class! You're fourteen years old. Seth is only five years old. There has to be something better out there for you," Haley said.
"You hear horror stories about foster care. And you think it can't be that bad," Sam said. She shook her head and locked eyes with Haley. "It's worse." Haley noticed tears forming in Sam's eyes.
"I can't just pretend this didn't happen," Haley said firmly.
The door opened and Brooke and Seth entered. Brooke's eyes skimmed Sam's frame. She took in the black eyes, the busted lip and the teen's broken demeanor and all of the anger she'd felt at Sam for taking off with Seth melted. Brooke felt nothing but sadness and sympathy for the teen sitting before her.
Seth let go of Brooke's hand and ran toward Sam. He climbed into Sam's lap. Both Haley and Brooke noticed Sam wince in pain as the boy shifted in her lap. He looked at Brooke. "This is Sam."
Brooke noticed Sam tighten her hold on Seth possessively. "Hi Sam. I'm Brooke. I'm fostering Seth."
"I'm sorry I took him. He said you were good to him. Thanks for taking him in," Sam said.
"He's a good kid," Brooke said simply. She hesitated. She didn't know about taking a teenager in, but she knew she couldn't separate Seth from his sister. "I have an extra room. It's yours if you want it."
"What's the catch?" Sam asked skeptically.
"There's no catch. Seth wants to be with his sister. I want to do what's best for him," Brooke replied.
Brooke decided to keep Sam and Seth home from school for the day. They'd just lost their mom. She knew they couldn't have gotten much sleep in the back of a car. They were tired and trying to cope with their loss.
Brooke also felt an irrational fear that the next time she let Seth out of her sight, he'd disappear again. She knew Sam wouldn't take him now that they were together, but it did little to reassure her. She'd had Seth for less than three days and lost him once already. She never wanted to feel that way again. She wanted to keep Seth close at least for a day or two. Eventually the constant nagging fear of losing him would fade.
Brooke showed Sam to her room. "This is your room." She gestured down the hall. "Seth's room is down the hall and mine is right across from his." Sam nodded and set her bag down in her room.
"Did you guys eat breakfast?" Brooke asked. Seth shook his head. Brooke made breakfast and put two plates on the kitchen table.
When Seth and Sam finished eating, Sam took their plates to the sink. "Sam, you don't have to do that," Brooke said.
"Neither do you," Sam replied. She scrubbed the plates clean and put them in the dishwasher.
"Well, thank you," Brooke said. "Fern didn't give me very much for Seth. I saw that you got some of his things. Where's the rest?"
Sam looked at Seth to see if he was listening before she responded. Satisfied that Seth's attention was focused on the TV, Sam said, "Our house."
"We can go get everything today," Brooke said.
Sam shook her head. "Seth doesn't need to go back there. He doesn't understand. He…won't understand why we can't stay."
Brooke nodded. "Haley can watch him after school and we can go."
"I can go alone. You don't have to go," Sam said.
"I'm going with you. You don't have to do this alone," Brooke said firmly. Sam nodded.
Haley came to pick Seth up after school. She'd already picked Jamie up.
"Aunt Brooke!" Jamie yelled as he ran toward Brooke. Brooke picked him up and swung him around. Sam watched how good Brooke was with the little boy and felt a huge sense of relief. She knew Brooke would be good to Seth.
"Hi Seth," Jamie said when Brooke put him down.
"Hi Jamie," Seth said. He tugged on Sam's hand. "This is my sister, Sam."
Jamie looked up at Sam with interest. "What happened to your face?" He asked curiously.
"Jamie!" Haley scolded. "I'm sorry, Sam."
"It's OK. You can always count on kids to tell you what they really think," Sam said with a laugh.
"She fell skateboarding," Seth answered for his sister.
"You can skateboard?" Jamie sounded impressed. Sam nodded.
"Only not really if you fell," Seth pointed out. Sam gave her brother a dirty look and flicked his head.
"Sam, I brought your make-up work from yesterday and today." Haley set a stack of papers down on the table. "Take as much time as you need."
"Thanks, Mrs. Scott," Sam replied.
"You can call me Haley outside of class," Haley said with a smile. She turned to Jamie and Seth. "Now I'm going to get these guys out of here."
"I want to stay with Sam," Seth protested. He clung to Sam's hand for dear life.
"Don't you want to play with Jamie?" Sam asked.
"Are you going to be here when I get back?" Seth asked quietly with fear in his eyes.
"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere," Sam assured him.
"Promise?" Seth whispered.
"I promise," Sam replied.
When Haley left with the boys, Brooke and Sam went to the Walker house. Brooke parked her BMW in front. Sam didn't make any move to get out. Brooke knew she might need a minute. Even though Sam acted tough, she had to be hurting inside.
Sam sat there for several minutes. Finally she opened the car door and stepped out. Brooke reached for Sam's hand and they walked toward the house together. Brooke looked at Sam. "I'm going to be right here with you." Sam nodded. The teen unlocked the door.
Brooke looked at the family pictures on the walls. She smiled sadly. Seth had always been adorable. It looked like they'd been a happy family. She wondered if they'd ever be that happy again. She would do everything she could to make them happy.
Brooke heard Sam crying and looked for the teen frantically. She found Sam on the floor of the master bedroom with her knees pulled to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself sobbing.
In an instant, Brooke sank down to the floor and threw her arms around Sam. She knew she wasn't the mom Sam wanted to comfort her, but someone was better than no one. Sam leaned her head against Brooke's shoulder and cried, her tears soaking through Brooke's shirt.
Sam looked embarrassed when she finally stopped crying. She wouldn't look at Brooke. "I'm sorry," Sam mumbled.
"Hey, you don't have anything to be sorry for. It's OK to feel sad," Brooke said gently.
"Your shirt's all wet," Sam said quietly.
Brooke smiled. "I have lots of shirts."
"Perk of the job?" Sam said with a smile. The teen allowed Brooke to pull her to her feet. She picked up the suitcases she'd packed. Brooke took one of them from her.
Sam felt a sense of closure as she locked the door behind her. She knew this was probably the last time she'd ever set foot in the house she'd grown up in. Her life as she knew it was over.
Brooke and Sam stopped at Haley's to pick Seth up. Brooke went in to say hi to Haley. Nate was playing basketball with Jamie and Seth in the driveway. Sam watched as Nate held each of the kids up and let them dunk the ball.
"Sam, did you see me? I dunked the ball!" Seth said loudly.
Sam smiled. "Just like Mike."
"Did you see me?" Jamie asked.
Sam nodded. "You guys are both good. You could give the Lakers a run for their money." Nate smirked.
"Can you do a trick on your skateboard?" Jamie asked hopefully.
"Yeah, she can," Seth answered for Sam.
Sam retrieved her skateboard from Brooke's BMW. She skateboarded along the street and built up momentum before doing a kickflip. Jamie watched in awe. "That's so cool! How'd you do that?"
"She can do lots of tricks," Seth bragged.
"Do another one," Jamie said. He looked up at Sam with pleading eyes.
Sam smirked. She started skateboarding and was in the middle of a 360 spin when Brooke and Haley came out. "Sam!" Brooke said sharply with a hint of anger.
Sam looked up in surprise. She finished the spin and skateboarded over to the front porch, stopping expertly just short of Brooke and Haley. "What?"
Brooke glared at Sam. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be skateboarding without a helmet. Are you trying to fall on your face again?"
Sam looked confused. "Again? What are you talking about? I never fall."
"Then what happened?" Brooke demanded.
Sam remembered her appearance and stared at the ground. "Oh yeah…I…forgot."
"Sam," Brooke said sternly. She waited for Sam to make eye contact. "What happened? Did you really fall or did something else happen?"
"I-" Sam clammed up when Seth appeared at her side.
Brooke had no intention of dropping the subject, but she knew she wasn't going to get anything out of Sam in front of Seth. Brooke would find out what happened, though.
Brooke took Sam and Seth home and started cooking dinner. When they finished eating, Sam once again did the dishes. Then Sam helped Seth get ready for bed.
Brooke felt a little jealous that Sam was taking care of Seth. She really wanted to take care of him. She'd felt like a mom for three short days and she'd loved every minute of it. Ever since Sam entered the picture, Brooke felt a little like a spectator looking in on a family from the outside. She just wanted to be part of the family.
Seth and Sam sat in Seth's bed. Sam had her arm around Seth and he was leaning against her comfortably. "Tell me a story."
Sam told her brother the story of the Three Little Bears.
"Goodnight, Sam." Seth spread his arms out as far as he could. "I love you this much."
"Oh yeah?" Sam did the same with her own arms. "Well, I love you this much." She pulled the covers over Seth and turned the light out.
Sam went to her bedroom after tucking Seth in. She shut the door behind her. She didn't want to talk to Brooke. She had a feeling she hadn't heard the last of her slip up at Haley's house. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid as to brag that she never fell when falling off her skateboard was the only reasonable excuse she could come up with for her appearance.
Sam felt weak for letting Patrick hurt her. She almost felt as though it were her own fault that she'd gotten hurt. If she'd been stronger, maybe things would have played out differently. She was embarrassed. She didn't want to talk about what had happened to anyone, not even Jack. She sure as hell didn't want to tell Brooke. She'd only known Brooke for a day.
Sam was lying on her bed reading. She was too scared to go to sleep. She didn't want to see Patrick in her dreams.
A little after midnight Seth opened Sam's door. Sam set her book down and gestured for Seth to join her. Seth climbed into bed with Sam and got under the covers.
"What are you doing up so late?" Sam whispered. She didn't want to wake Brooke up. Brooke had been pretty good to them so far. Sam had a feeling that most foster homes were more like the Bryants' house than Brooke Davis' house. Sam and Seth needed to be on their best behavior so Brooke didn't send them packing.
"I had-" Seth started loudly.
"Shh. We don't want to wake Brooke up. Remember what I told you earlier?" Sam scolded.
Seth nodded. "Sorry. I had a nightmare," he said a little more quietly.
"Do you want to sleep in my bed?" Sam offered. Seth nodded and snuggled against her. "Do you want the light on or off?" Sam asked.
"On," Seth murmured sleepily. He fell back asleep within minutes.
Sam fought to stay awake, but eventually she drifted off into an uneasy sleep. She tossed and turned, whimpering occasionally as Patrick haunted her in her sleep, but she didn't scream. Seth slept soundly despite his sister writhing around.