Author's Note: More development between Jason and Sam! Enjoy! :)

The next morning, Sam awoke on a very comfy, large bed. Widening her eyes at the memory of last night, she instantly sat up. It looked like she was in Jason's room. She found her phone resting beside her and when she looked to see if there were any missed messages, there was only one and it was from Jason.

Before she could even reply, she heard his voice coming from the kitchen. Quietly, she climbed off his bed and made sure her hair wasn't a mess before walking out of his room.

"Alicia, can we talk about this later? Yeah. She's asleep. He followed her last night. What do you want me to do? Make her go home when that maniac is following her?"

Sam bit her lower lip. She knew she wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping, but she couldn't help it. Jason sounded angry. She had to wonder if his text was a hidden meaning that he left to go see Alicia; she wouldn't doubt it though.

"Okay. Yeah. We'll talk later." He hung up the phone and set it aside on the counter. Jason ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Sam wasn't used to seeing him so unkempt and frazzled. She was used to seeing him well put together.

"Jason?" She quietly called out.

He looked up, not bothering to hide the fact that he was dressed in a grey t-shirt and boxers.

"You're awake… Are you feeling okay?"

Sam cleared her throat. Certainly, she would remember if they did anything last night. Right?

"Did we –"

Jason shook his head. "No, of course not. It's not like we drank last night and I certainly didn't drug you. I slept on the couch. I figured you needed the rest."

"Thank you… But, you didn't really need to do that."

He shrugged a shoulder, setting a plate of food and a cup of coffee onto the counter. Jason motioned for her to take a seat and she eagerly obliged.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

Jason sighed. Not only was he getting an earful out of Alicia, but Lucca was spamming his phone with messages that what he did last night was stupid.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Why?" He lied.

Jason sat next to her, sipping on his cup of coffee. When he set his mug down, Sam noticed his bruised knuckles. She set her fork down and instantly took his hand in her own. It felt oddly comfortable and normal to hold his hand.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"Nothin'."

"You're lying."

"I just had a run in with someone last night."

Sam narrowed her eyes.

"Where did you go?"

"Nowhere important. Listen, Alicia just called and –"

"You went to see him, didn't you?"

Jason sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

Sam dropped his hand and bit her lower lip, turning her attention to the food in front of her. She sipped on her cup of coffee nervously, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. She missed his contact.

"It wasn't my place to see him. But you need to hear me out, okay?" Jason said.

"I'm not angry. If anything, I'm upset that you decided to hurt yourself because of me."

He shook his head, "This isn't your fault, Sam."

"I should have stopped going to that coffee shop once I knew what his intentions were. This could have easily been avoided if I wasn't so stubborn," she replied, pushing the plate of food away from her.

Jason pouted. "You need to eat." He put the plate back in front of her and handed her the fork.

"You shouldn't have to change where you work because some creep doesn't get the hint. He's at fault here. No one else," he added.

"I just keep thinking of different scenarios that I could have prevented this. What if I didn't talk to him when he said hello? What if I acted like a total bitch? Would that have made him stop? Would that have made him uninterested?"

Her hands were shaking and she climbed off the seat to walk towards the door before Jason gently took a hold of her wrist.

"Sam, stop…"

When she turned around to look at him, Jason noticed the tears pooling around her eyes. Out of instinct, he pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her trembling frame. Jason wasn't expecting this type of reaction to come from her, but he was glad that he was here to attempt to comfort her.

Jason's hand ran along her back to soothe her cries and he was sure that his grey shirt had stains of tears, but he didn't mind. He had come to realize that he loved having her in his arms.

"Your actions do not have to be justified, okay? You did what anyone would do if a stranger would come up to them. You were polite. You were kind. You did not know that he would stalk you, Sam."

She looked up at him and he felt his heart break at the sight of her. He hoped that he would soon be able to see her smile.

"I'm sorry… Your shirt is all –"

"I don't care about my shirt. Are you okay?"

Sam nodded, "Thank you. I know you don't have to do this. You don't have to be taking care of me."

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. I think it's safe to say you're my friend now," he smiled.

Sam simply wiped her tears away. She moved her eyes to the floor and sighed, stepping away from his arms. Jason tried not to show his disappointment when she decided to move away from him. He was hoping that she would agree with his statement about being her friend.

"You should finish your breakfast," he said.

Sam nodded, walking back to the dining room and sitting in her chair. She began to eat quietly, sipping on her coffee occasionally. Jason glanced over at her and sighed, rubbing his eyes absently.

Slowly, he walked over to her and sat down.

"I need to tell you something," he said.

Sam arched a brow, finally finishing her food and setting it aside. She turned to face him, her eyes staring intently into his own.

"When I went to his place last night… I saw a small 'shrine' that he had of you, Sam. He had personal pictures of you and even photos that were photoshopped so that you two were in one photograph. I didn't want you finding out from Alicia or Lucca. I wanted to tell you myself."

Sam dropped her gaze again. Jason sighed in disappointment. He just wanted to hold her again.

"Okay…"

Jason arched a brow. "Okay? That's it?"

"What do you want me to say to that, Jason?" Sam replied. She was becoming increasingly tired of this entire situation. Ever since she got Alicia, Lucca, and Jason involved, she was losing more sleep than she thought she ever would. Sam was constantly on edge ever since that night Todd kissed her. She had to wonder if she never consulted with Alicia if Todd would have even tried anything.

Sure, Sam wasn't thinking logically. It was bound to happen.

"I don't know…" He said, biting his lower lip.

Sam sighed, "I don't mean to take out my anger out on you or cry in front of you. It's not fair to you. You're just doing your job."

"Part of my job is to make sure my client is safe."

"I know that, but is it part of your job to let your client spend the night?"

Jason tightened his jaw. "We had breakfast and it was amazing. You like space and stars and the galaxy. You don't like to stay in one place for very long and for some reason, I feel a connection with you. I can't place what it is. I can't explain it."

"What are you saying, Jason?"

"I'm saying that ever since I saw Todd kissing you, I don't want you to feel afraid anymore. We had breakfast that following day and you hadn't slept. You were constantly looking over my shoulder and yours to see if he would just magically show up. I don't want you to be scared," he said.

Sam didn't know what he was trying to say. It was impossible for someone like him to develop feelings for someone like her at such a short amount of time. Besides, he was with Alicia and she was more of his type, more successful, aside from the fact that she was married.

"I appreciate what you've done for me, Jason. Believe me, I do. I just want everything back to normal. I'm so close to packing my things and leaving," she replied honestly.

There was a hint of disappointment that flashed through Jason's features. Sam definitely took notice.

"But you don't want to leave, do you?" He asked.

Sam shook her head slowly. "I don't. I haven't explored Chicago yet. I haven't done what I wanted to do while I've been here."

"I feel the same way. There are days where I wish I could just leave, but something is stopping me. Maybe because I haven't seen all of Chicago."

Sam relaxed a bit. She couldn't believe how much she had in common with him. Despite feeling like a burden, she was glad that she had slept over. He made her feel safe and the way he looked at her made her feel beautiful, even if it wasn't intentional.

Before she could reply, his phone rang and he excused himself to answer it. Sam watched him walk down the hallway, disappearing into his bedroom. She sighed, grabbing her plate and their two empty mugs before bringing it to the sink.

She figured she would return the favor and clean his dirty dishes, which wasn't much. After about five minutes, Jason walked back to the dining room to find it empty. He heard the water running from the kitchen and stepped inside, smiling to himself as he leaned against the doorway.

"You know, you didn't have to do that," he said.

Sam looked over her shoulder at him and gave him the tiniest of smiles. It wasn't much, but he'd take it.

"It's fine. It's the least I could do. Besides, it seems like you are very fond of takeout if you don't have many dishes to wash."

Jason chuckled, walking towards her before he decided to lean against the counter.

"I'm always on the go. I don't have enough time to make homemade dinners."

"You're missing out. Homemade pasta is the best," she replied.

Jason arched a brow. "Oh yeah? Want to cook for me sometime?"

Sam grabbed a paper towel to dry her hands after she finished, playfully narrowing her eyes in his direction.

"That sounds like you're asking me out, Mr. Crouse."

He grinned, "And so what if I am?"

"You're taken, remember?"

Jason's grin faltered before he shrugged a shoulder. What was he doing? Jason wasn't a man to cheat on the woman he was currently with. He needed to stop before his words got the best of him.

"It'd just be dinner between two friends who like to talk about space."

"Well, if you put it that way, of course," she replied.

Jason slightly widened his eyes. "Really?"

"Just friends, right?" Sam asked.

He nodded.

"Then I see no problem as to why we can't have dinner," she replied.

"Great. How about you head home to change and I'll grab us the ingredients then meet back here?" He suggested.

"Sounds like a plan."

"And Sam? If anything happens or if you feel like you're being watched, call me."

Sam nodded. "Okay, Jason."

Later that night, Sam was driving back to Jason's house. She was dressed in leggings and an oversized knit sweater. She didn't find the need to dress up and look nice for him, though she did it anyway, but Jason made her feel like she didn't need to be pampered to look good.

She knocked on his door once she made it to his place. Sam was slightly nervous, simply because she didn't know if this was a good idea. He was with Alicia and despite Alicia still being married, it was still wrong.

"Hey. Come on in." Jason held the door open for her and she smiled, which he immediately found himself staring at. He wanted to see more of that, so he made it his mission to make her laugh or smile throughout tonight.

"You going to help me cook or are you going to go into your office and wait until I call you to tell you that dinner is ready?" She teased, walking to the kitchen after she removed her shoes.

Jason chuckled, shaking his head. "I would actually love to learn how to cook. Especially pasta."

Sam smiled, "Come on then," she took his hand and led him to the kitchen.

Jason bit his lower lip, watching as her hand curled around his. He smiled to himself. She seemed much happier now that she was here. He had to wonder if it was because of him.

"So, we boil the water and once it's boiling, we set the noodles into the pot to soften. Then we make our own version of Alfredo sauce," she said.

Jason wasn't necessarily listening. He was too focused on her maneuvering around his kitchen as if she had already been living here for quite a while. It made him think of future scenarios; he did tell her that he wanted to settle down and have a family sometime.

He was attracted to her, there was no denying that, but aside from the physical attraction, there was something else he couldn't place. Jason found himself constantly thinking about her, even when she wasn't in his presence and he met her only a couple of days ago.

"Hello? Jason? Are you listening?" Sam asked, waving her hands in his face.

He cleared his throat, nodding. "Y – Yeah! Sorry. Had a few things on my mind."

She arched a brow, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Let's make this Alfredo sauce."

"Wow. This is really good," Jason said, sitting at the dining table.

Sam smiled, causing his heart to skip a beat at the sight. "Well, we make a good team."

"Yeah right. All I did was stir the sauce for you. You did all the work."

"You stirred the sauce really well, thank you," she replied.

Jason laughed, shaking his head and continuing to eat. He was enjoying how she was so selfless and making sure that everyone around her was put first.

"So, Alicia called me after you left," he said.

Sam arched a brow, "Is everything okay?"

He grinned, flashing a dimpled smile in her direction. "Good news, actually. Alicia got a permanent restraining order put on Todd. If he disobeys that, we can bring him to court. For now, we just have to wait. These civil suits are very tricky to work with. Stalking is also hard to prove unless he does something drastic, but we won't let it come to that."

Sam didn't know if she should feel happy or not. He was still out there and the only thing separating him from her was a damn restraining order that he could easily go against. It was proof that he didn't care about it. Hopefully he was taking it serious now that it was a permanent restraining order rather than a temporary one.

"That's great…" She finally replied.

Jason sighed, "You want him behind bars, don't you?"

Sam nodded. "It's the only thing that'll give me peace of mind, but for now, I'll be patient. Thank you. And thank you to Alicia and Lucca."

"We're just doing our jobs," he said.

"I know you are, but you've went out of your way to make sure I was okay. So, thank you, Jason."

"It's not a problem. Besides, I kind of like your company."

Sam smiled, "It's because we can both geek out about space, huh?"

Jason returned her smile with one of his own. "That's definitely it."