Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

There is absolutely no excuse for my behavior. I should have updated this a LONG time ago. All I can do now is apologize profusely and hope to someday be forgiven.

IM SORRY!! IM REALLY, REALLY SORRY!

Ghosts of the Past – Tensions

Sam woke up to her alarm clock blaring and she swung her hand out to stop the intrusive noise. As soon as her hand collided with the button Sam shot up out of bed. The clock showed that it was 7:30 in the morning. The last thing Sam remembered was going to bed after spending the rest of her weekend anywhere but her apartment. She didn't feel like talking to anyone after what had happened back in Ipswich or her later fight with Reid, and she knew that they would probably come by her place when she didn't answer the phone. Sam had walked around the city all day doing absolutely nothing. But that was all she had remembered. She hadn't woken up during the night.

No nightmare.

For the first time in weeks, Sam was nightmare-free.

"Go figure," she mumbled to herself as she got out of bed. "First good night's sleep in weeks and it happens when I get into a fight."

Sam got ready for class quickly and left her apartment, intending to get a huge cup of coffee on her way. She realized that she was a bit early for class and decided to pull out her book and sit on the bench outside the classroom. Sam imagined that she would be doing this quite a bit, seeing as how she was trying to avoid pretty much everyone.

She was angry. She'd had time to mull over things on her long walk around the city. Sam wasn't quite sure exactly what she was mad at, perhaps just the situation, but she was mad. She needed time to figure out exactly what was going on inside her own brain before she could try and discuss it with someone else. Reid had been right. She didn't tell him everything and she didn't even really know why. That's how confused Sam was.

Sam checked her phone for the time and noticed she had a new message. She had a few more minutes before class started so she went inside to get a seat and dialed her voicemail number. After punching in her password she put her ear to the phone and listened.

"Hey Sam, it's Sarah. I know you're feeling a little weird right now so give me a call. We can talk."

Sam knew Sarah was trying to help, but she still didn't want to talk about it just yet. She deleted the message and put her phone away and waited for the professor to start class. More and more students began to file into the classroom but Sam didn't pay attention, instead she pulled out her laptop and a thin booklet of paper.

"How did your assignment turn out?" a strange voice questioned from beside Sam. She looked up at a boy she'd never seen before, with sandy hair, blue eyes and a bright smile. "I pulled an all-nighter to finish mine. Not my best work, but I think I can pull off at least a C."

"I finished mine last week. I'm paranoid that way. I finished it early but I'm still not convinced it's good enough." Sam immediately felt comfortable around this guy. It probably had something to do with the fact that he had nothing to do with her life. He didn't know about her secret or about the problems it caused. "I'm Sam."

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me," he apologized. "I'm Adam." The professor began the class and called for everyone to hand in their assignments. "Well there's no sense in both of us walking down there," Adam smiled. Sam handed him her assignment and gave her thanks. Once everyone was back in their seats the professor started the lecture.

---

After class Sam and Adam got a coffee and talked about school.

"So why English?" Adam asked as they both sat on a bench outside their next class. They discovered that they had a few classes together, as they were both in the same program.

"I want to be a journalist," Sam answered and took a sip of her coffee. "What about you?"

"Professor," he said. "I want to teach here someday."

"That's cool," Sam said. She looked down at her phone for the time and realized she had more missed calls. Tyler, Sarah and Kate. "I'm sorry," she said. "I've got to get going." She got up off the bench and Adam stood up with her.

"Class isn't for another half an hour," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, but I don't think I'm up for it. I didn't get much sleep last night," Sam lied. While she did get her first good night's sleep in weeks, she was starting to feel drained, and she figured she should probably start calling people back so that they wouldn't worry. Considering the nature of the conversations she was going to have, she didn't think a public place might be appropriate to talk.

"Alright," Adam said. "I'll make a copy of my notes for you."

"Thanks," Sam said. "I really appreciate it." She liked Adam. He was very friendly considering they just met. Under most circumstances, Sam might have thought that it was suspicious, but somehow it seemed normal to her. She flashed him a smile and headed back to her apartment.

---

"Aren't you even going to call her and see if she's ok?" Tyler asked his blond friend who was sitting on his bed.

"She's fine," came Reid's blunt reply.

"I don't know," Tyler said. "I've been calling her all day and she hasn't answered once." He was worried about Sam. Tyler knew that Reid was too, but to get that guy to show any kind of concern or emotion other than anger was a rare and tricky thing.

"Maybe that's because she doesn't want to talk to you," Reid said, lying back onto the bed with his hands under his head and his eyes closed. "Anyways, she's made it very clear that she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

"Have you even talked to her since Saturday night?" Tyler questioned. Reid didn't answer and Tyler got his answer. "What happened?"

"Drop it, Baby Boy. There's nothing to talk about."

"You know, you should really –"

"Listen, if I wanted to be lectured at, I would've gone to Caleb." Reid sat up on the bed and glared at Tyler. The younger boy held his hands up in defense.

"Fine, dude. Just trying to help."

"Well, don't."

"Fine," Tyler said again and sat down at his desk. The two of them sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until Tyler's phone began to ring. He picked it up and looked at the caller id. As soon as he saw the name he looked at Reid. "It's Sam."

Reid got up off the bed and grabbed his bag and headed for the door.

"I'll see you later," he said as he left his friend's room. Tyler shook his head and flipped the phone open.

---

Once safely inside her apartment, Sam dropped all of her school stuff carefully by her desk and grabbed her cell phone again. She checked the last number that had called her, Tyler's, and clicked the 'send' button to dial his number. After a few rings, he picked up the phone.

"I was getting worried," was the first thing out of his mouth, and he sounded it too.

"Sorry," Sam said apologetically. "Just trying to figure stuff out." She'd always been able to be honest with Tyler and found it easy to talk to him.

"Still," he said sternly. "Everyone's been worried." It was strange for Sam to hear him sound so grown up, and it made her feel guilty for avoiding everyone.

"I know, I'm sorry. I've just been a little freaked out, after what happened and all." There was an awkward silence after that statement and Sam couldn't bare it. "So how is everyone?" She said 'everyone' but Tyler knew she was asking about Reid.

"Well if you hadn't been avoiding us…" Tyler started.

"Oh, shut up," Sam said. "Seriously. Is he still mad at me?"

"I thought you were mad at him?" Tyler questioned.

"I am!" Sam said sternly, and then sighed. "It's complicated."

"It's Reid. When is it NOT complicated?" Sam let out a little laugh at his comment. "But seriously, I think you should call him."

"Why?" Sam challenged. "He hasn't called me. And he was the one being a jerk." Tyler shook his head.

"You two are both so damn stubborn. You're playing ring-around-the-rosie, Sammy. If neither of you is willing to take the first step then how is anything going to get fixed?" Sam sat silently with the phone to her ear. Tyler was making sense, but she was still mad at Reid. "Come on, Sam. Be the bigger person."

"Are you calling me fat?" Sam joked.

"Sam!" Tyler said firmly. He wasn't going to let her get out of this with a joke.

"Fine! Jeez, Ty. I'll think about it." Tyler wasn't completely satisfied, but he'd take what he could get.

"Good, now go think. I'll call you later. I've got class."

"Bye."

Sam shut the phone and looked at the time. It was almost lunchtime and she knew that Caleb would have a nice long break, and she had some questions she wanted to ask. She could have asked Tyler but she thought that Caleb might give her the straight, serious answers. Ty might try and sugar coat things for Reid's sake, and Sam didn't want that. She wanted answers before she tried to confront Reid again. Flipping her cell phone open again she dialed Caleb's number and waited for him to answer.

---

One hour later Sam was sitting across from Caleb at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee gripped tightly in her hands. He'd explained everything, and hadn't left anything out like Reid had.

"It's that bad?" she asked quietly. Caleb nodded his head seriously, but had concern written all over his face. He was questioning whether he should have told her everything, as it seemed to have really upset her. "I'm fine," Sam said, almost like she was reading his mind. "I wanted to know."

"I'm not going to lie to you Sam. Reid's pretty hooked." Sam nodded and waited for Caleb to continue. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened. You tried to talk to him about it and he freaked on you. Maybe he said something about sounding just like me?" Sam nodded her head again.

"I just don't get why he gets so mad. We're just trying to help…"

"He's stubborn, Sam. It's a Garwin trait. To be honest with you, I don't think he really gets it. I mean, he knows what will happen, but I don't think it really sinks in to him." Caleb continued, "He avoids it because it's easier that way. Talking about it complicates things and if you hadn't noticed, Reid's not the easiest person to have a serious conversation with."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Duh." Caleb smirked.

"Listen," Caleb became serious again. "I know it's hard. Trust me, I've been trying to get through to him for years, but you care about him, right?" Sam nodded her head. "Then you can't let him win and shut you out."

Just then Caleb's phone went off. He looked at the screen and saw that it was Sarah, so he flipped it open.

"I'll call you right back," he said quickly and then shut the phone again without waiting for a response. He looked at Sam, who was getting up and putting her cup into the sink.

"It's ok. Go," she said simply. "I got what I needed. Tell Sarah I'll call her tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He nodded his head and got up, heading for the door. "Thanks, Caleb." Sam said before he was completely gone. He turned and smiled before closing the door.

---

Sam was lying on the couch a few hours later contemplating everything Caleb had told her. She wondered how to talk to Reid about it. He and Caleb had been friends their whole lives, and even he couldn't get Reid to stop being so reckless. She'd known him just over a year. 'How the hell am I supposed to do anything?' she questioned herself. Normal couples were supposed to be able to talk through big issued. 'But then again, in what way are Reid and I normal?'

Sam was contemplating that very question when she felt a wave of drowsiness fall over her. Instead of fighting it, she gladly gave in to the call of sleep, hoping it would ease her mind just for a little while.

But then again, Sam wasn't a very lucky girl.

There she was, falling again and, once again she woke up just before she hit the ground.

But that wasn't the end of it. Sam looked in the direction of her desk, where a dark figure was standing. But not just any dark figure, the dark figure.

"I – I'm still dreaming," she stuttered. The man was still impossible to see. It was almost as if darkness had wrapped itself around him, hiding him from her.

"Trust me, sweetheart. You're definitely not dreaming anymore."

---

DUN! DUN! DUN!

Again… I AM SO SORRY this took that long… I hope this chapter was good :)