A/N: Aaaand we're back. I feel like I'm in a roll here lol. In case some of you didn't notice I uploaded the actual chapter 9. I wanna give a special shout out to Gnarled Bone, Kurotaro, Sophi, and Lolimafox for their input and kind words. Hearing stuff like that is what makes writing really worth it, because I like to entertain people (not just with writing, but making videos, and all kinds of stuff). I like making people happy!

Anyways, without further ramble xP onto the next.

Chapter Ten

The first thing Sam felt was this horrible throb in her head. It was as if her brain itself was trying to break free of her skull. The next thing she realized was the bright sun (which was a rarity in London), shining through her window above her bed. Sam groaned as she pulled the covers over her head in an attempt to ignore the blinding light that pierced through her eyelids as if she had opened them. The final thing she noticed was the amazing smell of something cooking in the kitchen, which sorely tempted her to get out of bed despite the condition her head was in.

What drove the nail in her coffin was when she heard Lara's voice from her doorway. "Sam, I have eggs, bacon and pancakes." She heard Lara say. Sam groaned again, but this time it was more in defeat than from the horrible hang over she was feeling. "I also have some aspirin on the table in the kitchen." Lara added before she padded back down the hall and towards their kitchen. Sam sighed heavily as she ripped the covers off of her before slowly getting herself out of bed.

How much did she drink last night?

When Sam managed to slowly make her way to their little dining table she plopped into her seat eyeing the tall glass of iced water and a couple of tablets sitting in front of her. "Oh my god, Lara. You are such a life saver." Sam managed to say, though her voice was hoarse. Sam almost sounded like she was sicker than a dog. Lara just smiled to herself in the kitchen as she began to dish up Sam's and her breakfast onto two plates.

Lara then made sure the stove was off and grabbed them some spoons, forks, and even butter knives before placing Sam's plate in front of her as she swallowed her pills and began drinking deeply from her water glass. "Eat up, it'll help." Lara said as she took her seat across from Sam.

Sam just smiled slightly as she began to pick at the breakfast Lara cooked for them. Well maybe it was more accurate to assume it was for Sam's sake. Lara rarely actually cooked in the morning. Especially since Sam was usually out cold until noon or after. "I guess I drank a bit more than I had meant to." Sam muttered, more to herself than to Lara.

Lara looked up as Sam quickly shoved some eggs into her mouth. "You took out half of the alcohol cabinet." Lara commented rather flatly, but she had an amused look on her face. Sam didn't share in the amusement though and just frowned after she managed to swallow her food. Lara frowned in return. "Sam, its ok…" Lara tried, even though she knew it really wasn't.

Sam shook her head as she poked at her pancakes with her fork. But she suddenly looked up at Lara with a smile. "Lets go out tonight. You know… Just forget everything and go to the club like we use to." Sam took a bite of her pancake next as Lara just gave her a concerned look.

Lara had fallen silent as she watched Sam. God what were they going to do if all it was going to be was them falling apart? Lara could barely motivate herself to get out of the house and the past few days all Sam did was drink herself into oblivion. They both cried regularly too, mostly in private, on top of their nightmares. "Sam…" Lara started. She was about to say something potentially upsetting so changed her mind last second, "Clubbing was always more your thing than mine." Lara said trying to avoid eye contact.

Sam gave an exasperated dismissing sound. "Lara, I just need to get out, have some fun." Sam said giving Lara a pleading look. Lara frowned to herself as she went poking about her own breakfast. "Oh my god, Lara, let out that inner party girl I know you have." Sam said pleadingly. She was so desperate to forget about everything at this point.

"Okay, okay. We can go clubbing." Lara said in defeat before she ate at her own eggs. Sam smiled at that and began to eat again herself.

"It'll be just like old times, I promise. We'll get out, have some fun, and maybe hook up with someone." Sam said, that last part was more teasingly. Lara suddenly felt weird at the thought of Sam hooking up with some random stranger. It wasn't really anything new, but this time it made Lara feel… uncomfortable. Maybe even a little hurt, oddly enough.

"You know I don't like shagging random strangers, Sam." Lara said sounding a little more agitated than even she realized. Sam gave her a weird look. Sam knew Lara wasn't the type to just hook up for the fun of it, but she never took that tone before either when it came to Sam. But Sam couldn't help but feel butterflies in her own stomach over it either.

"Anyway, I just have some stuff deal with at Cambridge today before we do anything." Lara said quickly trying to change the subject. She felt embarrassed when Sam gave her a curious look. God what a mess. Lara didn't even know if she really was feeling the way she thought she was, and even if that were the case… Well Sam never seemed to show any interest in anything lasting before.

Sam nodded herself, apparently convinced by the change in Lara's topic. "That's ok. I kind of want to go shopping today. Maybe I'll get us some new outfits for tonight." She said still trying to act cheerful. Lara just smiled slightly, though her chest ached with how much Sam was so unaware of what was happening in Lara's mind. Why did she have to feel this way now? When everything was so disheveled and they were desperately clinging to any form of a normal life they could currently. Especially when all either wanted to do was just fall apart.

Sam had left to go shopping shortly after Lara had showered, dressed, and left for Cambridge to deal with her artifacts. Sam had been feeling fairly well, despite her earlier mood. To be frank she had almost called up some random therapy office just to set up and appointment but decided against it for some reason. She wasn't usually one to be so stubborn but how could she even explain to some therapist who could have her locked up in some insane asylum what had happened on Yamatai?

Sam could see it now, walking into some therapist's office saying, "Yeah hi, I know we just met and this is crazy, but my dead ancestor tried to steal my body and I've lost my mind, so help me maybe?" Sam would either be laughed out of the office or locked away with the key tossed.

Sam shook her head as she walked up to a circular clothes rack. She couldn't think about that now. She was shopping, and it was high time to enjoy herself. If only for a day. So she began to rummage through the bargain rack, seeing if she might find something of interest amongst the discounted clothing hanging there. She was about to turn her nose up at it before she found a black button up shirt and it somehow caught her interest.

She pulled the hanger off the rack to further examine the shirt. It only buttoned up towards the collar bone, perhaps to show off a bit of cleavage if the wearer had any. The sleeves were mostly long, perhaps stopping shortly above one's wrists and it was a very comfortable material. It was the kind of material that would easily allow the skin below it to breathe easily without getting too hot. Sam suddenly flushed as she pictured Lara in it. "Oh my god, she'd be so ridiculously hot in this." She said more to herself than anyone else in her area.

She didn't even need to think about it. Lara was wearing this when they go clubbing later. She quickly moved towards the area where she could pick out a pair of pants to go with the shirt. Something simple would do, Sam figured. Perhaps black on black? She began to rummage through a pile of slacks looking for anything that would just be perfect for the top she had grabbed. She quickly pulled out some black slacks, checking the size of them. Sam was probably the only person ever to know Lara's clothes sizes since her parents vanished when she was younger.

Sam shook her head tossing the offending article of clothing back amongst it's fellow pants before she found a slim pickings of nice cargos. Lara loved cargos a little too much, but she managed to make them work in her favor all the time. Sam grabbed an off-white colored pair of cargos that were a bit too baggy for Lara's taste but Sam totally digged the idea. Sam didn't even bother with the price tag as she quickly went in search of a belt.

Sam grabbed up one of those cloth-type belts where it was looped through a buckle rather than the normal leather belts and quickly ran off for the checkout counter. She knew the perfect store to go to next to accessorize this outfit and she planned to not waste any time.

Lara got home before Sam did, even though it was pushing five o'clock. When Sam was nowhere to be seen she just assumed she hadn't finished her shopping spree which tended to be an all-day event. So it wasn't really out of the ordinary and Lara wasn't too worried about it. So she grabbed her laptop and sat on the sofa and began to do some reading she had been meaning to do but just never felt up to it or had been… Well dealing with other things.

It didn't take but a half an hour before Sam came bursting through the front door, weighed down by many-a-shopping bags. "Oh my god, Lara. I haven't done this much shopping in forever!" She exclaimed as Lara looked at her over her laptop screen. Lara just snorted with an amused smirk. Sam unceremoniously dumped her bags on the floor as she kicked off her shoes and tossed her purse onto the kitchen's island counter storming past the living room and disappearing into the bathroom.

Lara eyed the heap of shopping bags on the floor in the middle of the living room as she sighed to herself. Apparently some things never changed. But that actually made her smile. Maybe it was a good thing. "So I can see!" Lara called out finally as she heard Sam mess about in the bathroom before she came back out.

"I got you this awesome outfit for tonight." Sam said as she plopped herself on the couch next to Lara. Lara closed her laptop but let it rest in her lap still as she looked over to Sam with this uncertain look in her eyes.

"God, please don't tell me it's a dress, Sam." Lara said dryly. Sam smirked though as she shoved Lara once in a playful manner. Lara never did like dresses, Sam knew this better than anyone. She felt like dresses weren't very "practical". Or something like that anyway.

Sam shook her head though as she stood back up a moment, grabbing the bag and dropped it onto Lara's laptop before taking her seat next to her again. "I think you'll like it." Sam said as she watched Lara expectantly. Lara gave her another guarded look but peeked into the bag. She let out a relieved breath as she could tell it wasn't a dress.

Sam rolled her eyes but smiled. "I'm starving." Sam then said as she grabbed the TV remote and turned the box on. "We should order a pizza and like pig out in front of the TV before we go out." Sam then said, all smiles still. Lara couldn't help but feel the flutter in her chest and in her stomach return as she watched Sam. God just when she thought she had that under control.

Lara didn't have any reason to argue against Sam's suggested though, so they ordered some pizza while Sam put on some new reality show she was interested in seeing. Lara normally wouldn't be caught dead watching such shows, but Sam loved them. Sam also generally controlled what they watched when it came to the telly.

So of course after the pizza arrived they had settled on the sofa, the pizza box between them. "Ugh, their camera work is crap." Sam complained with a mouthful of pizza. Lara just grinned with amusement as she bit into her slice of pizza, content in hearing Sam complain about the shoddy camera angle. "I mean seriously!" She went on before actually swallowing her food. "Who the hell would hold a camera like that?" she questioned further before taking another heaping bite of her pizza.

Lara actually swallowed her food before speaking. "I don't know, Sam. I kind of like it." Lara said, just knowing it would drive Sam wild. She couldn't help but tease the American every once in a while. Sam gave her a look like she was crazy and Lara actually laughed.

"Sweetie, I love you and all, but you need to learn a thing or two when it comes to holding a camera." Sam said flatly and Lara about choked on the bit of pizza in her mouth. Lara honestly didn't expect Sam to sound so serious in her reply. It was golden and after a coughing fit Lara couldn't help but laugh again.

Sam did smile though. "I haven't heard you laugh like that in a long time." Sam said suddenly. Lara just flushed a bit, but she knew what Sam meant. "It's good to see you smiling, seriously." Sam then said before closing the pizza box, setting it aside and leaning against Lara. Lara was still red in the cheeks but hugged Sam to herself as they fell silent to actually watch the show that played on the telly.

Lara had just gotten out of the shower. She grabbed the shopping bag she had plopped onto the bathroom counter after drying off and began to dig through it. She lifted the pair of cargos out of it and tilted her head at them. They were a bit more tomboyish than she was normally use to but she figured for the one night it wouldn't be so bad. She then grabbed the top and eyed it a little more carefully. It was definitely different from what she was used to. Leave it to Sam to get her to try new things. She smiled a bit at that.

After she finally got dressed she found the accessories at the bottom of the bag and shook her head, her smile growing a bit. There was a necklace on a very tiny strand that was the silver chain and hanging from it was another bit of silver in the shape of a small rectangle. She recognized the Japanese kanji on it for the word strength. "Very funny, Sam." Lara muttered to herself in amusement, but put it around her neck anyways.

She then found some leather wrist strap and lifted it out of the bag and eyed it. Lara perked a brow at it and wondered what on earth Sam was thinking when she purchased it. Lara wasn't exactly sure as she looked it over. The wrist strap was simple yet still kind of neat in that it was one hunk of leather with two straps laced through it and buckled much like a belt. Lara shook her head at it before attaching it to her wrist anyway and then proceeded to tie her hair back the way she normally did with a tie.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, to allow Sam her turn to shower and was greeted by a slack jawed Sam. "Oh my god, good luck keeping anyone from pawing at you tonight." Sam said in a sense of astonishment. Lara gave her a look but smiled some anyways.

"Well if it's the right person I'm ok with that." Lara said without really thinking as the words came out of her mouth. Sam just gave her this really weird look. Lara felt her stomach do summersaults. Sam licked her lips once as she tried to look interested in her phone for a moment.

"I hope you didn't use up all the hot water." Sam then said before she quickly passed Lara by and disappeared into the bathroom and shutting the door rather abruptly. Lara couldn't help but fret and wonder if she had said the wrong thing as she sat onto the couch. She supposed only time could tell.

Ok I'mma break it here. I kind of know what I want to do with next chapter, so hopefully, again, it won't take too long. I tried to make this one a little more light hearted since the past few chapters have been a bit more on the depressing side. But I tried to make it not TOO light hearted either lol.

Anyways, until next time!