Authors Note: This chapter is going to be a combination of a fluff piece, in the way that its going to be pretty light and breezy at the beginning but will finish in a completely different manner. So there's your warning. Though if you blink at the end you might miss it. So hmm..don't blink? Lol Nah, seriously, enjoy. As for the rating change, because of the subject matter at least in terms of Megan's past, and then what is to come up in future chapters, I felt that for that reason it should be changed. As sort of a warning for anyone that may be bothered by that type of thing.

Musical Note: The song used in this chapter is Framing Hanley – You. I don't own it, the band does, and what a band they are. #epic

I had everything planned out. Tonight was going to be perfect if I had to die trying. It had been such a long time since I'd done anything like this and for that very reason, I had to make sure that everything happened the way I imagined it.

April had said yes when I'd asked her out a few days prior and every moment since then I hadn't been able to wipe the grin from my face. The range of emotions that I was going through was so hard to explain but all I knew for sure and for certain was that I was happy. For the first time since I'd become single years before, things actually looked like they were looking up and I couldn't be more ready for it.

We had agreed to meet here at Crimson's. Having cleared it with the owners, and having Jared and one of the morning people covering for me, I had managed to snag the night off, making this date night, even if it was with Blaine and Cheryl, a reality. Agreeing to meet this way worked out for both of us as I had been her shadow for a week and we were both desperately in need of a break. Even if it was for only a few short hours.

"I thought this was supposed to be a date night? So where is your date Sammy?"

"Not even five minutes in the door and she's already on about April. Welcome to my world buddy. Now you can deal with it."

Watching as Blaine rolled his eyes I couldn't help but laugh. Knowing Cheryl the way I did, after all of this time I knew that most likely she had done nothing but focus on the double date aspect the entire way over here with her boyfriend and he was more then happy to push it off the first minute he could.

"Don't worry Cher. She'll be here. She knows how anxious you are to meet her."

If I was truthful as much as April knew that this would be a double date and that it was mostly at the insistence of Cheryl that it was even happening at all, I was also mildly worried about how she would handle it. She had been so closed off, out of fear for so long the last thing I wanted to do was put her into any situation that would make those barriers expose themselves again.

She'd opened up to me last Friday and then a little bit more every day since and I wanted to keep things going that way because I wanted to learn everything that there was to learn about her and this situation now, especially with the reaction to Blaine that she'd had previously, it concerned me. Instead of moving forward the way I wanted to, we might just go in the opposite direction.

I felt the tap on my shoulder then and as I turned and took her in, her blue eyes sparkling bright, her lips brought up into one of the biggest smiles I'd ever seen her wear before, I knew we were all about to find out just how she was going to handle it. She was here.

"Hey. Everything okay?"

I had been asking that of her a lot since her admission and now was no different. When we had to spend any amount of time apart, my mind was always focused on her. Making sure that whatever she had to do, she was doing it safely and without fear. It had become almost second nature to check on her, even going so far as to text her whenever I had a spare second free. Not only did I believe I was helping her, but at the same time helping myself. Otherwise the worry over her well being might make me sick.

"Yeah. There was a party starting as I was leaving in my dorm and getting out there was beyond hard." She leaned in closer to me and whispered her next words. "You can relax Sam, I'm really okay."

Touching her cheek, I leaned in and kissed the top of her head, almost out of habit and my heart melted inside my chest as I saw her smile even brighter. It happened this way every time I did this but the affect was always the same. I was beginning to live to see that smile.

"Hey there I'm Cheryl."

We were separated then as Cheryl made her presence known. I had known this was coming, but for a few brief seconds, I had thought we'd get just a little more time together. It would seem that my best friend had other plans.

"Hi, April."

"So nice to finally meet you. Sammy here stole you from us last week before we could properly meet. I'm so glad he got you to agree to it this week."

"I kind of think that was more me then Sam. It really is nice to finally meet you though."

Cheryl hugged her then and I felt myself tense the moment they made contact. Not out of jealousy but out of fear. April was still learning to adjust to her life being away from abuse, and any form of touching usually made her freeze and back up. I was sure Cheryl would be understanding of it but it didn't make me worry any less.

It was obvious that Blaine also noticed my reaction as he was by my side instantly. "I know you're concerned about tonight man, but don't be. No one here is going to hurt her and I'm sure she knows that. Take it easy."

"Easier said then done."

"You can't keep doing this to yourself man. She's got to be able to handle things on her own, as they come, or she won't ever heal. Look at the two of them. They're absolutely fine, and April had no reaction to Cheryl's hug at all. It's all good. You need to relax."

He was right, and I knew it. I had to really hear it and listen otherwise I was going to end up doing more harm to both of us then good. I wanted to protect her from everything, to the point of almost smothering her and before it got any more out of hand I needed to do as Blaine said and relax. Or I wasn't going to have the strength when the real danger did present itself.

"So are the two of you going to go another duet tonight?"

I put my focus back on to the conversation around me, just as Cheryl asked the question. I hadn't given any thought to what we were going to do tonight other then just spending time together, but now that it was out there, it made me wonder if we would indeed be singing together again.

"I don't think so." April answered, the smile never leaving her face. "I think I'm going to sit it out tonight and let other people do the singing. What about you and Blaine? Sam tells me that the two of you sing well together. Am I going to see that tonight?"

"Who knows. We end up doing something practically every week when we're here. Blaine more then me, but still. We'll see. It takes the fun out of it planning it to death don't you think?"

"I agree. So I guess that just leaves Sam then."

I hadn't really been paying attention to the conversation around me, the actual words anyway. I was amazed at just how at ease April seemed. She was openly talking with my friend, like they hadn't just met five minutes before and there wasn't a ounce of fear showing on her face. Not the way she had been the week before. It made what Blaine had said even more important. I really needed to take a step back and let her handle herself.

"Earth to Sammy."

"Sorry what?"

"I swear he did this last week and it made sense. I mean he kept spacing out when you were singing, but now, with you right here and actually talking to him, it makes no sense."

"Gee thanks Cher, because I couldn't have made myself sound crazy all on my own."

"Doesn't seem crazy to me."

I felt it then, under the table, the faintest of touches as her hand came to rest on top of mine. She squeezed it gently, not taking her eyes off the table and the people around her, and I felt myself immediately relax. She was letting me know that everything was alright. She wasn't going anywhere.

Slipping my hand out from under hers, I placed it on top and interlocked our fingers, giving her the faintest of squeezes back. It was one of the most natural experiences in the world for two people but for me it was making my entire body explode on contact. Just further proof that when it came to this woman, I was certifiably insane. The way she was made me feel in any given moment, was unparalleled.

"So buddy, you singing tonight?" Blaine asked bringing the conversation back to where it had all began and away from the fireworks shooting off inside of me. I was thankful for the distraction.

"Yeah I was thinking I would."

"Something you been working on?"

Whenever I felt the urge it was not unheard of for me to grab my acoustic and write music. It wasn't music that I let anyone hear, but it was still music. Blaine knew about it because he had walked in one day when I had been in the choir room doing that very thing. It was the one and only time anyone had heard anything I'd made myself. I hadn't been working on anything recently that was my very own though so the answer was easy.

"Nah. Think I'll just turn a song I heard into an acoustic number. My usual."

"I'm sure it will be great."

I know that logically no human being can be perfect. I am of the belief though that there can be a person out there in the world that can be perfect for you and with April I think I had found her. Not only was she doing her best to make me feel at ease when I was worrying about her, but she was also being supportive. I'd had people be supportive of me before, but nothing remotely close to this. The way it made me feel. It was just perfect and exactly what I needed without even realizing that I needed it.

"Well it's that time again. Another open mic night here at Crimson's. So put your fear aside and if you've got a song to sing, be it your own creation or your take on another creation, let your star shine bright."

The way Jared opened up the musical portion of the night, was nothing like mine but it was impressive. He enjoyed these nights almost as much as I did even though he didn't ever openly sing. Just as it was with me, he found the night magical. Lately though it had been more then just the music making the night magical, at least for me.

I had been working on a song. Not one of my own creation, but one that I had heard repeatedly over the last week and felt that I needed to sing. If I'm honest I had been looking for just the right song to sing that night, given what this night actually meant and I believed myself to have found it. I only hoped that as stood and made my way to the front, where my acoustic was waiting for me, that April would feel the same.

"Normally I wait for the end of the night to do this, but tonight I feel like changing things up. I haven't been able to get this song out of my head, and once you hear it I'm pretty sure you'll figure out why. So April, this one is for you."

If you're still up for chasing dreams
I've got a bottle, two glasses and a backseat.
And a lot of things to resolve
If you've got the time at all

Teaching myself the chords, making sure that I didn't miss a beat had been easier then I had expected. It was like as I was learning the song that it was guiding me, moving me, so as I played it now, for the first time publicly, it was almost second nature, moving from one part to the next.

I'm not one to be much different
Than who I really am
I lived my life for way too long
Trying to please everyone else.
Sometimes I should probably
Just bite my goddamn tongue
Will I've said too much a few times
But how much is enough

For you
'Cause I don't want to lose you

I was thinking about telling you
I was in love
I was in love with you

I knew that the words would affect her. I knew given the declaration that I had made at the beginning of the song that all eyes would be on her, a risk that I had taken given what she was going through but one that I was rewarded for as I focused my eyes on her while I sang. Her cheeks were just beginning to turn the brightest shade of pink but she never took her eyes off me for a second. Nor did the smile ever fade from her face.

If the look and reaction were any indication, she was not running from the feelings I was now laying on the table in front of her and it warmed my heart, making me feel even more secure, knowing it. Feeling it. She wasn't going anywhere.

No palace of words will make this better
If there's deceit in every letter
You came to me with a hope for a future
And I came to you with a weighted life

For you
'Cause I don't want to lose you

I was thinking about telling you
I was in love

Stepping outside of the box and doing something that I'd never done before, I stood from the stood then and continuing to play the song, I made my way down to the table where she sat, surrounded by my two best friends, both of them all smiles. As I reached her, I played the final few bars of the song, by heart, and where I had kept my eyes closed singing before, now they were wide open and trained only on her.

I was in love with you
With you

With you
I'm in love with you

As I finished the song, my eyes still not leaving hers, I began to move the guitar, to pull it over my head, prepared to put it back onto the stage for the next person, but before I could begin she took me off guard and she wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and not wasting another second she put her lips to mine and she kissed me. Hard at first, but then softening after a few seconds of contact.

While I had hoped that the song would speak to her, that she would hear what I was trying to tell her, baring my soul the way I was, I hadn't even begun to expect this kind of reaction. She was such a private person, holding everything she was thinking and feeling inside unless she was being pushed to open the door, to let down the barriers and this was completely unlike what I come to expect.

As I pulled away I looked at her, really took all of her in again, and was amazed to find the smile on her lips again, the one that had been there since the moment she arrived that night and hadn't disappeared for a second since.

"Do you really mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"What you sang to me."

"More then I've ever meant anything in my life. April, I know its fast but-"

Before I had the chance to continue she put her finger to my lips.

"Sam, don't say anything else."

Out of respect for what she had asked of me, instead of answering I just nodded my head in understanding. I had no idea where this was going, but I found that in that moment as much as I normally would have torn it apart in questions, I didn't care too. I was going to take whatever was going to come next.

"It is fast and it's scary and there's a small part of me that wants to run right now but I'm not going too."

"Please don't run."

"I won't." her words came out in barely a whisper, almost as if she was keeping the conversation between the two of us even though our friends were more then close enough to hear the entire exchange but were also remaining deathly silent. "I feel the same."

"You what?"

"I feel the same way, as what you said."

"You, you love me?"

Before she could answer there was a commotion at the table, one that was impossible to ignore. Looking up for just a split second, April's eyes following along with me, I noticed instantly what the commotion was about. Someone had shown up at our table.

My hand still resting on April's leg I felt her instantly tense up, her body, which had been well heated, warm before was now beginning to turn incredibly cold, more so with each passing second. She immediately wrapped her hair around her face, much the way she had done the first night she had come into the coffee shop, something I hadn't missed. She brought her head down then, closer to the table and I instinctively pulled her to me. I had no idea what made me think of it but I knew in that moment that whatever was going on, she needed my help with.

Whispering softly to her, as I watched my friends talk with the new occupant at the table, I buried her face into my chest.

"Do you need to get out of here?"

She nodded against my chest, obviously not trusting her own voice, or wanting to arouse anyone else's curiosity and I immediately pulled myself up from the seat, guitar still hung around my neck, making it impossible to bring her as close to me as I needed her to be in that moment.

"Hey Blaine, we're gonna head outside from some air, we'll be right back."

I wanted to keep things as natural as possible and given the way we had been speaking before the interruption, us needing much needed time alone shouldn't make anyone suspect anything. Or at least that was what I was hoping for.

"Hurry back man, we got a lot of catching up to do while I'm in town."

"Sure, no problem. It's nice to see you again man."

Moving as quickly as I could, bringing her around to the side of me that wasn't in plain view of everyone at the table, I moved her toward the door. Her body was so cold now, hard, almost like metal. I had no idea why this was happening now, only that I had to get her out of there and away from whatever was causing it.

The minute we slid through the doors and were standing outside, she pulled away from me and made a run for the spot where I had found her only one week before, the spot where she had confessed everything to me and all of this, what we were now feeling had began.

I was left with only one question though as I watched her run and immediately picked up my pace to follow her.

Why did her blood instantly run cold the minute Cooper Anderson had arrived at our table and what if any part did it play on what she had been about to tell me?