A/N: I'm back (...back in the fanfic writing groove...)! For now at least, and I'm optimistic that once finals end I will have a lot more time to write. This is a shorter chapter, comparatively, but it is leading up to some longer and more monumental ones, so just be patient, we will get to more fluffly relationship stuff very soon.

But for now...

Sam woke up feeling slightly better than she had the previous day. Sure enough, after her visit at Robby's she got sick. She didn't mind though, it was definitely worth it in her opinion. It also gave her a reason to stay home from school the last two days, and while she normally didn't like missing out on school, she appreciated the break so that she wouldn't have to face Miguel yet.

He had been texting her a lot recently, asking if she wanted him to bring her her homework and how she was feeling. It was sweet. But it also broke her heart knowing that sooner than later she's going to have to break his.

The last thing she wants is to make him upset. She finally got Miguel back in her life on good terms, it would crush her if this all went away just because she listened to her heart and chose Robby. At the same time, she would understand if Miguel was upset with her and didn't want to be friends anymore. And even though it would hurt, she would have to accept his choice if that's how he felt.

Sam sighed as she sat up in bed. She made her way to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and took a quick shower to try to remove the last gross feelings of sickness from her body.

When she got out, she checked her phone. To her delight, and dismay, she found two messages from both Robby and Miguel.

Good morning Sam, I'm glad you're feeling better! I'm also still really sorry I got you sick lol Robby wrote, signing off with a blue heart emoji that made her heart flutter.

Hey Sam, I hope u feel better today. I missed u in school this week! Maybe this video will help u feel a bit better, Miguel texted and he had sent a video of an octopus stealing someone's food off their plate.

She laughed watching the video, but couldn't help the sinking feeling inside her chest, wondering whether she made the right decision moving forward with Robby the other night. Everything felt so clear when she was with him, but now she couldn't help but question whether she made her decision too soon.

She looked at the time. It was still early in the morning. Realizing that she needed to talk this out with someone who knows her and her situation probably better than anyone else, she picked up her phone and quickly texted Aisha.

Hey! I know this is kind of short notice, but any chance you'd be down for me to drive to Topanga and hang out today?

Sam waited for a response on the edge of her seat. She couldn't bear to be alone with her confused thoughts for much longer

Her phone buzzed only a minute later.

Hi! Yes I would love that so much. I have a lot to tell you :) Do you want to come around 1? I'll text you my new address

Sam smiled gratefully at her friend's prompt response. Her and Aisha had been texting and calling a lot more frequently than they had over the summer and the year prior. It made her happy to have her friend back after they had been estranged. Oddly enough, Sam actually felt closer to her than she ever had even though Aisha moved away.

She texted back a quick response and then got ready for her drive to visit her friend.

Aisha's new house was only 30 minutes away from San Fernando Valley. The traffic on the weekend was lighter than she expected, so she arrived a little bit earlier than the planned time.

She took out her phone and sent a text to Aisha to inform her that she was in her driveway. Her house was the same tan shade as the previous one Sam remembered so well. It was strange to think that the place Sam had spent so much time at was now being lived in by another family.

Hopefully this house could have the same memories. Aisha texted her that the front door was open, and Sam made her way up the stone steps to the large door.

She entered the threshold and smiled at the photos and decorations she recognized donning the walls.

"You're early, I guess you couldn't wait to see me," Aisha joked and stood in the middle of the front hallways with her arms crossed.

Sam looked up surprised by her voice. She was taken out of her thoughts and let herself chuckle once the joke caught up to her. "Oh you have no idea," she giggled. "It's funny, everything is the same, but it looks different," she gestured to a narrow table against the wall that held various picture frames and some flowers.

Aisha nodded slowly, "Yeah, it took me some time to get used to too. It's like my old life got packed up and moved into a different world or something," she shook her head. "But I'm starting to feel like this place is home now," she sighed.

Sam smiled sadly. The thought of her best friend finding a home elsewhere made her a little disappointed. It wasn't like she hoped Aisha would be miserable in this new town, but part of her wished that she would never grow comfortable with the new normal.

"Well, almost like home. I really miss you...and all of our friends — even Hawk, believe it or not," she said, noticing Sam's solemn look.

"I don't know what there is to miss about Hawk," Sam scoffed. Her face softened, "But I miss you too. It's weird to not have you around at school. I still find myself trying to look for you in the halls sometimes."

Aisha laughed, "I actually do that too. I don't know what it is, but when I go to a new class, I still try to find you to sit next to."

Sam cooed, "I do that too!" The girls laughed at each other, missing the way it felt to be in each other's company. A breath of silence fell over them as the laughter died down. Shuffling her feet across the tile floor, Sam looked up at her friend with a mischievous glint in her eye. "So, speaking of school...are there any cute boys?" She smirked.

Wide-eyed, Aisha glanced behind her shoulder and peeked into the adjacent room to make sure no one was listening. She grabbed Sam by the wrist and pulled her up the stairs to her bedroom. Sam let out a yelp as she was thrown inside the room and stumbled into the bed.

Aisha closed the door behind her. "Okay. So," she released a long breath. "I wanted to tell you this, but I thought it would be better to wait until we met up," she started.

Sam's mouth hung open, and she stared at her friend with utmost interest. "Oh my god, what is it? The suspense is killing me, you have to say it," she whined.

"So, remember that kid from the All Valley last year? Xander? He was like the returning champ and he gave that whole speech about injustice or something?"

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah, my dad told me about that. He said the whole thing was really random and weird."

"Yeah, so, he's in my robotics class...and we kind of started talking...and it turns out, he's not as much of a loser asshole as I originally thought," she shrugged casually.

"Oh my god," Sam grinned. "You totally have a crush," she gushed.

Aisha's mouth opened to say something but hesitated. She cocked her head to the side, "I wouldn't necessarily call it a crush…"

Sam wrinkled her eyebrows, "Wait…"

"...we've been dating for like 2 months now," she peeped.

"Shut up," Sam gasped. Her mouth dropped open and she felt complete and utter joy for her friend. "Aisha, that's so great. I'm really happy for you. And I need you to tell me about everything," she demanded.

Aisha laughed, "Well there's not that much to tell yet. I mean we've pretty much just been hanging out a lot, and he's been showing me around Topanga since I've gotten here. He said that he remembered me from the tournament and thought it was really cool that I was the only girl who competed. There aren't any girls in Topanga Karate, so it was intriguing I guess. And then he said when I was also a kickass robotic engineer, he knew I was somehow he had to get to know better. And then, one thing led to another and he asked me on a date and I first said no," she laughed. "Then I got to know him a little better, and I eventually said yes."

Sam giggled, "That's so sweet. I'm really glad that he appreciates all the badass parts of you. It makes me really happy that you have someone who's really into you."

She sighed blissfully, "Yeah, it is nice isn't it?" Aisha took a seat on her bed opposite of Sam. "So what about you? I mean, you already have two guys who are really into you. Have you gotten any clarity on that yet?"

Looking down at her hands, Sam wondered momentarily if her friend was going to be disappointed in her decision. "Um…" she stuttered. "I have, actually," she answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Aisha's eyes widened, "Okay, so, come on, who is it?"

Sam grinned at her enthusiasm. "You act like my life is a plot line on some teenage drama," she joked.

"Well can you blame me? Other than the karate war, this has been at the peak of my interest for the last year," she laughed.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, well — anyways — I've decided that I don't want to lose either of them," Sam smiled, contently folding her hands in her lap.

Aisha's head jerked to the side, "No you can't do that, honey," she deadpanned.

Sam chuckled lightly, "I don't mean date them both, I mean that I don't want being in a relationship with one of them to mean saying goodbye to the other. They are both really important to me."

"Oh," Aisha wrinkled her nose. "I mean, yeah that would be ideal, but I don't know if that's for you to decide, Sam. It's kind of up to Robby or Miguel to figure out."

"Which is why...I need your help," she sighed. "I realized that Miguel and I work really well as friends. He's someone that I always look forward to talking to and I want to laugh with him and be there for him, and I know that he'll always be there for me. And with Robby," Sam paused, "I want to do a lot more than just talk to him…" she trailed off, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Aisha burst out laughing, "Okay, LaRusso. Down girl."

Sam laughed with her friend, "No, but I'm serious. And it's not just that it's just this feeling that I get from him. Like we both need to be near each other, and when we're together everything feels so effortless...but here's what I need your help with." Sam shifted her body so she could stare at her friend. "Last time Miguel and I broke up, you were there for him. I don't want the same thing that happened last time where we don't talk to each other and we can't even be in the same room together."

"So you want me to walk you through how to let him down easy?" She asked.

"More or less, I guess what I want to know is — when we broke up the first time, what was it that Miguel was most upset about?"

Aisha looked up for a moment trying to remember back to last summer. "Well, mostly just the lack of closure of it all. He said that you made it seem like it was all his fault, but then every time he tried to apologize you didn't want to hear it, and I think that's what bothered him the most. I think making sure that he knows you aren't choosing Robby over him because of something he did wrong is important," Aisha recalled.

Sam nodded, and she looked away sadly. After their break up last year, she needed some space from him to process everything that happened, and that was why she made the effort to block him out of her life in every aspect she could. It obviously ended up being more harmful than dealing with things head on, but she hadn't considered how it hurt Miguel too. In her mind, he moved on fairly quickly once Tory came into the picture.

"Hey, are you alright? I didn't say something wrong, did I?" Aisha asked.

"No, you're fine don't worry," Sam offered a small smile. "It's just...I didn't realize that Miguel was trying to get closure after we broke up. I thought he was trying to get back together so that's why I didn't want to hear him out. Maybe if I didn't shut him out, we could've been friends a lot earlier...and Tory would've never come into the picture," Sam mumbled. She said Tory's name like it tasted bad on her tongue to speak.

Aisha bit her lip momentarily, "Look, Sam," she paused for a moment. "First of all, you had a lot going on last year and you shouldn't feel bad for wanting space. Just because Miguel wanted closure, doesn't mean that you had to give it to him if you weren't ready. And second, there were a lot of things contributing to why it was so difficult for you and Miguel to be friends after your break up — it wasn't just Tory. Miguel dating Tory was totally independent of you two breaking up," Aisha lectured.

"Really? Because it seemed like she did it just to spite me," Sam raised an eyebrow.

Aisha sighed, "Tory really liked him, and I know you probably don't want to hear this, but Miguel really liked her. They helped each other in ways that other people couldn't. Trust me, I was there for the whole thing."

Sam crossed her arms over her chest. Hearing about Tory made her anxious, no matter how many people tried to convince her otherwise.

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to make you like her or anything, I don't even think I forgive her after what happened at school, but I also don't think it's healthy for your relationship with Miguel or Robby to hold onto that anger toward her," Aisha said sympathetically.

Sam uncrossed her arms and sighed, "I know you're right." Her blue eyes shimmered with tears building in the corners, "I don't want him to get hurt again — and I don't want to get hurt again. I'm afraid that she'll come back and ruin everything once the door is open to be with Miguel," Sam whispered. Her head was tucked into her chest making her voice almost inaudible.

Aisha nodded in understanding. She reached forward and placed a hand on her friend's hand to stop her from rubbing at her forearm. "I know that you're worried about all these events repeating themselves, but you didn't cause any of the events in the school fight to happen. People made their own choices. So you choosing to be with Robby won't drive Miguel back to Tory and if Miguel does want to be with Tory, then that's his decision to make. All you can control is making sure that you follow your heart and make the effort to be there for Miguel," Aisha comforted.

Sam looked up to meet her friend's eyes and smiled more fully at her. "You're a really good friend, you know that?" She sniffled.

Aisha laughed, "You are too."

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! It keeps my muses inspired