Chapter Six



Sami was staying up late that night with Lucas. They were watching one of those special 'made-for-TV' movies, Sami couldn't remember the name. She was glad that she had a day off of work the following day because she had been working almost every day lately. Work at Basic Black was always tedious and exhausting, so even one day off felt like a miracle to her. Lucas didn't have a physical therapy appointment the next day, so she could do whatever she wanted. She should go over and see how Will was doing, she decided quickly.

Without warning, the TV and the lights in the house all clicked off in unison. Sami let out an indignant yelp and jumped off the couch.

"It's okay, Sami, it's just a power outage." Lucas said and she could almost hear him smirking. She didn't see anything funny about the situation though.

"I bet the power won't even come on until the morning." Sami fumed, "This place is horrible. I bet the dirty hobo from the backyard will break in and try to kill us."

"Don't let your imagination run away with you, Sami. I'm sure the hobo is perfectly nice. After all, he had plenty of opportunities to kidnap Will but he never did."

"How can you say he's nice? He's a hobo." Sami said, sitting back down on the couch.

"Maybe you just need to stop being so hard on everyone." Lucas replied.

"I think you're the one who needs to stop being so hard on everyone." Sami snapped, "I am doing everything I can to make you happy again. But you're still acting miserable. Even if you hate me because you think the accident was my fault, you could still t-"

"What did you just say?" Lucas interrupted.

Sami stopped what she was saying and tried to focus on Lucas' eyes despite the darkness. She was glad there was snow outside, so that there was a little more light in the house. Sami could tell that his back had gone rigid after her last words. When she didn't say anything, Lucas turned to look at her.

"Do you really think that I hate you? That I blame you for the accident?" he asked her.

Sami thought about her dream and the cold, accusing look on Lucas' face that night at the hospital, "I don't know." she whispered, looking at the ground.

"Look at me." he tilted her chin up so that her eyes met his, "I do not hate you. And I never blamed you for what happened that night. It wasn't anyone's fault."

"But we were fighting because I had tried to frame Kate for murder. That's why Will was upset, then he ran outside and you ran after him..." Sami stopped talking, her throat had tightened too much for her to be able to speak.

"You didn't force me to chase you around in a hockey mask." Lucas reminded her, "I could have been a lot more mature about the whole situation."

"You wouldn't have done it if I hadn't broken into your mom's apartment." Sami argued.

"Sami, stop trying to convince me of something that isn't true. You aren't the reason I am in this wheelchair. I think the only one that believes that is you."

Sami felt relief flood through her. Knowing that he didn't hate her or hold her responsible for what happened made her happier than she had ever imagined it would. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. He was stiff for a minute, then hugged her back.

"Thank you." she murmured, feeling her heart rate speed up when she felt his soft lips touching the sensitive skin between her neck and collarbone. She moved away from him slightly, then moved her lips onto his, slowly and gently. It was the first time she had really initiated a kiss between the two of them but she hadn't been able to resist. Before, when she had been dying to kiss him, she prided herself on being the one in control of her feelings, when Lucas was always the one who couldn't resist kissing her.

She deepened the kiss, her tongue flicking between the opening of his lips. Her tongue explored the inside of his mouth, feeling the soft, warm skin of the insides of his cheeks and lips. He responding eagerly, his fingers running through her hair. Her mouth moved away from his after what seemed like only a second. Her breathing was coming out in long, shaky breaths. She pressed her lips against the side of his face and her lips met a cold wetness. It was pretty dark but Sami was almost positive that he was crying.

"Lucas, I-" Lucas didn't seem to want to hear what she had to say.

"Get away from me." he muttered, turning away from her. Sami stared at him in shock, stung by his words. She didn't know what she had did wrong. She thought that he had wanted to kiss her as much as she had wanted to kiss him. And now she had made him really upset. She moved one finger down his cheek and realized that she had been right, there was a damp trail of tears going down the side of his face.

He jerked away, flinging her arm away like her touch her him, "I said get away!" he repeated. Not knowing what else to do, she went into her own room.

Sami lowered herself onto the bed, hearing nothing but her own breathing, which had finally returned to being calm and even. She pressed her head against one pillow and closed her eyes, trying to sleep. But she couldn't. She was alone in the darkness and it felt like it was closing in around her, like it was suffocating her. She kept thinking about Lucas, sitting alone, in the dark in that room.

She had tried to be careful not to make him anymore upset than he already was. But she hadn't thought that one kiss would regress him to tears. She didn't even want to think about the reason behind her kiss. Or the reason why she had all these urges lately. Urges to kiss him, urges to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be fine. But now that he was pushing her away from him, she had to admit it, at least to herself if no one else.

"I love him." the whispered words were lost into the blackness of the room. She bolted upright in her bed and looked out towards the living room. She had to make him see that. She had to know what she had done to upset him. Sami rolled off the bed and crept into the living room, determined to make Lucas tell her the truth about how he was feeling.