Chapter Eight
Brandon looked over at Samantha, enjoying the beauty of her as she lay asleep beside him. Her face was so angelic, so beautiful as he reached out to her touching her cheek gently. A smile swept over his features as he pressed a golden strand behind her ear as she turned in his arms. For so long he'd wanted nothing more than to be with her, to love her and keep her beside him and now as his dreams were so close to coming true, he thought of how he'd almost lost her. He'd gone on and on about her being honest with him when he'd been the one who'd blown it. She'd given him her heart and he in turn had lied to her about Lexie, risked their relationship in the worst way, but now they were together again, promising to spent eternity together and as he held her, he felt as though he was the luckiest man in the world.
Slowly Sami's eyes opened as she felt Brandon watching her. A heat rose over in face as she couldn't help but smile at him as she questioned coyly, "What?"
"I was just thinking about how beautiful you are," he confessed stroking her cheek gently.
"You were not," she felt her blush deepen at the way his eyes fell over her, "were you?"
"Of course I was Samantha," He leaned in to kiss her tenderly, "I was thinking how you are the most beautiful woman alive and how that makes me the luckiest man in the whole world to be able to be this close to you sharing this morning with you."
"Oh Brandon," Sami couldn't help but smile brightly, "how is it you know how to say all the right things to me?"
"It's because they're the truth," he confessed to her, "you are the most amazing woman I've ever met."
"You're the first person to say that and mean it," Sami turned her eyes away from him, "I'm no angel."
"You are to me," Brandon confessed, "you're my sweet angel and I've loved you from the first moment I laid eyes upon you. From the moment we met I knew that one day we'd be together and it was only a matter of time before I won over your heart."
"Such confidence in us," Sami noted, "and here I would've thought most men would've given up on me after all this time."
"Samantha, you were worth the wait and I knew one day," his fingers tapered off over her features tracing them in an attempt to memorize her every feature, "I knew in Italy that you loved me too, that you and I had a connection, but you weren't willing to face it until the time was right."
"Even then I was blinded by my school girl crush on Austin," Sami shook her head, "I don't know why I couldn't just let it go. I made so many mistakes."
"Samantha, you grew up in so many ways and in making those mistakes you were able to see what real love is," Brandon placed feathery light kisses over her features, "I knew that one day when you were able to see that Austin was the wrong man for you that we'd wind up together just like this."
"And life for us would be wonderful," Sami closed her eyes as she took in a breath feeling the warmth of Brandon over her.
"It's going to be wonderful from hear on out," he promised as he moved in over her, "I love you Samantha and when we're married I'm going to show you love like you've only dreamed of. I'm going to make you and Will so happy."
"You've already done so much for me," her hands wrapped around him tracing the hard contours of his body, "I love you, Brandon."
"I love you Samantha," he kissed her tenderly, the heat slowly stirring beneath the surface until it threatened to burn out of control. As they parted he could see the desire stirring beneath the surface in her blue eyes as a smile swept over his handsome features.
"What?" she half questioned in a breathy whisper, "there's that look again."
"I was just thinking about that time at dinner in Italy," Brandon confessed, "that night you told me over and over again that you loved Austin and how I promised you I'd remind you of that moment in time when you were in my arms and we were making love to one another."
"You knew even then," Sami couldn't help but smile, "deep down you've always known we would wind up together and now, well, now I guess this is where it all begins again for us."
"And it will be everything we've both dreamed of," Brandon wrapped her up in his strong arms, "we can get married, buy a home and start our family..."
"So I guess you aren't as concerned about that time for just us now, huh," she thought back to how things had been before for them around the time they'd discovered Lexie's pregnancy.
"Samantha, I've done a lot of growing up over these last few months," Brandon admitted honestly, "and in knowing I'm about to be a father, well that changes things," he took in a breath feeling a serious moment between them as she looked away, "I know that you don't want to talk about this, but we have to."
"I know," she nodded keeping her eyes closed, "but this isn't easy for me."
"Samantha, I can only imagine how hard this can be on you, but we need to talk about this," he let out a sigh as he lay back down beside her. He felt the silence enveloping him as he continued, "Samantha, I know I wasn't honest with you. I should've told you about Lexie after we were back together. I shouldn't have been drilling into you about being honest when I'd been keeping the biggest secret of all. That night with Lexie," he paused, "I let my emotions take control. My anger took over everything else and I gave in to that rage that I was feeling in losing you and in having Abe destroy my life."
"Brandon, what Abe did was so long ago," Sami opened her eyes again seeing the lost look in his features, "Brandon, I know it hurt, but you have to let go of that anger before it destroys you."
"Look Samantha, I don't need you to be my therapist," he snapped at her seeing the obvious hurt in her eyes as he took in a breath, "what I'm trying to say is this isn't easy for me."
"Brandon, it never is easy to know that your parents made a mistake," Sami propped herself up on her elbow, "when I found my mom and John together, I did some horrible things. Anyone in Salem would be glad to tell you about what a witch I turned into after that trying to destroy them for how they hurt my dad, but the truth was that I was only destroying myself. I did so many things, things that I can't believe I did all because I was hurt by what I saw, but now after all the time has passed, I realize that while I may never understand what my mother did, the fact remains that my father forgave her, so I have to let it go. I love my mother and if I continued to live with the hatred inside of me, well, I wouldn't have anyone."
"Samantha, I hear what you're saying, but when I think back to all the beatings my mother endured because of Abe Carver," Brandon shuddered at the thought, "our family went through hell because of his interference."
"Brandon, just think about that for a minute. While Abe shouldn't have made a play at a married woman like your mom, just think about all the pain your father caused her. Think about what he did to her, to you and as much as I hate to think about it, to Nicole. That man did so many things to hurt all of you and Abe wasn't to blame for all of that."
"He played a good part of what happened though," Brandon answered tightly, "if he would've just let my mom be, then my father might not have..."
"Brandon," she touched his chest feeling him slipping away from her as she leaned in over him, "tell me that's what you really believe in your heart. Do you really think that Abe meant to make your father that way?"
"Samantha, it doesn't matter what he meant," Brandon argued, "it's what he did..."
"And what about what you did with Lexie?" Sami challenged feeling a bit of her anger building inside of her, "she was married with Abe when you slept with her. She was a married woman and you hated Abe so much that you slept with Lexie. You wanted to stick it to him so badly that you took what we had and you made it into something that meant nothing to you when you slept with her," Sami sat upright feeling her bottled up rage surfacing, "how does that make you any better than Abe?"
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with me Samantha," Brandon argued with her.
"Yet you believed we had eternity together, right?" she questioned bitterly, "if you really knew me Brandon, you would've sensed something was wrong that night I called you."
"I did sense something was wrong," he admitted, "and when I saw you I could feel that there was something happening."
"But you didn't think to come and find me, to seek me out and find out what was happening did you? You didn't care because it was easier to lose yourself in Lexie, wasn't it?" She snapped feeling it all flowing out as she stepped across the room fueled by all the things she never said.
"Samantha, I made a mistake," Brandon sat up watching her pull away from him, "I let my anger get the best of me and I screwed up."
"That's an understatement," she huffed tossing her hair over her shoulder as she looked at him, "you tossed away everything we had together and for what? A roll in the hay with Lexie that can't be taken back now that she's having your baby?"
"Samantha," Brandon began seeing the anger burning out of control in her eyes.
"Well? What was it? Your anger at Abe that consumed you to the point you just had to take like he did or was it the fact that I meant so little to you in that moment in time that you just couldn't fight the feeling?" she shouted at him, "so what was it Brandon? Was it worth destroying Abe or was it about destroying me for what you felt I did to you with Austin?"
"Samantha, I love you," Brandon pleaded with her, "I've always loved you."
"Then love should've brought you to my apartment that night instead of taking you into bed with Lexie," She shouted as her tears swelled in her eyes, "you just couldn't take the mature approach that you were constantly begging me to take in our relationship and just own up to what was happening, could you Brandon?"
"I made a terrible mistake Samantha and I can't take that back, but I wish I could," Brandon rose from the bed making his way over to her as she turned away.
"But you're going to be a father," Sami took in a breath, "your anger with Abe caused a child to get swept into this chaos and now we all have to deal with that."
"I realize that, but that doesn't change us," he hesitated as he reached out to her touching her shoulder tentatively, "or does it?"
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"Hey beautiful," Tony reached out to take his sister's hand in his as Lexie opened her eyes seeing him beside her.
"Tony," she half questioned as she looked up remembering the night she'd spent in the hospital, "wh-where am I?"
"You're safe now," Tony promised her, "Colin and I were worried about you, but it looks like you're going to be just fine."
"But not my baby," Lexie's eyes narrowed, "Tony, I lost my baby."
"I'm sorry about that," Tony's face darkened, "but we'll make it through this together."
"How can I make it through this after losing another child?" she questioned painfully, "Tony, this isn't fair."
"No it's not Alexandria, but I promise you I'll be by your side doing all I can to get you through this."
"I don't know if that's possible," she closed her eyes thinking about the previous evening's turn of events, "this just isn't fair."
"Alexandria, you need rest now," Tony kissed the top of her hand.
"No, I can't sleep," she shook her head as she opened her eyes again, "did you get a hold of Brandon?"
"I tried his cell phone number once, but there was still no response," Tony confessed, "though I would like to tell you again that I think you'd be better off without Brandon now that there is no need for him in your life. He's not what you need Alexandria. You deserve the best."
"But I want Brandon," Lexie's eyes snapped towards him, "he's what I need in my life. Even now I need him more than ever."
"Alexandria, that man has brought you nothing but pain in your life," Tony reminded her, "I don't want to see you hurting especially since you and I both know he and Samantha are together."
"She's a phase he'll grow out of," Lexie couldn't help but smile wickedly, "but Brandon and I are starting a family with one another."
"Alexandria," Tony frowned realizing something was brewing in his sister, "but the baby...."
"Tony," She reached for his arm, "tell me that when I was in here last night that you kept this between us, that you kept what happened with the baby between you, Colin and I."
"I did as you requested," Tony nodded, "but still I don't think...."
"Brandon has no idea about the baby," Lexie thought it over in her mind, "no one knows."
"Alexandria," Tony reached out to her again, "what are you thinking?"
"I'm going to keep Brandon," Lexie answered determined, "and you're going to be the one to help me do it. You'll help me get rid of Samantha Brady so that I can be with the one man who loved me. Brandon and I will have a family together."
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"Brandon, what do you want me to say?" Sami sighed as she turned around to face him, "do you want me to say I'm happy about any of this?"
"Just tell me that we have a chance, that we still have a future together and that you haven't changed your mind about us being married," Brandon pleaded with her, "tell me that you still want to be my wife, that I haven't lost you again."
"Brandon, you haven't lost me, but the truth is that you've hurt me," she confessed unable to control her tears as he wrapped her up in his arms holding her protectively.
"Samantha, I'm so sorry," he confessed his own tears building behind his eyes, "I never, ever meant to do this to you--to us."
"I know that, which is why this hurts so much," she sobbed into his chest, "I love you Brandon, but I'm just so afraid of what happens next, of where we go in the future from the moment we leave this place."
"Whatever happens, we face it together," Brandon promised her as he kissed the top of her head gently, "I love you, Samantha."
"I love you too," she confessed, "God help me, but I can't stop loving you Brandon. Even now when I think about what we just went through last night."
"Samantha, I don't want to be away from you ever again," he lifted her eyes to meet his gaze, "even now I can't imagine walking away from what we have."
"Brandon, I just don't want to have you accusing me again," she started, "of making me feel guilty for the things I've done out of desperation to keep us together."
"Samantha, I understand why you did what you did and even now," he kissed her again, "I know in my heart that the only person who was causing problems in our relationship was me. I should've kept that honesty between us and I'm sorry."
"Brandon," she hesitated as she looked away, "I think you and I have a few more things to think about here though."
"Such as?"
"Such as what happens when we get back to Salem," she rubbed her arms as if trying to keep warm.
"Samantha, I already told you. I'm going to be there for Lexie and this baby, but I'm also going to be there for you," Brandon insisted, "we're going to be together, maybe look into taking the next step in our relationship."
"Such as?" she faced him again.
"Such as looking into a house and planning this wedding," Brandon paused, "you want that, don't you?"
"Of course I want that, but I'm just afraid that because I want it so badly, I'm not going to be able to have that with you," Sami shrugged as she thought of their night in one another's arms, "even now I'm almost afraid of blowing it. That you'll turn something around on me and hate me."
"Samantha, how could I hate you? I love you."
"Brandon, last night when we made love," Sami turned her eyes up to him again, "when we were together, I wanted you desperately..."
"And I wanted you Samantha," Brandon reached out to her hugging her, "That hasn't changed."
"No it hasn't, but one thing has," she took in a breath, "you told me that when you made love to a woman, you always were safe about it..."
"That wasn't a lie," Brandon nodded in response, "even when I was with Lexie, she and I took precautions."
"I understand that and I believe you, but Brandon," she took in a breath, "last night, well, when we were together..."
"Samantha," his voice half questioned as he noticed something behind her eyes.
"You didn't do that--we didn't do that last night," Sami reminded him thinking back, "everything happened so fast that..."
"Samantha, I'm aware of what happened," he silenced her with a kiss, "I know we said we wouldn't do that, but last night...when I thought I lost you..."
"Brandon, when you made love to me," she paused thinking about everything, "when we were together, did you realize that we weren't using protection?"
"It had crossed my mind," he nodded as a silence fell over them, "but I was just thankful that we were with one another again, that you were safe."
"Brandon, were you hoping that I'd be pregnant," Sami questioned meeting his dark eyes, "is that how you thought you'd repair what went wrong with us, or was that something you genuinely overlooked? Was this something that you could use against me should you decide you don't want me anymore when we return to Salem?"
"Samantha, I'll always want you," he reached out to her placing her hand over his heart, "you're my everything. I love you and I'll always love you," he took in a breath, "and should we have a child as a result of last night, well," he paused once more as he gazed into her confused eyes, "Samantha, that would just be more proof of how right we are together, of how strong our love is."
"Brandon, I just....I don't know what to say," Sami confessed realizing that there was far too much to absorb, more than she'd banked on during this trip away from Salem.
"Then don't say anything," Brandon reached out to her drawing her into his arms, "don't say a word and just listen to your heart. Listen to what our love is telling you."
"My head is telling me that I'm a fool to let myself love you, but my heart is telling me to hold on tight and never let go," she blurted out turning his arms as she captured his soft, sensual lips in another desire laced kiss, "please don't let go of me, Brandon."
"I'll never let go of you again," Brandon squeezed her in his arms gently, "I'll be with you forever. You have my word on that."
Brandon looked over at Samantha, enjoying the beauty of her as she lay asleep beside him. Her face was so angelic, so beautiful as he reached out to her touching her cheek gently. A smile swept over his features as he pressed a golden strand behind her ear as she turned in his arms. For so long he'd wanted nothing more than to be with her, to love her and keep her beside him and now as his dreams were so close to coming true, he thought of how he'd almost lost her. He'd gone on and on about her being honest with him when he'd been the one who'd blown it. She'd given him her heart and he in turn had lied to her about Lexie, risked their relationship in the worst way, but now they were together again, promising to spent eternity together and as he held her, he felt as though he was the luckiest man in the world.
Slowly Sami's eyes opened as she felt Brandon watching her. A heat rose over in face as she couldn't help but smile at him as she questioned coyly, "What?"
"I was just thinking about how beautiful you are," he confessed stroking her cheek gently.
"You were not," she felt her blush deepen at the way his eyes fell over her, "were you?"
"Of course I was Samantha," He leaned in to kiss her tenderly, "I was thinking how you are the most beautiful woman alive and how that makes me the luckiest man in the whole world to be able to be this close to you sharing this morning with you."
"Oh Brandon," Sami couldn't help but smile brightly, "how is it you know how to say all the right things to me?"
"It's because they're the truth," he confessed to her, "you are the most amazing woman I've ever met."
"You're the first person to say that and mean it," Sami turned her eyes away from him, "I'm no angel."
"You are to me," Brandon confessed, "you're my sweet angel and I've loved you from the first moment I laid eyes upon you. From the moment we met I knew that one day we'd be together and it was only a matter of time before I won over your heart."
"Such confidence in us," Sami noted, "and here I would've thought most men would've given up on me after all this time."
"Samantha, you were worth the wait and I knew one day," his fingers tapered off over her features tracing them in an attempt to memorize her every feature, "I knew in Italy that you loved me too, that you and I had a connection, but you weren't willing to face it until the time was right."
"Even then I was blinded by my school girl crush on Austin," Sami shook her head, "I don't know why I couldn't just let it go. I made so many mistakes."
"Samantha, you grew up in so many ways and in making those mistakes you were able to see what real love is," Brandon placed feathery light kisses over her features, "I knew that one day when you were able to see that Austin was the wrong man for you that we'd wind up together just like this."
"And life for us would be wonderful," Sami closed her eyes as she took in a breath feeling the warmth of Brandon over her.
"It's going to be wonderful from hear on out," he promised as he moved in over her, "I love you Samantha and when we're married I'm going to show you love like you've only dreamed of. I'm going to make you and Will so happy."
"You've already done so much for me," her hands wrapped around him tracing the hard contours of his body, "I love you, Brandon."
"I love you Samantha," he kissed her tenderly, the heat slowly stirring beneath the surface until it threatened to burn out of control. As they parted he could see the desire stirring beneath the surface in her blue eyes as a smile swept over his handsome features.
"What?" she half questioned in a breathy whisper, "there's that look again."
"I was just thinking about that time at dinner in Italy," Brandon confessed, "that night you told me over and over again that you loved Austin and how I promised you I'd remind you of that moment in time when you were in my arms and we were making love to one another."
"You knew even then," Sami couldn't help but smile, "deep down you've always known we would wind up together and now, well, now I guess this is where it all begins again for us."
"And it will be everything we've both dreamed of," Brandon wrapped her up in his strong arms, "we can get married, buy a home and start our family..."
"So I guess you aren't as concerned about that time for just us now, huh," she thought back to how things had been before for them around the time they'd discovered Lexie's pregnancy.
"Samantha, I've done a lot of growing up over these last few months," Brandon admitted honestly, "and in knowing I'm about to be a father, well that changes things," he took in a breath feeling a serious moment between them as she looked away, "I know that you don't want to talk about this, but we have to."
"I know," she nodded keeping her eyes closed, "but this isn't easy for me."
"Samantha, I can only imagine how hard this can be on you, but we need to talk about this," he let out a sigh as he lay back down beside her. He felt the silence enveloping him as he continued, "Samantha, I know I wasn't honest with you. I should've told you about Lexie after we were back together. I shouldn't have been drilling into you about being honest when I'd been keeping the biggest secret of all. That night with Lexie," he paused, "I let my emotions take control. My anger took over everything else and I gave in to that rage that I was feeling in losing you and in having Abe destroy my life."
"Brandon, what Abe did was so long ago," Sami opened her eyes again seeing the lost look in his features, "Brandon, I know it hurt, but you have to let go of that anger before it destroys you."
"Look Samantha, I don't need you to be my therapist," he snapped at her seeing the obvious hurt in her eyes as he took in a breath, "what I'm trying to say is this isn't easy for me."
"Brandon, it never is easy to know that your parents made a mistake," Sami propped herself up on her elbow, "when I found my mom and John together, I did some horrible things. Anyone in Salem would be glad to tell you about what a witch I turned into after that trying to destroy them for how they hurt my dad, but the truth was that I was only destroying myself. I did so many things, things that I can't believe I did all because I was hurt by what I saw, but now after all the time has passed, I realize that while I may never understand what my mother did, the fact remains that my father forgave her, so I have to let it go. I love my mother and if I continued to live with the hatred inside of me, well, I wouldn't have anyone."
"Samantha, I hear what you're saying, but when I think back to all the beatings my mother endured because of Abe Carver," Brandon shuddered at the thought, "our family went through hell because of his interference."
"Brandon, just think about that for a minute. While Abe shouldn't have made a play at a married woman like your mom, just think about all the pain your father caused her. Think about what he did to her, to you and as much as I hate to think about it, to Nicole. That man did so many things to hurt all of you and Abe wasn't to blame for all of that."
"He played a good part of what happened though," Brandon answered tightly, "if he would've just let my mom be, then my father might not have..."
"Brandon," she touched his chest feeling him slipping away from her as she leaned in over him, "tell me that's what you really believe in your heart. Do you really think that Abe meant to make your father that way?"
"Samantha, it doesn't matter what he meant," Brandon argued, "it's what he did..."
"And what about what you did with Lexie?" Sami challenged feeling a bit of her anger building inside of her, "she was married with Abe when you slept with her. She was a married woman and you hated Abe so much that you slept with Lexie. You wanted to stick it to him so badly that you took what we had and you made it into something that meant nothing to you when you slept with her," Sami sat upright feeling her bottled up rage surfacing, "how does that make you any better than Abe?"
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with me Samantha," Brandon argued with her.
"Yet you believed we had eternity together, right?" she questioned bitterly, "if you really knew me Brandon, you would've sensed something was wrong that night I called you."
"I did sense something was wrong," he admitted, "and when I saw you I could feel that there was something happening."
"But you didn't think to come and find me, to seek me out and find out what was happening did you? You didn't care because it was easier to lose yourself in Lexie, wasn't it?" She snapped feeling it all flowing out as she stepped across the room fueled by all the things she never said.
"Samantha, I made a mistake," Brandon sat up watching her pull away from him, "I let my anger get the best of me and I screwed up."
"That's an understatement," she huffed tossing her hair over her shoulder as she looked at him, "you tossed away everything we had together and for what? A roll in the hay with Lexie that can't be taken back now that she's having your baby?"
"Samantha," Brandon began seeing the anger burning out of control in her eyes.
"Well? What was it? Your anger at Abe that consumed you to the point you just had to take like he did or was it the fact that I meant so little to you in that moment in time that you just couldn't fight the feeling?" she shouted at him, "so what was it Brandon? Was it worth destroying Abe or was it about destroying me for what you felt I did to you with Austin?"
"Samantha, I love you," Brandon pleaded with her, "I've always loved you."
"Then love should've brought you to my apartment that night instead of taking you into bed with Lexie," She shouted as her tears swelled in her eyes, "you just couldn't take the mature approach that you were constantly begging me to take in our relationship and just own up to what was happening, could you Brandon?"
"I made a terrible mistake Samantha and I can't take that back, but I wish I could," Brandon rose from the bed making his way over to her as she turned away.
"But you're going to be a father," Sami took in a breath, "your anger with Abe caused a child to get swept into this chaos and now we all have to deal with that."
"I realize that, but that doesn't change us," he hesitated as he reached out to her touching her shoulder tentatively, "or does it?"
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"Hey beautiful," Tony reached out to take his sister's hand in his as Lexie opened her eyes seeing him beside her.
"Tony," she half questioned as she looked up remembering the night she'd spent in the hospital, "wh-where am I?"
"You're safe now," Tony promised her, "Colin and I were worried about you, but it looks like you're going to be just fine."
"But not my baby," Lexie's eyes narrowed, "Tony, I lost my baby."
"I'm sorry about that," Tony's face darkened, "but we'll make it through this together."
"How can I make it through this after losing another child?" she questioned painfully, "Tony, this isn't fair."
"No it's not Alexandria, but I promise you I'll be by your side doing all I can to get you through this."
"I don't know if that's possible," she closed her eyes thinking about the previous evening's turn of events, "this just isn't fair."
"Alexandria, you need rest now," Tony kissed the top of her hand.
"No, I can't sleep," she shook her head as she opened her eyes again, "did you get a hold of Brandon?"
"I tried his cell phone number once, but there was still no response," Tony confessed, "though I would like to tell you again that I think you'd be better off without Brandon now that there is no need for him in your life. He's not what you need Alexandria. You deserve the best."
"But I want Brandon," Lexie's eyes snapped towards him, "he's what I need in my life. Even now I need him more than ever."
"Alexandria, that man has brought you nothing but pain in your life," Tony reminded her, "I don't want to see you hurting especially since you and I both know he and Samantha are together."
"She's a phase he'll grow out of," Lexie couldn't help but smile wickedly, "but Brandon and I are starting a family with one another."
"Alexandria," Tony frowned realizing something was brewing in his sister, "but the baby...."
"Tony," She reached for his arm, "tell me that when I was in here last night that you kept this between us, that you kept what happened with the baby between you, Colin and I."
"I did as you requested," Tony nodded, "but still I don't think...."
"Brandon has no idea about the baby," Lexie thought it over in her mind, "no one knows."
"Alexandria," Tony reached out to her again, "what are you thinking?"
"I'm going to keep Brandon," Lexie answered determined, "and you're going to be the one to help me do it. You'll help me get rid of Samantha Brady so that I can be with the one man who loved me. Brandon and I will have a family together."
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"Brandon, what do you want me to say?" Sami sighed as she turned around to face him, "do you want me to say I'm happy about any of this?"
"Just tell me that we have a chance, that we still have a future together and that you haven't changed your mind about us being married," Brandon pleaded with her, "tell me that you still want to be my wife, that I haven't lost you again."
"Brandon, you haven't lost me, but the truth is that you've hurt me," she confessed unable to control her tears as he wrapped her up in his arms holding her protectively.
"Samantha, I'm so sorry," he confessed his own tears building behind his eyes, "I never, ever meant to do this to you--to us."
"I know that, which is why this hurts so much," she sobbed into his chest, "I love you Brandon, but I'm just so afraid of what happens next, of where we go in the future from the moment we leave this place."
"Whatever happens, we face it together," Brandon promised her as he kissed the top of her head gently, "I love you, Samantha."
"I love you too," she confessed, "God help me, but I can't stop loving you Brandon. Even now when I think about what we just went through last night."
"Samantha, I don't want to be away from you ever again," he lifted her eyes to meet his gaze, "even now I can't imagine walking away from what we have."
"Brandon, I just don't want to have you accusing me again," she started, "of making me feel guilty for the things I've done out of desperation to keep us together."
"Samantha, I understand why you did what you did and even now," he kissed her again, "I know in my heart that the only person who was causing problems in our relationship was me. I should've kept that honesty between us and I'm sorry."
"Brandon," she hesitated as she looked away, "I think you and I have a few more things to think about here though."
"Such as?"
"Such as what happens when we get back to Salem," she rubbed her arms as if trying to keep warm.
"Samantha, I already told you. I'm going to be there for Lexie and this baby, but I'm also going to be there for you," Brandon insisted, "we're going to be together, maybe look into taking the next step in our relationship."
"Such as?" she faced him again.
"Such as looking into a house and planning this wedding," Brandon paused, "you want that, don't you?"
"Of course I want that, but I'm just afraid that because I want it so badly, I'm not going to be able to have that with you," Sami shrugged as she thought of their night in one another's arms, "even now I'm almost afraid of blowing it. That you'll turn something around on me and hate me."
"Samantha, how could I hate you? I love you."
"Brandon, last night when we made love," Sami turned her eyes up to him again, "when we were together, I wanted you desperately..."
"And I wanted you Samantha," Brandon reached out to her hugging her, "That hasn't changed."
"No it hasn't, but one thing has," she took in a breath, "you told me that when you made love to a woman, you always were safe about it..."
"That wasn't a lie," Brandon nodded in response, "even when I was with Lexie, she and I took precautions."
"I understand that and I believe you, but Brandon," she took in a breath, "last night, well, when we were together..."
"Samantha," his voice half questioned as he noticed something behind her eyes.
"You didn't do that--we didn't do that last night," Sami reminded him thinking back, "everything happened so fast that..."
"Samantha, I'm aware of what happened," he silenced her with a kiss, "I know we said we wouldn't do that, but last night...when I thought I lost you..."
"Brandon, when you made love to me," she paused thinking about everything, "when we were together, did you realize that we weren't using protection?"
"It had crossed my mind," he nodded as a silence fell over them, "but I was just thankful that we were with one another again, that you were safe."
"Brandon, were you hoping that I'd be pregnant," Sami questioned meeting his dark eyes, "is that how you thought you'd repair what went wrong with us, or was that something you genuinely overlooked? Was this something that you could use against me should you decide you don't want me anymore when we return to Salem?"
"Samantha, I'll always want you," he reached out to her placing her hand over his heart, "you're my everything. I love you and I'll always love you," he took in a breath, "and should we have a child as a result of last night, well," he paused once more as he gazed into her confused eyes, "Samantha, that would just be more proof of how right we are together, of how strong our love is."
"Brandon, I just....I don't know what to say," Sami confessed realizing that there was far too much to absorb, more than she'd banked on during this trip away from Salem.
"Then don't say anything," Brandon reached out to her drawing her into his arms, "don't say a word and just listen to your heart. Listen to what our love is telling you."
"My head is telling me that I'm a fool to let myself love you, but my heart is telling me to hold on tight and never let go," she blurted out turning his arms as she captured his soft, sensual lips in another desire laced kiss, "please don't let go of me, Brandon."
"I'll never let go of you again," Brandon squeezed her in his arms gently, "I'll be with you forever. You have my word on that."