A/N: I realize that I didn't do a very good job explaining what happened between Ronnie and Shane, but it will come up in this chapter :)
**********
Sam laughed. "David, you cannot be serious. I don't love you." She shook her head. "And I don't think you really love me either."
"I do love you Sam. I made a mistake yesterday, so I came here to make it up to you."
"David, maybe somewhere down the road we can be friends again, but never more. I think you should go."
He looked angry. "Look, Sam, I didn't come all the way out here for you to turn me down. Let's go talk." He grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the exit.
"David, no!" Shane, who had been trying to ignore their conversation, saw this and pulled Sam back towards him.
"Back off Flair."
David rolled his eyes. "Stay out of this Helms, it has nothing to do with you." By this time Shane had pulled Sam back behind him.
"It has everything to do with me. I suggest you leave before we make an even bigger scene." David looked around to find a large number of people staring at them.
He tried reasoning with Sam. "Sam, sweetie, don't let Shane talk for you. I screwed up, ok baby? Let's go talk somewhere else."
Sam had a disgusted look on her face. "I said no David." He reached for her arm again.
"And I said yes."
Shane moved in front of Sam again. "I believe she said no." he said, and gave David a small shove backwards.
David pushed Shane back. "And you aren't her keeper, so don't answer for her."
Shane pushed harder this time. "At least I care about what she wants."
David smirked. "All you want is to get in her pants." He reached back to punch Shane, but Sam moved in between them in an attempt to stop their arguing, and he hit her instead. Matt and Jeff jumped up from their table and ran over. As soon as the contact was made, David pulled back in horror. "Oh, God, Sam, I didn't mean to..." He was interrupted by Matt and Jeff pulling him out of the club, leaving Shane, Amy, and Beth to take care of Sam. Shane pulled her up from the floor.
"Oh, wow." he said, getting a good look at her face. Sam reached up to touch her eye.
"Ouch." she winced. "Does it look bad?"
"It's already starting to swell. You'll probably end up with a nice shiner.
Sam groaned. "Great." She looked around. "I don't see Matt, Jeff, or the asshole."
Amy spoke up. "I think they took him outside."
"Good." Sam yawned and looked at Shane. "Can we just go back to the hotel?"
He nodded. "Of course we can." He went back to the table to grab their stuff while Amy and Beth walked her to the door.
Sam asked them, "You guys can tell Matt and Jeff where we went right?"
Beth answered. "Definitely. Go put some ice on that."
"I will." Shane came back and grabbed her hand. Turning to Amy and Beth he said, "Amy, just call us in the morning okay?" She nodded. "Beth, aren't you and Jeff flying back tonight?"
"Yeah, we have a 2:30 AM flight."
"Have fun."
She laughed. "Yeah. See you guys later."
**********
Sam leaned on Shane as they walked back into the hotel. "What do you say we order some ice cream from room service and watch the tape from tonight's show?"
"That works. We'll also get some ice for that eye."
"K." They walked into their room and Sam saw the message blinker on. "Wonder who called?" She pushed the button.
"Hey guys, its Mom." Sam smiled. It was Shane's mom Elizabeth, whom the entire group called Mom. "I broke down and called the hotel because someone didn't answer their phones earlier. I just wanted to tell Sam that she looked great on TV. Call me when you get in, no matter the time. Love you guys!" Sam smiled and pulled out her cellphone, then dialed the familiar number. After three rings someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Mom."
"Hi honey, how are you?"
"I'm....ok....how are you?"
"You're just ok?"
Sam groaned. "Long story. You could say that I took a punch for Shane though."
"What!?"
"I'll explain later, I promise."
"We will just have to have a talk when you and Shane come for dinner Sunday."
"OK. It'll be late though. I have to fly up to the office, so probably around 7?"
"That sounds fine honey."
"OK. Did you want to talk to the dork?"
She could hear Liz quietly laughing. "Sure."
Sam handed Shane the phone. He covered the mouthpiece and looked at Sam. "Thanks Sam." She smirked. "Order the ice cream, would ya?" She nodded.
"Hi Mom. No, it was not like that. Mom. Mom?" He sighed and just listened. Sam giggled and picked up the room phone. After ordering she got ready to go change. She looked at Shane. who held up a finger for her to hold on.
"OK, Mom. Yep, Sunday. OK. Uh huh. I love you too Mom. Yes Mom, Sam loves you too. Ok. Good night Mom." He rolled his eyes. "Yes. Bye mom." He snapped Sam's phone shut and tossed it on the bed. He looked at her. "You had better explain that to her."
"I will. I'm going to get my pj's on. Will you get the door?"
"Sure"
Sam walked into the bathroom, where she got a good look at her eye. 'Damn,' she thought. 'It's already bruising.' She could hear Shane answering the door. When she walked back out wearing plaid shorts and one of Shane's t-shirts, he had to laugh.
"What did you do, raid my closet?"
She smiled. "Pretty much." She looked at the tray. "Oh, they did have it. Great." She picked up the Breyer's chocolate and jumped on the bed. Shane grabbed his and popped the tape in before joining her on the bed.
"I'm glad you thought to ask about the VCR ahead of time Sam."
She shrugged. "No big deal. I just want to see how it really looked, and then I am going to crash." She was leaning half on SHane and half on the pillows behind them with a small bag of ice on her eye.
"Aaaauuuggghhh!" she screamed when she saw the pretape. "I am such a geek!" She covered her face with a pillow. Shane set his bowl down and took the pillow away from Sam.
"Watch the tape Sam." She just groaned.
"That's ok." But she did watch, and when the whole thing was over she sighed. "Not horrible, I guess."
"It was fine." Shane's cell started ringing. "Hello?"
"Hey man, it's Matt."
"Hey, what happened?"
"Not too much. Suffice it to say that he will leave her alone from now on."
"No, Matt, I want details." Sam's eyes widened when she heard who he was talking to. "What happened?" Shane held up his hand.
"Shane, we hurt him, ok? Plain and simple."
"Alright, man. We'll talk later though?"
"Of course. Hold on a second." Shane could hear muffled words, and Matt got back on the phone. "Amy said to tell Sam that we should meet around 6 so we can make it to Dallas by 12."
"OK. Talk to you then."
"Later Shane." Shane closed the phone and looked down at Sam.
"He won't bother you again Sam." She nodded and scooted closer to him.
"Good." Shane put his arm around her. "Still wanna go to sleep?"
"Depends on why you're asking."
"I thought we could go take a swim. The pool should be empty." Sam pulled back.
"That would be okay, but not for too long."
**********
Sam and Shane were just kind of lounging in the pool when she decided to talk about their upcoming angle. "Shane?"
"Yeah?"
She bit her lip. "What do you think about the angle with us getting together."
He pulled her over to him. "Stop biting your lip." She smiled. "I have no problem with it. Are you ok?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I'm obviously very comfortable with you." Sam paused. "How do you feel now after working with Ronnie tonight?"
Shane sighed. "I should be able to tolerate her Sam. But I am hoping that Vince scraps the love triangle shit. I can't kiss her. I don't even know if I can touch her." Sam frowned. She remembered all too well everything that Ronnie had done to Shane.
Sam had just walked in the door after finishing her last college final of the year. The lights were all off, which was surprising because she had seen Shane's car in the drive.
"Shane?" Receiving no response she went into the living room. She could faintly see his outline on the couch. Sitting down next to him she shook his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"No, Sam, I'm not."
She was shocked. "Have you been crying?"
"No." He paused. "OK, a little. It's been a rough night Sam."
She took his hand. "Wanna talk about it?"
"I guess." He cleared his throat. "I went over to Ronnie's house earlier tonight, to surprise her since I wasn't supposed to be back until tomorrow. I saw a truck in the driveway, but assumed it was her dad's. I walked in and heard noises upstairs. I went up and found her naked, in bed, with Jason. I think you can guess what they were doing."
She gasped. "Jason? As in my ex Jason."
Shane, who had turned on the light next to him, could only nod. Sam reached up and wrapped her arms around him. "Shane, I am so sorry." She could feel him stiffen against her hug, so she pulled away. "You knew something was up six months ago."
"Yes, but I didn't want to believe it. And she actually had the nerve to ask me what I was doing there. All I could do was stare. I finally just gave up trying to say anything and came back home." The doorbell rang and Sam went to get it. Pulling it open she saw Ronnie.
"What the hell do you want?"
She looked at Sam. "To see my boyfriend, if that's ok with you."
"Your boyfriend? You know what Ronnie? He should have dumped your sorry ass a long time ago."
"Sam, you don't know the entire story."
"Maybe not, but I know enough to know that Shane doesn't want to see you and if you stand there much longer I'll hurt you myself. Go back to Jason, Ronnie. SHane doesn't want you anymore." She slammed the door, leaving a speechless Ronnie on the doorstep.
Shane was behind her when Sam closed the door. "Thanks."
She walked over to him. "Your welcome. Do you want me to stay or do you want to be alone?"
"I really don't want to be alone, Sam." She nodded.
"Then I'll stay."
Shane was snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Hello? Sammie, are you in there?"
She shook her head. "Yeah, Shane, sorry. I was thinking about everything that happened with Ronnie."
"Also known as the night Shane cried." She smacked his chest.
"It is ok to cry Shane. And like you can joke about it."
He sighed. "Sometimes I can." He touched her cheek. "How's the eye doing?"
She shrugged. "Better." She yawned loudly. "I am going to fall asleep in here Shane."
"Me too." he yawned. "Let's go." They went to the locker rooms and changed. Walking hand in hand back to their room, Sam thought of one more question for Shane.
"Did Ronnie ever give you a reason, Shane?"
"No. Did Jason ever give you one?"
"No. I think our new mission is to find good people to date. I know its possible. Matt has Amy, Jeff has Beth, and Shannon has Crystal. Where did we go wrong?"
"It just hasn't happened yet, Sam. It will." THey reached their room, and Sam went into the bathroom to change. She came out and climbed into bed next to Shane. She put her hand on his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. "Goodnight Shane."
He wrapped his arms around her. "Night Sam." She was asleep within minutes, but Shane couldn't. He was just dozing when this thought popped into his head. 'There isn't really anyone else I could see myself like this with.' His eyes popped open. 'Where in the hell did that come from?'
**********
A/N: Next chapter should be up tomorrow! Hope you enjoy! As usual, please R&R!
Thanks!
Lisa
**********
Sam laughed. "David, you cannot be serious. I don't love you." She shook her head. "And I don't think you really love me either."
"I do love you Sam. I made a mistake yesterday, so I came here to make it up to you."
"David, maybe somewhere down the road we can be friends again, but never more. I think you should go."
He looked angry. "Look, Sam, I didn't come all the way out here for you to turn me down. Let's go talk." He grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the exit.
"David, no!" Shane, who had been trying to ignore their conversation, saw this and pulled Sam back towards him.
"Back off Flair."
David rolled his eyes. "Stay out of this Helms, it has nothing to do with you." By this time Shane had pulled Sam back behind him.
"It has everything to do with me. I suggest you leave before we make an even bigger scene." David looked around to find a large number of people staring at them.
He tried reasoning with Sam. "Sam, sweetie, don't let Shane talk for you. I screwed up, ok baby? Let's go talk somewhere else."
Sam had a disgusted look on her face. "I said no David." He reached for her arm again.
"And I said yes."
Shane moved in front of Sam again. "I believe she said no." he said, and gave David a small shove backwards.
David pushed Shane back. "And you aren't her keeper, so don't answer for her."
Shane pushed harder this time. "At least I care about what she wants."
David smirked. "All you want is to get in her pants." He reached back to punch Shane, but Sam moved in between them in an attempt to stop their arguing, and he hit her instead. Matt and Jeff jumped up from their table and ran over. As soon as the contact was made, David pulled back in horror. "Oh, God, Sam, I didn't mean to..." He was interrupted by Matt and Jeff pulling him out of the club, leaving Shane, Amy, and Beth to take care of Sam. Shane pulled her up from the floor.
"Oh, wow." he said, getting a good look at her face. Sam reached up to touch her eye.
"Ouch." she winced. "Does it look bad?"
"It's already starting to swell. You'll probably end up with a nice shiner.
Sam groaned. "Great." She looked around. "I don't see Matt, Jeff, or the asshole."
Amy spoke up. "I think they took him outside."
"Good." Sam yawned and looked at Shane. "Can we just go back to the hotel?"
He nodded. "Of course we can." He went back to the table to grab their stuff while Amy and Beth walked her to the door.
Sam asked them, "You guys can tell Matt and Jeff where we went right?"
Beth answered. "Definitely. Go put some ice on that."
"I will." Shane came back and grabbed her hand. Turning to Amy and Beth he said, "Amy, just call us in the morning okay?" She nodded. "Beth, aren't you and Jeff flying back tonight?"
"Yeah, we have a 2:30 AM flight."
"Have fun."
She laughed. "Yeah. See you guys later."
**********
Sam leaned on Shane as they walked back into the hotel. "What do you say we order some ice cream from room service and watch the tape from tonight's show?"
"That works. We'll also get some ice for that eye."
"K." They walked into their room and Sam saw the message blinker on. "Wonder who called?" She pushed the button.
"Hey guys, its Mom." Sam smiled. It was Shane's mom Elizabeth, whom the entire group called Mom. "I broke down and called the hotel because someone didn't answer their phones earlier. I just wanted to tell Sam that she looked great on TV. Call me when you get in, no matter the time. Love you guys!" Sam smiled and pulled out her cellphone, then dialed the familiar number. After three rings someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Mom."
"Hi honey, how are you?"
"I'm....ok....how are you?"
"You're just ok?"
Sam groaned. "Long story. You could say that I took a punch for Shane though."
"What!?"
"I'll explain later, I promise."
"We will just have to have a talk when you and Shane come for dinner Sunday."
"OK. It'll be late though. I have to fly up to the office, so probably around 7?"
"That sounds fine honey."
"OK. Did you want to talk to the dork?"
She could hear Liz quietly laughing. "Sure."
Sam handed Shane the phone. He covered the mouthpiece and looked at Sam. "Thanks Sam." She smirked. "Order the ice cream, would ya?" She nodded.
"Hi Mom. No, it was not like that. Mom. Mom?" He sighed and just listened. Sam giggled and picked up the room phone. After ordering she got ready to go change. She looked at Shane. who held up a finger for her to hold on.
"OK, Mom. Yep, Sunday. OK. Uh huh. I love you too Mom. Yes Mom, Sam loves you too. Ok. Good night Mom." He rolled his eyes. "Yes. Bye mom." He snapped Sam's phone shut and tossed it on the bed. He looked at her. "You had better explain that to her."
"I will. I'm going to get my pj's on. Will you get the door?"
"Sure"
Sam walked into the bathroom, where she got a good look at her eye. 'Damn,' she thought. 'It's already bruising.' She could hear Shane answering the door. When she walked back out wearing plaid shorts and one of Shane's t-shirts, he had to laugh.
"What did you do, raid my closet?"
She smiled. "Pretty much." She looked at the tray. "Oh, they did have it. Great." She picked up the Breyer's chocolate and jumped on the bed. Shane grabbed his and popped the tape in before joining her on the bed.
"I'm glad you thought to ask about the VCR ahead of time Sam."
She shrugged. "No big deal. I just want to see how it really looked, and then I am going to crash." She was leaning half on SHane and half on the pillows behind them with a small bag of ice on her eye.
"Aaaauuuggghhh!" she screamed when she saw the pretape. "I am such a geek!" She covered her face with a pillow. Shane set his bowl down and took the pillow away from Sam.
"Watch the tape Sam." She just groaned.
"That's ok." But she did watch, and when the whole thing was over she sighed. "Not horrible, I guess."
"It was fine." Shane's cell started ringing. "Hello?"
"Hey man, it's Matt."
"Hey, what happened?"
"Not too much. Suffice it to say that he will leave her alone from now on."
"No, Matt, I want details." Sam's eyes widened when she heard who he was talking to. "What happened?" Shane held up his hand.
"Shane, we hurt him, ok? Plain and simple."
"Alright, man. We'll talk later though?"
"Of course. Hold on a second." Shane could hear muffled words, and Matt got back on the phone. "Amy said to tell Sam that we should meet around 6 so we can make it to Dallas by 12."
"OK. Talk to you then."
"Later Shane." Shane closed the phone and looked down at Sam.
"He won't bother you again Sam." She nodded and scooted closer to him.
"Good." Shane put his arm around her. "Still wanna go to sleep?"
"Depends on why you're asking."
"I thought we could go take a swim. The pool should be empty." Sam pulled back.
"That would be okay, but not for too long."
**********
Sam and Shane were just kind of lounging in the pool when she decided to talk about their upcoming angle. "Shane?"
"Yeah?"
She bit her lip. "What do you think about the angle with us getting together."
He pulled her over to him. "Stop biting your lip." She smiled. "I have no problem with it. Are you ok?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I'm obviously very comfortable with you." Sam paused. "How do you feel now after working with Ronnie tonight?"
Shane sighed. "I should be able to tolerate her Sam. But I am hoping that Vince scraps the love triangle shit. I can't kiss her. I don't even know if I can touch her." Sam frowned. She remembered all too well everything that Ronnie had done to Shane.
Sam had just walked in the door after finishing her last college final of the year. The lights were all off, which was surprising because she had seen Shane's car in the drive.
"Shane?" Receiving no response she went into the living room. She could faintly see his outline on the couch. Sitting down next to him she shook his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"No, Sam, I'm not."
She was shocked. "Have you been crying?"
"No." He paused. "OK, a little. It's been a rough night Sam."
She took his hand. "Wanna talk about it?"
"I guess." He cleared his throat. "I went over to Ronnie's house earlier tonight, to surprise her since I wasn't supposed to be back until tomorrow. I saw a truck in the driveway, but assumed it was her dad's. I walked in and heard noises upstairs. I went up and found her naked, in bed, with Jason. I think you can guess what they were doing."
She gasped. "Jason? As in my ex Jason."
Shane, who had turned on the light next to him, could only nod. Sam reached up and wrapped her arms around him. "Shane, I am so sorry." She could feel him stiffen against her hug, so she pulled away. "You knew something was up six months ago."
"Yes, but I didn't want to believe it. And she actually had the nerve to ask me what I was doing there. All I could do was stare. I finally just gave up trying to say anything and came back home." The doorbell rang and Sam went to get it. Pulling it open she saw Ronnie.
"What the hell do you want?"
She looked at Sam. "To see my boyfriend, if that's ok with you."
"Your boyfriend? You know what Ronnie? He should have dumped your sorry ass a long time ago."
"Sam, you don't know the entire story."
"Maybe not, but I know enough to know that Shane doesn't want to see you and if you stand there much longer I'll hurt you myself. Go back to Jason, Ronnie. SHane doesn't want you anymore." She slammed the door, leaving a speechless Ronnie on the doorstep.
Shane was behind her when Sam closed the door. "Thanks."
She walked over to him. "Your welcome. Do you want me to stay or do you want to be alone?"
"I really don't want to be alone, Sam." She nodded.
"Then I'll stay."
Shane was snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Hello? Sammie, are you in there?"
She shook her head. "Yeah, Shane, sorry. I was thinking about everything that happened with Ronnie."
"Also known as the night Shane cried." She smacked his chest.
"It is ok to cry Shane. And like you can joke about it."
He sighed. "Sometimes I can." He touched her cheek. "How's the eye doing?"
She shrugged. "Better." She yawned loudly. "I am going to fall asleep in here Shane."
"Me too." he yawned. "Let's go." They went to the locker rooms and changed. Walking hand in hand back to their room, Sam thought of one more question for Shane.
"Did Ronnie ever give you a reason, Shane?"
"No. Did Jason ever give you one?"
"No. I think our new mission is to find good people to date. I know its possible. Matt has Amy, Jeff has Beth, and Shannon has Crystal. Where did we go wrong?"
"It just hasn't happened yet, Sam. It will." THey reached their room, and Sam went into the bathroom to change. She came out and climbed into bed next to Shane. She put her hand on his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. "Goodnight Shane."
He wrapped his arms around her. "Night Sam." She was asleep within minutes, but Shane couldn't. He was just dozing when this thought popped into his head. 'There isn't really anyone else I could see myself like this with.' His eyes popped open. 'Where in the hell did that come from?'
**********
A/N: Next chapter should be up tomorrow! Hope you enjoy! As usual, please R&R!
Thanks!
Lisa