Chapter Eight

It was early evening when Sami finally arrived back at her apartment building and knocked on the door to Lucas' apartment. After he had left her in Salem Place, she had fallen apart and went looking everywhere for Nicole. She had needed Nicole's advice on what she was supposed to do next but she hadn't been able to find Nicole anywhere. She knocked on the door tentatively, not sure how Lucas was going to react to her being there, especially since she didn't know what she had done to upset him in the first place.

Lucas didn't answer the door and Sami gave up on the idea of him letting her in. She knew he was in there, she had seen his car parked outside. He was just avoiding her. She unlocked the door with her spare key and stepped inside. Her eyes fell on the tanned, muscular arm hanging over the back of the couch and she cautiously made her way over to the couch. He was lying sprawled out on the couch, wearing nothing but a pair of dark green boxers, one arm hanging over the couch and the other at his side, holding the neck of a liquor bottle.

She snatched the liquor bottle out of his hands angrily, "I thought we had gotten rid of all this back in March." she snapped, watching as he opened his eyes and sat up. When he saw her, his eyes glazed over with a hurt and bewilderment. He looked like a puppy who had just eaten a bowl of marijuana-laced dog food.

"That's what liquor stores are for." he explained in a mock-patient, condescending tone, "You go buy more."

"Lucas, why are you doing this to yourself?" she whispered, feeling a rush of concern and fear for him. He looked so upset, so disappointed and lost all at the same time. All she wanted to do was help him and make everything okay for him. But she couldn't do that if she didn't even know what was wrong.

"What I did to myself?" he laughed bitterly, standing up so he was facing her, "I'm not doing anything wrong. I just want to forget everything, to forget what you did to me!"

Sami stepped backwards at his words, "What did I do?" she asked him softly.

"Oh, that's fantastic, you're going to try and play innocent with me." Lucas said sarcastically, "It's not going to work again. Why don't you just forget it and go find Brandon? He's the one you really want, right?"

Sami's eyes widened, "Why are we back to this again? Brandon means nothing to me. You're the only man that matters to me. You have to trust me." Impulsively, she pulled him into her arms. Her palms pressed against his shoulder blades and she rested her head on his chest. He didn't push her away but he didn't respond to her touch either. His arms remained at his sides, not even relaxing into her arms. Sami moved away from him and reached up to run her fingers through his dishevelled hair. But before she could, he took hold of her wrist.

"Why have you been spending so much time around Nicole?" he asked her suddenly and Sami started at the abrupt question. What did Nicole have to do with anything? She didn't want to tell him that she had worked so hard to win him over that she had to resort to getting Nicole to help her. But her silence wasn't noticed by Lucas, who continued to speak.

"I know that you're the one who got Brandon back in Salem." Sami's mind raced with this revelation as she wondered who had told Lucas this piece of information. If it had been Nicole, Sami was going to make sure Brady never went near her again, "Sami, you wanted Brandon in Salem for one reason. To get him back."

"I can explain." she began but Lucas cut her off.

"There is nothing to explain." he interrupted, "I get it, okay? But why, Sami? I always tried to be there for you and not tell you how I felt so I wouldn't make things harder on you. Did you have to hear me say it just for the sake of raising your self-esteem or something? Was it a game to you?"

"It wasn't a game-" she protested.

"I don't want to hear it." he turned away from her and flopped back down on the couch, "You know the truth now, does that make you feel good, Sami? But guess what? The game is over." he had his bottle back from Sami and was banging it against the end table for emphasis.

"Lucas, give me a chance to-"

"No!" Lucas stood up again and began pushing her towards the door, ignoring her protests, "Just get out and leave me alone!" He slammed the door as soon as she was out of his apartment but she had still seen his face.

Lucas Roberts was crying. Over her.

She heard him lock the door and quickly pulled out her key. She was not going to leave him alone like that. She unlocked the door but she couldn't get it open. She realized he must have wedged something up against the door so she couldn't get in. She started banging on the door frantically, begging him to let her inside. She had been banging at his door for around five minutes when a hand clamped onto her shoulder. Kate Roberts whirled Sami around and glared at her.

"What do you think you are doing? Can you not see that Lucas wants nothing to do with you? He never has." Kate snapped indignantly, wishing this blonde wench would leave her son alone. That was the last straw for Sami. Kate watched in surprise as crystal rivulets began coursing down Sami's cheeks, as if Kate had just caused the dam inside her to burst.

"You-you- can cry." Kate stammered in mock amazement, not feeling more than the slightest twinge of compassion for Sami, "Can you bleed too?"

"Not funny." Sami sobbed, "I didn't mean to- I never wanted to hurt him- I don't understand why he- I don't want Brandon- I can't-" the heartbroken sobs erupting from deep inside her made it impossible for Sami to finish a complete sentence.

"I don't have time for this." Kate huffed, "Go find a paper bag to breathe into or something." she began knocking on Lucas' door.

"Lucas, let me in!" Kate called through the door. Her request was met by glass shattering from inside the apartment and Lucas yelling, "Go away!"

Sami sunk onto her knees, "It's all my fault. It wasn't supposed to end up this way. How can he think that I don't love him? Why do I always have to mess everything up?"

Kate turned around to stare accusingly at Sami, "You. What have you done to him this time?"

"I'm sorry." Sami wailed, her tears soaking the front of her shirt, "I'm so sorry. This is just a mistake. I don't want it to be like this." Sami knew she wasn't apologizing to Kate but to Lucas, who would probably never forgive her.

Kate finally saw how upset Sami was and suddenly remembered her promise to Roman to make peace with his daughter. She wanted more than anything else to live up to that promise. She helped Sami to feet and led her back into Sami's apartment. Handing Sami a box of tissues, she asked Sami what had happened. Sami didn't know why, but she found herself telling the entire story to Kate, starting from her and Lucas' kiss in the clown up to that present day. The only part she left out was the time they had spent together in her bed the night before.

Kate listened to the entire thing with growing amazement and admiration for Sami. When Sami finished, she shook her head, "You actually went through all that trouble for Lucas?"

Sami nodded, "I don't blame you for not believing it but Lucas means everything to me. I love him so much and I-" she stopped herself and grimaced, "Why am I telling you this? We hate each other."

"But we don't have to." Kate soothed, "We could even be friends someday if we tried hard enough. After all, I did promise your father I'd try and get along with you."

Sami sniffled, "When the only friend I've got left is you, I know I'm in trouble." Kate stiffened and cleared her throat, trying to hide her indignation at Sami's words.

"Well, maybe we don't have to be friends." Kate countered, "But that doesn't mean we have to hate each other. And if you really care about my son and if he really cares about you, then I won't try and come between you anymore."

"I think it's a little late for that." Sami murmured harshly, "He'll probably never speak to me again. When I get my hands on the little bitch that told Lucas about me getting Brandon coming back to Salem, I am going to make her life a living hell."

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Sami walked into the Brady Pub the next evening and spotted Nicole sitting at a booth near the one Shawn and Jan were sharing. Sami headed towards Nicole, her mouth set in a grim line. She had called Nicole and told her to meet her and at the Brady Pub that afternoon, acting as if nothing was wrong. But now she was going to make Nicole pay.

"Hey, Sami!" Nicole said cheerfully, "How's it going with you and L-" before Nicole could finish, Sami brought her hand back, then swung it across Nicole's face as hard as she could. Nicole reached up to hold her affected cheek, staring up at Sami in horror.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Nicole demanded, carefully watching Sami's hands, not wanting to be hit again. Sami stared at Nicole in disgust.

"You know exactly what is wrong." Sami retorted furiously, not noticing that Shawn and Jan had turned around and were watching her, "You told Lucas that I had gotten Brandon back in Salem. What were you thinking? How could you do this me, especially after I told you how I felt about Lucas?"

Shawn coughed loudly, getting his cousin's attention, "Sami, Nicole wasn't the one who told Lucas." Shawn announced. Sami turned to face Shawn, her forehead crinkling slightly in confusion.

"Then who?" she asked.

Shawn sighed regretfully and ran a hand through his brown hair, "It was Belle. She's been acting really strange ever since Brandon came back, like she's out to get you. She was talking really loud over at the Java Café earlier about how you didn't care about him and how you were using him to make Brandon jealous."

Sami eyes widened in shock, then her eyes began flaming with anger, "That little bitch! Where is she? I am going to make her so sorry."

Nicole noticed the wild look in Sami's eye and knew Sami would undoubtably end up doing something she would regret if she didn't stop her. She stood up and grabbed Sami's arm.

"I'll take care of Belle." Nicole said firmly, "You should go home and try to talk to Lucas. He's pretty pissed off, isn't he?"

Sami nodded wordlessly, grateful that Nicole was being so understanding, "Thank you. And I'm sorry about slapping you, I just thought-"

Nicole held up one hand to silence her, "Don't worry about it. Just go get your man back." she smiled warmly at Sami, who managed a weak smile in return.

Sami arrived back at the door to Lucas' apartment and tried knocking again.

"Lucas? It's Sami. Can I please come in? I really need to talk to you." her words were met with silence and Sami sighed. She didn't know what she was going to have to do to get him to give her a chance but she had a feeling it was going to take some time. And she didn't want to have to wait to be with him. She had already waited long enough.

She slipped inside her bedroom and pulled on her nightgown. Not feeling like there was anything else she could do, she crawled underneath her blankets. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine that Lucas was lying next to her, with his arms wrapped protectively around her waist as she slipped into a troubled sleep.