CHAPTER 3:
Daniel fumbled with the keys to his apartment a little before he finally found the right one and pushed the door open. He stood aside to let Sam in first and walked in right behind her only to bump right into her.
"Oh, sorry Sam." He apologized and squeezed past her into the living room.
He disappeared in his bedroom for a second and reappeared with armful of fluffy white towels. He headed to the bathroom and second later a sound of running water could be heard. He came out of the bathroom and half ran to the kitchen where he started to prepare water for some hot chocolate. Sam stood in one spot watching him with slight amusement as he was running back and forth all over his apartment. He walked out of the kitchen and was about to disappear in his bedroom again when he noticed Sam watching him carefully.
"Sam? Why are you still standing there?" He asked stopping for a moment in the living room.
"I… I'm all wet, I don't want to mess up your carpet." She mumbled quietly.
He rolled his eyes at her as he walked to her and started pushing her across the living room to the bathroom.
"Come on, Sam. You need to get warm. Quick. You look like Bastet when she fell into my fish tank." He mumbled absently.
"Bastet?" She asked watching him pouring a generous amount of bathing bubbles into the tub.
"Yeah, the kitty I had in college."
She raised her eyebrow. "You had a kitten?"
"Yeah, one day I came to my room from classes and caught her on top of my fish tank, her paw inside as she was trying to catch Osiris – my gold fish. I must have scared her when I yelled because she literally jumped into the air and landed wrong and fell right in." He laughed at the memory. "God, it was hilarious. Of course I felt really bad afterwards, so I took her to Pet Mart and bought her some toys and a huge gold fish pillow to sleep on." Satisfied with the water temperature he straightened himself and pointed to her.
"Now you, missy, are going to get in and you will sit here until I see you all pink and wrinkly." He winked at her.
"But…"
"Ah!" He silenced her with a finger. "I want to see wrinkles. And no pouting." He added when she did so. "Get in, I will come check on you in a second. Just yell when you need anything in the mean time."
A few moments later he heard his name being called from the bathroom. He knocked on the door and peeked his head inside. He saw Sam standing just like he left her, fully clothed and very close to tears.
"What's the matter?" He asked as he stepped inside.
" I, ah, I can't…" She pointed to her shirt.
He noticed for the first time that she was seriously shivering and she wasn't able to undress herself because of the numbness in her fingers. He nodded dumbly for a second before deciding how to handle the situation. He did not want to embarrass Sam further, but he was afraid they had no other choice. He stepped closer to her.
"Sam, would you like me to help you with your clothes?" He asked carefully.
She nodded and she probably would have blushed if her skin weren't so pale from the cold.
He nodded again and stepped closer to her. 'OK, just breathe Daniel, and DON'T look down.' He told himself and proceeded to unbutton her blouse. Starting from the bottom he slowly worked his way up, his skilled fingers slipping the buttons through the holes of her blouse.
He tried to keep his eyes directly on hers all this time, only dropping them down to her cleavage when he was unsure where the buttons were. When he was done with the last button, his hands slipped under her blouse and he heard her take in a deep breath. He felt the coldness of her skin underneath his palms as they wandered to her shoulders and down her bare arms, pushing the wet material off of her. It dropped to the floor with a splat.
His eyes dropped to her cleavage and he found himself holding his breath. She was standing in front of him clad in a teeny, tiny scrap of lace she called a bra which was showing off her best assets, 'has to be one of those push-up bras' he noticed blushing slightly. And the fact that is was also soaked wet and therefore not really covering anything, wasn't helping him much. He groaned mentally and tried to look anywhere else besides her. His eyes landed on the stack of towels lying on the sink and he quickly grabbed one and wrapped her with it, successfully covering her up. That done, he moved onto the next task at hand: the pants.
He looked at her uncertainly trying to figure out how to handle freeing her of it. He grabbed her hands and was still in shock of how cold she was. Her hands felt like two pieces of ice. He started to rub them together while blowing some warm air on it. He was really starting to be concerned for his friend.
"I-uh do you think you can manage from here?"
She shook her head no and he nodded in understanding. She at least stopped shivering but he was certain that wasn't necessarily a good sign. He looked at her pants and to his utter embarrassment, couldn't find a visible zipper anywhere.
"Uh, Sam? I can't find the zipper," Daniel asked blushing furiously.
"On the right side," she started to giggle a little. "I'm so sorry about this Daniel. I'm such a mess, I can't even undress myself properly." She signaled the end of her sentence with a powerful sneeze. "I'm sorry". She added rubbing the nose with the back of her hand.
"It's fine Sam," Daniel said grabbing her hand and squeezed it gently.
He then found the zipper of her pants, slowly unzipped them and slid her pants down. He had to tug on them because of the fact they were practically glued to her legs. He then pulled the towel around her tighter.
He considered his next move: should he undo her bra and panties as well? The clasp looked tricky on the bra so maybe it would be a good idea if he did that.
He bit his bottom lip in concentration as he tried to figure out his next action. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to unclasp her bra that way. It felt good to be this close to her. He looked up at her, their faces only inches apart, and he smiled shyly. He unclasped her bra and pulled it out from under her towel and it joined the rest of her clothes on the cold bathroom tile. He looked at her again biting his lip, unsure of what to do.
"I think I can manage from here thanks," Sam said noting his uncomfortable look.
"I can help you into the tub when you're ready," Daniel suggested.
Sam nodded then shakily took off her panties. She walked closer to the tub, and Daniel stood next to her and grabbed her hand and she stepped in the tub and sat at the edge of it. She took off her towel and slipped into the hot sudsy water.
"Well I'll be outside if you need me. Just call out."
He left the bathroom and quickly headed to the bedroom. Once inside he pulled off his t-shirt and jeans and rummaged through the closet to find a clean pair. 'Damn, time to do the laundry again,' he muttered to himself absently. Finally he managed to find a clean pair of old worn jeans and pulled them on his still wet body. The whistling sound of boiling water reminded him of a hot chocolate promised to a certain blonde woman and he had to abandon the search for a clean dry t-shirt. Padding barefoot to the kitchen he quickly made the hot chocolate, topped it with mini marshmallows and headed to the bathroom.
The door was left partially open but he knocked quietly anyway. Hearing no response he gently pushed the door open and saw her laying in the tub, her eyes closed. He was taken aback by the view in front of him. She was a true vision. Her face picked up some color and a soft pink blush appeared on her cheeks and spread down her long slender neck to her shoulders and disappeared under the strawberry suds. For a moment, he let himself think of what he was always denying and with a surprise, he realized that he could get used to this. Having her in his tub everyday watching her just relaxing. He smiled to himself at the thought.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sam's voice. He looked at her and noticed her watching him watching her. He blushed slightly.
"Only a penny? I don't think so. Those," he tapped his temple, "are worth much more than that."
She laughed lightly. She was almost drifting off to sleep when she realized she was being watched. She opened her eyes and was greeted with the sight straight from heaven. Daniel was standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame and watching her with a far away look. He wore nothing but a pair of old jeans spattered with white paint here and there, the top button unbuttoned. One hand was loosely tucked into his left pocket, unconsciously pulling the jeans down a little; other was holding a cup of steaming liquid. She could not, for the life of her, remember when he started looking like that. She saw him smile to himself, his eyes sparkled a little, and she blushed. What was he thinking about? Was he thinking about her?
"Penny for your thoughts?" She decided to pull him out of his private world.
He blinked quickly and focused his eyes on her. She noticed with amusement that he was blushing. So, he was thinking of her! Why else would he be blushing? She laughed when he demanded more than a penny. She lifted her suds covered hand and motioned to him to come in. He smiled lazily and pushing himself off the frame, he walked to her.
"I brought you some hot chocolate. " Daniel said as he showed her the cup.
"Ohh! Gimme!" She said playfully and stretched out her hands to him. In doing so, she disturbed the strawberry suds and they spread out a little uncovering her small perky breasts.
Daniel's eyes slid down from her face to her neck, then cleavage, and stopped on the newly uncovered flesh. He managed to keep a stone face and his eyes quickly found hers. She must have been either blissfully unaware of this little accident or was trying to seduce him, because she didn't do anything to cover herself. She grabbed the hot chocolate from his hands, shot him an innocent little smile and dove into the water, the bubbly suds surrounding her and covering her flesh successfully.
Daniel let out a short breath he wasn't aware he was holding. That was close. For a minute there he thought he would lose it and just grab her and shake her until she realized what she was doing to him. He could be her best friend, but he was a man too. And men look. And they appreciate. And when their best friend flashes them, intentionally or otherwise, they can't help but run a few dozen of naughty scenarios in their heads. And so was he, and when he realized what he was thinking about, he mentally scolded himself for that. 'Oh, get a grip, Jackson. You act like a horny teenager.'
He kept her company for a while and they talked a little, until the water in the tub started to get cold. He got up from the floor. She also made a move to get up, but succeeded only in sitting up before he stopped her form completely emerging from the tub. She furrowed her brows and pouted.
"What?"
"OK, Major. Stick'em up."
He was rewarded with a blank look. He raised his eyebrows and motioned to her hands with his head.
"Aaahhh. The wrinkles." She grinned and stuck her hands, palm-up for the inspection. He leaned a little and studied her fingers, furrowing his brows a little and making funny 'hmm' noises.
She giggled when he poked her palm. "So what's the verdict Dr. Jackson?"
"Yep, definitely wrinkled. You are free to move about the cabin." He answered. "Let me get you a towel."
He grabbed the biggest one from the sink and opened it wide for her to step in. She stood up from the tub, water dripping from her form, still partially covered in suds and Daniel wrapped her in the towel, catching a brief glimpse of her nudity. She smiled her thanks and took a step out from the tub nearly falling on her face. Daniel's quick reflexes caught her in time and she found herself in his arms, barely inches away from his handsome face. A little dazed she looked up into his eyes and suddenly she became very aware of the position she was in. And so did Daniel. And when she leaned and slowly closed the gap between them, he told himself that this was definitely a bad idea, but the moment he felt her lips on his, his mind went blank. It was just a feather light kiss, a soft brush of her soft lips against his, and it lasted only a second, but it still burned when she pulled back a little. He was too stunned to do or say anything, and before he had a chance to process what had actually happened she kissed him again. His eyes closed on its own accord and he found himself pulling her closer to him as he returned the kiss with the same passion. Suddenly he realized what he was doing and he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back from him. Sam looked up at him in confusion, still gasping for her breath.
"I can't, Sam. WE can't." He said.
"You don't want me?" She asked bluntly, hurt evident in her voice.
"No! I mean yes! I do!" He backpedaled quickly when he saw she was close to tears.
"God, I do want to, Sam. You have no idea how much." He took her hands in his and looked her deeply in the eyes.
"Then why…" She almost choked out the last word.
"Because. Because you are not quite yourself tonight, Sam." He tried to explain his actions to her. "Because if I did... if WE did something tonight…" He thought carefully about his next words. "Look, Sam. Come tomorrow, you will probably not remember any of this, but I want you to know that I would never do anything to hurt you. When you wake up tomorrow, you will think that I used your, ah, fragile state and did something we would have never done under different circumstances."
"I would never…"
"Sam. You will not remember us having this conversation. No matter what you say tonight, come tomorrow, it will be your word against mine. I just don't want you doing anything you're going to regret in the morning."
She nodded sadly and wiped the tears from her eyes. His heart was breaking for her, but he had to be strong. For both of them.
"Hey," he said, lifting her chin up to meet her eyes, "I'm sorry Sam, I never meant to make you cry. I'm sorry." He said pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"'S ok." She mumbled into his chest. "It's my fault anyway. God, this is embarrassing." She groaned. "Thank God, I won't remember that tomorrow. I would never live it down." She tried to make a joke, but only ended up crying into his chest.
"Shh… Don't cry." He tried to calm her down. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He held her tightly, rocking her a little until she calmed down.
"Come on, let's get you to bed. You had a really tough day. You need to sleep it off." He said, kissing the top of her head.
He led her out of the bathroom and took her to his room. She flopped on his bed and adjusted her towel when it slipped a little.
"Hold on, let me give you something to wear for tonight." He said from the closet, shuffling the hangers from one side of the closet to the other. "I really need to do the laundry," he mumbled absently.
"Aha! Here it is." He exclaimed excited. "Here, you can wear…" he turned to her holding the clean shirt in his hand and noticed that she has already fallen asleep on his bed. "…this." He finished with a slight pout. He looked at the shirt he was holding and then to her towel-clad sleeping form. "Well, I guess you won't be needing this then." He said to himself.
He walked to the bed, turned the covers and walking back to her, he took her in his arms and laid her down on a freshly turned bed. She mumbled something in sleep and cuddled closer under the covers and he found himself smiling. He leaned over her and moved a strand of hair from her face. His hand lingered a while on her cheek, caressing it gently and she unconsciously leaned into his touch.
"Daniel…" She mumbled and his heart skipped a bit.
Sam hugged the pillow closer and breathed in. "Mmm… it smells like Danny," she sighed then started to snore lightly.
He placed a feather-light kiss on her forehead and cupped her cheek. "Goodnight Sammy." He said and after one more quick look he turned and walked out of his bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.
*** ***
He dreamt about Sam. They were in the park together; it was a beautiful, warm sunny day. He was lying on the blue blanket, one hand folded under his head, other on his stomach, holding a book. She was lying crosswise on top of him, her head on his stomach, just below the book he was reading and she was staring into the sky. From time to time, she was pointing out the clouds, naming them and asking him about his opinion. Then she turned on her stomach and looked straight at him. He put the book away and smiled at her and she leaned over him and kissed him gently. He sighed into her mouth as her returned the kiss, wrapping his hand around the nape of her neck and pulling her closer to him. Her hands traveled up his chest to his shoulders, down his arms and then back up. He was in heaven. Her touch felt so real.
"Daniel…" She whispered his name. He could swear he felt her breath on his lips. She ran her hand up his bicep. Then he felt it again. A definite touch. He opened his eyes as he woke up and saw her standing over him, tugging on his arm.
"Sam?" He asked waking up completely.
"I woke up… and you were gone…" She started. He sat up on the bed and took her hand in his.
"Shh.. it's ok. I'm here."
"I don't want to be alone tonight." She said barely above whisper.
A slight tug on her arm as he pulled her into his bed was his only answer. She immediately snuggled closer to him and wrapped herself around his shirtless body. He reached out behind her, covered them both and wrapped his arms around her. She nestled her head in the crook of his shoulder and sighed deeply. He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to him. He listened to her breathing for a short while until it became obvious that she has fallen asleep and he let himself fall into a slumber as well.
END OF CHAPTER 3.
Daniel fumbled with the keys to his apartment a little before he finally found the right one and pushed the door open. He stood aside to let Sam in first and walked in right behind her only to bump right into her.
"Oh, sorry Sam." He apologized and squeezed past her into the living room.
He disappeared in his bedroom for a second and reappeared with armful of fluffy white towels. He headed to the bathroom and second later a sound of running water could be heard. He came out of the bathroom and half ran to the kitchen where he started to prepare water for some hot chocolate. Sam stood in one spot watching him with slight amusement as he was running back and forth all over his apartment. He walked out of the kitchen and was about to disappear in his bedroom again when he noticed Sam watching him carefully.
"Sam? Why are you still standing there?" He asked stopping for a moment in the living room.
"I… I'm all wet, I don't want to mess up your carpet." She mumbled quietly.
He rolled his eyes at her as he walked to her and started pushing her across the living room to the bathroom.
"Come on, Sam. You need to get warm. Quick. You look like Bastet when she fell into my fish tank." He mumbled absently.
"Bastet?" She asked watching him pouring a generous amount of bathing bubbles into the tub.
"Yeah, the kitty I had in college."
She raised her eyebrow. "You had a kitten?"
"Yeah, one day I came to my room from classes and caught her on top of my fish tank, her paw inside as she was trying to catch Osiris – my gold fish. I must have scared her when I yelled because she literally jumped into the air and landed wrong and fell right in." He laughed at the memory. "God, it was hilarious. Of course I felt really bad afterwards, so I took her to Pet Mart and bought her some toys and a huge gold fish pillow to sleep on." Satisfied with the water temperature he straightened himself and pointed to her.
"Now you, missy, are going to get in and you will sit here until I see you all pink and wrinkly." He winked at her.
"But…"
"Ah!" He silenced her with a finger. "I want to see wrinkles. And no pouting." He added when she did so. "Get in, I will come check on you in a second. Just yell when you need anything in the mean time."
A few moments later he heard his name being called from the bathroom. He knocked on the door and peeked his head inside. He saw Sam standing just like he left her, fully clothed and very close to tears.
"What's the matter?" He asked as he stepped inside.
" I, ah, I can't…" She pointed to her shirt.
He noticed for the first time that she was seriously shivering and she wasn't able to undress herself because of the numbness in her fingers. He nodded dumbly for a second before deciding how to handle the situation. He did not want to embarrass Sam further, but he was afraid they had no other choice. He stepped closer to her.
"Sam, would you like me to help you with your clothes?" He asked carefully.
She nodded and she probably would have blushed if her skin weren't so pale from the cold.
He nodded again and stepped closer to her. 'OK, just breathe Daniel, and DON'T look down.' He told himself and proceeded to unbutton her blouse. Starting from the bottom he slowly worked his way up, his skilled fingers slipping the buttons through the holes of her blouse.
He tried to keep his eyes directly on hers all this time, only dropping them down to her cleavage when he was unsure where the buttons were. When he was done with the last button, his hands slipped under her blouse and he heard her take in a deep breath. He felt the coldness of her skin underneath his palms as they wandered to her shoulders and down her bare arms, pushing the wet material off of her. It dropped to the floor with a splat.
His eyes dropped to her cleavage and he found himself holding his breath. She was standing in front of him clad in a teeny, tiny scrap of lace she called a bra which was showing off her best assets, 'has to be one of those push-up bras' he noticed blushing slightly. And the fact that is was also soaked wet and therefore not really covering anything, wasn't helping him much. He groaned mentally and tried to look anywhere else besides her. His eyes landed on the stack of towels lying on the sink and he quickly grabbed one and wrapped her with it, successfully covering her up. That done, he moved onto the next task at hand: the pants.
He looked at her uncertainly trying to figure out how to handle freeing her of it. He grabbed her hands and was still in shock of how cold she was. Her hands felt like two pieces of ice. He started to rub them together while blowing some warm air on it. He was really starting to be concerned for his friend.
"I-uh do you think you can manage from here?"
She shook her head no and he nodded in understanding. She at least stopped shivering but he was certain that wasn't necessarily a good sign. He looked at her pants and to his utter embarrassment, couldn't find a visible zipper anywhere.
"Uh, Sam? I can't find the zipper," Daniel asked blushing furiously.
"On the right side," she started to giggle a little. "I'm so sorry about this Daniel. I'm such a mess, I can't even undress myself properly." She signaled the end of her sentence with a powerful sneeze. "I'm sorry". She added rubbing the nose with the back of her hand.
"It's fine Sam," Daniel said grabbing her hand and squeezed it gently.
He then found the zipper of her pants, slowly unzipped them and slid her pants down. He had to tug on them because of the fact they were practically glued to her legs. He then pulled the towel around her tighter.
He considered his next move: should he undo her bra and panties as well? The clasp looked tricky on the bra so maybe it would be a good idea if he did that.
He bit his bottom lip in concentration as he tried to figure out his next action. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to unclasp her bra that way. It felt good to be this close to her. He looked up at her, their faces only inches apart, and he smiled shyly. He unclasped her bra and pulled it out from under her towel and it joined the rest of her clothes on the cold bathroom tile. He looked at her again biting his lip, unsure of what to do.
"I think I can manage from here thanks," Sam said noting his uncomfortable look.
"I can help you into the tub when you're ready," Daniel suggested.
Sam nodded then shakily took off her panties. She walked closer to the tub, and Daniel stood next to her and grabbed her hand and she stepped in the tub and sat at the edge of it. She took off her towel and slipped into the hot sudsy water.
"Well I'll be outside if you need me. Just call out."
He left the bathroom and quickly headed to the bedroom. Once inside he pulled off his t-shirt and jeans and rummaged through the closet to find a clean pair. 'Damn, time to do the laundry again,' he muttered to himself absently. Finally he managed to find a clean pair of old worn jeans and pulled them on his still wet body. The whistling sound of boiling water reminded him of a hot chocolate promised to a certain blonde woman and he had to abandon the search for a clean dry t-shirt. Padding barefoot to the kitchen he quickly made the hot chocolate, topped it with mini marshmallows and headed to the bathroom.
The door was left partially open but he knocked quietly anyway. Hearing no response he gently pushed the door open and saw her laying in the tub, her eyes closed. He was taken aback by the view in front of him. She was a true vision. Her face picked up some color and a soft pink blush appeared on her cheeks and spread down her long slender neck to her shoulders and disappeared under the strawberry suds. For a moment, he let himself think of what he was always denying and with a surprise, he realized that he could get used to this. Having her in his tub everyday watching her just relaxing. He smiled to himself at the thought.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sam's voice. He looked at her and noticed her watching him watching her. He blushed slightly.
"Only a penny? I don't think so. Those," he tapped his temple, "are worth much more than that."
She laughed lightly. She was almost drifting off to sleep when she realized she was being watched. She opened her eyes and was greeted with the sight straight from heaven. Daniel was standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame and watching her with a far away look. He wore nothing but a pair of old jeans spattered with white paint here and there, the top button unbuttoned. One hand was loosely tucked into his left pocket, unconsciously pulling the jeans down a little; other was holding a cup of steaming liquid. She could not, for the life of her, remember when he started looking like that. She saw him smile to himself, his eyes sparkled a little, and she blushed. What was he thinking about? Was he thinking about her?
"Penny for your thoughts?" She decided to pull him out of his private world.
He blinked quickly and focused his eyes on her. She noticed with amusement that he was blushing. So, he was thinking of her! Why else would he be blushing? She laughed when he demanded more than a penny. She lifted her suds covered hand and motioned to him to come in. He smiled lazily and pushing himself off the frame, he walked to her.
"I brought you some hot chocolate. " Daniel said as he showed her the cup.
"Ohh! Gimme!" She said playfully and stretched out her hands to him. In doing so, she disturbed the strawberry suds and they spread out a little uncovering her small perky breasts.
Daniel's eyes slid down from her face to her neck, then cleavage, and stopped on the newly uncovered flesh. He managed to keep a stone face and his eyes quickly found hers. She must have been either blissfully unaware of this little accident or was trying to seduce him, because she didn't do anything to cover herself. She grabbed the hot chocolate from his hands, shot him an innocent little smile and dove into the water, the bubbly suds surrounding her and covering her flesh successfully.
Daniel let out a short breath he wasn't aware he was holding. That was close. For a minute there he thought he would lose it and just grab her and shake her until she realized what she was doing to him. He could be her best friend, but he was a man too. And men look. And they appreciate. And when their best friend flashes them, intentionally or otherwise, they can't help but run a few dozen of naughty scenarios in their heads. And so was he, and when he realized what he was thinking about, he mentally scolded himself for that. 'Oh, get a grip, Jackson. You act like a horny teenager.'
He kept her company for a while and they talked a little, until the water in the tub started to get cold. He got up from the floor. She also made a move to get up, but succeeded only in sitting up before he stopped her form completely emerging from the tub. She furrowed her brows and pouted.
"What?"
"OK, Major. Stick'em up."
He was rewarded with a blank look. He raised his eyebrows and motioned to her hands with his head.
"Aaahhh. The wrinkles." She grinned and stuck her hands, palm-up for the inspection. He leaned a little and studied her fingers, furrowing his brows a little and making funny 'hmm' noises.
She giggled when he poked her palm. "So what's the verdict Dr. Jackson?"
"Yep, definitely wrinkled. You are free to move about the cabin." He answered. "Let me get you a towel."
He grabbed the biggest one from the sink and opened it wide for her to step in. She stood up from the tub, water dripping from her form, still partially covered in suds and Daniel wrapped her in the towel, catching a brief glimpse of her nudity. She smiled her thanks and took a step out from the tub nearly falling on her face. Daniel's quick reflexes caught her in time and she found herself in his arms, barely inches away from his handsome face. A little dazed she looked up into his eyes and suddenly she became very aware of the position she was in. And so did Daniel. And when she leaned and slowly closed the gap between them, he told himself that this was definitely a bad idea, but the moment he felt her lips on his, his mind went blank. It was just a feather light kiss, a soft brush of her soft lips against his, and it lasted only a second, but it still burned when she pulled back a little. He was too stunned to do or say anything, and before he had a chance to process what had actually happened she kissed him again. His eyes closed on its own accord and he found himself pulling her closer to him as he returned the kiss with the same passion. Suddenly he realized what he was doing and he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back from him. Sam looked up at him in confusion, still gasping for her breath.
"I can't, Sam. WE can't." He said.
"You don't want me?" She asked bluntly, hurt evident in her voice.
"No! I mean yes! I do!" He backpedaled quickly when he saw she was close to tears.
"God, I do want to, Sam. You have no idea how much." He took her hands in his and looked her deeply in the eyes.
"Then why…" She almost choked out the last word.
"Because. Because you are not quite yourself tonight, Sam." He tried to explain his actions to her. "Because if I did... if WE did something tonight…" He thought carefully about his next words. "Look, Sam. Come tomorrow, you will probably not remember any of this, but I want you to know that I would never do anything to hurt you. When you wake up tomorrow, you will think that I used your, ah, fragile state and did something we would have never done under different circumstances."
"I would never…"
"Sam. You will not remember us having this conversation. No matter what you say tonight, come tomorrow, it will be your word against mine. I just don't want you doing anything you're going to regret in the morning."
She nodded sadly and wiped the tears from her eyes. His heart was breaking for her, but he had to be strong. For both of them.
"Hey," he said, lifting her chin up to meet her eyes, "I'm sorry Sam, I never meant to make you cry. I'm sorry." He said pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"'S ok." She mumbled into his chest. "It's my fault anyway. God, this is embarrassing." She groaned. "Thank God, I won't remember that tomorrow. I would never live it down." She tried to make a joke, but only ended up crying into his chest.
"Shh… Don't cry." He tried to calm her down. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He held her tightly, rocking her a little until she calmed down.
"Come on, let's get you to bed. You had a really tough day. You need to sleep it off." He said, kissing the top of her head.
He led her out of the bathroom and took her to his room. She flopped on his bed and adjusted her towel when it slipped a little.
"Hold on, let me give you something to wear for tonight." He said from the closet, shuffling the hangers from one side of the closet to the other. "I really need to do the laundry," he mumbled absently.
"Aha! Here it is." He exclaimed excited. "Here, you can wear…" he turned to her holding the clean shirt in his hand and noticed that she has already fallen asleep on his bed. "…this." He finished with a slight pout. He looked at the shirt he was holding and then to her towel-clad sleeping form. "Well, I guess you won't be needing this then." He said to himself.
He walked to the bed, turned the covers and walking back to her, he took her in his arms and laid her down on a freshly turned bed. She mumbled something in sleep and cuddled closer under the covers and he found himself smiling. He leaned over her and moved a strand of hair from her face. His hand lingered a while on her cheek, caressing it gently and she unconsciously leaned into his touch.
"Daniel…" She mumbled and his heart skipped a bit.
Sam hugged the pillow closer and breathed in. "Mmm… it smells like Danny," she sighed then started to snore lightly.
He placed a feather-light kiss on her forehead and cupped her cheek. "Goodnight Sammy." He said and after one more quick look he turned and walked out of his bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.
*** ***
He dreamt about Sam. They were in the park together; it was a beautiful, warm sunny day. He was lying on the blue blanket, one hand folded under his head, other on his stomach, holding a book. She was lying crosswise on top of him, her head on his stomach, just below the book he was reading and she was staring into the sky. From time to time, she was pointing out the clouds, naming them and asking him about his opinion. Then she turned on her stomach and looked straight at him. He put the book away and smiled at her and she leaned over him and kissed him gently. He sighed into her mouth as her returned the kiss, wrapping his hand around the nape of her neck and pulling her closer to him. Her hands traveled up his chest to his shoulders, down his arms and then back up. He was in heaven. Her touch felt so real.
"Daniel…" She whispered his name. He could swear he felt her breath on his lips. She ran her hand up his bicep. Then he felt it again. A definite touch. He opened his eyes as he woke up and saw her standing over him, tugging on his arm.
"Sam?" He asked waking up completely.
"I woke up… and you were gone…" She started. He sat up on the bed and took her hand in his.
"Shh.. it's ok. I'm here."
"I don't want to be alone tonight." She said barely above whisper.
A slight tug on her arm as he pulled her into his bed was his only answer. She immediately snuggled closer to him and wrapped herself around his shirtless body. He reached out behind her, covered them both and wrapped his arms around her. She nestled her head in the crook of his shoulder and sighed deeply. He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to him. He listened to her breathing for a short while until it became obvious that she has fallen asleep and he let himself fall into a slumber as well.
END OF CHAPTER 3.