Chapter 34 – A Happy Ending (PG13 Rated Version)
Wednesday Late Night, September 22, 2004

Martin and Samantha had used one of the undercover cars for the surveillance and they had to return it to the office before heading home. It was nearly midnight and Samantha called out, "Taxi." The yellow cab drove on by.

Martin reasoned, "There should be one soon."

Another drove by and Samantha called out again, "Taxi." The cab rolled to a stop.

Martin spoke, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Good night."

"Good night," she said and headed for the waiting cab. Martin stepped back onto the curb to look for his own ride home when Samantha, standing at the cab door, turned back to look at him. "Hey, Martin."

"Yeah?"

"You want to share a cab?" she asked.

Martin recalled the same incident from months previous and played out the script, not knowing where it was going to go. "I live uptown," he even pointed, just like last time.

Samantha was re-enacting the night also, "Yeah, I know." As assent to her offer, Martin headed toward the taxi and climbed in next to Samantha.

After being so bold, Samantha was suddenly shy and realized she didn't know what she was doing. She had acted in the moment with fresh memories of their kiss lingering. She felt uneasy and started back-peddling fast, "Uh, I thought that we could have some dinner at my place. I'm starved, but don't want to go anywhere this late."

Martin was still playing out the scenario, wondering where Samantha wanted to go with it, unaware that she had no plan. "Yeah, dinner sounds good ... I guess."

Samantha sensed disappointment in Martin's voice, but decided not to let it get to her. At her apartment, she busied herself in the kitchen scraping together something delicious and quick, she really was starving. With Martin's help—after all she wasn't much of a cook—it was ready and they sat at the table and quickly downed their meal. During dinner Martin resigned himself to the fact that Samantha didn't mean anything by the invitation to her place that night. After accepting this, he was able to enjoy the meal and the company.

However, Samantha was not enjoying herself. She was conflicted, on the one hand she was pleased that her friendship with Martin had grown and didn't want to ruin that, but on the other hand she thought that he looked yummy and wanted to push aside her food and eat him instead. She didn't know where these feelings were coming from, but she knew that after Martin kissed her tonight the way she thought about Martin had changed. She wondered if she had missed her chance. Had Martin really moved on?

Dinner was done and Martin grabbed his jacket and moved toward the door, "Well, it's late and we have a lot of paperwork to finish tomorrow. I'll see you at the office."

Samantha knew that she couldn't let him leave, she didn't know when she'd get another chance so she blurted out, "Leave? No, no, we have to have dessert. Don't you want dessert?" She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the sofa, practically pushing him into it.

Martin was befuddled, Samantha had been acting strange all through dinner and he would have sworn that he was picking up mixed signals had he not been sure that she wanted to remain purely plutonic friends. However, he really was tired and didn't have much patience left for Samantha's game, whatever it was. He started to protest, but Samantha shushed him, "It'll only take a minute. Put your feet up." And to encourage him to stay she propped his feet on the couch and removed his shoes.

She rushed into the kitchen and damned herself because she didn't have any dessert, she didn't have a plan. Her hands clenched the countertop, while her heart beat quickly and her stomach did flip-flops. She realized that she had it bad for Martin and wondered if this was how he had felt every time he tried to ask her out. She decided that she'd have to go back to the living room and just tell Martin, tell him that she didn't have any dessert and that, if she wasn't too late, she wanted to ... "to what," she thought. "To start a romantic relationship, how corny is that? To get to know him better," her thoughts drifted, definitely to get to know his body better. "Stop it," she told herself. "To, to kiss him. Yes, I'll start with a kiss," she thought.

With an unsteady push off of the counter she propelled herself into the other room to face Martin. She walked slowly toward the couch and saw that Martin had placed a pillow beneath his head and his eyes were shut, his breathing even. She realized that he had fallen asleep while she fought with herself about how to approach him.

She thought that he looked handsome, the tension was released from his body and he smiled as if dreaming of something good. She reached over him and pulled a blanked off the back of the couch. Starting at his feet she draped the blanket over him. At his shoulder she bent near him and tucked the blanket in around them. She noticed that he had dropped his wallet on the floor and she knelt down to retrieve it. She turned her head and was face-to-face with him and she stared at his eyelids, willing them to open. But they didn't. Again, she thought about how peaceful he looked sleeping and she reached out and touched his cheek. She let her hand linger there, feeling the warmth radiating from his face. On impulse she leaned forward and, before she could stop herself, she kissed his lips, with gentle pressure, but more intensely than a light peck.

Before opening his eyes, Martin sensed a softness on his lips. He assumed he was still dreaming and he pictured Samantha in his mind and returned the kiss.

Samantha felt Martin's lips part in response to her advance and without thinking she kissed him more deeply, revealing her need for him to him.

Martin didn't want to open his eyes, for fear that the magically real dream would come to an end, but curiosity got the better of him. He had to know if Samantha was actually in front of him, kissing him passionately. His eyes fluttered open and he forced himself to blink, still partly believing that he was dreaming. He pulled back, "Samantha? ..." he wanted to say more, but she stopped him.

She shook her head and whispered, "Don't say anything." She dropped her hand from his face and found his hand. She eased him up off the couch and hand-in-hand led him into the bedroom. Standing beside the bed she kissed him again and let her hands feel their way around his chest. She found the buttons of his shirt and began slowly undoing them.

Martin grabbed for her hands and held them still within his own. He pulled away from Samantha's lips and looked longingly at her, "Sam, I have to ask. Is this what you really want?"

A huge smile spread across her face as she realized that it was what she had wanted for a long time. She nodded and answered, "Yes."

Upon hearing that one simple word Martin swept Samantha up in his arms and placed her gently on the bed. Samantha and Martin had officially taken the next step.

Afterward, Martin, not taking his eyes off of her beautiful naked body, asked, "What made you change your mind?"

Samantha contemplated the question and answered honestly, "In my heart I've wanted you since you told me how you felt, but I followed my mind. I thought that my feelings for you developed too quickly and weren't to be trusted, but ... when you kissed me tonight it brought back all of those feelings and I couldn't think of any reasons to deny them now. So I guess my heart changed my mind."


A/N: That's the end of my story, but it's only the beginning for Samantha and Martin. I hope that you enjoyed my take on what could have/should have/will never happen on the show during its summer break. Thank you for reading and reviewing, it has made the hiatus more bearable. I hope that you enjoy tomorrow night's season premiere.