Disclaimer: American Dreams is one of my favorite shows. However, that doesn't mean I own it.

A/N: So, I have no idea where this story is going. I just wrote this chapter as the words came to me. The end of it is major cheesy-ness, but I love Meg/Sam, so, s'all good. Hope you like it anyway. By the way, this bit is more thoughts than dialogue, hope you don't mind. It's gonna be AU soon, since the new episodes start again Sunday (this Sunday! Ahhh! I'm so excited!).

Oh my gosh, I'm such an idiot. A few chapters before, instead of "University of Pennsylvania", I wrote "Pennsylvania University". Geez. When I'm done with the story I'll fix that.

You reviewers are wicked great. One of my favorite things about writing stories is getting your feedback. I'm glad you all like it :).

XXX

The mailbox closed with a resounding thud when Meg let go of it, having just dropped her second application to the University of Pennsylvania inside. She was hoping to be accepted in time for the second semester, as the woman who she'd spoken to at the office of Penn had said. Meg had made a call to the school two weeks prior, and talked to a kind woman who'd told her that if she sent in the application by July eighteenth, they'd have time to look it over and send it back in the middle of August. Just in time for my birthday, she'd thought.

It was July seventeenth. Not only was she sending it in a day before she absolutely had to, but it'd also been twelve days since she and Sam kissed, and twelve days since she'd seen him.

Instead of spending every moment thinking about him, Meg had decided to put her time in good use, and had spent almost all of the past week and a half filling out the application.

Now, all there was to do was wait.

The original Pryor's TV and Radio was only a block ahead, so Meg decided to stop in and see if her father was there. There hadn't been a nasty comment between either since the argument about Sam.

"Damn," Meg swore under her breath, catching sight of just the person she didn't want to see. Ever.

"Meg!" Kyle said loudly with the cocky smile that Meg had noticed was always on his face.

With no choice now, Meg forged ahead, into the store. "I thought you were working at the new store," she said as politely as she could, moving some of her long, blonde bangs out of her face.

"I'm kinda back and forth," he told her, getting so close that Meg had to stop walking. "Haven't seen you lately. I thought you might've had a fight with your boyfriend or somethin'."

Meg blinked, wondering why he'd even say a thing like that. "My boyfriend? What are you talking about?"

Kyle smirked, the toothpick between his teeth moving along with his words. "Don't think I didn't see you two, Meg. I'm actually kinda disappointed."

Her breath hitched, but she covered up her shock as soon as she recovered. "Who did you see me with?" She tried to keep her voice from shaking. This couldn't be happening…

"You know who I'm talkin' about," he said, his voice dropping in volume, the smirk still on his face. "You'd better be careful. I don't think anyone's gonna be too happy about you two." The words came out in a threat-like way.

"I have no idea what you mean," she said stiffly, then turned and exited.

Great, Meg thought, I haven't seen Sam in twelve days, I don't know if I'll be accepted again into college, and now two people might know what happened in the alley.

Home seemed like the best place to go at that moment.

XXX

John was screaming his head off. Meg lifted him out of his playpen and tried rocking him back and forth in her arms. She was beginning to regret agreeing to baby-sit this sunny afternoon.

Beth had gone into work, as had JJ, who was now an employee at Pryor's TV and Radio. He'd been hired as the new football coach at East Catholic, but practices didn't start until the beginning of August. The young parents had been searching for a babysitter last-minute, and Meg had offered her services, since she had nothing better to do. She'd sent in her application two days before, so it was still too soon to be worrying about the letter coming.

Jack was also at the store, Helen was at the travel agency with Patty, who was helping out during her summer vacation, and Will was at a friend's house. Uncle Pete was cruising the streets, and Roxanne was starting her new job. That left Meg. Home alone. With a screaming baby. Not to mention, it felt as if it were a hundred degrees. Her father still insisted they didn't need an air conditioner. He was beginning to cave, though.

"How did Mom do this four times?" she wondered aloud, still bouncing up and down. John may have been one-and-a-half, but he still had the wail of a newborn. The whole experience was definitely making her re-think the whole parenting idea.

John finally calmed down, and just in time, as the doorbell rang the second after she had set him back in his playpen, where he immediately began playing with some plastic rings.

Entering the hallway from the living room, which was scattered with baby toys, Meg opened the door to find the last person she'd expected standing on her steps.

"Sam."

He gave her a shy smile and a nod. "Hey Meg."

They stood like that, just staring at each other, for some time, until Meg regained her sense of what was going on, and stepped back, inviting him in. He caught sight of the mess in the living room and gave her a look.

"John is, uh, fussy," she explained awkwardly.

Sam nodded. "Oh." He glanced at the baby, who had stopped his quiet mumblings and was watching the two adults with interest.

"So, this is a surprise," Meg said tentatively.

"Yeah, well, it's been two weeks, and I was just, uh, in the neighborhood, with a delivery…" Sam fidgeted nervously.

Not knowing what to do, Meg just nodded, standing with her arms down at her sides. Needing something to do, she began picking up a few toys. "I'm sorry, for the mess, I'm babysitting, and no one's around so I've been trying to figure out which stuff he likes best…"

"Meg," Sam said, and she stopped her nervous babbling to look at him. She held an action figure in her hand. "We never really got to talk after…what happened," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to, uh, find you, but every time I went to the store you weren't there," Meg told him, clutching the figure in her hands tightly.

"I think I've been avoiding you," he said outright, and Meg was caught off-guard.

"What?"

"I just wasn't sure…about everything. I mean I know we talked about it, but we never really talked about it." He shook his head at himself and chuckled. "I'm not making sense."

"No, I know what you mean," Meg said slowly.

They stayed silent, and Meg wondered if she was breathing or not. She took a cautious step forward at the same time Sam did, and before she knew it, they were inches apart. She wasn't sure how the gap had been closed so quickly, but at the moment she didn't care.

Everything with Sam, though not much had happened yet between them, felt so different from her past crushes. With Jimmy there was the way her eyes would immediately go to his face, just to take in how handsome he was, and the fact that he'd chosen her as his dancing partner. With Luke there was a rush of butterflies in her stomach, and the notion would cross her mind that he was her boyfriend. Her first boyfriend. With Drew there had been the fact that he was in college that made her insides wobble. He was older, and more mature (or so she thought), and more experienced, and he introduced her to the world of protesting, and rebelling. With Chris, well, he was dangerous. He was a risk-taker, and he let her find the extent of how far she'd really go for something she believed in. He'd been sweet, too, but in a way that still made her question if he were true or not. With Mark, well, he was from across the country; a California guy who was laid-back, and older, and had taken an interest in her. He'd almost been an experiment.

None of those relationships had worked out. But Sam…

Meg had always had a special place in her heart for her friend. She'd looked past the color of his skin, the racism that she was supposed to feel, and he had done the same with her. She'd found a true friend, a confident, a guy in her life (outside of her family) who'd never intentionally disappoint her or lie to her. It was as if he were a silent boyfriend: it was never acknowledged, and they didn't participate in the normal 'couple' activities, but he'd been there. They were similar in their tastes, but different in so many more ways. When they were stuck in the middle of that riot in North Philly a few years before, he'd protected her and comforted her. He'd been arrested along with her when they'd sat-in at Penn. When they fought, or weren't speaking, it actually made her cry.

It wasn't even about race anymore; Meg could care less what someone's skin color was. It was about his heart, which she'd always been unconsciously holding in hers, even when they both thought they were in love with someone else.

At only inches apart, with her gazing up at him and him gazing down at her, she couldn't resist softly saying: "Haven't we been here before?"

He never answered. His lips on hers would've made it a bit difficult. Besides, Meg liked this kind of communication a lot more.

XXX

A/N II: Not sure when the next update will be. Whenever the bunny bites, I suppose. I've got mid-terms fast approaching, so studying for those is gonna take up a lot of my time.