It was a photo of 3 people taken in the stands at a basketball game. They all looked excited, but the girl in the picture looked like she was going to burst. She looked at the 2 men flanking the girl. She recognized herself as the one in the middle, and her cousin on her left and the one on the right was.... Suddenly, it all came together with a frighteningly loud 'click'.

She was in Sam's house.

She left the office as fast as she could without disturbing anything and made sure that the door was closed the way it had been when she entered it. She stumbled out to the living room and fell onto one of the couches, gasping for air.

Sam.

She never thought she'd ever see him again. Mike hadn't really mentioned him on his visits home, and she was too afraid to ask. She didn't want to seem like swooning teenager with a crush, more importantly, she hadn't wanted him to laugh at her. She'd felt something when they kissed that night after the game. Not knowing how he felt about this, she put everything away deep inside and never brought it up.

However, she never could fully pack away the feelings that she'd had when they kissed. He made her feel beautiful, like she was the only one in the world. Her heart raced when he gave her that first hug, and she'd felt like she was going to jump out of her skin the first time their lips touched. She just wanted to stay with him like that forever. For the first time in her life, she'd finally found a place where she felt safe and valued.

Once she was able to get her breathing under control, she quietly walked up the stairs, but instead of going back into the guest room, she gently pushed open his bedroom door. She took two steps in and looked at the figure on the bed. The short, dark hair and the sweet, almost innocent, childlike face; there was no way it could be anyone else. It was Sam, just as she'd remembered him. Kate gave in to her urge and walked over to the bed, pulling the blankets up around him and making sure that he was securely tucked in. He stirred slightly, mumbling as he did so. She brushed back his hair and whispered, "It's OK, Sam. I'm here. Go back to sleep."

Closing the door, she retreated to the guest room. Finding out that she was with Sam was a huge shock. As she started to fall asleep again she whispered, "Thank you for keeping him safe all these years and for bringing me to him."

Sam slowly came out of his unconscious state and instinctively turned towards his nightstand. He fumbled for his glasses as he continued to breathe in the coffee that seemed so close. Once he put on his glasses, he sat up and reached for the mug that was on the stand. There was no way this came from the coffeemaker downstairs; it was just too good. With the mug in one hand, he opened the note that had been propped up next to the mug:

Sam-

Thought that this would wake you up a lot easier than anything else I could come up with. Don't let breakfast get cold.

-K.E.D.

Seeing the initials on the note, the hope that he'd been holding onto for the last 7-8 hours began to dissipate and the familiar ache resurfaced. The woman that he'd brought in from the snow wasn't Kate. He blinked back the tears that had started to form. This woman hadn't done anything wrong; it wasn't her fault that she wasn't who he hoped she'd be. Once he felt that he could keep these feelings under control, he started downstairs to meet the woman he'd found in the snow.