She'd had enough presence of mind to grab her bag & jacket before she flew out of Sam's townhouse. Now she just had to think straight enough to go someplace where no one would think to look for her. She really just wanted to go home, but knew that he'd call and want to talk about what happened and she really couldn't do that right now.
She ran nearly the entire way to the Metro stop, and once there she dug through her purse to get her SmartPass and realized that she'd left her meds at Sam's. The originals. She was so screwed. Shrugging her shoulders, she hopped on the train and just rode around for a while as she thought about what happened.
She felt so confused by the sensations she'd experienced as Sam kissed her. The burning, tight sensation in her chest, the goose bumps, the tingling; what did it all mean? These were all things that she'd never felt before and had no idea about their meaning. She'd heard other women discuss having them when they were with their dates, but, being so shy, she never asked what it all meant. She was too scared that they'd tease her because, other than her assault, she'd never really been with a guy. Yes, she and Sam had kissed in Minneapolis and she'd felt like she was going to lose her balance, but beyond that there had been nothing.
As she walked from the Metro stop to her aunt's, she couldn't help but wish that he was there with her, but brushed that thought aside as quickly as she could. Would he even understand her confusion over the sensations in her body? She knew that she wanted to move things forward a bit in their relationship, but how could she if she didn't understand what was going on? She could only hope that someone would help her to understand them. She wouldn't lose him to her fears, not now. They'd been apart for far too long.
Sam stared out the front window of his living room, his thoughts on what had happened between him and Kate that afternoon. He knew what he'd done was wrong. All he'd wanted was just a tiny bit more contact with her, just something small. She didn't seem to have a problem with his hand on her stomach while they slept earlier, so why had she pushed him away because he touched her neck? Didn't she understand how much he loved her? That he would never do even the slightest thing to hurt her? His thoughts were broken as he wandered toward the front entry.
He noticed that she'd taken her jacket and purse and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. It was supposed to get chilly that night and he did not like the thought of her being cold one bit. All he could think of was the way that he'd found her; her fingertips, toes and lips a very pale blue from the bitter cold of the blizzard. Just the thought of it made him shudder.
He walked back into the living room and picked up the phone. There was no answer at her apartment and she wasn't picking up her cellphone, either. She was probably just out walking, he reasoned. 'I'll just give her the space she wants', he thought. He didn't want to push or pressure her into anything, ever, and knew that if he'd tried to track her down now, that's what he'd be doing. He'd nearly lost her once and he wasn't going to do that again, especially after what had happened this morning. He loved her too much.