Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for all of their great comments. This has been a very interesting story to write and I'm very glad that you all enjoyed the story. Alas, it has come to an end. However, I may write more of these people in the future. Sam and Carly make an interesting set of friends, so should I come up with some other adventure to get into, the story will be posted here. As for the time being, this is it, and thank you all, again, for reading and reviewing.


She could have stood in the doorway all night, and probably would have if Lorenzo hadn't come up behind her. His hands settled on her hips. His body bent and his chin came to rest on her shoulder. He turned his head in and, even through her hair, his lips were warm and comforting as they touched her cheek.

Carly leaned back, closed her eyes and sighed. She would have liked to think of this as the end of something huge, but really, it was only the beginning. Sonny would fight for the boys. He would do his best to wrench them from her care, especially with the knowledge that she had chosen Lorenzo over him. It would have been nice to think that the night's events were enough to make Sonny back off, but she knew him better than that. He would hurt anyone to get what he wanted, and what he wanted were the boys.

Her eyes opened slowly as Lorenzo backed her out of the room, and she peered into the darkness. She was going to have to get a bigger place, she knew that. Morgan and Michael were used to having their own rooms, and it wasn't fair to punish them just because she couldn't live with their father, anymore. They also needed a place they could play, because winter would eventually be over and they would need to go outside, get some fresh air.

The door remained open, but Carly allowed Lorenzo to take her from the bedroom and into the living room. He sat her down on the sofa, then took a seat beside her. The second he was down, Carly leaned her head onto his shoulder. As his arm wrapped around her, she was instantly comforted.

It was only when her life was put in danger that she realized just how safe she felt with Lorenzo. It was insane, and rightly so. The man had kidnapped her, stalked her… But he'd never actually hurt her. He'd hurt himself more times than he'd ever hurt Carly. He'd hurt others to keep her safe. He probably would go out and kill Sonny for everything he'd done if she hadn't impressed upon him the importance to let her handle it, to not murder the father of her children.

"You're more like your brother than you want people to believe," Carly said softly. The comment was so unnatural for her, so unwarranted at the moment, and yet so true. "You would have killed Sonny to keep me safe."

Lorenzo sighed and leaned his head back. "Luis was going to kill to keep his heart safe. Corinthos hadn't done to Brenda what he's done to you."

"Not physically, but…" She shrugged. "Don't get me wrong. Just because I can get along with Sam does not mean I'm about to wind up Brenda Barrett's best friend. She could show up in town tomorrow and I'd still hate her." She shrugged again. "I just thought… I mean, that's the core of you, Lorenzo. The savior, the protector… You would do anything to protect me from Sonny, from anyone. That's not so far from your brother. I don't know why that thought came to mind, and so I'm going to just let it leave my mind."

Carly was glad that Lorenzo didn't speak. Just another way that he was unlike Sonny. He could just let something drop. Actually, he was more like Jason, if she had to compare him to someone in her life. Lorenzo stood by her, understood when she did insane things. He would get her out of trouble because he cared about her, because he wanted her safe. She would never be on her own, she would never suffer more than necessary, because Lorenzo wouldn't allow that to happen.

Just like Jason…

Carly took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She was going to have to see him in the morning, tell him what had happened and what came out of it. She was sure he'd already gotten the information out of Sam, but he had to hear it from her. She also had to tell him that she really was done with this vendetta against Sam. It was pointless to keep up something so old, something that didn't matter anymore. More than that… It was pointless to try and claim that she hated her.

Carly wasn't sure exactly what her feelings were towards Sam, but she knew they weren't hatred. It was impossible for her to hate the woman, now. Honestly, she'd probably lost that hatred after the baby died, but now, after all they'd been through, she could actually admit it to herself. She'd trusted Sam with her life, her sanity, and in the end, Sam had done the exact same thing.

"I don't bond well with women," she said softly. Carly floated her hand over Lorenzo's body and intertwined her fingers with his. Their hands sat on his lap. "Let's be honest, I don't bond well with anybody." She snorted a laugh. "I'm not the bonding type, ya know?"

"You bonded with Courtney."

"That wasn't bonding," she said. "Well, maybe it was bonding but it wasn't… It wasn't like this. Courtney and I gave each other bad advice and we went shopping together, but… this was on a deeper level, Lorenzo. This was on some kind of, I don't know, inner and deep thing, ya know?"

"Under pressure, under fire…" Lorenzo turned his head in and kissed Carly's forehead. "You were forced to depend on one another, trust one another. That makes for strong bonds."

"It's unspoken. I mean, when we were at Sonny's…" She stopped for a moment, unsure if she should lay it all out for him. She could tell Jason, later, because she knew that he wouldn't do anything regrettable. He would be angry, but the love he held for Sonny would stop him from hurting him. Lorenzo, on the other hand…

"Carly?" She looked up at him and sighed. "Carly, what happened when you went to get the children?"

"I…" She sighed. Keeping secrets was no way to start a relationship. She'd done that too many times, and at every turn, it had failed. She had to be honest. "Sonny wasn't glad to see us, as you can imagine. He wasn't about to just let us take the kids. We argued, he grabbed my arms…" Lorenzo's body went stiff and she tightened the grip she held on his hand. "He didn't hurt me, but Sam ran over and said something she didn't mean and… He slapped her. Knocked her to the floor."

"That could have been you, Carly."

"I know that. And I know that before, I probably would have said that it wasn't, and that's all that matters, but it's not. He hit her, there was a little blood leaking from her lip, but… that's not the part that's the biggest. She sent me upstairs to get the boys. She was holding a gun on Sonny."

Carly paused and closed her eyes. She could see it all replay in her head all over again. The gun, the screaming, the words… She shook her head and opened her eyes. "It was like John and me all over again, Lorenzo, only we were reversed. And she actually wanted to shoot him. But, I couldn't say it. I just had to give her hints, and she understood. I just worked around the point, but she got it. I couldn't take the gun from her hands, and I would have. Not to save Sonny. Not even to save the boys from seeing it."

"You would have done it to save her."

"Yeah." She snorted another laugh. "Isn't that something? Me running to help Sam McCall, just to help her? I saved her from that Nico guy, sure, but that wasn't to save her. That was to save her baby, Sonny's baby. This was just… It was about her and me and it's just weird to think about. That Sam and I could possibly be friends. That we could ever be anything but enemies."

"A lot has happened in the past few days, Carly." Lorenzo turned towards her and slowly pulled his hand from hers. When his hands were free, he placed them on her sides and pulled her into his lap. A smile curved his lips as she curled against him, her head positioned perfectly in the dent of his shoulder. "You found friendships. I found… Well, you."

"Oh, what?" Carly laughed. "You're not going to tell me that you and Jason are the best of friends now and you'll be working together?"

"Not hardly." He rolled his eyes, then smirked. "But, we have an understanding. That's about all you'll get out of us, Carly. Now, though, things are different. Days ago, we'd have all been at one another's throats. I'd have still been chasing you. And now, you come to me willingly. You've come to accept this woman into Morgan's life. You've grown."

"And it took me years to do that. It took you coming into my life to do that." She sighed. "Jason would have let me be childish for the rest of my life. He doesn't really see a need for me to change. He loves me the way I am, and I love him for that. You love me the way I am, too, but you also encourage me to be more. To be a bigger person."

"And are you?"

"I'm a big enough person to admit that I needed Sam's help. I don't think it gets much bigger than that." She looked up at him as she pressed her hand to his cheek. Carly brought his head down to hers. Their lips brushed lightly. Lorenzo pulled back just for a second, just long enough to look into her eyes, then kissed her again, harder this time, with more meaning.

Carly finally pulled back from him, but let her hand continue to rest on his cheek. "I love you, Lorenzo. I didn't think I'd ever be able to say it and actually mean it, but I do. There are so many things that have to be done now. I have to make sure I don't lose the boys, I need to find a bigger place…" She shook her head, then smiled softly. "But, that's all stuff that have to wait until tomorrow. The one thing that I can do tonight, right now, is to tell you that I love you, I want to be with you, and there's nothing anyone can do that'll keep us apart. Not anymore." She pushed herself up, kissed him softly again, then said, "Not ever again."