Somewhere I Belong

Chapter Seven

A/N: Thank you to jtsideout389 and wItHouT a tRacE fReAk for your reviews! Enjoy!

A Week Later

Martin released a sigh as he turned off his television. He was growing more and more anxious to leave the hospital. After bugging his doctor for days, the doctor had finally agreed to release him today and he was beyond grateful. He was sick of this hospital; he'd spent entirely too long lying in this bed, dwelling on the amount of time that he had missed. He still couldn't believe that he had lost three whole months of his life. That was time that he was never going to get back. Even worse was the fact that he had missed almost all of Sam's pregnancy. While he was glad that Danny and their friends were there for her, he couldn't help but feel left out and completely out of the loop.

Not wanting to continue thinking about the aftermath of the shooting, he switched to a more pleasant topic—his new relationship with Samantha. Throughout the past week she had been coming over constantly to check up on him and to talk. They had talked a little bit about the past and cleared the air on a lot of things. But usually they would talk about an interesting case at work, something baby-related, or they would just sit there and make random comments about whatever was on TV. So far, their relationship was going well.

She hadn't stayed the night with him again since that first night, but he suspected it was because she wasn't comfortable being squished together in his hospital bed. He understood that she needed space to stretch out, but wished she would stay anyway. That first night, when she was with him, he slept wonderfully. But since then, he had been having horrible nightmares about the shooting. The dreams were so realistic and gory that it was getting to the point that he didn't want to go to sleep anymore without her next to him. She seemed to be his own personal dream catcher.

Danny came bursting through the door with a huge smile on his face. "Hey Marty, ready to break free of this place?"

Martin gave him a smile. "You bet." Danny had been a great friend, coming and visiting him a lot this past week. He would come by with a notepad and start rattling off random news stories that had occurred while he was in the coma. He brought him up to speed on politics, movies, music, general news, and most importantly sports. While he was glad to see Danny, he couldn't help being slightly disappointed that Sam hadn't come to pick up him up from the hospital.

"Great. Then I'll go get your release papers while you get dressed." With that said, he left Martin's room.

About twenty-five minutes later, Danny was driving Martin back to his apartment. They stopped at a red light and Martin looked over at Danny. With a chuckle he said, "I wonder how much dust and mail has piled up at my apartment." Then he started to wonder. "Do I even have an apartment anymore? I mean, I haven't paid my rent in three months. Did I get evicted?" The thought that he would be without an apartment hadn't occurred to him until now and it concerned him.

"No, you didn't get evicted." Danny chuckled and gave his friend a smile. "Don't worry man, you still have an apartment."

As Danny pushed the gas pedal once the stoplight turned green, Martin contemplated what his friend was saying. So he still had an apartment? But how? He hadn't been paying his rent. "And just how is that possible?"

While he wasn't sure he should be the one to tell him this, he couldn't find a way around it. "She didn't want me to tell you this, but Sam's been paying your rent and everything for you."

"She's what?" He couldn't believe it. "Can she even afford that on top of her rent and expenses? What is she thinking? She should be saving for the baby."

"Now before you get mad at her, calm down for a moment." Danny replied calmly. "I don't know if she could afford it or not, but that's what she's been doing. She didn't want you to wake up and find yourself suddenly homeless. She's also been cleaning your apartment religiously and has probably restocked your fridge by now with all your favorites."

Martin shook his head. "I can't believe she'd do all that for me." He knew that Sam loved him, but he wasn't used to her doing such nice things for him. It was nice that she was trying to be more giving but it was also going to take some getting used to.

"Well believe it buddy. You're quite the lucky man. You've managed to crack Samantha's tough outer shell and bring out the sweet person trapped inside." A smile formed on Danny's face. "Which reminds me, I have to thank you."

"For what?" He was confused. What could Danny be thanking him for? He wasn't aware he did anything to be thanked for.

"For getting Sam pregnant. It's completely changed her. She's not nearly as closed off and she's nicer. She's also happier than I've ever seen her before." He looked over at Martin. "I never thought that she's find someone to make her that happy. Thankfully, I was wrong. I'm glad that you and Sam are rebuilding your relationship. It's probably the only good thing that's come out of this whole mess."

"Yeah, the only good thing." Martin echoed, staring out the window. The rest of the short ride was silent as they drove to Martin's apartment building. When they arrived, Martin tried to grab his bag from the backseat but Danny got there first and refused to let him carry his own bag. Not wanting to fight, he allowed his friend to help and they made their way upstairs.

Unlocking the door, he stepped inside his apartment. Surprisingly it still looked the same. Danny wasn't kidding when he said that Sam had been cleaning his apartment. It looked completely spotless. It was hard to believe that he had been away for three months.

"Home sweet home, right Marty?" Danny commented, throwing Martin's bag on the floor next to the couch.

"Yeah." Martin nodded. "Home sweet home." He took another quick look around before turning back to Danny. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why were you the one to pick me up from the hospital? I thought that Sam would do that."

"Well there was a slight change in plans." Danny replied.

"What kind of change? Is everything ok?" Martin asked.

"Everything's fine." Danny nodded, taking a seat on the couch and stretching out. He was making himself comfortable and taking a moment to relax. "Sam just asked me to bring you home so that she could go to the grocery for you. She was supposed to be here by the time I brought you home but I guess she isn't back yet."

As if on cue, the door opened and Samantha came rushing in the door with two bags full of groceries. "Oh, you're here already. Damn." She frowned as she looked at the bags she was holding. "This was supposed to be a surprise."

Martin smiled at her. "It's ok. Danny had already told me what you were planning on doing for me today."

She sent an angry glare at Danny, who just shrugged it off with a grin. She then leaned in closer to Martin and whispered, "I guess it's a good thing that Danny didn't know everything that I was planning on doing today."

His eyes grew wide and a grin formed on his face at her words. "Well what do you have planned?"

"Not telling." She shook her head playfully. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to put the food away."

Martin watched her enter his kitchen and thought about joining her. After making sure that Danny was busy watching ESPN and making himself comfortable, he followed her and watched as she put away his groceries. "So what did you buy me?"

She laughed at his enthusiasm. He was acting just like a little kid wanting to know what he was getting for his birthday. "Basic food supplies and some other stuff that I know you like." She replied, continuing to pull items from the bags and put them away.

He watched the food that she was putting away and felt bad for a moment. She had gotten him all of his favorite foods. He felt the need to confess. "You know, honestly, I didn't think that you paid attention to the kind of food I kept around here."

She put the bread down on the counter and turned to face him. The playful look on her face had turned into a solemn one. "I know that I wasn't the perfect girlfriend, but I did pay attention. Probably more than you think."

He closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I realize that now." They both leaned in closer to each other, each anticipating the kiss that was coming. Then they were interrupted by Danny.

"Hey guys, why don't we just order a pizza for dinner?" Danny asked, stepping into the kitchen. Watching Martin and Sam so close to each other, it was obvious that he had just interrupted a special moment. "Sorry. Bad timing."

"That's ok." Samantha sighed, reluctantly pulling away from Martin and going back to putting away the groceries.

Martin was disappointed that he didn't get to kiss Sam, but masked his disappointment with a smile. "So, you want a pizza for dinner? Who said you were staying for dinner?" He half-joked with his friend.

Danny hadn't thought about that. What if he wasn't invited to stay for dinner? He had just assumed. "Oh, well if you want…"

Sam spoke up, linking her arm in Martin's. "Of course you can stay for dinner, right Martin?"

Honestly, as much as he loved Danny like a brother, he wanted alone time with Samantha. But after he saw the determined look on her face, he couldn't argue with her about this. Even though this was technically his apartment, he didn't really have a say in this. "Sure. You know you're always welcome here."

Danny could tell that Martin wanted Samantha to himself and felt bad about hanging around. "Actually, I have to…"

"You are staying and you'll enjoy yourself." Sam ordered. "Now go order the pizza."

After hesitating for a moment, Danny nodded. He had learned from past experience that it was best for everyone involved if he didn't argue with the pregnant woman. "Ok."

She turned and wrapped her arms around Martin's neck, pulling him closer to her—well as close as he could get considering the size of her belly. "You don't mind that I invited Danny to stay, do you?"

What was he supposed to say? If he said no then he would be lying. If he said yes, he would be incredibly selfish and ungrateful. After all, Danny was a good friend who had helped out a lot in his absence. After leaning in and giving her a kiss he said, "Just promise me that he's not going to be here the entire night."

She gave him a kiss and smiled. "I promise. We'll feed him and then cast him out into the cold night air."

He laughed and leaned in for one last kiss before helping her put the few remaining groceries away.