This is the chapter I've been dreading writing. I kind of wish I could just skip ahead and let everyone use their imaginations, but that wouldn't be fair. I don't know why I write stories I know it would be hard for me to read if I were to come across it. I guess I can't help what I feel like writing. Oh, well, just remember that things will get better. That's a promise I can keep.

This woman was taking freaking forever to show up. Drearily she looked at the guy in bed with her again. He was built, like really built. If he had been a little more conscious Lea might have tried to take advantage of his intoxication.

She stifled another yawn, vaguely wondering where this "fiancée from hell", to quote Kate, could be. She'd had a long day. Before she'd gotten this job there had been a lot of partying. Then there was the dragging a grown man around a motel, talk about exhausting.

She must have been lying in this bed for hours. Kate had told her that this job would be simple and, most likely, fast. There was only so much she could do to stay awake. She had been up late, even for a night owl like herself. Slowly Lea's eyes drifted shut and she fell into a light sleep.

………………………………...

She must have been there for hours. That was all that Sami could think. Just when Belle had been about to lead her to the room that Lucas was not in, the stupid guy who ran the desk had to show up. Then, of course, Belle claimed that she didn't know which room it was.

Bullshit. The little twit was trying to cover up for her lie. She still couldn't find a reasonable explanation for Belle lies, but who said that Belle was reasonable?

"Listen, buddy, I'm sure you could try to be a little understanding. We just need to know which room a," she swept glance at Belle before continuing, "petite redhead and a dark haired guy rented. His name is Lucas Roberts."

"There is no Lucas Roberts here, miss."

Sami gave her little sister a look that clearly said, "ha, I told you so." Unfortunately, Belle wouldn't back down and asked for the guy to tell them the room number of the girl.

"We don't give out room numbers to strangers. Especially not to ones that don't know the person's name. Our customers have the right to some privacy."

"Look, I need to know which room they're in so that I can prove to my sister that my fiancé is not with another woman. Do you get it now?"

Ed studied the forceful young woman in front of him more closely. So this was the broad that he was supposed to fake out. The older woman who had paid him to lie about who rented the room hadn't said what she was planning, but this must have been it. It was a shame to hurt two kids so much and the pretty blonde in front of him looked close to snapping.

If it weren't for the thought of his sick wife at home with their ever-growing brood, he would have stopped this right here. As it was, in this world it was every man for himself and he needed to think about his family first. He might go to hell, but his wife wouldn't be suffering anymore. That was all that mattered.

So, he ignored the part of his gut telling him how horrible he was and told the lie he had been paid to tell.

He was definitely going to hell.

………………………………...

Lucas shifted slightly and moved closer to the warm body next to him. Sami seemed different, even to his hazy mind. He tried to break through the fuzz in his head and reach full awareness, but he felt more than half asleep as he struggled to open his heavy eyelids.

He couldn't bring himself to open them less than halfway, not even enough to see the room he was in. An indistinguishable thought was trying to make its presence known, but he couldn't grasp it. It was right on the edge of his mind. Mentally he reached for it, positive that if he focused completely it would be his.

It was as if he were trying to seize wisps of smoke. Every time his metaphorical hand reached out, the smoke slipped through his fingers. There was something very important that he had to remember, but the process was quickly exhausting him.

He slipped back into an uneasy oblivion.

………………………………...

This was the right door. Should she knock? Would it matter? It wasn't like she knew the people in there, because Lucas wasn't there. And if he was, then he definitely deserved to have his privacy violated. But that was a stupid thought because he could not be in there. Why couldn't she make her hand reach for the doorknob?

Belle watched uncertainly as Sami hesitated again. She kept moving like she was about to open the door, but stopping at the last minute. She couldn't blame her. She wouldn't want to open that door either. In fact, she wasn't sure she wanted Sami to.

It kept running through her mind. Sami deserved to know. She had to tell her sister the truth. It was the only option. But the fact that it was the right thing to do didn't make hurting her sister, even indirectly, any easier.

"You don't have to do this. I just wanted to tell you what I knew, Sami. You shouldn't have to witness it."

"I told you, it isn't true. I can prove it."

With a determined nod of her head, Sami gripped the handle firmly and turned it. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. The thudding of her heart was blocking out almost everything else, even though she had nothing to be nervous about she silently reassured herself.

The door seemed to open in slow motion. Damn motels and their ominous doors. All that creaking. What were they trying to do to her?

So what if there were two people in the bed that she could see from the doorway, that didn't mean it was Lucas. She took a few unsteady steps into the room and as the male figure in the bed became clearer her footsteps died away.

Sami couldn't breathe. She closed her eyes tightly for a minute until she saw stars behind her lids. She was hallucinating, that was all. Gradually she opened her eyes again certain that the image in front of her would change. It didn't.

It was incomprehensible to her. She simply could not wrap her mind around it, even as she saw right in front of her eyes. Lucas was in bed with another woman and they were very naked. She could feel a scream of complete despair forcing its way to her lips, but she forced it down. The pain was overwhelming.

Her fingernails were digging into her palms, but she felt numb. How could Lucas of all people do this? He said that he lov… no, she wouldn't think of that. Instead, she pushed the all-consuming heartbreak away and brought out an emotion that hid her vulnerability and gave her power. Anger.

Belle was surprised when Sami's voice rang through the silent room. It wasn't that she had spoken, but the calm voice she used. She had expected a flood of tears and a lot of yelling, but she wasn't that naïve. This was the foreboding calm of the sea before the deadly storm.

"Get up," Sami didn't have a plan, but improv was really her specialty.

Lucas heard a voice calling to him through the fog of his mind. Desperately, he struggled to follow the dulcet tones pulling him into the world. He knew that voice and it sounded furious.

He groaned as he was dragged further into consciousness as the warm body moved away from him, "Sami?"

"Yup, that's me. You know, you're fiancée. The woman who just found you in bed with another woman."

Was it strange that her body was so much closer than her voice?

He finally managed to reach full awareness, only to open his eyes to more confusion. There was a strange woman in bed with him and Sami was standing halfway into the room with fire in her eyes and pain in every other aspect of her being. Belle was standing, frozen in terror, at the door looking like she was about to burst into terrified tears. This wasn't right. Who the hell was this woman?

It felt like he should know, but his head wouldn't clear enough for him to think, "What the hell is going on here?"

"I think I should be the one asking that question."

"Sami," it was barely a whisper as he finally registered the situation semi-clearly. She was in her fighting stance, but he could see through it, even in his daze. She was in pain, and somehow he had caused it, "I… I don't… I mean... I don't know how this happened."

"I could explain the basics, I guess. You obviously felt the need for a- fling. Maybe you needed to sleep with a few more whores before you settled down. You know, before our wedding. The one that's tomorrow, or technically it's today."

As hard as she fought against it, she knew the tears were lying in wait. It was only a matter of time and she would not breakdown in front of him.

"No, no, that's not it. That can't be it. I don't… I don't rememb…"

"If you really think I'm going to believe that crap, then…" she trailed off to let the threat hang in the air. She wasn't certain that she knew how to end it.

"You don't understand. I didn't sleep with her. I know I didn't," Lucas massaged his temple as if it would invoke the memory he was searching for.

"There's no point in lying to the poor girl, baby," Lea jumped into the conversation, artfully stroking his muscled arm.

He pulled away quickly, "Don't touch me."

"You didn't seem to mind a couple hours ago. In fact, you seemed to enjoy it. A lot." She made certain to keep eye contact with this Sami woman as she said it.

She couldn't take this. No, Sami had to get out of there before she heard anymore. It was too much. She started backing away from the scene unfolding before her, not truly registering her surroundings. She almost tripped on a tangle of clothes on the floor and bumped into a chair.

He saw her starting to recede into the shadows of the room. She was breathing heavily and moving without any clear direction. She was walking away from him. With a lurch of his heart, Lucas realized exactly what that meant. If she walked away, them she'd be gone. Possibly forever.

He got up without thinking about his nakedness or how fast Sami would move away from him, "Don't… I… I need you."

His brain wasn't functioning properly and he couldn't string together a real defense. All he knew was that he could not let her leave him. He couldn't let either one of them go through this pain.

"You need me? How dare you even speak a sentence like that? You cheated on me! With some whore the night before our wedding. You… you swore you wouldn't do anything to hurt me and you did the worst thing I can imagine. Did you even think about Will before you did this? Doesn't he matter at all?"

It was becoming almost impossible to fight against the tears now and she knew she couldn't stay much longer.

Oh, God, what was happening? He couldn't understand how this came about. There was no explanation and he couldn't find the words to explain that to Sami. Will… it was too much to think about.

Frantically he reached for her again, but she swiftly sidestepped him, "Don't fucking touch me. I… I can't even look at you."

"Sami," but he was too late and she had fled the room before he could break though the thought process his brain was having trouble with. She had left.

………………………………...

Sami didn't even look at Belle, or anyone else, she just rushed out of the room before he could see her cry. She made it all the way to the parking lot before the torrent of tears started. It was too much. The loss of every dream she had allowed herself to believe in. The loss of the only love she had ever believed would last. The thought of what it would do to her son. She couldn't hold back any longer.

Belle found her sister looking lost and exhausted in the parking lot. Her gut twisting, heart-wrenching sobs were hard to miss and without a word she pulled her into a comforting hug. It didn't make up for what had happened, but it was all she could offer.