-PERCEPTION-

Jake rescues Sam and realizes a few things in the aftermath. Rather Jake-centric this chapter. Characters belong to Terry Farley. Will be Sam/Jake. Thank you for the reviews! They are greatly appreciated. Sorry if Jake's OOC, not used to my characters being quiet, in fact I'm quite used to the opposite.

There you are, wild and free

Reaching out like you needed me

A helping hand to make things right

I am holding you all through the night

Chapter 4: Panic

Sam yawned, waking several hours later. It was dark outside, she noticed. She tried to move but found that there was an arm wrapped around her stomach, holding her tightly. "Jake?" she mumbled sleepily, trying to figure out how they'd managed this.

He didn't reply, just simply continued his light snoring, his head resting contently over hers.

She smiled, lifting his arm so she could move but she couldn't bring herself to do so, despite all the sleep she had she didn't seem to have that much energy, plus he had warned her not to over-exert herself, in fear of pulling out her stitches. So instead, she changed positions, her head now resting in his lap, his other arm subconsciously moving to wrap around her again. "Someone's a heavy sleeper…" she teased, closing her eyes.

As soon as she did so, though, Jake sat bolt upright, almost knocking her clean off the sofa. He recovered quickly, reaching out to steady her, his eyes wide with terror.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, not angry but worried, as she sat back up next to him.

He shook his head, "Nothin'" he said quietly.

She rolled her eyes. "Sure…" she glanced out the window. "Oh, look, a pig just went flying by the window. ": she said sarcastically.

Jake shot her a glare. "It was nothing, Brat," he repeated, resorting to insults to get her off topic.

That plan failed. "Oh, you're not getting away that easy…" she said, crossing her arms, with some degree of pain, stubbornly over her chest. "Did you have a nightmare or something?"

He shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, I did."

"You going to tell me what it was about?" she asked.

"You," he replied simply.

Deciding to take advantage of this slightly more talkative Jake, she nodded, urging him to continue. When he didn't, she urged him on. "Me? What did I do?" she asked.

Jake shook his head. "You didn't do anything."

"Then what did you mean when you said your nightmare was about me?" Sam asked.

"It was last night, and I didn't find you soon enough…" he said, not able to look her in the eye, his gaze cast downward. "When I did, it was too late…"

In an un-Sam like move, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, and he, in an even more Un-Jake-like manner, didn't pull away, but hugged her back.

"You can't leave again…" he whispered, finally relinquishing his hold on her upon hearing a knock on the door.

Wyatt, Brynna and Grace were back from the convention.

"How are you feeling, honey?" Wyatt asked his daughter, sitting beside her after Jake had let them in.

Sam smiled. "A lot better."

He nodded. "Thanks for staying here, Jake."

Jake shrugged, still quite shaken by his dream. "I should be going."

Wyatt nodded. "Could you help me get Sam upstairs first?" he asked.

He nodded, walking back over to where Sam still sat. He and Wyatt stood on either side of her, supporting her as she walked; Jake helped her into her bed, smiling as he promised to come back tomorrow to see how she was doing.

He was the last thing she saw as she fell back to sleep. 'Curse this stupid pain medicine…' she thought. Jake had told her it would make her sleepy when he'd given it to her a few hours ago.

Meanwhile, her father was on the phone with Aunt Sue, planning Sam's return to San Francisco.

Okay, completely pointless chapter, but I wanted a nice fluffy one before the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it! Reviews are greatly appreciated. Lyrics at the beginning are the property of the Backstreet Boys…