Broken Rules and Broken Hearts

Chapter two: I Forever Chased the Broken Down Dream

The doorbell rang. Sam answered it. It was Tucker - right on time. 'Right on time' of course meaning fourty five minutes after Sam had told him to arrive. It was sequencial. 90 minutes late the first time, then 75 minutes the next, and an hour last time. The repetition was doing him good. In just three more weeks he should be showing up on time for real. Hopefully he won't proceed to show up early after that.

"Hey, Sam."

"Hey, Tuck," Sam was on the phone. "Yep, the usual. Thank you."

Tucker laughed, "We already have a usual?"

"Yeah," Sam grinned as the doorbell rang. She got the food and tipped the delivery boy and took Tucker downstairs.

"Danny not here yet, either?" Tucker said like 'what else is new'.

"Actually," Sam said gently, putting the food down and handing a pizza box to Tucker. "He's not coming at all."

"Ugh, he cancelled? That is so like him!"

"No, Tuck," Sam sat down. "I told him not to come."

"What?" he whined "But whyyy?" the horror dawned on him, "You're not going to make me watch chick flicks, are you?"

Sam punched Tucker on the shoulder and he whined, then she put her salad down and grabbed his wrist, "Come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Upstairs."

"But the movies are playing down here!"

"You need to see my room."

"What? Sam, I know you're still hopelessly in love with Danny but taking it out on me won't..."

"NOT THAT!" Sam said with disgust, dragging him through the open door. "Look."

Tucker gaped at the hole in the wall. "Geez, I knew you could get mad sometimes, but this is..."

"Will you ever stop being ignorant?" Sam hissed. "Danny did this. Danny Phantom."

"Ohh..." Tucker said with realization at last. "But, your parents..."

"I know," Sam said, "But I didn't want to take the risk." She grabbed his wrist and they went back downstairs. "Besides, I need to talk to you. Alone."

"Okay, what do you need to talk about?" Tucker asked as they decendent the second flight of stairs, back into the basement.

"Danny," Sam said, setting Tucker in his chair. She snatched the pizza box as he reached for it and he whined again. "If I give this back, will you still pay attention?"

"What do you take me for?" he accused. She sighed and gave the food back. "Hey!" he whined, holding up a plain piece of pizza. "This slice doesn't have any meat on it!"

Sam snatched the pizza. Bread, tomato sauce, cheese... no meat, no face. As far as she was concerned, it was safe to eat. Tucker rolled his eyes and began eating while Sam sat down.

"Alright," she said. "We both know I like Danny."

"Love," Tucker corrected.

"I like him... a lot," Sam compromised. "Definately more than a friend."

"And you're never going to tell him. End of talk. Movie time!"

Sam snatched the controller from Tucker and beat him over the head with it. "BE SERIOUS!"

"I was serious! Geez, if you're gonna keep treating me like this I don't know if the free food and movies are gonna be worth it to hang out anymore!"

Sam almost gasped. "Is that the only reason you come here? For food and movies?"

"No!" Tucker covered. "You're my friend, Sam, geez! You know what I meant!"

"No, Tucker, I don't. Why don't you tell me?"

"Well, I consider you a friend but if you keep beating me up then you're not a very good friend at all and I won't stay around, even for the benefits that come with being your friend."

For once, Tucker was talking sensibly, and once again, Sam felt horrible.

"Look, Tuck..." she said slowly, "I'm... I'm s... sorry," she seemed to force the word out. "I'm just having a really bad day and I'm taking it out on you."

"Yeah, I know," Tucker said, "I should know by now how to behave around you and what to expect if I act up."

"I don't mean to be so controlling..." Sam seemed to be near tears. Tucker was confused.

"Sam, is there something you're not telling me? You seem more emotionaly than usual today... and I don't mean just angry, like, all over."

She glared, then sighed. "It's nothing you wanna hear about."

"Nothing I..." Tucker shuddered slightly, "Is it a female thing?" Sam nodded slowly. "Okay, then no more on that subject..." Tucker looked at his pizza, then swallowed a piece in nearly one bite to make sure he could still eat. The sight made Sam want to puke, but she didn't. When Tucker notified that he could still stomach his food, she sighed and began picking at her salad. This Time of Month thing was really taking a toll on her appetite - one second she'd be starving, and then the next she wouldn't want to eat at all. Okay, so maybe it was the quickening slip into depression, but she blamed it on the Time of Month while she could.

"What good will it do me? I don't even wanna have kids."

"Well, sure, you say that now, but maybe when you get older..."

"What, Mother? When I get older, what?"

What, indeed. Sam had told the truth. She never wanted to have kids.

Okay, so maybe she did, but she wouldn't, because she never wanted to get pregnant. The weight gain, the mood swings, the cravings... ugh. She'd heard of the weirdest pregnancy cravings, and while most of them didn't bother her, there was one she knew would - meat. She often wondered how vegetarians did it. Doesn't the growing baby need meat? Yeah... nine months of lovely side effects just didn't seem worth it... and then the next eighteen years... right. She would gladly pass.

Besides... there was only one boy she would ever consider letting near her to even risk pregnancy, and that boy didn't acknowledge her as any more than a friend he didn't deserve.

"So are we going to talk about Danny or watch a movie?" Tucker asked.

"I..." Sam bit back. Why was this so hard? Why did she keep it inside? Why did she suffer? "I'm... I'm..."

"You're gonna tell him?" Tucker seemed more excited than he should. When Sam shook her head, however, he sunk back into his seat. "You're what?"

"I'm giving... up..." she sighed. There. She said it. I'm never going to tell him anyway...

"Sam!" Tucker whined, "You can't do that! Do you know how hard it is for me to watch you two? The way you look at him, the way you act when he's not looking... the way you two blush when you have a moment, the way you two always jump to say you're not together... I watch it all and I don't say anything! I know I can get on your nerves but I think keeping that secret when I have to put up with you two all the time is a true sign of friendship."

"Oh don't go all preachy friendship king on me," Sam spat. "But listen to yourself. Everything, all the signs are there, and still I don't do anything, and I never will. I don't want to ruin what we have..."

"Oh, of course! Ruin all the awkward moments, that'd be a shame... and eliminating tension when in the presence of your peers! Who in their right mind would do that?"

Samantha didn't know what agitated her more - the fact that Tucker's tone was drenched in sarcasm, or the fact that it was all true and she needed to get over herself.

"Tucker, maybe this was a mistake..."

"What? Telling me? No, I talked you out of it, didn't I?"

"No... Maybe... I don't know!" Sam hugged her knees to her chest again. "I don't know..."

Tucker sighed, "Let's just watch a movie and take a cooling off period. I..." Sam shot him a glare at that P-word. Tucker looked aside but couldn't think of anything to say.