Chapter 7: Vegas Sweet Vegas

Danny and Sam both got out of the car without looking at each other. They grabbed Sam's things without a single "Can I help you with that?" or "Thanks." It was too awkward. They both felt stupid for kissing. Danny thought Sam didn't like him, Sam thought Danny didn't like her. So they both felt like fools. They thought nothing would ever be the same again. Neither one of them wanted to live like this, feeling strange in front of one another.

They walked into the front door of the Montecito. Sam smiled to herself when she looked around. It truly felt better and more familiar to hear the chiming of all the slot machines, and the people screaming for winning something. She knew she was back where she belonged. She just hoped it would be the same as before she left. Before she kissed Danny. She didn't want that certain hostility between them.

As they were walking to Ed's office, Mary stopped them.

"Sam! You're back! I'm so glad you're back! It was strange with you not here. It just wasn't the same."

"I agree. I'm glad to be back. I'm not going to leave again," Sam said, making sure to focus just on Mary and not let her eyes wander to Danny.

Danny was doing the same. Mary noticed the tension between them, and started wondering what was going on. She figured it better not to ask one of them with the other around, to avoid even more tension.

"Well, you better go let Ed know you're back! I've got to go do… this um, thing," Mary said, making an excuse to get away as quickly as possible, so as to get out of the middle of whatever was going on between Sam and Danny.

They started towards Ed's office again, only making it another few feet before being stopped by Mike.

"Sam! I'm so glad you're back," he said giving her a gentle hug.

"Me too, Mike. It's nice to see you again."

"I've missed you! We've all missed you! Now maybe things will finally stop being so hectic." Mike too, noticed the tension between Sam and Danny, so he also made a quick exit.

They continued past more people and up to the surveillance room. They were once again stopped, over by the conference room, this time by Delinda.

"Sam! You're back! It's so good to finally see you again! I missed you! But I can't talk right now…"

'Thank god,' Danny and Sam both thought.

"…I have a lot to do for Mystique. Gunther needs me to test his new gumbo."

They made a quick break for Ed's office door, making sure they wouldn't get stopped again.

They both put their hands on Ed's doorknob. Their hands flung off of it, as if it shocked them. Usually something like this wouldn't be awkward at all, but since things were already high tension between them, even their hands hardly touching brought that tension level even higher.

They just looked at each other, nervous of what the other one was thinking. Finally Danny broke eye contact and opened the door. Ed looked up from his desk. His face lit up.

"Sam!" That was all he said as he jumped up to give her a big hug.

"Hey Ed!"

"I'm so glad you decided to come back. I'm sorry about what happened before. But Eric is gone, so there isn't anything to worry about."

"Thanks Ed, I appreciate it a lot," she said.

"It was nothing. I just didn't want to lose my best casino host!" Ed said. He may have said he didn't want to lose his casino host, but in reality, Ed thought of Sam as one of his daughters. It was really a strong relationship that Ed didn't want to lose. He just stood, staring at Sam for a minute and then finally looked at Danny.

"Why don't you help Sam take her things up to her room. I'm sure she's very tired."

"Okay, Ed."

Danny was partly pleased to help Sam, but he also knew that it would be silent and still awkward the entire way up. He wished he could spend every waking minute with Sam, but not like this. He was getting tired of the tension and just wanted to give Sam some space until it blew over. Sam felt the exact same way about the situation.

"No, Ed… really it's okay, I can do it myself."

"Nonsense Sam, let Danny help you."

With that, they both silently left Ed's office and made their way to the elevators. Once on, they felt a bit of a disappointment that there was no one behind them waiting to go up, which left them on the elevator… alone.

So many thoughts were going through both of their minds.

Sam was thinking about how much she just wanted to get to her room and close the door, so she could stay in her own little world for at least a day, just to let time and reality catch back up with her. She could try not to think about Danny. She was trying to do this already, but it was kind of hard not to think about him when he was standing right next to her.

She was hoping things could just go back to normal. She still loved Danny, and probably always would. But she knew now, that the odds of anything happening between them after this were slim to nothing. She didn't want to be away from Danny. She still wanted him in her life. But she didn't want this hostility. Having Danny in her life as just a friend was better than not having him in it at all. She wondered what was on his mind at this very moment. Sam was scared. She was scared at how much she cared for this man. It wasn't like the usual, hardcore, her. Why did this happen to her? How could SHE fall for someone?And how could she do it thatquickly? She couldn't believe that she fell in love. She never thought she would. But she did.

Danny was thinking about Sam. He was thinking about what happened between them. He was thinking about the way things were before the kiss. He was thinking about how he spent the night with only her in the middle of the desert. He wondered if things would ever be the same between him and Sam again. 'Doubt it,' he thought to himself. As much as he wanted things to be normal between him and his secret love would ever be normal again.

'Not so secret now, is it?' He thought. He too, wondered what Sam was thinking right now. He couldn't bare the thought of never again being able to freely speak to the beautiful woman standing next to him. He needed her in his life, under any circumstance. She had to be there. He realized how much he needed the amazing Samantha Jane Marquez a long time ago. But he didn't realize until right then, that he might not be able to stand his life without her.