Sorry for taking this long but I had lost inspiration and I was writing bits and pieces on my spare time which sadly hasn't been much but I'm trying to get back to it and thank you all for your kind words and apreciation it means a lot ;)

Now and Then 2: Before and After

Chapter 6 – The Tree House

It was a little passed midnight and they all walked to the Tree house. None of them exchanged words on the way, after all they had a loss of words for what had just happened and with good reason. Samantha was a wreck. She was still crying, though not so much as before but not even Raphael could find something to make her feel better and he thought that if he just dissed the subject it could only make it worse.

It wasn't until they were all inside the tree house that Roberta spoke.

- "Oh to hell with it! We didn't do anything wrong!" – Roberta hissed and Teeny made a loud shush sound.

- "That's not helpful Roberta. Sam can't just push problems aside it only gets worse" – Chrissy said.

Roberta just gave Chrissy a glare and then slapped the floor.

- "Well then you say something miss perfect" – Roberta said and Teeny just got up.

- "Stop it both of you! This doesn't help at all. Are we going to fight amongst ourselves now?" – Teeny asked them looking from Chrissy to Roberta. Chrissy only looked down and Roberta just crossed her arms, leaned on Scott and looked out the window.

Samantha stopped crying and was leaning on Raphael's shoulder and she looked at them all.

- "I'm sorry guys. I'm sorry my mom keeps messing things up for us" – Samantha said and Teeny took her hand reassuringly and then pulled her and gave her a hug.

- "You don't have to apologise for anything Sam. If anyone should apologise it's your mom. She'll come around, you'll see" – Teeny said and gave her a smile.

- "I hope so" – Samantha said and leaned on Raphael again.

Scott looked at Raphael.

- "How much money you got?" – Scott asked.

Raphael looked puzzled for a moment and then took out his wallet and checked it.

- "Like ten or fifteen dollars. Why?" – Raphael said.

- "Well I don't know about you guys but since we left there and we didn't eat anything, I'm kinda hungry and since we're the guys we should pay for the ladies" – Scott said and Raphael nodded.

- "But how are you going to buy anything? The closest store here closed at 11:00" – Teeny said.

Chrissy then pushed Teeny to a side and loosened a board on the floor from where she took out several bags of chips and other sweets.

- "I had this in case of an emergency, and I guess it calls for it" – Chrissy said and they all celebrated Chrissy's thinking.

The night kept passing and Roberta and Scott were inside the tree house. Teeny and Chrissy were at the swings and Sam and Raphael were sitting on the floor covered with a blanket looking at the moon.

- "Do you have to get home now?" – Samantha asked.

- "I'll stay with you for as long as you need me" – Raphael said and Samantha smiled at him and rested her head on his chest.

- "I wish we could go far away, where we could be together and no one could take us away or make scenes like my mom" – Samantha said.

- "Yeah, I wish we could" – Raphael said and Samantha looked at him.

- "Then why don't we go?" – Samantha asked.

- "Where would you like to go?" – Raphael asked.

- "Well maybe…someplace where it snows all the time" – Samantha replied.

- "I get the chills just thinking about it, why not a beach or something like that?" – Raphael said playfully and Sam smiled and pushed him gently to a side.

- "I'm serious, wouldn't you like it, a house in the middle of the woods with snow all over. We could lie on the snow and dance under the moon" – Samantha said.

- "Well, we can dance right now" – Raphael said and got up and offered her his hand. Samantha got up smiling and took his hand and they began to dance.

There was no music but she could hear a lovely melody as she danced with him. Every step they took was exactly at the beat of her heart which gave the rhythm to the slow music in her mind. It was these moments of happiness that made everything worthwhile.

The morning came and they had fallen asleep. Scott woke up next to Roberta and she woke up and Scott smiled at her.

- "Good morning" – Scott said and Roberta smiled at him and she reached over him and moved on top of him. Scott only smiled.

- "Don't get any ideas" – Roberta said and reached for her coat and grabbed it and looked outside for the others.

Chrissy and Teeny had fallen asleep on a bench and Samantha and Raphael were on the grass with the blanket around them.

Raphael woke up first and gave Samantha a soft kiss on her cheek to wake her. Sam smiled at him and gave him a soft kiss.

- "So we have to get something for breakfast so I'll go back to my house and get some clothes. And I'll meet you at the dinner" – Raphael said.

- "Sounds like a plan" – Sam said and smiled at him. Raphael got up and helped Sam get up.

Chrissy yawned loudly and Teeny woke up because of it.

- "Could you mind not making too much noise Chrissy, I'm sleeping here" – Teeny said and they all laughed.

Raphael told Scott, and the girls the plan with Samantha and they all agreed to see each other at the dinner. Everyone left their own way except for Teeny and Samantha who went together to Teeny's house so Sam could borrow some clothes.

When Teeny got home, her parents weren't there like always but they left a note. It said that Sam's mother had come looking for her and that she was coming to get her at 8:00 pm. Teeny only passed the note to Sam who frowned as she read it.

- "I'm not going back with her Teeny. I'm going to see if I can stay with Raphael. I'll ask him later in the dinner" – Sam said.

Teeny only nodded and passed Sam a pair of jeans and a top. Teeny's clothes were different to what Sam was used to wearing but she did not complain about anything. After all Teeny was doing her a favour and she was grateful for it.

It was almost 11:00 am and they were now ready. They walked to the dinner and saw Raphael, Scott and Roberta, and Chrissy sitting on their usual table beside the window. Sam kissed Raphael and sat beside him and Teeny sat beside Sam.

- "I can't stay too long guys, my mom freaked when I told her where I spent the night, so she grounded me" – Chrissy said.

- "I'm so sorry Chrissy" – Sam said.

- "Hey don't worry, I was being supportive for my friend in need so it doesn't matter if I'm grounded. I'm sure you would've done the same for me" – Chrissy said.

Sam smiled and Roberta grinned.

- "I wouldn't" – Roberta said to Chrissy grinning and Chrissy punched her on her arm – "Ok just kidding" – Roberta said smiling.

Raphael looked at Sam who was frowning and looking directly at her glass of coke.

- "What's wrong Sam?" – Raphael asked and put his arm around her.

- "I can't stay at Teeny's anymore. Can I stay with you?" – Sam asked him and Raphael smiled at her.

- "Sure you can, you can sleep in my sister's room, she's dying to meet you" – Raphael said and Sam smiled.

Sam knew she couldn't run forever and her mom would never stop looking for her. But she did not want her mom to find her just yet. She had a lot of things to think about and she wasn't going to let go of this wonderful feeling she shared with Raphael. She had to prepare for the final encounter with her mom, and she would think about it in Raphael's house.

TO BE CONTINUED…