A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful support. This chapter is for my two bestest reviewers who always give me something to think about when they review: Chibi Horsewoman and liketoread. If I told you my age you'd probably laugh.

It was hours later before Helen and William sent Andrew up to be the bearer of bad news to the couple who had been unusually quiet after such a loud outburst at the beginning: it was nearing 2200 hours and time for Sam to go home.

William drove Sam back to her house with Jack sitting beside her the entire way. The man and father knew that something had happened in his son's bedroom, he didn't know what it was, but he knew it was for the good of Jack's relationship with Sam based on how close they were sitting in the back seat. Not that Jack would do anything, of course.

When Jack gave Sam a chaste goodnight kiss on the cheek, William had a fairly good idea of what had happened: She'd forgiven him, and the next few weeks would decide if it was still worth it for her to continue to trust him and have a relationship with him.

"Welcome back, Ms. Carter," Mr. O'Hern said with a warm smile when Sam and Jack entered his classroom hand in hand Monday morning.

Sam sent a warm smile to the other boys in the class, "It's good to be back."

"How are you feeling?"

Sam shrugged, "Like I've been shot." Jack's hand tightened around hers, but with a gentle squeeze and a soft look, Sam let him know that she was joking.

Mr. O'Hern noticed the interaction, but didn't mention anything, "Okay, class. Since it's Ms. Carter's first day back, and we're in the last week before Christmas vacation, I think I'll teach you all how to make minor explosion." At the smiles and words of encouragement, Mr. O'Hern added, "Mr. MacGyver, no repeats of what happened last year, please."

Anne Sahlberg had heard the news that Sam Carter was back at school and she was ecstatic. The teacher was determined not to let anything ruin the girl's first day back at school. In fact, she'd even stayed up until the wee hours of the morning with her husband, Peter, making a welcome back banner to hang in the classroom for Sam and Jack.

Mare and her partner, Ola, watched as Sam Carter sat down in her usual place beside Jack O'Neill. Neither of them particularly liked the girl, but that was because she wasn't a member of the Group. When you were a member of the Group, you weren't allowed to like anyone who wasn't.

From across the room, Sam could feel the eyes of the two girls on her back. She turned to them and a shiver of fear ran down her back. Jack noticed her gaze and sent a glare at Carrie's friends. He knew they were a part of the Group, and as such he knew what they were capable of – but that didn't mean he had to be afraid of them.

"Class," Mrs. Sahlberg said with a big grin on her face, "I'd like to welcome back Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neill. And because this is their first day back, I thought that we'd all get in a circle and share what we're feeling after the events of a month ago."

The rest of the day went much the same for Sam: no real work (except for accounting, which never took a day off) and a whole bunch of people saying, "It's good to have you back, Sam."

When the last bell of the day rang, all Sam wanted to do was leave. She was headed out to her car before she realized that she was taking home a lot of books she wouldn't need and that she should offer Jack a ride home. After a quick visit to her locker, she found Jack waiting at the front of the school in a heated discussion with one of the girls from their English class. Sam recognized her as Ola.

She was about to turn around and walk back to her car when she noticed how heated their conversation was. Briefly she wondered if she should interfere when Jack turned around and saw her. He smiled softly for a moment before picking up his bag with his good arm and walking over to where she stood.

Jack smirked at her, "Hey."

"Hey," Sam said, a little worried about the conversation he had just had with the young woman. "What was that all about?"

Jack shook his head, "Ola just started dictating protocol to me, that's all. So, you giving me a ride home today or do I have to wait for Joel to finish packing?"

Sam nodded and the pair began to walk to her car, "He's leaving?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah. That damned rabbinical school starts in three weeks, and Joel still needs to find an apartment and a job."

Sam was silent for the rest of the walk to the car. While she pulled out of the parking lot and into the onslaught of student traffic, she finally voiced her question, "If Joel's going to rabbinical school …"

"Why did he go to church?" Jack asked the question he knew she was thinking, smirking.

Sam blushed, watching the traffic around them, "Yeah."

"It was the lesser of two evils. If he'd told them that he wasn't going to church anymore, then Dad and Mom would have made him move out."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh," Jack said with a big grin on his face. Sam could be so entertaining. "Wanna go get something to eat before we head home?"

"Sure. The burger joint at the corner?"

"Excellent."

All through their friendly meal, Jack fingered the ring that had been a constant companion in his pocket since his mother had given it to him. He so desperately wanted to ask her … to tell her how he felt, but like always when it came to his emotions, Jack couldn't find the right words. It was why it had taken so long for him to tell her about the gang … and why he had been so afraid of her answer.

Sam watched him as she popped another one of the fries into her mouth, "What's up, Jack?" he looked up, startled by her question. She motioned toward his plate, "You've hardly eaten a thing, even though it was your idea to come here. Not to mention you just seem a bit … preoccupied."

A burger joint wasn't exactly the most romantic place in the world, but he guessed it would just have to do. "I was just thinking."

"Dangerous."

Jack gave her a mock glare, mentally changing his mind about asking her right then. It wasn't the right time. So he said, "Today's the four month anniversary of when you first asked me to drive you home."

Sam thought back to that day. So much had changed since then, "It is. Wow. It seems like so much longer than that."

Jack shrugged, "The joys of a year-round school system."

Sam giggled at him, "You make it sound so …"

"Bad, mean?" he offered her words he would use to describe the system.

She shook her head, "Awful. But, remember, oh Wise One, that if it wasn't a year-round system, then we wouldn't have met for another month."

He grimaced, "The first good thing to come out of that damned system."

A/N: Tehe. I tried to make this chapter a little more humorous than I normally do. Did it work?