Chapter 2

Author`s note: Hello again, dear readers! OH MY GOD, how about that 'Last one out of Beach City' episode, huh?! It was freakin` crazy! By the end of it I was literally dancing and jumping in my room. Oh my God oh my God oh my God- all that Bad! Pearl AU going on, and that mysterious 'S' woman, and I was like she`s looking so much like the artworks I`ve seen with that symbol on the back of her jacket and high-waist jeans. Like, no. Way. GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

This is officially my third most favourite episode for the series after Rose`s Scabbard and Mr Greg. Great God give me strength.

(*Closes eyes**Takes in deep breaths*) Okay, I`m calm. I am calm. I am done. Done with it. Done. Huh. (*Tee hee hee*) Now let's get back to the story. (*TEE HEE HEE*)

So. Heads up- Sam is three years younger than Greg. When Greg first met with Rose, he was about 22 years old. I imagine Greg and Rose dated for about at least a year before she finally decided to have Steven. Currently, Steven is 14 years old which makes Greg 37. And so that makes Sam 34 years old.

This chapter gives a little bit more detail as to why Sam was in Beach City and we explore more in hers and Greg`s family history. It`s more to a filler chapter if not anything, but I`ll try my best to make it interesting.

Thanks for all the reviews, followers and favourites. You people are too kind.

P.S: I can`t stop smiling. Help.

On with the story!

The sky had already begun to darken the moment Sam finally reached the old house and parked her car by the building`s double front doors. The mansion, to put it in better words, had a large front yard that was littered with leaves and overgrown grass. It had a metal fence, now rusted, circling around the entire property and a matching, intricately designed gate to mark the area`s entrance. The mansion was slightly isolated from the other houses in town, perched by its lonesome a little way up on a hill and was surrounded by trees.

She killed the engine and got out, and looked over the front of the building. It didn`t look too bad, for something that`s supposedly uninhabited by anyone for more than a decade. Sure, the exterior could use another fresh paint job and there were plants crawling up the sidewalls but Sam would give it a six out a ten rating for a sort-of first impression. She got her stuff out of the car`s bonnet- a medium sized overnight bag, her laptop set bag, and three, smaller side-bags for her shoes, toiletries and makeup and light food, just in case.

She unlocked the door and entered, and was pleased to discover the lights still working. Most of the furniture was understandably covered with white cloth to avoid collecting dust. Sam made her way to the first floor and chose one of the five rooms present, the master bedroom, for herself to stay the night in. She dropped her bags on the floor and sighed. The house was going to need a lot of work; from dusting and mopping the floors and wiping the cabinets and God knows what else.

Sam figured she could just hire someone to mow and clean the lawn and front yard and do the interior cleaning, while she goes and find Greg. Money was no issue, and she won`t even have to do much for the sake of comfort. Then she could hire a technician to check the house circuits. She`s going to have to check the bathrooms` water flow by herself first, though, before she could call in a plumber.

Her stomach growled and Sam groaned softly in frustration and laziness before getting off of the bed and scoured her belongings for a packet of instant noodles. She was in no mood for take-outs or delivery and this was the best that she can think of to eat for the night. She made a mental note to go for grocery later on in the week and promptly made her way to the kitchen.

The house of two main floors- the upper floors consisted of five bedrooms, three with their own private bathrooms and a single detached bathroom for the other two, while on the lower floor was the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, a small office space-slash-library space, two smaller bathrooms and another small bedroom intended for the help. The interior walls were painted a soft, peach colour with white ceilings and white marble floors. Some walls held family portraits and famous paintings by various artists. Sam`s pace was slow as she made her way to the kitchen area because she was taking her time observing them and she paused as reaching her own family portrait.

The man in the picture was tall and had brown hair, with brown eyes and he was wearing an expensive-looking suit with a green tie. In front of him sat a brown-haired woman wearing an emerald-green dress whose expression held a large, kind smile and she had dark, grey eyes that were alight with warmth. To her right stood a boy with a stocky stature and short, brown hair that was combed back, wearing a similar suit to that of the man`s and the last was a little girl, standing on the woman`s left side with wavy, brown hair that was set in a green hairband and wearing a pastel white dress with a green ribbon around her waist with black shoes and white frilly ankle socks.

Her father and mother, Nathaniel and Karmin, and Greg and herself; back when she was seven years old and her mother was still alive and they were happy. Sam felt herself tear up and decided to proceed to the kitchen before her waterworks could start and she was too emotionally drained to do anything else. She kept her head empty as she searched for a pot and cleaned it with water from the sink before filling it up and started the stove.

As she waited for the water to boil, it was then only Sam allowed herself to be pulled into her memories of her childhood. Her mother had suffered from cancer and by the time they had it detected, it was too late. She died when Sam was still in her early teen years and all of them were devastated. Karmin was the one that had kept their family together through the rough patches of life and her death took a heavy toll onto everyone.

She was the ultimate love of her father`s life and was about the only one that could make him take his head out of his ass, metaphorically speaking, and get him to relax. Sam and her father shared a strained relationship that grew worse after her mother died. It grew even worse than that when her brother ran away and abandoned her.

Her father, Nathaniel, was a constantly strict, serious man who bore the brunt of carrying and protecting the family name that he paid little attention towards his children. He was all work and no play and it took no genius to figure out why both his children were closer to his wife than himself. Sam sighed, and she dropped her noodles into the pot and began stirring it along as it cooked.

Since the past few years, Nathaniel had been facing heart problems that grew worse the more time he put off in getting it checked on. And it was hard getting him to do it too; he and Sam had had arguments over the matter because of certain issues of him not admitting to the fault and denying everything. Currently, the old man was bedridden back in Sam`s hometown because of his ailment and his time was nearly up.

And he wanted to see her brother again, for the very last time.

Sam doesn`t know what to feel about the whole thing.

You see, Sam`s existence in her family was not intended and it was because of her mother that they even kept her around at all. Gregory was supposed to be the sole heir of her family; the one to bear the brunt of the family name and all that came with it- the wealth and reputation. Her family carried old money, the one that they came from their forefathers and could last entire generations. Sam didn`t understand where that came from- she never actually received the full version of the tale from anyone, ever.

Sam turned the stove off and poured the noodles into a bowl that she had found and cleaned, and mixed in its spices. Then she grabbed for a spoon and fork, and deposited the pot into the sink for later cleaning. She exited the kitchen and made her way back to the bedroom.

She closed the door and sat herself onto the floor before began enjoying her meal.

A month after her mother died, her father had shipped her off to boarding school. Greg continued and graduated high school and later continued his studies at the local community college, much to their father`s chagrin, who held him in high hopes to at least continue his studies at a reputable educational establishment. It was because of that Sam and her brother rarely saw each other; for she was only home during the holidays. However, they were close and often kept in touch via letters and phone calls.

Granted, Nathaniel treated her son better than he did his daughter. Sam had been jealous of their father`s affection towards her brother and had tried getting his attention. Nothing worked. She`d tried out for sports, kept her grades up and even ran her name in for prefect in school. Her father remained indifferent and sooner rather than later, she simply gave up. Greg on the other hand was praised for every little thing. Sam loved her brother, she really did; but she was human after all and was prone to jealousy as well as other human emotions. A tiny part of her wished Greg was gone so that she could have her father`s attention all to herself.

Gregory, despite knowing how she felt about him, stood beside her all the way. He was caring and attentive; he would offer her hugs when he felt that she needed it and listened to her when she needed to get things off her shoulder. He was like their mother. Karmin and Greg even shared similar talents- they were good with instruments and singing and were wise souls; which made it more often than not that Sam wished that she was the only child. Then she would be as great as he was.

Sam`s father often tried to get Greg to forget about music, and Sam knew that it would never, in a million years, work. Music was Greg`s life, it was an obsession, it was the only healthy way that he could think of for him to let off pressure after their mother died. It was how he kept himself together and sane.

Sam had been young and admittedly stupid; and she`d missed it that Greg faced his own problems as well. She hadn`t the best life in the world but at least she had somebody that was there that could watch her back.

She came back from school one day during a particularly long holiday period only to learn from their father that Greg had ran away. Sam got angry; she couldn`t see or think of any reason why her older brother had done so. She`d called him a lot of names back then; she thought that he was selfish and ungrateful. And for a couple of years Sam wanted very much to forget her brother, but eventually learned that she couldn`t really.

She got her wish; her father paid more attention to her after Greg was gone. She didn`t even get the chance to enjoy her small victory- his bitterness grew over Greg`s disappearance and he kept her on a tight leash. He monitored her every move, controlled her decisions and the people she surrounded herself with. At first Sam was quite willing and did everything that her father told her to without any question to please him. She had wanted him to forget Greg. But he didn`t, and reminded her regularly that she wasn`t enough, that she`ll never be him.

That she was a mistake.

And there was nothing that she could do to make up for it.

Sam was trapped, and there was no way out. She couldn`t just bail like Greg did. She had responsibilities and truth be told, she didn`t want her family to die out either. She hated the old man, sure; but he was still her father. Sam was sure that her dead mother wouldn`t want her to abandon him like her brother did.

So she stayed, and she learned to survive. But now he`s dying. And he wanted to see Greg again.

It`s not fair.

Sam hadn`t actually wanted to do this, but there was no choice. And it hurt like hell. After all those years Sam had learned to cope with her father and the miserable reality that was her life. She didn`t want to go back down memory lane, or find back what`d caused her pain in the first place.

She didn`t ask for this.

She`d only wanted her father`s love. And acceptance.

Sam finished her meal and set the bowl aside. She leaned back and closed her eyes over the myriad of emotions that came with her thoughts. It was overwhelming but she can take it. It was nothing compared to what she`d experienced while living with her father.

Sam cleared her throat and drew in a deep breath to calm down. She pushed herself to her feet and decided to shower. Her dirty dishes would have to wait until later.

Her temporary lodging had been the mansion`s main bedroom at one point, when her aunt and uncle had been alive. It was larger than the other rooms, and had sliding doors that led to a balcony that gave a gorgeous view of the front yard. The walls were a light-chocolate colour with white edges and the ceiling was white as well. The room`s antique-styled furniture were made of quality dark mahogany that included a king-sized, four poster canopy bed, a huge matching wardrobe and an intricately carved vanity table. A plush, white carpet covered the peach-coloured marble floors, and at the bedsides were a matching set of night-stands with similar lamps sitting on each. The bedcover and blankets were white, whilst its four pillows were covered with peach-coloured fabric that complemented the set.

Sam put away what little there was of her belongings- a bag of clothes, her phone and laptop sets, toiletries and make-up set that consisted of a lip-balm and lip-stick, a concealer, an eye-liner, some grey and purple eye-shadow, mascara, moisturizer and toner, sunblock, a comb and a shaver. Sam had several choices of footwear that she stashed by the wall in a pile, with the new addition of her beach sandals.

The room had its own private bathroom with a huge marble bathtub and a shower stall, a sink and toilet. After the shower Sam dressed herself in an oversized blue and white football jersey and a pair of blue cotton pyjama shorts. She tied her hair up in a loose knot and made her way back downstairs barefoot to do the dishes.

Then she locked the front door and made her way back to her room. Sam decided to treat herself to an early night`s rest. It was going to be an eventful day as of tomorrow and she was going to need all the energy and mental preparations that she could get.

And that`s it- another chapter done! Greg and Sam`s background in the bag and one of Sam`s earliest mistakes to go. There will be more of that in later chapters as we progress deeper into the story.

Review!