Nothing Will Ever Change That
A/N- Forty chapters! Yes! My next goal is to get 100 reveiws…
Chapter 40: Paradise Part 2: Bad Memories
The Fountain Blue – Morning
"Sam? You in there?" I knock on her and Cass's bedroom door, "Sam, hello?" She opens the door.
"Yeah?" She was wearing her normal night clothing; a very long shirt and… actually, I don't know what else.
"I was wondering, do you want to grab something to eat? Asuka and Cass both said no for some reason, so do you want to go?" as if I didn't know why they said no. I didn't even ask!
"Uh… sure. Let me get dressed and I'll meet you back out here in a couple of minutes," she closes the door and I wait about four minutes, then she opens the door again. Nothing special, just a t-shirt with a pair of shorts, "Any idea where we're going?"
"I did see a place called IHOP, is that okay?" she just nods and I call a cab. Just a few more months and I won't need a cab.
A/N- I do not own IHOP.
When we get there, it wasn't crowded at all. In fact, I only saw three other people. We went in and took our seats.
"Jus two orders of pancakes please, thank you." Her ordering reminded me of something.
"Hey Sam, about yesterday, did you know Cass could speak English? He enevr mentioned anything about it to me." I doubt she knew anything about it either, seeing as how she reacted when he did speak it.
"No, I didn't. He must have had a reason for not telling us," but what could it be?
"I'll ask him later. Do you have anything special planned for today?" I wanted to see if she would admit to it being her birthday.
"No, not really. I guess we could just go to the beach again." Not exactly.
"We'll just talk about it when we get back to the hotel… oh, hold on," my cell phone was ringing. When I pick it up, I hear a deep voice yelling his head off.
"Where the HELL are pictures! You broke our deal! Tell me now or I'll have you brought home!" Oops, I forgot to tell Gendo about the photos.
"Look under Asuka's dresser. Bye." Only half of them were there, I had about fifty more under the carpet! I close my cell phone and go back to talking with Sam.
"Was that our ticket?" ever since we got here, she has been referring to Gendo as 'our ticket', pretty funny I must admit.
"Yeah. Anyway, I been meaning to ask you something, why did your parents move to Washington? Seems kind of odd that they would leave y…" she slams a fist on the table, causing the plates and silverware to rattle.
"They didn't leave me! They sure as hell didn't move either! NERV forced them to leave because they didn't want me to train. Neither did I, but they already signed a contract, so I was forced to. I don't even LIKE to pilot, I just do it to…" she stopped for a few seconds, "sorry… I didn't mean to blow up. Just drop it." I sat there in amazement at her reaction. We ate in silence and went back to the hotel, but before we went in, I told her to wait a second while I went to the bathroom.
"Asuka! Drop the party! Forget it for now, we'll do something later. I'll talk to you about it when we're…" she cut me off.
"Wait! Why? I just spent a hundred dollars on this and you want me to DROP IT! Plus, I already got it set up; it'll take forever to get it down." Crap!
"Just get it done!" I hang up and walk back out to her waiting. Trying to stall, I try to make small talk.
"How was breakfast?" she gave me a look that could kill. So much for small talk. We just walk to her room and – unwillingly – slide the key in the handle and open it. The open door reveals Asuka on a ladder taking down the streamers. A cake and a few drinks were still on the table.
"What the hell is this!" Here it comes… "Did you stalk me! How the hell did you know?" Ah crap!
"Sam… we just wanted to make this a happy birthday for you." Cass walked over to her. She pushed him away when he got close.
"Who did this! You read my files on MAGI, didn't you? What the hell is your problem!" She storms out of the room and I follow her, knowing that she could get lost. She went out onto the street and just started to walk. After a few minutes of trying to keep up with her, I run up to her.
"Sam, what happened? We just wanted to…" that day, I found someone that slaps harder than Asuka.
"Wanted to what? Make me feel like crap? Try doing some research next time you throw a party!" what was she talking about?
"Sam, what did we do wrong?" I saw a few tears form in her eyes.
"Just forget it," she turns and starts to walk again. I grab her arm and turn her back around.
"No, I won't forget it. I did the same thing with Asuka and I will regret it for the rest of my life. Now look, you WILL tell me why you acted like that back there!" I was being firm with her.
"Fine… a week after my parents left, it was my thirteenth birthday. Miguel was throwing me a party, and I was waiting for my mom and dad. I saw there car pull up to the apartment, and they started to walk out. I ran downstairs to meet them outside, and I swung open the door to see them both on the ground. I went over to them and lifted up my mother to find her bleeding all over the ground, same with my father. Each of them had been shot twice in the back. By the time the ambulance came, they were dead. Now, ask me again why I don't like birthdays!" she was… an orphan?
"Sam… I'm so sorry…" she trusted her arm away from my grip.
"You're sorry? Bullshit! If you really cared you would have gotten the hint I didn't want this! Look, just don't talk to me!" with that, she ran off. I was unable to move, let alone chase her. I was just able to watch as she went out of sight.
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Cass / Sam's Hotel Room
"What happened to her? Shinji, where's Sam?" Asuka looked worried. None of us had ever seen her that angry. I just went over without a word and helped to take down the all the party stuff. They kept on asking me questions, but I was unable to answer, or rather, I just didn't want to talk. Once we were done, I went back to my room and crawled into the Jacuzzi after changing into my swimming trunks. Asuka walked in and saw me in it.
"Shinji, what happened? Please, tell me," I look over at her and tell the story, "She's… wow. But why didn't I see that on her bio? It said that her parents worked in Washington as bakers. What was NERV trying to cover up?" I just shrug and close my eyes again. I heard her lay down on the bed and turn on the TV. After a few minutes, I open my eyes again and look to the ocean. My eyes eventually caught sight of someone walking on the shoreline. It was Sam! I leap out of the tub and run all the way to the beach. I eventually catch sight of her again and call her.
"Sam! Wait up!" she stops and turns in my direction. I finally get up to her and use my knees as support as I try to catch my breath.
"What?" she sounded so cold.
"What? WHAT! You run off and disappear for an hour and you say what! Sam, look, I know how you are feeling right now, and you need to talk about it! I realize that you may not ever get over it, but you need to accept it. Look, I know it hurts, but you need to move on!" I straighten up and look at her now teary eyes.
"Shinji…" she mutters before lunging into my arms. I hug her, trying to comfort her as she cries into my chest. I look up at the balcony to see Asuka standing there, but her face isn't anger this time, in fact, she was smiling.
A/N- So? Did you like this chapter? I felt it filled a lot of gaps; Sam being so short tempered and her ability to fight so fiercely. Will this ruin the vacation? Ah who am I kidding? Of course it won't! Find out what happens in the next chapter; Paradise Part 3: Just Relax, until then, keep on keepin' on!