Song is "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel.

It was almost two weeks since EJ had come back to Salem; come back to Sami. He couldn't believe that he had ever left. He didn't know how he had survived for a month without seeing her, hearing her, kissing her every day. Now that he was back in Salem, he could do all that.

In these past two weeks, two things happened: The first was that Sami and Lucas' divorce was almost officially over. They were practically done sorting everything out. They were just waiting for the final documents.

The second thing was that Sami had taken Colleen to get that DNA test done. At first, she was still unsure of the idea. But she knew Colleen wouldn't be harmed by it and whatever the result, Sami would be fine by it. If she turned out to be Lucas' daughter all along, then fine. That's what they always believed. But, if she turned out to be EJ's…well, Sami didn't want to get her hope's up.

At this moment, they were sitting in Sami's apartment. Neither of them felt it would be a good idea to go out in public together yet. At least, not until the divorce was officially over. It wouldn't be fair to Lucas and they also didn't want to run the risk of running into Marlena.

Who was the topic of conversation, presently.

Sami kept glancing toward the phone, wondering if she should be the one to break the ice between her and her mother. As angry as she was with Marlena, Sami couldn't help feeling a small sense of loss. She was her mother, for God's sake! It hurt that after finally being accepted, she was being pushed away yet again.

"Samantha, you've been staring at that phone all day. Are you going to call her or not?" EJ asked.

Sami sighed and looked at him. He had been so supportive in everything that was going on lately. He was the one who had suggested calling Marlena in the first place.

"I can't do it," she replied with a tone of defeat. "I can't handle her attitude towards me. She doesn't understand me, EJ. She still wants me to be the perfect daughter, like Carrie, even after all this."

"You are perfect," he told her.

"You're the only one who thinks so," she said wryly. "I mean, I've accepted the fact that I am not perfect, that I've got an, an evil streak in me. And I'm not going to try and change that. But, it still doesn't keep me from feeling like I should. For my mother. And even for you, EJ."

Don't go changing to try and please me.
You never let me down before.
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore.

"Sweetheart, I've told you – " he began.

"I know," she interrupted. "I know you don't want me to change myself, but, I feel like…I don't know. I could be better. I can't believe that you've stuck by me these past couple of years."

Even though Sami knew that she had been forgiven, she still felt a little bit of remorse inside. Every time she voiced her thoughts on that, EJ brushed it away. He assured her that it was behind them and he understood why she'd done what she'd done.

I would not leave you in times of trouble.
We never could have come this far.
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times,
I'll take you just the way you are.

"Samantha, I've told you time and time again that I will never leave you for good. If I had really believed that you were just an evil woman with an agenda, we would not be where we are today."

"Yea, well, most of the time I do have an agenda."

"That makes no difference to me, darling. You have your reasons for that and I know that. To me, you're perfect."

I don't want clever conversation.
I never want to work that hard.
I just want someone that I can talk to.
I want you just the way you are.

Sami had no response for him. She knew that he thought she was perfect, even with all her flaws. Right now, though, she couldn't stop thinking of what her mother thought of her. And Marlena didn't even know that she was with EJ!

He knew exactly what she was thinking about. "Stop thinking of her. Stop thinking of telling her about me, about us. It's not doing you any good, Samantha."

Suddenly, she felt like her head was spinning. "I just had a feeling of déjà vu," she said.

"Why is that?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, thinking. "I guess because we've done this so many times before."

"Done what?"

"This! Sitting here, you listening to me complain about life and sorting everything out."

"It's nice to know some things with never change, isn't it?" he asked.

I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew.
What will it take till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you?

"Yeah," she smiled.

EJ leaned toward her and took her hand. "You haven't changed at all, either," he told her. "I know that the strong, confident Samantha I know is still in there waiting to stand up to Marlena."

"She's afraid to come out, though," Sami replied.

"She shouldn't be. You have to believe me, Samantha. A part of you is laying dormant inside, waiting to burst. You need to let it out. You can't keep it all inside any longer."

"Soon," she promised. "Soon."

I said I love you and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart.
I couldn't love you any better.
I love you just the way you are.

"Either way, I love you," EJ told her. "Good, bad, scheming, whatever – I'll love you."

"You're gonna make me cry," she said.

"Only happy tears," he proclaimed, moving in to kiss her.

"Of course," she answered, surrendering to his kiss. And all thoughts of Marlena flew from her mind. For now.