Title: I Miss You

Fandom: Popular

Pairing: Sam/Brooke

Rating: PG-13 (for slight swearing)

Prompt: 017 Brown; written for the fanfic100 challenge

Word count: 1,931

Disclaimer: Alas, I don't own the characters of Popular. They belong to Ryan Murphy, but hopefully he won't mind if I borrow them for a little while.

Summary: Sam breaks down, and Brooke is there to catch her.

A/N: It is sophomore year in high school.

A/N2: Sorry about the long delay on this one. I skipped ahead in my writing, and wrote chapter 6 before this one, but now I have to catch up with myself.

A/N3: Thanks so much to theagonyofblank and wolfemeister for the beta reads!

Proof!

Brooke had proof, dammit, and it was right there in the shower. No way could Sam deny the cold, hard, (icky, wet) evidence. Because there was hair left at the bottom of the shower, and it was unmistakably brown.

The first time that Brooke had accused Sam of leaving hair in the drain, it was after Brooke herself had also showered, so the mess of hairs left behind included blonde ones as well as brown. Sam had adamantly argued that maybe Brooke had a few brown hairs of her own, but that was bullshit, and Sam knew it.

From then on, Brooke made a point of checking for evidence before she stepped in the shower. And there it was, about a week after the first incident. Proof!

Brooke barged into Sam's room without knocking, ready to launch into an indignant tirade, but she was momentarily thrown off when she didn't see Sam right away.

Taking a moment to scan the room, Brooke caught sight of the top of Sam's head, that damn brown hair visible just beyond the far end of Sam's bed.

o0o0o

Damn it, what now?

Sam heard her door burst open, heard Brooke start to say something, only to stop after a single syllable. She didn't move from her spot on the floor, though. She really couldn't be bothered with whatever the hell was troubling her blonde housemate this time.

Even when Sam could see Brooke out of the corner of her eye, standing at the edge of her bed and looking at her curiously, she still didn't move at all. She just sat there, staring at the photograph in her hands.

The empty picture frame lay discarded on her bed. Sam liked to actually hold the photograph in her hands, sometimes, as evidenced by its numerous creases and the visible fingerprints covering the face of it. This was the closest Sam could get to actually touching him.

Sam barely noticed when Brooke came and, without a word, sat down next to her on the floor. Part of her really just wanted Brooke to leave, wanted to be left alone, but part of her almost appreciated the company. Almost, mind you. Because even though it was company, it was still Brooke, and Sam refused to appreciate Brooke's presence, if only out of principle.

Still, actively telling the blonde to go away felt like it would take too much effort at the moment, so she remained motionless.

o0o0o

Okay, so apparently now wasn't the greatest time for yelling at Sam. The girl's quiet, melancholy stillness was definitely disconcerting.

Brooke didn't know what to say, and Sam obviously wasn't planning on speaking, so Brooke just observed Sam for a moment. Her almost-stepsister was sitting against the edge of the bed, shoulders slumped, leaning her forearms on her bent knees. Brooke couldn't quite see what it was that Sam was holding tightly in her hands, staring at intently, so she leaned in a little further.

Oh, Sam's dad.

Brooke cleared her throat awkwardly, but Sam still didn't look at her, didn't even flinch.

"Is that..." Brooke started to speak, but she wasn't sure how to finish her question. After another moment of silence, she settled on, "Was it today?"

Sam still didn't say anything for what felt like the longest time. Brooke was about to take the hint and leave, when finally, Sam spoke, quiet enough that Brooke had to lean in a little more to fully hear her. "Yeah. Today is the day that he died."

o0o0o

If she hadn't been afraid that laughter would lead to tears, Sam would have laughed at Brooke's obvious discomfort with the situation. Clearly, Brooke didn't know what to do, but Sam didn't know what to tell her.

"Um, is...is Jane around?" Brooke asked quietly.

Sam sighed. "Mom deals with today very differently than I do. She always, I dunno, goes completely manic or something. I can't deal with her today. I think she's out shopping."

"Oh. Okay. Um. Well what about Harrison, or Lily, or Carmen? Should I call one of them? Do you want them to come over?"

Sam couldn't be sure whether Brooke honestly wanted to help, or whether she was just trying to pass off the situation to someone else. Whatever, it didn't really matter, she supposed.

"No, that's okay. They always try to get me out of the house, but being around too many people just bothers me."

"Right. Well, I'm sure I've bothered you enough, now, too. I'm really sorry, Sam. I...I'll just go."

"Wait..." Brooke had started to stand up, but the word escaped Sam's mouth before she could stop herself. The blonde froze mid-motion, and Sam turned to look at Brooke for the first time since she had walked in, only to quickly look away again. "I mean, you could stay, if you wanted to," Sam mumbled.

Sam didn't know what the hell had possessed her, asking Brooke to stay, but she felt some amount of relief as Brooke sat back down.

Stealing another quick glance towards Brooke, Sam was surprised to see honest caring in Brooke's expression.

"All right," Brooke replied gently.

o0o0o

Brooke still didn't know what to do, but the fact that Sam apparently wanted her to be there made the whole situation easier to deal with, somehow.

Sam was once again staring at the photograph, so Brooke leaned back against Sam's bed, deciding to simply wait Sam out, allowing the brunette to talk if and when she wanted to.

Brooke wasn't sure how long they sat there, in relatively comfortable silence, but she had almost fallen asleep when Sam's soft voice caused her head to jerk forward. "I promised myself that I would never forget him. But what I remember is getting more and more static, you know? I have pictures of him in my mind, but it's like I can't be sure if I'm actually remembering him, or if all I remember is just based on the photographs we have of him."

Taking in a deep breath, Brooke managed to suppress her brief urge to panic. Sam was actually opening up to her, and it was so different from their usual interactions that it almost froze Brooke to the spot. But Sam was trusting her, surprisingly, and Brooke wasn't going to screw it up. No matter what she thought about Sam most of the time, Brooke knew she'd feel horrible if she messed this up.

"Tell me about that one." Brooke nodded towards the object still clutched in Sam's hands.

The barest hint of a smile appeared on Sam's face.

o0o0o

Sam had no idea what made her actually go ahead with Brooke's suggestion, but once she started, the words just kept coming.

"My dad loved camping. He had done it every summer with his family when he was growing up, and so the summer I turned eight, he and my mom decided to take me up to this regional park, about five hours north of here. At first, I was absolutely horrified by the whole thing. I mean, we were in a tent, and there were bugs, and my dad wanted to go fishing."

Sam chuckled slightly, and then paused, momentarily lost in thought. Thankfully, Brooke knew enough not to say anything, though, and just waited patiently for Sam to continue.

"I came around to the idea pretty soon, though. We spent a whole week there, and it was...it was great. Anyway, it was the third day or so, when my dad took me out on the lake in a canoe. I had never been in one before, so I was pretty scared, but I knew he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. He taught me how to use the paddle, and then we just slowly moved around the lake, with him telling me stories about when he was a kid. And then, this fish swam right by the canoe. It was the closest I had ever seen one in the wild, before, and I got so excited about it that I turned around in my seat to try to watch it, and ended up literally knocking myself right into the lake."

o0o0o

Brooke couldn't help but smile at the image that Sam was presenting. As much as she hated to acknowledge it, she figured that Sam had probably been an adorable little kid.

"He later admitted that I really freaked him out," Sam continued, "but I had a life jacket, and we were actually pretty close to shore at that point, so I decided to just swim the rest of the way back in, and let my dad deal with the canoe. So that's this picture. My mom took it, once the water was only about up to my knees. I was absolutely soaked, head to foot, but I was still so excited about the canoe, and the fish...and my dad was just cracking up behind me. That was the first and only time I went camping."

Sam grew quiet again, and once Brooke was sure that Sam was done talking for now, she commented softly, "Well, this may just be me, but that memory sounds anything but 'static.'"

Brooke smiled hesitantly, gently placing her hand on top of Sam's. The brunette released a short sound, somewhat resembling a strangled laugh, and then suddenly Sam was sobbing.

It happened so quickly, the switch from calm to disconsolate, that Brooke was taken aback. For a moment, all she could do was blink at the sight of Sam's heaving form. But as she felt something tighten in her chest, Brooke reached out and wrapped her arms around Sam.

Sam stiffened at first, before shifting positions, allowing Brooke to pull her closer. Brooke held Sam tightly against her and leaned in to rest her cheek against that soft brown hair.

o0o0o

Later, Sam wouldn't be able to explain what made her break down like that, but for several minutes, she felt like there was absolutely nothing that she could do but cling to Brooke's body and cry. She also wouldn't be able to explain the comfort that she found as Brooke simply cradled her in her arms.

At first, Sam was crying so hard that she could barely even breathe, but once she got a little more control over herself, she started to panic. She hated Brooke, and Brooke hated her, and what the hell was she doing letting the blonde see her when she was so vulnerable? She never liked to let anyone see her like this, let alone Brooke McQueen.

Brooke was startled once again when Sam suddenly started pushing her away, extricating herself from Brooke's embrace and scooting into the corner of her room.

She was still crying somewhat, but she hugged her knees to her chest and lowered her head towards the floor, managing to rasp out, "Please leave."

Sam heard Brooke move closer once again, but she refused to look up. She flinched when Brooke touched her gently on the shoulder.

"Sam, what..." Brooke asked, with nothing but concern in her tone. "What happened? What did I do?"

"Just leave, okay? Leave me alone. Just leave me alone." Brooke's once-comforting presence was now nothing but claustrophobic, and the panic in Sam's voice was obvious.

Sam sat still, her heart beating alarmingly quickly, until she felt Brooke's lips just barely brush across her hair, leaving a soft kiss. "I'm so sorry, Sam," Brooke whispered. "You know where to find me if you want to talk."

Sam waited until she heard the door to her room close behind Brooke before allowing herself to cry once again.