Oyyy thanks for the reviews, it makes me happy :) To you questions, this chapter might explain some. And the next chapter will explain it some more. This is kind of short, but very important.

The giant dinning table was topped with an immense amount of food. There was a plate of burgers, hot dogs, corn, green beans, a pitcher of lemonade, baked potatoes, fruit salad, bread, butter, every condiment you could name, a very large stack of napkins, seven plates, seven knives, seven forks, and seven cups. Sam was watching Jake with a smug look on her face, and Jake's fork was frozen halfway to his mouth.

"What?" he screeched.

"I said, you're going to let Sam sleep in your room tonight, and you will sleep on the couch," Mrs. Ely, who had now asked me to call her Maxine, repeated.

"Why?" He asked. "Why not Bryan or Nate or – "

"Jake, have you seen their rooms?" Maxine questioned. "She is also our guest and your friend. You will respect that." Jake groaned and his brothers laughed at him. I decided to play it nice, in case I was desperate enough to let him help me.

"Its okay. I'll sleep on the couch."

"Don't be silly Sam, of course Jake will let you sleep in his room, if he values his cell phone, right Jacob?" Maxine said. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Sam, you can sleep in my room with me free of charge, if don't mind a little mess," Quinn said, grinning. Jake glared at him.

"Why don't you both sleep in Jake's room, there's two beds," suggested Nate, seeing Jake's obvious protectiveness over Sam.

"Well, I'm sure Samantha wants her privacy…" Maxine said, raising her eyebrows at me.

"I'll share a room. I really don't care." I said. Maybe we could talk to him about this help he wanted to give me. Nate and Bryan were grinning at each other.

"Hey, brother, this is the first time you've had a girl in your room since the last time Sam slept over."

Jake and I blushed while the rest of the family laughed.

"That's enough. Jake, you will let Samantha sleep in your extra bed." Everyone was quiet after Luke, Mr. Ely, spoke. I bumped Jake's knee under the table then leaned in to whisper in his ear,

"I win."

After diner Maxine insisted we could wait to pick up. She shooed us all into the family room and toke the remote away when Quinn went to turn on the TV.

"I know you all are acting like Sam is already part of the family, but I thought we should tell her what's going on." She looked at me. This was it. It was all a big joke, and they didn't really want me. I was going back to my school tomorrow and I'd never see them again. I was sandwiched between Jake and Quinn on the couch. Maybe if I closed my eyes really tight, it could just stay this way forever.

"Sam, as Jake told you, we've been looking for you a long time." I was trying to take deep breaths. "We wanted to make sure you were okay, and if possible, give you a home and a family as close to yours was as possible." This was it. She was going to say it, sorry, but no. "If you want to, you are welcome to be part of this family." I didn't move, in case it might go away.

"Samantha?" Luke asked.

"Yes?" I whispered.

"She said yes!" Quinn yelled. I blushed and tried to sink down between the brothers, but everyone could see my grin. Maxine squealed and held out her arms to me. I guessed she wanted a hug. While she was hugging me she whispered,

"Your mother would be so proud."

As I sunk back between the brothers I smiled to myself. If this was what family felt like, I never wanted it to stop. Maxine brought out a cake for desert. I leaned up against Jake without thinking. Surely they wouldn't notice if I closed my eyes for just a few moments.

Jake POV

Sam leaned into me and I looked down at her. Little pieces of her red hair had fallen from her ponytail and were now sticking up and hanging across her face. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was still smiling.

"Shhhhh," I warned my family.

"Awwww Jake, I think you should take your new girlfriend up to bed," Bryan joked. I think.

"Take her upstairs Jake," my mom whispered as she hushed my brothers. I reached over to wake her up but Quinn caught my arm.

"Don't wake her up stupid, carry her." I could feel my face heat up and I hoped it wasn't visible. Once we got to my room I placed her on my extra bed and pulled her shoes off. I changed into my t-shirt and shorts and turned out the lights. I heard her rustling around from her bed and then she whispered,

"Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

And with that I realized she had decided to become my friend again. My mind flashed back to when I was nine and Sam was six. We were sitting on a bale of hay outside Ace's stall, and she was begging me to not let her dad take her away.

"Please don't let my daddy move Jake. I have to go with him and I'll never see you or ride ever again." Later that day my mom had found me in my room crying.

"Jake, what's the matter?" She had asked.

"Why did Sam have to leave mom?"

"Her dad can't stand living at Riverbend. Everything he sees reminds him of Jill."

As a nine year old, I didn't understand. I thought Sam's dad had taken her away because I couldn't stop him, and so did she. She had blamed me, and told me she would never be my friend again. I don't know if she even remembered this, but I did.

I grinned. Maybe this was just what she needed.