DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer, along with Little, Brown and Company, owns all the rights to the Twilight Saga. I own nothing and profit nothing from this story.

I avoided Sam for the rest of the week. I didn't know what to do. I loved him, but now I questioned his love for me. I didn't want to be loved because of magic. I wanted to be loved because of who I was as a person, not as a baby maker or whatever other reason imprinting had in mind.

School and work gave me excuse enough during the week, but the weekend didn't hold as much power. Sam knew my schedule and it hardly ever changed. He knew I would have Friday night off and that I would only work until around four on Saturday.

Friday I prepared a large dinner. I scooped out enough for Charlie's dinner and wrapped the rest up to take with me. After gathering everything up, I drove to La Push. I complained of being tired from the week so that he would agree to a night in at his place. I didn't want to run into anymore res gossipers, and especially not Leah. I asked if Jared and Kim would be interested in hanging out with us, but Sam said they already had plans of their own. That was a big disappointment. Even though I didn't want to hear the town's disapproval gossip, I didn't really want to be left alone with Sam. That meant I probably wouldn't get to evade the serious talk that was needed. Sam was observant; he'd notice my shift in attitude.

As soon as I pulled up he greeted me with a wide smile. I found myself forgetting all the other crap, Leah and imprinting. He seemed genuinely happy to see me. Maybe I was imagining it all. Maybe he did love me.

"I missed you, baby," he said pulling me into a hug.

"You too," I said meaning it. Though it was my fault I hadn't seen him and I was worried about the imprinting and Leah stuff, I still missed being with him.

"We can't go that long without seeing one another. It hurts not to see you."

And with that the imprinting issue came back into my mind. Did it hurt his heart because he loved me or did it hurt because the imprint pull was too strong and hated the separation?

"Yeah, sorry, but you know how busy I can get with school and work."

"I know, and I understand. I just wish you could fit me somewhere in that busy schedule. Doesn't the boyfriend earn any priority points?" he joked.

"I don't know, can you get me into college or pay me money?"

"Not so much. But I can pay in kisses," he countered teasingly.

I took the kiss he offered and pulled back first. That was a rarity. After being denied by Edward for so long, I always took advantage of the long kisses that Sam awarded me.

Sam sighed and I knew he realized something was off, but he seemed to shrug it off.

"Ready to go inside?"

"Sure, can you help with the food?"

"Of course I will, baby."

We ate our meal in almost silence, only sharing a few things that happened over the week to us. After we finish, Sam and I made our way to the living room. I cuddled into his side as we watched some cop show. I didn't really pay attention to it much; instead I concentrated on the warmth of Sam's body seeping into mine.

As the cop show ended I asked if we could find something a little more interesting. He rolled his eyes and flipped through the channels. He stopped at some sport game and I groaned.

"Sam, not sports, please," I whined.

"Just a sec, baby, I wanna see the line ups for tomorrow's games." I counted to two, because to count to one just seemed overkill.

"Okay second up, move on."

I knew it was rude and a bit childish, but I sat through enough sports with Charlie, I didn't want to do it with Sam too. Sports held no interest for me and there had to be more appealing things on television.

He huffed, but changed the channel.

"Oh, stop, stop, stop," I said spotting the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice on PBS. The television continued to switch channels. "Sam, go back."

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I don't want a chick flick tonight."

"I didn't want to watch the cop show," I muttered.

"And we're not watching it anymore, are we?"

"It was over."

"There was another episode on and you know it," he snapped. I pulled away from him hurt. He'd never taken such a tone with me before.

"Sam, what is your deal?" I asked cautiously.

He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry, Bella. It was just a long day. I didn't mean to snap at you. I apologize. I'm taking my anger out on the wrong person."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now, but thanks."

It was silent for a few minutes, neither one making a move to start back up the conversation. Five minutes later and I realized that we were on the same station he was as we started our little fight. I was assuming that since Sam didn't know Spanish and we were on Spanish speaking channel that he was lost somewhere in his thoughts.

"Sam," I began quietly.

"Hmm," he sounded distractedly.

"Can we find an English speaking channel?"

"What?" He asked confused. I nodded to the television and his eyes followed. "Oh, crap, sorry."

"Not a problem. You know there's an awesome movie about six stations back."

"Not that one," he groaned, obviously still not a fan of Colin Firth.

"Please," I begged.

"Bella," he whined, drawing out my name.

"Sammy," I said in the same manner. I noticed him flinch. It was then I noticed what I'd said. I hadn't meant to call him that, but I guess it was still in my mind that Leah did. I had been curious over the week what he'd do if I called him that. Well, I was about to get my answer.

"Bella, could you not call me that."

"Why?" I asked confused. I didn't see the big deal. If Leah could, then I should be able to.

"I don't know. I just don't like it. It makes me sound like I'm five years old."

"I can't have a pet name for you?" I questioned, not wanting to bring up the fact that Leah called him that quite yet.

"You can, Bella, just not that one."

"Why?" I asked more pressingly.

"I just told you, I don't like it."

"You didn't seem to mind when Leah called you that."

"Leah? When did you hear Leah call me that?"

"That's not the point, Sam. Why can she call you that and I can't?"

"Because you listen, because you care that I don't like it. I hate when she calls me that. But after five or so years, I've learned that she's going to call me that regardless of what I want or like."

"I don't like it."

"The name? Neither do I, so there shouldn't be an issue. Pick something else."
"No, that she still calls you that."

"Baby, I can't really help that, now can I?"

"You still call her 'Lee-lee'."

"I – " he began but stopped. "I do, but only out of habit. I don't mean anything behind it, I've just been calling her that for so long that I don't even notice when I do it."

"Well, can you make a conscious decision to stop?"

"Bella, what's the big deal?"

"You don't have one for me."

"Of course I do. I call you 'baby'."

"Half the male population calls their significant other 'baby'."

"You want a nickname, I can think of one for you. You want to give me one, that's fine, just not Sammy, please."

"It's not just about the nicknames, Sam."

"All right, obviously something has been bothering you all week, Bella, and I tried to be patient and let you bring up the topic, but you haven't. And now you are but you sound like I should automatically know what the problem is. But you've got to tell me things. I'm not a freaking mind reader like your leech ex. So what is this really about, Bella?"

"Don't bring Edward into this! And he couldn't read my mind so that argument doesn't even work," I said standing up. Edward hadn't done anything. We broke and he left state. Leah was still around to annoy the crap out of me.

"You've brought my ex into this, why can't I bring yours into this fight?" Sam stood as well, following my action.

"Because my ex doesn't seem to pop up everywhere and flirt with me."

"I can't control where she is or what she does, Bella."

"But you can control how you react and behave around her."

"Meaning what?" he scoffed.

"Meaning why didn't you send her away immediately at the restaurant? Why did you flirt with her?"

"First off, I never flirted with her. She's my friend. I've known her almost my entire life. I can't just write her off like she means nothing to me. We have a past, history. We didn't break up on bad terms. We broke up so that I could try and break her heart a little less."

"Because you knew you'd be forced to be with me later on."

"Forced? What are you going on about now? I don't understand you sometimes, woman," he growled out.

"You didn't want me. Fate gave me to you with or without your permission."

"Of course I want you, Bella. I love you!"

"Do you? Or is it just the imprint?"

"I. Love. You. I, Samuel Uley, love you, Isabella Swan. No magic did that. We've talked about this before, Bella."

"That was before I saw how perfect you and Leah really are together."

"We aren't perfect together. I've told you that too."

"The whole tribe thinks so. And I do mean the whole tribe, with maybe the exceptions of Jared and Kim."

"I don't fucking care what the tribe thinks, Bella. I know you're perfect for me."

"Why, why am I perfect for you?

"Because you're you. You complete me."

"And?"

"And I love you."

"Not enough, Sam."

"Wha– what are you talking about? Not enough of and for what?"

"I need reasons. I know why I love you. You're strong, but kind. You take care of those around you without question. You're brave, selfless, confident, and intelligent. Every time you walk in the room my stomach gets butterflies because you're so damn beautiful. The simplest touch from you makes me feel on fire. I get lost in your dark eyes as if it feels like I'm seeing straight into your soul."

"Shouldn't the fact that I love you be enough? I love you because we're meant to be together, because you make me whole."

I looked at him for a minute before responding, "Wrong answer." And then I left.