Author's Note: Urgghh;

Title: My Hate Isn't Hate (Your Love Isn't Love Sequel)

Chapter Two: Trouble Back Home

Sam shifted in her sleep. The sun shone with a radiance, its beams of light peeking through the window shades. Sam sleepily opened her eyes and turned to her lover. Or, at least, she thought she did. Sam rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and saw that no one was in bed with her.

Where is he? She wondered. She stepped out of bed and into her house slippers as she wrapped herself in a robe. Sam sighed, trying to remember the last time he did this. She found that he was absent in the mornings more often, compared to before. She contemplated maybe calling him on his cell phone but she knew he probably wouldn't answer.

She called Carly instead.

"Hey Sam. It's pretty early still, what's up?"

"Did he call you?"

"Who? Freddie? No. I haven't heard from him."

"Oh." Sam walked away from the bed and approached the small dining table in the adjacent alcove. She lived in a relatively small studio apartment, so there weren't really "rooms". She saw a pot of coffee already prepared for pouring. She smiled at the thoughtfulness.

"Hey, I'm getting some time off from work this coming weekend. Want to hit the beach park?"

"Sure, I'll ask Freddie." Sam's voice was soft and placid, something Carly knew was uncharacteristic of her usually rambunctious best friend.

"Are you doing alright, Sam?"

Sam recognized Carly's tone of voice. She was worried. Sam quickly shook off whatever was bugging her and answered in a more aloof voice, "I'm cool, Carls. Just a little tired."

"Oh, okay." Carly replied, relieved. "I'll talk to you later, then. See you soon, Sam." The two disconnected their phone call.

"More like a lot tired." Sam sighed, her voice reverting back to its softness.

Sam called Freddie a couple times to no avail, resulting in getting his voicemail each time. Finally, after a few hours of waiting, she finally got a call back.

"Hey babe. Sorry I missed your call, I went to the office to pick up a few things for this stupid marketing ploy my company hoisted on me. I'm just leaving the office now, want to grab lunch together?"

Sam thought of maybe hanging up on Freddie to let him know how ticked off she was that he was ignoring her calls, but she thought she should at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

"...'kay. Where do you want to go?"

The two would often eat at this little diner on the corner where they lived. It was convenient since it was so close and Sam could just walk over and eat some ham or bacon whenever she felt like it. Sam sat alone in the diner for 10 minutes before Freddie joined her. The two sat across from one another, one eating a large burger and the other picking at a small salad.

"Carls called this morning." Sam announced.

"Oh?"

"Mm-hmm. She wants to go to Shoreline Beach Park with us this weekend. Think you can make it?"

Sam looked at Freddie and hoped that he could go, since she hadn't really been spending as much time as she would've liked with him.

"Um, Yeah, I don't know. The marketing thing might take up some time." Freddie explained. "We'll see how it goes."
Disappointment struck again. "...'kay."

Freddie quickly changed the subject and placed his hand under Sam's. "I see you're wearing the ring. It looks good on you." Sam returned Freddie's touch with a soft grip, smiling at him.

"Do you have to work today?" Sam asked. Freddie shook his head and continued smiling. "Want to come down to the art studio with me? Spence said he's got some wiring questions to ask you."

"Sure."

Freddie drove Sam back towards the heart of Seattle, to Spencer's art studio.

The car ride over was a bit awkward, neither one really talking to each other. Lately, Freddie felt that their relationship had become more forced. He looked over to Sam when they pulled to a red light and saw that she was looking at her new engagement ring.

"Bet all your friends will be jealous." Freddie joked. Sam smiled a little at the joke. On a good day like today, Sam was seen smiling. But lately Freddie noticed her smiles were growing more strained and she was becoming more and more fragile. Sometimes, Freddie came home to a sobbing Sam, broken and mourning the lost of her mother or some other past event that was traumatic for her. Freddie felt sorry for Sam, unable to even grasp the concept of how it feels to lose a family member. He was there to comfort Sam on those kinds of days, but he just wished that the good days were as drastically good as the bad days were bad.

Unbeknownst to Sam, Freddie had begun visiting Richard Puckett in jail more frequently. Before it was only once or twice a year, but lately it had increased to once or twice every three months. He never accepted Sam's mother's death. Sure, it was foolish and illogical for Freddie to even begin to think that Pam Puckett was still alive; But if Sam did not keep the hope alive, who would?

"Yo, Sammy-girl and Fred-man!" Spencer greeted as the couple walked through the back entrance of the art studio. Today the studio was not open for business, but for Spencer Shay there were no such things as "days off". He spent nearly every waking moment sculpting or building something new to sell or put on display. "How you been, Fred?" The two shared a quick man-hug and caught up. Freddie hadn't really seen Spencer in a few weeks, so it was nice to catch up. Spencer was like an older brother to Freddie. While Sam confided in Carly, Freddie found he often confided himself with Spencer.

"I've been good, Spence. Sam mentioned you needed some help wiring something?"

"Oh right right- Yea, I have it in the workshop. Follow me." Spencer said, taking off his work gloves and walking away. As Freddie started to follow, Spencer called out from the other room. "Sam, there's a letter addressed to you sitting in my room!"

Strange. Sam thought, I haven't used this address in years. She casually walked down the hall to the back part of the studio, where a small room with a small futon and mini-fridge sat; Better known as Spencer's room. She saw a letter on the fridge, marked "URGENT!" Sam quickly ripped the envelope open and began reading. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"So, next time, just connect the G.T.C cable to the router port instead of the initial F-N port you were trying to use... And then connect the WES cord to that instead." Freddie explained, pointing.

"..." Spencer stared at Freddie, dumbstruck.
"Blue wire to the blue port. White cord to white port."

"Right."

Freddie finished wiring the strange machine and Spencer plugged it in. It immediately began rotating and functioning and Spencer cheered in triumph. The two walked back into the main studio room but Sam was nowhere to be seen.

"Sam?" Freddie called out. No reply.

"Maybe she's still in my room reading that letter. Go check." Spencer suggested, putting his work gloves back on. Freddie did as he was told and walked down the hall towards Spencer's room. As he made his way down the hall, he heard a very faint but familiar sound. Whimpering.

"Sam?" Freddie called out again, this time more alarmed. He dashed to the end of the hall and stood in the doorway of Spencer's room. He saw a desolate Sam, curled up in a ball, crying to herself on Spencer's bed. Sam heard Freddie and looked up to see the worried boy. She choked out his name between sobs and he ran to hold her. Freddie held Sam in his arms until Spencer came down the hall, curious as to what was going on.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" Spencer asked, concerned. He looked at the crying Sam and noticed the letter was no longer on the fridge.

"T-The letter." Sam choked out, rubbing the tears away from her eyes. Freddie looked around and saw a creased paper on the floor. He picked it up and scanned it. It was a very short, handwritten letter.

"Sam, I miss you and I love you."

"Who's this from?" Freddie questioned, handing the letter to Spencer for him to see. Freddie picked up the stray envelope from the floor and saw that there was no return address.

"I don't know where it came from," Sam started. "But that handwriting belongs to my mom."

Author's Note: The plot thickens! Can you guess what's going on here? Is Sam's mom alive? Or is it just a trick? Tune in next time to find out! bwahaha :P