Hi there! As I explained in my updated author's notes from chapter 1, for some reason this AU story stuck in my head and I just had to keep adding to it... Here is some new stuff! This chapter and the next go between where I had left off in chapter 3 and the epilogue. I might keep adding to it if I find the inspiration!

Hope you enjoy these new installments!

Chapter 4

A week passed before Sam even had the chance to register that it had gone by. SG-1 had been busy with the countless diplomatic meetings and ceremonies with the Jaffas, and the sudden arrival of hundreds of wounded soldiers and civilians from the recent Wraith attack on Atlantis. While the official briefings with the crew were not scheduled until the following week, the stories those who had returned brought back were bone chilling. Sam sincerely hoped to never have to come face to face with a Wraith herself. It even seemed to have dimmed Daniel's eagerness for his reassignment to Atlantis. Just a little.

With all of this happening on base, Sam had barely seen Jack over the course of the week, let alone spoken with him. All of their interactions had been brief and work-related and Sam was starting to wonder – with no small amount of frustration – whether the future they had talked about was ever going to happen, or whether she had dreamed the whole thing. But then her eyes would meet his unexpectedly during a briefing, or she would spy a small, secret smile that would send her heart racing as they passed each other in the corridor, and she'd know.

It had been real, and it was only the beginning.

It occurred to Sam that it was at moments like these that she missed her friend Janet the most; not only would Dr. Fraiser's grounded presence and professionalism have been comforting to all the wounded on the base, but Sam longed now more than ever for the steadfast ear of her friend. So much had happened, there was so much to talk about, yet she found herself reluctant to discuss any of these things with her teammates. Daniel and Teal'c could be great listeners, she knew that from experience, but there were just some things that she couldn't share with them. And even less with Jack – at least, not yet, not so soon.

But then who else could she share with the fragment of doubt that sometimes sneaked into her mind that Jack would lose interest once she truly was within his reach? The rational part of her knew that this was a ridiculous notion for anyone who truly knew Jack O'Neill, but she couldn't help this or other questions from fermenting in her mind… What if it didn't work out? What if the unequal balance of power that had defined their relationship for so long never evened out? Not that she let those doubts cloud her happiness and hope for the future, but still… she couldn't help but wonder, and maybe fret a little. And the fact that she had barely seen him over the week only made her anxieties grow out of proportion.

So when Sunday came she was as nervous as she was relieved to drive away from Cheyenne Mountain, put on a summer dress and drive to Jack's place for the little gathering with Teal'c and Daniel that he had organized to 'celebrate the nice weather,' as he'd said. It certainly looked like summer had made an early appearance for the weekend, with its hot sun and warm breeze. However Sam couldn't help but be dubious as to Jack's true motives for this little gathering. Maybe a way to celebrate his retirement…? But no, better to keep her hopes to herself.

She parked next to his truck in his driveway and walked to the door, anticipation and nervousness tightening her stomach. She rang the bell, but there was no answer, so Sam walked around the house to the back.

She spotted him on the patio, grilling what looked like hamburger patties, so focused he hadn't seen her coming. She stopped, suddenly struck breathless with the uncanny familiarity of the scene. She had to consciously shake away the uneasy pang at the memory of the last time she had been here. That was the past, Sam reminded herself as she tried to calm her nerves, clutching her handbag with both hands. This, she told herself, is what matters. This time he knew she was coming, in fact he was waiting for her. The thought reassured her and she grinned as she took in the sight of him in Bermuda shorts and t-shirt, looking as relaxed as she'd ever seen him, sunglasses hanging loosely around his neck.

God he was a sight for sore eyes!

For a moment she forgot all of her doubts as she focused on her knowledge that this was real. That some day soon she would finally be able to put the anxiety and bitter-sweetness of countless stolen moments behind her. Including the anxiety she had felt only a few weeks ago as she had stood in that exact same spot.

"Déjà vu," she said with a smile as she resumed walking.

His eyes lit up when they found her, and Sam mentally congratulated herself as she noticed his subtle appreciative look at her choice of dress. The dark blue piece was far from being particularly revealing, but it definitely showed more skin than BDUs – although all things considered that wasn't a very challenging feat.

"Hey!" he greeted. Then registering what she'd said, he frowned a little. "It's not weird, is it? The déjà vu thing? Cause we could eat out…" he said as he put down his grilling instruments.

Sam grinned as she climbed the couple of steps to the patio, drinking in the sight of him. God she had missed him over the last few days! "No, no. This is great, I promise."

She stopped only once she was right at his side, forcing herself not to stare at every inch of him and instead looking down to examine his handiwork.

"Hope you're hungry," he said.

"It smells great, am I early?"

She looked up with a smile and was startled to find him staring down at her with a mix of tenderness and hunger so familiar and yet so new that it took her breath away. And with that single, warm look, all of her fears vanished; this man had quietly, poignantly loved her for years, never pressuring her, never asking for anything… and being there for her every single time she had ever needed him. How could she ever doubt the strength or steadfastness of his feelings for her? Jack O'Neill was one of the most loyal men she knew.

She felt herself flush at the implication and she suddenly became acutely aware of his presence, and the way the warmth in the air seemed to make her skin tingle. For a second she envied the easiness with which they had eased into physical closeness over the last weekend – now it felt as though they had fallen back into their military personas and had lost what little headway they had made. Back to square one.

And apparently he felt the same way, because he didn't make a move to touch her at all. Instead, his eyes bore into hers even as his words turned playful. "Knowing how anal you are about being right on time all the goddamn time, I'd say it's much more likely that Daniel and Teal'c are late."

"Good point," Sam replied, then cleared her throat at how husky her voice sounded.

His eyes darkened and he finally moved, sliding his arm around her waist slowly, as if asking for her permission. When she leaned into him he pulled her a little closer into his side, his hand white-hot on her waist through the thin cotton of her dress. She held his gaze for a long moment, reveling in the way his eyes seemed to pull her in, and feeling the warmth of his body against hers and his arm strong around her waist. God, her entire body ached with the need to kiss him – how in the world had she been able to resist him for so long? How had she been able to resist that constant pull she felt in the pit of her stomach every time he looked her way? She had felt it for as long as she could remember, and now… Now she could actually let herself feel it, embrace it, and better yet, act on it. Just as she was about to lean in to bridge the gap, he leaned back slightly and started looking around, as if to make sure no one was looking in on them.

"Are you afraid the Pentagon's spying on you through the bushes?" Sam asked, as she turned around to follow his gaze, trying to decide whether she was amused or just downright frustrated.

His lips quirked up. "Normally I wouldn't give a damn but… I invited Hammond. He's in town for a couple of briefings." He gave her a small shrug of apology. "And knowing our luck he's gonna be just as obsessive about punctuality as you are."

"Oh." Sam stepped out of his embrace and his arm dropped slowly, just as reluctant as she felt. As much as she wanted not to care, the thought of having to convince Hammond that their relationship was in fact a recent development was too mortifying to even consider. She had too much respect for the general to risk losing his trust and good opinion.

"Well, hopefully this will be one of the last times that something like that can stop us…" Sam said, trying to sound playful as she leaned back against the handrail. But her comment didn't have quite the desired effect of diffusing the tension, instead making Jack pin her with such an intense look that her hands gripped the wood behind her.

After a second his eyes darted away and he returned his attention to the burgers. "Damn right." He cleared his throat. "You want anything to drink? There's some beer and wine inside if you'd like?"

"Sure, do you want anything? I can go get it," Sam replied quickly as she all but fled into his house. She almost missed his "I'll have a beer" as she closed the door behind her. She exhaled as she told herself to relax. Everything was fine. They had all the time in the world.

And more importantly: he was still her CO. They couldn't rush this.

Oh but how she wanted to!

Especially now that she knew from actual experience what his lips tasted like, or how his hands could be gentle and demanding at once… Of course she had instinctively known that from the first moments of their acquaintance – even as they had started to get to know each other, Captain Carter had noticed his hands. Especially the way they often betrayed his tough military façade and revealed a gentler – but no less intense – side. Which was probably why he kept them in his pockets most of the time.

Get a grip, Carter! she told herself as she gathered the drinks.

When she came back outside she felt a little bit more relaxed and he was back to flipping burgers. She handed him a beer as she returned to her spot by the rail and took a sip of her red wine.

"Hey can I ask you something?" Jack asked after a second, now busy with the buns.

"Okay…"

He stopped his movement to face her. "I just gotta ask: what would you have said that day you showed up if the moment hadn't turned out so…"

"Mortifying?" Sam suggested.

He blinked. "I was gonna say 'awkward' but yeah, okay."

Sam frowned slightly as she thought back to that day. She had spent she couldn't remember how long in her car, rehearsing to herself the exact words that she was going to use, but then it had come out completely different as soon as she'd seen him and he'd asked her something. She didn't remember what. And she couldn't quite remember just how far she had gone before they had been interrupted. "Does it matter now?"

"Well no… I guess it doesn't." He shrugged with a crooked smile. "But you know me, I like to beat myself up for my mistakes. It's a favorite pastime of mine."

Sam shook her head at his self-deprecating comment, sighing. "If you really want to know, I was trying to summon up the courage to tell you that… that all the what-ifs and unresolved feelings between us were the main reason why I-"

The muffled sound of the doorbell interrupted as both their attention turned towards the sound. They exchanged a look as Jack moved past her to go answer the door.

Interrupted – again. Hopefully this wouldn't be the story for the rest of their lives. There was only so much frustration one could take! Sam straightened up as she heard General Hammond's deep baritone resonate through the house and seconds later Jack appeared through the patio door with the man himself in tow, who smiled affectionately when he saw her.

"Colonel Carter! Sam, how are you?" he asked as he kissed her cheek in greeting.

"General, sir, it's wonderful to see you!"

"Would you like anything to drink, sir?" Jack asked.

"I'll have a beer if it's not too much trouble."

Jack smiled. "Of course not, sir, I'll be right back."

As Jack disappeared into the house, Sam entered in a catch-up conversation with Hammond. She had truly missed him over the last year, and it was good to see him again.

"So I hear some changes are in store for you?" he asked just as Jack reappeared behind his shoulder. Jack froze, then frantically gestured with his hands something Sam believed to mean that Hammond didn't know about the two of them.

"There you go, sir," Jack said as he started moving again and handed Hammond his beer.

"Ah, thanks Jack."

Sam smiled at the general. "Yes, sir, with General O'Neill gone, things are bound to be quite… different around the base." She threw Jack an impish look and he narrowed his eyes in return. "But he will be missed. Just as you are, sir."

"Now don't go all mushy on me, Carter," Jack drawled as he returned to his spot and removed the meat and buns from the grill.

"Life moves on, Colonel," Hammond replied to Sam, smiling. "As will the SGC without the two of us."

"Yes sir," Sam nodded, a little saddened by the idea in spite of herself.

Hammond turned to Jack. "Have you been told who's taking your chair?"

"Yes sir, I just found out." He threw Sam a quick apologetic look. "I was waiting for the boys to share the news…"

"Well, who is it?" Sam asked with undisguised curiosity.

"General Hank Landry," Hammond replied.

Sam shook her head. "Doesn't sound familiar."

"I think everyone will find him a worthy commanding officer and leader," Hammond reassured her. "He's a good man and he has one advantage over me when I took this job: he knows what he's getting into."

"I don't know sir, that might just mean he's crazier than the rest of us," Jack replied.

Sam smiled. "You knew what you were getting into, sir," she pointed out teasingly.

"True," he conceded. "But I was just in for the bigger office, whereas Landry apparently actually requested this job. So I stand by my earlier statement: definitely crazier."

Smiling and shaking her head, Sam was about to ask Hammond when the change would be official, but Hammond resumed speaking before she had a chance to open her mouth. "But I hear you might not get the opportunity to work under him yourself, Colonel, given the changes I hear are in store for you, personally?"

Sam looked at him curiously, wondering for a second whether he knew about the events of last weekend after all.

At her confused look, Hammond turned to look at Jack. "You haven't told her?"

Jack was suddenly very serious, and Sam's heart filled with dread at the way his entire body seemed to tense. "Told her what?" he asked carefully as he threw her a quick look. Sam couldn't decide whether it was guilty or just apprehensive.

"About the new position at Area 51," Hammond explained, his tone changing as he suddenly realized that Sam had no idea what he was talking about. She couldn't tell whether Jack did.

Sam shook her head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry, a new position sir?"

Hammond looked between her and Jack for a few seconds. "Well, maybe I've said too much, but now that the cat is out of the bag… You didn't know about this?" he asked Jack again.

"This is the first I hear of it, sir." He took a sip from his beer.

Sam eyed him a little suspiciously. How could he not have known? Their conversation on the dock of his pond last weekend seemed to suggest that he knew even then that something was coming. Why hadn't he just told her then?

"Well, then, I suppose I'll have the honor of making the offer," Hammond continued with a smile. "There's a new position opening to run the Stargate R&D department out of Area 51. The Pentagon and IOA could think of no better candidate for the job than you, Colonel."

Sam swallowed hard. "Am I being reassigned, sir?"

"Oh no, this is a voluntary position, Colonel. But we do hope that you'll consider taking it."

Sam threw a quick look at Jack, but his eyes were downcast and she couldn't read his expression.

"Well, I- I don't know what to say, sir. Truly, I'm flattered… but -"

General Hammond smiled as he patted her hand, interrupting her. "Just think about it. You'll no doubt receive an official offer over the next few days. This will merely give you some extra time to consider. I know how much the SGC has meant to you," he continued, his tone softening, "it's a special place for all of us who have had the privilege to experience it, but I hope you'll still consider this offer. And needless to say it would be a tremendous advancement for your career."

"Yes sir, thank you…"

"Hey guys, sorry we're late!" Daniel's voice broke the awkward silence that was starting to settle as he and Teal'c appeared around the corner and walked up to the patio. "We brought a peace offering," Daniel added as he pointed to the box Teal'c was carrying, which smelled suspiciously like doughnuts. Teal'c gave the box to Jack, who still seemed a little shell-shocked from the previous discussion.

He recovered quickly. "Ah, dessert! The best form of bribery. I better take this inside." As Teal'c and Daniel greeted General Hammond, Sam, under the pretense of getting drinks for the boys, followed Jack into the house.

"Did you know about this?" she asked as she caught up with him in the kitchen, her tone sounding more accusatory than she intended. She wasn't mad, but just…confused. He dropped the box onto the table and opened the fridge door. A second later he closed it again, brusquely, and Sam almost flinched at the gesture. He was obviously upset, but she wasn't sure why.

He kept silent for a long moment, but then sighed. "I knew it was coming, or rather that the position was opening up and that they wanted to offer it to you…but I didn't know when," he finally replied, avoiding her gaze and sounding a little deflated.

"You could have said."

His eyes suddenly bore into her and she saw a fear she had rarely seen flash across his face. "Would it have made a difference?"

He didn't need to be explicit for Sam to know that he was talking about the two of them. "I don't know."

He cringed and nodded, as if she was confirming his deepest fears. "Well then. There you go." He shook his head in frustration. "Look, I meant what I said last week – I don't want you to refuse anything because of me. God knows you deserve this, this kind of recognition. I don't want to stand in the way. I won't."

"But?" Please let there be a 'but', Sam thought.

"But," he leaned against the counter, hands flat on the surface, looking at her sideways. "I guess I was hoping that we could have some time to ourselves… You know, have a normal relationship like normal people before we'd have to make decisions like that, I—I guess I was trying to convince myself that this time we could actually have a shot at making this work."

Sam's heart went out to him as she realized that he had been going through doubts and fears of his own. How could he seriously worry that this changed anything? Sam was as sick of putting duty in front of their feelings as he was, especially now. In fact, she understood his desire for retirement much better than he probably imagined; in a lot of ways she felt that her job was done, too. Of course she loved it and she wouldn't consider retirement herself, but she definitely understood. She walked the gap that separated them. "Well then, forget it."

"What?" he straightened, turning to face her again.

She reached out, snaking her fingers around his forearm. "Forget the job offer and the what-ifs. None of that matters now. I stand by what I said last week, too."

A flicker of hope brightened his eyes, though the rest of him was still guarded. "Which part?"

Suddenly not caring what Hammond might or might not see, Sam stepped closer and looked up to catch his eyes, making sure that he held her gaze. "All of it. But especially the part about how we would figure it out together, if something like that happened. I'm willing to consider the offer, but I'm also willing to refuse it if we decide it's the right thing to do."

He studied her expression for a moment, then sighed and pulled her against him, folding her into his arms. "You're crazy, you know that?" Sam smiled and breathed him in as she snuggled against him. He smelled of laundry detergent, smoke from the grill and his own unique scent that made her toes curl. "Couldn't they just give us a break?" he asked against her neck, his voice muffled.

The sensation of his breath and lips moving against her skin made her shiver. Smiling at his petulant tone, she tightened her arms around his torso. "Who's 'they'?"

"Whoever keeps throwing those curveballs at us. It's mean. I think the Universe's in league with the Pentagon."

Sam's smile widened as she nodded her agreement. "Yes, a break would be nice." She sighed. Boy, the man could hug! "This is nice. I've missed it."

Jack pulled back just enough to look into her eyes, his hand moving up to cup her cheek. Sam held his gaze for a moment, before he leaned in and kissed her, slowly.

"This is pretty damn nice too," she mumbled as their lips separated briefly before joining once again, this time a little faster, a little hungrier, Sam's fingers threading into his hair as she pulled him even closer. God that felt-

"Hey Jack, where's the- oh! Never mind…"

They both froze at the sound of Daniel's voice.

"Seriously?" Sam whispered in frustration, earning a small smile from Jack as he leaned back a little, though he kept his arm around her and turned toward Daniel…

Only to find him gone.

"Where the hell did he go? I guess it's our cue to go back anyway," Jack added as he turned back to her. "We wouldn't want Hammond to wonder what's keeping us, would we?" he said as he stepped back and dropped his arms to his sides.

"Actually I've been thinking… it wouldn't be such a bad idea to tell him," Sam suggested.

He raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

She shrugged. "After it's official, sure, why not? I think he would be happy for us. Besides, he has to have an inkling – he's read the reports, I'm sure he's always known a lot more than he ever let on. He didn't make it general by being unobservant."

"Oh I don't know Carter, up until that day you showed up here a few weeks ago, even I was never sure of anything. And I'm pretty sure if I was fooled, the rest of the world was too."

Sam was surprised, and a little distraught at this. His logic was flawed, but… "But… Come on, you must have known how much I cared about you. I tried not to let it show, but I have never stopped caring."

His hands found her shoulders in a reassuring caress. "I know that. I've always known that you cared. I guess the mystery was in just how much you cared."

How much she had cared? Too much to be professional, too much to not notice when he wasn't in the room, too much to ignore when he was. Sam's hand found the hair at the back of his neck. "I've cared -"

"A lot more than you were supposed to?" he suggested with crooked smile.

The swirl of memories that these words evoked were bittersweet and maybe a little bit painful, and they shared a sigh. They had never really discussed that… incident… which in a way had been the beginning of years of mixed resignation, hope and denial. But, Sam decided, now wasn't the time. She moved back and squeezed his hand one last time before disentangling herself fully from his arms. "Let's go eat something and forget about the offer for now. I just want to enjoy the evening."

A slow smile quirked up the corner of his mouth. "I can do that."

oo0oo

Later that night they shared a bench in front of a fire Jack had built in his backyard after dinner. The others had gone not too long ago, but Sam had lingered behind, helping with the clean up, and waiting for an opportunity for the two of them to be alone. Jack hadn't commented on her lingering, and instead had silently offered her a sweatshirt once they were done cleaning so they could go back to the fire ring.

The night was clear and the stars were beautiful overhead, but Sam's gaze was drawn hypnotically to the dancing flames as she sat, comfortably resting against his side. They hadn't spoken much since the others had left, both lost in their own thoughts. For once it seemed the tension between them had abated somewhat, leaving them in comfortable silence. Oh it was still there, like a low-frequency vibration in the background, but at this particular moment it seemed they were both content to just sit together. Finally rediscovering that closeness they had found last week.

"I know this is going to sound drastic, but I don't care about my career prospects right now," Sam stated suddenly, breaking the silence.

With his arm draped around her shoulder, he gave her upper arm a brief squeeze, pulling her closer into his side as he did so. "Yeah you do," he retorted. "Of course you care."

She gave a tired smile. "Okay you're right, maybe I do, a little." She sighed. "I guess right now I'm just tired of the sacrifices, you know?"

She felt him nod. "So what do you want to do?"

"I don't know… I mean head of R&D – that sounds pretty…"

"Impressive?" he supplied.

Sam grinned. "I'm glad you think so, but I was gonna say 'fun'."

"Hmm, that too, I guess, if you're into that sort of thing." She chuckled softly. "Did I hear a 'but' in there?"

She shrugged. "I don't know if I can bear to stay away from the action – going through the gate… It's just, I would really miss it, the physical challenge, the adrenaline rush, the exploration."

"Yeah. I know."

She tilted her head to look up at him. "How did you do it?"

He shrugged. "It was a little bit hard at first to watch you guys go without me, I'm not gonna lie, but… I guess I got used to it. I've been reassigned enough times in my career to know how to take change in stride and not look back. Embrace new challenges, so to speak."

Sam sighed. "I wish it were that easy."

"I'm not saying it was... But, like Hammond said, things are going to be different from now on, especially for SG-1."

Of course he was right, and Sam had been a little distraught at the idea of SG-1 without the guys since Daniel had announced his desire for reassignment, especially now that Jack wouldn't be around either. "Right, and I know that in a way it is kind of good timing," she agreed. "I just wish the job didn't involve moving away. Not now…" That I've finally got you, Sam added mentally.

"Mah, Nevada's not so far away. Besides, from what I know about R&D projects right now, a lot of it is about upgrading our ships. You'd probably end up working up there," he said as he pointed his finger towards the stars, "most of the time anyway."

"And as much fun as that would be, it's not helping with my conundrum."

"So maybe I was hoping you could use that beaming technology to come home at the end of the day. Are you saying that's not happening?"

Sam grinned into his shoulder. "I wish."

"Alright, then, let's think about the pros. We've already established the 'fun' part. That's good, you could use some more fun in your life."

"I thought that's why I kept you around."

Sam turned her head just in time to see his brief stunned look at her teasing before he turned playful again. "Don't start something you're not planning on finishing, Carter." His fingers squeezed her arm affectionately, negating his warning tone. "Alright, so what else?"

Sam bit her tongue against the flirty reply that sprang to mind at his comment, and instead focused on their conversation, deciding to heed his warning despite the joking tone of the delivery. "Career advancement."

"Salary increase, better parking spot, future promotions… But we've established that you care 'only a little' about that."

She ignored his teasing. "More flexibility with my schedule."

That seemed to surprise him. "Is that right?"

She shrugged. "From what Hammond was saying, it almost sounds like I would make up my own schedule."

"That's kinda cool."

She nodded. "So that would mean I could squeeze in my hours during the week to make my weekends longer, or something. That way I'd be able to come and visit."

"Good, that's good. And I could visit too."

"Of course."

There was a pause, then he leaned in closer, his voice suddenly deep and his breath tingling her ear. "Sam, we're gonna make this work. You'll figure out how to work your schedule, and we're going to make this work."

She let out a relieved sigh as it suddenly dawned on her: deep down she had already made her decision, and she had only been waiting for his seal of approval. And of course, somehow, he had known that. Oh how well he knew her! "I know." She smiled as she reached out and intertwined their fingers, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I'm serious, whatever it takes. There's no getting out of this now, so don't even think about it." He was joking, but Sam squeezed his hand, just in case.

"I won't."

"Good." He leaned in to brush his lips against her hair in a light kiss, and before Sam could react, he was leaning away to face her. "Hey, that 'figuring things out together' worked out pretty well, I'd say?"

Sam grinned. "Yeah, surprisingly, much better than I thought." She paused as she met his eyes seriously. "Thank you."

He tilted his head to the side slightly, studying her curiously. "What for?"

"Just…being you, I guess."

He looked relieved. "Oh, well! That's easy enough."

Sam chuckled, and returned her head to his shoulder. They fell silent, lost in the sound of the fire crackling and crickets chirping. Sam was starting to feel sleepy as she sat, perfectly relaxed and warm in his arms, eyes mesmerized by the flames. If she was ever going to move away from this feeling of well-being, it was now or never. So she shifted, removing her head from his shoulder and getting ready to stand up.

"I should get going," she announced as she stood. He let go of her hand, but stood as well, facing her.

"Okay. I'll walk you to your car."

They were silent as they made their way, the strange tension back between them tenfold as they walked side by side far enough that their shoulders barely touched. Sam felt the chill now that she was away from the fire and his body heat, and she fought a shiver as she opened her car door and he held it open for her.

Deciding that a little boldness could go a long way in ending this night in the positive light it deserved, Sam leaned over the door to softly kiss the corner of his mouth. "Thanks for today, I needed this," she added, gesturing between the two of them.

His lips quirked up. "Yes well, don't tell the others, but they were just an excuse."

Her smiled turned into a grin. "I won't. I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

"0800, sharp," he confirmed.

She nodded, somehow suddenly rooted to the spot, as if her entire body was striking against physically walking away form him. He seemed to sense her turmoil as his eyes suddenly burnt with a new intensity, but he still took a step back, diving his hands into his pockets. He gave an almost imperceptible nod that Sam understood as encouragement as well as acknowledgement that this – the parting – seemed to be getting increasingly difficult.

His gesture somewhat broke the spell and Sam was able to move again, though it was still surprisingly difficult to break the eye contact, as if their gazes were connected by some kind of invisible link. But she did manage to break it after a couple of seconds, and got into her car. "Good night," she said before she closed the door and started up the engine.

She raised her hand in a wave before backing out of his driveway, smiling as she saw him return the gesture.

ooo0ooo

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think! I should be able to post the next installment some time over the next couple of days!