The next day, I woke up with a smile. Everything shifted a little. I wasn't dreading seeing Collin and Brady and I was happy on how life was turning out.

Each class period, I had the kids work on their projects. I advised them on some things and helped them with a general layout. Collin and Brady were both happy as clams.

They were laughing and smiling and very respectful.

When school was over, I stayed late again. Cleaning up and working on organizing the back room to make a studio was hard.

When I was finally satisfied on how much I got done, I grabbed my stuff and headed home.

Finding the guys on the front steps of my house was very amusing.

"Boys?" I asked while stepping out of my car.

Seth, Paul, Jake and Sam were all waiting for me.

"Hey." They all said.

Seth came and gave me a big hug, along with the rest of them.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Waiting to see you." Paul said happily.

"For….?" I asked.

"Just because. Did we need a reason?" Jake asked.

I looked at all of them funny.

"I guess not. Did you guys want to come in?"

They nodded and smiled. "That would be great."

And that's it. They stayed for a while. Even had dinner with me. It was a great surprise. But something was off. Why was Sam always with them now? I wasn't even that close to him. I mean, I knew that I feel something for him when I am around him…but it was just…strange.

Days went on like this. We would have dinners at each others houses and just be in each others company. A few times, when Seth would put his arm around me or when I would lean into him, I swear I would hear a growl.

At first, I thought I was imagining it or going crazy, but I found it more common than I thought. It sounds weird, but I think its coming from Sam. After I swear I hear it, some of the guys look at Sam with a weird expression.

Anyways, it was one day after school when I was in my classroom that a familiar tall uniformed Native American came into my room.

"Hey." He said in a gruff voice.

I looked up from my computer and found Sam standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey stranger. What are you doing here?" I smiled.

He flashed me a grin and leaned back against a table that was across from my desk.

"Just visiting you. I had to finish up some things and thought you would still be here."

"Nice guess." I said rolling away on my chair to the printer.

"So what are you up to?" he asked, with his eyes following my every move.

"Nothing much, just putting some things together for my classes." I said barely paying attention to him. I was so focused on the computer PowerPoint that I didn't even realize he came to lean over my desk.

"Like what?" he asked curious.

I looked up stunned and swallowed hard. The lamp on my desk shined light on his face at such an angle he looked….godly.

"Just….just things about different angles. To give the kids some ideas on how their pictures could look and to be creative." I supplied, still looking at him.

He was very strong and buff. The way he leaned against my desk made the uniform hug against his arm muscles. His skin looked smooth and creamy and his face was...heart melting.

"Can I see?" he asked politely.

I nodded and moved my roll-y char to the side to show him. He came around the side of the desk and sat on the top.

I showed him all I had, even explaining some things. He seemed truly interested and short of shocked I knew all of these things.

When I was done, it was like he couldn't take his eyes off of me. I was starting to feel uncomfortable and I think he could sense it.

"Would you like to go out with me sometime?" he asked randomly.

I turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

He blushed a little and rubbed his hand against the back of his neck.

"Would you like to go out with me?"

"I-...sure. Why not?" I laughed awkwardly.

"Great. So then I will be by your house to pick you up after my shifts over. Say around 8?" he asked with a smile. I could tell how happy he was for some reason. His eyes were light and glistening and the stance of his body looked free and relaxed.

"Wait…I thought you were off work…." I said.

He laughed at my puzzlement and shook his head. "No I wish. I just wanted to stop by. Tie up some loose ends like I said." He said implying me being the loose end.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "You could have just asked me. I probably held you up. Sorry." I apologized.

"And what fun would have that been? Plus I learned some things. It was all really interesting. I'm sure the station was fine on its own. So don't apologize, you're worth it." He said sweetly.

I blushed at his statement and I could tell he was hiding back a proud chuckle.

"Well, I will see you tonight." He smiled. Before I knew it, he walked back over to my desk and kissed the top of my head.

And we walked away just like that. For a second I sat there stunned while my heart fluttered like crazy. When I came to my senses I stood up and ran to find him.

"Sam!" I shouted from the doorway of my classroom. He was just walking down the middle of the hall.

He turned around and looked at me surprised.

"What should…I mean-…"

He raised an eyebrow but waited patiently. The warmth on my cheeks were surfacing and I knew he could see my blushing.

"What do I wear?" I asked.

He gave a small smile and it made me feel a little less silly for asking that.

"Casual; jeans and a tee is fine, though you might want to bring a sweatshirt."

I nodded, smiling like a fool.

"Sounds good, thanks."

We stared at each other for a moment more and then he nodded.

"Anytime. I should get back, but I will see you soon ok?"

"Yea, bye Sam." I grinned.

"Bye Bella." He laughed walking away.

The grin on my face was etched permanently there, or at least it felt like it. I was like a high school girl who just got asked out by my crush…but Sam wasn't my crush…or was he?

I shook away the interesting thoughts and began packing up to head home. I wanted to shower and pick out something to wear.

By the time I got home it was already 7:15; I was practically racing to get ready.

I hopped in the shower, washing my hair with my fresh raspberry shampoo. When I was done, I swiftly dried off, pinning my long hair up into a messy bun for the time being. I headed off to find some clothes, searching throughout my drawers.

I settled on a plain black spaghetti tank top and a pair of dark skinny jeans. It was casual but very nice looking. I also made sure to grab a hoodie sweatshirt that zipped. It was a nice light bright blue with white writing from my college days.

The clock read 7:45. Nervously, I headed back to the bathroom and started drying my hair. I didn't have enough time to make it straight, so I just dried it, letting it show all my natural waves and curls.

When it was dry enough, I began applying some makeup.

As I was applying some eye shadow I couldn't help but wonder, was this really the right thing to do? This was Sam. Sam of all people?

I grabbed the eyeliner. He was the one that took away all my friends. He was the one that broke Paul and I apart.

I shook my head and put the eyeliner back. That was Paul who broke us apart. Paul was the one that left. Sam just provided him a house.

Finding that this argument was pointless, I gave up and analyzed myself in the mirror. My makeup and hair looked fine…good you could say. I made sure that the makeup wasn't heavy or unnatural looking; I just wanted to be me.

I was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

Not wanting Sam to be waiting long, I quickly shut off the bathroom lights and ran to my bed, grabbing the blue sweatshirt. I shut off the lights on my way down and ran for the door with nervousness.

"Hey." He smiled. He was looking good. Like really good. He was wearing a black short sleeve tee shirt which hugged against his chest and showed all the curvatures of his muscles. He was also wearing some baggy dark jeans and smelled like the fresh outside and a hint of pine. After gazing at me, he handed me a bunch of flowers.

They were a mixture; there were some Roses, Daisies, Carnations, Lilies,Amaryllis, Daffodil, even Orchids.

"Sam, these are beautiful." I said amazed.

He blushed. "I didn't really know what you liked, so I just got a whole bunch."

I stared at the bouquet amazed. They were all so pretty and colorful.

"Let me go put these in a vase…your welcome to come in." I told him, heading for the kitchen.

I found a vase. But it was high, in the top cabinet above the fridge.

"Here." Sam said, reaching behind me to get the glass vase.

I blushed and murmured a 'thanks'. Whenever he touched me, I always felt these little electric sparks. Plus his skin was so warm and soft against me; I just wanted to cuddle up against him.

I put the flowers in the vase filled with water and set it on the counter.

They were very beautiful.

"You ready?" he asked me as I looked at the flowers.

I gave him a smile and nodded. "Yea, so where are we going?"

He shook his head and grabbed my hand as we made our way out the door.

"Nope. Not telling."

"Oh come on Sam." I whined as he opened the car door.

"Nope, now come here." He said, coming closer to me. He took my legs and moved my body so it was facing him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He took a white bandana blind fold from his back pocket.

"Sam." I whined.

He laughed and shook his head again.

Putting the white bandana over my eyes, I couldn't see squat.

"I can't see anything." I complained childishly.

"I know. That's the point." He laughed as he got into his side of the car.

He started up the engine and we were off to…somewhere.

It didn't feel like it was too long before we started to slow down and come to a stop.

"Where are we?" I asked him as he came to get me.

"You will find out soon enough." He said.

I huffed, and let him guide me.

I felt my feel hit warm soft grains of what I guessed were sand. The waves, I could hear, were swishing in the background.

"We're at the beach." I guessed.

He ignored my comment and walked me a little further.

"Ok stop." He said.

I halted and waited for the 'ok' to take off my blindfold.

Still not seeing anything, I could sense his presence behind me. His arms went to the knot on the back of my head and untied it.

"Surprise." He whispered in my ear.

I looked around and was stunned. He set up a picnic on the beach. The setting was beautiful and classic.

Against the light of the moon, He had laid a white and red checkered blanket on the sand with a wooden picnic basket. There were a bunch of candles which were lit all around us and a bunch of rose petals that were scattered around the beach.

"Sam. This is beautiful." I gasped.

He smiled and led me to the blanket. "Come on, let's eat."

He brought out a bunch of sandwiches, grapes, cherries, a salad, chips, water, and some chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

"This looks really yummy." I laughed in shock.

"Well thank you. I was hoping you would like it."

"Did you make it all?" I asked as we made ourselves plates.

He blushed a little and shook his head 'no'. "I didn't know what to make and I didn't have a lot of time by the time I got back to the station. So I called up Emily…Paul's imprint," he supplied. I nodded, remembering the girl.

"So I asked her what I should do, or what I wanted to do, and she offered to make the food so I would have enough time to set everything else up. And it worked out good."

"Well, tell her I said thank you."

"You can tell her yourself, you're welcome to come back to Paul's after. All the guys should be there."

"I-….I don't think I will be able to make it to Paul's." I gulped in sadness.

He sighed and ran his thumb against the side of my face.

"He misses you. A lot."

I looked away from him not wanting to ruin the night. He must have gotten the vibe because he sighed again and removed his hand.

We ended talking about a lot of random things. Like what I did when I was gone and how he got into the law enforcement.

As the night moved along it also got colder, even after I put on my sweatshirt.

"Come here." He ordered. Sam was lying across from me on his side. We had both cleaned up the food and had been sitting there talking.

I looked at him curious, still sitting with my legs criss cross across from him.

"I can warm you up." He supplied.

Just as I was about to respond protesting he cut me off.

"And don't say you're fine 'cause I know you're cold."

I rolled my eyes smiling and crawled over to lay by him.

He wrapped an arm around my waist as I snuggled my body closer to his.

Sam was right. He was warm. He seemed warmer than a usual human being, but maybe I was just saying that 'cause I was freezing.

Within minutes I was starting to feel warm again, but that didn't stop me from snuggling my face into his strong chest.

Luckily he welcomed it. His hand which was on my waist squeezed me lightly and he pushed us closer together.

I stuck my head right underneath his chin, comfortably taking in everything.

He felt good, smelt good, was a good guy, and was just all around good.

"So how did you get so interested in becoming a photography teacher?" he asked randomly.

I looked up to him as he bowed his head to meet my eyes.

"Well…I was always interested in taking pictures. Mostly of my family or the outside. In Phoenix I would take a lot of pictures of Renee or Phil. Then when they got tired of it, I went outside and ventured around with my camera. There weren't a lot of trees like there is here, but they had some cacti and some other cool things."

"From then on, I just really enjoyed it. So I decided to make it my job. Do something you love to do right?" he nodded, brushing a hair away from my eyes.

"Plus I love the thought of a picture. It's a moment in time. A true moment. From then on everything changes. I guess it's like the one moment that you can actually savor or like that one moment of happiness. A reminder of how fast things can change and how much you really need to enjoy life."

"Do you ever tell your kids that?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No not really, I thought it was kind of a silly thought."

"No, its not. It's a really interesting take on everything. Very thoughtful."

"Thanks." I murmured quietly.

After that, we began talking about our interests and…Paul. At first I kept my answers reserved and sort of obvious. But as I felt more comfortable with Sam it came so easy and smooth. He knew everything now. How I felt when I was first with him and how I feel now. It was like I was starting a clean slate.

When our talking began to die down, he leaned in close to me, slowly moving to kiss me; I didn't give it a second thought. I knew what I wanted and I went with it. I moved closer and our lips touched.

It was amazing- the feel of his lips against mine. The spark was there again, the minute our lips touched. The kiss was warm, soft, caring, and passionate. It was everything under the sun and above. He made my heart flutter and the blood rush through my veins.

After the most perfect kiss of our lives, we laid there in bliss just looking at the stars in the sky.

Unfortunately, the time passed faster than our liking because as it was getting later, it was also getting colder. The wind was starting to pick up a little harder, blowing out the candles and making me shiver.

"Come on, we should get you home." He said getting up.

He stuck out a hand and I graciously accepted it. When we were both up, we collected our things, and folded the blanket.

Sam led me back to the car and opened the door for me.

After he put the things in the back seat he got in and started up the car.

I guess I should have guessed where he was going cause we ended up in Paul's driveway.

"Sam." I warned/ pleaded.

"Come on Bella, you can do this. From everything you have told me about Paul…" he let out a huff, frustrated with himself.

"I know it may seem like you can't do this, but I will be with you every step of the way."

I swallowed hard and looked down at my hands. "What if I don't want to do this?"

"But you do. The way you talk about him and the way he talks about you- You both want everything to be ok, its just you both don't know what to do or how to act. And if you really couldn't do this, then I would take you home. I can't make you do anything you don't want to. I can only be here for you."

I let out a breath, telling myself not to cry.

Not looking up from my hands in my lap, I heard Sam unbuckle his seatbelt and get out of the car.

A few seconds later, my car door was opening and a big warm hand that I recognized was being held out for me to take.

I looked at it for a second and then slowly guided mine into it.

Sam carefully helped me out of the car and we walked up to the well-known house, hand in hand. As we walked up there, I noticed that most of the lights were on and then TV blaring in the background.

Sam's hand rested on the front door and he looked at me. "Ready?"

I took a second to take in a breath and think this through. If I was to go in there, it would mean I called it. I put up the white flag and forgave him for leaving me…and for everything else.

He would know it; I would know it…hell even Seth would know it.

But the question was, was I really ready to forgive him?

Then, I let it go. I stopped thinking and nodded to Sam.

He gave me a small reassuring smile and then twisted the doorknob to open it.

Sam stepped through the door first, keeping his hand entwined with mine.

"Hey how was the date?" someone asked.

"How'd it go?" a voice asked that I knew was Seth.

"Did she like the food?" a womanly voice ask, knowing it was Emily.

"Please tell me you didn't pull a move on my sister." Paul pleaded.

I thought it was kind of funny. They were all looking at Sam with twisted necks from the couch, but didn't even notice me. I knew it was because I was standing behind him, and his body covered me well, but you would think someone would see me from the angles they were looking at him.

I felt his hand squeeze mine and I knew it was my cue.

"The date was good. A lot of fun and very romantic. The food was amazing and perfect, which I want to say thank you for, by the way." I incorporated. Everyone's head popped to me.

"And we kissed, so I don't know if you would call that a 'move' but it's that big of a deal anyways" I teased.

Everyone just kept staring at me stunned.

Suddenly Paul got up and ran over to me, hugging me for dear life.

I laughed and hugged him back with as much force as I could muster.

As much as I would like to deny it, I really did miss Paul.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered as he hugged me.

"Its ok, I am too."

When we let go, Paul went over to give a manly hug/thank you to Sam while Seth came over to hug me.

"I'm glad you forgave him."

I nodded and smiled at Paul, who was talking with Sam.

"Me too."

"And Bella, you know I'm sorry too right? I just…I know I left but its not like I meant to…I mean I didn't want to its just…"

"It's ok Seth." I said, leaning my head against his chest.

I took in a breath and laid my arms over Seth's who were around my waist. As I watched Paul and Sam, I knew it was going to be ok-It felt ok.

"I know I may not understand why you left or why you even did it, but I know you. And as weird and crazy as this sounds, I know you wouldn't hurt me even if you had a choice. So its ok, I forgive you. What's done is done."

I stretched my neck to look up at him.

"So you can stop feeling guilty and beating yourself up. All I want now is my best friend back."

"And your brother right?" Paul said with a full blown smile.

Sam and Paul were now both looking at me with happiness in their eyes. I thought I read some torment and pain in Sam's also, but I couldn't find any reason for it.

"Yea, I guess." I teased, laughing as he tried to pull me out of Seth's arms.

Luckily Seth grew so much he twisted us away from Paul. Seth lifted me up so I was on top of his feet and we walked together to the couch. Or at least tried.

There must have been a napkin or popcorn or something on the floor because Seth suddenly went flying back with me on top of him.

We landed on the family room floor with a huge bang and then a grunt from Seth.

I let out a giggle and turned back to Seth.

"Are you ok?" I laughed, gasping for breath.

He gave me a smile and coughed from getting the wind knocked out of him.

For some odd reason, I began cracking up with laughter even more. I didn't know why, cause the whole situation wasn't even that funny and Seth was sort of in pain.

Soon, we began full blown out laughing on the floor together, trying to catch our breaths.

Instead of being on top of Seth now, though, I was laying next to him, using his arm that was stretched out as my head rest.

"Ok, enough of that. Way to try and injure my sister when she first gets home." Paul grumped and scooped me up into his arms to sit on his lap in a recliner chair.

"Home?" I breathed, still holding my stomach from laughing.

"Yea, I mean, I thought you would move back. This is your home too…" he said.

I shook my head. "No its not."

"Bella." He said sadly.

"Look, yes, it was my home. And as much as I loved it…or still love it, it's not my home anymore. It's yours."

"No its yours." He said pushy.

I rolled my eyes. He sounded like a preschooler.

"I have my own home." I said referring to Charlie's old place.

"Yes. Here." He said.

I shook my head again.

"Paul, come on. I like my place. I can call it my own and feel like it's my own. I don't want to leave it. I enjoy staying there."

He sighed and looked at my lap sadly.

"It's not like the housing situation will stop me from being here. I put up the white flag remember?" I said grumpily.

His head popped up and he smiled at me. "Yea, I remember."

Everything went back to normal again. Sam took a seat at the end of the couch, closet to Paul and me. I could see him watching me as I talked to Emily, thanking her for the food.

"So how was the date?" Paul said mysteriously.

I turned to look at him and stuck an eyebrow up.

"It was good…great. I had an amazing time and enjoyed myself. I thought I went over this already?" I asked him.

"What did you guys do?" he asked, ignoring my question.

"We talked. And ate." I thought.

"Nothing more?" he asked.

"Paul." I warned.

"Do I ask what you do with Emily? No, then lets not cross that line, 'kay?" I said.

"If you really wanted to know what I do with Emily then…." He said with a grin.

"Noo! Ahhh!" I yelled covering my ears.

I got up and ran over to Sam. I sat in his lap, curling myself up into a ball, still covering my ears.

I swear I heard Paul growl. When I took my hands off my ears and looked at Paul, he seemed to be shaking a little. He seemed to be mad and staring at Sam.

I looked up at Sam and he was looking at Paul like he was telling him something without words.

Paul looked away and got himself in control. I tilted my head and stared at my brother.

This was happening more and more. I wasn't stupid. Something was going on.

A warm hand suddenly covered my knee and I looked to find Sam looking down at me.

I gave a small smile but looked back at Paul. He was staring at me, and when I met his eyes, he looked away.

Ignoring what just happened, I began talking with Seth and playing with Sam's hands which were now on my lap.

When I began yawning, Sam squeezed my hand.

"Come on, I will get you home."

I nodded sleepily and began standing up.

"Nooo," Paul whined.

I rolled my eyes tiredly and pulled Sam in the direction of the door.

"Stay here tonight. Pleasee?" he begged.

"Paul, I'm tired, I want to go home and sleep."

"You can sleep here." He supplied.

"Sleep meaning in my bed; with my p.j.s. None of which you have here."

"We have your room. And that's a bed, and I can get you some ."

I groaned in exhaustion.

"Paul." Sam said in a warning voice.

"Please Bella?" he rushed.

"Ugh, fine. I will sleep here on the couch." I said. I let go of Sam's hand and plopped down on the couch.

"You can sleep on your bed." Sam spoke.

I shook my head. "The room is probably all dusty and I would have to go put covers and crap on the bed. Too much work." I mumbled.

I heard him laugh at my answers. I would have stuck out my tongue or something mature like that but I was too tired.

"Goodnight guys." I said, shutting my eyes.

This time Seth laughed. "Alright, well I guess that's our cue to leave. Night Bella, see you later."

I let out a grunt and held up my hand as a goodbye.

The shuffling of the guy's feet and their goodbyes helped me guess they were all leaving.

When I didn't sense him coming, I popped open an eye and lifted my head.

"You coming to say goodbye to me?" I asked Sam, who was standing by the door, getting ready to leave.

He gave me a smile and walked over to me. "I thought you might be sleeping."

"Nah, getting there." I smiled.

His grin was the cutest thing I had ever seen. It always melted my insides like putty and made me feel like goo.

"Well then…goodnight Bella. I had the most amazing time with you." He whispered, moving my hair back.

I closed my eyes just for a second. Being with him felt so good.

"Goodnight Sam. I had the best time too."

He gave me another one of those smiles and then bent down to kiss my lips.

I welcomed it with ease. I loved kissing Sam. It was the best.

I brought a hand up to his cheek and savored the feeling of him being with me.

"Ugh, gross. Really guys?" Paul grunted.

We pulled away and I rolled my eyes. "Take away my bed, my pjs, my house, and now my boyfriend. Really?" I asked him.

I looked over at Sam and saw him beaming with happiness.

"Well, its better than loosing him permanently." A weird feeling hit my heart. It hurt. It was like I wanted to cry and drown in my sorrows.

A high pitched whimper was sounded through the room and Paul looked guilty.

"Sorry. I meant it as because I could and would have beaten the pulp out of him for kissing my YOUNGER sister, fyi!" he stressed to Sam.

We got over the depressing words and both wanted to hit Paul.

"Ok, whatever Paul. Time for bed. Goodnight Sam. I will see you tomorrow or something. And goodnight Paul. Get me a blanket or something would you?"

They both laughed as I snuggled back into the couch and tried to go to sleep.

"Night Bells."

A few seconds later I was hit with something.

"Here. A blanket." Paul grunted.

"Gee thanks. Love you too Bro." I said sarcastically.

"Sorry." He apologized.

"You going to be ok down here? You sure you don't want me to help you set up your bed?"

I popped open an eye and looked over at him. "I will be fine. Don't worry. Goodnight." I chimed.

"Night sis." He said and then shut off the lights.

Spreading out the blanket, I snuggled into the coming warmth and fell asleep.