Chapter 3
A week later Sam's down to her last dollar and she knows she won't get a paycheck anytime soon; the dress she ruined was expensive. She hasn't had much to eat, only what she can steal from the grocery store. She's hungry and she's not feeling well.
Sam and Brooke are sitting side-by-side on the floor of Clothes Over Bros folding shirts when the phone rings. Sam and Brooke look at each other, neither of them wanting to get up.
"It's your store," Sam says, raising her brow.
"And you are my employee. Get your skinny ass up and get the phone," Brooke says, smirking.
When Sam stands up, she feels dizzy. She takes a step toward the counter. Brooke's face swims in front of her. Sam faints. Her head hits the counter as she falls backward on the floor.
Sam opens her eyes and realizes she's lying on the floor and Brooke is standing over her.
"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Brooke asks.
"Yeah," Sam replies.
"I called an ambulance," Brooke says.
"What?" Sam yells, getting up.
Brooke is taken aback by the anger, desperation, fear. "You need a doctor."
"No, that's the last thing I need. That'll just make everything worse," Sam says desperately.
"What are you talking about?" Brooke asks, confused.
Ignoring the question, Sam goes to the stockroom to get her backpack and skateboard. Brooke stalks after her.
"You're not going anywhere. You passed out in my store. You are my employee. I am responsible for you right now," Brooke says, knowing she can't let her teenage employee leave after she fainted. She would be responsible if anything happened. Besides, she's worried and wants to make sure Sam is okay.
"I'm okay!" Sam yells, frustrated.
"Okay, but it can't hurt to let a doctor make sure you're alright."
Sam looks down, tears of desperation in her eyes. "Look, I left a foster home. It wasn't so good. If I go to the hospital, it'll screw everything up for me."
Brooke stares at Sam, shocked. She can't believe a homeless runaway has been working for her and she didn't even know. She doesn't know what to do. "Sam, we'll figure this out. I'll help you."
Peyton hangs up the phone and looks at Sawyer. "That was Brooke. Sam passed out when she was at work."
"Is she okay?" Sawyer asks, concerned.
"I don't know. She's at the hospital," Peyton replied. She frowns. "Is she doing drugs?"
"What? No!" Sawyer says defensively, offended that her mom could even think she would hang out with a druggie.
"Just checking. Brooke said Sam ran away from her foster home."
"Sawyer, did you know she ran away?" Lucas asks.
Shocked, Sawyer stares at her mom. She's been hanging out with Sam almost every day and Sam never told her. "No. I didn't even know she was in foster care."
"You should go to the hospital. She probably needs a friend right now," Lucas says.
Sawyer gets up and grabs her car keys.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Peyton asks.
"No, I'll be okay," Sawyer replies.
Julian follows the signs in the hospital until he finds Sam's room. Brooke is standing outside of it. She smiles slightly. "I need you right now."
Julian hugs Brooke, rubbing her back comfortingly. "What happened?"
"Sam passed out. I was so scared. I didn't know if she was going to be okay," Brooke says.
"Did you talk to the doctor? Does he know what's wrong?" Julian asks, concerned.
"Well, she passed out because she hasn't eaten anything today," Brooke replies.
"Do you think she has an eating disorder?" Julian asks, remembering all the actresses and models he's worked with who would do anything to be a size zero.
"No. I think she didn't have anything to eat. She ran away from her foster home. She's been sleeping in a car in shop class," Brooke says, upset.
"Oh, wow," Julian says, shocked.
"She's been working for me for a week and I didn't even know anything was wrong," Brooke says, feeling guilty.
"Brooke, you couldn't have known."
"Yeah, I guess," Brooke says, unconvinced.
"Is there anything we can do to help her?" Julian asks.
"Well, I've been thinking. We wanted to adopt a child. Age doesn't matter. Not to me. I just want to help a child who has no one," Brooke says nervously, not knowing how Julian will feel about adopting a teenager instead of a baby. "Do you want to take her in?"
Julian smiles. "You have a good heart, Brooke Davis. She would be lucky to have you."
"You're going to be a great dad," Brooke says. She's seen how good he is with Sawyer and Jamie.
As Sawyer walks into the hospital, she calls Brooke and asks where Sam's room is. She finds Brooke and Julian talking in the hallway outside of Sam's room.
"Hey. Sam's in there." Brooke points Sam's room out to Sawyer. "Julian and I are going to go make a phone call. We'll be right back."
Sam is surprised when Sawyer walks into her room. "Hey. What are you doing here?"
"Visiting my friend," Sawyer replies, smiling.
"Brooke didn't tell you about me?" Sam asks, thinking Sawyer wouldn't be talking to her if she knew Sam was in foster care.
"Oh, she told me," Sawyer says sarcastically, smirking. "My only question is why didn't you tell me? I would have been there for you."
"I was scared that you'd tell someone. Child Protective Services has been looking for me," Sam says. She looks down, blushing. "My foster home…it wasn't so good."
"I'm sorry," Sawyer says.
"I gotta get out of here. If I'm here when they show up, I'm gonna get a one-way ticket back to foster care. Will you help me?" Sam says desperately, looking at Sawyer with pleading eyes.
Sawyer hesitates. She doesn't know if helping Sam run away will help her or hurt her in the long run. "I don't know. Where are you gonna go?"
"I can save up money and buy a bus ticket back to Charlotte, get my old job back," Sam replies, knowing there will be too many people in Tree Hill looking for her.
"I can help you with the money." Sawyer pulls two twenty dollar bills out of her wallet and gives them to Sam.
"Thanks," Sam says, pocketing the money. "Can you distract Brooke so I can take off?"
"Brooke and Julian went outside to make a phone call. You should go now before they get back," Sawyer says.
Sawyer hugs Sam goodbye. "Stay in touch."
Sawyer walks into her house and tries to slip past her parents. She doesn't know if Brooke and Julian have noticed that Sam is missing yet.
"How's Sam?" Peyton asks.
"She's gonna be okay," Sawyer replies.
"That was a fast visit," Peyton observes, looking at the clock on the microwave. Sawyer wasn't even gone an hour.
"Yeah."
"I was just about to leave for the river court. You want to come?" Lucas asks.
"No," Sawyer replies, just wanting to go to her room.
Lucas frowns. "Okay."
"I have a ton of homework," Sawyer says, not wanting to hurt her dad.
After talking to Social Services, Brooke and Julian walk into Sam's hospital room smiling. Their smiles quickly fade when they see that the room is empty. A confused doctor informs them that Sam was not released. Brooke calls Sawyer since she was the last person to talk to Sam.
Sawyer looks at caller ID and hits ignore. She knows she will eventually have to answer to Brooke, but she wants to delay the inevitable as long as possible.
"Why isn't she answering her phone?" Brooke asks, frustrated.
"She probably doesn't have a signal," Julian says.
"I don't think so," Brooke says quietly.
They go to Lucas and Peyton's house to try to hunt down Sawyer.
"Hey, B. Baker," Peyton says, smiling.
"Hey, P. Scott. Is Sawyer here?" Brooke says.
"She's in her room. Why? What's wrong?" Peyton asks, hearing the concern in Brooke's voice.
"It's Sam. She ran away from the hospital. Sawyer was the last person to talk to her and I just want to know if Sam said anything," Brooke explains.
Peyton leads the way to Sawyer's room. She knocks and opens the door. Sawyer looks up from her textbook and frowns when she sees her mom, Brooke and Julian. She knows she has some explaining to do. But, she tries to act nonchalant. She hopes if she can hold them off long enough, Sam will be able to get out of town. "Hey. What are you doing here?"
"Honey, Sam ran away from the hospital. Brooke and Julian are looking for her," Peyton says calmly, wanting to see if her daughter offers any information on her own or if they have to drag it out of her.
"I don't think she wants to be found."
"Do you know something?" Peyton asks suspiciously, raising her brow.
"No…but she keeps running away. She doesn't want to be found. I think you should leave her alone."
Brooke stares at Sawyer, shocked. "She's been sleeping in a car. She needs a home."
"If she wants to sleep in a car instead of her foster home, her home had to be pretty fucking bad. Did you ever think of that?" Sawyer demands, feeling bad for Sam and starting to understand why Sam doesn't tell anyone anything.
"Sawyer Brooke Scott! Do not talk to Brooke like that!" Peyton yells angrily.
"Of course I thought about that. We want to help her, but we have to find her first. If you know something, you have to tell us," Brooke says desperately, her eyes pleading with Sawyer.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
"Fine. You're grounded," Peyton says. Wordlessly she holds out her hand, waiting for Sawyer's cell phone.
"Are you serious? This is so unfair!" Sawyer yells.
"If you complain, you're grounded for another week," Peyton says, raising her brow.
After Sawyer places her phone in Peyton's waiting palm, Peyton, Brooke and Julian go back into the kitchen, shutting Sawyer's bedroom door behind them. Brooke frowns. "Peyton, I know she knows something."
"I know, Brooke, but we can't make her talk," Peyton says. She starts looking through Sawyer's text messages to see if there are any from Sam.
Julian smirks. "That's an invasion of privacy."
"She's not going to get privacy if she's living under our roof," Peyton says. She finishes going through the phone and frowns. "She doesn't have any new texts from Sam."
"I have an idea," Julian says. Brooke and Peyton look at him curiously, waiting for him to continue. "What if we text Sam from Sawyer's phone? She's not gonna tell us where is, but she'll probably tell Sawyer."
"Pretty and a genius. I hit the jackpot with you," Brooke says proudly, smiling.
Peyton sends the text message from Sawyer's phone and they all stare at it, waiting anxiously for Sam's response.
Sawyer
Hey where r u?
Sam
At the mall. Got a bus ticket but the bus doesn't leave until tom. Thanks for the $
Peyton reads Sam's response aloud, frowning. "She lied to my face."
"Honey, she was just trying to be a good friend to Sam," Brooke says.
"We should go," Julian says.
Brooke and Julian walk into the mall, not knowing where to start looking for Sam.
"She's a teenage girl. She's probably shopping for clothes," Brooke says.
Julian laughs. "Brooke, she doesn't have money for clothes. She doesn't even have a closet."
"Well, where do you think she would go?" Brooke asks.
"If she hasn't had anything to eat, she's probably hungry. Let's look in the food court," Julian says.
When they walk into the food court, Brooke sees Sam sitting at a table eating a cinnamon sugar covered pretzel. "Julian," Brooke says, pointing to the table.
They hurry over to the table. Brooke sits down across from Sam. Julian stands just to the side of Sam in case she tries to make a break for it.
Sam stares at them, shocked. She went to Tree Hill Mall knowing it would be crowded. She didn't think anyone would be able to pick her out in the crowd. "Fuck."
"It's nice to see you, too," Brooke says sarcastically.
"Did Sawyer rat me out?" Sam asks.
Julian smirks. "No, you gave yourself up."
Sam frowns. She only told one person that she was at the mall. "You texted me from Sawyer's phone?"
Julian nods, smirking cockily. "We had to find you."
"Sam, we want you to move in with us," Brooke says without hesitation. She looks at Sam. "If you want to?"
Sam looks at them, wondering if they're serious. Slowly she smiles. "Okay."
When Lucas gets home from the river court, Peyton fills him in on what he missed. They walk into Sawyer's room to talk to her. She's listening to her iPod. She takes one earbud out of her ear. "What do you want?"
"Sawyer," Lucas warns.
"We want you to talk to us. Brooke and Julian found Sam even though you wouldn't help us. You knew she was going to Charlotte. You gave her money to buy a bus ticket. You lied," Peyton says angrily.
Sawyer frowns. "So what's going to happen now? Does Sam have to go back to the foster home she ran away from?"
"Sam's going to stay with Brooke and Julian," Lucas replies.
"That's great," Sawyer says, smiling.
"Brooke and Julian talked with Social Services before Sam ran away. We were always going to help her. You should have trusted us," Peyton says.
"I'm sorry," Sawyer says, feeling guilty.
"I know you are. And I know you were only trying to be a good friend to Sam. But you don't have to protect her from us. We're not the bad guys," Peyton says.
"Am I still grounded?" Sawyer asks.
"Yeah, but not because you were being a good friend to Sam. You can't talk to Brooke like that. We raised you to treat us with respect," Lucas replies.
Julian holds open the door to their guest room. Brooke walks in and flips the lights on. "This is your room."
Sam takes a step into the room and looks around. "I've never had my own room before." She smiles.
As they leave Sam to unpack, Brooke looks back at her, raising her brow. "No boys."
Julian laughs as Brooke shuts the door behind her. "You sound like a mom."
"I am being a mom," Brooke says.
"Does it make you happy?" Julian asks.
"So happy," Brooke replies.
"Yeah, me too," Julian murmurs. He kisses Brooke softly. "You are a MILF."
Brooke looks at Julian, raising her brow. "American Pie?"
Julian shrugs and kisses her again.
A/N: Thanks again for reviewing! :) It helps me to know what you like and/or don't like. If you want to see more of anything or anyone, let me know!