A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! This chapter is short and Sam-centric. It's setting things up for the next chapter. Don't worry…there's drama coming up for Sawyer in the next chapter.

Chapter 4

Brooke smiles proudly as she sets a plate of pancakes down on the breakfast bar. "Sam, breakfast!"

Brooke waits impatiently, staring at the door to Sam's room, her brow raised. When she gets tired of waiting, she knocks and opens the door. Sam is laying in the bed, the sheets tangled from tossing and turning.

"Sam," Brooke says. She looks at Sam for a minute before awkwardly touching the teenager's shoulder to wake her up.

Sam wakes up with a start, scared, until she sees that it's just Brooke. She smiles slowly.

"Breakfast. I made pancakes. Come on, get up," Brooke says.

Sam sits down at the place Brooke set for her and takes a bite of the pancakes. Julian laughs at the face Sam makes. "Brooke is a woman of many talents, but cooking is not one of them," Julian says.

"If you'd rather go hungry than eat my cooking…oh, wait, you already did that," Brooke says sarcastically.

"I don't see you eating any pancakes." Sam smirks.

"Fine," Brooke says as she gets herself a plate. She takes a bite and it's obvious that she has to force herself to swallow it. "Okay, they're not very good, but it's the thought that counts."

"Well, I think I'm going to be sick," Sam says sarcastically.

Wordlessly Brooke takes a cereal box and a bowl out of the kitchen cabinet and sets them in front of Sam. After Sam eats a bowl of cereal, she gets ready for school. She takes a longer shower than she usually would, almost twenty minutes, enjoying having the bathroom to herself instead of using the shower in the girl's locker room at school. She puts black leggings and a long black graphic tee with a red rose on it on. She usually lets her brown hair dry naturally because it's naturally straight, but today she takes the time to blow it dry. Finally, she puts black eyeliner and mascara on.

Peyton can hear Sawyer's alarm clock from the kitchen. After about ten minutes of listening to the most obnoxious loud beeping sound incessantly, she goes into Sawyer's room. Sawyer is laying facedown in her bed, hidden underneath her comforter and completely oblivious to the alarm. Peyton laughs as she turns the alarm off. "Sawyer, you're gonna be late for school."

"I have an alarm clock, you know," Sawyer mumbles sleepily.

"I know. Me," Peyton says, slapping Sawyer's butt.

Sawyer rolls over and looks at the alarm clock. She realizes her alarm went off almost fifteen minutes ago. "I can't believe I slept through my alarm. I turned the volume up as loud as it will go."

"I know. Everyone but you heard it." Peyton smirks. Sawyer could probably sleep through a hurricane. She would never make it to school on time if they left her to her own devices.

Sawyer gets up and gets ready. She doesn't have time to take a shower, so she pulls her dirty blonde curls back into a messy ponytail. She puts her favorite dark wash skinny jeans on and then chooses a Dashboard Confessional t-shirt from her dresser. She swipes her eyelashes with mascara and then hurries downstairs.

Lucas glances at his watch. "Sawyer, why don't you get breakfast to go, huh? Every time you're late for homeroom, Mrs. Martins finds me at practice to tell me. It makes me feel like I'm still in high school."

Sawyer laughs. "It's so weird that you had her and now I have her."

"I'm not that old. Most of our teachers are still there," Lucas says.

"You're just lucky they liked us. Sam's not so lucky. Brooke ditched more classes than she went to," Peyton says, smirking.

"Don't tell Sam that," Lucas warns Sawyer.

When Sawyer gets to school, she finds Sam at her locker. "Hey. You're staying with Brooke and Julian. That's pretty great." Sawyer smiles.

"Yeah," Sam says.

"That makes us cousins," Sawyer says, smirking slightly.

"That's not actually how it works," Sam says, knowing there's a big difference between being a foster kid and a full-fledged family member. She doesn't want to talk about it, so she quickly changes the subject. "So where are we drinking tonight? The river court? Someone's beach house?"

"We are not drinking anywhere. I'm grounded and I'm pretty sure Brooke and Julian aren't gonna let you go out on a school night," Sawyer replies.

"You don't get it. Foster parents don't care what I do. Brooke and Julian won't care if I go out. That's not part of the deal," Sam says, trying to act nonchalant. "Why are you grounded?"

"My mom and Brooke didn't like my answers when they were giving me the third degree," Sawyer replies.

Sam frowns. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"It's okay. I think if I'm on my best behavior all week, they'll let me go out this weekend." Sawyer smiles.

After school, Sam walks into Clothes Over Bros. Brooke is on the phone. Sam leans against the counter casually and waits.

"No, Victoria, Clothes Over Bros is my company and I am not going to fire Millicent," Brooke says firmly.

"Brooke, you're following your heart, not your head. This is business. Your assistant is a coke whore. Now are you going to fire her or do I need to come down there and take care of it?" Victoria snaps.

"No, my assistant is getting help. And she's my assistant! Don't come down here," Brooke says angrily. She'd rather have a root canal than have her mother come to Tree Hill.

"Brooke Penelope Davis, you fire her or I will," Victoria says sternly.

"You cannot fire my assistant. If you come down here, I'm going to fire someone, but it's not going to be Millicent," Brooke says, but she hears the dial tone and knows Victoria already hung up. Frustrated, she slams the phone down. "Unbelievable!"

"What did that person do to piss you off? I ruined your dress and you didn't fire me," Sam says, amused.

"Yeah, well, I like you. That was my mother and I can't say the same for her," Brooke mutters.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Sam jokes. "What do you want me to do?"

Brooke looks at Sam. "Sam, do you want to work here?"

Confused, Sam nods.

"Really? Why?" Brooke asks skeptically, raising her brow.

"I don't know," Sam mumbles, not knowing what to say. Brooke looks at her quizzically, waiting for her to answer. She decides to tell the truth. "I need the money."

"For what?"

"I don't know. Things. Food, clothes…basic necessities."

Brooke sighs, feeling sad that Sam has had to work for things she took for granted when she was sixteen. "I don't think you should have to pay for that. Julian and I will give you anything you need. Wouldn't you rather cheerlead or play basketball or hang out with your friends after school than work?"

"No," Sam replies, knowing living with Brooke and Julian probably won't last. Even if she doesn't need the money right now, she can save it for when she does. She flashes her signature smirk to try to lighten the mood. "Besides, I figure I still owe you for that dress."

"Okay, but I don't think you should work as much as you have been," Brooke says, impressed that Sam wants to pay her for the dress even though she doesn't have to.

After cheerleading practice, Sawyer walks out to her car and sees Eric sitting on the hood of her car, waiting for her. He kisses her, but she pushes him away. "Eric, what are you doing? My dad could see us!"

"Your dad already left," Eric says.

Sawyer smiles. "Well, in that case…" She leans in and kisses Eric. He grabs her butt and lifts her up, so she's straddling him on top of the hood of her car. They're making out heavily when a car full of basketball players drives by slowly. When the driver honks, Sawyer and Eric break apart. Sawyer blushes furiously. Eric grins cockily at his friends.

"We can go back to my place. My dad has dinner with clients tonight," Eric says.

"I can't. I'm grounded," Sawyer says.

Disappointed, Eric frowns.

"I'm sorry," Sawyer says, feeling bad because they always hang out after practice. Eric's dad works all the time and he hates being alone.

Jeff sees Sam walking home from work and pulls over. "Hey, Sam. You want a ride?" He smiles.

"Thanks," Sam says as she climbs into the passenger seat.

"I could take you home. Or we could hang out," Jeff says, smiling hopefully.

"Anything to avoid Economics homework," Sam says.

"I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted."

Sam laughs. "Where are we going?"

"Do you like pizza?"

Sam nods.

Brooke stops to get Chinese food on her way home. When she gets home, Julian is poring over scripts. She doesn't see Sam. "Hey, husband. Where's Sam?"

Julian frowns. "I haven't seen Sam all day."

"What? Julian! She left the store over an hour ago," Brooke says, worried.

"Have you called her?" Julian asks.

Brooke sets the food down on the kitchen counter and calls Sam's cell phone. "She's not answering. Where would she go? I don't even know where to look. She was gonna run away to Charlotte. What if she's on a bus?"

"Or maybe she's just hanging out with her friends and didn't think she needed to tell us. She hasn't had parents who worry about her if she doesn't come home. I don't think she would run away. She likes you, Brooke."

Jeff and Sam are sitting in a booth at the pizza parlor sharing a pizza.

"This is the best pizza in Tree Hill," Jeff says.

Sam raises her brow. "How many pizza places are there in Tree Hill?"

"Counting this one? Two," Jeff replies, laughing. "I know…Tree Hill's small. Do you miss Charlotte?"

"No. Not really," Sam says.

Jeff looks at Sam quizzically, raising his brow.

"I only lived in Charlotte for about a year. I move a lot," Sam explains.

"Army brat?"

Sam shakes her head.

"On the run from the law?" Jeff jokes.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Sam says, smirking.

When Sawyer gets home, she changes out of the white t-shirt and cheerleading shorts she wore to practice and joins her parents in the kitchen. Lucas is sitting at the table studying plays for the game on Friday and Peyton is cooking.

"How was practice?" Lucas asks.

"Cheery," Sawyer replies, rolling her eyes.

"You are definitely our daughter," Peyton says, laughing.

Sawyer sees Peyton making a salad and starts chopping a cucumber for the salad. They like to cook together. Peyton always cooked for her dad when he was home. She had to teach herself how to cook.

After dinner, Sawyer is sitting at her desk checking her email when a G Chat window pops up.

Eric Willis

I miss you

Sawyer smiles. She strips down, so she's only wearing her bra and panties and takes a picture of herself. After she emails the picture to Eric, she responds.

Sawyer Scott

Check your email. It should tide you over ;)

Jeff drives Sam home after dinner. He kisses her softly and she deepens the kiss. He kisses her neck. When he lifts her shirt up over her head, he stares, shocked, at identical bruises on her shoulders in the clear shape of a handprint. "Who did that to you?"

Sam's mind had been on Jeff, so she didn't even think about the bruises until he asked about them. "No one," Sam says, blushing.

Jeff rolls his eyes at the obvious lie. "Okay, Sam, someone hurt you. You can tell me who it is."

"It's none of your business, okay?" Sam snaps, embarrassed. She turns away from him and puts her shirt on. Upset, she gets out of the car.

"Sam, wait," Jeff calls, but she practically runs to the front door.

Sam just wants to go to her room. But, when she walks in, Brooke and Julian are waiting for her.

"You didn't come home after work," Brooke says.

"So what?" Sam says defensively.

"Sam, we were worried about you," Brooke says slowly, staring at Sam.

Sam looks down, not knowing what to say.

"We're not mad. We just need to know where you are," Julian says.

"Okay," Sam says.

"Where were you?" Brooke asks curiously, having noticed the tears in Sam's eyes when she came in.

"I grabbed some dinner with a friend. I figured it was either that or eat your cooking and I'm not about to do that again." Sam smirks.

"Does this friend have a name?" Brooke asks, wanting to know who could have upset Sam.

"Jeff. Jeff Mock," Sam replies.

Brooke frowns when she realizes the friend is a boy. "Do you like him?"

"Yeah," Sam replies. "I'm really tired. I'm gonna go to bed now." Sam makes an excuse to leave and waits a few seconds. When there are no objections, she goes to her room and lays down on her bed, just wanting to be alone.

After Sam's door shuts behind her, Brooke looks at Julian. "Do you think anything happened with Jeff?"

"Brooke, she's sixteen," Julian points out.

"Like that matters! When I was sixteen, I was having sex," Brooke reminds him, cringing at the memories of what she was like in high school.

"I wasn't," Julian says quietly.

"Yeah, well, Sam's not a mathlete," Brooke mutters.