Now that we've gotten through most of the drama, we can get back to the happy couple Sam & Mikaela :-) This chapter is a little bit shorter and probably a little more boring, but I hope you all enjoy it!

Thanks to EVERYONE that has reviewed and helped me get over the 100 review mark. You guys are the best hands down!

Mikaela had tried to sleep in her room the first night after the incident, but the nightmare was so bad Leo and Christian had been jarred awake by her crying and screaming and had had to wake up Sam because they couldn't calm her down. After that, she had gone back to sleeping with Sam but the nightmares still came and neither was getting much sleep.

Sam was worried about her because the lack of sleep had her on the brink of falling apart. Finals and studying had left them all exhausted because they'd stayed up later to cram, and the nightmares were only making it worse for her. He was exhausted too, but he wasn't the one reliving the memory every single night. The hardest part for him was the short time between her body waking up and her mind waking up. Mikaela still recoiled in fear when he reached for her until her mind cleared and she realized it was Sam touching her and not Justin. As the next couple of days went by, the nightmares became less intense and the time it took for her to recognize him shortened. For that he was grateful, but he knew it would take her a while before she was okay.

Mikaela was currently sitting at his desk watching him pack his bags. Once again, his mom had surprised them both with plane tickets back to California for the month long Christmas break. Their flight left that afternoon, and Sam was confused as to why she hadn't packed her bags yet.

"I planned on staying here," Mikaela told him when he asked.

"Why would you be staying here?"

"Well, the whole Trent thing."

"We've talked about that. It's in the past," Sam had told her that he wasn't going to let a mistake from a year and a half ago ruin their relationship. He was still upset, but more from the fact that he had found out from someone else than her actually cheating on him.

"I know, but…you haven't said anything about me going so I assumed you didn't want me to. I was still going to stay here because I'm not going home to my dad."

"Why wouldn't I want you to go?"

"I don't know," Sam set down the clothes he was holding and walked over to her. He pulled her up from the chair and tenderly kissed her.

"Baby, of course I want you to go. A freakin' month without you? I wouldn't even last a day," He laughed at his admission. "Go pack your damn bags, 'Kaela."

"Yes sir," Mikaela smiled at him mockingly but kissed him again before running up the stairs to her room.

A contented grin cross Sam's face as he finished packing up his bags. Though he hated the incident that had brought them back together, he was happy to be able to hold her and kiss her again. Even though it sounded cheesy, that woman was his entire world and when she wasn't in it he felt incomplete. Of course, the only person he'd ever admit that to was her because he was a man and had his pride. Shaking his head to rid himself of all the lovey-dovey feelings, Sam double checked his bags to make sure he had everything he needed for the couple of weeks they would be in California. He checked over his shoulder to make sure Mikaela hadn't come back down to the basement. Once he was certain the coast was clear, he dug through the bottom of his sock drawer until he found the gift he had bought for her. It was something he had been planning for months, and was overjoyed that he would actually be able to give it to her as a Christmas gift. Sam had been saving as much money as he could to buy her something good for Christmas, and he hoped she liked what he picked out. The hard part would be keeping it away from her until then since she would probably be staying in his room when they got back to California.

Mikaela was sitting on the edge of her bed staring at the wall when he made his way into her room. He took her hands in his and knelt down in front of her. For the longest time she wouldn't make eye contact with him, but there were tears in her eyes when she did. She slid off the edge of the bed so she was kneeling in front of him. Sam encircled his arms around her waist and laid his forehead against hers. A long moment went by before she made any movement, but she finally hugged his neck. Somehow knowing she just needed the contact, he remained silent as his eyes stared into her watery ones.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I don't know why I'm crying," Mikaela whispered after a while.

"Baby, don't apologize for crying. What's wrong?" He pulled them both to their feet without breaking the embrace and rubbed her back.

"It's just...the last month has been crazy emotional. Thanksgiving was amazing and hard all at the same time, then you found out about Trent, and then the thing with Justin. I know I should just let it all go, but I can't. The nightmares are mostly gone, but I still think about the party all the time."

"You've been through a lot in a short amount of time. Justin never would have hurt you if I hadn't been an ass about Trent. We should have talked about it right away, but I let my pride get the best of me. If it wasn't for me, Justin wouldn't have touched you."

"Sammy, no, that's not true. It didn't matter if we were together that night he still would have done it. The only thing that would have been different is that you wouldn't have had to question whether I invited him to follow me up the stairs. It was my fault you had to doubt that."

"Exactly, 'Kaela. If we had been together I would have followed him immediately. He never would have laid a hand on you."

"If it hadn't been for you, he would have raped me. You can't blame yourself for what happened. Justin's the one with the problem," Mikaela held his face so he couldn't look away. "It's not your fault. It's not my fault. Would it have been different if I had been honest about Trent in the beginning? Yes. But every time I've needed you, Sam, you've never once let me down."

"I love you, of course I'm going to be there for you," He would've been embarrassed at the stray tears that fell from his eyes if it was anyone else wiping them away but her. "Don't beat yourself up over that one night with Trent. You were both drunk. I can't tell you it doesn't hurt to know it happened, but it was a long time ago. I can't change it. It didn't mean anything, I know. Every day since then I'm the one you come running to. I'm the one you kiss. I'm the one whose arms you sleep in. That's all I need to know that you love me."

"And I do love you Sam, more than I could ever tell you," She smiled tearfully. "I just don't feel like I deserve you. What woman cheats on the man she loves and doesn't tell him. What woman lets him find out from her best friend during a drinking game?"

"Baby, you deserve so much better than me."

"I don't want anybody but you."

"Well that's a damn good thing," Sam laughed softly and was happy to see a small smile on her face at his comment.

"Oh yeah?" Mikaela stepped back so she could see him better and put her hands on his shoulders so her forearms rested against his chest.

"So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, every day. You and me...every day," He recited the line from her favorite movie.

"That's almost creepy that you can say that word for word and we haven't watched that in a while," She sobered quickly. "I love you Samuel James."

"I love you too baby," He gave her a quick kiss before moving his hands up and tickling her sides. "Now hurry up slowpoke! We've got a plane to catch."

Mikaela rolled her eyes and pushed him away. This time she started pulling clothes from her closet and handing them to Sam to fold and put into the bag. They worked together in silence until she got to her underwear drawer. It was all fine at first, but then it became obvious that he was only putting her bras into the suitcase. She noticed it when she turned around to ask him a question and saw that every thong she had handed him was currently on his head. The innocent grin on his face was too much and her back fell against the wall to support her as her body shook with giggles. Rather than take her underwear off his head, she went back to her underwear drawer and pulled out a pair of his boxers she had stolen from him and put them on her head.

Sam started laughing almost as hard as she was as he walked towards her. Mikaela's hand reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He moved behind her so their faces were cheek to cheek and she snapped a picture of the both of them standing there with each other's underwear on their heads. Several pictures were taken before she was satisfied with a good one because neither of them could stop laughing long enough to smile. The thongs were taken off his head and finally went into the suitcase. Socks followed the underwear and then she rounded up all of her bathroom stuff. She double checked everything to make sure nothing important was forgotten. Sam was still laughing at her when she got the suitcase zipped.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Mikaela pouted. He stepped closer to her and snatched the boxers off of her head.

"Man, I've been looking for these for forever! They're my lucky boxers!" Sam said excitedly as he held the tattered underwear up.

"Holy hell I fell for the biggest dork on the planet," She teased.

"I'm not kidding!" He pouted. "I was wearing these the first time we kissed, the day we started dating, the first time we had sex. I wore these the first time you said you loved me."

"Sam, baby, you're so girly sometimes, but God how I love you," Mikaela placed a kiss to his lips.

"I'm gonna wear them the day you become my wife," Sam whispered against the lips that still touched his.

"Just don't wear them the day you propose, okay? It won't be as much of a surprise," A smirk crossed her face. "Besides, you don't need luck. We both know what my answer is."

"And what answer is that?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely," Mikaela said softly as their eyes met. The ecstatic look on his face was adorable as he picked her up by the waist and twirled them around in circles.

They rounded up all of their bags and through them in the trunk and backseat of his car. Just like at Thanksgiving, Bee was meeting them in California so they had a single carryon bag that would tide them over until he got there. The Autobot projected his hologram so strangers wouldn't realize the car was actually driving itself and drove the couple to the airport where he dropped them off before heading out on his cross-country drive to meet his charges on the West Coast.