Moonlit Wishes
Book II, part XL
Somehow they made their goodbyes without any further confrontations or accusations from any of her family which was a feat in itself considering all the company they had encountered tonight for the Thanksgiving dinner gathering. Kissing the children goodnight was the easy part for her, although watching EJ kiss them goodbye wrenched at her heart because she knew it was the first night he had spent away from them since his return to Salem. She was tempted to reach out to touch his shoulder to comfort him, but then she stopped short when the ugly truth of the matter hit her again that EJ could have comforted her earlier when she was clearly upset about Nicole, yet he had done nothing of the sort.
They made their way back out to his car, Sami walking fast ahead of EJ, not even bothering to wait upon him to accompany her back to the vehicle. She didn't care about niceties from him or anything else for that matter. He had made his choice loud and clear earlier this evening in the hallway.
He choose not to side with her, of course why would she expect him to side with her whenever that tramp had been concerned. She hated Nicole as much now as she did then, even more so if the truth be told, the age old adage of time healing all wounds apparently didn't hold true when skanky bitches were involved. She huffed trying to control her anger and hastily reached out ready to wrench the car door open because she didn't need EJ's help for a damn thing.
Why was she surprised when the car alarm immediately started to clank loudly with a horrendous screeching sound that would surely wake even the dead in Salem? God rest their souls as her grandfather would say to her on many an occasion. She yanked back her hand almost as if she had been burned and stumbled slightly until EJ reached out to keep her from falling on her ass out on the cement.
His arms were strong as they kept her from falling, at least falling on the pavement that was, damn her heart for skipping a beat when he pulled her close for a few brief seconds righting her back to stand beside the car while he reached to retrieve his car keys to turn off the car alarm before all the neighborhood came out to see who was stealing a car.
He should of known she wouldn't say thank you to him, how many times had he saved her ass, this time literally and never a word of thanks would she utter to him? Too many times to count, so he shouldn't be surprised. Frankly, he was amazed she hadn't starting cursing as soon as he had kept her from falling.
Then again as he finally hit the switch to stop the alarm and open the door he heard her mutter something under her breath as she tried to walk widely around him to get into the car, only to hit her head on the side of the doorframe of the car.
"Ouch!" Sami cried out clutching her left temple with the palm of her hand as EJ immediately crouched down beside her on the wet pavement completely disregarding the fact that he was probably ruining one of his best pair of trousers he owned.
"Are you all right darling?" EJ asked swiftly taking her hand away from her head as he tried to examine to see if she was hurt. The term of endearment he used for her instead of calling out her name slipping out without his even realizing it, he never wanted to see her hurt regardless of whatever situation they may find themselves in with one another.
She wanted to be mad at him, but she had longed to hear him call her with sweet nicknames such as darling or sweetheart for such a long time and the way he was looking at her right now like he was worried she was hurt melted all the anger she had felt brewing for him all evening.
She nodded and winced slightly at the movement, which only caused EJ to gently push her over in the seat so that he could sit down beside her, one of his leg flushed next to hers since she couldn't move further away because of the console in the car while he faced her.
"I'm okay EJ," she finally managed to answer in a quiet voice.
"Good because you know I would never want to do anything to hurt…"
Sami pressed her fingers against his lips preventing him from saying more to her.
"I know," she nodded her head once more as a lump formed in her throat, oh god please don't let me cry in front of him, please no, her mind screamed when she had the good sense to finally remove her fingers from his lips. "Look can we just go home? I'm tired and this evening has been a huge disaster…"
"Sure," EJ nodded and quickly moved away from her, shutting the car door gently so as not to jar her any.
How could she go from being pissed at him to wanting to throw her arms around him and hold him tightly to her? For all the times she thought EJ was a huge jackass sometimes he could be really sweet.
EJ DiMera sweet? I must have bumped my head harder than I thought I did as he finally came around the car and made his way to the driver's seat, immediately turning the key in the ignition to start the car.
They drove in silence, neither of them wanting to say the wrong thing to one another because that is what they usually did, said something hurtful or stupid and then the regrets would come later on.
Maybe neither one of them wanted to regret things, Sami thought to herself, maybe EJ was afraid of upsetting the balance between them that had settled ever since EJ had returned home. He was a different person than before, even more cautious if that were possible or maybe she was slowly coming to see that all her reservations towards having a relationship had prevented her from truly being happy.
Happiness wasn't something she was used to unless it was when she was with her children, especially these last few months and she had to admit even more so since EJ had come back into their lives. She chuckled quietly to herself as she looked out into the darkened sky while they drove home. Who would have ever thought having EJ around equated to happiness?
Finally they arrived and after EJ stopped the car Sami wondered what might happen between them. For once there weren't any children to make sure that they had baths, no bedtime stories to be read, no one to tuck into bed with sweet goodnights and assurances that all was right with the world.
As he exited the car and began to walk over to help her out of the car, she almost panicked and then she took a deep breath to calm her nerves and put a smile on her face as he opened the door for her. As she arose to get out of the car, it hit her she may have imbibed a bit more than she should have at dinner as she felt a tad unsteady on her feet.
When EJ saw Samantha turn her foot he decided he better guide her to the front door, he would feel even worse if she fell down and knocked herself out cold at his feet. They made it to the door and EJ opened it, all the while never letting go of his grip on her forearm.
Sami wanted to roll her eyes, sure she might be a little tipsy, but she wasn't full blown drunk which she would have probably enjoyed the evening with her family so much more if she had been. When they had crossed the threshold of the house, Sami extricated her arm from EJ and promptly reached to take off her high heeled shoes, her feet were hurting and all she wanted to do was to sink down on the couch for a few minutes before she headed off to bed.
EJ watched her walk unsteadily to the couch and then stifled himself from laughing when she plopped down on it throwing her arms above her head; that was until she uttered a soft groan when her head hit one of the cushions on the sofa.
EJ was by her side quicker than she could blink her eyes, as he sat on the couch looking down at her, pushing her hair aside to see a faint purple bruise was spreading on the side of her head.
"Let me get you some ice," EJ offered as he arose and went to the kitchen promptly gathering some ice cubes from the freezer and wrapping them in a dishtowel for her. He brought it back to her quickly and before she could protest he placed it gently against her skin.
"EJ," Sami began to sit up as she reached to remove the makeshift icepack EJ had made for her. She didn't need babying from this man.
She looked at him and knew what she needed and she hoped he needed it too.
She wanted his kisses, not an icepack, she wanted him and before he could say anything to contradict her she wrapped her arms around him securing her hands behind his head and pulled him into a kiss