AN: Thanks for reviewing Jenna, Troy is an ass even when I was writing him I was disgusted by him. It was a little weird considering I created him but oh well.

Sam banged on the front door. Come on, he thought, she can't be out now. He really needed to speak to her, and soon. Eventually she opened the door.

When he seen what she was wearing he slapped his hand to his forehead

"Oh fuck it's your prom night," he said leaning forward against the wall.

"Hi to you too," she tried to smile back. She was holding on to a box of tissues and her make up had run. She looked so sad.

"What's up?" he asked softly, standing upright again and swinging his hand forward to collect her free one. "Bad date?"

It was past ten, the prom itself must have ended by now.

"You could say that," she said, stepping forward and allowing herself to be hugged as she dropped the tissue box to the floor.

He felt her head drop onto his shoulder and heard her sniff. Evidently she was out of tears. Sam glared, what the hell kind of asshole had ruined her prom night?

"What happened?" he asked, resting his head on top of hers.

"It was that guy I was dating," she sniffed again. "He told me that if I didn't sleep with him then he wasn't going to take me to prom."

"What the hell?" Sam thundered, accidentally gripping her arm in frustration. "He didn't even take you?" He couldn't believe this dick. "All because you wouldn't sleep with him." Through all of this though, he couldn't help being a little relieved that she clearly hadn't slept with him. "That fucking pig. Where is he?"

Stacey shrugged. "At his house I expect. Don't worry about it," she said moving his arms so they were around her again. "I should've known something like this was going to happen," she continued. "He hadn't wanted to go in the first place. I don't even know why I bothered to get dressed."

"What a charmer," he snorted sarcastically. He looked at her again and sighed, feeling more depressed than angry. She looked so lost. His Stacey.

"My poor girl," he said, rocking her from side to side. "He never deserved you baby."

"Sam," she sniffed once more before pulling out of his embrace. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, well." He let her go again and ran his hand through his hair sheepishly. "I came to uh get you..I mean get you back."

"What?" Stacey asked, the beginning of a smile appearing on her lips.

Sam took a breath before continuing. "I mean I miss my girlfriend Stace. You. I need you."

"You want me to be your girlfriend again?" she asked slowly, her expression brightening.

"Well yeah," he said, god why was he so tongue tied. "You're leaving school soon and so it won't have to be long distance." He looked at her with pleading eyes. "I don't know why you've been ignoring me but I'm going to fix whatever I did. I want you so much Stacey. I love you. Oh Stacey please don't cry."

"I'm sorry," she said through her new stream of tears as she felt his arms wrap around her once more. "I don't know why I'm so emotional."

Sam just got mad again. The Stacey he knew didn't cry all the time, what had this bastard done to her.

"Shh it's okay," he said trying to calm both of them down. "Why don't we go upstairs. Wait, where's your mother?" he looked behind Stacey expecting to see Mrs McGill lurking.

"She's out with a friend of hers," Stacey said, cupping his cheek in her hand to make him focus on her again. "I think she didn't want to be home alone all night. I told her I was going to be at a party after prom."

He gave her another sympathetic look. Not only had she been stood up on her own prom but her mother hadn't been here for her.

"Well I'm definitely staying here then," he said. He grabbed her hand again and led her towards her own bedroom. He hadn't been inside for years. He barely recognised it. Fourteen year old Stacey had posters of teen bands and a ceramic pig collection. Eighteen year old Stacey had posters of Blaise Pascal, Ada Lovelace and René Descartes, with no pigs in sight.

"Where are the pigs?" he asked when he seen how much her room had changed.

"In boxes mostly," she said, smiling despite herself.

"And the posters? Finally owning your nerdiness I see."

"Shut up," she slapped him playfully before turning her back to him. "Sam, can you unzip me?" she asked sweetly.

He immediately did as she asked, sliding the shoulders of her dress down her arms so it fell in a pool on the floor. He turned around and sat on her bed.

"I was hoping you weren't wearing underwear," he said as she crawled beside him wearing her slip.

"You perve," she laughed. He opened his arms and she rested against his chest happily.

"So will you be mine again?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"Mhmm," she replied happily, closing her eyes in contentment.

"Mmm good," he sighed before tilting forward to kiss the top of her head.

"Sam?" she asked softly.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Why tonight?"

"Well I guess you should know," he sighed heavily, "I'm leaving tomorrow as part of a student exchange."

She looked up and seen his eyes twinkling in amusement. She smiled too, he really was an incurable practical joker.

"Really though," she pressed, resting against him again.

"I just couldn't stand it any more," he said. "Being without you I mean. I haven't been able to get you out of my head for months."

"Why didn't you say something?" she asked.

"I couldn't get you on the phone," he reminded her. "Because you suddenly became the busiest girl in Stoneybrook."

She had the good grace to look guilty.

"In the end I just decided to come here and see you face to face," he finished.

"Oh," Stacey said. She suddenly was feeling that maybe she shouldn't have taken Claudia's advice. It hadn't really helped her at all.

"Why didn't you talk to me?" he suddenly demanded. "Was it because of that nimrod?"

Stacey assumed he was talking about Troy. "Well no, it's just people told me that you were using me," she half mumbled.

"What? Which people?"

"Well Claudia," she admitted.

He might have known it had been her.

"And your room mate."

"Nick!" Sam cried. "What the hell! That...that.." he was at a loss for an insult worthy enough for the level to which he had been screwed by his supposed friend.

"He wasn't causing trouble," Stacey said quickly. "He just said he thought our relationship was weird and stuff," she finished lamely.

"I never used you Stacey," he insisted. "I just...had trouble. With letting you go. You're a hard girl to say goodbye to you know," he said, tightening his hold on her. She felt that old warm fluttery feeling in her stomach and sighed.

"I wish you would have talked to me about it," he said, "then we wouldn't have wasted so much time."

"Yeah," she said sadly, feeling quite stupid. Maybe she should have just talked to him.

"I get it though," he sighed. "I guess I was a little selfish, maybe."

"Maybe," Stacey agreed before moving up to kiss his lips with her own. "But it was my fault too. I guess, I just didn't want get rejected again."

"Oh honey," Sam whispered. Her words hit him like a knife in the gut. "I'm sorry for that."

"I know," she said just as softly.

"What about that other guy?" Sam asked suddenly. "I take it that you're through with him."

"Yeah he dumped me," Stacey said, starting to wonder why she ever dated him.

"God he just keeps getting better and better," Sam said sarcastically. "You want me to kick his ass babe," he asked in a silly macho voice.

"Yes," she smiled back at him.

Sam grinned at her. "He's gotta be the biggest idiot in the world to have let you go. Seriously, what a fucking moron."

"What does that make you?" Stacey teased.

"The luckiest idiot," he replied, "because you took me back."