Chapter Seven, Lips of an Angel

When they first met, it was a few weeks before graduation. Sam had seen her around before, but didn't really pay much attention. He was too focused on studying for his SATs. One particular afternoon he left Brady and his friends who were goofing off, relaxing because they still had time to get more studying in, to go to the library and get more studying done. He sat down at a vacant table, grateful to the silence of the library. His attention was drawn however to a classmate who was sitting at the table in front of him, papers spread around her as she studied them. By the variance in text books that were piled next to her, Sam knew that she wasn't just studying for some final test.

That pattern stayed the same for about a day or two and the next thing Sam knew, Brady started to tag along with him. Brady never studied until the last minute. His parents were rich enough that Brady's scores never mattered either, they could have gotten him into any school he wanted to be in. But when Brady tagged along, Sam was pretty sure it was the first time that he had ever actually seen his friend study and put effort in. And it didn't take him long to find out why, or rather for Brady to tell him why.

It was at the end of English when Brady elbowed him sharply in the side. "So you spend a lot of time in the library, yeah?"

Sam looked at him, "Why?"

Brady squirmed a bit, looking away casually. "Just wondering if you've talked to Alyssa at all."

Alyssa…? "What're you getting at Brady?" he replied, smiling at his friend. He elbowed him back lightly as he packed up his bag.

"She's my partner in chem., and I just… I couldn't take being rejected again! You know how that goes. C'mon Sam, help a guy out?"

Sam laughed, "You want me to ask her out for you?" he asked incredulously.

"No! No, just… could you make sure she's single?"

"If she's your lab partner why don't you just ask her yourself Brady?" He got up.

"Dude come on –I asked Eliza out to that party for you."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Fine. If it means that much to you…"

So that lunch break, Sam found himself sitting across from her. Brady hadn't come to the library, presumably scared off by the fear of rejection. Alyssa looked up from her books, her blue eyes wide in surprise, but she offered him a small smile, moving her books aside to give him some space. "Sorry about that, no one usually sits here," she laughed nervously.

"Its fine," Sam told her, smiling back. She was pretty cute –and that thought was a bit shocking. He was going to prom with Eliza after all, and they were practically dating even though Sam still wasn't sure if his dad was going to let him stay here long enough to actually graduate with his classmates of the month.

Alyssa turned back to her books and Sam caught sight of Brady, standing out in the hallway, looking at Sam expectantly. He rolled his eyes. "Alyssa, right?"

She looked up at him in surprise, "Yeah?"

"Are you single?"

She blinked in surprise. "W-why the sudden interest Sam?"

How did she know his name? As far as he knew they had never interacted with one another until now. He smiled gently at her, "Look, my friend Brady, you know him right?" She nodded. "Well he's too much of a coward to ask you this himself, so he got me to do it for him. And he was wondering if you were single."

Alyssa frowned but there was a smile on her lips. Hopefully a good sign for Brady. "I'm single, and I don't have a date for prom. But you can't tell him that," she looked up at him, her bright blue eyes twinkling. "If he wants to know himself, he better ask me himself."

"Cool, then I'll just let him know to ask you in chem.," Sam chuckled warmly.

Alyssa smiled softly at him before turning back to her papers. "Are you going to study with me today? I mean, it… would be beneficial to both of us, right?"

Sam blinked in surprise. "Sure, I'll study with you."

A month later, Sam was enrolled in a completely different school where he graduated with a class of strangers. He got his SAT results back and was more than grateful to realize that they were beyond his expectations (a tiny part of him was worried that he'd failed) and he got the acceptance letter to Stanford within the week. And it wasn't as though he hid the fact that he'd been accepted from Dean and his father… he was just waiting for the right moment to let them know. But that moment didn't really arrive. And Sam kind of procrastinated about it, reminding himself that he had plenty of time to let them know. However, in the middle of a fight with his father, he had shouted it out and left earlier than he intended.

The first days were a little rough and the rest of the summer was pretty difficult to adjust to. But, by the time classes had started, he'd gotten used to being on his own and more than enjoyed it. It was orientation when he saw her next, a notebook out as she looked a little lost and he went over to her.

"Hey!" he said warmly, smiling brightly at her. It was so good to see a familiar face here.

"Sam?" she asked incredulously, looking up at him. "Oh it is you!"

He beamed at her, "Yeah, I made it here! And so did you by the looks of it. What program?"

"Law, you?"

"Same!" he laughed.

Alyssa giggled and hugged him suddenly. "You just disappeared! Where've you been?"

"Around," he replied evasively. "My dad was pretty big on secrecy, never liked to stay in one place for long," he added casually. "What've you been up to since I saw you?"

"Oh well I'm here with Brady –not like that," she added hastily. "He didn't work up the nerve to talk to me until prom so we're just friends."

"Takin' it slow, right babe?" Brady laughed, sauntering over to them, a plastic plate in each hand.

Alyssa rolled her eyes, stepping back, "Honestly Brady."

Sam smiled warmly at them and it took Brady a moment to recognize him. "Sam! You made it! Wh-where have you been?" he laughed, shuffling the plates around but Alyssa saved him the dilemma by taking one of the plates and Brady pulled Sam into a hug.

"Sorry, my dad," he said by way of explanation when Brady stepped back. "I would've let you know if I could have."

"Ah, it's alright –at least you're here now."

"Full ride scholarship," he added with a smirk.

"No way," Brady groaned. "How did I get stuck with two geniuses like you guys?"

Alyssa laughed softly, "It's not a quite a full-ride for me."

Brady snorted, "Three quarters of it, they guaranteed you a dorm room if you got a little cash together."

"Yeah, unlike you who just bought you way in," she teased. "I mean honestly, some people have to work at this Brady!"

Sam laughed, sitting down on the grassy knoll with them. "What do you mean you bought you way in Brady?"

"Turns out I didn't do so hot on those tests," he chuckled. "Dad paid for me to get here, pulled a few strings, you know…"

"Why Stanford?" Sam asked. "I thought you wanted to go into business at Harvard."

"Well yeah, but…" he glanced at Alyssa and smiled charmingly, "Harvard doesn't have Alyssa Jones."

Alyssa rolled her eyes, shaking her head, "It has plenty more interesting people there Brady. And enough with your cheesy lines!"

"But you know you love them," he whined, bumping his shoulder against hers.

Sam got up abruptly, "Think I'm going to get some food." He left quickly to join the line of first years. He frowned to himself. He had certainly missed a lot, in one month and a bit. Alyssa and Brady were friends now which was a lot closer than when he'd left them but why did he even care? Alyssa was his friend and so was Brady and he was more than happy to see the two of them here.

Over summer break stayed behind in California, got a job and spent his time as a cashier at a supermarket. He saved what he could, and used the rest to pay his rent at a nearby apartment. He was grateful when school started up again, to leave the apartment and go back to his dorm room which he was now sharing with Brady. He was more than a little surprised to say the least that Brady hadn't dropped out of first year –he had struggled through a few classes, but other than that done alright. Unlike Sam and Alyssa, who were quite the pair of shining pupils in their classes.

It was a few weeks later when Alyssa showed up for the first day of classes and Brady dragged them all out to the campus bar for celebratory drinks despite Sam's protests about class being the next day. Alyssa reluctantly took a shot and Sam did as well while Brady downed about four of them, laughed as Alyssa choked and coughed on her first tequila shot. Sam had a little less difficulty, having had the occasional drink with Dean after a hunt when their dad was passed out. He scowled, ordered another drink and downed it.

He was right, by the next day he was regretting those drinks. Sam was almost late and didn't have a choice in seating, as he sat down beside a pretty blonde girl he thought he'd seen around before.

"I'm Sam," he offered softly as he sat down beside her.

"Jessica, but my friends call me Jess," she replied with a radiant smile.

Alyssa was more than a little shocked when Sam's new friend Jess started showing up to every study group and lunch date they made. She took a slow sip on her ice tea, listening to Jess talk animatedly about how Sam had managed to stop a fight between these two guys in their sociology class and how amazing he was. Sam would blush a little, and laugh it off, but there was that stupid smile on his face. After it became clear that Jess was sticking around, Alyssa made sure that she either went with Brady or didn't go at all. And it wasn't long after that Sam and Jess started dating.

Alyssa did her best to be happy for him, when she was around him, but when she wasn't, she was happy for him from afar. Sam didn't really notice either, as he and Jess were practically together all the time. After a few weeks of avoiding her best friend though, Alyssa sucked it up. Because Sam was happy with this girlfriend of his and she should be happy for him and so she tried.

"Hey, do you want to maybe come over for Christmas?" Brady asked as they sat together in the library. He didn't have to study with her, but so long as he was free at the same time as her, he was often doing the same thing she was. "I mean my family dinners suck. And it would be really great to have a friend with me…"

Alyssa looked up at him and smiled gently. "Sure, that sounds nice." Better than her own non-existent plans considering her parents were on holiday in Florida.

Brady beamed, "Awesome!"

When they came back from Christmas break, they were officially dating. Sam was more than a little surprised, having never really believed that Alyssa and Brady were even remotely compatible. But he congratulated his friends, and so did Jess. Jess was the first one to suggest double-dating, her eyes bright and Alyssa agreed happily. They were all friends at least, and going out to dinner was a good idea.

Jess dragged Alyssa into conversation and in moments they were like sisters who had been parted at birth. Brady was smiling, watching their girlfriends chat away as he poked at the ice in his coke. Sam listened idly, made a few comments here and there and decided that he was going to try and avoid going on double dates often unless he wanted to sit and listen his girlfriend and best friend talk about everything under the sun. But he didn't mind. He squeezes Jess's hand lightly and she giggled at something Alyssa had said, shifting to lean against Sam and idly playing with his hand.

Spring break came before long and Brady went off on a family vacation, leaving Alyssa behind. Likewise, Jess was flown home without Sam. It was the first time in quite a while that Sam and Alyssa had any time to them, and even rarer it was almost the first time they could spend with just them. Mostly they did homework.

Jess had been renting a two bedroom apartment in the city, and about two months into their relationship Sam had moved in with her, leaving Brady with a dorm room to himself. However, about a month after Sam had left and with an allowance going to waste, Brady rented out an apartment as well where he had been staying. Alyssa was the only one who still had a dorm room and was content to stay there while she spent her summers at home working to save up enough money so that upon graduation she could have a good start. By the time summer break rolled around, Sam was keeping up payments on Jess's apartment and Brady's family had paid for his apartment so it would still be there when he got back.

Alyssa went home and worked as a secretary at the SPCA. Every two weeks Brady made sure to drop by and romance her and it was amazing. Every time he dropped by to see her, it was something different. He started off with flowers and cheesy romance songs before moving to bouquets and cheesy poems. It wasn't much better, but then he started to add chocolates and romantic dinners and late nights into the mix and soon it was perfect and Alyssa couldn't wait to see him again. And she definitely couldn't wait to go back to school either.

That summer she went back a little earlier than she had to, and made sure that she went out for drinks with Sam. Just the two of them, since she had exchanged only about a hundred emails with him since April. It was good to catch up, and it was even better to watch Sam get hammered for the first time.

"J-Jess's gonna be pissed huh?" he laughed.

Alyssa giggled, "I don't know, I think she might like to see this side of you." She was certainly enjoying it.

"I love her," he confessed. "I would marry her if I could, I think. She's amazing!" He paused, looking at her as she helped walk him back to his apartment. "You're amazing too! I love you!"

That was a little strange to hear and she looked at him with a furrowed brow and awkwardly replied, "Love you too Sam…"

He laughed brightly and they stumbled back to his apartment where Jess was. She had come back a week earlier. And Alyssa was right, Jess wasn't mad but she was very amused at Sam's drunken declarations of love and awesomeness and as he sang her praises, Alyssa excused herself and went back to Brady's apartment. He'd given her a spare key the last time she had seen him and since Stanford wasn't open yet, she didn't have her dorm room set up.

Alyssa had no classes with Sam since he was going to be a lawyer and she wanted to do something more along the lines of working with the criminally insane –it seemed fascinating to her. But despite their lack of class time, it seemed like they were spending more time together. She loved Jess and was looking forward to hearing about Sam's proposal because it was obvious that it was going to happen eventually. He was head over heels in love with her and Jess loved him, despite how he never told anyone about his family and there was a lot of stuff he didn't talk about. They were just about perfect for each other, and Alyssa couldn't be happier for them. Brady however was busy with his essays and she hardly saw him unless she was spending the night at his apartment.

Everything changed after spring break though. By that time, her roommate had kicked her out of their dorm so she was living at Brady's. He had the obligatory family vacation to go to, this time somewhere down in New Orleans if she remembered right. Jess left as well, with Sam, to see her family. Alyssa spent the next several days on her own, just going to see the odd movie at the theatre before tackling her homework and getting ahead in her classes. It was boring, but all of her friends had left for spring break.

Sam and Jessica came back first, and it wasn't until a week later that Alyssa even heard back from Brady. When she got home from her night class, there was a new message on the answering machine; she hit play, setting her purse and books down.

"Hey babe, it's me. I… I've been busy, sorry I haven't called you back. Anyways, I'll be home soon. See ya."

Alyssa stared at the phone, as though willing it to give her the answers she wanted. He'd been busy? She had been phoning him in a panic ever since he didn't get off the plane he was supposed to have been on! She scowled. Something seemed off, this wasn't like Brady. He used to phone her every night and whenever he left a message, he was unusually sweet. Something must have happened.

Alyssa uneasily went to sleep and repeated her usual routine, heading to school. Upon returning that evening, she discovered a letter of official withdrawal addressed to Brady. None of this made any sense. It wouldn't be another three days until she saw her boyfriend, stumbling into the bedroom at three in the morning.

His fumbling movements were clumsy and his words weren't sweet or consoling. He flopped down onto the bed beside her, promptly ignored her and went to sleep. Feeling utterly disgusted, she took the spare blankets from the closet and slept on the couch that night.

"Shit," Brady swore under his breath as he stirred his coffee.

Alyssa sat up bolt upright, looking at him accusingly. "Where have you been?!"

"New Orleans, jeez, it's no big deal babe. I thought you could handle it."

"You never phoned me back!" she reminded him, distressed. "I waited for you at the airport and you never came –you could have at least called."

Brady groaned, "Do you never shut up?"

Alyssa flinched, staring at him in shock. "E-excuse me?"

"You heard me. It's been nag, nag, nag ever since I got in this morning. Would it kill you to be happy to see me? We are dating right?"

Alyssa stared at him in disbelief. "A-are you drunk? Or-or stoned?! What the hell Brady!"

He groaned again, setting his coffee aside. "Just shut up," he growled quietly. "I can't even think with all your yelling."

Alyssa stared at him in disbelief and before she was really conscious of what she was doing, she was standing in front of him and trying to get him to look at her, to make eye contact, something so she could see that his eyes were clear. She didn't want to see the glassy, glazed stoned appearance in them that she knew came with drugs.

"You're high aren't you?" she asked, dismayed. "What happened in New Orleans Brady, I mean you w-wouldn't do this."

"How do you know what I would or wouldn't do?!" he snarled, shoving her back. "It's my business, not yours what the hell I do."

A small screech was all she managed to get out of her throat before he had her pinned against the couch with his hands around her neck. She struggled to inhale but he tightened his gasp and she kicked her legs in vain as he shoved them to the side, setting his knee over them to stop her movements. Her arms were trapped under her own body weight, she gasped desperately for air and suddenly his hands were gone and she inhaled deeply, gasping.

The next thing she was aware of was the door slamming shut behind him.

Alyssa didn't even bother packing up all of her belongings; she took a change of clothes and some other valuables before leaving the apartment. Feeling spiteful, she left the spare key lying right in front of their door before she headed to the only other place she knew. Self-consciously she adjusted her hair and kept her head down, trying to hide the bruises as she hurried over to Sam and Jess's apartment. Tomorrow she could figure out a better solution, but for now this was the only feasible one.

She knocked on the door, oblivious to the way her hand was shaking and the tears that had started to roll down her cheeks. She didn't care who opened the door –Sam, Jess, it didn't matter, and the instant the door opened she was hugging the first person who was there. And judging by the fact that her face was pressed against a shoulder instead of air, she knew that it was Sam. She inhaled deeply, trying to get her emotions under control, before stepping back. He was looking at her with wide eyes.

"A-are you okay?" he asked concernedly.

Alyssa shook her head, biting her trembling lip. "C-could I stay here?"

"U-uh, of course," he replied, stepping back, looking for Jess probably as she came inside.

Alyssa went straight to the living room, sitting down on the couch and curling up as she shook in fear. She didn't honestly think that Brady would have ever done something like that. But that… that wasn't Brady. Since spring break, since he hadn't taken the flight back… It wasn't Brady anymore. He had clearly changed into someone a lot less sweet and romantic and Alyssa wanted nothing to do with him.

She glanced over, spotting Sam talking to Jess. Her friend was already in her pajamas; an old Smurfette shirt with white shorts. She caught Jess's worried look and suddenly her best friend was moving towards her, hugging her and Sam was sent out to the kitchen probably to get chocolate or ice cream or something.

"Aly, what's going on?" Jess asked concernedly. "Did you and Brady break up? Is he back?"

Alyssa nodded awkwardly, "He-he um, got in la-last night b-but he's not the Brady we knew anymore," she mumbled, feeling the tears escape. She blinked rapidly, taking a deep breath, trying to get them to stop but she was just so scared.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked, moving over and gently rubbing her back.

Unable to explain it despite the few tries she took, Alyssa just moved her hair aside to show Jess the bruises that she knew were forming. Her throat felt hoarse and she could swear she could still feel his hands cutting her oxygen off. She burst into tears and Jess wrapped her arms around her, holding her close as she cried. It was the scariest feeling she had ever felt. That man in her apartment wasn't someone she knew –he was a complete stranger. Because the man she had been falling in love with, would never do that.

Sam re-entered the room awkwardly, a bowl of ice cream in one hand. Jess made a gesture –Alyssa couldn't see what it was –and Sam sat down beside her. It took about fifteen minutes for her to settle down and two bowls of ice cream before they could get the full story out of her. Sam agreed that something had to be done and he decided that tomorrow he would go and talk to Brady, see if he could figure out what was wrong while Alyssa and Jess went and filed charges.

An hour later, Jess was apologizing and calling it a night because she had an exam first thing the next morning and she left to go to sleep. Sam however stayed right beside Alyssa.

"D-don't you have an early class tomorrow?" Alyssa asked her breathing back to normal. Her body had finally stopped shaking and she felt exhausted.

"Yeah, but it's nothing important. I want to make sure you're okay –besides I can nap later but I can't make up this time with you right now. You need someone," he added gently.

Alyssa nodded, hugging him tightly. Sam wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and she was surprised by how safe she felt. How… right this felt, being held by Sam. She inhaled gently, catching his familiar scent with just a light minty undertone.

Sam pulled back gently and Alyssa reluctantly let go of him, looking at him. At his green eyes, at his lips and the way he was smiling warmly at her. And she realized that there was something different the moment she felt herself lean in towards, the moment that that movement seemed natural and right. She pressed her face against his shoulder, her heart pounding. Sam would never cheat; she would never do something like that to Jessica. She was… She was just upset. About Brady, that was all it was. Sam kissed her temple gently, seemingly oblivious to his action.

Suddenly, everything seemed so different.

Sam watched as Alyssa slept, the small cushion on his lap apparently enough of a pillow for his friend. He brushed her hair back gently, frowning as the bruises came into sight again. Brady… He didn't really want to think about what he was going to do to his friend. Partly because he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do. Obviously Brady needed some help, but Sam really wanted to hurt him. Alyssa didn't deserve that –she deserved a hell of a lot more than what Brady could ever give her. She deserved to be cherished and loved by a man; she deserved a man who could give her the family she always wanted, someone who wouldn't mind having four or five kids. She wanted a big family, she always used to say. Her heart held so much love –it couldn't take the beating and the shattering that Brady had done to it. Alyssa deserved someone better.

A quiet voice spoke up, somewhere in the recesses of his mind. But you could. Sam shoved the thought aside, reminding himself that he had Jess and he loved her more than anyone. Even more than Alyssa. He frowned a little, and glanced at the clock. It was half past two –he was tired and his exhaustion was starting to talk to him. That was all.

Alyssa saw more of Sam that week than she ever expected to. He didn't talk about Brady at all and the file was going through the courts, but there wasn't much point. His father paid if off. Jess mentioned on occasion, with plenty of caution, that Sam and Brady hadn't really spent a lot of time together but from the last time the two had met, Brady seemed to be improving. Alyssa didn't really care.

A week after that, Alyssa was still crashing on Sam and Jess's couch. Neither of them seemed to mind, but she was still determined to find another place to stay. The tension, or whatever it was, that she felt between her and Sam was still there. She wanted to kiss him, wanted to hold his hand and do everything that Jess could do with him. But she knew Sam was happy with Jess and Jess was happy with him. There was no room for her to step between them and she couldn't bear to break them up anyways.

But it was bizarre to realize, as the school year passed by in a blur, that falling in love with oblivious Sam was really quite easy. She traded so many emails and phone calls with him over that summer, that she couldn't keep track of them all. When school started up again, they were both getting ready for their internships at different departments. She heard from Jess that Sam's brother had come into town –and like Jess, she didn't really know anything about Dean aside from his name. Despite her feelings, Jess was still her best friend and Alyssa steadfastly refused to do anything with her feelings.

And then, suddenly, their apartment burned up. Jess was killed. And Sam was nowhere to be found. But because some of her belongings were still hanging around and apparently fingerprints were tying her to their place, the FBI wanted her for questioning. When she managed to get a phone, dialed the number that she had memorized, it didn't even go to voicemail.

"The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected."

Sam was gone, just like Jess was gone and like Brady before them. Alyssa was alone, very alone.

Author's Notes: I really hope you like this chapter, I've had it planned out since the beginning. I hope the length makes up some for the delay in getting this finished. Please let me know what you think!