(I own nothing. Thanks to demonchilde!)

BEFORE THE SUNRISE

Sam was breathing heavily, and looking at Bailey with a wild look in her eyes. Her mind was racing. She forced one rational thought to the surface.

They had to put a stop to this, whatever this was.

She backed away from him with a step and searched his face. She witnessed bewilderment, surprise. Desire, which she swiftly glossed over, not because it disgusted her, but because she felt it, too.

Oh God, this had to be stopped.

She took a further step away from him, mumbled an apology without looking at him and started to walk to the entrance. Then she stopped in her tracks, feeling like she owed him an explanation of some sort, a better apology. She glanced over her shoulder to see that he was watching her go. "Sorry," she breathed out before striding away.

Bailey watched her walk away, frozen in his spot. He'd ascended from sincere confusion to an incredible high, he had to be honest, the likes of which he'd never felt before. Only to crash down to daze and irrational disappointment.

Damn, he'd just kissed his best friend. He wasn't even fully aware how it all had unfolded. What had set it off, what had ended it. Well, Sam had instigated both, but he had no idea why.

He did know one thing.

Sam had looked anguished when she uttered her second apology. His heart ached for her.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, to have enough presence of mind to make it into his hotel room for the night. He followed in Sam's footsteps, trudging his way inside the hotel.

Sam entered her hotel room quietly, in case Grace was already sleeping in the dark room. She took a few steps softly, peering at Grace's bed and listening intently. She heard faint snoring in the room. Grace was already asleep.

Sam weighed her options, and her decision made, slunk into the bathroom and closed the door gently. She rummaged her bag for the cell phone and punched the number she knew by heart. The line rang six times before the call was picked up.

"Hello?" Angel's voice sounded groggy.

"Hey Angel, it's me," Sam whispered into the phone.

"Sam? Everything okay?"

She shook her head, even though Angel couldn't see the gesture. "I'm sorry to be calling you at this hour. Nothing's wrong, we're all fine here. Were you asleep?"

"I was, but never mind that. What's up?"

"Well..." Sam hesitated, suddenly debating in her mind the merits of telling everything to Angel. She knew that Angel would be a good sounding board, but then again, her confession might only egg on Angel's insinuations.

"C'mon, spill. I'm awake, after all," Angel prodded, rubbing her eyes a little.

Sam looked upward, trying to calm her mind. "Okay. Bailey and me... Well, he... No, it was actually me the first time," she amended her words in an astonished voice.

Angel interrupted Sam's ramblings. "You the first time what?"

"I kissed him, and then he kissed me," she muttered, trying to ignore the thrill that the memory evoked.

"Okay. And?" Angel sounded nonplussed, her tone of voice indicating that this wasn't a major surprise to her.

"What do you mean, 'and'?" Sam blurted out.

"Why are you calling me?" Angel asked.

"Because I just kissed Bailey and I wanted to talk it out with my best friend since childhood," she replied, rolling her eyes.

Angel stifled a yawn. "Okay. So I'm guessing nothing else happened, or you're withholding the juicy stuff for a phone call an hour later."

"Juicy stuff? I gotta tell you, you're not responding the way I had envisioned," Sam blew out her breath.

Angel shrugged her shoulders even though Sam was hundreds of miles away. "Well, that's because I'm not that surprised. Not with the way you two have been carrying on for the past months."

"Oh, here we go again," Sam bit back.

Angel sighed audibly. "I'm sorry, Sam, but you called me. Before you hang up, consider this. Bailey is the male lead in everyone of your stories, you're constantly with him, you get a dreamy look on your face whenever you think of him... You do the math."

"That doesn't mean I get to go around kissing him!" Sam hissed into the cell phone.

"Why the hell not, especially since he kissed you back?" Angel shot back.

"Because. Because..." Sam's brains couldn't form any sentences to list the objections, a fact she chalked up to her agitated state of mind.

"Okay, look at it this way: it was just a kiss. Quite frankly, this isn't the end of the world as we know it. You two can talk it over in the morning. Try to get some sleep, so you'll be more calm and centered tomorrow."

Sam mulled over Angel's words. "Alright. I guess you're right."

"You betcha I am. Just calm down," Angel suggested.

Sam took a deep, calming breath, held it in for a long time, willing her mind to stop racing. "I will. Thanks, Angel. I'm going to sleep right now."

"Okay, good. Oh, and Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Just how good a kisser was he, since you're so hot and bothered?" Angel chuckled when the only response she got was the click of a call being hung up.