I followed Sam into what he called a bunker. Inside we descended some stairs and were in a room with a couple big tables and lots of books around in bookshelves. "The kitchen is through there.", Sam said as he nodded in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll show you to your room in case you're tired but feel free to wander around some if you're not ready for bed." I watched his eyes. They were full of compassion and tenderness even though he was a big man and the scruff on his face made him look less than tender. Following him down a hallway he turned and opened a dark colored door. "It's not much but it's clean, it's safe and it's yours for as long as you need it.", he said stepping back so that I could walk into the room.
The room was sparsely furnished with just a bed, a chest of drawers and a chair in one corner. The bed, however, was very comfortable and there was extra bedding on top of the chest of drawers. "Thank you Sam. I feel like I should say more.", I stopped and Sam shook his head, "It's not a big deal. I'll leave you alone now so that you can get settled. If you need anything, I'll be in the library." Sam left, shutting the door behind him and I walked around the room. Not much to do in here unless I wanted to go to bed or read in the chair in the corner. I sat in the chair and pulled my book into my lap and tried to read. After ten minutes I gave up and stood, dropping the book into the chair. I paced the room a few times and then decided I'd go look to see if I could find something to eat in the kitchen. I doubted it since there seemed to be a bachelor with a drinking problem living in this bunker.
I retraced our steps down the hall and back to the library and then to the kitchen that Sam had indicated was there. The lights were off in the kitchen but they were easily found so I flipped them on and walked to the refrigerator. When I opened it I was pleasantly surprised, it was full of food, some already fixed and some waiting to be used. I dug through and found the makings for a sandwich then found a loaf of rye bread in the pantry. I fixed myself a Cajun roast beef sandwich with Swiss cheese and grabbed a beer from the fridge. Walking back out of the kitchen I found Sam nursing a glass of bourbon and reading a book. His long legs were kicked out in front of him and I was struck by just how long they were.
I carried my plate over to the table and said, "Mind if I join you?" Sam looked up from his book and gently set the glass on the table, "Sure. Can't sleep?", he questioned. I sat and then took a swig of my beer. "Too wound up about today I suppose." "Yeah that guy was a real jerk. Is he your boyfriend?" There was that look again. I couldn't help but think there was something deeper there behind Sam's trying to act tough.
I picked at one wedge of my sandwich, "Umm…yeah kinda. We met in basic training but when I was hurt pretty bad during one of the training sessions I was discharged. I'm all healed now but it was just something that they wouldn't let me back in so I took my leave. Anyway, Chuck and I met there. He was really good to me all through my recovery but later, after we moved in together, his true self came out. He started out being verbally abusive and it's just progressively gotten worse." Sam listened as I talked but I didn't look him in the face as I spoke.
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Sam watched Jade as she told him about Chuck. He had seen this before; heck he had even lived it. Though he didn't admit it to many people, Amelia had treated him the same way to some extent. She criticized him often but because he needed to have someone to lean on after Dean was sent to purgatory he allowed it to happen. So there was no judgment on his part. He watched her pick at her sandwich with her unpolished but semi long nails. When she finally allowed herself to look up into his eyes he could see why her parents had named her Jade. Her eyes were the color of Jade with a few unshed tears threatening to slip down her cheeks. Sam couldn't help himself as he reached one hand across the divide between them and covered her tiny hand with his much larger one. She didn't pull away but she looked like she wanted to.
"Jade you're safe here. I will help you get out of there if that's what you want or if you think Chuck just needs some cooling off time, you can crash here." Jade nodded at Sam and then cleared her throat. "So what has got you so down? I saw how almost hurt you were when you came in earlier this afternoon at City Siquors. I'm a good listener.", she seemed to be changing the subject just a little and for some strange reason Sam felt comfortable letting her.
Sam took a deep breath, "My brother was killed a few days ago." He rubbed his other hand over his scruffy beard, "I don't think I've even shaved since he left me. We were really close and he's just gone." Sam knew he couldn't tell Jade too much. She wouldn't understand his lifestyle at all. She sat forward and gently tugged at his beard, "Well while this isn't bad, I bet there's a very handsome man underneath all of this.", she said almost in a flirty tone. Sam let himself break into a half smile as he felt shy at her touch. She then looked around, "And this place? How did you come by it?" Sam looked over at one of the bookshelves and answered, "Well it was part of our legacy. It's been in our family for years it seems.", again he didn't give away too much information.
"Well it's pretty cool. Hey I'm not as hungry as I was. Want half of my sandwich?" Sam realized that it had been hours since he had eaten anything. "Yeah that would be great. Thanks.", he took the half of the sandwich and took a bite. When Jade was finished with her half, she drained the rest of her beer and sat back in the chair for a second. "Well I think I'm going to call it a night. Thanks for listening to me.", she stood and as she started to walk past Sam to her room she stopped, leaned down and kissed his scruffy cheek. Without another word, she headed to her room.
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The next morning when I woke up it took me a few seconds to remember where I was. The bed beneath me was warm and comfortable but the walls were grey and almost depressing. It was then that I remembered all that had happened the night before. I ran my fingers through my hair and stared up at the ceiling. What was I going to do about Chuck? I needed to get out of that situation but how? He was progressively getting worse with his abuse. I was now afraid that one day I would just be a story on the 9 o clock news.
I decided that I needed to get a shower and start my day. I had some things to figure out, but first of all I needed to call and let John know I needed the day off. I made the necessary call and then grabbed clothes so I could go grab a shower. Sam had told me the night before where they were and they had been easy to find. I took a long hot shower and dressed in the jeans I had on the day before and a tee shirt Sam had brought me. It must have been his, because it was nearly a dress on me. I tied up the tail of it so it sat at the waist of my jeans and finger combed my wet hair. I decided to let it air dry today knowing it would leave my hair wavy.
When I was dressed, I headed down the hall toward the kitchen. As I passed through the library I noticed our mess from last night had been cleaned up and then I smelled bacon. I went on into the kitchen and saw Sam with his back to me and in front of the stove. He was frying bacon and then leaned down to check the stove. I admired his backside as he stooped over. I hadn't noticed yesterday that even though he was thin he had a really nice build. I cleared my throat, not wanting to startle him. Sam whirled around and it was then that I saw he had showered and shaved. He was gorgeous underneath all that scruff. When he saw me he lit up and a small smile broke out across his face. It was then that I saw the dimples and the near perfect teeth. The smile reached his eyes and they twinkled, changing from almost brown to a more blue green color. "Goodmorning.", he said simply.