Not sure how I feel about this chapter... I kinda hate it but it's fine lol. Takes place after 6x13 and before 6x14
Brooke had allowed Sam some time to recover mentally before returning to school. Sam had been absent the past three days, but the teenager finally decided that she needed to get over it and get back to school; she was tired of feeling sorry for herself.
"Are you sure you're ready to go to school today? Cause I'm giving you full permission to rot on the couch and watch TV instead," Brooke asked as Sam cleared her plate from breakfast and went to pick up her backpack thrown by the front door.
"Yes, I've told you a million times, I'm fine," Sam said, the annoyance evident in her voice.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Brooke smiled and threw her hands up in surrender. She walked up to join her foster daughter by the door and wrapped her in a gentle hug. "Have a good day."
"Thanks," Sam said impatiently and still slightly annoyed, though she still returned the hug before quickly pulling away and darting out the front door.
"Bye Brooke!"
Brooke smirked. She admired Sam's resilience, and she couldn't be happier that the girl was already back to her snarky, sarcastic self. She naively thought that Sam had fully recovered, but she was later proved wrong.
Sam wandered into her 1st period economics class and took her seat in the back of the room. Class progressed as usual, with Sam staring out the window spacing off while her teacher droned on and on about GDP. About 20 minutes into the lecture, Sam noticed a figure of a man outside and her blood ran cold. It was Xavier, she was sure. He had gotten out of jail and was coming to finish what he had started. She could see his beady eyes staring directly into hers, and an evil grin consumed his face. Sam's hearing cut out and she broke into a cold sweat, feeling like she was having an out of body experience.
She raised her hand. "Can I go to the bathroom?" she squeaked when her teacher called on her.
"Go ahead."
Sam wasted no time leaping to her feet and grabbing her backpack to escape.
"Hey, why do you need your backpack to use the bathroom-"
But she was already out the door.
Sam could hear nothing but her heartbeat hammering from inside of her chest. She rushed outside, and the cool air felt nice and helped bring back down her body temperature. She sat on a curb outside the school and caught her breath for a minute before standing back up and beginning to wander down the street. It wasn't Xavier. There was no way. She had psyched herself out, but there was no way she was going back into that school now. The very thought of sitting in a hot, stuffy classroom made her want to throw up.
Sam wandered around downtown aimlessly for a while, completely dissociating. She didn't return to school for the rest of the day, and she didn't return home either; she was too busy reliving the trauma from that horrible day. She wasn't surprised when she saw a call come through from Brooke, most likely wondering where she was. And then another call, and another, and another. School had ended over two hours ago, but Sam still wanted to be on her own. She bought herself a sandwich for dinner and was peacefully eating down by the river when she was startled by a booming voice coming from behind her.
"SAMANTHA!"
Sam turned head and saw a perfect mix of anger, confusion, and distress plastered over her foster mother's face. She could tell that Brooke had been crying.
"Where the hell have you been?"
"Oh my God Brooke it's fine, stop being so overdramatic," Sam said, her voice dripping with attitude. She didn't know how to handle the complex emotions she was feeling, so it was easiest to lash out and express her inner turmoil as anger onto Brooke.
"Are you kidding me?" Brooke scoffed. "I have been worried sick about you, Sam! First, you don't come home from school, then you don't answer any of my calls, and then Haley calls to tell me that you never even made it to her class in the first place! I have been searching for you for over an hour worrying myself to death. You better start explaining yourself right now, young lady."
Sam could feel the anger and worry radiating off of Brooke, but she couldn't help herself. She was still so shaken up over seeing Xavier out that window, and at the moment, she didn't care how Brooke felt.
"I just didn't feel like going to school. And it's not my fault Haley is a fucking tattletale," Sam sassed, but instantly regretted it when she saw the fury rise in Brooke's eyes.
"HEY! You are not going to talk to me like that," Brooke snapped. "Get up. We're going home," she practically growled.
Sam stood up shooting a nasty glare towards Brooke. "You're not the boss of me."
Brooke shook her head in disapproval. Sam had been lovely and pleasant earlier that day and had been eager to go back to school. This type of blatant disrespect and defiance was unusual for Sam, and Brooke was not having any of it.
"If you make me ask you to get your ass in the car more than once, I promise you will not like the consequences. Go now."
Sam let out a deep, frustrated groan and stormed over to the car. She could tell that she'd pushed too far.
"Room, now." Brooke ordered firmly as the pair entered the house. "And give me your phone… not that it matters cause you don't know how to use it anyway," She joked bitterly.
Sam slammed her phone into Brooke's open palm and stomped off to her room without saying a word. She collapsed onto her bed and mentally kicked herself. She had no idea why she'd gotten so angry and bitchy with Brooke; she just felt so stressed out and mentally drained that lashing out was her only reaction.
Brooke took a deep breath and sat on the couch to collect her thoughts. She knew that she couldn't talk with Sam and reprimand her now since the both of them were far too worked up to have a civil conversation. It would have to wait until they both cooled off.
The mother rubbed her temples and tried to contain her tears, but she couldn't help that a few fell. Not knowing where Sam had been had scared the living daylights out of her, especially so soon after what had happened with Xavier. Her whole body was shaking with anxiety, anger, and relief that Sam was okay.
A couple of hours later, Brooke pulled herself together and knocked on Sam's door tentatively, letting herself in. "We need to talk."
"Can you just tell me my punishment and skip the talk?" The young girl asked dejectedly, looking up at Brooke with tearful, sad eyes. The harsh tone and attitude she'd upheld earlier was completely gone, much to Brooke's surprise. Now, Sam just looked… sad, uncertain.
Brooke shook her head and went to join Sam on her bed. "No way. We need to talk."
Sam sighed, and after a brief pause began. "I'm really sorry," she offered quietly.
"Sam, what happened today? Why did you ditch school? I told you you didn't have to go if you didn't want to," Brooke asked calmly, trying to keep the conversation civil and avoid any explosions.
"I thought I saw Xavier. I freaked out, and I left," she explained simply.
Brooke's face twisted into the most pitiful, pained expression that Sam had ever seen. She continued.
"I know it wasn't him, but it seemed so real in the moment and I just had to get out of there. And then I was still so worked up that I couldn't bring myself to come home, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for not answering my phone and for being such a bitch to you too," she said, her words filled with genuine remorse.
Brooke swallowed back the lump in her throat and laid a gentle hand on Sam's leg. "Thank you for apologizing. And I'm sorry that you had to go through that today, that's terrible."
After a moment she continued. "If you ever feel scared or uneasy at school, I want you to call me next time instead of running away. Sweetheart, I would have picked you up in a heartbeat if you had called me today," Brooke said seriously, searching Sam's eyes for understanding.
Sam nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry."
Brooke's heartbeat quickened as she prepared herself to ask her next question. "Sam… what do you think about seeing a therapist?" She asked softly. "Sometimes, I don't know exactly how to help you, and I think that talking to a professional who can work through everything with you could be really beneficial."
Sam pursed her lips. She'd never seen a therapist before, but she wasn't opposed to the idea. Maybe Brooke was right, maybe it could help her. "Yeah, I'm okay with that," she agreed.
A wave of relief washed over Brooke. She had been nervous that Sam would completely reject the idea and explode on her, so she was thrilled with her willingness to go through with it.
"Okay, I'll set up an appointment for you," she smiled. "Now I do want to circle back to ignoring my calls and the attitude you pulled with me earlier," she said, shifting the tone of the conversation.
Sam picked at her fingernails. She had hoped that Brooke would let that part go. "Sorry. It won't happen again."
"I understand how you were feeling, but I need you to answer when I call you. It's really scary for me when I don't know where you are and you aren't answering. It's for your safety, Sam."
"Okay, yeah, I promise not to ignore your calls again," Sam said, looking down at her bedspread.
"And no matter how upset you are, I still expect you to be respectful towards me. I need you to work on regulating your emotions a little better, okay? You can always come to me with any concerns, I'm here to help you. But there's no need to be disrespectful." Brooke's words were firm, yet kind and understanding. Sam was glad that Brooke didn't seem angry with her anymore.
"I'm really sorry, Brooke," Sam apologized for the millionth time. Being mean to Brooke was definitely her biggest regret of the day.
Brooke nodded, satisfied with Sam's remorse. "You're grounded for the rest of the week. I think you need some time to reset," she said, though not unkindly. It was only four days, a very lenient punishment, because Brooke knew that Sam was going through a difficult time and she didn't want to be too harsh.
The young girl groaned in response.
"Oh please," Brooke smirked. "It's four days, you'll live," she said, earning a small smile from Sam.
"Okayyy," Sam chuckled slightly.
"I love you," Brooke leaned in and softly smoothed her hair back. "I'm always here for you. And we'll get you into therapy as soon as possible, okay? We'll get past this, I promise."
"Love you too," Sam mumbled. "Thank you."
And with that, Brooke left her alone in her room.