AN: Sam and Drew get to know each other better and learn about the losses that they've both experienced, bond with Danny, come to some realizations, and Sam learns the truth. Enjoy!

P.s. Excuse any and all grammatical errors, I'll edit this eventually just wanted to get it out lol.

A week later…

Drew was driving Sam and Danny back to the penthouse because the little boy had finally gotten released. Ever since she had asked him to stay and keep her and Danny company, they had spent more and more time together. It was nice for her to finally have a friend that was just hers, and it was nice for Danny to have someone else around him that loved him just as much as she and the rest of her family did. Drew wouldn't have stayed away even if he wanted to because of the bond he and his nephew already shared. That's how they were here, Sam called him and asked if he'd take them home and he immediately agreed. Danny was asleep in the back seat and Sam would periodically look back at him to make sure he was still okay. Drew smiled as he watched her out of the corner of his eye, he knew what it felt like to just look at the precious face of your child and feel at peace knowing that they would be okay. He definitely understood the difference that came after seeing your child healthy after going through something that would scare even the bravest parents. They hadn't talked about his family yet but he had a feeling that the questions would come eventually. Their conversations had been light and fun, he told her stories of his childhood with both sides of his family and relished in the stories about her life as a con artist. It worked in keeping her distracted from all of the overwhelming emotions he knew she was feeling and it made him admire her more.

"What are you over there smirking about?" Sam's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Nothing." He chuckled. "I just think it's pretty beautiful how much you love your son." He said glancing at her before turning back to the road.

Sam blushed. "Thank you." She said softly. "So you never finished your story earlier."

"About me streaking around the Quartermaine mansion when I was three?" He asked.

"Yes, don't think I forgot just because Danny got discharged. I very much want to hear the rest of that one." She chuckled.

"Where did I leave off?"

"You were running around screaming that you were Tarzan while waving around your jungle themed tidy whities, and Jason and AJ were chasing after you with the rest of your clothes because you were refusing to get dressed." She teased.

"Yeah…" He said scratching the back of his neck. "That was not my best moment." He chuckled. "They really chased me around almost the entire mansion, I jumped off the banister like it was a tree. I'm still shocked I didn't break any bones. So screaming like a banshee and waving my underwear around I ran through the foyer and tripped, falling face first into my grandma Lila's lap. I looked up at her with a wide smile and she just sighed softly and chuckled before picking me up and asking me why I was running around like a crazy person. My three year old self was just like 'I no crazy gamma, I Tarzan' she laughed and then told me that even Tarzan wore underwear, so I put them on and she let me go. Eventually AJ and Jason caught me and bribed me into my clothes before mom and dad came home."

Sam had a hard time not laughing at him. "You sounded like a real wild child." She joked and then cracked up at herself.

"You know you're a real comedian." He deadpanned before laughing himself.

"Thank you, Tarzan." She put her hand on his strong bicep and smiled as he fake glared at her. "You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you've done for us and for me since you came back to town." She told him sincerely.

"You're welcome."

The penthouse…

"So I have a question and you don't have to answer but it's something I've wondered about since Edward mentioned it before you came. I was too distracted at the hospital to ask and I really didn't know how but he said that you were gone for five years…" She trailed off as she noticed him fidget with the label on his beer bottle, next to her. "You know what nevermind." She back tracked and took a swig from her own beer and looked over at the playpen that housed her son. She was starting to feel bad for prying when she saw his zoned out look, but she was genuinely curious about him. Sure the childhood stories of him and Jason were nice but she wanted to know the man he grew to be and how he became the person that would fly 3,000 miles to save a little boy he never met.

"You want to know why I stayed gone for so long?" He asked quietly, bringing her out of her thoughts and making her look at him. The sadness in his eyes as he looked at her made her heart break and she suddenly didn't want to know anymore but at the same time she wanted to comfort him. In the end it was the urge to hear his story and be a shoulder for him that won out as she shook her head yes.

Drew never did like to bring up his past because of the pain but he felt like he could tell Sam anything and it would be alright. So he sighed and then started speaking. "Five years ago was the last time I actually saw anyone from either side of my family outside of my brother Jack. The last time I saw the Q's was a month after Emily's funeral when they came to Seattle to say goodbye to my wife and daughter and to try to be there for me after I lost them." Sam gasped and he couldn't bring himself to look at her as he continued. "They stayed a week before I pushed them away and told them to go back to Port Charles because I needed some space. The last time I saw the other side of my family was a month later when my parents came to my house to try to get me out of bed but I was drunk and pushed them away too. My brother was like a shadow, a very vocal one and he hounded me until I got my shit together. I had a business to run and I couldn't run it in the condition I was in. He made me go to grief counseling and see a therapist, it took me six months to answer phone calls and texts from anyone but him and a year to get back to work and after I got back to work that's basically what took up my life. This week with you, Danny, and the Q's has honestly been the longest time I spent not working in four years and I've been really enjoying it." He told her as he finally looked up at her and noticed the tears on her face. "Hey, hey, none of that please. It's okay Sam." He said as he brushed the tears off of her face with his thumb. "I didn't tell you all of this to make you sad."

"I'm sorry." She croaked out and held onto the hand that was on her face. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Sam, I promise you it's okay. It still hurts when November and December roll around but I no longer feel pain when I remember them. I no longer run on autopilot when the holiday's and the birthday's roll around, I mean sure I still work through them but that's because it's been the norm for four years now. Don't apologize, I appreciate it I really do but there's nothing to be sorry for so don't cry. Come here." He said gently and pulled her into his arms and held her and comforted her until she calmed down. He had a feeling she wasn't just crying because of his loss but the loss she's had in her own life and everything she has been dealing with since she lost Jason as well.

"I'm sorry." She apologized again as she pulled back and wiped her face. He raised his eyebrow and she smiled bashfully. "Will you tell me about them?" She asked him softly.

"Yeah, of course. But first, are you alright?"

"I'm okay, I promise." She answered lightly and squeezed his hand.

"Okay." He squeezed her hand back before letting go and running his fingers through his hair. "Well let's see... me and my wife Gabriella met when we were 19. She was this beautiful tiny little Mexican spitfire with long dark auburn hair and hazel eyes, and a smile that melted my heart. We were stationed together in Dubai, she was a linguist and one day I asked her to translate something for me and we hit it off immediately. We got married at 21 and a year later she had our daughter Arielle. My princess was the light of my life, she was almost a carbon copy of her mother. She got Gabby's olive skin, her wavy auburn hair, and her smile, she got my nose and my eyes. Although her eyes were neither hazel or blue, they were green but depending on the light or her mood they'd change colors. She had her mother's temper but also her strength. When she was born she was in the hospital for two months because she was born early and the doctors feared she wouldn't make it but she did." He smiled, and then pulled out his wallet and took the picture that he had of them in it and showed it to Sam.

"They were beautiful." She said as she gently caressed the picture, he was definitely right about his daughter being a little carbon copy of her mother.

"They were." He smiled softly. "Ari had just turned three two months before they passed away. I had just gotten out of the navy, we threw Ari a huge party for her big day and me and Gabby were thinking of trying for another child, then Emily died. We came for her funeral and I kind of retreated into myself and then a month later Gabby had the idea of just taking a couple of days to ourselves to cut the world out and just cherish our time together. She didn't like seeing me walking around as a shell of myself so the day that we were supposed to leave she went to take Arielle to my parents house but they never made it. I got the call when I was in a meeting at work and after that my world just stopped. My parents live outside of the city on the outskirts of Seattle about 30 minutes away from our house and it was December so the deer were out. The police said that she swerved to miss it and they ended up crashing into a tree, they died upon impact." Drew said and cleared his throat before swallowing down the rest of his beer, he was trying not to get upset but it hurt to think about how they died even if the pain from the fact that they were gone had lessened over time. He hadn't really planned on telling Sam about how they died today; it just came out. It had been years since he even actually mentioned their names and reminisced about them much less talked about the day he lost them.

Sam wanted to cry but she knew that wouldn't help things. She looked at the picture that was still in her hands and prayed that they were in a better place. Then she took a deep breath, looked at Drew and grabbed his hand. "Thank you for telling me about them. I'm so sorry that you lost them, I wish you never had to know what that pain feels like but I have no doubt that the two beautiful souls in this picture would be so happy to see the man you've become. You went through that pain and you came out on the other side stronger than you were before, you didn't let it take you down and turn you into someone they wouldn't recognize. And one day when you meet them again I'm sure they'll let you know how proud of you they are." She told him gently and handed him the picture back so that he could place it back into his wallet.

"That means a lot and I truly hope so. You sound like you're speaking from experience though, more than just the loss of Jason. Would it be too much to ask you about that?"

"No." She smiled sadly and took a sip of her beer and glanced at the playpen making sure Danny was still asleep. "Danny is named after my older brother, I don't know if you knew that or not. My brother Danny was special, I know I told you about my conning days and that I did it to take care of him and myself, but that was why. He needed special care that I couldn't give him but that never stopped me from doing so. He was everything to me for so long and then we came to Port Charles and life changed. In my quest to get him into this school I wanted him to send him to in Hawaii, I got wrapped up in a relationship with Jasper Jax after trying to get the dead man's hand, that's a story for another time though. Anyway me and Jax came to Port Charles chasing down the dead man's hand and then somewhere along the way I was kidnapped by Sonny Corinthos and then we ended up sleeping together. I was still technically with Jax, so you can imagine how complicated that became. I came here for a score and after a few months here I found out I was pregnant and didn't know who the father was. After finding out that the baby was Sonny's I ended up living with your brother and Sonny all but placed him in charge of babysitting me while also getting him to pretend to be my baby's father. I was 22 pregnant and infatuated with the mini mobster while ignoring the fact that I was falling in love with his enforcer." She chuckled. "I had been hiding Danny for a while in a motorcycle shop a couple of blocks away from the penthouse and then Jason discovered that I had him there and I had to explain it. At the time I had him hidden because his vindictive step father was accusing us of murdering his mother, Jason helped me fix everything and then he was able to get Danny into that school in Hawaii. I didn't know that he thought that I was trying to send him away and was mad at me until 2005 when we moved to Hawaii… You asked if I was speaking from the loss or more than just Jason, you were right. Danny died in 2006 from encephalitis, the doctors had only one dose of the vaccine at the time and they ended up using it to save Alexis, my mom who I didn't know was my mom at the time but I digress. I was angry because for so long my brother had been my everything and the only family I had after I lost my daughter and both of their deaths indirectly involved my mom." She sighed and shook her head, it had been years and she and her mother had more than made up for all the pain that happened in their lives since knowing each other but sometimes it still hurt.

"November 8th 2004 was the day I lost my daughter. Krissy was sick, she had Leukemia and Sonny and Alexis needed stem cells to save her and my baby was a match. The problem was that she was still inside of me and I didn't want to risk her to save Krissy at the time because I was scared of losing her. I wanted to save Kristina but I was hoping that maybe the doctors would be able to give us time for her to be born first and then take what they needed, but it didn't happen that way. I was in the chapel praying and trying to come to a decision because it was getting dire with Krissy and I didn't want anything to happen to her but then Alexis came in and I don't remember how it happened but we got into an argument and that argument led to me having this serious cramping and then Jason came in and caught me just before I blacked out. The next morning I woke up in a hospital bed with your brother sitting in a chair beside it looking like the whole world had come crashing down and I just knew something was wrong. He told me that they had to do an emergency C-section on me because I had a placental abruption but the baby didn't make it. She was stillborn…" She said with tears in her eyes. "You know, I still don't understand how she was stillborn when she was moving when I was in that chapel but I guess they didn't get her out in time." She sniffled. "Anyway I never got to see her face or hold her in my arms but Jason said that she had dark curly hair like Sonny's and my face. I imagine though that she would've looked something like me or Krissy when we were babies. My mom has one of me before I was taken from her and sometimes I catch myself staring at it or Krissy's newborn pictures and wondering if that's what Jason saw when he saw my little girl."

"I'm sure she was just as beautiful as her mother, I'm sorry that you didn't get to see her face. I'm sorry that you lost your baby girl. I know I was just telling you not to apologize and here I am doing it myself but i mean it Sam. I see the way you love Danny and I know that little girl would've been so blessed to have you as her mom had she lived… What, what was her name?"

"Thank you, that means the world to me. Her name was Lila, I wanted to honor your grandmother and name her Lila Morgan because I wanted her to have a name that meant something. I had only ever met your grandmother once but she was the sweetest old woman that I had ever met and I thought it would be nice to have another Lila Morgan in the world."

"My grandmother would've loved that."

Before Sam could respond they both heard Danny in the playpen giggling and when they looked over he was sitting up playing with one of the toys she had put in there for him. They both stood up and went over to him and watched him.

"You're having fun in there, huh buddy?" Drew laughed and Danny looked up at him and his mom with a big smile, excited that he was getting attention.

"Ma!" He squealed and reached for Sam melting her heart.

"Hi my handsome man, did you have a good nap?" She asked him as she picked him up. He just babbled and gave her a big sloppy wet kiss on her cheek.

"I think he's that's his way of saying yes." Drew chuckled and Sam smiled at him and then her son.

"Is Drew right? Huh?" She asked her son as she tickled his little belly making him squeal with laughter.

"Ru!" Danny clapped and then reached for Drew after Sam took mercy on him and stopped tickling him.

Sam and Drew looked at each other and then Danny, shocked before she handed her son to him. "Did he just?" He whispered to Sam who almost laughed at the befuddled look on his face as he turned to look at her son. "Did you just say my name?" He asked his nephew as if the 10 month old could actually answer for himself.

"I think so Ru." She chuckled before full on laughing after her son repeated after her. "Good job honey." She said kissing her little man's cheek.

Drew groaned and playfully rolled his eyes before looking down at the little boy in his arms. "You know you're lucky you're adorable." He scrunched up his face making Danny laugh.

"You love it." She said nudging his shoulder.

"I do." He smiled.

Two weeks later…

"So Dr. Clay just asked you out?" Drew asked as he listened to Sam tell him about her encounter with the doctor while he was babysitting Danny for her to get some errands done.

"Yeah. He said that he has been wanting to ever since I helped him with Rafe but couldn't because he was Danny's doctor." She told him, adjusting the phone so she could put her groceries in the car.

Drew's jaw ticked, for reasons he didn't want to delve into hearing about the doctor asking Sam out pissed him off. "Did you say yes?" He asked. He checked on Danny to make sure he was still asleep before he got up to go make lunch for him and Sam to eat when she got home.

"Well no, I mean I didn't really get the chance to answer before I ran into Derek Wells. It was actually kind of weird, I'll tell you more about that when I get home. He gave me his number and told me to text him if it's a yes." She said getting back to the subject at hand.

"Oh…" Drew responded absentmindedly. Any potential feelings of jealousy or thoughts of punching the doctor's teeth out went out of his head as soon as he heard the name Derek Wells. He still hadn't had the chance to tell her about him being Julian Jerome but since the man was lurking around her and probably fishing for information again, it had to mean that he knew that he was Sam's father. He'd have to tell her today and hope she wouldn't be too pissed at him, he didn't want to tell her without triple checking Jack's information and making sure it was legit as well as getting DNA evidence first.

"Drew?"

"Yeah?"

"You kind of trailed off on me there, are you okay?" She asked softly. She wondered if it was the news of Silas Clay that made him zone out or if it was Derek Wells. Anytime Derek's name came up he'd get this look that she couldn't decipher on his face, and she was pretty sure that it had something to do with whatever that phone call his brother made to him the other day was about. She was also pretty sure it involved her with the way Derek was sniffing around her after he started dating her mom.

"Yeah… It's just, when you get home we have to talk. There's something I need to tell you." He sighed and she knew then that her suspicions were right.

"Okay, I'll be there in ten." She told him and disconnected the call, put everything in the car and then headed home.

Drew had just finished making the spaghetti for them and setting the table when Sam walked in the door. He went to help her and together they put the groceries away before eating. Danny was still asleep and would be for at least another forty-five minutes to finish up his nap, so they would have time to talk after they ate. They ate silently and Drew cleared the table and put the dishes away while Sam checked in on Danny before grabbing a couple of beers and heading to the living room to talk.

Drew didn't really know how to break the news to her that Derek was actually someone else and also her father so he decided to just say it, but what came out of his mouth was not what he was trying to say. "I don't think you should go out with Dr. Clay." He blurted out and mentally smacked himself.

"What?" Sam asked bewildered, she definitely didn't expect to hear him say that and while a part of her felt some sort of satisfaction at the clear jealousy in that statement another part of her started to get angry, because who the fuck was he to tell say who she should or shouldn't go out with? "Okay, I never said I was going to go out with him. I told you I ran into Derek Wells before I could even answer. What would it matter if I said yes anyway?"

"I know, I'm sorry." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's not what I was going to say, it was just word vomit but since you asked. There's just something fucking weird about that guy and I think you could do better. But I can't tell you who to date and if you're ready to date, that's a big step and I'm glad you're able to take it."

"Thank you for your honesty, and again I didn't say yes and I'm not sure I'm ready to date yet." At least not him… she thought to herself and then continued. "But I appreciate your explanation. Now what is it you really want to talk to me about? It's about Derek wells isn't it?"

"It is… He umm, his real name isn't Derek Wells. He's actually Julian Jerome and Derek Wells Media is just a front for the real reason he's in town. He wants Sonny's territory for himself and his sister Ava to take over."

"What?! Does Sonny know?" She asked him.

"No."

"Well I need to tell him!" She said urgently and got up to go get her phone but she was stopped by his hand on her wrist.

"Sam, you can't." He told her.

"Why not? Drew do you know if this gets out of hand we could all be in danger? I don't want Danny involved and Sonny needs to know about the incoming threat."

"He knows that someone is after his territory Sam, they've been coming after it for months and you don't have to worry about you or Danny being caught in the crosshairs. I took measures to prevent that before I came to town. You're safe and so are the Q's, your mom, your sisters and your brother."

"My brother? Drew the only brother I have is dead, wait… No." She said as she started to put the pieces together of what Drew was trying to tell her.

"Lucas Jones, his biological mother was Cheryl Stansbury and his father…"

"Julian Jerome. So are you telling me that Derek Wells, Julian Jerome, the man that's currently dating my mother, he's… he's my father?"

"Yes."

"Does he know?"

"I suspect he does with the way he's been sniffing around you these days. I'm not sure how he knows but he could've gotten the results from the bone marrow test and put two and two together. Or I don't know, he's dating your mom, maybe he asked her who your father was and figured it out that way." He answered.

She swallowed, it was definitely a lot of information to digest. But there was something else on her mind, something she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to but she had to know. "Drew?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know all of this and how long have you known?"

He sighed. "My brother Jack heard it from one of our guys that we had stationed here and I just decided to get actual proof. As for when he told me about it? He told me the same time he told me about Danny, he was the one that found out I was a match and the one that sent the information to General Hospital."

"So, what you're telling me is that you knew since you got to town?" She asked while trying not to get angry. It wasn't working.

"No, I didn't really know anything for certain until Jack called me. I was waiting for concrete proof before coming to you with this because I didn't want it to be wrong."

She took a deep breath, that was understandable but it didn't make her any less pissed that he didn't tell her as soon as he knew for certain. "You should've told me as soon as you knew for sure Drew."

"I know. There's no excuse for it and I know that but I didn't know how to tell you Sam, I mean it's not exactly information that you can just spring on someone."

"It's not something you keep to yourself either!"

"You're right." He said apologetically.

Sam sighed. "Okay, so when Jack told you that he heard Julian was my father and told you that he was a match for Danny's bone marrow, why didn't you just let everyone find out then and let him donate?"

"Because Julian is in town to take over Sonny's territory and I didn't want him to find out about Danny and play the hero just to use him as a pawn in the game of mob checkers he and Sonny are playing. Also there was this handsome little boy and his strong mother that I wanted to meet, not to mention I missed my family and I wanted to stop hiding from my life. I had already patched things up with my parents and family back in Seattle but I hadn't come back here and I wanted to rectify that. Being able to give that precious little boy a second chance at life and getting to know his kick ass mom has just been icing on the cake." He admitted.

"You know if you weren't that precious little boy's Ru and I wasn't so fond of you, I'd show you just how kick ass I can get. Lucky for you his adoration and my fondness have spared you today but no more secrets. I don't care if they're just baseless accusations or some he said, she said bullshit, just be honest with me. I want you in my life and I want you in Danny's life but Drew if you start keeping secrets from me then, I won't be able to trust you and I trust you, so please next time just trust me. Okay?"

"I do trust you Sam, it wasn't about trust but I understand and you're right. So I promise I will tell you everything from here on out big or small, I'll trust you with it and if it's something that needs a little more digging before the information can be verified then we'll dig together. I mean it."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome… so what now?"

"Now we figure out how to tell my mom and I confront Julian Jerome."

"Do you want me there with you?"

"When? To tell my mom or to confront Julian?"

"Both."

"Oh you're definitely going to be there to tell my mom, in fact you're going to break it to her I'm just going to confirm that you're telling the truth. As for Julian, no I'm going to be handling him myself. We also have to tell Lucas, I'll invite him to my mom's place and we can tell him at the same time as her. That sound good to you?"

"Sounds like a plan if I ever heard one." He smiled.

"Good."

Derek Wells Media…

Sam walked into the office and headed straight to Julian's door and paused as she heard talking inside. Apparently Julian's sister was also alive and she was berating him about her daughter Kiki and telling him not to mention that he's alive to anyone and risk Sonny finding out about them being in town. It was when he told her that now she has leverage with the Q's and could use Kiki as an in to get shares of the company that she was pissed and decided to barge in. She sent a quick text to Drew letting him know to come if she didn't call him within twenty minutes just in case things went left and then she opened the door. Julian and Ava stopped talking as soon as they saw her, Ava scowled and Julian smiled like a stupid puppy at the sight of her, she just stared at them.

"Hi Sam, how's Danny doing?" Julian asked sweetly as he walked around the desk to greet her.

"Save the pleasantries dad. I'm here to talk to you, I know the truth so don't try to hide it."

Julian paled and stopped mid stride in shock. Ava's scowl just got deeper. "Sam I d-don't know what you're talking about."

Sam sighed, she just told him not to hide it and here he was trying to play stupid. "Look Julian, I know who you truly are and Ava…" She said looking at the blonde woman pointedly. "I know who you are too and I know your plan and I'm here to tell you that if you even remotely want to know me, my brother or your grandson Julian, then you'll cut the shit with Sonny and drop the mob shit. I had a husband whose life revolved around the mob, I don't want a father who has the same lifestyle."

"Okay who do you think you are coming in here and just demanding we stop coming after what's ours, do you know who we are?"

"Who am I? I'm Samantha fucking McCall, do you know who I am? I know exactly who you are Ava Jerome… a HAS BEEN. Also I wasn't talking to you I was talking to Julian, MY FATHER, not you. I personally don't give a damn if you go after Sonny's territory I just don't want Julian to go after it. Listen Julian, I know we don't know each other but I'm willing to give you a chance if you decide that family is more important to you. From what I've been able to find out you have a very profitable net worth as Derek Wells, so you're not hurting for money and you seem to have already fallen for my mother so you're not hurting for love. What is taking over Sonny's territory going to do but put you in a position to take everything you've built for yourself away? Walk away, run your company, be with my mom and get to know your kids and grandson or keep pushing this and let Sonny find out who you are and get yourself or someone you care for killed in the process. The choice is yours." She said turning around to leave before turning back and glaring at her father and Ava in warning. "Oh and the Quartermaine's are off limits, don't even remotely involve them in any of the bullshit schemes you two are up to or I promise Sonny will be the last thing either one of you will ever have to worry about."

"Hmm. I like her." Ava said to her brother after Sam shut the door on her way out. "Seems like you have a choice to make brother, choose wisely." She said before heading out herself and leaving Julian to stew in his thoughts. She had her own choices to make.

Metro Court Restaurant…

"Cutting it a little close there Sam, huh? Shit, I really thought I was going to have to come up there and hurt someone." Drew said as she walked up to the table and sat down.

"Oh shut up." She smiled. "I told you I had it handled, I just didn't know how they'd react to me just barging in in the middle of whatever they were planning and basically warning them to back off."

"I know but still I'm always armed and ready whenever you need backup." He told her sincerely.

She placed her hand on top of his and gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He said as they looked at each other. Their trance was broken when the waiter came over to give them their menus and Drew cleared his throat. "So what do you want to eat?" He asked and looked over his menu at her.

Sam wasn't paying attention, being that she was currently lost in her thoughts. Over the last few weeks she felt the tension between her and Drew building up and just bubbling beneath the surface every time they spent time together. Which was everyday, she realized. It wasn't really a conscious thing, them spending everyday together. It was just something that kept naturally happening ever since the day she asked him to stay and keep her company in Danny's hospital room. They practically knew everything about each other now, he babysits her son, makes her lunch and dinner or takes them out sometimes. He calls to check in when he's away from them, he's literally become an important fixture in both her and her son's lives and it hadn't even been a month yet but she already considered him her best friend. Not to mention the feelings that she's been ignoring since the moment she saw that water running down his chest the day she met him, she was scared. Because she could finally admit to herself that she liked him, she genuinely liked him. I mean it wasn't hard to like him, there isn't really anything to not like about him. He is charming, he's handsome, he's honest, strong, caring, attentive and he has such a good heart and being around him made her smile and gave her butterflies and that's what scared her.

Sam wasn't the type of woman to get butterflies, she wasn't a teenager, yet every single day her heart flutters and her stomach does somersaults whenever he's near. Hell Jason didn't give her butterflies, she loved him but their love had grown out of hate that turned into dislike, then begrudging respect, to like and from like to love. There wasn't that instant attraction or puppy dog eyed stage, the more she got to know him the more little things about him attracted her and made her see him differently. This wasn't like that. Whatever this thing with Drew was, made her feel like she was in some sort of 'will they, won't they' romantic comedy. Shit, she was even wondering if they would or not, he did get jealous after she mentioned Silas Clay asked her out after all, even if he did try to hide it. But that wasn't enough evidence to have her believe that he felt even remotely half as perplexed as she did about these feelings, that is if he was even having the same feelings she was in the first place. She didn't know what to do, he had become her best friend and a valued part of her life and she didn't want to cross any lines but also she wanted nothing more than to cross them, at least with him. Based off of his reaction at Silas she gathered that he believed that she wasn't really ready to date yet, and that might have been true, under different circumstances. She thought that maybe spending a day away from him and taking Silas up on his offer might offer some clarity, because maybe these feelings were just a fluke and she was just horny. It had been over a year since she had sex after all, even though her husband has only been dead for six months. It could be just lust, right? She wondered, except that didn't even seem remotely good enough to cover exactly she was feeling.

She didn't have any more time to harp on it before she felt Drew's touch on the side of her face and saw a concerned look in his eyes. "Sam are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I kind of zoned out."

"Kind of zoned out? Sam you were completely zoned out, it's been like ten minutes. What's going on, are you alright?"

"I'm okay, I promise. I was just thinking, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." She said softly as she leaned into his touch.

"Jesus… what were you thinking about that had you so spaced out?"

"I was debating on whether or not I should go out on that date with Silas tomorrow." Not a complete lie… she thought as she watched his jaw tense and his demeanor switch from concerned to protective and almost possessive.

"What did you decide?" He asked as he looked at her intently.

"I decided to accept his invitation. You asked me if I was ready to date, and truthfully I won't know until I actually go on a date with someone and well, he asked. So why not?" She replied nonchalantly. He closed his eyes and fixed his jaw before caressing her face one last time and going back to his seat. She missed his touch.

"You're right, I mean you'll never know if you don't try and he did ask. So, why the hell not?" He replied before picking up his menu and hiding his face from her view.

He was pissed and jealous, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself. If he saw the dog faced looking doctor he wasn't sure he'd be able to refrain from punching him in the face. He didn't even know why he was mad, it's not like he asked her out first and she turned him down to go with the douchey doctor. It just annoyed him, they had been spending all of their time together and he had felt a pull to her from the moment he saw her face and now she's going to go waste her time with a fuckwad like Silas Clay. When he told her that she could do better, sure he was talking about himself but she wasn't a fucking psychic, she wouldn't know that's what he meant if he didn't tell her so he couldn't even be mad at her. He couldn't even be jealous either, because she wasn't his to be jealous over, she was his best friend, she deserved support not opposition. So he decided he'd support her no matter what, even if the thought of another man wanting her and wanting to take up her time and live rent free in her thoughts got under his skin. This wasn't what he bargained for when he came here; these feelings he had for her. He came to save his nephew, get to know the family his brother left behind and reconnect with the family he pushed away five years ago, not to start liking his brother's widow. But he liked her, like really liked her. He smiled more with her, he laughed with her, they talked about any and everything under the sun and they practically knew everything about each other including the shit that nobody else in their lives know and it's only been a few weeks.

They fit so fucking well and he thought that they were on the precipice of something with all of this tension between them. But now he was starting to think that it was all in his head, if she was going to go out with Silas fucking Clay then how could she have feelings for him? Should he find someone else to date too? NO! His mind screamed at him, he didn't need to date anyone else, he just needed to wait. It was just one date, not a love connection besides the way she zoned out there had to be more to it than debating on a date. Shit she was zoned out for a whole ten minutes, ten minutes. Silas Clay couldn't take up more than ten seconds of a monkey's brain, much less Sam's. He wasn't a betting man but he had a feeling he knew what she was truly thinking about during her ten minute introspection and he'd wait. The best things in life are worth waiting for after all, aren't they?