Brooke took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out before she spoke. “Honestly?” She looked up to C.C.’s concerned gaze. “Sam.” Brooke bit back on her lower lip as the events of the shared meal came rushing through her head once more. When the snippet of replay froze on the entrance of blonde hair, the tall woman leaped up from the bed and started to pace using only a few long, legged steps to cover the entire length of the dorm room. “Oh God, C.C., I was talking to Janet while we were eating lunch at the Student Union and Sam showed up.”

Brown eyes followed the woman back and forth for a moment before curiosity got the better of her. Tossing the clothing in her hand to her bed, C.C. stepped closer to her sister as the woman started her turn. “And…?” C.C. looked up, seeing the terror in her sister’s eyes. “Scoop, girl, scoop. You know us inquiring minds, we’ve got to know.”

The older woman stood perfectly silent, as the continuously running scene played out in her head again.

Desperate to know, C.C.’s mind began to come up with possible scenarios of the meeting. “What the hell did you do? Kiss Sam?” Then another scenario caught her attention and the woman’s brown eyes grew bigger. The brunette took hold of her sibling’s shoulders and shook her. “Good God, Brooke…tell me you two didn’t clear the table in the middle of the Student Union and…and…”

“I might as well have,” the whispered words showed the numbness of Brooke’s soul. “I think I blew it. Janet knows about Sam now.”

Questioning eyes searched the tall woman’s face for answers. “She knows what…that Sam’s gay? Brooke, she doesn’t hide it. Everyone knows she’s gay. She told me the first night we roomed together. She’s not ashamed of it.”

Brooke closed her eyes and bit back on her lower lip.

Sensing that Sam’s sexual preference was not the issue here, C.C. sought more answers for her inquisitive mind. “Okay, so that’s not it. Come on, Brooke, I need more to go on than lip biting.” The brunette crossed her arms in front of her chest and cocked her head to the side. “Let’s start from the beginning then. How did you explain knowing Sam to Janet?”

“Well, she already knew that you two were friendly and…” Brooke cast her eyes to the floor, then nervously glanced up at C.C.’s face. “And…” she shook her head, “Oh Hell, I don’t know…” the tall woman pushed past her sister and sat back down on Sam’s bed. “I guess she could tell by the look on my face.”

“Whoa!” C.C. spun around to face her sister. “I thought you wanted to tell the world about the two of you. Is this one of those double standard things? You know, okay for the family but not anyone else. Brooke if you’re worried about what you’re friends might say…”

Blue orbs flashed faster than the glitter of a rare jewel being hit by the sun for the first time. “I do want everybody to know.” Brooke’s chest shot out and her shoulders squared for the first time since she’d arrived at the dorm. “I’m not ashamed of Sam or the fact that we’re lovers. It’s just that…” the woman paused, then vocalized what really was on her mind. “Now, I don’t know what Janet’s going to think about the whole intern thing. I wasn’t really asking for Sam. I just wanted to know how good the chances are of keeping her in the area.” Brooke looked at her sister in earnest. “You know, if there’s anything good enough for her here.”

There was a moment of silence, then Brooke confided in her sister. “C.C., I don’t think I’d survive being away from her for five months.”

The brunette studied the pathetic looking face on her sister and sat down on the bed with her. “Sis…” C.C. patted her sister’s hand. “I’m sorry to say it…but I think you just sent your girl to Siberia.”

The woman let her chin drop to her chest, uttering a single word, “Great.” There was a long drawn out moment of silence, then Brooke’s deep voice rumbled out her thoughts. “Thanks for making me feel better, Chase.” Unaware of the door opening up into the room, she shook her head, then mumbled ambiguously. “I really fucked this up.”

The small blonde dynamo bustled into the room and whirled around to see Brooke and C.C. sitting on her bed. “Hey, now what can be so bad?”

Two pairs of Gordon family eyes lifted to meet the serendipitous woman who had just entered the room, but only one chose to speak. “Hi, Sweetheart.”

The lackluster response of her lover caught Sam’s attention and she quickly remembered the words that she had heard as she came through the doorway. “Fucked what up, Hon?” Sam’s eyes were full of concern for her loved one. “Did you lose out on a new band?”

Sam sat her armful of books down on the desk, then moved over toward Brooke and placed a gentle hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Not talking, huh?” She leaned down, then looked into Brooke’s eyes and wondered what was wrong.

The blonde studied her lover’s face for a moment then glanced over to C.C., getting the impression that there was more going on than she knew about. Sam leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Brooke’s head, then moved back toward her stack of books on the desk. “So, what was that whole thing with Humphreys about…? You know, I just about died when I saw you there in the Student Union, when I was cutting through for my next class.”

“Well, I…ah…”

“Hey,” Sam turned around and took a step closer to her bed so that she could touch her hip against Brooke’s shoulder, then leaned down and whispered in her ear. “It really did make my day go faster.” Sam winked and gave her another quick kiss but this time on her cheek.

The stunned woman touched her check, feeling for the kiss, hoping that it would not be the last one she would share with Sam, once she found out her misfortune. Mustering all the courage that she could, Brooke admitted, “Sam…I think I just screwed up royally.”

“Huh?” Sam looked to her lover. “Would you care to explain that a little more in detail?”

“Janet and I met for lunch and well…” Brooke took in deep breath.

“Hey,” Sam rubbed Brooke’s hand with her own. “If you’re worried about introducing me as C.C.’s roomie, I understand.”

“You noticed, huh?” Blue eyes darted to green. “I just wanted to see how good the chances are for you to intern in the area…” Brooke paused. “You know, one that would be perfect for you and…well…” she shrugged her shoulders. “Your Professor knows about us now. I guess it was that look on my face that gave it away when I asked you to tell C.C. that I loved her.”

“Well…you know what I say.” Sam wrapped her arm around Brooke and gave her a squeeze. “I say that I don’t care who knows. I thought we were clear on this, Hon.”

“Yeah, but…I also signed the paperwork to accept an intern…” she looked over to Sam, hoping that she would understand. “Now, C.C. thinks you’re going to be sent to Siberia.”

“Ah…You’re giving someone a chance.” Sam thought for a moment, suddenly realizing her lover’s hopeful intentions. “Oh…oh, I see.” The blonde pursed her lips deep in thought then verbalized them. “C.C. doesn’t think that your friend will keep me here now…huh?” She studied her lover, then got up and walked a step or two away. “Brooke…answer me two questions, okay?”

“Well, yeah. You know I will, Sam.” Brooke’s brow furrowed as she contemplated what they might be.

“I know that Humphreys is married, but did she ever…I mean…when you were younger…have a crush on you or try to date you?”

“No,” the answer came without Brooke having to even think about it. “Why would you even think such a thing? Sam, Darlin’, you know that you’re the only one who captured my heart.”

Sam looked to C.C. seeing the mirrored denial on her face. “I know.” Sam’s softly spoken words showed her sorrow for having to ask the question. “I…I was just trying to figure out where the Professor was coming from.” She gazed into Brooke’s face, hoping to be forgiven. “Okay, now for the second question. If she’s your friend, wouldn’t Janet want to see you happy?”

“Yeah…” Brooke nodded. “I would hope so.”

“Well, why worry about it?” Sam shrugged her shoulders and let out a sigh. “She’ll make the right decision Brooke, face it.”

“But you didn’t hear the whole…” Brooke raised her hands and used her fingers to make quotation marks in the air. “How would everybody react if they found out that she knew about us and kept you here?”

“Brooke, Honey…” Sam tried to reason with her, “…it’s out of our hands, whichever way it goes.”

Sighing, Brooke finally nodded in agreement. “I know. I’m sorry, Sam.”

“Hey, I appreciate the thought.” The blonde smiled radiantly just thinking about working side by side with her lover. “If it happens that I would get assigned to your company, we’ll just be the professionals that I know we can be.” Sam cleared her throat, “And what we do in our spare time…well…” the young woman smiled lecherously at Brooke, “…that is for us to know.”

Overcome with the biggest grin that she thought her face could ever have, Brooke’s mood changed dramatically as she got up from the bed and wrapped strong, loving arms around the blonde. “I love you, Sam.” She gazed into the woman’s eyes for only a moment before she was compelled to give actions to her emotions and slowly brought their lips together in a kiss.

After the kiss ended, Brooke shyly chuckled.

“What?” Sam’s eyes searched her lover’s face.

“You know, I never did get dessert after lunch with Janet.” Dark eyebrows wiggled a time or two, and then Brooke’s smile grew bigger as her one eyebrow temptingly challenged her mate.

C.C. sat there on Sam’s bed watching the romantic little interlude play out right before her very eyes until she dreaded what might be next. “Ah…” the brunette jumped up from the bed. “Well, look at that.” She tapped her totally absorbed sister on the shoulder. “Why don’t we all go out for dinner? Then you can have dessert, while I study in the library. Hmmm…?” Brown eyes sparkled at the thought of her idea and she tried to move her sister toward the door.