“Well yesterday… ah…” Sam bit at her lip. “Yeah, yesterday you picked me up and brought me to your house, then you went to take a shower. I… I was in the kitchen and…” the blonde racked her brain trying to remember, but the answers where sketchy at best. “I put the plate down for Mario…”

“Baby,” Brooke sat down on the bed and wrapped her arm around Sam. “I picked you up on Wednesday.”

“Wednesday…” Sam’s brows furrowed, and then she become more confident in her answer. “Yeah, it was Wednesday. I remember now… the door… there was a knock at the door and…” The blonde’s face took on a troubled look as more of the pieces were unlocked from her mind. “James… what was James doing here? I remember seeing James at the door.”

“Yes, he was here.” Brooke sighed and tightened her grip on the woman next to her. “He came to give me shit, what else?” The dark-haired woman grimaced, and then slowly told her knowledge of the events. “When I came down the stairs, he had you backed into the corner. I ran in and pulled him away from you, then started arguing with him. I tried to keep you out of the way… behind me, you know? And well, one thing led to another…” Brooke paused when she saw Sam close her eyes and start to brace herself, taking in a deep breath. “I thought that it was over when he turned to leave but I was wrong. His verbal attack was over and that’s when the physical one started. He… he threw a punch at me and I kind of countered with my elbow to his nose.”

Sam turned immediately to examine Brooke’s face. “You… you didn’t get hurt did you?”

Brooke looked straight ahead, focusing on nothing but the replayed event in her head as she related the rest of the story. “James… James threw another punch and…” she gulped as she saw it in slow motion before her, “…and you stepped in front of me trying to stop him. It caught you across the cheek; you stumbled backward before I could grab you, and then fell, hitting your head.”

The young woman’s eyes grew wider in realization and her hand subconsciously went to the bump on her head, rubbing it. “So, that’s why my head hurts like hell.” Sam looked over to her lover. “What happened to James? Brooke you didn’t…”

“I threw him out of the house, literally.” The woman eased her friend’s fear. “I didn’t hurt him.” Honest blue eyes gazed into green. “He tried getting back inside, by breaking a window and climbing in. By then, Mario had gotten out of the kitchen and took care of the matter,” Brooke smiled remembering the howl of pain that James had emitted when the dog bit into his calf. “I called the cops and he took off.”

Sam’s mouth dropped open. “God, he’s going to be so pissed at you now.”

Brooke smirked. “Not as much as he should be at himself. The cops picked him up a few blocks away. He’s being detained at the county jail. They arrested him first on a charge of Drinking and Driving on a suspended license. Then when they found out about what he did here, they added Breaking and Entering, Assault and possibly a few more charges that I’m not aware of.”

“Brooke, he must have wanted something if he came all the way here.”

“He was demanding those master tapes. I guess he thought he’d try to get something from you while he was here. You know, James always did think more with his…” Brooke stopped talking.

“This is all because of my birthday concert, isn’t it? That’s how you got the band back together, right?” She studied Brooke’s face for a moment. “I’m sorry I caused this.”

“Sam…” determined eyes gazed at her. “There is nothing for you to apologize for.”

“I just feel like I’m the one that caused this all to happen.”

“No, you’re not. It would have happened anyway. James likes to hold a grudge.”

“Isn’t there any way to keep him from doing that? To at least keep him from coming here and getting in your face?”

“The cops suggested that I get a PFA order.”

Sam looked puzzled. “PFA?”

“Protection from abuse. They said that I could get a lawyer to file for it in my behalf. I’ve been thinking about it and I’m going to give Randi a call today.”

“Do you really think that’s necessary? I mean… he was your friend.”

“Yes, I do.” Brooke’s eyes grew cold as she stared off into space.

“You’re doing it because of me, aren’t you?”

The tall woman turned to her lover. “It’s because I don’t want to risk anything happening to you for any reason. He’d be stupid enough to try something like that again.”

The blonde rested her head against Brooke’s shoulder. “I never meant to make your life so complicated, Brooke.”

“Baby, you didn’t make my life complicated. I told you, James likes to hold a grudge. He’s still pissed about the night I quit and now you’re stuck in the middle. You’re the one who doesn’t deserve this shit.” Brooke rested her check on Sam’s head.

“He was the reason you quit,” Sam whispered, knowing that she was right.

“Yes.” Brooke sighed. “Do you remember any of what he was saying?” The woman readied herself to hear his lies repeated again.

“I think I remember him saying something about that night…but…”

“He was telling you all kinds of shit. Some of it true, but a lot of it was all lies.”

“Don’t worry, Brooke, I wouldn’t believe a word he said anyway. There’s something about him that makes my skin crawl.”

Brooke gave the woman a hug. “I love you, Sam. I hope you never have reason to think otherwise.”

The sentiment of the moment brought a smile to Sam’s face and she nuzzled into her lover’s arms. “Now where did that come from? I know the real you, the real Brooke… not any made up character to create hype.”

Brooke grew very quiet. “So, Sam, if you know me so well…” she took a breath in, “…when are you going to move in with me?”

The blonde froze as her mind echoed the question again and again. Stalling for time, Sam asked, “What did you just say?”

“I uh…” Brooke eased her lover off her shoulder to look into her eyes. “Sam, I hate this. I hate being away from you and I’ve just been thinking about it for a while. You know that.”

“I still have my internship to do. What if…”

“I don’t care. I told you that I’ll go with you if I have to.”

“You’re not going to give up on this, are you?” Sam looked into determined blue eyes. “I thought so.” She took in a deep breath then let it out slowly as she considered her options. “Okay, how about if I move in with you over the winter break… and… and we’ll see what happens.”

The dark-haired woman let a smile come to her face. “Okaaaay,” she drew the word out happily. “The clothes that C.C. brought you… you could just leave them here. I mean… that way you’d feel more like this is your home too.” Brooke watched her lover, hoping that she didn’t seem too needy in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just can’t help it. I want to be with you all the time.”

“You know, I already have everything that I need right here to feel at home. I have you.” Sam leaned in and placed a kiss on Brooke’s lips. “You know what, Hon? I think that pill is kicking in. I’m beginning to feel better already.”

“Yeah?” Brooke studied Sam’s face.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Now what do you say we have some breakfast, just the two of us?” Sam looked at the tray of food. “Who knows, maybe I’ll even be up for some dessert when we’re done.”

“And I was just thinking how hungry I was.” Brooke’s eyes twinkled as she reached for the fork and dug into a sausage.

Brooke had toyed with the idea long enough as she cleaned up the breakfast dishes and caught up on the everyday housework that she had let go while she cared for Sam. She was sure of it now. The young blonde was definitely a treasured part of her life and she’d do anything she could to keep her safe. With that thought in mind, she reached for her cell phone and punched in the number for her sister, Randi.

Listening for the ringing to stop, she made herself comfortable in the corner of the couch, stretching out her long legs onto the coffee table. Just as she settled into a cozy position, she heard her sister’s voice come through the earpiece.

“Hello?” There was the sound of shuffling on the other end, then sound of a muffled voice raised in warning. “Julie, don’t do that, Honey.” There was a sigh on the other end, then Randi’s voice became clear once again. “Okay, I’m back. Hello?”

“Hey, Randi, what’s my lil’ niece doing now?”

“Brooke, hi.” Randi sounded more relaxed. “She’s making the flowers grow with the hose. The only problem is that she’s watering everything else at the same time. Bryan just wiped the car down and he’s going to have to dry it again.”

Suddenly Brooke had the urge to look into her dining room at the picture on the wall that Julie had left for her and Sam. A smile came to her face. “Hey, at least you know she means well.”

Randi’s voice boomed as she called out a warning, “NOT IN THE WINDOWS, JULIE!”

Brooke hurriedly pulled the phone away from her ear. “God, Randi. Warn me before you do that next time.”

“Sorry, Sis. Yeah, your niece means well, but then again, so did we when we had her.” Randi laughed, “Now, I’m not so sure. Thank God the terrible twos only last a year or so.”

The dark-haired woman filed that bit of information away for future reference as she got to the purpose of her call. “Hey, Randi. I think I kind of need your help with something. You got a minute?”

“Yeah, I always do for family. You know that. Does it have anything to do with the case that I got assigned to on Thursday morning?”

Brooke sank deeper into the couch. “No, don’t EVEN say it…”

“Why didn’t you call me when it happened?”

“Well, I was too concerned about Sam.” Brooke fought back the pang of nausea that came wafting over her at the thought of Sam being hurt and continued on. “We went to the hospital with her as soon as the cops left. Besides, I wanted to talk to her about all of it first.”