Having reached the top of the stairs, Brooke stepped around the confused looking woman and headed for her bedroom.

Blonde brows furrowed as Sam’s tired brain tried to reason it out, but she couldn’t. Finally giving up with a show of hands raised upward in defeat, she uttered, “Okay, whatever…” then followed the dark-haired woman into the bedroom.

With the covers already thrown back, Brooke slipped out of her jeans and shirt then into the bed where she moved over, holding the covers back for Sam. Following suit, the blonde quickly shed her outer layer of clothing and snuggled in close to the warm body that would share the bed with her.

Lying there with Sam nestled close, Brooke ran over the conversation she’d just had with C.C. in her mind. Startling the older woman at the ease with which they were said, the soft-spoken words filled the room as they tumbled out of her mouth, “I love you, Sam.”

The young blonde smiled hearing the words and she blew a stray hair away from her face before responding, “Love you too, Baby.” She drifted off to sleep, unaware of the smile that it brought to the other woman’s face.

The sound of soft snores soon filled the room as Brooke tried to shutdown her over zealous mind from thinking about the situation any more. Her last thought before giving into sleep was more prayer-like than anything. “Please, Sam, don’t leave me…” Brooke sighed at the thought, then amended it, “…ever.”

Sleepy green eyes fought off the filtering rays of the mid-morning sun as it filled the room with light. Rolling to the other side of the bed for the familiar comforting touch of her friend, Sam only came up empty handed. The tall woman who had held onto her so tightly was gone and with it, all thoughts of staying in bed for the small blonde. Sensing the urge to attend to her needs, she climbed out of the king-sized bed and padded off into the master bathroom.

After emerging from the shower, refreshed and invigorated from her restful night of sleep, Sam dried off using the towel that Brooke had placed on the counter for her. Moving back into the bedroom, the small woman quickly pulled some clothing from her overnight bag and dressed, ready for whatever the new day may bring. With a smile on her face and the hope of finding Brooke, Sam took off for the kitchen and the cup of coffee that she knew would be brewing there.

“Hey there,” C.C. voice startled the blonde as she came past the door leading down to the studio.

“Hey, C.C.” Sam smiled and waved a little hello, “How are you feeling? Have you seen Brooke?”

“I’m feeling fine, thanks,” the brunette stepped out of the doorway and started walking down the hall toward the kitchen. “And… yeah, she’s in the studio,” she said as she motioned with her thumb extended in the direction of the door she had just left. “Did you sleep okay?”

Sam smiled as she got a little dreamy-eyed thinking about sleeping in Brooke’s warm embrace. “Yeah, I always sleep good when I’m here.”

“Really?” C.C. acted dumb, “Why is that?” The brunette turned to look at Sam, watching the red tinge come to the younger woman’s cheeks. “Come on, Roomie…” she wiggled her eyebrows, “You can tell me.”

“I…ah…” Sam stuttered.

“Yeeeessssss?” She drew out the word teasingly.

Swallowing hard, Sam looked to the floor trying not to show her embarrassment, “I like sleeping with your sister.” The blonde stole a look at C.C., “Alright?”

The brunette grinned broadly then, like a bolt of lightning, her right hand shot up toward the ceiling, “Woohoo!”

The blonde creased her brow at the sudden show of elation. “You act like it’s some sort of surprise.”

“Well yeah,” C.C. reached out and tweaked the smaller woman’s nose. “Damn, Sam. Three weeks ago you wanted to know what it was like to sleep with Loran,” C.C. chided her.

“Okay, so I was still a child three weeks ago.” Sam tried to hide her smile. “Maybe meeting your sister has helped me grow up,” the blush started in her cheeks. “At least in some matters.”

“Some matters?”

“It’s like…I know what I want finally,” Sam nodded, letting the smile come to her face. “And I’m happy with it.”

“Really?” C.C. pushed the issue even further. “So, what do you want?”

Sam laughed as she teased her roommate, “A million dollars.” They shared a laugh, then the blonde grew quiet before she spoke her mind. “What do you think I want? I want love, C.C. An honest to goodness love that will last my lifetime and then some.”

“Didn’t you always want that?”

“Yeah, but I thought fame was the trigger to make it work before. Now I know differently.”

“Fame? I don’t understand,” C.C. looked confused.

The blonde thought for a moment then answered, “It’s not fame, it’s what you feel inside that counts…” green eyes darted around the room trying to find better words to express herself. “What makes you want to keep living and breathing, just to see that face again…” she blushed, “…or hear those words one more time.”

C.C. looked wide-eyed and innocently at Sam, “And you’ve found that?”

“God, I’d love to think that I have…”

“So what’s stopping you?” C.C. poured a cup of coffee and offered it to Sam.

“Thanks,” the blonde took it and sipped at the black liquid, then made a face. “Too strong,” she mumbled and poured in some creamer and sugar. “Maybe I’m being childish to think that Brooke could care for me that same way.” She shrugged, then stirred the coffee with a spoon. “I’m just so much younger than her.”

The brunette almost dropped her own cup at hearing Sam’s defeatist attitude. “Oh God, Sam. My sister is so into you…”

Sam’s head lifted and she asked in wonderment, “You really think so? I mean…” She tried to qualm her excitement. “You’re just not saying that.”

“No, I know so,” C.C.’s words were out with no uncertainty.

The blonde swallowed hard and worked at forming the words, “You know so?”

Shaking her head and laughing, C.C. commented, “You two crack me up the way you dance around what you’re both feeling.” She sipped at her coffee, then continued, “Hell yes, I know so.”

“Dance around?” Sam stared into her coffee cup looking for answers, “What do you mean we dance around?”

C.C. sat down at the table and tugged at Sam’s sleeve until she did the same. “You don’t think she loves you as much as she does. She’s worried you’ll…uhm…find someone better and walk away from her.”

“Okay, so I’m a little insecure,” Sam sighed as she thought about what C.C. had just told her. Then it dawned on her, exactly what was said. “I’ll what?” she asked. “Why would I even want to find someone else? No one could be better, right?”

The brunette held up her right hand with its fingers outstretched, “One simple five letter word, girlfriend…” C.C. smirked, “Well, actually a name.”

“Huh?” Sam’s face was full of confusion at this point.

“L-O-R-A-N,” the letters were ticked off on C.C.’s fingers as she said them.

“I don’t understand,” Sam shook her head slightly. “What does Loran have to do with Brooke and I?”

“I don’t know, maybe she’s worried that you’d rather have Loran.”

“What? That some childish crush could…”

C.C. leaned in toward Sam and whispered, “You know, Brooke can be pretty insecure at times.”

“No, you’re kidding me,” Sam shook her head in disbelief.

“Kidding you? Never when it comes to her. Sam, she’d give you the world on a silver platter if it would make you happy.”

“Okay, C.C., what can I do to prove to her that I’m here to stay…that I’m not just fooling around,” the look on the blonde’s face was one of sheer determination.

“I don’t’ know…” the brunette shrugged her shoulders. “Tell her that.”

“Tell her what? That I love her and her alone.”

“Do you?” Brown eyes looked seriously into Sam’s eyes for the answer that she’d hope was there.

“Ah…C.C. is there really any question in your mind? There’s not in mine.”

“Then tell Brooke that,” she urged her roommate. “You won’t be disappointed. I promise you.”

“What, just come right out and tell her that?” Sam paused momentarily, and then continued, “I’m in love with Brooke Gordon; not Brooke Loran. Isn’t that a little obvious, C.C.?”

The brunette looked up to the ceiling trying to stifle a full-blown smile. “Something like that, yeah.” C.C. looked over to her friend. “She can be so dense sometimes. Look, Sam,” the woman held up her empty coffee cup, “I need more coffee so…she’s in the studio if you’d like to talk to her.”

“I’m going to feel like such a fool. God, she even knows Loran. She told me that herself,” Sam muttered out loud.

“Yeah? And so do I.” C.C. motioned with her head toward the studio stairway. “Go on, do it.”

Green eyes came to life as Sam came to a realization. “Oh God, she thinks I’m trying to use her, doesn’t she? I mean…to get to Loran.”

“I don’t’ think she believes that…” C.C. denied it as she got up to get more coffee. “Just don’t give her a chance to…”

“Well, we’re going to get this settled once and for all.” Sam stood up and pushed her chair back from the table. “No more beating around the bush. C.C. move aside,” Sam watched as the brunette’s eyebrow arched at her resolve. “I’m coming through,” Sam stepped around her roommate and headed for the studio and Brooke, determined to set things straight.

“God, I’m good,” C.C. gloated as she watched the blonde disappear down the stairway leading to the studio.

The tall, dark-haired woman sat at the set of drums with her back to the door of the recording studio. Sweat rolled down the muscular planes of Brooke’s body as she worked out in her own special way, dressed in a sports bra and a pair of spandex shorts to play the drums. Even the added effect of putting her long hair into a ponytail didn’t help to keep her cool. Whoever said that drummers didn’t get aerobic workouts had never met this one. Lost in her own rhythm, the woman seemed driven by her heart and soul as she beat out the cadence of the piece, while letting the melody seep into her body by way of the headphones that she wore.