“You say you love me, but do you?” Sam stared right at Brooke. “Do you really?” Before Brooke could answer, the younger woman added, “Maybe you should give yourself some time to think about that.”

They stood there for only a moment before Brooke tried to reassure Sam. “I’ve had plenty of time to think about it. And yes,” Brooke studied the blonde’s face for any change of heart. “I love you.”

Confused by all the emotions that she was feeling, Sam started to turn away from Brooke when her arm was caught and held. Casting her eyes down to the large hand on her elbow, Sam pinned a gaze back at Brooke, then down to her point of captivity again and sighed, closing her eyes.

“I would rather have you smack me across the face than for you to turn away from me again.” Brooke released her grip on Sam’s arm and waited to see what would happen.

Green eyes churned at the challenge. Without warning, Sam turned abruptly and, with an open right hand, slapped Brooke across her cheek, causing the dark-haired woman’s head to turn. With the sound of the slap reverberating in her head, Brooke held her ground, not saying a word, her blue eyes slowly coming back to look at Sam.

“There,” she said, shocked at her own actions. Sam stood like a doe struck by headlights, watching as Brooke raised her own right hand to touch the hand-imprinted cheek. “That’s for…” her eyes began to tear up and she could feel her lower lip start to tremble. “That’s for…” Sam started to say again but couldn’t finish. Instead, she turned and ran from the room sobbing, leaving Brooke with her own thoughts.

Turning from the sink with a tall glass of water in her hand, C.C. started for the kitchen table when Sam came running through the room, almost colliding with her.

“Hey,” C.C. reached out to slow the woman down. “You alright?”

Sam slowed down, and then looked at C.C., wiping her tear-stained cheeks as she said, “Alright? I’ll never be alright.”

“Whoa. What happened?” The brunette put her glass down on the table and grabbed onto Sam’s shoulders and searched her face for some clue. “I thought you were going to apologize.”

The blonde’s brow furrowed with pain and Sam closed her eyes. “She… We…” Small fists tightened in frustration then she voiced it in an anguished outcry, “Aauuuurgh!” Then, her simple reply was, “Ask her.”

“Hey, I’m asking you.” C.C. shook the blonde till she opened her eyes, and then locked on to them with her own.

Determined not to let it get to her any worse, Sam said what was on her mind. “C.C., I know you thought that this idea of Brooke and me was a good one, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Why?” C.C. paused, then loaded her double barreled mouth and let go with both sides. “You mean it was safer for you to lust after a photograph than to love someone who can love you back? Life isn’t easy, Sam. But you want to run off at the first sign of a little misunderstanding…”

“I need to know I can trust the people I love. I don’t want to have to wonder what I’ll find out next about them.”

C.C.’s usually soft brown eyes turned hard and cold as she countered, “That’s pretty, fuckin’ pathetic, Sam.” The brunette held on tighter as Sam tried to shake her off. “Did she or did she not tell you that there were things you didn’t know, that she would tell you?” Sam nodded her head. “And didn’t she say that before the two of you were an item?

“Well…” Sam thought, letting her eyes dart around the room as she went from scenario to scenario in her head. “I guess she did.” The blonde looked a little unfocused as she mumbled, “We all don’t know each other immediately on the first date.”

“Do you have any idea, of the numerous people that tried to seduce her so they could get to James or Peter?” C.C. put both hands on her hips as the defense mode for her older sister kicked into gear.

“But why would they…” Sam brought her focus back to her roommate.

“You want to know why Loran had such a bad rep?” C.C. watched as Sam nodded, then continued, “Every woman that ended up in the media had tried to fuck her to get to one of those two assholes. When she figured it out and wouldn’t continue with the relationship, that’s what happened.” Brown eyes leveled in on Sam, “And every time, they told her they cared about her… that they loved her.”

Sam ran over what C.C. had just said in her head. Then, out of the blue, something caught her attention. The numerous people that tried to seduce her…had tried to fuck her…A bitter taste came to the blonde’s mouth as the inkling of doubt entered in. “But you said that she was a virgin. She even told me…” Sam’s eyes grew bigger remembering the events of Saturday morning. Unsure of what to believe, the young woman cast a cautious glare in the brunette’s direction. “Or is that a lie too?

“Damn it, Sam. Nobody has fucking lied to you! You might not have been told everything, but you were never lied to. She is still a virgin,” C.C. pleaded in her sister’s behalf. “She never slept with any of them. But it doesn’t mean they didn’t try. Every time, they ran off to the media talking about what a dog she was. That’s when the record company decided to go ahead and elaborate on the whole situation, give it some twists and turns.”

“So that’s when the bad girl rep came in for Loran…” Sam mumbled under her breath. “I didn’t realize… I just…” A mixture of fire and hurt came to Sam’s eyes. “So am I supposed to feel sorry for her?” Sam sighed, shaking her head from side to side. “C.C., she didn’t even value me enough to say who she was… who she used to be.”

“Why should she have to?” C.C. stepped closer to Sam, getting up in her face with each new sentence. “Why does it make a difference? Who would you rather have say that they love you; Brooke or Loran? And you told her that you loved her… no matter what.”

“Who do I love? Why Brooke, of course,” green eyes pinned C.C. and held there for a moment. “But I…”

“No one has ever wanted to be with Brooke for Brooke. They always wanted Loran. Now tell me…”C.C. paused for effect. “Would you have told someone who you really were with that kind of record? Especially someone you knew for a fact was the largest fan of your own alternate identity?” C.C. leaned in and whispered, “I don’t think so.” The brunette straightened up, folding her arms over her chest. “I know damn well that I wouldn’t.”

It certainly gave Sam something to think about. The young woman’s mind had just been made privy to so many aspects of the phenomenon known as Loran that she didn’t know what to think. “C.C., I think I have to sort this out in my head. I… I have to reconsider this whole deal…”

“Sure. Whatever… what do I know, right? I’m just the ditzy ass younger sister who loves her more than anyone.” The woman glared at Sam, almost challenging her to say something different. Seeing that her roommate was at a loss for words, C.C. turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Sam standing by herself.

Numbed by the encounter, Sam could feel her shoulders slumping and let her head hang down as she closed her eyes, “So much to think about.” Mrs. Gordon, I sure hope you were right about the fresh air helping to clear heads, because I sure need it now. Gathering all her strength, Sam pushed off the counter she found herself leaning against and headed for the deck.

It wasn’t long before C.C. found her sister sitting in the moody lighting of the desolate studio. The war-torn shambles of the hallway now ventured inside the soundproof area with the bits and pieces of wood and steel that had earlier today been a guitar. C.C. looked at the rubble and knew the pain that Brooke was feeling. With every step she took, she felt the musician’s heart shatter like the glass she was walking on.

Coming to a stop outside of the doorway to the room, the brunette stood there, watching the back of her sister as she’d throw her head back and drained the last out of a bottle of beer that she held to her mouth. C.C.’s eyes followed the imaginary course of the beer as it entered Brooke’s system, her eyes slowly settling on the floor around her sister with its scattered bottles and smashed glass.

Feeling the need to watch over her sister, C.C. made her presence known. “Hey, Sis. Mind if I join you?” The younger woman rolled off the doorway and entered the room.

“I don’t care,” the monotone voice answered her. “There’s beer in the fridge,” Brooke motioned with her head, never turning around to face her sister.

“Yeah, I know.” C.C. went to the small appliance in the corner of the room and took one out. Turning back, she watched her sister finish her beer and without a second thought, throw the bottle against the wall past C.C., smashing it into little pieces. Damn, it’s worse than I thought. C.C.’s gaze went back to her sister who sat there reaching for another bottle from the line up that was on the table next to her and opened it.

The young woman walked over and took a seat on the stool next to her sister. “So… you want some help cleaning up… ah… from the party?” C.C. didn’t really want to drink the bottle of beer and therefore chose to just hold on to it.

“No, I can do it,” came the reply as Brooke brought the bottle to her lips.

C.C. surveyed the area from this angle, “I see you can do a lot of…” the brunette raised an eyebrow, “things.”

Brooke let out a half laugh then became very quite. “You could do me a favor though.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” She rolled the bottle between her hands, nervously anticipating what it could be.

“Get the keys to the jeep and take Mario over to Terri’s.” She took a deep breath in and shook her head, “He doesn’t need to be here with me in a shitty mood.” Brooke reached out, gathering up the pile of darts that lay on the table next to the line of beer bottles.