"Mom! This isn't right; you need to talk to him!"

When it came down to physical appearance, my 16 year old daughter, Alexis Evans, took after Sam. She was tall and slender, standing at 5'8". She had inherited his best features. Alexis had beautiful blue eyes and pouty lips. On the other hand, she got her attitude from me. She was fierce, confident, and no one could stand in her way. When she believed in something, she fought for it. And this just happened to be one of those moments.

"Don't act like I'm not in the room! I said no, and that's final Alexis. This discussion is over."

At the age of 38, Sam had managed to get sexier with age. His shaggy & boyish blonde hair was now shorter. He had definitely matured. Don't get me started about his body. After all of these years, he still managed to catch my breath. It was weird because Sam hadn't changed, but at the same time, he was a stranger. He went from this dorky teenager with this never ending smile, to a man whose face had hardened with darkness.

"Now wait a minute! Sam, this conversation is not over. We need to talk this through. We don't make decisions like this in our house."

When I was 17, being married to Sam and having a child with him seemed like a fairytale. No, it was more of a dream to me. Now at 37, it was far from a dream. It was a reality that wasn't living up to its fairytale potential.

Sam was looking at me like I'd stabbed him in the back; his eyes were piercing right through me. Chills rushed up and down my neck. Alexis smirked as she was happy with this tiny glimpse of hope.

"Mom's right Dad! What happened to hearing me out? What happened to compromising with me," she asked her father with a pleading look on her face.

Usually with a quivering lip and her wide eyes, Alexis could easily persuade Sam to do anything. This was a skill she had learned from me. Only this time, it didn't look like he was falling for it.

"Listen to me Alexis. I compromised when you wanted to go on a skiing trip without chaperones. I compromised when you wanted a nose ring. I even compromised when you wanted a new car. But when it comes to this, I'm not compromising! I'm not changing my mind." Sam was trying not to lose his cool, but I could see his blood boiling.

"Ok to be fair, I paid for half of that gently used car…" Alexis replied sarcastically.

Before Sam had time to say anything, I knew it was time for me to step in.

"Go to your room sweetie, this has now become a conversation between me and your father." I said calmly.

"No! I want to understand why he won't let me go out with Darren! It's not fair, Mom." She sneered.

"Listen to your mother and get to your room Alexis." Sam grumbled without looking at either at us.

"It's because he's black isn't?" she challenged her father with such a ridiculous accusation. Did I mention she doesn't go down without a fight?

Sam stood angrily almost knocking over the chair he was sitting in.

"The discussion is over Alexis. Go now!" He pointed in the direction of the hallway where her room was.

Defeated, my young daughter looked to me for help. Instead, I just nodded my head towards her bedroom door.

Realizing she had not won the battle, she stormed to her room, slamming the door.

Sam laughed and sarcastically asked, "Since when was slamming doors acceptable in this house?"

Fed up with his attitude, I finally lashed out.

"What the hell, Sam! What is wrong with you? She's a good kid! She makes good grades, she helps around the house. Why do you have to be such an assholeabout this?" I couldn't hold in my feelings any longer.

"I'm the bad guy now? Right, so I'm an asshole because I care about my daughter. I'm an asshole because I don't want some thug's hands all over my little girl," he said trying to challenge me.

"Darren is a good kid. He's in honor classes with Alexis; he's involved with the church! Maybe if you went more often, you would know that." I challenged him right back.

He looked at me with eyes I couldn't read. Then he just rolled his eyes and scoffed. Who was this man sitting before me? It was like I didn't know him anymore.

We sat in silence for a few moments before I sighed.

"This is about way more than our daughter's love life. I feel like I don't know who you are anymore Sam," I barely whispered. I looked up at him with tears brimming in my eyes while he avoided my stare.

"All we do is fight. You have this hot temper that came out of nowhere. Nothing's fun for you. If you aren't mad, you're tired. If you're not tired, you want to be alone. You're slipping away from me," I said not being able to hold in my tears anymore.

He looked up at me with such an angry face that it was almost scary.

"Cedes…," he paused for a moment. "Did it ever cross your mind, that maybe it's you that's the problem?"

Taken aback, a lump was caught in my throat. For one of the first moments in my life, I was speechless.

"You know, maybe if you were around more, you would know that it's you that has changed."

I couldn't believe what he was saying. I was so out of it, I almost didn't notice him walk over to the kitchen to get his keys.

"Where the hell are you going this time Sam? We can't leave it like this; not again." My voice was raspy and shaky. This scene was all too familiar. I tried to pull his arm, but he jerked away.

"I need air. Don't wait up," he said simply as he slammed the front door. And with that he left for the second time this month.

It took almost all of me to not break down right there in our living room.

What was happening to our lives? How did we get here?

A/N: Hey Everyone! This is my first story and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I really wanted to see more Samcedes Fanfiction, so I thought, "why not write your own?" So I did! Reviews would be amazing. I see a lot of fanfiction originating from the Prom Queen episode, and I wanted to try a new approach. Not that I don't love those stories! Anyway, thanks for reading.