February 23 1993

Dear friend,

Today I was both happy and sad. I was happy because Sam had to go to talk to the police. But I was sad because Sam had to go and talk to the police. I knew that she didn't want to go in at all. But I really think she it was the best idea. At least this way the people who did that to her could be caught for it, and put in jail. I'll tell you what happened though.

I went over to Sam's dorm room early in the morning; I had to wait about ten before Katie answered the door.

"Sam's busy at the moment," she said to me, so I waited on their couch. Katie spent a lot of time hurrying around – grabbing folders and thing like that – before she left. "Look after Sam,' she told me. I told her I would. Katie didn't need to say that to me, though. After a while I went looking for Sam, because it was getting close to the time we needed to get going for the station. I found her in the bathroom with the door unlocked. I was later told that the lock had been removed so that Sam couldn't lock herself in the bathroom. I thought that was a good idea, but Sam seemed to resent it, so I didn't say anything to her about it.

"Sam?" I asked. She was looking at herself in the mirror. I thought she looked bad. There were large bags under her eyes, her skin was pale and she looked liked she'd not slept properly. "Sam, we have to get going," I told her softly, and finally she turned around, and walked past me. I thought I'd done something wrong, and then realised I had. Sam hadn't wanted to talk to the police, and I'd pressured her into doing. Grabbing her coat, she threw it on and walked out of the dorm. I followed her, still worrying that I'd done something wrong.

I tried convincing myself that talking to the police was for the best on the walk across the campus, although Sam didn't say anything to me; she just wrapped her arms around herself. A few days ago we'd been holding hands and walking across this very campus, happy together, but I've learned that things can change very quickly between people, and all you have to do is something small. It almost felt like that time when I kissed Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth, except it didn't because Sam and I weren't surrounded by our friends. But Sam was still mad at me.

It took us a little while to walk to the station, and neither of us spoke to the other on the walk. I was really hoping that Sam wasn't mad with me, but was just nervous about having to talk about what happened. I know that's very selfish of me, and really mean, but I didn't want Sam mad at me for helping. I wanted to her to be happy again, and not sad or angry with herself. Because I know that this wasn't her fault at all. It was all because of those guys she'd told me about, and now she was going to report them to the police, and they'd be able to arrest them.

I opened the door to the station for Sam, and she hardly glanced at me as she entered. When she approached the desk, I stayed back, and let Sam talk to the lady behind it. The lady motioned to some seats by a door that lead down a hallway, and Sam sat down in one. She patted the seat next to her as she looked at me, still stood by the front door. Sitting next to her, I looked over to her.

"Sorry," she said to me with a smile, and Sam took my hand, squeezing it tightly. "I'm just nervous about this. I've not–," Sam paused and looked down. I waited. "I've not told anybody properly about what happened. Not even you, Charlie. And I'm sorry about–," Sam looked as though she were about to cry, and I interrupted her.

"Don't worry about that, Sam. You don't have to tell me. You probably shouldn't tell me, I might do something stupid," I said to her, and Sam managed a smile, which made me happy. I assume it also made her happy because she smiled. "Just go in there, and tell them the truth. Then we can leave it to the police to find them, okay?"

"Okay," replied Sam, and she nodded, and wiped her eyes of any tears that had escaped. We waited in silence and held hands until Sam was called in by a tall officer. I gave her a kiss on the cheek because I thought it might help, and then she disappeared down the hall.

I waited for a long time. I don't know how long though because I didn't have a watch, and the clock behind the desk wasn't working. The hand would tick forward, only to tick backwards again. I got several cups of water from the cooler, and ended up needed to use a toilet – which I did. I read two magazines that had two different actresses on cover to cover. I thought about talking to the receptionist, but I changed my mind when an officer started flirting with her. At least I think they were flirting. She laughed and smiled a lot when he laughed and smiled. It was weird, like looking in a mirror. But I guess that when you like somebody you end up laughing together and smiling at each other. I do that with Sam, although I'm not that good at jokes. People laugh when I say things though.

When Sam finally came out, it did look as though she'd been crying, so I stood up and put my arm around her as we walked out. I didn't want to say anything too soon, because I didn't know if Sam wanted to talk about it. But she finally said something as we got back to the campus.

"They say they're going to do their best to find the guys," she started, and held my hand tight. "And they said that it shouldn't be too hard because the college will have all of their information. But they also said that they have to prove that it was them, and that I'd be in big trouble if I were making it all up."

Sam choked at the end, and her voice broke. She leaned against me, and cried into my chest. I held onto her tightly, and rubbed her back. I don't know why I did that, I just hope it was the right thing to do, because I'm still not sure how you're supposed to comfort people, but my Mom would rub my back sometimes if I was upset.

It took a few minutes for Sam to calm down, although she was still doing that thing where you can't really breath properly, and you end up taking really fast, shallow, breathes. Walking her back to her dorm, I opened the door, and Sam decided she'd lie on her bed. I sat with her for a long time, holding onto her hands, and eventually she fell asleep. I pulled the covers over her, and sat on the floor, my back against her desk, waiting for her to wake up. Sam didn't have any classes today, because she told the Dean about her going to talk to the police. The Dean wanted to know what it was about, but Sam didn't want to say, and told her that the police would be in touch with them.

I'm not sure if Sam actually managed to get permission in the end, but I guess she decided she wasn't going to class anyway.

I woke up to Sam's voice.

"… Yeah, Mom. I'm okay. I told them." There was a pause as I stood up and stretched – your back hurts a lot after you sleep against a desk. "I'll come home, yeah." Another pause. "I can wait a few days, I suppose." I walked over to Sam, and frowned.

"We can take you home today," I said to her softly. Sam's eyes widened, and she smiled at me, and nodded.

"Mom? Charlie's been visiting, and he said that his family can drive me home today…" Pause. "Okay, I'll see you later, then. Bye – I love you."

Sam hung up, and hugged me.

"Thanks so much, Charlie. I'll pack my things."

I smiled at her, and hugged her tightly until she let go.

"I'll go – um – tell my parents."

And then I left Sam to pack, and came back to the motel. Mom and Dad looked all hot, which I didn't understand because it was pretty cool outside, but I asked them if we could take Sam home, and they agreed. I called Sam right after, and told her that to phone back on this number, and then we'd come over with the car and load up her things.

I really can't wait to be back home and with Sam, too! It'll be like 'old times' and we can visit all the spots we used to hang out in. But I really hope that Sam can get some help for her bulimia soon. All the bad stuff is happening to her again.

Love always,

Charlie.

A/N: If you've read this chapter, thank you. I know it's been a really long time since I updated. As always, I appreciate the reviews, and I'll try to post at least once a week. Come pester me on Twitter Pottercrux

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