Chapter Seventeen

"Are you sure you want to go inside, Sammy?" Pamela leaned down and slung her arm around Sam's shoulders, disregarding the glare her daughter flashed her as she did so. "We can always go back to your aunt's house for another week or two if you're still not ready."

"I was never not ready, mom." Sam folded her arms over her chest and shrugged her mother off of her. The woman frowned and positioned herself upright, glancing over at Jeremy. "Don't you guys think you're overreacting a little? That whole incident happened almost three weeks ago."

Jeremy's expression fell flat and he sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter if that happened three weeks ago or three months ago. It shouldn't have happened at all." His face then lit up and his lips rose into a cheerful grin. "No worries, though! Your mother and I will gladly see to it that Alyssa's family never shows their faces around here again."

"Jeez. Isn't that a little harsh? I mean, I enjoy seeing her face justice as much as the next person, but I don't really think her family influenced her actions." Sam lowered her arm and curled her fingers around the handle of her suitcase, tugging it along with her as she began walking forward. "At least I hope not."

Jeremy and Pamela slowly trailed behind her after sharing an inquisitive look. "Well, my offer still stands, honey." Pamela clasped her hands together and smiled faintly. "If you walk back into the house and feel like you can't stomach being there, I will gladly take you back to your aunt's house."

"I never wanted to go there in the first place. I kept insisting that I was more than fine to go back home, but for some reason, you and dad only heard the contrary." Sam stopped walking once she reached the entrance of her house, or mansion. "I appreciate you guys looking out for me, but I'm fine. Please don't coddle me anymore."

Pamela's frown deepened, but rather than responding to her daughter, she merely looked over her shoulder and furrowed her brows at Sebastian, who was struggling to carry her suitcases. "Sebastian, hurry it up! You're still on thin ice."

"Yes, ma'am." Sebastian attempted to quicken his pace as he hefted her luggage, but once he drew closer to her, his arms gave out and he unintentionally dropped her suitcases to the floor. While he launched into profuse apologies, Pamela growled and stomped her foot against the ground.

"Can't you do anything right? What, letting some psychopath slip into our home and attack our daughter wasn't enough?"

With a sharp huff, she spun around and marched into the house after Jeremy unlocked the front door. He stared at her departing form as it grew distant before sympathetically glancing over at Sebastian. Then, he wordlessly followed his wife into the building, leaving Sam alone with Sebastian.

"Ignore her. She's just being her usual overprotective self." Sam took pity on the poor man because he explained to her and her parents numerous times that his absence the night she was attacked wasn't intentional. He even showed them the note Alyssa wrote for him, and while she and Jeremy forgave him, Pamela insisted on holding a grudge.

She knelt down and grabbed one of the fallen suitcases, letting him carry the other one because she was still lugging her own. A thankful smile graced his lips as he rose to his feet again and dusted off his shirt. "She has every right to be upset with me, Miss Manson. I should've checked with you first before leaving like that."

"Please. I'm not mad about that. I'm more mad that she dragged me to my aunt's house and separated me from my friends because she thought I was going through PTSD."

"I see. Still, I'm glad that all is well with you."

"I appreciate that."

They both lapsed into a comfortable silence and continued moving the suitcases into the house. To Sam, walking back inside after the whole incident was a strange feeling that she couldn't quite understand. To currently be standing in the same room where she fought off Danny's crazed, jealous stalker was still a bit surreal to her. She was just grateful that she escaped the situation with her life, stitches, and a shot in her shoulder.

All she wanted to do was move on with her life, but Pamela and Jeremy were making that impossible for her. They both wanted to pursue legal action against Alyssa, which was fine with her at first until they started pushing the matter on her. Sure, they were just being her typical protective parents, but she didn't want or need a constant reminder that she could've lost her life.

As soon as she was discharged from the hospital, Pamela and Jeremy drove her straight to her aunt's house because they thought she couldn't handle going back home so soon. They also started picking her up straight after school, which meant that she wasn't able to hang out with Danny and Tucker the way she always did.

"If you need anything, Samantha, don't hesitate to give your mother and I a shout," Jeremy told her as she ascended the stairs towards her room. "Don't forget about what she told you, either. If you don't feel comfortable here, let us know." She simply answered him with a grunt, not even bothering to spare a glance in his direction.

The house was definitely cleaned up by someone while she was gone, as all of the blood that was on the floors that particular night was now gone. She inwardly rolled her eyes after figuring that Sebastian was the culprit, but probably because Pamela forced him to clean the area. He didn't want to lose his job and she knew that, so she was most likely going to ride the situation until the wheels fell off.

Sam set the two suitcases on the floor of the hallway and then shuffled towards her room. Her door was closed, but she vaguely remembered leaving it open around the time of the attack. She brushed it off and extended her hand outward, placing it onto the knob before twisting it and pushing her door open.

"Surprise!"

Her mouth slightly fell open at the sight of her boyfriend and her best friend standing beside her bed, with "Welcome home!" balloons surrounding them. Plastered on their faces were big, goofy grins that she couldn't help but smile at. She quickly shut her room door and locked it, eagerly rushing over to them.

"Hey, guys." She raised both of her arms and slid them across their shoulders, pulling them closer to her and increasing the size of her smile. "I've really missed hanging out with you both. I mean, I know we see each other during school, but after school is much different."

"Hopefully we can start hanging out with you again now that you're back." Tucker's right arm wrapped around her waist and he looked sideways at her. "You know, assuming that your parents aren't putting you on lockdown again."

"Knowing them, that's exactly what they're going to do." Danny mirrored Tucker's action of moving his arm around her waist, only he leaned over and pecked her cheek afterwards. "Jazz and my mom keep asking about you. You really gave them a scare that night, not to mention me and Tuck as well."

She glanced down to the floor before looking up slowly. "I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn't a scary situation to be in. It was, but I don't want to focus on it anymore." She moved her arm from around Tucker and let it fall back to her side, but her grasp on Danny loosened as she slid her hand to his upper arm. "It happened and it's over. I really, really want to just leave it at that."

"I know, but it's just a really weird and shitty situation." He drew a deep breath and averted his gaze onto Tucker, who nodded his head in agreement. "I'm glad you're okay. I know you hate talking about it, but there's a difference between not wanting to talk about something because it bothers you and not wanting to talk about something because you've moved on from it."

Sam raised an eyebrow and leaned her head to the side a bit. "Did Jazz turn into a ghost and overshadow you? Are you Amorpho?" She lifted the back of her hand and pressed it against his forehead. "You're not running a fever, are you?"

He rolled his eyes at her and lightly swatted her hand away from him with a grimace. "Stop. I'm being serious."

"And so am I. Like I said, I really just want to leave this nightmare in the past where it belongs." She closed her eyes and exhaled softly. "I don't want to give Alyssa the attention she's been seeking. I want all the memories of her to just fade away into nothing."

There was a long pause before anyone spoke again, but before anyone could, there was a swift tapping at the door. "Are you okay in there, darling?" When Jeremy didn't receive an answer from his daughter, his knocking became much more urgent. "Samantha, answer me. Is everything okay in there?"

The girl in question flattened her lips and ground her teeth together before forcing out a false sweet reply. "Relax, dad. I'm okay, just about to go shower." She waited until she heard him traveling away from her room before parting her lips and letting a sigh roll out. "Sorry about that, guys."

Tucker bit the corner of his lip and hummed. "You know, we don't have to talk about Alyssa anymore. She's being dealt with by the authorities, so why don't we just continue on with our lives?"

Sam smiled a bit, but because it looked mostly forced, Danny's hand swallowed hers as he gently grabbed it and his thumb started to caress the top of it. "We aren't letting you move on from this without us. We're coming with you," he said quietly.

She squeezed his hand and looked out at Tucker, who just nodded again. "Exactly. That's what family's for. You'll never go through the hard times alone."

It was in that moment that she was extremely grateful to have them both as her best friends. Alyssa definitely took the three of them for a ride on a roller coaster of emotions, and while there were more downs than ups, it was still a ride that none of them would forget.