Chapter One
The thunder rolled as she stood in the rain, absolutely soaked.
Pressing the doorbell, she stopped and waited, her tears mingling
with the rain on her face until she could no longer tell which was
which. The door opened.

You don't stay best friends with a person for as long as Sam and
Harrison were friends without being able to read their various
expressions. Harrison took one look at Sam and knew she was near her
breaking point. She stood there in the rain, not even asking to come
in. Harrison knew she'd been crying, and he didn't know why. All he
knew was what he had to do. He held out his arms and Sam rushed into
them.

The second Harrison's arms closed around her the floodgates really
broke and Sam sobbed. She cried so hard her whole body shook with
the force of her anguish, and as Harrison reached behind her to
close the front door, she clung to him tightly, afraid to let go.
Gradually he walked her up to his room where he sat on the bed with
his back against the headboard, and Sam collapsed into his lap. She
cried.

"Sammy? Sammy baby, are you okay?" A stupid question to ask, given
that Sam very rarely cried. Right now, she was crying too hard to
even answer. He started idly stroking her back, worried about what
could have caused her to break down like this. After about half an
hour, the sobs subsided and Harrison reached down to Sam's face.

"Are you ready to tell me about it now?" There was no answer because
Sam had fallen asleep on his lap. Sighing, he reached for the book
beside his bed and began reading.

Sam awoke with a jump. For a second, she thought it had all been a
bad dream. She looked around her, expecting to see Brooke beside
her. All she saw was Harrison, looking down at her with a concerned
look on his face. Realizing it was all true, she started crying
again. Harrison went through his routine again. Sam was still awake
when her sobs subsided.

"Want to tell me about it now?" he asked, gently. Sam looked at him
and shook her head, reaching out her arms for a hug which Harrison
readily gave. Then she spoke for the first time since she arrived.

"Can you, uh, call my mom and tell her I'm staying here for the
night?" she asked him.

"Sure thing. But we're gonna talk when I get back," Harrison warned
her.

Ten minutes later he was back and still getting no answer from
her. "Please, Sammy. I can't fix this if I don't know what happened."

Sam sighed. "Even if you did know, you couldn't fix it, Harrison. I
appreciate the offer, but I'd rather not talk about it. I just need
to be held tonight, that's all."

Harrison took this at face value, choosing to accept that he was
needed. He pulled out an oversized t-shirt for Sam to sleep in,
stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. Sam followed him,
moving in close and placing her head on his chest. He wrapped his
arms around her and watched her fall into a troubled sleep.

Three days passed, and still Sam stayed with Harrison. He'd gone the
Palace and picked up some clothes for her with a little help from
her mom. Sam just couldn't face seeing Brooke so soon. Jane had been
a little concerned but seeing as it was Harrison, she knew Sam would
be safe.

At school Sam stayed close by Harrison. She ate lunch with him, sat
with him in classes and walked around with him, but she rarely
smiled and every time she saw anyone who was even remotely blonde
she flinched into his side. He still had no idea what had happened,
but he was starting to form some rough ideas. All this changed on
the evening of the third day.

They had fallen into somewhat of a routine. They would come home
from school and grab a snack, then head up to Harrison's room and do
their homework. Sam was fine during much of the day, but when it
came time to go to sleep, she cried herself to sleep. The evening of
the third day was no exception. As soon as the light was turned out
Sam began to sob. Harrison, breaking from the routine of just
holding her until she fell asleep, sat her up in his arms and gently
rocked her from side to side. Sobs turned to sniffles as Sam looked
up in surprise.

"Harrison, I-"

"You don't have to tell me anything, Sam. I'm just happy to be here
for you."

"How... there for me are you willing to be?" Sam asked him, deadly
serious.

"Whatever you need, Sammy. I'll do anything you need."

Sam leaned in and crushed their lips together, kissing Harrison with
all the hurt and passion she knew she should be directing at Brooke.
Her eyes were open, watching Harrison's reaction to her. He
stiffened at the contact, but soon relaxed into the kiss. Sam took
this as a good sign and deepened the kiss. She licked Harrison's
lower lip and, when his lips parted, her tongue plunged deep into
his mouth. She closed her eyes, but they snapped open again when she
realized she was picturing Brooke. She forced herself to think of
Harrison, of the sensations she was feeling because of Harrison, but
inside a voice was screaming "This should be Brooke!!! Only
Brooke!!!" She knew she had to make it real for Harrison, though. So
she kissed him with everything she had.

They broke apart, breathing heavily. Harrison spoke first.

"Sam, I... wow... I mean, that was..."

But Sam merely lay her head on his chest and cried.

***~~~***

Brooke wasn't taking the break up very well.

First, she and Sam were no longer together. Fine. She could have
dealt with that part, if Sam had been around for her to talk it over
with. She wasn't. She'd run off to Harrison's house, proving once
and for all who was number one in Sammy's heart.

Second, the fact that Sam was with Harrison at all was really irking
Brooke. There was just something about the whole situation that was
making her feel uneasy.

But to top it all off, the thing that really outweighed the other
things was the constant ache inside her. She missed Sam with all her
heart, and she knew she needed some sort of comfort, someone to help
her through her tough times. Deciding to take a leaf from Sam's
book she turned to Nicole. Mistake.

No matter what she did, she could never keep the full story from
Nicole when Nicole decided she wanted to hear it. The whole sordid
thing spilled out, and Brooke ended up crying all over Nicole.
Nicole, uncharacteristically, was nice. Too nice.

"Brookie, it's not the end of the world," she soothed. Brooke was no
longer crying, but was still close to tears.

"Yes, Nicole, I think it is. I love her, and she's not with me. I
don't know what I'm going to do... I feel so empty..."

Seeing she was about to start crying again, Nicole moved
quickly. "Come here," she ordered gently. As Brooke laid her head on
Nicole's shoulder, Nicole rubbed small circles on her back. "It's
going to be okay, I promise you."

"I'm ten times an idiot for even suggesting we should see other
people," Brooke moaned. "I didn't mean it, honest!"

"I know you didn't, baby," Nicole crooned, not really listening. The
most beautiful girl in school was in her arms, and all she wanted
was to kiss her. Unfortunately, now was not the time.

"I just want her back," Brooke sniffled.

"I know you do, honey."

"I'm going to get her back."

"Of course you... What?" But Nicole was screeching at thin air.
Brooke was gone.

Chapter Two
Each night that passed brought further recovery. Every night Sam
cried a little less. She kissed Harrison a little more, though.
Harrison noticed the more she kissed him, the less she cried, so he
didn't question her. After about ten days Sam grew bolder and
encouraged him to let his hands wander. He did so, wonder how far
she was going to let him go.

Harrison got to second base before she kissed him one last time and
shut off the light.

"Good night, Harrison," she murmured.

"Night Sammy."

Sam didn't cry a single tear that night, and in the morning she
decided it was time to go home.

***~~~***

Jane didn't question Sam either. She just let it go, knowing that
there had to be a good reason for Sam to freak out like that. Sam
moved her things back into her room and locked the door leading to
the bathroom.

Although she was home, she spent a lot of time on the phone to
Harrison. She didn't do much of the talking, just listened to
Harrison babbling on about whatever he felt like. It soothed her,
made her feel like there was a constant in the crazy place her world
had become. So it surprised him when she spoke up one day.

"Harrison? Do you want to come over for dinner?"

Harrison accepted.

Sam had not eaten a meal with the family since she had come home.
She still couldn't face the thought of seeing Brooke over the mashed
potatoes. Having Harrison there was her way of easing back into it,
trying to get back to normal. She had caught glimpses of the blonde,
moving from shower to bed or bed to dining room, and it always made
her want to cry again. But she was past that stage, she was past the
grief. Now came the anger.

"I'll show you, Brooke McQueen," she muttered angrily. "I don't need
you and your indecisiveness. I can make it without you, thank you
very much."

So saying, she walked downstairs and sat down next to Harrison, and
grasped his hand underneath the table. She was going to make Brooke
pay.

The meal was quiet, to say the least. Jane and Mike tried to make
conversation, but it soon became clear that no one was listening.
Brooke was staring at Sam, and shooting murderous glances at
Harrison. Sam was shooting murderous glances at Brooke and looking
lovingly at Harrison. Harrison was making goo goo eyes at Sam,
oblivious to Brooke. The adults sighed and left the table.

"Well, I'm done," Sam said finally.

"Me too," Harrison hurried to add.

"Do you want to come upstairs?" Sam asked him sweetly. She shot a
glance at Brooke, and could see her ploy was working. Sam had never
seen the blonde so green with jealousy, or so upset. Tough, she
thought. She should have thought of that before she dumped me.
As she led Harrison up the stairs to her room, though, she couldn't
help but feel a little bad. Two weeks earlier, it would have been
Brooke she was leading up the stairs, not Harrison. Even though it
felt so wrong, this had to be done.

She closed the door behind them and unbuttoned her shirt. "Harrison,
I need you."

Brooke, from her room, heard muffled noises and sighed. Thanking her
lucky stars there was a bathroom between their rooms and not just a
paper thin wall, she tried not to picture Sam and Harrison making
out, which was undoubtedly what they were doing.

Harrison left the next morning with a glazed look of contentment on
his face. It didn't take a genius to know that Sam had obviously let
him go further than second base. Brooke shot her a dirty look as
they passed each other on the stairs. How could she?

Brooke, Sam thought in anguish. I didn't mean it, honest!
Chapter Three
Brooke went back to Nicole, who of course was more than happy to
help her relieve some of the tension she'd been feeling since the
break up. Even though in her way she'd gotten her revenge on Sam for
Harrison, Brooke still felt empty and she knew why. She didn't want
this, any of this. She wanted Sam. And even though she'd said she'd
do something about it, she still hadn't. Now was the time.

Arriving home, she looked for Sam to try to sort things out. Before
she found Sam, she found Jane.

"Have you seen Sammy?" she asked. Jane nodded.

"She took Harrison up to her room about an hour back, why?"

Jane couldn't understand why Brooke looked about ready to burst into
tears, or vomit, or possibly both, when she mentioned Harrison.
Brooke choked back her tears and tried to appear okay.

"Just wanted to tell her something, it can wait."

She climbed the stairs to her room and lay on the bed and cried.

***~~~***

Sam lay next to a completely naked Harrison and wanted to be sick.

It wasn't that she didn't love Harrison. She did love him, with all
her heart, but as a friend. And never like this. She should have
never used him to get back at Brooke. He didn't deserve that. And
even though she'd tried to drown herself in Harrison, to help her
get over Brooke, it wasn't working. She hadn't been able to sleep
with him, because she knew that Brooke was it for her.

"Harry? I need to tell you something."

As quickly as she could she explained the whole thing to him, and
they were both crying by the end. Before long he left, but he
assured her he wasn't angry with her. Just sad for her. Sam wiped
her face and headed in for a long shower.

Brooke woke to the sound of the shower. Sam was probably
entertaining Harrison in there, she thought bitterly. She remembered
all the fun she and Sam had had in the shower together, and was
about to cry again when the door opened and Sam walked in, wrapped
only in a towel.

"Brooke," she began.

"Sam," Brooke whispered, tears falling down her face. "Shouldn't you
go and have some more sex with Harrison? I bet he's gagging for it."

Sam started to cry as well. "I couldn't do it," she sobbed. "I
couldn't go through with it, because the whole time all I could
think of was you. It was you I wanted, all the time, and I know that
now."

"I was so angry, I couldn't believe you had gone from me to him in
less than a week! You really didn't sleep with him?"

"I told you, I couldn't," Sam cried. "All I want is you."

"I want you too, so bad..."

"Well, you dumped me, remember? None of this was my idea!"

"I know!" Brooke yelled, the tears coming harder. " I know what I
did, and I regret it, okay? I want you back, and I know you probably
won't come back to me."

"What makes you think that?" Sam asked quietly, her tears slowing.

"Because I don't deserve you," Brooke whispered, looking at the
floor. She didn't see Sam storm across the room until she was
standing right in front of her.

"Don't ever give me that crap again," she warned. "You don't deserve
me? What a bunch of shit. Kiss me, then tell me I don't want you."

Brooke looked up, her eyes shining with defiance, but she did as Sam
said and let their lips meet. Immediately they wrapped their arms
around one another, their tongues clashing, lips meeting again and
again, until they ran out of breath and had to pull back.

"So tell me I don't want you. Come on, you know so much about what
I'm feeling. Tell me I don't want you after that kiss."

"You know what? I'm sick of this conversation. Screw telling you
that you don't want me. I want you, and that's enough." Brooke
stepped in very close, and unwrapped the towel that covered the
brunette's naked body.

"Brooke, what are you..."

"You heard me. I *want* you."

"What, now?"

"Right here, right now. I'm ready for it."

Sam didn't need to be told again. She kissed Brooke again, then
started to undress her. She was at a disadvantage considering she
was already naked, so she quickly made sure Brooke was the same way.

"God, you're perfect," she breathed.

"You're pretty fabulous yourself," Brooke said in awe. "So does this
mean you'll take me back?"

Sam smiled. "Shut up and make love to me."