Brooke turned her head to look at Sam who was still watching her with an expression that could peel paint. The brunette's death stare had been momentarily broken when she turned to watch Lily run through the aisle, but she was now back at it with a renewed vigor. Raising her hand up Brooke pointedly clicked her phone off, the small screen going black with a little beep. "Not that I didn't enjoy the threats of bodily injury," Brooke started in a soft tone, "but all you had to do was ask," she continued turning away from Sam and slumping back in her chair slightly.

Sam looked over at Brooke, feeling genuinely ashamed. Sometimes she was just so Joan Crawford not even she could stand it. "I'm sorry," Sam said softly as she too slumped back in her chair moodily. She was surprised at how easily the words fell out of her mouth, though she considered that with the thoughts that had been running through her head lately she shouldn't really have been.

"I was just bored," Brooke mumbled a minute later breaking the silence that had arisen between the two of them after Sam spoke. Sam looked over at her but didn't say anything. "And I think we both know that you weren't exactly an option," she continued as her eyes traced the contours of the roof idly.

"That's not true," Sam muttered under her breath as she picked at one of her nails, her eyes flickering to observe Brooke's profile nonetheless. Brooke didn't respond to her verbally, but Sam did see her loll her head to the side and roll her eyes dramatically. She frowned.

"That was mature," Sam commented, moody once more.

Brooke turned to look at her, a mildly amused expression on her face. "You're the one that threatened to beat me to death with my phone and you're question my maturity level?" she asked. Instead of responding Sam returned to picking at her nails. "You know, you can act as pissy as you want to, but you know you wouldn't have talked to me," Brooke continued. This comment caused Sam to look over at her, not so much because of what she said but because of how she said it. There was something in Brooke's voice, an accusation, and a sadness that Sam couldn't help but acknowledge.

"Even if I wanted to talk to you," Sam started somewhat defensively, though she didn't exactly know why, "what could we possibly have talked about? I know that I'm personally at a loss as to what could out do that no doubt mentally exhausting `I know' conversation."

"Oh, I don't know," Brooke responded turning to face Sam. "Maybe Herman Melville's condemnation of consumer society as can be seen in his little appreciated work `Bartleby, the Scrivener'."

Sam's lips parted in her surprise and her brows scrunched together. "I…" she started to say.

"Never mind," Brooke interrupted turning away once more. "I've decided to re-organize my make-up case."

Sam stared at her for a moment longer, her mind trying to come to grasps with the fact that, one, Brooke knew who Herman Melville was, let alone was able to comment on the themes of one of works, and two, that she commented on the condemnation of consumer society and then decided to re-organize her make-up case. Shaking her head, she turned around and looked out the window. Screw Brooke, she didn't really want to talk to her anyway.

Part Four

Brooke turned her head to look at Sam just as the brunette turned to face her. Their eyes locked and narrowed. They had entered their room only moments before engaging in this almost primal staring contest. Sam licked her lips. Brooke noticed the movement and blinked. This was the opportunity that Sam had been looking for. She smiled to herself and thought `sucker!' She broke out into a sprint. Brooke noticed the movement and started after her, but she was too slow. Sam jumped into the air launching herself forward, landing on the mattress softly, skidding across it for a second before coming to complete stop. She raised herself into a sitting and then a standing position where she turned to face Brooke arms raised high in triumph.

"I have picked my bed," Sam declared smiling. It was the one on the right side of the room, the one she knew Brooke wanted. Both of them had this thing with having whatever was on the right side, and she had won this battle.

"Whatever," Brooke mumbled staring at Sam as if she were trying to cast a spell that would inflict the ten plagues of Egypt plus a clashing wardrobe upon the brunette. After that voodoo moment Brooke then bent down and picked up her suitcase adding `stupid jackass' under her breath as she carried it over to the other bed.

Sam sat and down on the bed and crossed her legs watching as Brooke resentfully heave her suitcase onto the bed, still muttering under her breath.

"Don't be bitter," Sam commented as she luxuriated across her bed, sighing contently, "it'll give you wrinkles."

Brooke frowned, turning her head slightly so that she could see Sam. "I'd ask if you're always this annoying, but I'm already painfully aware of the answer to that question," Brooke responded, pushing to suitcase to the other side of the bed and lying down wearily.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be roomed with you either Merry Sunshine," Sam replied getting up off of the bed and moving to retrieve her own suitcase, which had been unceremoniously dumped just inside the doorway. Hauling the luggage up onto her bed, Sam looked over at Brooke just in time to see the blonde smirk and let out a short, derisive, wisp of laughter before then moodily turning her attention to the ceiling. Sam observed her for a second, think that she looked rather peaceful despite the situation, the way the light was shining on her seemed to light her hair up making it look like she was surrounded by a golden halo, and the angle that she had her head titled at gave her a rather reflective appearance, like one of those ancient Greek statues from the classical period where the subject always looked like the were contemplating some elusive truth.

Sam turned away and began to fiddle with her suitcase, trying to open it. She had things to prepare for tomorrow before Glass came to get them for dinner. There were other things to think about besides Brooke. She was on a mission after all.

"Dammit," Sam exclaimed a moment later. The lock to her suitcase seemed to be stuck. She did not need this. In fact, she was so busy trying to mentally combust the case that she didn't notice Brooke approach her until the blonde spoke.

"Here," Brooke softly said coming to stop beside Sam and reaching over for the case. "Mine does this all the time," she continued turning her head to look at Sam for a moment before returning her gaze to the suitcase. Sam felt herself gulp, and prayed to God that it wasn't audible. Having Brooke this close to her, speaking to her in a soft sexy whisper was doing things to her that was only suppose to happen when she was alone in her room at night.

"All you have to do is very gently," and with that Brooke raised her arm high up into the air and slammed it down onto the top of the leather suitcase with all of her strength. Sam gaped at her, so surprised by Brooke's assault of her suitcase that she didn't resist when the blonde then reached for the key, which was loosely held in her hand, and removed it using it to open the case.

"Thanks?" Sam responded still mildly stunned, but glad that she was no longer in the Brooke induced fog that had been hanging over her moments before. Brooke took a step away from Sam, looking over at her, a small smile gracing her features before she looked away and headed back over to her side of the room. "I meant that," Sam added a moment later.

"Your welcome," Brooke replied as she lay back down and closed her eyes while taking in a deep breath. Sam smelt like lavender and she could still faintly detect the scent hovering about her. She liked it, not that she would ever in life tell Sam that.

She stayed like that for a moment longer then opened her eyes and turned to look at Sam once more. "Wake me up for dinner?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sam responded nodding as she spoke, she was feeling a wee bit out of it, she knew this because it didn't even occur to her to fight with Brooke, no "what am I? Your freaking butler?", no "yes highness, would you like me to fan while I'm at it?", no "This may be the Plaza but that ain't on the room service menu", just `yeah'. Sam continued to watch Brooke as Brooke continued to look at her but then the blonde turned away and closed her eyes once again, and Sam too looked away suddenly deciding that what the room desperately needed was some ice.

Part Five

Brooke slowly, curiously cracked one eye open. For the last couple of seconds she had been coated with a feeling of unease, as if someone was watching her. However, years of movies of the week and badly acted films had instilled a certain amount of caution in her, and if there was some bloody thirsty killer in the room she didn't want them to know that she was awake, so she barely cracked open one eye and looked out to see what awaited her.

"Ah," Brooke cried jumping back slightly. What had awaited her was Sam's face hovering inches away from her.

"Hee," and a smile was Sam's response to her. Brooke frowned.

"What are you doing you psycho?" Brooke mumbled as she pulled herself together. Sam continued to smile.

"You asked me to wake you up," Sam replied seating herself of the edge of Brooke's bed. "So I woke you up."

"I said wake me, not stare at me like some pedophile in training," Brooke responded as she sat up slightly. She hadn't bothered to get under the covers, so all she had to do was rest her back against the headboard to be on even ground with Sam—who seemed to be making herself quite comfortable.

Sam's face dropped a bit when Brooke said that, her expression turning serious. Brooke wasn't sure what to make of the change so she remained silent. Sam turned her head so that she was facing Brooke, her eyes locked on her intensely.

"I really didn't mean to scare you, I was just about to tap you on the shoulder when you woke up," she began conciliatorily.

"It's okay," Brooke responded feeling compelled to say something. "I'm not really a morning…no, make that a getting up person. It doesn't really matter what time it is, I just don't like it."

Sam smirked but her expression soon became serious once more. She turned her head away again so that she was looking at her lap.

"I did watch you though," she said a moment later, raising her head to look out the window. Brooke looked confused but didn't say anything. "You're so small," Sam continued a second later. "You looked so….small," she went on hesitating for a second them shrugging her shoulders helplessly as she repeated the word `small'.

"I…" Brooke started, not at all sure what to make of Sam's behavior.

"Don't know what to make of that?" Sam asked interrupting Brooke, that cocky smile of hers once again covering her face. Brooke nodded smiling herself, encouraged by the expression on Sam's face.

"If I were you I'd be a morning, or should I say getting up, person," Sam continued still observing Brooke.

"Why?" Brooke questioned intrigued by Sam. She couldn't figure out why the other girl was actually talking to her, she figured maybe it was to show her up for that comment she'd made on the bus, but truthfully she didn't care. She just wanted to see where this was going.

"Because like an astonishing one per cent of the population you actually wake up looking refreshed and rosy cheeked," Sam said. "It's really quite remarkable how much money you spend supporting Max Factor when it's good genes and enough sleep that do all the work."

Brooke stared at her, completely and utterly befuddled. She was sure that for a second or two after Sam had spoken her mouth had opened so that she was gaping at the other girl, but she had quickly closed it so that now she was only staring at her in amazement. She didn't know what to say to that, so she fell back on the old reliable route of sarcasm.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, but you're already in my bed," Brooke said winking at the other girl. She had assumed that Sam would get all huffy at the comment, make some remark about her lack of maturity and stalk into the bathroom where she would remain for so long that Brooke would have no time to get in there before they were called down for dinner. Brooke was wrong, Sam did none of those things. Sam looked over at her and smiled. Then Sam shifted her position so that she was sitting leaned up against the headboard right next to Brooke.

"That almost sounded like a invitation Ms. McQueen," Sam said teasingly.

"Make of it what you will," Brooke replied because quite frankly she had no idea what to say other than that.

"Alright," Sam responded thoughtfully nodding her head slowly in contemplation for a moment before looking back over at Brooke. "I will," she continued, that smile, that damn cocky loveable smile back on her face. And before Brooke knew it Sam's lips were on hers, pressing against hers. Surprise caused her to try and jerk her head back at first, it was a base instinct, but she found that she couldn't do it. Sam's hand had followed the course of her lips and was holding the back of Brooke's head firmly in place. The only way to stop the kiss would have been for Brooke to push Sam away from her, and, well, she found that she didn't really want to do that. Her body relaxed and she leaned forward into the kiss, surrendering to Sam's skillful ministrations. As she leaned into the kiss she felt Sam smile against her lips then shift closer to her on the bed. This caused Brooke to smile herself before then forcibly bringing Sam's lips back to hers, moaning into Sam's mouth as her passion mounted. If this is how she was woken up every morning, there just might have been hope for her yet.

"Sam?" Brooke questioned. She was feeling a bit dizzy. She didn't understand it, she felt like she was being shaken. "Sam stop that this instant," she said looking across her and noticing that Sam's hands were now on her shoulders and were apparently trying the shake the shit out of her.

"Goddammit wake up!" Sam yelled shaking Brooke some more. First the stupid girl tells her to wake her up, then she lies there like limp noodle mumbling at Sam while channeling somebody's mother.

"The…?" Brooke asked opening her eyes and seeing Sam standing over her still shaking her for all she was worth. "I'm awake," Sam still didn't stop. "I'm awake," Brooke repeated, her head was starting to pound. "Get your bloody hands off of me, I said I'm awake!" she yelled finally raising her hands trying to beat Sam off of her before she did some serious damage to her brain.

"Dinner, fifteen minutes," Sam told her with a scowl then the brunette stalked across the room and walked out the door.

Brooke drew her knees up to her body and dropped her head onto them. This was not good, she thought herself, although secretly she admitted she liked how Sam had woken her up in her dream better than reality. No, she then thought to herself, you will not think such thoughts. This…nightmare, she continued as she flung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, was not about Sam or sex or especially not about sex with Sam. That was just ludicrous. It was about…about…about her own narcissism, yes that was it. She was far too complimentary to herself in the dream; this was her subconscious's way of telling her to get over herself. Well, she thought, message sealed, signed and delivered. As she stood in front of the mirror, she decided – with this new knowledge fresh in her mind—that she was only going to wear foundation and lip gloss to dinner.

Part Six: Day Two

Brooke rolled her head around her shoulders tiredly and rubbed at her eyes. She was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on what their tour guide was saying. She had gotten next to no sleep the night before and she was feeling the effects of it now. She and Sam hadn't spoken much when they had returned to their room after dinner, and when they did speak to each other it was fleeting, yet surprisingly polite. Mundane things, who got first dibs on the bathroom, who was going to put their clothes in which drawer, which one of them got control of the remote. Despite the civility of the conversation however, it was uncomfortable as hell and if it hadn't been for the fact that it was after midnight and that they were on lockdown, Brooke would have made her rounds and gone to visit Nicole and Mary Cherry in the adjoining suites they had reserved on the top floor. But it had been after midnight, they were on lockdown, and Brooke was left with no other option but than to lay down, and try not to think about Sam, which, vexingly, was something she had been finding increasing hard to do since the brunette had woken her up earlier on. Then to make matters worse, it seemed as if Sam was having trouble sleeping too, so they both had lay there in the dark painfully aware of the others presence until Sam had broken the silence. In fact Brooke could remember everything that had been said perfectly.

{"Brooke?" Sam had said softly, the word hovering in the air for a moment before the blonde responded.

"Yeah," Brooke had said, her eyes trained on the ceiling—not that she could make it out or anything.

"You awake?" Sam asked.

"What do you think Sam?" Brooke had responded turning so that she was facing Sam's bed even though she couldn't see her. It wasn't like Sam to ask stupid questions, so it immediately put Brooke on guard.

"I'll go with, yes," Sam responded, her tone a bit rueful. "Listen, I just wanted to say I shouldn't have shook you like that, and if your head really hurts then…"

"Don't worry, I won't make you say it," Brooke responded. "Wouldn't want a black hole opening in the room and sucking time and space into a huge gaping oblivion because we seemed to be getting along." She paused there for a moment. "And it only hurt for a little while."

"Yes…well…" Sam said in response. Brooke had expected more to follow that, but apparently Sam was done, because the silence came after that once more. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep however, she learned that she was wrong about the silence because Sam started up again a few minutes later. "I was thinking, that is to say that our previous conversation and you helping me with my suitcase made me think," Sam continued shaking her head at herself as the words came out of her mouth.

"And," Brooke questioned, sitting up slightly.

"And I think we should try, you know, make a valiant attempt to not piss each other off. Although the argument could be made that this situation shouldn't really be new for each of us since we live together back home, that argument is faulty. The fallacy lies mostly with the principles of time and space, which allow for us to be hardly ever occupying the same area at the same time back home. Here, however, things are different and…fighting could lead to bodily harm. So if you can pretend that you don't hate me for four more days, I think this trip could be much more enjoyable for both of us," Sam replied hurriedly, before letting out a breath and sinking back down onto her pillow.

Brooke was silent for a long time after Sam spoke, so long in fact that Sam had begun to wonder if the blonde had fallen asleep by the time she replied. "That sounds acceptable," Brooke said finally. "And," she added pausing again, "I never hated you," she went on quickly, then she shifted again, her sheets rustling together audibly and she closed her eyes.

"Brooke…" Sam started a second later, surprised by the other girl's words. Actually Brooke's words had caused some heart palpitations, but Sam chose not to focus on that at the moment.

"Brooke's sleeping now," the blonde responded, "she'll be available again in the morning, thank you and please call again," she continued effectively putting an end to the conversation.

"What no beep?" Sam asked afterwards, but she said nothing after that and Brooke could hear her settle down into the bedding like she had done only moments before.}

Brooke was broken out of her revere by the tour guide who was explaining the origins of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" to them. "When Vincent van Gogh was a patient in an asylum at Saint-Rémy in the south of France, he wrote to his brother Theo," she was saying as Brooke looked around to see if anyone had noticed her space out. "This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big," the tour guide went on. Looking around her at the restless faces of the Kennedy students loosely assembled around her, Brooke figured that it was a good thing this was the last painting on the tour. It was becoming very clear to her that the natives were getting restless, and truthfully she counted herself among them. "He said he stayed up for three nights painting the picture because according to him, the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day." This was followed by clapping and then the scattering students who ran off to eat, or smoke, or ogle the nudie pictures during their free time.

Brooke's eyes immediately drifted over to Sam. She never wanted her eyes to immediately drift over to Sam, but despite her wishes her eyes just seemed to do it anyway, so not for the first time that day she found herself gazing at Sam, this time as the brunette walked away. Sam had branched off from her other friends, heading in the opposite direction; Brooke would have wondered where she was off to, but Nicole grabbed her arm and started dragging her down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Brooke asked giving up trying to follow Sam with her eyes and turning her attention to Nicole.

"Does it matter?" the shorter blonde responded. "The hell away from here," she continued shaking her head.

Sam paused, she had the strangest feeling that someone was watching her. She knew she was late for her meeting, but she turned around anyway, worse than being late would have been having someone notice where she was off to. Looking behind her she noticed Kennedy students scattering, but didn't see anyone watching her except for maybe Brooke who was in the process of turning around anyway. Despite herself Sam watched Nicole drag Brooke through the hall for a moment longer before turning around herself and heading towards the Pollack exhibit. She didn't have time to think about Brooke, she had a job to do. She didn't have time to think about the fact that she and Brooke had gotten along smashingly that morning, she didn't have time to think about the fact that she had seen the blonde smile more at her in the past two days than the past few years. She didn't have time to think about the fact that she had had a dream about Brooke again last night, and that when she woke up in the morning and realized that the object of her lust was lying peacefully mere meters away for her it had excited her so much that she had been forced to take an agonizingly cold shower. She didn't have time to think about the fact, that she and Brooke had actually talked on the bus as they drove from site to site, and that Sam had enjoyed talking with her, finding her conversation to be smart, and amusing. Sam didn't have time to think about these things, but that didn't stop her from thinking about them anyway.

Part Seven

Finally locating the Pollack exhibit Sam hurriedly made her way to the janitorial closet across the hall from it. Seeing the door slightly ajar she tilted her head up and sent a silent thank you to the man upstairs for the fact that her contact hadn't been spooked away when she failed to arrive on time. Clutching her shoulder bag closer to her she rapidly walked over to the door, this was the type of story that became notorious in a school's history, if Arabian Knight presented her with the information she thought he would, she would go down in Kennedy High history. Plus, it would look really good on her University application.

Stepping into the closet she closed the door behind her silently. Her heart was racing, this was so cool.

"Arabian Knight?" she called out, "it's Persephone," she continued walking a bit further into the room.

"Over here," a voice returned. It was the same voice she had heard over the phone, Sam smiled to herself. Suddenly and light flicked on, Sam squinted and covered her eyes with her hand until her eyes adjusted to the light.

"I can't see you," she said moving her head around.

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Arabian Knight responded directing the light so that it was no longer shining directly in Sam's eyes.

"No problem," Sam responded mildly as the spots that were dancing in front of her eyes began to disappear. "Did you bring the stuff?"

"Of course," Arabian Knight responded rather indignantly. "Would I be here if I didn't?"

"Good," Sam responded. "Shall we get on with this then?" she asked opening up her shoulder bag and producing a notebook.

"Yes, let's" Arabian Knight said finally stepping out of the shadows as he walked towards Sam. The brunette gasped as she got her first look at him, then stared as he continued towards her. "What?" he asked peevishly, self-consciously running a hand through his hair.

"How old are you?" Sam asked suspiciously getting a painful feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I told you I'm seventeen," Arabian Knight responded straightening his back and puffing her chest forward. Sam merely raised an eyebrow at him, it was clear to him that she did not believe him. "Thirteen," he said deflating somewhat, "but I can help you," he continued quickly. "I knew you wouldn't talk to me if you knew how young I was, but I have information that needs to be spread and I knew that you could do it."

"Does your mother know you're out?" Sam asked, as she pictured an irate mother busting into the room and battering her over the head while yelling about how Sam was trying to corrupt her baby. She shuddered.

"Pokemon opened today," Arabian Knight responded, "I'm good for at least another hour and a half," he continued smiling. "Not bad, huh?" he asked.

Sam rolled her eyes. Pokemon, oh lord. "Let's just get on with this, what have you got for me?" she asked wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

"Information that'll change the way school cafeteria's operate from here to Miami," he responded placing a folder down on an overturned box. "Information that will shock and alarm you. Something that will make you question everything you ever thought you knew. Something that…"

"You do not want to finish that," Sam said holding up her hands. "This isn't a rhetoric exam, just tell me what you know."

"Okay," Arabian said, but Sam could tell that he was disappointed she had interrupted his little speech. Oh, well, c'est la vie. "The information I have for you will unquestionably prove that school cafeteria's all over the country, have for the past year been using chemicals pilfered from school chemistry classes to artificially enhance the products served for lunch in an attempt to reduce spending. And, that this disturbing trend was started by one Bobby `Bio' Glass, at a school I think you are very familiar with," he concluded with a smile. "Take a look at this," he continued opening up the folder he had been carrying with him.

Sam looked down at the pieces of paper then back up at him and smiled. She had hit the jackpot and she was going to ride it all the way.

Part Eight

"Leave her," Nicole stated emphasizing each of her words clearfully, "you'll be doing us all a favor. Rose petals and doves await you…besides, don't feel bad, Spam'll fit in perfectly with the freaks and fringe loners that inhabit the city. You'll be helping her out, finally she will have found her people," Nicole continued trying to guide Brooke towards the exit of the Museum. She wanted to get back to the Plaza, "Shakespeare in Love" was coming on Cinemax.

"I won't be able get on the bus, we have to sign in at the same time," Brooke responded craning her head back around trying to catch some glimpse of Sam. "Don't worry, you go, I'll find her and meet you outside," Brooke said removing her arm from Nicole's grasp.

Upon extracting herself from Nicole's sphere of influence Brooke looked around her trying to figure out what direction she had seen Sam go off in. Finally, she just settled on left and started to head in that direction, she hadn't passed the Pollack exhibit or the Etching demonstration so she decided that she should start with those places. Stopping on the ramp that would take her to her first destination Brooke carelessly turned the corner.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the blonde exclaimed as she bumped into someone. Her hands immediately stretching out as she tried to steady whomever it was she had just crashed into.

"I'm o…Brooke?" Sam asked, uncomfortably aware of Brooke's hands brushing over her body.

"Oh it's you," Brooke said finally focusing on Sam for the first time. "I've been looking for you."

"You have?" Sam asked rather incredulously before she had to time to think better of it. "I mean, you have," she corrected herself, her tone far more civil.

"Yeah, I have," Brooke responded shaking her head. "It's time to go, Glass is going to flip. We were suppose to be out there about five minutes ago," Brooke continued subtly trying to usher Sam towards the exit. Sam looked down at her watch, surprise covering her feature.

"I didn't realize…"

"Yeah, yeah, time flies when you're having fun," Brooke muttered as she continued to gently shove Sam towards the door. "By the way your bags open," she added distractedly as she concerned herself with whether it would be faster to go left or right.

"Wha…" Sam began looking down at her bag. "Uh no," she muttered her face screwing up in frustration. "I can't believe I left it behind," she continued stopping dead in tracks and turning around.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Brooke asked hurriedly making an about face.

"I forgot something," Sam mumbled as she hurriedly made her way through the crowd. "You go ahead, I'll find my way back to the hotel," she said turning around to face Brooke before returning her focus forward.

"I can't get on the bus unless you're there," Brooke said catching up to Sam and placing her hand on her shoulder halting her progress.

"I have to go get it," Sam said. "Glass will let you on, just say that you couldn't find me. Nobody'll blame you," she continued before working herself out of Brooke's grasp and continuing back down the hall.

Once again Brooke quickened her step to catch up with Sam.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked turning her head to the side as Brooke began to power walk beside her.

"I'm coming with you," Brooke responded meeting Sam's eyes.

"Why?" Sam asked genuinely confused.

"Because I'm not going to leave you to wonder around by yourself at night to be raped or murdered by some psycho," Brooke responded.

Sam stopped and turned to look at Brooke, her mouth opened and closed a couple of times but no words came out of her for the first few seconds. "I…you don't have to," she said chickening out before she even got started. She had planned on expressing surprise and gratitude for Brooke's concern with her safety, but that didn't end up happening.

"I know," Brooke replied meeting her gaze. She stared at Sam for a second longer, then gave a short little laugh as she shook her head. "Well?"

"This way," Sam said and with that they wondered off back into the depths of the Museum.

Part Nine

Sam extended her hand managing to both whack Brooke in the chest and halt her progress. Brooke looked down at the spot Sam had hit and made a face barely registering the brunette's mumbled "janitor" and she rubbed her now sore spot. Trying to distract herself, Brooke looked up and watched as Sam's head bobbed around the corner as she spied on the janitor's movements while muttering to herself about something or the other. Looking back down again Brooke suppose she should be grateful Sam hadn't landed her blow a few centimeters lower.

"Come on," Sam whispered to Brooke as she crept out from behind the wall they had been hiding behind. The halls of the museum were practically empty and even the soft sounds of their feet scuffling along the floor reverberated against the walls.

Brooke looked around her in something close to wonder, the place seemed grander in the silence, she felt more humbled. She thought that she would have liked visiting museums much more if they were always like this.

"In here," Sam said, hesitating for a moment before finally reaching out and taking Brooke's hand into hers. The blonde seemed distracted and she had to get her attention somehow. Brooke looked over at her immediately after their hands touched, her gaze dropping to their conjoined hands for a moment before she began to walk in the direction Sam was facing. To the brunette's surprise, and pleasure Brooke made no effort to remove her hand from Sam's once they began to walk again, and by some silent accord Sam made no effort to let go of Brooke's either.

As Sam stopped in front of a janitorial closet Brooke looked over at her simultaneously smiling and raising a questioning eyebrow. It was a look that said "what the hell" but in a sleazy, porn director kind of way.

"Shut up Brooke," Sam muttered as she opened the door and slipped inside. Brooke followed behind her letting the door close as they became submerged in darkness. "There's a light over here somewhere," Sam said stepping away from the door. A minute – and a couple of bumps and colourful phrases – later Sam turned on the light and the room was covered in a dim yellow glow.

Sam quickly made her way over to the overturned box, which had served as Arabian Knights desk, dropping down and crouching over it as she got there. "Shit," she muttered as she looked around the box with no luck. She wondered if maybe the janitor had found the fallen folder while he was in there, but then her eye caught something just over to the left. Reaching out, she closed her eyes let out a relieved sigh, it was still there. Picking up the folder and smiling she turned around to face Brooke who was watching her with a curious but patient expression. If she hadn't have just found the folder on the floor she would have brought it to her lips and given it a big kiss. As if was, as the wave of euphoria rushed through her body she had to struggle not to yell `yes!' pump her fists in the air and give Brooke a big hug.

"We can go now," is what she said however.

"Good," Brooke said turning around and reaching for the doorknob.

"Come on, I thought you were in a hurry," Sam said a moment later as she walked up behind Brooke who still hadn't opened the door.

Brooke turned around to face Sam, her features were drawn and she was blinking rapidly. "The door's locked," she stated.

"What?" Sam asked.

"The door. It's locked," Brooke repeated her left eye twitching slightly.

"It can't be," Sam responded pushing past Brooke and reaching for the handle herself. She turned it and pushed. Nothing happened. She tried it again to the same effect. "The door's locked," she said softly a second later.

"Yeah, I covered that," Brooke responded. "Not that I'm trying to usurp control or anything, but I've rapidly come to the conclusion that secrecy is no longer our friend, and that if we want to get out of here we better start yelling like now," she finished still watching Sam.

"I concur," Sam replied immediately. "After you," she said waving her hand graciously.

Brooke nodded her head and opened her mouth to begin screaming like a baby in any enclosed space when the light in the hall outside the door suddenly went out. She turned her head to look at Sam, in moments of crisis like this it was always good to consult with others. They stared at each other for a second then they both flung themselves at the door and began banging on it and screaming for all they were worth.

Part Ten

Brooke slumped back against the door and let herself slid to the ground with a soft sigh. They had been banging for over ten minutes and nobody had come to let them out, leading Brooke to the conclusion that there was nobody there to let them out, and that there probably wouldn't be until morning. The walls of the closet were thick and Brooke could tell from the way their voices were being absorbed by them next to none of the noise they were making was getting beyond the door.

"Sam," Brooke said softly. "Just stop," she went on. "Nobody's out there, sit down."

"Somebody's got to come by," Sam insisted even though she sunk to the ground joining Brooke. "A security guard or something."

"If one walks by we'll hear and start yelling again, but I'm not up for continuous yelling for the rest of the night. Doing it or hearing it," Brooke responded tilting her head back and rubbing her eyes.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Sam asked as she focused on a rickety looking shelving unit at the back of the closet.

"The way I see it we have to options. We can sit here in silence until someone finds us, or we can talk," Brooke replied turning to look over at Sam. "You indicated yesterday that you weren't totally averse to the idea of conversing with me in a non-combative manner, so now's our chance," she finished.

Sam removed her gaze from the shelving unit and turned to watch Brooke watch her. She was beautiful the dim light of a dusty museum janitorial closet, Sam decided as she watched the blonde. "What do you want to talk about?" the brunette asked finally. "Herman Melville's condemnation of consumer society?"

Brooke smiled but shook her head. "Actually, I was wondering how I ended up getting trapped in here," she responded pointedly looking at the manila folder that was now lying in Sam's lap.

"This could take a while," Sam said softly as she traced her finger around the edge of the folder. She never talked about pieces she was working on before she had finished them, it was one of her unwritten rules. To break it, for Brooke – even if she did owe the girl an explanation – would be a big step, a leap of trust as it were.

"If there's one thing we've got," Brooke replied watching Sam fiddle with the folder.

"About a month ago I was in one of the chat rooms on…." Sam began.

Part Eleven

"I don't know what to tell you sir…ma'am, sir, ma'am sir….ah, I really don't know what to tell you," the man stuttered looking at Bio Glass in stupification. "We cleared the museum out over half an hour ago, your girls aren't in there."

"You're an Arts major aren't you?" Glass asked suspiciously as she watched the little man suffer. "Ah, ah, ah, don't speak. Look," she said pointing to the line of Kennedy students lined up against the bus. "There, what do you see there?" she asked pointing to a gaping whole in the line.

"Nnnothing," the man stuttered.

"Exactly, that gaping void is where *snap* McPherson and *snap* McQueen should be," Glass replied moving closer to him so that she was now carrying out a full on invasion of his personal space. "Do you know why they aren't there?"

"Mmmight, might I suggest ma'am, sir, ma'am, si…might I suggest that they walked down the street to see Nsync at Radio City," he managed to emote, though it was quite a struggle.

The students lined up against the bus cringed as they heard this, cowering slightly and shielding their eyes. He should not have said that.

Part Twelve

"Are you serious?" Sam asked barely able to control the laughter that was bubbling up inside of her. The visuals she was getting from Brooke's story were almost too much for even her not to bust out laughing at.

"Perfectly," Brooke responded smiling. "Raspberry Kool-aid. I had seen them do it on some show, probably Saved by The Bell or something equally retarded. The minute Dad saw it he made me march up stairs and was it out of my hair…but I'm telling you, for about half an hour there I was a living legend. Gem never looked so good," she continued smiling broadly.

Sam smiled back at her contentedly. "You know what I always wanted?" Sam started in rather wistful tone. "A tree house. In like every family show or children's novel they always had these kids in tree houses. It was like a staple of American society and I always resented not having one."

"Why didn't you build one?" Brooke asked curiously, tilting her head to observe Sam.

"Where?" Sam asked. "One of the palm trees at the beach?" she continued. "That's another thing. Have you ever been skiing? I always wanted to go skiing. Snow, and Yule logs and eggnog around a fire are more staples."

"We should go to Colorado for Christmas this year," Brooke replied thoughtfully. She could picture Sam all bundled up, holding a cup of hot something-or-the-other while being bathed in gentle glow of a fire. The image made something flutter inside of her, gave her a warm, happy feeling. "There's enough snow there for a life time of memories," she continued before pausing for a moment, then smiling. "I'll teach you what a snow job is."

"Nice try," Sam said shooting Brooke an exasperated look, "but I've heard of those." Brooke shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "Aspen?" Sam asked a second later.

"Where else?" Brooke asked in a way that gave Sam the distinct impression that she wasn't joking. To her surprise, and if she were honest to her amusement, she discovered that she found it inordinately cute.

"You're such a preppy," was what she said in response however as she shook her head.

"Back to your tree house," Brooke said deciding to get the subject off of her preppiness before they ended up bitching at each other again, "there were other options you know." She was enjoying talking to Sam, in fact she was enjoying talking to Sam more than she had enjoyed talking to anyone in a long time and she didn't want the mood in the room to shift. She found that being trapped in the closet lead to a pleasant fiction, a story where she and Sam were friends. She liked it.

"Such as?" Sam asked looking at Brooke expectantly.

"Cardboard boxes, they're always good, sometimes even better than what came inside of them. My personal preference was Maytag, very durable. You could have built yourself a small village," Brooke responded, a nostalgic smile spreading across her face as she spoke.

"Did your Dad suddenly come into money a few years ago or something?" Sam asked smiling at Brooke cheekily. Truthfully she had never pictured Brooke as a cardboard box kind of girl, she had always kind of assumed that Brooke would have been one of those My Little Ponies, or Barbie girls, with the house and pink convertible. In fact, the longer they talked the more Sam realized that she hardly knew anything about Brooke, but that the more she found out the more she liked.

"Very funny," Brooke responded although she didn't seem particularly amused. "Even preppies have to make do sometimes," she continued sighing a bit.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way," Sam said noticing the Brooke's defeated tone. "It's actually kind of," she began to say but she stopped herself. The truth was she found Brooke's sporadic displays of preppiness to amazing cute, but she had just begun to be able to admit that to herself and there wasn't anyway in hell that she was going to tell Brooke.

"Kind of what?" Brooke asked turning to face Sam, a look of curiosity covering her features.

"Nothing," Sam responded shifting uncomfortably.

"Come on Sam…Sammy," Brooke began testing the nickname out and deciding that she liked it. "You can't just `nothing' that. You were far beyond the `nothing' line, you've gotta tell," Brooke teased as she bobbed her body around excitedly.

"You pulled that rule outta your ass rather quickly," Sam replied, still shifting about. "I think we've discovered your superpower: the ability to produce copious amounts of bull-shit is a single bound."

Brooke was silent for a moment, then turned away from Sam before lulling her head to the side and muttering resignedly, "And we were getting along so well."

Sam turned to watch the blonde after she spoke, the silence that now covered the room ringing in her ears painfully. She hadn't intended to, she didn't really want, she had only meant to…she had screwed up and she knew it. "I'm sorry," she said finally. She didn't want things to end like that because Brooke was right, they had been getting along so well.

"Are you? Really?" Brooke asked wearily turning to face her.

"Yes," Sam responded softly but adamantly. "It's a coping mechanism, I didn't mean it."

"I don't either, those things I've said to you…I never really meant them, it was just a reaction. I never hated you, in fact," Brooke paused there gathering courage, "in fact I always kinda found you interesting."

"Really?" Sam asked, her surprise showing in her voice. Brooke McQueen had always kind of found her interesting, that was new, new and greatly appreciated. The reality of the situation was that with what had happened since they had come into the closet, and with the way Sam was feeling, she knew she wouldn't have been able to keep up her façade of Brooke hating for much longer. But, if Brooke found her interesting, that meant that there was a chance that this truce they had entered into could be continued, and Sam would take being Brooke's friend over being nothing but a nuisance to the girl any day.

"Amazingly," Brooke replied. It was now her turn to shift uncomfortably.

"We should have done this before. Talked I mean," Sam said as she leaned her head back to rest against the door.

"Why didn't we?" Brooke asked. Sam wasn't sure whether the question was asked rhetorically or not, but she had an answer, and after Brooke's little revelation she decided it would only be far to share it.

"I think I know," Sam replied, her voice threaded with mystery.

"Don't be a drama queen. Spill it," Brooke responded lazily turning her head to face Sam.

"You're a bit of a gossip aren't you?" Sam asked. "Anyway, I think the reason was that I feared that if I got to know you I would like you, and if I liked you I wouldn't have been able to actively hate you, and if I was forced to stop viewing you as Satan the world as I knew it would have collapsed in on itself, leaving me broken and bewildered. Outfits I would rather not have worn."

Brooke was silent for a moment, contemplative before finally saying, "You say the sweetest things." She then looked down at her lap where her attention remained focused for a few moments before continuing with, "but seriously, I'm glad that you've gotten past the actively hating thing. Besides, red has never really been my colour."

They sat in silence for a long time after that, both watching each other covertly until Brooke finally broke the silence.

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"Tell you what?" Sam asked looking over at the cheerleader.

"What you find my preppiness to be kind of. I know you thought that you had distracted me with your charm, and I admit that telling someone you no longer consider them to be a creature of pure evil would have worked on most mere mortals, but I'm on to you," Brooke answered meeting Sam's gaze.

"No." And Sam said no more than that. She knew that the subject was a slippery slope and she was just willing to take a slid. Brooke was just going to have to get over it.

"Fine," Brooke responded with a sniff. "I'm just going to read your boyfriends notes then…to give you time to reflect on your anti- socialness," she continued reaching out and picking up the manila folder, which had been resting beside Sam. Placing it on her lap she opened it up and licked the tip of her index finger before she began to leaf through the sheets of paper.

"He's not my boyfriend," Sam muttered as she watched Brooke take possession of her notes.

"You really should be ashamed of yourself. I know that younger men are in these days but, really," Brooke responded shaking her head sadly. "Sammy," she added shaking it some more to make sure she got her point across.

"Shut up."

"Give me your notes so I can piece this conspiracy together," Brooke said holding out her hand.

"I could make you some Cliff Notes if you're having problems," Sam replied saucily. Despite that however she handed her notes over willing to do most anything to get Brooke not to question her about her feelings on Brooke's preppiness anymore.

"Ha! Oh, wait, no," Brooke responded as she accepted the papers from Sam. "You know, you don't look like you're reflecting to me," she commented a moment later. Sam gave her the stink eye and Brooke shrugged, oh well.

Part Thirteen

"Oooooh, now this is what I'm talking about!" Brooke exclaimed excitedly in a somewhat singsong voice, as she ran her eyes over the paper sitting in her lap.

"What?" Sam asked looking over at her curiously. Brooke had been quiet for the better part of twenty minutes as she flipped through Sam's notes. Occasionally she had asked her a question or two but for the most part she had been keeping herself busy, leaving Sam ample time to take in their quaint surrounds and to practice not staring at Brooke.

Brooked smiled and looked down at the piece of paper she had just been looking at. "'I had the dream again last night'," she began grinning as she read the words Sam had written. "A very promising beginning," she continued winking at Sam. In fact she was so caught up in the excitement of possibly learning about some of Sam's naughty bits that she didn't see the brunette's face immediately fall, or the pained expression that settled on it soon after.

"Give that to me," Sam stated as she reached out for the piece of paper. Silently she cursed herself, how could see have been so stupid. That morning she had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Brooke that she had taken a few free minutes after breakfast to write her thoughts down in hopes that it would get them out of her head. Once she had finished she had just shoved the paper in with the rest of her stuff, the stuff she handed over to Brooke.

"Grabby, grabby," Brooke responded playfully as she stood up so that Sam couldn't yank the paper out of her hand. "Come on, it's not so bad. Maybe I'll tell you mine…since I'll know yours in a minute."

"I'm serious Brooke, give it to me," Sam stated standing as well. She reached for the paper again but Brooke blocked her with her body, turning her back to Sam using her free arm as blocker while held the paper with her other arm as she read it.

Sam continued to struggle with Brooke, trying to find away around the blonde's body so that she could get the paper back, but Brooke determinedly blocked her again and again. Still, Sam couldn't give up, the thought of giving up and just letting Brooke read a diary entry that she made wherein she talked, and talked, and talked about the feelings she had for Brooke just wasn't an option for the brunette.

"I'm…I finished," Brooke said finally lowering her arm and relaxing her stance. Immediately Sam yanked the paper out of her hand, and they stood there watching each other. "Do you really think I have skin like silk?" Brooke asked finally.

Sam watched the blonde in a kind of stupor that was only broken when Brooke spoke. She heard the blonde's question, but it seemed distant, like it was coming from far, far away. She was having trouble breathing. Brooke had actually read the entire the entry, she had read it all, she knew everything. Sam turned and began to walk towards the door. She realized that there was no place to go, but she knew that she had to at least separate herself from Brooke. She figured Brooke would probably be grateful for the distance.

"Wait!" Brooke said as Sam started to walk away, quickly moving behind her and grabbing her gently by the shoulders.

"Why? So you can mock me some more?" Sam asked not turning around. She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes but she wouldn't give Brooke the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She couldn't.

"I was just," Brooke started hopelessly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have," she continued trying to work through her jumbled up thoughts. "We were having fun," she continued softly, her hands still resting on Sam. "I was just," she went on stroking Sam's shoulders unconsciously.

"Please let go of me," Sam said interrupting Brooke's babbling, her voice remaining calm through nothing more than will power.

"Do you really want me to?" Brooke asked. She could feel the warmth of Sam's skin through her shirt, she could feel it warming her hands, and the scent of lavender, Sam's scent, had infiltrated her olfactory senses. She was hyper of everything that had to do with Sam, her smell, her feel, her breathing.

"That's not funny," Sam responded. She could feel herself beginning to crumble, she needed Brooke to let her go. She couldn't feel Brooke against her and remain strong, remain standing. She needed distance.

"It wasn't suppose to be," Brooke responded moving closer to Sam, so that now she was almost pressed up against the brunette's back. "Do you? Really want me to stop touching you? Because I don't want to stop."

"Brooke please," Sam said, she was begging, begging Brooke to stop torturing her, to just let her go. She was begging and she didn't care because she was moments away from breaking down. Why couldn't Brooke have just freaked out like a normal person? Why was she doing this, teasing her with something she couldn't have?

"I'm serious Sam…Sammy," Brooke breathed out softly. Still holding onto Sam she moved around so that she was standing in front of the brunette. "Lately," she began again in her new position, her hand slowly traveling up Sam's shoulder, "I've…what I mean is…ugh," she sighed in frustration, and closed her eyes trying to pull herself together. She placed her hands on the sides of Sam's face, and dipped her head slightly so that she was looking directly into Sam's big, beautiful, brown eyes. "You smell like lavender, when you're bored you stick you tongue into your cheek and when you're excited her rub your teeth with it. You can write with both of your hands, and your eyes have the most incredible little gold specks in them that absolutely break my heart. I know what you're feeling Sam, I know," Brooke said her voice cracking along the way. "Because I'm feeling it too."

Sam looked away, down at the dusty floor as Brooke finished speaking. Her face was wet, she hadn't even realized she had been crying. She was overwhelmed. She had just heard everything she had ever dreamed about hearing, but it didn't seem real, she wondered if her alarm clock were about to off. But then she felt it, warm fingers tilting her head back up, forcing her to meet Brooke's equally teary gaze. She was confused, Brooke had never cried in her dreams.

They stayed like that for long moments, staring into each other eyes, until finally Brooke impulsively leaned forward and softly, tenderly pressed her lips against Sam's, drawing the brunette into her body as their lips moved against each other. Sam's body shook gently as she felt Brooke's lips, tasted her for the first time. Her hands wound their way around Brooke's waist, clutching at her as the kiss deepened and their bodies pressed closer together, their kiss becoming salty as their tears ran down their faces.

Part Fourteen

Brooke watched as Sam's hand slowly made its way down from her collarbone to the swell of her breast where it then dipped down even further cupping the soft mound of flesh through her shirt and squeezing gently. Brooke's breath hitched, her eyes momentarily fluttering closed as Sam touched her, her own hand anxiously sneaking its way under Sam's shirt reveling in the feeling of Sam's warm skin pressed against her hand. Slowly, her hand trailed upward, taking Sam's shirt with it, until Brooke's hand reached the underside of Sam's breast, which she then began to delicately explore.

"Brooke," Sam breathed out softly as she looked down at the blonde's face. Somehow, though she wasn't exactly sure how, after Brooke had kissed her they had ended up falling down to the ground, Sam sitting on Brooke's lap, straddling her. That had been about fifteen minutes ago, and since then they hadn't spoken a word to each other, their only communication coming through the tiny sounds that they emitted and the looks and touches that they exchanged. But it had all come so suddenly, and Sam was beginning to wonder if it was real, because it seemed almost to good to be true; she needed Brooke to speak to her, to tell her that this was actually happening.

Brooke's eyes parted though they remained slightly hooded as she raised her head up so that she could see Sam's face. Brooke lifted the hand that wasn't still under Sam's shirt to the brunette's face, stroking her cheek softly with her thumb as a tender smile spread across her lips.

"We need to talk," Sam said as she leaned into Brooke's touch. To her surprise the smile and Brooke's face only grew, her eyes crinkling in the most adorable way as she continued to gaze at Sam.

"I think," the blonde finally said, shifting her position a bit so that her face was closer to Sam's – a maneuver that was far more complicated than it would seem at first since Sam was sitting on her – "that would be a…prudent course of action," she continued still staring at Sam.

Sam nodded, but she was finding it very difficult to concentrate. "We should probably stop touching each other," she said finally locating the source of her distraction. Brooke looked away for a moment, her eyes rolling up in head as if she were in deep thought, and for a second Sam thought that she might protest, but the blonde lowered her gaze a moment later watching as she extracted her hand from Sam's shirt.

"That's better," Sam declared, "this will be much more helpful to the talking."

Brooke, in response, raised her eyebrow at Sam, then looked down at her lap while clearing her throat.

"Oh right," Sam muttered raising herself up and off of Brooke so that she was sitting on the floor beside the blonde. There they sat together in an increasingly uncomfortable silence until finally Sam spoke again – to both of their great relief.

"So," Sam started, but apparently she hadn't thought ahead very far because she didn't add anything to that expect for an awkward head bob.

"So," Brooke repeated in an equally uncomfortable fashion. "We've never done THAT before," she continued wincing as the words came out of her mouth. She didn't think that she could have been any lamer if she had actually put effort into it.

"Yes," Sam agreed, "The hand up the shirt was new," she continued shaking her head. If things continued like this she figured that the rest of their stay in the closet was going to seem, very, very, very, long.

Brooke looked over at her when she said that, an expression of worry marring her features. The blonde reached over and took her hand. "Sam," she started very seriously. "despite the fondling, I just totally want you to know that I respect you…you know as a person, and not just as…"

"A sex-monkey?" Sam supplied helpfully.

"First I would like to say that that just gave me a very disturbing visual," Brooke responded making a face, "and secondly, well yeah," she continued shrugging her shoulders rather helplessly. "Not that you're not sex-monkey material, I mean your totally sex-monkey material, just not to me…not that I don't think of you in that way, because, well, the fondling, just I wouldn't use the term sex-monkey, because…"

"Brooke?" Sam asked interrupting the cheerleaders babbling. "I get it," she continued as a smile played across her lips. She was beyond charmed by the little display and it showed on her face.

"Good, cause I was starting to confuse myself," Brooke admitted shaking her head ruefully. "We're going to have to talk more than this aren't we?" she asked a moment later as she turned to face Sam.

"Yes," Sam responded noticing with a touch of amusement how Brooke's face fell, a pout forming on lips Sam now knew to be delicious.

"I'm going to have to tell you mine now aren't I?" Brooke asked remembering how she had taunted Sam earlier. Damn, she knew Sam was going to make her pay for that, but impulse control hadn't been her strongest attribute lately, so she decided that she shouldn't really have been surprised that she did it anyway.

"Yes," Sam responded smiling happily. She planned on making Brooke pay for taunting her earlier. The cheerleader really should have known better.

"You're not going to let me kiss you again until I tell you, are you?" Brooke asked barely managing to keep her voice from sounding as whiny as she was feeling.

"'Fraid not," Sam replied.

"Great," Brooke responded resigning herself to her fate. "Are you comfortable? This could take a while."

"Not yet," Sam answered shifting a bit closer to Brooke and resting her head on the blonde's shoulder. "Now I'm good."

"Great," Brooke muttered. "Where should I start?"

"Hmmm," Sam began thoughtfully. "How about you tell me about the time you first realized that you wanted my body," she suggested happily a moment later. Brooke sighed, this was going to be fun.

Part Fifteen

Sam held Brooke's open palm in her hand, cradling the delicate appendage as she traced the lines of the blonde's hand gently, her finger practically hovering, barely grazing the flash beneath it. Sam could feel Brooke's eyes on her as the cheerleader silently watched her; she liked the feeling, it sent a hum of excitement through her body, warmed her over to feel Brooke's eyes on her, burning into her. She looked up meeting the blonde's clear blue eyes.

"You have the most delicate hands," Sam said softly, her voice holding a touch of wonder. "Looking at them, I feel like I could break them, but," as she said that Brooke moved her hand firmly grasping Sam's in her own, taking it captive, "they're so strong," Sam continued a small smile playing across her lips. "I wonder…"

"You wonder what?" Brooke asked maintaining her hold on Sam's hand, stroking it absently as she waited for the journalist's response.

"I wonder if the same applies to the rest of you," Sam answered after a moment's hesitation. Brooke didn't respond right away, instead she dropped her gaze down to their joined hands, watching her own as they moved across Sam's skin.

"I don't know the answer to that," the cheerleader responded softly as she raised to eyes to meet Sam's once again. "Maybe," she continued dipping her head shyly, "maybe you'll help me find out."

"Really?" Sam asked genuinely curious. She had just spent the last fifteen minutes listening to Brooke tell her that at some point she had realized that her feelings for Sam had become more than sisterly, and that she had been rather alarmed by the development at first and tried to deny it, but that recently – said with a impish smile – she had become more comfortable with the way she was feeling. But even after listening to Brooke, Sam still wasn't really sure about anything other than the fact that Brooke found her as attractive as she found Brooke.

"I was being serious when I said you were more than a sex-monkey to me," Brooke said in a semi-serious tone, trying to keep the situation light but also convey to Sam the fact that she did want more than just someone to release stress with. "I'm not going to lie and tell you that I know with absolute certainty what's going inside of me, but I can tell you that I have feelings for you that are more than skin deep, and that I want to know what it is we could have together— if anything—because I think that this could be something special," she finished watching Sam intently. "If you want that that is," she added suddenly, her brows drawing together. "I mean you never said… if you just…"

"Wanted a sex-monkey?" Sam offered helpfully.

"That term is going to be with us for a while isn't it?" Brooke asked rhetorically before shaking her head and focusing back on Sam. "But yeah."

"What if that was all that I wanted?" Sam asked watching Brooke carefully.

"Then," Brooke said pausing. Sam could she her eyes shifting around as she thought and found herself wondering what was going on in the beautiful head. "I'd let you," Brooke finally said.

"But you said…why?" Sam asked placing her hand on top of Brooke's, repossessing the blonde's hand as her own.

"Because, because I'd rather have you for a little while than not at all," Brooke replied haltingly, as if the words that were coming out of her mouth were a revelation even to her. "Certainly it wouldn't be the great follow-up to my last relationship that I was looking for but…" she left the sentence hanging. "Is that? What you want I mean. Purely physical?" she asked in a tone that Sam couldn't quite decipher. "In your dreams was I your sex-monkey?"

"No," Sam said shifting closer to Brooke. "And that's not what I wanted, want or would possibly want in the future," she continued looking right into Brooke's eyes, stressing each and every word so that there could be no doubt whatsoever as to the sincerity of her words.

"So what does this mean?" Brooke asked relieved to hear that Sam was interested in more than just her body, because frankly while she was certain she would have given it to the brunette she wanted more than just that and she knew she never would have been happy if she'd had to settle. "That you and I are interested in each other as people."

"That we're now going steady?" Sam suggested.

"That would make you my girl," Brooke replied smiling, as if she was testing out how the words would sound coming out of her mouth and deciding that she liked it a lot. "And if you're my girl," Brooke continued still smiling, but instead of finishing her sentence she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Sam's softly. Sam then leaned forward increasing the pressure and the intensity of their kiss, her hands making their way up Brooke's body and behind her neck and their lips crashed against each other again and again with a growing hunger.

"I think," Sam said, still trying to catch her breath as they broke apart. "That I'm going to like being your girl," she continued as a sexy grin spread across her lips.

"Good," Brooke replied. "I'm glad we're agreed on this. Now," she said smiling herself, "I would like to request some more sugar," she continued barely managing to get the words out before Sam took possession of her lips once more.

Part Sixteen

"What is it?" Brooke asked feeling a slight shudder run through Sam's body. It was now just past three in the morning and the hustle and bustle of the day was beginning to catch up with both of them. Brooke was leaned propped up against the door and a shelving unit and Sam was sitting in-between her legs. "Don't tell me your uncomfortable."

"I'm very comfortable," Sam responded, "in fact you're better than a futon."

"That's lovely," Brooke responded glaring at the top of Sam's head. "Are you cold?" she asked feeling another shiver run through Sam's body.

"No, just thinking about how much shit we're going to be in when they find us in the morning," Sam said shuddering once again.

"I hadn't thought of that, but now I am, and…" Brooke shuddered too. "They're going to call our parents. You are going to be in so much trouble," Brooke continued.

"What do you mean `me'?" Sam asked. "As far as I'm aware I'm not the only one is this room. What about you?"

"I'll probably get an award for being such a concerned bus buddy and following you into doom and misfortune," Brooke responded. "The school will probably create a new award just for me, the McQueen Medallion or something more grandiose."

Sam paused for a second then said, "Now that you've had time to rejoin me on the planet earth, what do you think is really going to happen?" Sam asked a moment later.

"I'd prefer not to think about it if it's all the same to you," Brooke replied as she ran her hands up and down Sam's arm lightly.

Sam smirked then shifted up a little so that her lips were hovering by Brooke's neck where she planted the gentlest of kisses. Brooke leaned her head down, capturing Sam's lips in an equally tender embrace.

"Sam," she said when they separated and Sam's head was once again resting on her shoulder.

"Ummm," Sam mumbled.

"I sleepy," Brooke related blinking rapidly in an attempt to keep her eyes open.

"Me too," Sam admitted with a sigh. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Hmph," Brooke emoted, surprisingly able to make even her grunts carry a touch of amusement. "I wonder why?"

"Shut up," Sam muttered knowing exactly what Brooke was thinking.

"Don't be grouchy, I'm sure that it was good for both of us," Brooke continued smiling as she rested her head against Sam's. The brunette's response was merely to focus though brown orbs at her and place an expression on her face that clearly said `you're really gonna wanna shut up now'. Brooke smiled, she would shut up…but only because Sam was her girl.

Part Seventeen: Day Three

The Kennedy students silently trekked through the empty early morning hallways of the Museum of Modern Art. Brooke and Sam were still missing and they had been woken up extra early but an especially surly Bio Glass. A security guard at the museum had gone over the tapes for the museum and had found evidence of Sam and Brooke moving through the museum about ten minutes before closing time, but had found no footage of them at any of the exits, which meant they were still in the museum somewhere. So, with that evidence in hand, Glass had dragged everyone back to the museum to begin The Search for Spock… I mean, Brooke and Sam.

"We've checked all of the washroom and closets on the first floor," Security guard Bob was saying to Bio as they all marched through the hallways. "Our next stop is on the second floor, the janitorial closet by the Pollack exhibit. If we don't have any luck there, there are three washrooms, and a maintenance closet that still have to be checked."

Bio simply snared at the man in response.

"In that case…here we are," Bob said fumbling with his keys, not ashamed to admit that the teacher to his side was terrifying him more than any person he had ever meet before in life. "Let's just open this up and…" Security guard Bob jumped back slightly as the door flew open. Out of the doorway rolled two girls, one blonde and one brunette. "Huh, looks like we found your…" but he was interrupted by a shrill shrieking sound originating from somewhere behind him.

"OH MAH GOD!" Mary Cherry yelled. "She's killed Brookie!" the southerner continued pointing at Sam who had rolled out of the closet on top of Brooke and was the first of the two of them to begin to wake up. "With those damn dirty whore hands of hers she has strangled the life out of our dear precious one," Mary Cherry continued as tears ran down her face leaving mascara trails in their wake.

"What the…" Sam muttered beyond disoriented, however despite that having the presence of mind to roll off of a now waking up Brooke and into a sitting position beside her before anymore could verbally wonder what the hell she was doing on top of Brooke in the first place.

Brooke raised her hand to her face and rubbed at her eyes sleepily. What a freaky dream she had been having, she was Kenny from South Park and Mary Cherry was yelling at some unfortunate soul accusing them of murder. Brooke shook her head as she forced her eyes open that was a damn weird dream. Stretching, she opened her eyes.

"Ahhhhhhh!" the cheerleader screamed bolting upright and scrambling to her feet in a panic. Upon opening her eyes she was greeted to the sight of a scowling Bio Glass whacking a ruler against her hand. An image that was just too disturbing for words.

"Nice of you to join us McQueen," Glass said eyeing a now upright Brooke like one of the worms they dissected in class. "Now if you're through demonstrating to the class that you do indeed wake up minty fresh, we have more important matter to attend to," she went on slapping the ruler against her hand once again. Brooke shifted uncomfortably and turned her attention to Sam who was of no help whatsoever as she was involved in a detailed examination of her shoe. The cheerleader sighed, this was just going to be the best morning ever!

Part Eighteen

"It wasn't so bad," Sam said as she lay back on the bed. She was absolutely exhausted. After she and Brooke had been freed from the closet, they had remained at the museum for a few more hours to straighten things out with the curator, then it had been onto the bus were they were verbally accosted by Bio Glass for the entire ride back to the hotel. That's when things got rough. Upon arriving at the hotel they were forced to call their parents and explain why they had gotten a call the other night telling them that their daughters had disappeared. Following that very painful conversation Glass grounded them confining them to the hotel where they were to remain as punishment until further notice. Following this announcement Brooke had been dragged by a raging Nicole up to her suite while Carmen, Lily and Harrison followed Sam to her room to badger her to death.

"What do you mean it wasn't so bad?" Carmen responded dropping onto the bed and consequently shaking Sam about. "You can't just say it wasn't so bad and leave it at that. You and Brooke were trapped in a confined space for an extended period of time and nobody sustained serious injury. That's something, that's more than not so bad, that's a freaking miracle," she continued her voice rising in excitement as she went on.

"She's not so bad," Sam stated simply, trying to contain the smile the mere mention of Brooke's name threatened to bring to her face.

"You once said that she was a creature of pure evil," Harrison pointed out. "You were so flustered that you said that she couldn't be any eviler on the evilest day of the year if she had an electrified evil machine," he continued snickering at the description. That one had had him in stitches for days.

"Not my finest moment," Sam replied calmly, so calmly in fact that she was beginning to freak her friends out. "Still, Brooke's alright."

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Sam?" Lily observing Sam suspiciously. Sam could tell that she was suspicious because her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned, and she started to look really constipated.

"I'm Sam and nobody's done anything to Sam because being Sam I would know if something happened to Sam, which it didn't cause I'm Sam and I know that nothing happened to Sam…I mean me, I mean…well you know what I mean," Sam responded her brows scrunching together as she tried to make sense of her own sentence before she decided that she didn't really care.

"Alright, we'll assume that you're not some sort of Sam-bot…for the moment," Carmen began, "but the fact still remains that you and Brooke, sworn enemies, the closest thing that I've ever seen in real- life to comic book style arch enemies, are getting along. You were like Archie and Reggie, now you're like Betty and Veronica. This is strange, this demands an explanation, an explanation we are still waiting for" she concluded.

"We just had nothing to do in there but talk," Sam responded with a rather exasperated sigh. "I mean, as much as I bitched about her it wasn't like if given the opportunity I really would have gone all medieval on her ass or something. We just decided that it would be better if we tried not aggravate each other, and that led to talking, and talking led to the realization that our fighting was more posturing than loathing, and that well we can get along pretty well when we want to," she continued turning to survey them. "Come on, this isn't like learning that I'm a crime fighter by night, or that Glory is god. You guys should be happy, you always said I should give her a chance, now I have and I'm admitting that she's not a demon spawn. You win, this is probably the only time you're going to hear me speak those words, so absorb or inhale or revel or whatever."

Silence.

Sam raised her head and looked around at them.

"What?" Carmen asked. "We're reveling. Look at us revel." Sam looked, but to her reveling looked an awful lot like sitting.

"Don't you three have a Disney movie cum-Broadway production to go get dressed for? The circle of life is quickly spiraling by it, and it'll be a good two or four years, cause even numbers seem so much more symmetrical, before it'll be back," was Sam's response. It was funny, she had only been away from Brooke for about an hour but it already seemed like a lifetime. This being the case, she wanted her love-den…um, room to be free of interlopers when the apple of her eye returned.

"She's right!" Lily exclaimed jumping up. "We have to get ready. I have to prepare my notes," she continued tugging on Carmen's arm trying to get her to stand up.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Harrison asked as he opened the door just in time for an arriving Brooke to squeeze by him and into the room.

"Positive," Sam responded watching as the blonde crossed in front of her bed.

"Alright, we'll see you later then," he said stepping out of the door. "And ladies, please behave," he added before shutting the door and taking off down the hall behind Lily and Carmen.

"Who knew having friends could be such a drag on one's social life?" Brooke asked sighing dramatically as she flopped down onto the bed next to Sam. "I mean really, it's like they think I have nothing better to do. Of course as far as they know I did have nothing better to do…but you and I know better don't we?" she continued turning her head so that she was looking at Sam.

"How'd it go?" Sam asked smiling at Brooke fondly, she liked it when Brooke was goofy like that, it made her eyes seem to twinkle and left her mouth permanently unturned in the cutest way, like she couldn't get enough of her own wit and charm. It was an expression that Sam would have found terribly narcissistic on anyone else, but that disarmed her coming from Brooke.

"It wasn't so bad, I was verbally assaulted by Mary Cherry who was somehow under the impression that my stay in the closet had damaged my hearing and therefore felt the need to stand beside me and yell directly into my ear whenever she spoke, and Nicole kept sniffing me in a way that was really quite creepy muttering how she could smell Spam on me, but other than that it went well I think," Brooke replied as her eyes drifted to the ceiling. "I got a manicure and a facial."

"Really?" Sam asked.

"Uh huh. Apparently I deserved something extra special for the trauma that I went through last night," Brooke responded grinning at Sam. "And you know what they say about…something about gift mouths and horses…" she went on trailing off as she became distracted by Sam's smile and felt the need to watch it and be warmed.

"Actually," Sam said shifting forward so that she and Brooke were lying pressed up against each other. "The saying," she started brushing her lips against Brooke's, "goes" she said before extending her tongue and licking the blonde's bottom lip, "don't," she went on arching her body against Brooke's teasingly, "look, a gift horse in the mouth," she concluded before pressing her lips against Brooke's drawing the blonde into a deep, passionate kiss that left them both breathless.

"You know," Brooke started running her hand up Sam's side once they broke away, "I'm pretty sure that I could mess up a few more sayings if you'll correct me like that every time." Her lips were now hovering just in front of Sam's, the air between them filled with electricity. "There was something about there always being other fish in your tea. I always found that one strange."

"Sea, other fish in the sea," Sam corrected dipping her head down where she trailed a line of kisses down Brooke's neck.

"That definitely makes more sense," Brooke responded in a half moan as she leaned her head back to give Sam better access. "What about that one about education being the key to good dress?"

"Success," Sam whispered as her hand found it's way under Brooke's shirt. "Education is the key to success," she continued as she hand explored the soft skin of Brooke's stomach while her lips returned to work on her neck.

"And the early bird gets the perm?" Brooke asked her breath coming in short gasps.

"Brooke?" Sam asked as she nudged Brooke to the side and rolled on top of her. "Shut up," she continued before capturing taking the blonde's willingly lips captive.

Part Nineteen

Sam sensuously extended her tongue, her eyes sparkling with unspoken promise. Keeping those eyes locked on Brooke's Sam then slowly flicked her tongue upwards clearing a path on the strawberry Brooke was holding which was otherwise covered in whip cream. Brooke gasped and Sam smiled wickedly, lowering her mouth once more to take the entire strawberry in, sucking on it until every trace of whip cream was removed. Then she sumptuously bit down on the fruit, moaning gratuitously as she chewed on it, leaving a gaping, shallow breathed Brooke staring at her in wonder.

"That is like the most amazing thing I've even seen," Brooke managed to chock out as she watched Sam lick her lips.

"This is much better than the Lion King isn't it?" Sam asked, a playful yet sexy smile spreading across her face.

"Oh yeah," Brooke responded leaning forward and bringing their lips together, the taste of strawberries mixed with Sam's natural flavor sending a shiver through her body. It truly amazed her what Sam was able to do to her body, the feelings the brunette was able to inspire in her. When they weren't touching—which was very, very rarely— Brooke was over taken by the need to write bad poetry about her, and it excited Brooke to no end because she had never felt the need to write bad poetry before and she liked the feeling.

Sam leaned back, falling against the mattress as Brooke leaned into and then over her. She could sense the blonde's excitement, feel her body humming more and more as their embrace continued. She felt Brooke's hand make its way under her shirt and begin to slide up her torso. She body arched up, and anxiously she sought out Brooke's lips, desperately needing to feel connected to her, to feel her passion.

"Sam," Brooked groaned dropping her down onto the brunette's shoulder, "being this close to you is doing things to me."

"What kinds of things?" Sam asked as her hands ran up Brooke's sides and across her back.

"Naughty things, I'm wanting to touch," Brooke responded raising her head and looking down at Sam, "more and more of you," she continued her eyes lowering to take in what was exposed of Sam's body. "And I know that we've just started to…explore what's happening between us, and that things are progressing rather quickly, and that if I'm to avoid an excruciating number of cold showers…"

"We should probably watch one of the ten dollar movies on Cinemax and finish our dinner?" Sam interjected.

"Well, yeah, I mean to quote the great vocalist Monica `I should make a move but I won't, I know you're probably thinking something is wrong, knowing if I do that it won't be right, I wanna get down, but not the first night'" Brooke responded, her lip quivering it the sweetest of ways as she recited the lyrics. "I mean, I know lying on top of you, groping you probably constitutes making a move, but the rest of it…" she continued trailing off.

"The getting down part?" Sam asked watching Brooke carefully.

"Yeah, that part," Brooke replied meeting Sam's gaze.

"You don't wanna do that part?" Sam asked her eyes still trained on Brooke but her face revealing nothing.

"No, I wanna do that part, I wanna do that part so much that I'm in actual physical pain here. I was just thinking that, we probably shouldn't rush…."

"I know," Sam replied leaning forward and bringing her lips to Brooke's softly. "You're right, I was just playing with you…old habits die hard you know," she continued grinning. "And just so you know," Sam continued as she extended her arm to the side groping around for and then finding the remote, "I really, really wanna do that part to."

Brooke smiled and rolled off of Sam, sighing and starring at the ceiling. "We're not watching anything with Steven Segal in it."

"Even when we were pretending to dislike each other I would never have inflicted such a horror upon myself simply to torture you," Sam responded flipping the television on with a smirk. Brooke placed her hands behind her head smiling herself while wondering why it had taken her so long to realize that Sam was an original and utterly fantastic.

Part Twenty

Sam sighed rolling her eyes dramatically before allowing her head to flop down onto the table top with a dull thud. Harrison, Lily and Carmen were sitting around her badgering her, just like they had been since breakfast. She couldn't even find it amusing in an annoying sort of way anymore she just wanted it to end.

"Oh my god, will you give it a rest already!" Sam finally said in a highly exasperated tone. "It's not that big of a deal. I thought that we already went through this."

"Bu…but that was before," Carmen sputtered.

"Before what?" Sam asked tiredly knowing that she didn't really want to know.

"You, you, you, smiled at her," was Carmen's response. "And you two spoke in sentences where the word `bitch' wasn't used, not even once. You're really getting along. Really," she went on sounding more and more distressed as she continued. "I…we…it…huh!?!"

"Oh good lord," Sam said pushing away from the table and standing up. "I'm going over there now," she said pointing vaguely to somewhere on the other side of the room. "I want none of you to join me."

"She's not a witch," Brooke stated in an increasingly exasperated tone.

"There's no other logical explanation for what's happened. Don't be so narrow minded Brookie, there are things in this world that just can't be explained by anything other than dark occult forces, like the popularity of Sabrina the Teenage Witch," Nicole responded resting her elbows on the table and leaning towards Brooke challengingly while Mary Cherry nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Really she's not that bad," Brooke said ignoring Nicole's tirade. "She's really smart, and funny, and if you don't provoke her she can be really…"

"Mary Cherry, are you hearing this? My god, what has she done to you Brookie? Poor, sweet, simple Brooke," Nicole went on turning to Mary Cherry. "Her naive little mind just couldn't hold up against the she- demons constant assaults."

Brooke gaped at Nicole for a moment, truly shocked at the words that were coming out of the blonde's mouth. She may have been a lot of things, but simple wasn't one of them. Then as if that wasn't bad enough Mary Cherry decided to add her fifty cents to the conversation. Finally Brooke just leaned back surveying the room around them while Nicole and Mary Cherry discussed what a lost cause she was and how they might be able to save her soul.

"Where are you going?" Nicole asked suddenly noticing Brooke push back from the table and stand up.

"My master awaits," Brooke responded with a slight smile as she turned and looked in the direction Sam had just taken off in. "But don't give up on me, you two seemed to be onto something a minute ago."

With that she walked over to Sam who had settled herself against the side of one of the rooms pools tables.

"Do you play, or is it all about the look?" Brooke asked settling next to Sam.

"Oh, I'm the real deal," Sam responded keeping her eyes trained on something in the distance.

"Prove it," Brooke said moving off to the side and picking up two pool cues.

"I don't think you can handle me," Sam said accepting the cue nonetheless.

"We'll see," Brooke said softly raking her eyes over Sam thoughtfully. "Let's hope not."

Feeling herself start to flush under Brooke's heady eyes, Sam moved to the other end of the table silently setting up the balls. When she was done she looked over to Brooke indicating that she could break, then she stepped back from the table watching as Brooke slowed leaned over the table, her eyes never leaving Sam's.

Sam jumped slightly, the sound of the balls scattering jarring her out of her daze. The thing she remembered was watching Brooke lick her lips, before they parted slightly in preparation for her strike. Focusing on Brooke again Sam saw her grinning at her mischievously.

"I'm solid," was all the blonde said, then she moved over to Sam's side of the table brushing up against the brunette's back as she walked past her. "Six ball, corner pocket."

Part Twenty-One

Lily ran a hand through her hair nervously as she eyed the girl beside her. She wasn't so sure about this. It wasn't that she really disagreed with Carmen's interpretation of the text, in fact she fully agreed with it, it was just that what the taller girl was proposing was kind of illegal.

"Carm, I'm not so sure about this," Lily said finally.

"Thank you," Harrison said pointing at Lily. "See, she thinks you're insane too. I mean, I didn't really want to use the `i' word but, well, somebody had to say it."

"Actually," Lily interjected. "I kinda do agree with her. I'm just not to keen on the breaking and entering."

"You agree with her?" Harrison asked, his eyes widening. "Come on Lily, this is Brooke and Sam we're talking about. They're not that way. I think that I know a little something about the lesbian way of life, living with two of them and all, and I think I can safely say that Brooke and Sam aren't," he went on. "Trust me."

"This doesn't have anything to do with trust. And it's not like baldness, you can't just tell by looking at someone," Carmen responded. "And we're not doing anything wrong, we just have to get Sam away from Brooke for a while so we can talk to her."

"I'm not doing it," Harrison said holding up his hands.

"Lily?" Carmen asked looking at the smaller girl with an expression that conveyed that either way she was going to go ahead with her plan.

"Okay," Lily said sighing. She couldn't let Carmen go it alone, and truthfully she didn't really want to miss out on what she was sure was going to be a juicy conversation.

Mary Cherry turned around her full-length mirror once more carefully studying her reflection.

"Nic," she asked turning around, her brows crunched together in thought. "Do theez pants make mah ass look big?"

Nicole sighed as she pulled on her DKNY leather all-purpose gloves. "No Mary Cherry, the fact that your ass is big makes your ass look big."

Mary Cherry turned back to the mirror with a frown. "Whah do yah haf to be so cruel?"

"Come on, we've got a head cheerleader to save," Nicole said heading for the door. "It's going to be a dirty job," the short - haired blonde said seriously, her hand hovering over the doorknob. "And we're lucky to be the ones to do it. Now move!"

Lily tugged at her ski mask for what had to have been the billionth time in the three-minute time span it took her and Carmen to get from their room to Sam's. Slipping her hand underneath the woolly material, she fully intended to rip it off of her face when she felt a hand grasp hers. Carmen was holding her hand with her left hand while her right hand was raised up to her lips in the universal `ssssh' gesture. Lily sighed, as Carmen let go of her hand and took a step back.

"This is ridiculous!" She exclaimed only to have a hand clamped over her mouth. Wrenching Carmen's hand off of her face, Lily looked at the taller girl rather peevishly. "What are we doing?!" she continued, this time in a softer voice. "Look at us, we look like rejects from I Spy! Sam is our friend, we should just knock on the door and…"

"Sssh," Carmen interjected putting up her hand.

"I don't think that that was necessary. I was merely saying that…" Lily tried to explain but Carmen interrupted her again.

"Sssh," the taller brunette repeated again. "Listen to that."

Lily was silent for a moment as leaned her ear in the direction Carmen pointed. At first she didn't hear anything, but then she could detect a faint scratching sound, and what sounded like whispers.

"What is that?" Lily asked turning her attention back to the other girl.

"Only one way to find out," Carmen responded rounding the corner.

"Southern Comfort to Mrs. Deville, Southern Comfort to Mrs. Deville… ovah," Mary Cherry whispered into the walkie-talkie clutched in her hand, as she ducked her head around from side to side suspiciously.

"Are you sure your parents aren't related?" Nicole whispered harshly as she yanked the Southerner down into a crouching position. It was so hard to find competent help these days. "Just shut that vacuous hole you call a mouth for a moment won't you, I'm almost done."

"Awr you shur that these pants don't make mah ass look big?" Mary Cherry asked unaware that Nicole had even spoken. She had learned that you didn't really need to listen to what Nicole was saying, you just had nod your head and agree with her vigorously. So, with that knowledge in mind, she had turned to a detailed examination to see what her own buttocks looked like in a crouched position.

"Did I just tell you to shut your…" Nicole started to say, momentarily turning her attention away from the lock picks in her hand, when she froze. Curse, Mary Cherry and her loud, grating voice. The Southerner had managed to distract her just long enough for the doofus twins to locate them.

Quickly standing up, Nicole made her way over to Lily and Carmen before the halfwits could open their mouths and alert someone to their presence. Stupid Bio Glass and her bloody strict curfew. Slapping a hand over Carmen's mouth and dragging her back around the corner into the stairwell, Nicole watched as Mary Cherry grabbed Lily and did the same. Once safely hidden away in the concrete well, Nicole and Mary Cherry removed their hands from over the brunettes mouths and stepped back, making mental notes to buy some anti- bacterial soap before bringing their hands anywhere near their own flesh again.

Brooke continued to move backwards until she felt backs of her legs hit the bed. Turning around to look at the object that had impeded her back peddling, she steadied herself then turned her attention back to Sam, who was watching her with a debaucherous grin on her face. Brooke smiled down at her momentarily before ducking her head forward and capturing Sam's lips with her own, as the brunette gave one last push sending them both toppling down onto the bed.

"Listen Krispy Crème," Nicole stated sticking her finger in Carmen's face and waving it around for good measure. "You and Cousin It were sneaking around down there, so don't even think about hauling your fat ass up on to a soapbox and lecturing me!" the shorthaired blonde continued. "There are two ways this meeting can end, my way and my way, so listen closely. We're both after the same thing here, to find out what's going on with Cinderella and the soon to be step- troll, so we could as well work together. Now, before we were so rudely interrupted, I was about 5.3 seconds away from getting that lock open, so you two can either come quietly, or Mary Cherry can show you how they handled interlopers on her uncle's hog farm. So, what's it gonna be?"

"We'll be right back," Carmen whispered grabbing Lily by the arm and pulling her to the other end of the stairwell.

Nicole watched with growing boredom as they argued with each other, Carmen's hands waving in the air and pointing at her palm before, they finally seemed to come to an agreement.

"We accept the conditions of your proposal," Carmen said coming back over to Nicole. "Now let's get the hell over with, you two are giving me hives."

"Do you hear something?" Brooke asked, though she herself was becoming more and more distracted the more Sam's hand crept up her shirt.

"Only you," Sam responded. "I want to hear more of that, only this time along the lines of `ummm ohhhh'" Sam continued making the appropriate faces to go along with her sound effects.

"You're a dirty girl aren't you?" Brooke asked with a smile, her worries about mysteries noises long forgotten. "I like that."

Snapping the lid of her lock pick set closed Nicole stood up and turned around to face the girls assembled behind her. Mary Cherry seemed to be using her compact mirror to look at Lily's ass, while Lily orbited Carmen's body trying to escape Mary Cherry tyrannical grasps. Nicole sighed, freaks and losers surrounded her. Whatever had she done to deserve this.

"If you all are quite finished now," she began in a harsh whisper. "Our friends await."

Carefully opening the door, Nicole lead the pack of girls inside of the darkened hotel room, closing the door quietly once everyone was inside. Moving slightly to the side she carefully extended her hand and began to feel along the wall for a light switch, a wicked smile working it's way across her face as her finger connected with the stub.

Just then she heard a nose emerge from the darkness of the room. It was a noise Nicole knew well, it was a sexual, desperate, highly aroused moan. Deciding right then and there, that she absolutely had to put a stop to whatever was going Nicole flicked her finger and the lights turned on, showering everything in the room with bright, embarrassing light.

Lily and Carmen's mouths dropped open as the stood thunderstruck at the sight that greeted them once Nicole had flipped on the light switch. The scene that greeted them simply too much for their non- payperview watching minds to grasp. Sam and Brooke, together, on the bed. Clothes rumpled, and hands, hands in naughty, naughty places. They could see Brooke's bra, Sam's mouth was hovered over it, they were, they were doing stuff. Yes, Lily and Carmen stood watching the scene in front of them thunderstruck. It was too much, where oh where had the coy glances stage gone?

Sam's head whipped around, and Brooke's raised off of the bed as they blinked against the suddenly light filled room, which they could just blurringly make out as now filled with people.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mary Cherry yelled falling to her knees, her hands coming up to grasp the hair at the front of her head as she stared up at the ceiling. "WHAH? OH DEAR GAWD WHAH? TAKE ME! TAKE ME!" she cried looking back over at the bed, dark mascara streaks now marring her features. "Whah do they great ones leave us so young???" she whaled her body shaking.

Brooke blinked as the Southerners harsh cries filled the room, her stupor finally breaking. Working her way out from underneath Sam she jumped off the bed and practically flung herself at Mary Cherry clamping a hand over her mouth.

"My god Mary Cherry," she whispered harshly. "SHUT UP. You're going to wake up the whole floor!" Brooke continued looking around desperately, barely noticing Sam also getting off of the bed and walking towards their visitors.

Finally when Brooke was fairly certain that Mary Cherry wouldn't erupt into a screaming fit again she removed her hand and stood up, backing away from the still cowering Southerner.

"Does somebody want to tell me what the FUCK is going on here?" Sam asked once the room became blanketed in silence once more, her gaze leveled at Lily and Carmen who had the good decency to look shamed.

"You should know the answer to that question better than anyone shouldn't you Spam?" Nicole asked, her arms folded across her chest, as she surveyed the play unfolding in front of her with a detached fascination.

"I don't believe you!" Brooke erupted pointing at Nicole as she spotted the small pouch in her hand and recognized it for what it was. "You picked the lock didn't you?!?"

"Ah, Brookie," Nicole said sweetly looking over at the wispy haired blonde. "You might wanna," she continued waving a lazy hand to indicate Brooke's semi-torso, "before lighting into me."

Looking mildly confused Brooke lowered her gaze, her eyes widening when she realized what Nicole was referring to. "Holy god!" she muttered, beyond mortified to realize that she wasn't wearing a shirt. Quickly turning around so that her back was to their visitors she began to scan the room.

"Where's my shirt?" she asked, her voice raising an octave or so as she looked over at Sam.

"I don't know," Sam responded her voice rising as well, as her attention was torn between Brooke and Lily who was now looking at Brooke with an interest Sam didn't appreciate.

"Where's my shirt?" Brooke repeated again, getting desperate now. She was painfully aware of how underdressed she was, and she wanted her shirt back now.

"I dunno," Sam repeated once more, now torn between scanning the room herself and watching Mary Cherry in amazement as the girl diligently reapplied the make-up she had ruined earlier.

"You're the one that took it…" Brooke trailed off, as she remembered that there were other people in the room.

"Brookie," Nicole said, practically singing her name. "Over there," she said waving her hand in the direction of the vanity mirror, where horror of horrors, Brooke's shirt was hanging precariously on the corner.

"What'd you use to play softball?" Brooke asked shooting Sam a look before self-consciously removing her shirt from it's resting place and drawing it over her head.

"Tut, tut Brookie," Nicole piped up as Brooke pulled down her shirt, finally covering all of her yummy regions. "Those who cop feels off of other women shouldn't lob stones," she continued observing Brooke with a shrewd smile on her face. "Basketballs maybe, after all, considering your new hobby and height the WNBA might just be your calling."

"Get out," Brooke said whipping around to face Nicole, her face a study in barely controlled rage.

"I'm not so sure you really want me to do that," Nicole said rising up to her full height and stepping forward so that she was only a meter away from Brooke. "Because after the terrible trauma I just suffered, if you cast me out I might just be forced to call everyone I've ever met and share the horror that was you groping Spam McPherson with them."

Brooke opened her mouth as if to respond when Nicole finished then promptly closed it again. She really hadn't even begun to contemplate possibly hypothetically conceiving responses for Nicole finding out about her and Sam, and bam, here it was right in front of her. Previously she had been functioning on mortification and indignation to guide her, but they had left her now leaving befuddlement in their wake.

"You wouldn't," Brooke said, but not only did the statement come out sounding more like a question, Brooke also looked confused as if she wasn't really certain what was coming out of her mouth.

"You!" Mary Cherry exclaimed extending an accusing finger in Sam's direction. "Look at what ya've done ya no neck little monsta! Damn bastard chald, ya've gone `n' broke Brookie with damn dirty whore hands!" the southerner continued waving at Brooke who was still in a stupefied stated.

Sam whipped around to face Mary Cherry, her features covered in outrage. "What!?!" she yelled at the blonde. "And don't think that I can't see you!" Sam yelled pointing at Lily and Carmen who had been trying to ease themselves towards the door for a hasty escape before the situation could get any worse. "You two of all people," Sam continued turning her attention away from Mary Cherry for a moment. "Working with Satan and Tweedle Dumb, have you suddenly gone stupid!?! How could you do this? Will you still own your first born or was that the price for this little congregation of horrors!?!"

"We were just coming to talk, then Nicole kidnapped us and threatened to have Mary Cherry hog tie us if we didn't keep quiet and come along peaceably," Carmen blurted out pointing at Nicole who merely rolled her eyes extremely bored. "We were just coming to say hi, see how the incarceration was coming along, we don't know…that is to say if had thought that…you know stuff would be happening…with you…we, you know wouldn't have, and did I mention we were threatened?"

"Oh save it Carnie," Nicole responded looking at Carmen with irritation. "We all you that you two saw them looking at each other like fiesta platters and wanted to find evidence that the looks were just the result of being starved for the past two days instead of actual erotic attraction. Just admit it, you two were like our retarded twins. Besides, lil' big head over there seemed to enjoy the show," Nicole continued grinning at Lily.

"Did not!" Lily piped up immediately, looking around her to see if anyone actually believed her. Nicole simply seemed amused, Sam was looking at her with a slight frown on her face, Brooke was watching Sam watch her, Carmen seemed to be muttering to herself trying to figure out why Nicole called her Carnie, and Mary Cherry was sniffing one of Brooke's shoes.

"Okay, I've had enough of this," Brooke said her back straightening purposefully. "I want all of you to get out of our room like now! I think we've all seen quite enough of each other for one night," she finished looking at all of them and then at the door.

"Um no," Nicole responded spinning around to face Brooke once more.

"What do you mean no?" Brooke asked looking at Nicole like she was insane. "I said get out."

"And I said that I don't think that's going to be happening anytime soon. I came here to get answers, tell you they're wrong and give you the correct ones," Nicole responded calmly. "And I'm not going anywhere until I've shoved the light down your throat and made you like it."

"Why?" Sam asked turning to look at Brooke. "Why? Why? Why, do you associate with her?!!"

"You want answers?" Brooke asked looking around the room at all of them challengingly. "Fine, I'll give you answers," she continued, her indignation working up into a creamy lather, before she paused to look at Sam. "Is it alright if I give them answers?" she asked the brunette, ignoring Nicole and her obnoxious hand motions.

"Be my guest," Sam responded smiling softly at the blonde. Brooke smiled back at her then turned to face their audience once more.

"Sam and I are together, and from what you walked in on I think you know in what way I mean. She had a thing, I had a thing, and so we decided to have a thing together. That's the way it is. When we get back home I'm gonna give her my cheerleading jacket, and then we'll be going steady. And if any of you have a problem with this you can just suck on that real hard!" Brooke continued looking at them with her most intimidating face on.

"That was impressive Brooke," Nicole responded not looking at all impressed. "Did you practice that one in front of the mirror?" she continued staring at the other blonde. "Go steady?" she asked incredulously. "Have your brains fallen completely into your utterly stylish pants? She," Nicole continued, pointing to Sam at this point, "is the enemy. She is a complete social retard, and genetically I believe only slightly more complex than a howler monkey. If you must embrace the Angelina Jolie inside of you, I can accept that, but you will not bring upon us all a social backspace the likes of which Los Angeles has never before witnessed, for … that," Nicole finished waving her hand at Sam, her voice drenched with distaste.

"Howler monkey!?!" Sam exclaimed lunging at Nicole, missing the other blonde by mere centimeters as Brooke grasped her around the waist and pulled her back into her body. "Let me go," Sam complained struggling her Brooke's surprisingly strong arms. "She called be a bloody Howler monkey!"

"Sammy," Brooke said softly into Sam's ear as she fought to hold onto the brunette. "The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations. Calm down," Brooke continued in her most soothing voice.

"Don't quote Friedman to me," Sam said tilting her head to the side to look at Brooke. "She called me a howler monkey! And, you totally stole that book from my room."

"Borrow Sam, borrowed," Brooke responded shooting Sam her most charming smile hoping it would calm the irate brunette down.

"You're lucky you're cute," Sam muttered, a small smile appearing on her face nonetheless as she stopped struggling and settled back into Brooke's arms. Damn but she loved it when Brooke held her.

"This isn't a Glamazon meeting Nicole, you can bark all night but I'm not going to bite," Brooke said looking over at Nicole as Sam rested her head against her shoulder. "She's my howler monkey, and I'm not letting her go because you enjoy the creative rush you get when you insult her. So, somebody please, pop the cork cause it's time to christen our new treaty with the Browns."

Nicole folded her arms across her chest after Brooke finished observing the blonde shrewdly. Finally, tilting her head up in the air and turning her nose up she addressed the head cheerleader. "Who says you get say what treaties are made and unmade around here?" she asked staring at Brooke hard.

"I say. And you know why I get to?" Brooke responded meeting Nicole's gaze unflinchingly. "Because I'm the Queen Bee. Now be a good little peon and hail the queen."

The room was covered in silence after Brooke finished speaking, nobody quite able to believe what they had heard come out of her mouth. It was a strange relationship that Brooke and Nicole had, to insiders of the popular cliché and outsiders alike. It was taken as some sort of natural commandment that Nicole just stood by Brooke, people had long ago stopped trying to figure out why because how wispy little Brooke managed to contain a pit-bull like Nicole was beyond their powers of reasoning. But suddenly to the people in that room it made sense, Nicole welded her power like a deadly weapon but she also respected it in other people. If she came up against someone as strong willed as herself she would still rip into them like a starved Panda, but she would view them as someone worthy of her, a goddess like herself. And nobody had been able to figure out how the shorter blonde didn't rip Brooke a new asshole because the cheerleader seemed like such a pushover. But Brooke wasn't a push over, she could dish it out to Nicole as well as Nicole gave it to her, and that's why Nicole always stayed at her side. In Brooke she had finally found someone who could and would stand up to her. Their dynamic was all about respect.

And then finally when the silence seemed to grow oppressive, Nicole smiled, and bowed her head slightly before whipping around to face Mary Cherry. "Let's go Gumbo," she barked snapping her fingers at the southerner. And with that she strode out of the room without looking back.

"Wow," Carmen breathed out looking at Brooke with something close to awe on her face once Nicole and Mary Cherry had exited the room. "That was the greatest thing I've seen."

"Didn't you once see a six year old rescue a grown man from a burning building?" Lily asked looking over at Carmen.

"This was better," was Carmen's only response.

"I think you've got a groupie," Sam said twisting around so that she could see Brooke's rapidly flushing face. The fact was that she was rather surprised by how Brooke had handled Nicole as well. "I never knew you were so dominant," Sam continued watching as Brooke turned a deeper shade of red in response.

"It's not so amazing," Brooke said ripping her attention from Sam and turning to face Carmen. "You just have to know what Nicole is."

"Which is?" Lily asked.

"A two year old on a power trip with a gold card," Brooke responded. "If you let her get away with something she'll keep doing it because she can, because getting away with the unacceptable amuses her. If you don't set limits with her, she'll set them…and you don't want that," she continued. "She's not really a bad person, she just sometimes gets intoxicated by herself and doesn't know any better. When she's acting normal, she's actually quite charming."

"Are you trying to tell me that smug bitch isn't her normal state of being?" Sam asked looking up at Brooke unbelievingly.

"Yeah, I'm not saying that it's as alien to her as manual labour, but…" Brooke responded seeing that she really wasn't convincing anybody. She sighed mentally, getting people to view Nicole as an actual human being was apparently going to be the most difficult task she'd undertaken.

"Well, now that the world has completely gone insane," Carmen responded. "I think I'm going to bed. I have a world order to restore before breakfast tomorrow…and of course questions to prepare," she said looking at Sam who rolled her eyes. "So… goodnight," she said turning around with Lily following behind her.

"And," Lily said, just before she and Carmen reached the door. "Congratulations. We're happy for you. Both of us. Aren't we Carm?"

"Ecstatic," Carmen responded. "Positively." Then before Carmen could say anything else, Lily ushered her out the door and Brooke and Sam were left alone in their room once again.

The moment the door closed, Brooke dropped her head down onto Sam's shoulder and let out a piteous moan. "What?" Sam asked kissing her on the side of her head. "That wasn't fun for you?"

Part Twenty-Two

"You look tired," Nicole commented with a grin as Brooke slumped down into the seat next to her. Harrison had taken over her seat next to Sam; apparently the sheet of paper he was waving in her face was of the utmost importance so she decided to steal his seat.

"Don't start with me," Brooke responded turning to face Nicole, though the smile on her face took away any sting her words may have had.

"Is she any good?" Nicole asked looking at Brooke intently.

"I wouldn't know," Brooke responded. "THAT'S not why I'm tired," she continued shooting her friend a look. "I've never walked so much continuously in my entire life. My feet are bleeding; my feet have to be bleeding. This is too much, I mean my god, I'm from L.A. not Wisconsin or something."

"So you haven't…" Nicole asked her voice incredulous. After what she had seen the night before, the idea that the two of them had somehow managed to control themselves in the past was unimaginable to her.

"No."

"Would you tell if you had?"

"No."

"Didn't think so," Nicole said looking towards the front of the bus as the engine started up.

"Lady's never kiss and tell," Brooke responded.

"I always tell."

"Exactly," Brooke replied with a grin, thinking she had just called checkmate.

"So, is she any good?" Nicole responded seeing the self satisfied look on Brooke's face and knowing that it wouldn't be there for long.

"I just said…"

"I know," Nicole said interrupting. "But I don't know any lady's who would be caught dead doing what you were last night … so dish."

"There's nothing to tell," Brooke responded. "You saw everything," she added in a rather militant tone.

"Let me guess, you're so deeply in lurve that you're relationship has grown so that it's deeper than a physical love," Nicole responded grinning happily.

"Shut up," Brooke responded. "Besides, who would say that, that's the most retarded thing I've ever heard."

"Oh, I see, so there's always room for S-A-M-M-Y, huh?" Nicole asked.

"You're going to torture me for the rest of the week because I called you a peon aren't you?" Brooke asked miserably.

"Yes. Now I'm going to make some breast jokes, and you better laugh like you mean it!"

Brooke sighed as Nicole began speaking again. Why did relationships have to be such hard work?

"You look really…I don't know, think of something poetic and pretend that I said it."

Sam looked up from the notes she had spread out in front of her when she heard the washroom door nosily creak open. When Brooke had decided to take a shower after dinner, she had taken out the notes she had received from Arabian Knight, and for the first time in days returned her attention to what had gotten her so excited about this field trip in the first place. However, as she watched Brooke exit the washroom, clad only in a white bathrobe with wet, messy hair silhouetting her face, Sam quickly remembered why she had forgotten all about her article in the first place.

"What?" Brooke asked looking over at Sam with a slight smile sensing the girls eyes on her. "You're not going to accuse me of hogging the shower again are you?"

"Nothing. No. I mean wow," Sam breathed out still unable to pull her eyes off of Brooke. "You look really, really…I don't know," Sam said shaking her head and blushing as she realized that she couldn't think of a word to adequately describe how breathtaking Brooke looked. "I can't…why don't you just think of something really poetic and pretend like I said it."

Brooke smiled at her flustered roommate and walked over to her bed flopping down on the side not occupied by the notes Sam was gathering up. Once horizontal, she reached her arms back placing them under her head, which in turn caused her robe to inch a up a little, smiling as she watched Sam become fascinated by the newly revealed areas of skin.

"It's going to be really hard for you to write that article if you can't think of any adjectives," Brooke commented drawing Sam's attention back to her face.

"I know, shame on you," Sam responded her gaze looked on Brooke's lips for a moment, before she finally gave into her desires and leaned down pressing her own lips against Brooke's.

"Shame on me?" Brooke asked once their kiss broke. "What did I do?"

"You're so irresistible that you leave me almost literally speechless," Sam responded, as her hand slowly crept across Brooke's robe covered abdomen, before coming to rest on her hip.

"I can't help the fact that I'm sinfully delicious," Brooke responded, her own eyes fastened on Sam's face as the brunette watched her hand play across Brooke's mid-section.

"McQueen, deep and delicious," Sam replied smiling, before returning to her serious contemplation of the shapes her hands were making over Brooke's robe.

"What are you thinking?" Brooke asked, placing her hand over top of Sam's watching her carefully. There was something in the brunette's gaze that eluded her, but was also exciting her.

"That," Sam said pausing so that she could look up into Brooke's eyes. "That I'd like to see what's under this," she continued, her fingers idly tracing the tie of the robe.

Brooke was silent for a moment, and then lifted up her hand so that it came to rest on the side of Sam's face. Then, propping herself up on her other hand, she leaned forward bringing their lips together, softly at first then with increasing intensity as she felt Sam's hands begin to work the tie of her robe.

As Sam's hand slipped inside of her robe, Brooke's arm gave way and she fell back against the bed, Sam easily rolling on top of her, their lips only separating when Sam rose up to watch her actions once she had settled herself on top of Brooke.

Brooke watched Sam's face, her lips were slightly parted and her eyes hooded, as her thumb stroked Brooke's stomach lightly. Brooke felt her breath start to come in quicken and her heart flutter as Sam slipped her other hand inside of the robe. The blonde felt herself shiver as she realized what Sam was about to do, and then the brunette fulfilled her prophecy. Slowly, Sam slid her hands up Brooke's torso, the robe spreading apart in the wake of her hands.

Sam was still for a moment once she had revealed Brooke's nude torso to her hungry eyes, then she leaned forward bringing their lips crashing against each others once again passionately, as she placed her hand on Brooke's bare breast for the first time, swallowing the blonde's groan hungrily.

"Brooke?" Sam asked softly as the need for oxygen finally forced them apart. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure it was going to break free of her chest. She felt as if she were on fire, she felt like she was suffocating and Brooke's skin was air. She needed…she needed…

"I know," Brooke whispered, her own body shivering with anticipation. Sam had stilled her hand when she spoke, but it made no difference to Brooke's body, Sam had merely removed the cause, not the symptoms. "I want…I'm ready," she continued bringing one of her hands up to rest over top of Sam's, using it to make Sam's hand squeeze her breast once more.

Sam was silent for a moment, her attention focused on her hand, which had started to massage Brooke's breast once more, then she smiled and leaned forward bringing their lips together once more. And, as she felt Brooke's hands begin to slide under her own shirt, she thought to herself, so this is what love is.

The End

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