|~ Graduation ~|~ Round Two ~|~ Vacation ~|~ Conclusion ~|

Graduation

Graduation day arrived and Brooke was desperately trying to put the finishing touches on her speech. It wasn't what she wanted but it was going to have to do. Sam was walking around the house with Mac on her hip trying to get ready.

"You're not helping, Mac," she scolded as Mac pulled her hair down just as fast as she managed to put it up. Mac seemed to love Sam's hair as much as Brooke did, albeit for different reasons. Brooke giggled. Sam was fast overcoming her nervousness around babies. Of course, given Mac's attachment to her she didn't have much of a choice.

"How's it coming Princess?" she asked as she wrestled her hair away from Mac and set the baby down on the dresser. Mac picked up the nearby stuffed turtle and kept herself occupied as Sam worked on her hair. Brooke sighed with frustration.

"It's done. It sucks, but it's done," Brooke answered her. Sam smiled.

"I'm sure it doesn't suck, love. And even if it does no one's really going to be listening anyway," Sam joked. Brooke threw a pillow at her.

"Thanks, you're a lot of help," Brooke chided. Sam shrugged.

"I offered to help but you turned me down. Live with the consequences," she told Brooke. Brooke stuck out her tongue. "Don't tease, love. We haven't the time," she laughed. Brooke walked over and helped Sam finish her hair as Mac watched.

"You look great," Brooke whispered as she placed a kiss to the back of Sam's neck. Sam blushed.

"So do you," Sam whispered back. Brooke picked Mac up who cooed at her happily.

"We look fabulous, don't we Mac? The gorgeous McPherson-McQueen's, huh?" Brooke asked Mac as she swung the baby around.

"We need to get going," Sam reminded her. Brooke nodded and headed towards the stairs.

"Let's give the baby to the `rentals and get to the school. We only get one shot at this, let's not screw it up."

Sam fidgeted in her seat as Brooke walked up to the podium. She was nervous for her and could only imagine how Brooke felt. She twisted in her seat until she saw their parents who smiled at her. Then Sam saw Kelly who glared murderously at her. (Oh, another country heard from) Sam thought dryly. Sam glared back at her refusing to be intimidated by the woman. She turned her attention back to Brooke as Brooke cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Hello everyone, Class of 2002 and our parents. My name is Brooke McQueen but I think you all knew that," she said with a nervous laugh. "Well, we've reached the end of this road, guys. Our high school careers are over and whether or not we continue to pursue academic achievements is a personal decision. So this is our good-bye."

"I've been trying for a while to figure out exactly what I wanted to say when I got up here and I'll be honest and tell you I still haven't figured it out. What I do know is that the road from kindergarten to here hasn't always been an easy one. We've gained friends and lost others, nothing has remained the same. The only thing that has remained the same is the fact that we are not the same people we once were."

"We have changed, but so has the world we live in. The world is changing around us and it is our challenge as we enter the world as adults to meet those changes and find a way to better them. We are the next generation and the world is ours. It is our challenge, our duty to enter the world and find a way to make it better, not worse. I know most of you sitting out there and I think that if there's any group of individuals who can change the world, it's the 2002 graduating class of Kennedy High. Thank you."

Everyone applauded and stood up as Brooke left the stage and returned to her seat next to Sam (gotta love alphabetical order). She blushed and tried to hide her face as she finally reached Sam.

"God, I am so glad that's over," she said to Sam who hugged her.

"I don't know what you were worried about, Princess. That didn't suck," Sam assured her. Brooke smiled a bit and giggled.

"Thanks but, that's not what I wrote," she confessed. Sam's eyes got wide.

"Excuse me?"

"I just kind of `winged it' once I got up there," Brooke explained. Sam shook her head and laughed.

"I'm impressed. You'd never know." Brooke sighed.

"Let's hope no one else noticed."

"So what are you two doing this summer?" Lily asked after graduation as the two mixed gangs gathered at the Palace for a party. Brooke and Sam were standing together in the kitchen.

"We don't know yet," Brooke admitted. "Just hang out I guess. Maybe go on a few trips. You?" Lily sighed.

"Working and then off to college. Such is the married life. You two starting in the fall?" Sam shook her head.

"We've both decided to defer a year and just take a breather," Sam explained. "We've been through a lot in the past year and think starting college right off might be overload." Lily nodded.

"I understand. You've made some good points. A year off to relax will probably do you both some good," she agreed. Sam enveloped Brooke in a hug and sighed.

"We can only hope," she said quietly.

"And sometimes that's all you can do," Lily told her while she patted both girls. It was true, they'd both been through a lot since Nicole's drunken driving spree. Time off together without school pressures or anything else was just what the doctor ordered for them to fully recover.

Round Two

Two weeks passed since graduation and Sam was currently in downtown San Francisco on the request of Kelly Foster. She really didn't want to be there and furthermore hated the fact that she hadn't told Brooke where she was going. Brooke thought she was on a short trip somewhere else and Sam hated herself for her dishonesty but knew that telling Brooke where she was going and why would only upset her. So she parked her car and got out, heading into Kelly's gallery where she wasn't surprised to see Kelly waiting for her.

"Sam," Kelly greeted her curtly.

"Kelly," Sam said in the same tone. "Why did you want me to come all the way out here? Couldn't you have talked to me on the phone?"

"I want to talk to you about Brooke and this thing the two of you have going without you hanging up the phone," Kelly explained.

"It's not a `thing', it's love," Sam sighed.

"I'm sure you think it is, Sam, but it's not."

"Why? Because you say it isn't? You know, Brooke and I have been through this all ready, numerous times. If you called me all this way to tell me Brooke isn't gay and to knock this whole thing off, I'll sock you in the jaw," Sam warned.

"Don't talk to me like that, young lady," Kelly snapped back.

"Oh, you people," Sam muttered remembering Mike saying the same thing. "You'd think living in San Francisco would have made you more open minded."

"What people do behind closed doors is none of my business but we're talking about my daughter. You've corrupted her," Kelly growled. Sam threw her hands in the air.

"Why am I always the bad guy?" she lamented. "Look, I did nothing, I repeat, N-O-T-H-I-N-G to Brooke. I was just as surprised as everyone else that she felt the same for me as I did for her. I didn't corrupt her, convert her, spike her vitamins, perform any bad mojo, or love spells. So just accept it or get out of both our lives. At any rate, you should really see someone about your homophobia." Kelly reached out and slapped Sam hard across the face.

"You've got one hell of a mouth on you," Kelly snarled. Sam glared at her. (Aw Hell, might as well make her REALLY mad) Sam thought to herself.

"So your daughter tells me," Sam taunted further angering Kelly.

"That's disgusting," Kelly spat. Sam laughed bitterly.

"Oh, learn to take a joke," Sam told her. "I love your daughter, she loves me. God, I'm thinking about getting `I love Brooke' tattooed on my forehead just to save myself time."

"She isn't gay," Kelly protested.

"She is too," Sam argued back. "I am not going to stand here and argue this with you until we're both blue in the face. I know the truth and I think you do too, you just won't admit it."

"This will destroy her life."

"Like you have?" Sam yelled. Kelly stared at her.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Do you have any idea what your snide little comments to her as a child about her weight and then your abandoning her did to Brooke's psyche?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kelly said defensively. Sam reached into her pocket and slammed a packet of laxatives down on the desk in front of them.

"This, this is what you've done to her. She suffers from an eating disorder. She doesn't know that I know but ever since your last visit she's reverted. She is the most beautiful person, inside and out that I have ever known and you make her feel ugly, worthless, unwanted, and unloved despite all the people in her life who tell her otherwise. You scarred her, emotionally and mentally and it's something she's going to have to fight for the rest of her life. And I'll always be there for her. Can't say the same for you though, can I?" Kelly was silent.

"Yeah, didn't think so. You wounded her for life the day you walked out on her for your own selfish reasons. I can't say that it wasn't the best thing for her because honestly I think she's better off without you."

"How dare you blame me for that!" Kelly yelled.

"It's your fault!" Sam yelled back. "Even Brooke admits that's where it started. God, take responsibilty for once in your life."

"You have no idea who I am or why I did the things I did," Kelly defended herself.

"You're right, I don't but you don't know Brooke either so don't stand there and tell me what she can and can not be. But you see, the eating disorder thing is something she can work on, change and fight. Being gay isn't. No amount of you protesting or yelling or denying it will change that."

"She's my baby girl," Kelly whispered.

"And she still is. Being gay didn't change that. Either accept her or leave her alone but please stop hurting her. At any rate, I'm through here and I'm leaving now, so have a nice life." Sam headed for the door while Kelly sat shaking her head.

"Sam?" Kelly called after her just as Sam reached the door.

"What?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"I don't�I can't�take care of her, please," she asked. Sam nodded.

"Always."

"Princess, we need to talk," Sam said as she walked into Brooke's room. Brooke looked up from her bed where she sat reading. Sam thought she looked tired but she knew why.

"Sure, Sammy, what's up?" Sam thought about telling her about her visit with Kelly but decided there was a more important matter at hand. She tossed the laxative package onto the bed at Brooke's side with a sad expression on her face.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" she asked quietly as Brooke hung her head and started to cry. Sam sat down on the bed and tried to pull Brooke to her but Brooke pushed her away.

"Leave me alone," Brooke protested. Sam sighed and tried again, this time succeeding in wrapping her arms around Brooke's thin frame.

"Never, Princess," she whispered. "Come on, what's causing this? I want to help. Was it your mother?" Brooke shrugged.

"Some, I guess. She called me horsey," she told Sam. Sam sighed again.

"I should have socked her in the jaw," she said more to herself than Brooke. "Brooke, you are not horsey. What have I told you about your weight?" she asked as she stroked Brooke's blonde hair away from the other girls' hazel eyes.

"Even if?" Brooke asked. Sam smiled.

"You're right, you're not by any means fat and even if you were I would still love you," Sam said patiently. "I didn't fall in love with the numbers on some scale, I fell in love with you."

"I'm out of control again, Sammy," Brooke complained.

"No you're not, love. You just feel that way because Kelly reacted so badly. You know, it warps the mind how two totally wiggy people like Mike and Kelly could have such a wonderful and loving daughter like you. Anyway, you're not out of control unless you let yourself be."

"But my Mom hates me," Brooke weeped. Sam sent majorly bad vibes back in Kelly's direction.

"She doesn't hate you, she's just having trouble dealing with this new part of you, love. Give her time and she'll come around, just like Mike did. And if she doesn't, is it really that great a loss? All she does is hurt you."

"She's my MOM," Brooke protested.

"I know Princess. But this," she held up the package, "is going to stop. Or this time I will take you back to the Clinic," she finished gently but firmly. Brooke nodded.

"Will you help me Sammy? I don't want to be sick," Brooke leaned into Sam.

"I'll always be here for you, love. You needn't even ask."

"Thank you, Sammy," she relaxed into Sam's arms and sat in silence for so long that Sam thought she'd fallen asleep.

"Well, since you know my secret, I might as well tell you that I know yours. I know you went to see Kelly," Brooke said quietly later, startling Sam who'd fallen into a light sleep.

"Uh�" Sam didn't know what to say.

"I'm not mad, Sam," Brooke reassured her. "What'd she have to say?"

"Nothing much, just that you weren't gay and that I corrupted you," Sam told her. Brooke sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"You always end up with the short end of the stick, Sam, while I end up looking innocent when we're in this together. I really wish people would see that," Brooke explained.

"So do I but it isn't your fault. Don't let it bother you, I handled her," Sam hugged her.

"Still, it couldn't have been pleasant."

"No," Sam said honestly. "But it's over. Now we'll work on getting you better, love. One day at a time, together." Brooke smiled.

"Together, Sammy. I like the sound of that."

Vacation

It was mid-July and Sam and Brooke were vacationing at a beachside resort further up the coast. Brooke was watching Sam sun herself on the beach and thought back to where they were a year ago. Sam was lying in a coma and Brooke was begging her to wake up. Fast forward a year and they were in love and lying on a beautiful beach together. What a difference a year could make. And Brooke wouldn't trade any of it; she'd spare Sam the pain if she could but she wouldn't trade anything else.

She shifted in her chair to get a better look at Sam and knew without a doubt that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with the sweet brunette. Sam had been so sensitive and patient with her lately as she fought her `mother' issues and eating disorders, again. Never once did Sam make her feel stupid or worthless but instead like she was the center of Sam's universe. Not that Sam wasn't firm with her but she wasn't mean, she was understanding and Brooke doubted that there was ever enough she could do to thank Sam for all she'd done for her.

"Penny for them, love," Sam said as she opened one eye and looked at Brooke.

"I love you," Brooke responded. Sam smiled at her.

"I love you too," Sam said back. Brooke shook her head.

"You don't get it. I want to spend my life with you, Sammy." Sam quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Why Ms McQueen, are you proposing marriage?" she joked half-heartedly. Her heart was thundering in her chest.

"Why, would you say yes?" Brooke asked seriously. Sam stared at her.

"If the day ever came, Princess. Without hesitation," Sam answered honestly. Brooke nodded.

"Someday Sammy, that day will come," she smiled.

"Then I can wait. And I will say yes."

Brooke shifted nervously from foot to foot waiting for Sam to come home to the hotel room a week later in early August. She'd gone out to get snacks and Brooke was getting antsy waiting. Soon though she heard the key in the lock and the door opened. Sam walked in, threw her keys on the table and put the grocery bags on the counter.

"OK, I got ice cream, yogart, chips, dips, whips, and chains," she joked as Brooke walked over. "Soda and a few other necessities. Whatcha up to, Princess?"

"Waiting for you," Brooke answered honestly. Sam grinned.

"Waiting with baited breath, eh?" Brooke circled her arms around Sam's waist.

"Oh, yeah," Brooke said. "Here, sit down." She lead Sam to a chair and sat her down in it. "I've got something for you." Sam's eyes lit up.

"Ooo, presents, goody," she cooed. Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Do you know what today is?" Brooke asked. Sam tilted her head. She did but decided to let Brooke have the moment.

"Refresh my memory," she requested. Brooke nodded.

"It was a year ago today that you told me how you really felt about me and I confessed my love for you," Brooke told her.

"I know," Sam smiled. "Our first anniversery."

"Right, you do remember," she smiled with joy that Sam remembered. "Well, I wanted to do something special so I got you this," she pulled out a small velvet box and handed it to Sam. Sam opened it and a wide grin spread across her face. Inside the box was a beautiful silver Clauddah ring.

"It's beautiful, Brooke," Sam gasped. Brooke smiled.

"It means love, loyalty and friendship. You have all three from me, Sam, unconditionally. The heart is my love, which is endless; the hands are my friendship, which is boundless; and the crown is my loyalty, which I give without question. If you wear it with the heart facing out it means you're free but if you wear it facing towards you it means your heart is taken." Brooke put the ring on Sam's left ring finger with the heart facing Sam so that everyone would know Sam was taken.

"Wear it here until the day we say `I do', Sammy?" she asked. Sam nodded as she wiped away a few tears.

"Of course. I got something for you too," Sam said. She reached for her jacket and pulled a box from the pocket. Brooke opened the box and looked at the diamond heart pendant inside with a gasp.

"Oh, Sammy," she whispered.

"Not as sweet or sentimental as yours but, I wanted to give you my heart to keep and it was the best I could do," Sam explained shyly. She removed the pendant and placed the chain around Brooke's neck and fastened it.

"It's perfect, Sam," Brooke told her as she wiped away her own tears. She drew Sam to her for a scorching kiss.

"Happy anniversary, Sam," Brooke whispered.

"Happy anniversary, Brooke."

Conclusion

Yeah, the end. :::everyone applauds and sighs out of sheer relief::: Oh, shush!

Brooke rolled over and wrapped her arms around Sam's sleeping form. She was warm and soft and Brooke never wanted to let go. And then it hit her. She didn't have to; Sam wasn't going anywhere. Not now, not ever; Sam had said as much.

("But I'm not going anywhere, I promise. My heart and soul are yours for as long as you want them. A day, a week, a month, a year, forever. Whatever you choose. You'll never lose me until the day you say good-bye.")

But Brooke had no intentions of ever saying good-bye until the last breath left her body, preferably when she was old and grey and had lived a fulfilling life with Sam at her side. She held on to Sam a little tighter, buried her nose in Sam's thick brown hair and smiled at the hand God had dealt her.

Looking back over her high school career, never in a million years did she imagine she'd be lying where she was now, next to Sam deeply in love. Well, she had been in love with Sam for a long time she just never thought that things would work out the way that they did. Her life was, in reality to an outside observer, imperfect. The life laid out in front of her, and Sam, was not going to be an easy one. There were going to be hard times as well as good but to Brooke, it was absolutely perfect. It was what she wanted and she wouldn't change a thing.

"Sammy, you awake?" she whispered. Sam shifted in her arms.

"Uh-huh," Sam murmured back. Brooke chuckled.

"Oh really?" she teased. She felt Sam snicker back.

"Really," Sam's sleep filled voice reached her ears. Sam rolled over in Brooke's arms so that they were facing each other and put her arms around Brooke's hips. She stared sleepily into Brooke's hazel eyes as Brooke just smiled happily at her.

"What's up, Princess?" she asked.

"I'm happy, Sam," Brooke told her. Sam smiled back at her.

"That's good. So am I."

"Did you ever think we'd end up here together? In love?" Brooke asked.

"Brooke, I've loved you in some way since I first layed eyes on you in kindergarten. You were wearing a little pink dress and white gloves with little matching shiny shoes. And you had long hair that was curled." Brooke laughed.

"You remember all that?" she asked. Sam nodded.

"Harrison wasn't the only one taken with you," she giggled. "Of course, he loved you right off the bat and I thought I hated you." Brooke thought back for a minute.

"You were wearing a pair of blue overalls and a white shirt with your hair in pigtails," she remembered Sam as well. "And if memory serves, you dumped a pint of milk over my head that day." She mock glared at Sam. Sam smiled sheepishly.

"And thus the rivalry began. I think I was jealous because Harrison kept staring at you and talking to you. I guess it comes down to `I started it'."

"Spiteful little five year old, weren't you?" Brooke laughed.

"Yeah, should have dumped the milk over HIS head, though," Sam giggled. Brooke brushed some hair away from Sam's face.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" Brooke said more as a statement. Sam nodded.

"Never thought I'd thank Nicole for her poor drivin skills but yes, without her, I doubt we'd be here right now." Brooke frowned.

"I don't know. We might have told each other eventually." Sam shrugged.

"Maybe, but without the kick in the ass we both got, we might not have. I remember how frightened I was of your reaction to how I felt, Brooke. I think your rejection, or if you'd been horrified, it would have destroyed me."

"I know what you mean, Sam. I sat on my feelings for you for so long," Brooke admitted.

"Well, that's all behind us now. And we have the future to look forward to," Sam pointed out, her voice full of hope. Brooke rested her forehead against Sam's.

"I wonder what that future holds," Brooke whispered. Sam smirked and kissed her slow and deep.

"I don't know, love, but I can't wait to find out," she said as she reached down and pulled the covers up over their heads and lost herself to Brooke.

THE END

{See? No Samabusage. A slap across the face does not a Sam whumping make}

SAM: Hey, that wasn't so bad.
BROOKE: Sure, she picked on me, not you.
SAM: But we got a happy ending.
BROOKE: (dryly) This time.
{snicker}
BROOKE: See? There's Aeryn, she's got something evil planned.
{paranoid much, Brooke?}
SAM: She has a point, Aeryn. What do you have planned?
{At this point, nothing. This story was a surprise to me.}
SAM: I liked it, we got a happy ending and lots of sex, even if it was off screen.
BROOKE: I got my eating disorder back, that sucked.
SAM: Yeah! Aeryn, that was mean.
{Could you two go away and let me sleep now? Geesh}
SAM: Sure, bye Aeryn. And I like the moratorium on Samabusage.
BROOKE: Me too. Later Aeryn.
{And if you see Nic, send her back my way. My muse and I need to have a little chat}