The following morning found Nicky on the floor with Bryan, hovering under a towel for warmth, Shane falling out of his chair, and Samantha and Kian snuggled up in a corner of the pull-out couch; Mark and Maddy were still in bed, exhausted after the night’s events.

Samantha was the first to open her eyes; immediately she froze because she felt arms around her. Wiggling a bit so she could see if Nicky had mistaken her for a large teddy bear, she gasped when she saw blond hair, blue eyes and a huge smile.

“What are you doing?” She whispered, not attempting to move out of his grasp.

He took this as a good sign. “Was sleeping.” He grinned at her. “How’d you sleep?”

“Amazingly well,” she conceded, glancing to the floor, where Nicky was sprawled. “What happened to him?”

“I’ve no idea. I’m glad he moved, though.”

Sam smiled slightly. “Don’t smooth talk me, Egan.”

“Wasn’t.” He yawned. “I’d be happy to go right back to sleep with you in my arms, but I’ve gotta pee.”

“You’re such a sweet talker.” She laughed quietly, but was taken off guard when he lowered his mouth to hers in a kiss that caught her breath in her throat. When he pulled away, after several minutes, she swallowed. “What was that for?”

“I thought that was pretty obvious. I mean…I was trying to make it obvious, at least.”

She grinned. “Please don’t start singing.”

“Why? You don’t like my voice?”

“No. I don’t want the others to wake up and see us in this compromising position.”

“Oh, yeah. I’d hate for that to happen.” He smiled wider before kissing her again. This time, she turned over towards him, enveloping him in her arms. She wasn’t sure why, exactly, she was kissing him, but it felt good. And it felt right. Kian only knew that it was what he’d wanted for a long time.

A creak sounded moments later, which prompted Samantha to jump out of Kian’s arms, and clear across the room; she stared at the bedroom door, breathing heavily. Kian distinctly heard her mutter a choice swear.

She shook her head as he slowly walked towards her. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

Kian’s happy demeanor faded. “Why not?”

“Because---” she gestured between them. “We---us---we’re---it’s not right. I don’t even like you.”

She distinctly saw hurt flash through his eyes. “Well, I like you. Very much.”

Before she could respond (and close her mouth, because it was hanging open in shock), he had walked off towards the bathroom.

“That didn’t really go very well,” Shane stated, stretching and standing up from the chair. “God, I’ve got a crick in my neck.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Sam asked, surprising Shane with the sound of her voice; she sounded terribly upset and looked even more confused.

Shane shrugged. “I don’t really know. He’ll get over it, though. He always does. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Sam watched as he walked into the kitchen, moving his head from side to side as she did; she found herself staring at the bathroom door and biting her bottom lip, a feeling of great dread coming over her entire body.

“Hey!” Bryan yelled gleefully, standing up from the floor and jumping around. “It stopped snowing!”

Soon, the entire group, sans Kian, were gathered in the living room; some of them looked bushy-tailed (Nicky) and some of them looked terribly tired and annoyed (Shane). Even more (Mark and Maddy) looked rejuvenated and a bit happier than they should have looked.

“I guess we can get going then,” Mark stated, turning to go back into the bedroom. “I’ll get packing.”

“I’ll help!” Maddy chirped up, following him into the bedroom and closing the door behind them with a quiet click.

Sam stood off to the side of the room, gazing at the rug with her forehead crinkled in thought.

“Breakfast first, I think,” Bryan announced, heading towards the kitchen. “Wanna help me, Sam?”

“Oh, please do,” Shane stated evenly, plopping down onto the sofa he’d just put back into sofa position. “I don’t think it’d be good if he burned the place down.”

Shaking any thoughts of anything from her head, Sam following Bryan into the kitchen and immediately busied her hands and mind with cooking breakfast.

Once everything was on the table, and everyone was seated (and stuffing their faces - or at least Nicky was), Samantha excused herself; she had noticed Kian’s absence far more than she cared to, he had been notably gone for at least a half hour. She tapped lightly on the bathroom door and leaned her ear against it, listening to running water; she heard none.

She tapped again. “Kian? It’s Sam. May I come in?”

A muffled response of “yeah” was heard, and she let herself in. The bathroom was completely steamed up, and she could barely make out his towel-clad form; apparently Kian, like herself, really enjoyed the boiling hot showers.

“Hi,” she said quietly, suddenly shy.

“Hello.” Brisk. Hurt. Serious.

Biting on her lower lip, she ventured in a still quiet voice, “Breakfast is ready.”

He grunted a response, toweling off his hair in front of the cracked mirror above the sink; she watched him quietly, aware of the fast beating of her heart.

“Listen,” she began, swallowing hard; he turned towards her, his eyebrows raised in either fight or expectation. “I’m really, really sorry, Kian.”

He had never seen her like this; vulnerable. Despite how hurt he’d been when she had told him she didn’t like him, he wanted to scoop her up in his arms and forgive her 10 times over.

Kian let his hair towel drop to the moist floor. “It’s alright.”

“No, it’s not. I hurt you…and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

He shrugged, his eyes downcast. “You were just being honest.”

Sam shook her head and took a step towards him, her hand reaching out to push his chin up so he’d look her in the eye; she almost wished she hadn’t, for the intensity of his blue eyes was almost too much for her to handle in her current state. “I wasn’t being honest at all.”

He remained stoic, and she became aware of the fact that he only wore a towel slung loosely around his waist; her face colored considerably, and he couldn’t mistake the fact that she was changing right in front of him. It wasn’t like her to show so much emotion, and he almost stopped her. But a part of him really wanted to hear what she had to say.

Kian cleared his throat, because it didn’t seem to work properly. “What do you mean?”

Her eyes remained on his, she was determined to stare him down. “I only said I didn’t like you so that you wouldn’t know how much that kiss had caught me off guard. I didn’t want to---lose face, so to speak. I know my pride sucks, and that what I said hurt you, and I’m sorry for that. I didn’t mean it.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean it at all. In fact, I like you a lot. More than I should. I used to hate you, despise you even, but then I realized that it was all a cover. I fooled myself into thinking I really didn’t care about you, probably so you couldn’t hurt me.”

To say he was surprised would be an understatement; sure, he’d always liked her, since the moment she’d walked into his dressing room with her clipboard and no-nonsense demeanor, but he’d never imagined she could really like him back. He spent nights telling himself not to think of her, because she was a conquest he could never win. He’d been rude to her intentionally, to overcompensate for his feelings. He knew, now, how stupid that had been, but he hadn’t been able to help himself.

His mouth was dry when he tried to speak. “Sam--”

“You don’t have to say anything. I know the kiss didn’t mean anything to you…I know you only did it because it was the heat of the moment, and it just happened…” She looked away, but could see his reflection in the steamy mirror. “I just wanted you to know how I really felt.”

Kian’s face held an expression of amazement when he finally found the words. “Sam, I’ve always liked you. I’ve fancied you rotten since I first saw you. How could you not have guessed?”

Sam’s mouth dropped open in true shock; gaping, she opened and closed it like a goldfish. She didn’t know what to say, but as it turned out, she didn’t have to bother. Kian leaned in, pressing her against the door, and covered her lips with his in a kiss that left them both flushed and breathing heavily when it was interrupted ten minutes later.