Title: "Sinner's Hot Desire"

Author: carpesomediem

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Fandom: Popular

Characters: Sam/Brooke

Rating: PG-13

Warnings/Spoilers: Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy; I just bring the characters out to play.  Spoiler for "Fire in the Hole," totally AU-ing that ep.  You know how it goes.  For Teara.

Summary: Brooke teaches Sam to kiss George which leads to teaching Sam how to have sex with, well, her.

"SISTERLY" BONDING

"These... movies are never realistic," Brooke paused the film, giggling.  She threw the remote to the floor and turned to look at Sam.  The brunette's face was priceless, her head titled to the side and her jaw ajar.  There was a look of dumbfoundedness that washed over it, replacing the dull blush that lined her cheeks when they first began watching the film.  "You burst a brain cell there, Sam?"

There was no response.

"Oww!"  Brooke poked Sam in the face.  Her hand flew up to bat Brooke's away, but she was too slow.  Brooke just smirked.  "What was that for?"

"Enjoying the movie much?" she teased.  If anything intrigued Brooke about their porn watching experience, it was the waves of emotion wash over Sam's face.  It was like watching a painting come to life, each curve and contour changing as a new part of the film progressed.  She watched in delight as embarrassment, arousal and confusion came over Sam's face and then were overcome by another emotion as the movie went on.  Brooke couldn't have told you what happened in the film, she was too busy watching Sam.

"I... I," a blush overcame Sam's face, "No, it was just... eww."  In reality, Sam didn't know what to say.  She knew what sex was about, theoretically, but she'd never seen a film about it before.  Especially a film like that.  If sex was like that, she wanted nothing to do with it.

"Yeah, tell me about it.  I can't believe my dad owns it."  Brooke shook her head, still not believing she found porn in his closet.  She was astounded, completely, grabbing the first VHS tape that came in contact with her hand and closed the closet door before she vomited.

"Yeah, that's just... disturbing.  I wonder if Mike has anymore hidden in his closet-"

"-That's not funny, Sam," Brooke slapped her shoulder.  "But he does."

"Oww!  Again!  Lay off," Sam grabbed Brooke's wrist this time and held it tight.  "Want to play mercy?"

"Ouch, Sam, that hurts!" Brooke whined, twisting her arm in front of her chest to try and gain some sort of leverage.  "Who would've thought you were so strong?"

"Hey!" Sam was genuinely offended by the remark.  Despite the fact she made not work out like the cheerleader, she wasn't out of shape in the least bit.

"It's true.  You don't look that strong," Brooke broke free of Sam's grasp, leaned back on the sofa and smiled.  "At least I work out."

"If you can call cheerleading a workout," Sam shrugged.  "Anybody could parade around in a short skirt and call it a work out.  I mean, you do it..."

"Yeah, I do a damn good job of it, too," Brooke grinned, crossing her arms and looking at Sam.

"You do," Sam said it before she had time to stop herself.  'Oh.  My.  God,' she thought, 'Recover quickly.  Say something else.  Quick.'

"Oh, I do?" Brooke sat up and rose an eyebrow.  "Been watching me practice, Sam?"

"Maybe," Sam sighed, throwing her had back against the back of the sofa and sinking into herself.  She'd already said too much.

"What's wrong?"  Brooke didn't think teasing Sam would make her so morose.  The intent of today's lesson was to show Sam how to make a move on George, not for her to make what might be considered a move in some circles on her.  Not that she minded - it's what she wanted - but still, not at the cost of confusing Sam even more than she already was over George.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Sam said flatly.  "Really, it's nothing.  I shouldn't have said anything.  I'm just... I just don't know what to do.  With George, with any of this..."

"Oh."

"Yeah."  Sam finally composed herself and looked at Brooke.

"Want me to teach you how to kiss a boy?" Brooke asked innocently, her heart sinking, but she knew deep down inside this may be the only time she could share part of herself with the journalist.  Brooke was never good at her feelings, she just went wherever the world took her, and right now, she was going to seize the opportunity.

"You want to teach me how to... kiss?" Sam asked.  "You're kidding me, right?"

"Well, you said you wanted to know how to make a move on George."

"Yeah, Brooke, but I know how to kiss..."

"You think you know how to kiss, Sam, but kissing is what leads to... you know... more," Brooke reasoned.  Sam thought about it for a second and nodded.  "Maybe you'll need some of this before we begin the first lesson?"  Brooke reached under the sofa and pulled out a bottle of Bourbon.  "Look what I got."

"Whiskey?" Sam shook her head, "Trying to get me drunk there and have your way with me?" She grabbed the bottle, unscrewed the cap and took a swig.  She winced as it slid down her throat and instantly felt sick.  She'd never had whiskey before, she should've chased it with something sweet like Gatorade or even Sprite, but she didn't know better.  Apparently, neither did Brooke as she took the bottle from Sam and took her own swig only to begin coughing as it washed its way down her throat.

"Wow, that certainly was..." Brooke blinked.  "Something."

"Yeah," Sam smiled, loosening herself up a bit or trying to.  "So, is this where we kiss now?"  Brooke took another swig.  She nodded, handing it back to Sam who did the same.

"Maybe a few more?"  Sam just nodded, took another shot, and they passed the bottle back and forth until it was half gone.  Brooke was ready to throw up, and Sam couldn't stand, so, they both giggled and laughed as the room around them spun.

"You want to make out now?" Sam's voice cut through the air bringing Brooke back to reality.  Sam was drunk, no doubt, but the blonde still had use of some of her faculties.  It wasn't the first time she'd had alcohol, first time she had whiskey, but she knew how it worked.

"Sure thing," Brooke replied, giggling.  "Come here, sugar."  She leaned forward and practically fell in the brunette's lap.  She turned herself around, so she was staring up into Sam's eyes.  "But I'm comfortable now."

"Are... you?" Sam's voice was lumped in her throat.  Brooke looked so beautiful - like an angel - laying in her lap.  She didn't want to move or ruin the moment, even though she wanted more than anything to kiss her.  Her nervousness was beginning to get to her, her leg started twitching and she wanted to kiss Brooke so badly.

"What are you thinking?" Brooke drawled out, licking her lips and closing her eyes.

"You told me to be aggressive," Sam pointed out.

"I did?"  Brooke didn't remember.  In fact, Brooke didn't really remember anything that they'd done that night.  Something about a movie, something about teaching Sam how to kiss.  'Kissing Sam,' she thought, 'Why I didn't I think of that first?"

Without another hesitation, Brooke leaned up, put a hand behind Sam's neck and pulled her down into her lips.  She crushed them with fury, sloppily, the alcohol hazing her judgment and good skill.  Normally, she'd be slow, soft and tender, but right now, all she wanted to do was devour the brunette and soak up the Bourbon still lingering in her mouth.

Sam, meanwhile, didn't know what to do.  She'd never been kissed like this before, and if she was in her right mind, she'd stop and run the other direction.  But alcohol never lets you do the right thing.  Just the wrong thing that feels right.  The brunette didn't know what to do with her hands, so Brooke grabbed one and placed it on her breast, forcing Sam to begin massaging it over her t-shirt.

"Mmm," Brooke moaned as Sam's took over completely, never breaking the kiss, but instead she gained some confidence and began fighting with the blonde's tongue for dominance.

Sam woke up with a throbbing headache.  She opened her eyes, groggy and realized the sun  was pouring in from the opened shades.  'When did I get upstairs?' she thought, reaching out for the hem of her blanket.  'When did my blanket get skin?'  Her hand now rested on the small of someone's back.  'Oh, no.'  She moved it further down until she hit the hem and lifted it slowly, taking a peek.  'Oh, shit.'

"Good morning," Brooke said lazily, turning herself and wrapping an arm around Sam's waist, pulling her closer.  "Sleep well?"  Brooke's head was in a haze, all she could think about was the feeling of Sam's naked skin against her own.

"Um..." Sam didn't know what to say as Brooke nuzzled up in the arch of her body.  Sam instinctively wrapped her arm around the blonde's waist, not sure what to do.  Just to make sure, she looked under the bit of blanket covering her body to confirm what she already knew.  "Yeah..."

"Good," Brooke purred before falling back to sleep, licking her lips and tasting remnants of the bad whiskey her and Sam were downing the night before.

"Oh, shit," Sam sighed.  "What have we done?"  Sam bit down on her lip, struggling desperately to remember the events of the previous night.  Everything was cloudy, murky even as she tried to remember what happened.  She could guess, of course, but that wasn't enough for her.  If she and Brooke did, in fact, have sex she wanted to remember every single moment of it.  She was disappointed she didn't and fell asleep.

Brooke made sure to lock both the bathroom door to her room and the main door before curling up on the floor in the fetal position.  She'd only thrown up once since waking up, but her head killed and she was dizzy.  Flashes of what happened the night before still hit here every few seconds, and for the life of her, she couldn't remember why she thought it was a good idea to break out the damn whiskey.  'How I made it to my room without breaking my neck is a miracle,' she thought before passing out on the floor under a laurel sheet.

The next thing Sam knew, she was alone in bed.  Somehow, without waking her, Brooke managed to untangle herself from both the body and blankets that held her at bay and make it back to her room.  Before she had time to make more of it, she passed out.

REHEARSING THE LINES

Sam threw her books into her locker angrily.  She couldn't for the life of her remember what happened the other night and Brooke had done nothing to explain what happened either.  In fact, the two of them hadn't said a single word to one another all day, even during class.  Now, they were both due at Glass' rehearsal, and she was in no mood to take part in that stupid musical especially if she was forced to interact with Brooke.

"What am I going to do?" Sam rolled her head back and sighed.

"What are you going to do about what?" Carmen asked, diffusing Sam's train of thought.  Sam's head snapped forward in a painful crack, forcing her to rub the back of it to try and soothe the pain.

"It's nothing," Sam replied.  If her friends knew her just a little bit better, or she even dared to let them know her a little better, they'd realize she was lying a lot more than she ever gave on.  She'd been lying for awhile, but neither Carmen nor Lily would pick up on it; Harrison, of all people, knew something must be bothering Sam, but he knew better than to try and pry it out of her.  Sam had to offer up the secrets herself, otherwise, they stayed locked up close to her heart.

"What's nothing?" Lily asked, leaning against the row of lockers next to Carmen.

"Nothing's nothing," Sam slammed the locker shut.

"Tell that to the locker," Carmen looked at Lily, shrugged and waited for Sam to retort.  They both knew how Sam was.  She was locked up inside more securely than Fort Knox.  If you were planning to rob a bank, and that bank was a person, you'd in no way want to come up face-to-face with the solid defense of one Sam McPherson.

"Nothing's wrong, guys," Sam clutched her books to her chest, "Absolutely nothing."  'I don't want to deal with this now,' she thought, 'Why can't they just know when to leave me alone?'  They would know, if Sam told them, but that's not how she operated.  She didn't want to isolate her friends, but then again, she usually did anyway by opting silence over therapy.

"Are you going to apologize to your locker?" Lily asked.  "I think you hurt her feelings."

"Lockers are female?" Carmen asked, confused.  She tried to wrap her brain around Lily's logic, but as usual, most people couldn't quite get it.

"Yeah, everything is female in this world," Lily said matter-of-factly, "Except, for well, boys and cafeteria food."  Lily assumed everything in the world was female when it came to objects.  Cars, ships, space shuttles, naturally, are what people first think of when they think of using a pronoun to describe their mode of transportation but Lily took it one step further.

"Why is cafeteria food-"  Lily had a sound reason for that, too.  She didn't think anything could be ickier than boys, then, she came to Kennedy and sampled the weekly meat loaf surprise before she took a stab at vegetarianism.  In fact, some might say that meat loaf surprise is what turned Lily vegetarian in the first place.

"-Can you two knock it off?" Sam snapped, stopping mid-step and almost tripping over her own two feet.  Brooke had just come out of the Novak and was heading in their direction, no doubt on her way to rehearsals.  'Oh, great,' Sam said to herself, 'Could this day get any worse?'  "Everything's... fine."

Brooke, on the other hand, used her everyday routine to avoid thinking about what happened over the weekend.  It's what she normally did under the circumstance.  Truthfully, this type of circumstance was not something she had found herself in before.  It excited her, scared her and overwhelmed her, and she was pretty sure Sam was freaking out over what happened between them.  She didn't know, yet, that Sam didn't remember; she only assumed that Sam felt repulsed by her, and as such, isolated herself throughout the day to avoid having to deal with the potential fallout.

She knew it was coming.  It always did with Sam.  'There was just no way,' she thought, 'Sam must've felt it.  But then why is she avoiding me?'  Brooke wanted to talk to Sam, but she knew that wouldn't work.  It was always rough going with the brunette; she never quite knew when she could open her mouth, when she couldn't, or when she should just lay low on the radar and pretend she didn't exist.

The blonde was beyond frustrated.  She didn't even know how to approach the subject with Sam, let alone deal with it herself.  These feelings for her soon-to-be step-sister had been growing for the last few weeks and now that they had slept together, they threatened to spill over the walls she carefully built around her.  She didn't want to feel for Sam, she didn't want to feel so much for somebody else that she could be trampled on at a moment's notice.  Today, the way Sam didn't give her the time of day, trampled on her more than she wanted to admit.

"Hey, B," Nicole joined her to put on some more lip gloss as she looked over herself in the mirror.  The Novak was otherwise unoccupied and went from being her safe haven to her prison in just a matter of seconds.

"Hey, Nicole," Brooke responded flatly.  She continued to look herself over in the mirror.  It was moments like this when the blonde wanted to be anything but popular.  When she had a great deal on her mind, she had to force herself not to think about it or she'd find herself interrupted.  Like she did now.  The point of trying to sort out your thoughts while constantly being interrupted didn't make much sense to her, so, during her school day, she tried to avoid doing it at all costs.

Today was different.  Today there was so much fluttering around in her head that she couldn't see day from night.  She couldn't pay attention in class, she was sure if their was cheer practice, she would barely have made it out alive.  Mary Cherry no doubt pointing out each and every flaw in her routine, and Nicole eager to point out that if their captain couldn't hit the bar, why should she continue to wear the stripes?

"Something on your mind?" Nicole asked, realizing Brooke was just going through the motions.  She crossed her arms and locked her best friend over from head to toe.  It was in moment's like this that Nicole wanted to find a single flaw in Brooke McQueen, and so far, all those flaws she did find only came back to bite her in the ass.  'One of these days,' Nicole thought idly, 'I'll bring down her castle.'

"Not really," Brooke shrugged, "Just dreading rehearsal."

"Aren't we all," Nicole replied, "But I think there's something more going on here..."

"Why do you say that?" Brooke responded, gathering her purse and books scattered on the counter.

"Oh, I don't know, despite the hush hush, you're just... you're glowing," Nicole pointed out.

"I am not glowing, Nic," Brooke said defensively.

"Yes, you are, get a little last night from Josh, eh?"  Brooke's cheeks flushed, she rolled her eyes and headed for the door.

"See!  I knew it!" Nicole called after her.  Brooke bolted and the next thing she knew her eyes fell on Sam.  She saw the brunette first, and seconds later, Sam's eyes met her own as she began walking in her direction.

'If only she knew,' Brooke thought, 'If only Nicole knew...'  Nicole would destroy her.  In an instant.  A heart beat.  Before Brooke even had a chance to mount a defense, Nicole would be on top of her like a hyena to its prey on a victorious hunt.  This was the one chink in Brooke's armor that Nicole would exploit to the bitter end.  Even more of a reason for Brooke to keep it to herself.

The biggest problem for Brooke and Sam had always been their lack of communication.  Neither one of them wanted to put down their armor long enough to let the other in, even though it would've been good for the both of them.  Instead, they put up their dukes and fought to the bitter end day in and day out.  This was the only way each of them knew how to keep the other out, and for the most part, at bay.  Brooke, in that very moment looking into Sam's eyes, wanted nothing more than to throw out that armor for good.  Sam, meanwhile, wanted nothing more than to run in the other direction and never look back.  This was always her master plan.

***

Rehearsal went off with every hitch in the book.  Nicole and Mary Cherry were more than fashionably late.  Since it was their first dress rehearsal, Sam was reluctant to come out in her whore-ish attire.  It took her more than half an hour just to put on the outfit, the stockings in particular giving her the most trouble.  Lily and Carmen tried to help, but they didn't know much about suspenders either, and that just led to more hassles than actual accomplishment.

Sam ignored Brooke's searching eyes as she finally donned the stage, hesitant at first, due to the lack of clothing she wore.  George approved, the grin on his face enough to show it; Josh took a look, which forced Brooke to take a look when Sam finally walked out.  The brunette didn't look at anybody, instead, she immediately took a seat front and center, waiting nervously for Glass to start rehearsal so she could get this over with as quick as possible.

Sam didn't notice, but Brooke couldn't concentrate throughout rehearsal.  Glass noticed, barked orders, but Sam wasn't paying attention.  She just focused on getting out of there, as fast as she could, so she could once again avoid dealing with Brooke.  If Brooke wasn't going to talk to her, she wasn't going to be the one to ask what happened.  Obviously, it was bad enough to warrant a silent void between the two.

Nobody really noticed though, because truth be told, while Brooke and Sam have become better friends, they still weren't real friends who talked about classes, boys and other things that friends do in high school.  They did, sometimes, but it was always in private with just the two of them, like the other night.  So, nobody would really notice anything was wrong between them even if they wanted to notice something odd developing.

***

Later that night, after failing to catch up with Sam after rehearsal, Brooke trudged to her room in defeat.  All she wanted to do was talk to Sam.  It wasn't rocket science or brain surgery, but Sam didn't get that when Brooke approached her after rehearsal.

"I have a surprise for you."

"Sam!" Brooke nearly ran into her own door.  Sam popped out of her room to surprise the blonde.  She leaned against the door frame, a smirk on her face.  "You scared me!"

"Sorry," Sam shrugged, "But, like I said, I have a surprise for you."

"Okay..." Brooke was confused.  Sam was avoiding her, and now out of nowhere, she had a surprise for her.  'What could this be about?' Brooke thought cautiously.  She was in no mood for these types of games, and Sam and her could play some wicked games.

"Tomorrow night.  Don't make any plans," Sam said.

"Don't you have a date with George?" Brooke asked skeptically.  After all, wasn't that what the original night was about?  To show Sam how to be aggressive with George?

"Yes, I do," Sam nodded, "But don't make any plans, okay?"  Brooke nodded in return, smiled and headed into her room.  'That was odd,' Brooke thought, 'What is Sam planning?  Payback?'  Brooke plopped down on her bed, put a hand behind her head and stared idly at the ceiling.

"She has no idea what she's in for," Sam whispered as she locked her bedroom door behind her and began her homework for the night.

BE AGGRESSIVE

Sam stood outside the Palace, apprehension written all over her face.  Was she doing the right thing?  Was she making the right move?  Was she going to regret what she was about to do?  As expected, Sam began going over all the worst-case scenarios that tonight could be followed by.  The fallout from such would be enough to destroy the friendship she had carefully forged over the past few months with Brooke.  She didn't want to lose Brooke, but what choice did she have?  She had to act, because that's what Sam McPherson did.  She acted, and she thought about it later.

She'd broken up with George earlier, and for the life of her, she couldn't understand why.  I mean, fundamentally, it just wasn't going anywhere, and she had all these... feelings... for Brooke, but she just wasn't sure what it all meant.  She felt more for Brooke than she did anybody else, and I guess deep down inside she knew she loved the blonde more than she even loved herself, but she wasn't quite ready to admit that on a first date.  If tonight could be called that.  'Maybe,' she thought, 'Maybe for once something I do will go right.'

Brooke, meanwhile, was so restless she couldn't figure out if she wanted to sit or stand.  When she did sit, she just looked in the mirror and relived the moments of the other night over and over in her head until she threatened to live in the memory instead of real life.  When she stood, she paced, creating a track from one side of her room to the other she'd need to vacuum back into place later.  What would Sam want to do?  What would Sam say?  Did she remember?  Was she upset?  Sad?  Happy?  What was going to happen?  She figured out awhile ago she loved Sam, it was different than Josh and what she felt, it was stronger and deeper, and she was sure it had to be love.  But would it be enough, or would Sam just push her away even further?

Both girls were plagued by questions that ate away at them as they wondered what would happen next.  Then, next happened.

"Brooke?" Sam hollered up the stairs, "You there?"  Before she realized it, the blonde was standing at the top of the stairs, out of breath.  She practically ran out of her room for the staircase, and luckily, she didn't fall down to her death by trying to make it down them, too.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Can you come into the kitchen?" Sam asked, butterflies making a home in her stomach.  Brooke just nodded, caught her breath and walked down the stairs following the brunette into the kitchen.  Sam was sitting on the counter in the center of the kitchen and had pulled a chair out for Brooke, who sat anxiously without a second thought.

"What's up?" she asked, breaking the uneasy silence.

"We need to talk..."

"I can see that.  I'm sorry, I just meant..."

"I know what you meant..."

"How could you have known what I meant..."

"I just did, okay?  Can we stop this now?  You're going to give me a headache.  This wasn't meant to be a verbal sparring match."  Sam smiled, easing Brooke's tension, but doing nothing to relieve her own.

"Okay, so..."

"So..."

"Sam."

"Brooke."

"I think I love you."  Sam's head snapped up, eyes trained on Brooke's.  Brooke's jaw dropped slightly, not sure where the declaration came from, she certainly wasn't thinking it.  Or was she?  "Oh my God, Sam."  Brooke stood up, knocking the chair out from beneath her in haste.  She turned to see it lying on the floor, and she brought a hand to her cheek.  She was crying, but she couldn't figure out if she started before or after she said aloud what she figured out a long time before the other night.

"Brooke..." Sam hopped off the counter, and took Brooke's free hand in her other, "It's okay.  Don't cry."

"I'm not crying," she wouldn't face Sam, she kept wiping away the tears, she was determined not to let the other girl see her cry especially considering the brunette had yet to acknowledge what she'd said.

"Yes, you are," Sam said adamantly, "I can tell.  You always hide when you're crying."  Brooke shrugged in defeat, let Sam turn her and looked into the brunettes eyes.  Sam smiled weakly, hoping her courage wouldn't disappear at the drop of a hat as it so often did.

"I broke up with George," she said.  Brooke's jaw dropped again, Sam just smirked at the respond, shook her head and took the blonde's other hand as well.  "And... I love you, too."  They stood there, in silence, just looking at one another before smiles crept across their faces.

"Wait, wait, you broke up with George?" Brooke asked.  "Why?  I thought things were-"

"-Did you not hear the part where I said I loved you?  Or did you forget already?"  Brooke smiled.  "Good, because I was afraid I'd have to shout it from a rooftop or something."

"Chances are you'd fall off that roof," Brooke pointed out.

"I guess that's true," Sam shrugged, "I can be clumsy sometimes."

"Yeah, you can be."  They stood in silence a few more minutes, just taking in the revelations made before Sam let go of Brooke's hands and sat the chair upright.  She pushed it in under the kitchen table and then pointed to the living room.  "What?" Brooke asked.

"I told you I had a surprise for you."

"Oh," Brooke smiled, "Another one?"

"When was the first one?" Sam laughed.

"Funny," Brooke replied, "What's the other surprise?"

"I rented movies."  Brooke rose an eyebrow.  "Not those kind of movies.  Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Are you looking for a repeat performance?" Brooke teased.  Sam sighed and shook her head.

"Not at all," Sam replied, "I remember everything now.  Very, very clearly.  I'm sure if I wanted a repeat performance, I could just close my eyes..."  She closed her eyes to illustrate her point.  Brooke responded by crushing Sam's lips with her own and pulling her close.

"That... certainly wasn't the homecoming I was expecting," Mike's head was tilted to the side as he watched his daughter and soon-to-be stepdaughter making out in his foyer.

"Well..." Jane was at a loss for words.  The sound of Mike dropping his luggage was enough to lull both girls out of their session and turn their attentions to their parents.

"Oh, shit," Sam cursed under her breath, biting her bottom lip.  Brooke's face was flushed, and she couldn't even look at her let alone anywhere else but the tile floor.

"It's about time," Jane finished her thought.  "We were beginning to wonder if you two would ever figure everything out."  Sam met her mom's eyes and just stared in disbelief.  Brooke, too, was now looking at Jane, shock still worn on both their faces.

"Ah, young love," Mike just laughed, grabbed his luggage and began his trek upstairs with Jane in tow.

"That went, um, what was that?" Sam asked, at a loss for words.  Brooke still didn't know what to say.  "So, which one of us is daydreaming this?"

The blonde's head snapped up to see Sam still sitting on the counter waiting for her to say something.  'It was all a daydream,' she thought sadly, 'All of it.'  Brooke realized she was so nervous, and the silence so deafening as they sat in the kitchen, that her mind began to wonder down one of the scenarios she thought might happen tonight.

"Like I said before you went off into space," Sam said, "We need to talk."  Brooke just nodded sadly.