TITLE: Two Steps Forward, No Steps Back

|~ Part Sixteen ~|

AUTHOR: Jos Mous

Email: wotan_anubis@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: I own none of these characters, I'm not making any profit.

RATING: PG-13, I guess.

PAIRING: Sam/Nicole.

NOTE: Obvious? Yes. Blatant? Certainly. Too fast? Probably. But here it is anyway.

Part Sixteen

Only the most die-hard sleepers do not wake up when there is a blaring alarm clock close by. Sam was not one of those die-hard sleepers, so when the alarm clock rang she immediately hit the damn thing to get it to shut up. After that she extended her right arm to grab the iron bar that had been bolted against the wall to pull herself up. She was almost halfway to getting into a sitting position when her body decided to notice that all she was holding on to was air, so she fell back onto the bed. Sam opened her eyes completely and noticed that the iron bar had not yet been attached in her new bedroom. Muttering a small amount of profanity, Sam managed to get up all the same, then looked around her room for her clothes.

Of course, her clothes had been thrown well outside of her reach and without the bar to hold on to there was no way Sam could gather them without leaving the bed. So with half her body hanging out of bed and with one hand on the ground to support her, Sam reached out to her clothes with her other hand. Naturally, she still didn't manage to reach them. Since it was really her only option Sam let the rest of her body fall out of bed as well. It was not like she could feel that part hitting the ground anyway. Lying on the ground, Sam crawled towards her wheelchair and clambered into it. When she finally managed to sit down facing the right direction, she put off the brakes and wheeled over to her clothes. She quickly discarded her night shirt, then gathered her clothes and put them on. After a minute of struggling, Sam was sitting in her wheelchair almost fully clothed.

Unfortunately, she had not yet managed to put on her pants. From experience she knew that putting on pants was an almost impossible task that she could not accomplish without the help of an iron bar. And the only iron bar in the entire house was upstairs. The brunette considered shouting out to Brooke to come and help her, but realised that that would be useless since Brooke had early cheerleading practise this morning and was probably already gone.

Sam looked at the clock. She still had thirty minutes before she had to go. She could use this time to either gather her books and laptop, eat, brush her teeth and prepare herself for a day of school without pants or she could use those thirty minutes to climb up the stairs, crawl towards her old room, put her pants on there and then very, very carefully go back down the stairs again.

Sam sighed.

This was not going to be a fun day.

Liz was writing. Or at least trying to. Well, she was sitting in a chair just outside Nicole's room with a wad of paper and a pencil so Sam assumed she was writing. Though right now, it seemed more like she had a lively debate with someone.

"Hey Liz." Sam greeted, unsure if the girl would respond or even notice her.

"Sam! Hi! Hey, do you know a word that rhymes to 'sensation'? I'm trying to come up with something better than 'masturbation' and since Davis is shouting that into my ear at all times, it's hard. But I suppose I shouldn't ask because you look like you had a lousy day. How are you, by the way?" Liz said.

"Not too swell." Sam admitted. "Haven't had a bite to eat all day."

"You didn't forget did you? I mean, not even _I_ forget stuff like that. And I--- Look! How many frickin' times do I have to tell you! Geez, you're such a moron. I mean, if you're so horny, then just go out sometimes. I'm sure there're some hookers who're dying to meet you." Liz shook her head, then went back to writing.

"Err. Liz?"

Liz looked up. "Sam! Hi!" A frown appeared. "Wait, didn't I already said already?"

"Yeah, you did." Sam said, smiling a little. "How's Nicole today?"

Liz shrugged. "Awful. But then, she's been--- No I am not continuing right now, OK? Sam and Nicole come first, I've told you that before, hadn't I? Anyway, Nicole's been completely out of it ever since you showed up so no big surprise there. You know, it's funny. When she thought you were dead she was pretty OK. I mean, yeah, sure, she was delusional and disconnecting from reality, but other than that she was perfectly all right. But now." Liz shrugged meaningfully. "She's just one scared little girl in a big bad world that makes no sense to her."

"So you're saying she's not OK."

"Well yeah. But at least she's better than--- Hello! Talking here! yesterday. I think she was really upset you didn't show. Curled up into a ball and everything."

"I _was_ here yesterday."

"And you didn't go see Nicole?"

"I did. If I remember correctly she curled up after I took her hand."

"OK, I think I speak for all of us when I say: 'huh?'"

"It was pretty freaky." Sam explained. "She was denying my very existence as usual, so I went over to her and grabbed her hand. Nothing more."

"Then what?"

"She yanked her hand out of mine and curled up in a corner of the room."

"Ooooh. Major psychological breakthrough time."

"You think?"

"Well, Sharon seems to think so. And she's usually right about stuff like that."

"Uh-huh."

~~~~~

Sam liked showers. Since she was usually busy with pretty much everything, she never really had a quiet moment to think. Taking a shower, however, gave her plenty of time to think. She didn't shower as much as she used to, though. But that probably had something to do with the fact that she needed a little help to take off her panties before getting in. But still, sitting there on the small plastic stool that had been attached to the wall, Sam decided that the slightly embarrassing situations were worth it. She leaned back against the wall and moved the showerhead up and down her body a few times.

Her thoughts drifted towards Nicole.

They often drifted towards Nicole.

Once upon a time, that really had not been all that long ago, she thought about how she could best humiliate her.

Later, when she had just got her wheelchair, she liked to think about how she could slowly skin the girl alive.

Then there was a period where she didn't think about Nicole at all. But now, Nicole was firmly back in her thoughts. And, surprisingly enough, not in a very negative way. Liz was right, Nicole looked far more like a scared little girl than. well. Nicole. Today had really proven that. Nicole really hadn't uncurled yet and she had difficulty looking at Sam. And when the girl finally spoke up it had been it this really small, insecure voice.

"You're really here, aren't you?"

Sam had smiled, answered an affirmative and waited for any more reactions. There hadn't been any. Nicole had just nodded and recurled. Sam had tried to get the girl to talk again a few times, but it hadn't worked. So Sam had just sat there for several moments longer, ignoring the cries of her stomach. Nicole was working things out. She'd get there eventually. And when she got out. well. they'd see what happen after that. Maybe they could start seeing each other more often.

The showerhead clattered onto the floor.

<<Hold it.>> Sam thought. <<Stop. Rewind. Play. Seeing Nicole? As in. romantic? No way! I mean, sure, there's this overwhelming feeling to protect her and she _is_ kinda cute. But she's not my type. I mean. OK, she isn't Y-chromosome-carrying like, say, Edgar, but that doesn't make her my type, right? I mean, come on, she's a total bitch. Or she was anyway. But she's not my type because. well. I just don't care for her _that_ way. I mean, it would be wrong. I have to. you know. take care of her. Watch over her and stuff. And dating isn't going to help. Not that I want to, of course.>>

Sam groaned.

"I am so screwed."

TBC