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Nick and Lauren had been gone an hour and AJ wanted to run upstairs to check on Sam but was afraid to. Lauren had told him about their conversation and it genuinely hurt him that she thought he didn’t care. All he wanted to do was to help her and he was frustrated that he had no idea how to do that.

It was almost dinnertime so he decided to make something, hoping he could get her to leave the bedroom for a while. A half hour later, he had managed to pull together a salad and some pasta. He went to the bottom of the stairs to call out to her but decided it might scare her by shouting. Just as he was hitting the top stair, he heard her start screaming and he bolted down the hallway and right into her room. He raced over to the bed and tried to wake her up. Instantly, he knew it was a mistake.

Her eyes finally flew open and she tumbled out of bed, crawling towards the wall. It was the same thing she’d done the first time Lauren had tried to help her. Her arms instinctively flew up to her face and she started to tremble with fear. AJ was equally shaken up and he backed off immediately. He decided that he should try to talk her down rather than invade her space.

“Sshh Sam, it’s just me. It’s AJ.”

He crouched down to her level but stayed on the other side of the room. She moved her arms up a little so she could peer out between them. It looked like AJ but the room as dark and she couldn’t be sure. The thought that it might not be him made her shake and she pulled more into herself.

“Can I turn on the light?” AJ asked without making any moves.

Sam didn’t reply but she didn’t move further away either. AJ made his way quietly over to her nightstand and turned on the bedside lamp. He immediately went back across the room and gave her some time to adjust to the light and look back over to where he was. When she was finally sure it was him, she unwrapped her arms and crawled back over to the bed. She pulled herself up and took a seat at the end.

AJ stood up but he didn’t make his way over to her. Instead, he took the chair, turned it towards her and sat down. He waited for her to settle down some and then indicated to the spot next to her. She nodded and he gently made his way over to the bed and sat down next to her.

“I’m sorry.” she said quietly.

He reached his hand out but she jerked hers away. The gesture stung but he understood why she did it.

“You don’t have to ever be sorry Sam. I should be the one apologizing for scaring you. I just wanted to help when I heard you yelling.”

“And I freaked out.”

“With every reason too. You’ve been through so much…”

AJ stopped talking for a minute and just looked at her. He had only seen her for a little while before he’d brought her home. She was an absolute mess at the motel but since she’d been there, Lauren had helped her clean up. Her chocolate brown hair spilled over her shoulders and she smelled like the coconut shampoo Lauren had bought her.

When she finally looked at AJ to see why he paused, he saw a pair of beautiful blue eyes staring at him. When she had been Max, he thought her black hair and brown eyes were pretty but seeing her as Sam made her ten times more attractive. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her but he decided that this moment wasn’t right.

Sam stood up and made her way to the bathroom to wash her face. He watched the way she moved and he realized how much he’d missed her when she was gone. It had taken him months to get her to open up to him the first time and it almost seemed like he was starting all over again. She finished and made her way back over to the bed, sitting next to him but not too close.

“What did you come up for?” she asked as she turned to look at him.

“I made some dinner and I wanted to see if you were hungry.”

Her stomach growled in response to his question and they both laughed. It was the first happy moment he’d had with her since before she was gone.

“I guess I am.”

“Do you want me to bring you up something?” he asked, standing up.

She shook her head. “I’d actually like to come down but can I ask a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Do you mind pulling the blinds across the windows? I’m afraid…”

“Absolutely. Give me five minutes and I’ll make sure no one can see in.”

“Thank you.”

AJ gave her a smile and made a dash downstairs to do what she asked. It took him a few minutes but he called up to her when it was safe. He was pulling plates out of the cabinets when she made her way into the kitchen cautiously.

“I’m sorry you can’t enjoy the view.”

“I’ve seen enough of the view from living here.” AJ said pulling out a chair for her. “If it makes you feel better, I can board up the entire house if you want.”

Sam giggled and watched as he served up the food for both of them. As he sat down, she realized that this was the first time since she’d run that she was going to sit down to a dinner with another person.

“Thank you.” she said as he handed her the plate. “Thank you for everything.”

AJ smiled at her. “You don’t have to thank me Sam. You’ve been through so much and you deserve to have a safe space you can live in. I’ll help you any way I can, all you have to do is ask.”

She nodded in response and they spent a quiet night eating dinner and talking about the weather and any interesting news AJ had caught on the news he watched earlier. After they finished, Sam thanked him again and made her way back up to her room. The nightmare and dinner had taken a lot out of her and she found herself exhausted.

AJ finished the dishes and made his way up to his room to watch a movie. He made sure to stop by Sam’s room and make sure she was ok. By the time he opened the door, she was sound asleep under the covers and he smiled. Quietly closing the door, he headed down to his room and crawled into bed. Maybe Nick was right and really could handle this.