001: The Night That Changed Everything

Siobahn McLeod hadn't intended on coming to the party that was being thrown on a Friday night in May. In fact, she'd thought that she would be spending that time with her father. He was supposed to come into town that day to attend a special event. She'd been one of only four students to get her photographs selected to be premiered in one of Orlando's most popular galleries. When Sam had initially invited Bruce, he'd eagerly accepted, but at the last minute had to cancel due to some damned wrestling obligation. She'd gotten used to being let down over the years by her parents in one way or another, but when something big happened, Bruce was there. The fact that it felt as though his career was more important had cut pretty deeply. The more time passed, the more he felt like a stranger to her, and she didn't know what had happened to the kind and gentle man who'd raised her.

She'd gotten into photography because of her father. He'd taught her everything; her love for the art had been because of him. To say she felt rejected was putting it mildly and instead of enjoying her own accomplishments, she'd left the gallery early and headed to the party she hadn't planned on going to.

By the time she had arrived, the place was in full swing as was the usual and she wasted no time in getting herself a drink... or three. Her best friend Jasmine's brother, Jude, was a resident and the girls tended to spend weekends there. Jude had also become one of Sam's favorite people and the first guy she ever really, really liked. She'd suspected he might like her as well, but she'd never asked. It had never felt like the right time.

On that evening, Jude was the last person on her mind as she couldn't stop dwelling on the absence of her father. As she continued to drink, she had her camera in hand – this beat-up old Nikon, a hand-me-down from her father that she'd been using to snap shots of the party. She'd hoped the alcohol would dull her anger and sadness, but if anything, it was just adding fuel. The feelings were still there and after finishing one drink, she started on another, convincing herself this next one would do the trick.

She felt a nudge against her shoulder, realizing that someone was sitting on the arm of the couch next to her and when she looked up it was into the concerned features of Jude himself. "Hey, Red... feeling a little thirsty today?" He looked at the half-empty cup in her hand that she'd just refilled.

"Somethin' like that." She managed to give him a slight smile as she finished the other half of her drink. "Go big or go home, right?" Her eyes left his as she scanned the room to see where she was closest to get another beverage. "Think I need 'nother one."

In all the months she'd been hanging around here, he'd never seen her cut loose like this. She'd usually have one drink and nurse it most of the night. Tonight, though, she was putting out this weird energy and he wasn't sure what that meant. "Maybe pace yourself a little?" He took the empty cup from her hand and replaced it with the beer he'd just opened. "Hold this... and I'll get you some water."

"I don't want water." There was a scowl on her face as she shook her head. Noticing the drink he'd placed in her hand, she brought it to her lips and took a sip. "You drink water an' I'll finish this for you."

Jude shook his head, unable to keep himself from laughing since he'd basically set himself up for that. "You cutting me off? I haven't even had all that much." To be fair, he'd been pacing himself... usually he was the one who tried to stay on the good side of sober. He just hated the thought of losing control, especially having watched his mother's decline after his parent's divorce. "You want me to get you something else?"

Handing the beer back to him, she shook her head. "Naw, it's not helping any." If anything, the alcohol was just helping the bitterness simmer towards a boil. "Maybe we could go somewhere quiet? My head's feeling kinda spinny." Her focus had shifted from continuing to get drunker to the man next to her. "I could lay down?"

"You wanna go up on the roof? Get some air?" He moved to his feet, holding his hand out to her after setting the beer down on the table. "Don't think we're gonna find much quiet around here..." he glanced around the room barely able to hear himself think over the noise of the stereo and all the conversations going on around them.

She managed to stand up after grabbing his hand. It was clear from the way she swayed that she didn't have much balance. Her free hand rested on his shoulder as she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "We could go to your room."

Rather than point out the flaw in her reasoning, Jude nodded. The noise was bound to carry in there too, but he kept hold of her hand and led her through the drunk people he barely knew writhing on the makeshift dance floor. When he opened the door, he was surprised that nobody else was in here. It wouldn't be the first time he'd had to kick someone out of his bed. Ushering her inside, he waited until she was across the threshold before he turned and closed the door. "There? That better?"

"Much." Sam made a beeline for the bed and laid back on it. "Come lay with me?" She extended one of her hands in his direction as if she were trying to reach for him. "Please?"

There was something in her tone that cut through his resistance, making him cross the floor and join her almost before he'd even really thought about it. He settled in next to her, propping the pillows up under his head as he let out a sigh. "So, you gonna tell me what's going on or you gonna make me guess?"

Sam furrowed her brow as she shook her head and pushed herself toward him. From the times that they'd laid in his bed, she always seemed to fit perfectly in his arms-- this was no exception. "I don' wanna talk about that." She pushed herself over so that she was sharing his pillow. "Doesn' matter, yanno?" The last thing she wanted was to talk about her dad, even though that was the only thing on her mind and was fueling this drinking session.

"What do you wanna talk about then?" He asked after a moment of comfortable silence. The noise of the party was muffled in here, less of an assault on the senses anyhow. He turned his head slightly to look at her.

"Do we really need to talk?" She'd turned so that her head was right in the crook of his shoulder. She tilted her head up, her hand moving to his cheek as she pressed her lips against his. She'd never kissed him before but had wanted to and thanks to the alcohol and anger, she felt bold. Pulling back, she moved her face so that she could nuzzle his neck. "Could do that."

"You..." he'd wanted that for a long time, but the fact that she was six sheets to the wind right now didn't sit too well. "Yeah...sure." He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. It wasn't the first time she'd been in his bed, after all. It was just the first time she was trying to take it to a level outside of the friend zone he thought he was condemned to stay in forever and he couldn't help but think that she wouldn't have been this bold if she hadn't been drinking all the booze in sight. "Mmmmhmm, yeah. We could definitely do that. If you feel up to it..."

"Oh, I'm more than up to it." Lifting her head, Sam sat up and impulsively grabbed the edge of her black sleeveless blouse, sliding it off to reveal a lacy black bra. She'd never been dressed down like this in front of him. Drunkenly, she grinned at him before leaning in again and kissing him.

Jude kissed her back, groaning softly as it grew deeper, their tongues meeting and exploring. He'd wanted her for so long and now that she was here in his bed and more than willing, he was having a hard time saying no.

As they kissed, Sam worked on getting his shirt off and tossed it to the floor. "I've wanted to do this for awhile." Her lips had moved to his neck as her hands were hurriedly trying to get his pants undone. It felt as though she were in a race against time. The more she focused on Jude, the further her father went from her thoughts.

"Hey...hey..." his whisper was rough as his hand closed over hers, "slow down a little." The intensity was a little off-putting, as though she was trying to take out that anger that he'd felt brewing in her all night on him. He didn't mind a few bruises if that's what it took for her to purge whatever was going on, but he didn't want her to end up hurting herself in the process.

"I don't wanna go slow." The words had come out in a breathy whisper as she'd managed to get his pants undone. "I need it. Need you." Once more, her lips were pressed against his, moving herself so that she was straddling him. She didn't want to slow down, afraid if she shifted her focus back to what had upset her, that she'd have to deal with it. Knowing that she didn't matter to the one person who was never supposed to let her down was sending her world crashing down and facing that fact was THE last thing she wanted.

His hands were on her hips, warm against her skin and when she leaned in to kiss him again, they slid up her sides. He'd wanted her since the moment his sister had introduced them and every moment he'd spent getting to know her since had been a sort of exquisite torture. Jasmine had told him to keep his hands off and he'd promised out of respect, but this was worse than waterboarding. "I'm here," Jude murmured when the kiss broke, fingertips grazing over the lace of her bra, feeling like maybe he knew where her desperation was coming from. "Nowhere else I wanna be."

"Don't ever leave me." The words were slurred and murmured in between kisses. Her body moved against his, grinding against him and she could tell just how much he liked it. She'd liked Jude ever since that first time they met each other, and this wasn't the first time that she'd been with him in his bed. However, they'd never gotten to this level. She'd never gotten this far with anyone and despite what had led her to take things with Jude to the next step, she really did want this with him. "You've always been there..." Her lips had moved to his neck and the next words just spilled out. "I love you."

"Oh, Red." The irony of that declaration wasn't lost on him for a second. He'd been doing his best to keep from blurting out the same exact thing because he was terrified of how she'd take it. Now, it was almost a relief, and he couldn't help the little chuckle that slipped out as he pushed up on his elbows, trying to get his shirt off. A part of him was convinced it was just the booze talking, that she was saying things she wouldn't normally say but he'd been good for so long, trying to keep from overstepping the friendship boundaries. "You don't even know..." it felt so good to have her here, so natural like this had been meant to be and it didn't even matter that there was music thumping in the walls, that there was some stupid party raging on in the next room. All that mattered was her. "Siobahn," he loved her name, loved how much it reminded him of that childhood back in the English countryside. "I'll always be here. I promise. I won't leave."

Hearing those words caused a smile to cross her face, because she knew he would be. It had always been hard for Sam to trust other people, but with Jude as well as his sister, it had come naturally. She trusted this man with her life and always would. Pulling back, her hands grasped the edge of his shirt and helped remove it the remainder of the way. She sent it to the floor so that it landed less than a foot away from her discarded blouse. Once more she kissed him before moving to his side, reaching for the camera that she'd left on the table and she watched him through the viewfinder as he raked a hand through his hair, a slight blush coming to his cheeks when he turned his head to see what she was doing. She snapped a shot, knowing it was going to be one she'd cherish later – there was something in his eyes that she'd never noticed before and when she put the camera down between the pillows, it was still there, a mystery to be solved. "Hi," she said softly, that smile still on her lips as she lifted her hand to caress his cheek.

"Hello, yourself." He smiled as he turned towards her, unable to take his eyes from her. Was this really happening? Was she actually in his bed, half-naked and willing? Before he could stop himself, the words came tumbling out. "Jas told me...I promised I wasn't gonna chase you, break your heart. So, we can't tell her about this. She'll fuckin' kill me." Even as he said those words, he knew that was going to be impossible to keep it a secret. Everything was going to change after this – he could feel it in the air. Lifting his hand, he brushed her hair back off her shoulder, tracing the faint freckles there before trailing down her arm.

Her brow furrowed as she kept her eyes locked on him, "...are you gonna break my heart?"

His gaze went back to her face, his smile fading when he saw that hers had dimmed. She was biting her lip, refusing to break eye contact. "Sammy... what? No. Why would—"

"One and done? That's it?" She looked away, a lump forming in her throat. The thought of someone else letting her down so soon made her want to tear up but she refused to let that happen.

Jude shook his head, realizing his mistake much too late. "No. Hell no. I didn't mean it like that. I just..." he sighed, taking her hand in his, "I don't have the best luck with relationships. That's all I'm saying." He didn't tell her that the last one had been a year and a half ago and that he'd hauled ass to the opposite coast to get away from the nuclear fallout afterwards. She didn't need to hear the sordid details. He lifted her hand up to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "You'd never be a one and done kind of thing, promise you that. I wanna... let's just take our time. See where this goes, yeah?"

"Okay." She nodded as a breath of relief was exhaled. "I trust you." Tilting her head back, Sam couldn't stop the smile that had returned. She'd started to sober up slightly, but still was drunker than she'd ever been. There would be a hell of a hangover tomorrow, but she didn't care. She had stopped thinking about her father and how hurt she felt. None of it mattered, because she knew she had someone in her corner who would ALWAYS back her up. Lifting her head, she found his lips and kissed him softly, her forehead resting against his as she sighed, closing her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close against him. She felt safe, for the first time in what felt like years. "It's you, it's me, it's us... Always."