Ficlet: Changes
Title: Changes
Pairing: Sam/Brooke
Fandom: Popular
Words: 1149
A/N: Thanks to mysensitiveside for the Beta!
A/N 1: Written for a challenge at femslash_land
Sam stood in the door frame silently taking in the scene in the living room, a content smile on her face.
Brooke was sitting cross-legged on the floor reading from a book, while the two little ones lay in front of her, heads propped up in their hands, intently listening.
If someone would have told Sam at the end of junior year of high school that 20 years from that point she’d have been in a serious relationship with Brooke McQueen for most of her life and that they would have two beautiful kids, she probably would have called for the men with the white jackets right away.
20 years.
Sam couldn’t believe it was that long already. She remembered the day she finally dared to lay it all out there and tell Brooke how she felt, like it was yesterday. Of course it had helped her courage a lot that she thought Brooke was still in a coma…
Sam had been sitting at Brooke’s side ever since that fatal night of junior prom. It had been 3 weeks, now. The doctors said that her condition was not critical anymore and all of her wounds and broken bones would heal just fine. She just wouldn't wake up from the coma.
Sam practically lived in the hospital. Her mom, Mike and the gang would visit every day and bring her fresh clothes, something to eat and her homework for school. The nurses gave her a small bed to sleep in, because she refused to leave Brooke’s side even for the night.
The days had become routines now. After breakfast Sam would go for a walk in the park, while the nurses would wash Brooke, then she would read her the newspaper or a book, sometimes Sam would turn on the tv and comment on the bad daytime programming as if the blonde was awake. After lunch, the gang would come to visit, tell them about the latest gossip from Kennedy High and just hang with Sam and Brooke for awhile. Then Sam would do her homework until Jane and Mike would come and spend the time until dinner with their daughters. After dinner Sam would carefully lie beside Brooke on her bed and watch their favorite prime time shows. On more than one occasion Sam had fallen asleep, her head resting on Brooke’s chest, the steady heartbeat lulling her into sleep.
Sam had known that she was in love with the blonde cheerleader for some time now. It was a slow and painful realization, but once she was sure, it had also been kind of a relief. The problem was, though, that she knew that Brooke would never feel for her that way, so Sam had made a decision: she would make an effort to become friends with the blonde, because being in Brooke's life as a friend was better than not being in her life at all.
To Sam’s surprise the blonde was not opposed to stopping the fighting and becoming friends, so they started to spend more and more time together.
It didn’t take long for Sam to realize that her plan had some flaws. Like for example that being so close to Brooke all the time was really painful at times, and she had to keep her feelings and hormones in check, so the blonde would not get suspicious. It also hurt, because seeing Brooke flirt or talk about guys she found attractive broke her heart a little bit each time. She tried not to think about how it would be if Brooke actually started dating someone.
Maybe that was the reason why she had started this damn game with the blonde about Harrison, she really had no idea.
It had confused Sam to no end why Brooke fled from the room after they made Harrison choose. He had chosen her. Shouldn’t she be happy about it?
She had followed her out of the restaurant and the last thing she heard Brooke say was “That’s not what I wanted,” and then things got a bit blurry. She saw the car, Brooke in the middle of the street, she heard the sound when the car hit the blonde, and then Brooke had just been lying there on the pavement, blood all over her and one of her legs bent at a weird angle until the ambulance came and took her away.
Over the past three weeks Sam had a lot of time to think and she made another decision, because besides wanting to be there for Brooke, Sam felt incredibly guilty. She was convinced that the accident was her fault. Her jealousy had led them to that fateful night at the restaurant and thus to Brooke’s current comatose state.
Once Brooke would wake up, Sam would be there for her, if she wanted her to that is, but as soon as she was better Sam would distance herself from the blonde. It was better this way. Better for Brooke and better for Sam.
Once the decision was made Sam had only one thing she wanted…no needed to do…and with Brooke being unconscious it made things a lot easier for her.
That night after she crawled into the bed beside the blonde she lay her head on Brooke’s chest to let her steady heartbeat calm her nerves a bit and laid it all out there. She told Brooke everything. It felt so good to say it all out loud. When she was finished, her emotions just overwhelmed her and she silently started crying into Brooke’s chest.
Sam had no idea how much time had passed, but she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her head. She lifted her head and saw Brooke looking at her.
“Brooke,” she whispered in disbelief.
“Shhh.” Brooke put a finger on Sam’s lips to stop her from talking.
Sam was in shock, she didn’t know what to do, so all she did was stare at the blonde.
And then it happened. Four words that changed everything.
“I love you too.”
Things have been far from easy for them since then. They had to deal with their parents, the usual reservations or sometimes outright hatred against them being a gay couple, but they faced everything together and their love and bond only grew stronger through it.
They both found good jobs, moved in together and settled into a comfortable life. Six years ago Brooke gave birth to their first child, Emma. Two years later Sam gave birth to their second child, Joseph.
Their life was perfect.
Sam was still in thought when she felt like someone was watching her. Brooke was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, silently asking a question. Sam grinned and shrugged.
“Nothing, Princess,” she said as she walked over to her little family and settled behind the blonde, resting her head on Brooke’s shoulder. “Keep reading.”