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[not_so_smooth]

Sam felt somewhat guilty about standing outside Dr. Magnus's office once again, looking for advice. He knew that she said she was always happy to help him if she had time, but sometimes Sam just felt like some annoying kid taking her attention away from more important things. She had never made him feel like that, quite the opposite, but Dr.

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[lastof_five]

"Absolutely. Now, what sort of something are we discussing?" Helen asked, wanting to be in the suitable frame of mind for it. If it were academic advice, for example, she wanted to approach it with something approaching seriousness. Personal advice might get a bit more levity, but not too much; if Sam felt the need to ask her if they could talk, it was something he must feel strongly about.

"I am, as always, all ears."

[not_so_smooth]

"Uh, personal," Sam said, stepping into the office and shutting the door. It wasn't the sort of personal that was embarrassing or anything, it's not like he had a weird rash or anything. He just didn't want it to get around that he was bothered by this.

"It's, I don't know, it might be something that Will would be better to help me with. I don't know. It's just... I'm crazy about Cassie. Really crazy about her. I think I might l- luh- really have strong feelings about her. But I sort of- this girl back home, Mikaela, that I love..."

[lastof_five]

"Ah, this would normally be Will's arena, yes, but I hope perhaps I have lived long enough to give you advice on matters of the heart."

Helen paused for a moment, considering the dilemma. "I don't think people have one set soulmate for life. I don't think there's anything wrong with you caring deeply for Cassie and still loving Mikaela. Trust me, even after a hundred and thirty years and countless murders and other transgressions, I still love my ex-fiance."

[not_so_smooth]

Sam thought it was pretty messed up that she still loved her ex-fiance, especially considering how nuts the guy was. Still, if Dr. Magnus still had a thing for the guy... there had to be something there worth caring about.

"I just feel bad that I never got the chance to be upfront with Mikaela about what's going on with Cassie."

[lastof_five]

"I'm certain if Mikaela shows and you explain, she'll understand. She'll be hurt, probably, but how could she hold this against you?"

Helen didn't know but she also knew that love didn't exactly make things easy.

"Maybe you could write it down in a letter? That way it feels like telling her?"

[not_so_smooth]

"Well she should," he grumbled, sinking his head down and running his fingers through his hair before looking up again.

"I mean, it was selfish of me, wasn't it? Basically I put my own happiness ahead of the chance that I would hurt her if she showed up."

[lastof_five]

"Sam, it's not...you're allowed to be happy," Helen said quietly, trying to decide how to frame her argument.

"You could be alone, yes, but would Mikaela want you alone and unhappy for however long you were stranded here?"

[not_so_smooth]

"Probably not," he admitted. "I mean, she kept trying to break up with me before college. Although I think that was because she was afraid I'd meet someone else there."

He'd thought she had been crazy, but maybe she had known something he hadn't.

"But isn't a girl that wants you to be happy, shouldn't she be worth waiting for?"

[lastof_five]

"Perhaps. Only you are able to make that decision, Sam, I cannot make it for you. I do know that being happy now isn't a crime against Mikaela. I've had past lovers too and while I loved them when they were alive, if they showed here, I wouldn't show one an obligation over another. Will is who I love now."

Sage advice, perhaps, but it was easier from the outside to admit such things.

[not_so_smooth]

"Yeah, I wouldn't be with Cassie if she weren't the person I wanted to be with," he said. He wasn't with her just because Mikaela wasn't here.

"It's weird, a friend came to advice on pretty much this same thing the other day, and it was easy to give when it wasn't me in this situation."

[lastof_five]

“Advice is always easier to give when one stands outside the forest. It’s when one is among the trees that everything gets all muddied up,” Helen said sagely. “Just as I am able to easily give you advice but if it were the same dilemma presented to me with James or John or any number of my ex lovers, I would be just as confused as to how to handle it.”

Possibly not, with John, but John had always been able to get under her skin even when Helen hadn’t wanted him to.

[not_so_smooth]

"Plus, advice just sounds better when coming from a proper British accent," Sam said. Or maybe he just really liked her accent. Either way, it sounded very good.

"I think Zell took my advice just because he's the one person on the island who is more of a spaz than I am."

[lastof_five]

"I wouldn't so far as to refer to you as a spaz," Helen said gently. "You're actually quite mature for a boy of your age, Sam, and I should say so more often."

In so many ways, he reminded her of Will - the good ways, though, and she was eager to see him grow up and do good things.

[not_so_smooth]

"You don't have to say it," Sam said with a shrug, even as he blushed a bit at the compliment.

"I mean, you prove it to me all the time by how much faith you put in me and how much you help me. I know you wouldn't invest to much time in me if you didn't believe in me."

[lastof_five]

"And I keep wanting to prove that to you," Helen reminded him. "Because I think intelligence and hard work should be rewarded."

Helen tucked her hair back behind her ear. "How is school going, by the way?"

[not_so_smooth]

Sam wanted to do more to make her proud, he wanted to do exceptional things. He'd discovered an alien race and saved the world twice. But he still didn't want his high school years to be where he peaked.

"Good, I've got three classes with Dr. Langowski. I'm her only student in Speed Reading, actually. But that class is helping me in the others a lot."