Sam turned immediately to examine Brooke’s face. “You… you didn’t get hurt did you?”

Brooke looked straight ahead, focusing on nothing but the replayed event in her head as she related the rest of the story. “James… James threw another punch and…” she gulped as she saw it in slow motion before her, “…and you stepped in front of me trying to stop him. It caught you across the cheek; you stumbled backward before I could grab you, and then fell, hitting your head.”

The young woman’s eyes grew wider in realization and her hand subconsciously went to the bump on her head, rubbing it. “So, that’s why my head hurts like hell.” Sam looked over to her lover. “What happened to James? Brooke you didn’t…”

“I threw him out of the house, literally.” The woman eased her friend’s fear. “I didn’t hurt him.” Honest blue eyes gazed into green. “He tried getting back inside, by breaking a window and climbing in. By then, Mario had gotten out of the kitchen and took care of the matter,” Brooke smiled remembering the howl of pain that James had emitted when the dog bit into his calf. “I called the cops and he took off.”

Sam’s mouth dropped open. “God, he’s going to be so pissed at you now.”

Brooke smirked. “Not as much as he should be at himself. The cops picked him up a few blocks away. He’s being detained at the county jail. They arrested him first on a charge of Drinking and Driving on a suspended license. Then when they found out about what he did here, they added Breaking and Entering, Assault and possibly a few more charges that I’m not aware of.”

“Brooke, he must have wanted something if he came all the way here.”

“He was demanding those master tapes. I guess he thought he’d try to get something from you while he was here. You know, James always did think more with his…” Brooke stopped talking.

“This is all because of my birthday concert, isn’t it? That’s how you got the band back together, right?” She studied Brooke’s face for a moment. “I’m sorry I caused this.”

“Sam…” determined eyes gazed at her. “There is nothing for you to apologize for.”

“I just feel like I’m the one that caused this all to happen.”

“No, you’re not. It would have happened anyway. James likes to hold a grudge.”

“Isn’t there any way to keep him from doing that? To at least keep him from coming here and getting in your face?”

“The cops suggested that I get a PFA order.”

Sam looked puzzled. “PFA?”

“Protection from abuse. They said that I could get a lawyer to file for it in my behalf. I’ve been thinking about it and I’m going to give Randi a call today.”

“Do you really think that’s necessary? I mean… he was your friend.”

“Yes, I do.” Brooke’s eyes grew cold as she stared off into space.

“You’re doing it because of me, aren’t you?”

The tall woman turned to her lover. “It’s because I don’t want to risk anything happening to you for any reason. He’d be stupid enough to try something like that again.”

The blonde rested her head against Brooke’s shoulder. “I never meant to make your life so complicated, Brooke.”

“Baby, you didn’t make my life complicated. I told you, James likes to hold a grudge. He’s still pissed about the night I quit and now you’re stuck in the middle. You’re the one who doesn’t deserve this shit.” Brooke rested her check on Sam’s head.

“He was the reason you quit,” Sam whispered, knowing that she was right.

“Yes.” Brooke sighed. “Do you remember any of what he was saying?” The woman readied herself to hear his lies repeated again.

“I think I remember him saying something about that night…but…”

“He was telling you all kinds of shit. Some of it true, but a lot of it was all lies.”

“Don’t worry, Brooke, I wouldn’t believe a word he said anyway. There’s something about him that makes my skin crawl.”

Brooke gave the woman a hug. “I love you, Sam. I hope you never have reason to think otherwise.”

The sentiment of the moment brought a smile to Sam’s face and she nuzzled into her lover’s arms. “Now where did that come from? I know the real you, the real Brooke… not any made up character to create hype.”

Brooke grew very quiet. “So, Sam, if you know me so well…” she took a breath in, “…when are you going to move in with me?”

The blonde froze as her mind echoed the question again and again. Stalling for time, Sam asked, “What did you just say?”

“I uh…” Brooke eased her lover off her shoulder to look into her eyes. “Sam, I hate this. I hate being away from you and I’ve just been thinking about it for a while. You know that.”

“I still have my internship to do. What if…”

“I don’t care. I told you that I’ll go with you if I have to.”

“You’re not going to give up on this, are you?” Sam looked into determined blue eyes. “I thought so.” She took in a deep breath then let it out slowly as she considered her options. “Okay, how about if I move in with you over the winter break… and… and we’ll see what happens.”

The dark-haired woman let a smile come to her face. “Okaaaay,” she drew the word out happily. “The clothes that C.C. brought you… you could just leave them here. I mean… that way you’d feel more like this is your home too.” Brooke watched her lover, hoping that she didn’t seem too needy in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just can’t help it. I want to be with you all the time.”

“You know, I already have everything that I need right here to feel at home. I have you.” Sam leaned in and placed a kiss on Brooke’s lips. “You know what, Hon? I think that pill is kicking in. I’m beginning to feel better already.”

“Yeah?” Brooke studied Sam’s face.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Now what do you say we have some breakfast, just the two of us?” Sam looked at the tray of food. “Who knows, maybe I’ll even be up for some dessert when we’re done.”

“And I was just thinking how hungry I was.” Brooke’s eyes twinkled as she reached for the fork and dug into a sausage.

Brooke had toyed with the idea long enough as she cleaned up the breakfast dishes and caught up on the everyday housework that she had let go while she cared for Sam. She was sure of it now. The young blonde was definitely a treasured part of her life and she’d do anything she could to keep her safe. With that thought in mind, she reached for her cell phone and punched in the number for her sister, Randi.

Listening for the ringing to stop, she made herself comfortable in the corner of the couch, stretching out her long legs onto the coffee table. Just as she settled into a cozy position, she heard her sister’s voice come through the earpiece.

“Hello?” There was the sound of shuffling on the other end, then sound of a muffled voice raised in warning. “Julie, don’t do that, Honey.” There was a sigh on the other end, then Randi’s voice became clear once again. “Okay, I’m back. Hello?”

“Hey, Randi, what’s my lil’ niece doing now?”

“Brooke, hi.” Randi sounded more relaxed. “She’s making the flowers grow with the hose. The only problem is that she’s watering everything else at the same time. Bryan just wiped the car down and he’s going to have to dry it again.”

Suddenly Brooke had the urge to look into her dining room at the picture on the wall that Julie had left for her and Sam. A smile came to her face. “Hey, at least you know she means well.”

Randi’s voice boomed as she called out a warning, “NOT IN THE WINDOWS, JULIE!”

Brooke hurriedly pulled the phone away from her ear. “God, Randi. Warn me before you do that next time.”

“Sorry, Sis. Yeah, your niece means well, but then again, so did we when we had her.” Randi laughed, “Now, I’m not so sure. Thank God the terrible twos only last a year or so.”

The dark-haired woman filed that bit of information away for future reference as she got to the purpose of her call. “Hey, Randi. I think I kind of need your help with something. You got a minute?”

“Yeah, I always do for family. You know that. Does it have anything to do with the case that I got assigned to on Thursday morning?”

Brooke sank deeper into the couch. “No, don’t EVEN say it…”

“Why didn’t you call me when it happened?”

“Well, I was too concerned about Sam.” Brooke fought back the pang of nausea that came wafting over her at the thought of Sam being hurt and continued on. “We went to the hospital with her as soon as the cops left. Besides, I wanted to talk to her about all of it first.”

“I read over that list of charges against James. How badly did he hurt Sam?”

“She’s… she’s got a concussion and one hell of a whopping headache.”

“Concussion, huh? He hit her that hard?”

“Well, he did a roundhouse swing and clocked her a good one. She stumbled and lost her balance, then went headfirst into the wall. I think it was the wall that really did the damage though.”

“That doesn’t matter. It was a direct result of his punch that caused the injury. He’s definitely responsible for it.” Randi let go of a smug little laugh. “Well, I’m glad that I did what I did then. It’ll serve him right. I don’t care if I do get my as… ah… hang on.” The phone crackled as she jostled it from hand to hand. “Julie, why don’t you go play with your toys in the next room. Now that’s a nice girl. Mommy will come play with you in a few minutes.”

“Randi, what did you do?” Brooke’s voice was full of concern.

“My ass is going to be in a sling if they ever find this out, but I’m glad that I didn’t turn in my refusal to prosecute until right before the hearing. He had to be reassigned and held over for the next day. I… ah… I kind of lost his paper work at the office and he was held over again when it didn’t show up on the docket.”

Brooke burst out laughing. “Oh my God. You did that. Really?”

“Yep, as soon as I saw who filed the suit, I knew what I had to do. I just kind of forgot about it.” Randi laughed.

“Well, I definitely owe you one, Sis.”

“Hey, this one was on the house. You’re my sister and that’s why I stuck up for you. Well, that and stuck one to James,” Randi smirked around a laugh. “I’m just glad that I could be of service.”

“Thank you, Randi. I really mean that.” Brooke paused, her smile faded as she turned to the more serious matter at hand. “Speaking of protection… could you file a PFA for me?”

“You got it. First thing Monday morning, I’ll meet with the Judge myself. You realize that you’ve just hired me, Sis. I’m on retainer for you now.”

Brooke took her feet down from the coffee table and sat forward on the couch. “Yes, I understand that. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Good, now what about Sam?” Randi paused, waiting for her sister’s answer.

“What about her?”

“Does she need one too?”

“Yeah, I guess she will.” Images of James leaning in to Sam flashed through Brooke’s mind with the clarity that she’d seen as she rounded the doorway into the room on Wednesday evening. She quickly reigned in her thoughts when she heard the sound of Randi’s voice.

“Then, you’d better put her on the phone. I’ll need to be hired by her as well.”

“Okay, but Randi… I’ll take care of the bill for both of us, okay?”

“Bill? What bill? I’ll do it pro bono, Sis.” Randi thought for a moment, then chuckled. “But just to keep it all aboveboard, you can give me a dollar for each of you.”

“Come on, Randi, what’s a dollar going to do?” Brooke laughed around her words. “I have a feeling that it won’t be that easy of a case.”

“You’re my sister, Brooke. All I want is for you to be happy. Well,” Randi chuckled, “…that and a dollar.”

Brooke shook her head as she laughed, “Let me go get Sam for you.”

She got up from the couch and started for the staircase, taking the steps two at a time. Bounding down the hall, she slowed to a stop, then poked her head in through the open bedroom door. A smile graced her face as she watched the blonde roll over in her direction. “Sam…” she spoke softly, “Are you awake, Darlin’?”

The young woman stretched her arms out as she yawned. She quickly brought a hand down to cover her mouth, “Yeah, I… I think so. Why?”

“Honey, Randi needs to talk to you. Do you feel up to it?” Brooke started into the room, crossing toward the huge bed.

Sam looked to the empty side of the bed next to her, then the fully clothed woman coming toward her. “When did you… huh… Randi?” Her brow furrowed, “Why does she need to talk to me?”

“Remember, we talked about that restraining order?”

“Restraining order? What are you talking about?”