As Jack collapsed onto the sofa back at his home and hung his neck off the back, still wearing his suit to Carter's wedding which he'd ever so subtly ducked out of; he realized that watching her get married was something he just couldn't do. He understood that they could never be together, but the feelings were always there. Carter deserved Pete, but it didn't make it any less easy for him.

All of a sudden, Jack heard his front door slam open and closed, and before he could get up Sam Carter appeared in front of him, obviously flustered with her white, flowing wedding gown still on.

"Carter?" Jack exclaimed, standing up. "What are you –"

"I couldn't do it, sir." She admitted, her eyes so focused on his, her face somewhere between sadness and hope.

As usual, Jack had no idea what to say, but there was a burning gratefulness in his stomach where he couldn't help but smile, though he hid it well. "And you're here?"

"I'm here." She nodded, looking down at her wedding dress and laughing embarrassedly.

A few moments of silence passed, where they just looked at each other. "Would you like some wine?" Jack offered, exhaling slowly.

"I'd like a lot of wine." She smiled gratefully.

As Jack disappeared into his kitchen, Sam took a deep breath and sat down on his sofa, looking at his photos of Charlie on the coffee table. She ran from her own wedding, she couldn't believe it. She loved Pete, or at least she thought she did, but there was a voice in the back of her mind telling her that this wasn't right. She ignored it when Pete asked her to marry her, she ignored it through the wedding invitations and arrangements and she ignored it as she got into her dress: the final step only an aisle away, except all that came crumbling down when Jack O'Neill entered her waiting room, wished her every kind of happiness and kissed her on her forehead. It was that moment when she realized the voice in her head telling her not to marry Pete was also telling her it was because of Jack.

"Here you go." Jack appeared out of the kitchen with two glasses of white wine in his hand. He sat beside her and raised his glass. "To… your wedding?" She chinked his glass with her own and took a big swallow, hoping its effects would kick in soon. "Carter, why did you leave?"

She took something out of her lace purse: the miniature bride and groom off the wedding cake. She held them up to him, "Does this look like Pete to you?"

Jack smiled at the craziness of her answer. "Well, let's see…" He took it out of her hand for a closer look, though her eyes were on him all the time. "Sorry Carter, can't say that it does. This one looks better in a tux, and he has strands of gray hair on him." He handed the model back to Sam, who stared at it next to the mini bride.

"But she looks like me." It was a statement, and Jack agreed with her.

"So you left because the cake groom didn't look like Pete?" He asked skeptically.

She smiled. "No. I left because I realized I chose the groom that looked the most like… you." She didn't dare look at him for a moment, in fear of his response.

"Oh." Was all that came into Jack's head. She placed the figures on the table, ridding herself of them.

"Look, sir, I'm not stupid, I know nothing is allowed to happen between us, but I can't deny how I feel, and I just couldn't marry Pete, if there was a one in a million chance that we could…" Sam confessed, looking at him expectantly for a response though he had none.

He placed his hand on her cheek and she took comfort in it, tears beginning to form, and laughing at the mess she'd put herself in. She raised her hand on his, and they smiled understandingly and caringly at each other. "Carter, for what it's worth, if I had a say…"

She nodded. "I know."

"Wanna watch a movie?" Jack asked, knowing not what else he could say.

She laughed at his out of the moment question, but actually, when he didn't know what to say was when she valued him the most, the fact that he was just there for her. "Sure."

He flicked on the TV and relaxed back into the sofa, Carter's head resting on his shoulder, and as the movie began, he put his arm around her, holding her protectively.

Sam realized that she would rather be here with him than with Pete, which, although harsh, was the truth and as she'd found out time and time again, the truth could never be ignored.