AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so this little story is dedicated to InuAngelBaby as she prompted me to actually get myself organised and post the latest of my stories, so thank you for that IAB. :D

This story is just a short one taken from more or less where we are now. People were getting a bit down with how things were playing up and I came up with this scenario to show them that just because Lucas is back on the scene and Nicole is pregnant, doesn't mean there is going to be no EJami. In fact, after this last week of episodes, it's becoming increasingly apparent that they are simply EJami roadblocks which I'm pretty happy about. We have some upcoming spoilers for May Sweeps which also have the EJami's grinning like loons but if you want info on all things EJami and haven't already, I highly recommend checking out Forbidden Love – the site for any EJami enthusiast.

You'll find lots of spoilers, discussion and just general fun and excitement over there, particularly at the moment. We had 175 people on line just this last Friday, the place was pumping. LOL Anyways, it's a great site and if you want literally hundreds of fantastic EJami fan fics, some written by published author's no less (we have 3 writing for us that I know of), then that is the place to be.

Okay, enough promotion, let's get down to brass tacks. This is a short, hopefully hot story about how we could possibly get EJami. I don't think the show will take this road, but damn, it'd be pretty cool if they did. LOL

Enjoy.

Particles

Chapter One

EJ swilled the amber liquid of his drink before lifting it to his lips and throwing it back in one swift motion. The whiskey hit the back of his throat and made him grimace, but then it was sliding down his throat and heating him from within. He motioned the bartender. "Another." The drink was poured and pushed towards him. EJ wrapped his fingers around the glass and stared at the contents again.

"Where the hell is my son?"

Her voice cut through him like a knife. That voice was the one that haunted his every waking moment, despite how hard EJ had worked to blot her completely from his life. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes close. "Spontaneous human combustion, spontaneous human combustion," EJ chanted to himself in desperation. He opened one eye and looked down at himself for any signs his incantation had worked. "Bullocks," he muttered, "never an act of God when you really need it."

Sami was standing beside him at the bar now, glaring at him. They were almost eye level, thanks to the lowness of the bar stool EJ was currently occupying and had been for the last forty minutes. He raised his glass to her. "Hello, Samantha, you're looking as accusatory as ever." He waved a vague finger at her hair. "Those bangs you're suddenly sporting really bring out the vitriol in your eyes."

"Shut up, EJ," she snapped, "and tell me where Will is."

EJ rolled his eyes. "As contradictory as ever I see, sweetheart. Tell me, do you ever get tired of being you?"

"I'm not here to play games with you, EJ," said Sami tersely. "I'm looking for my son. Where is he?"

EJ made a great show of patting his pockets down. After finding nothing he gave her a regretful look and a shrug. "Sorry, Samantha, William must be in my other coat jacket." He paused and looked thoughtful. "Or down the back of the sofa. I lose an inordinate amount of things down that sofa." EJ picked up his drink. "I think I need a new sofa."

Sami flushed. "I don't want to talk about that with you, EJ."

He looked over at her and arched an eyebrow at the forcefulness of her words. "I'm talking about furniture, Samantha, what are you talking about?"

Sami's blush deepened. "The sofa... I thought you were... ahh... that was where we, umm..."

"Fucked?" EJ offered up helpfully.

Sami's face darkened at his crassness. "Don't be disgusting."

EJ eyed her coolly. "And what would you call it – making love?"

"No!"

"Then I think my description stands." EJ downed his next shot of whiskey before continuing. "I don't know if you've been paying attention, Samantha, but fucking each other over seems our only one true talent," commented EJ acerbically. He motioned for the bartender for another drink. "I'll be needing the bottle, my good man, I've got this annoying buzzing sound in my ear I'm trying to blot out."

"Just tell me where Will is and you'll never have to see me again," said Sami, her blue eyes flashing fire.

"Ah," EJ sighed, "promises, promises. You do like to tease, Samantha, but then you so rarely deliver." He turned in his seat and looked at her, his face hardening. "I don't know where Will is. He doesn't check in with me when it comes to his movements. He's a teenage boy, perhaps he's out with his friends, or falling in love. I hear that's still popular with the young people these days."

Sami folded her arms in front of herself. "Will doesn't have a girlfriend."

EJ half shrugged. "Well, he wouldn't, would he?"

Sami scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Will's gay."

Sami gasped. "No, he's not! Why the hell would you say something like that?"

"Because it's the truth."

"You trick him into working for you for a couple of months and suddenly you think you know my son?" asked Sami angrily.

"Apparently I know him better than you, because Will is gay. He may not be ready to come out of the closet yet, but your little William prefers men." EJ poured himself another drink. He held up the glass by way of a salute. "Clever lad, if you ask me, women are nothing but a big bundle of heartache and trouble. I wish him luck." Sami was just staring at him, mouth open and briefly speechless. EJ enjoyed his moment of peace and quiet. He offered his glass to her. "Drink, sweetheart? You look like you could do with something stiff inside of you." EJ looked at the glass of whiskey. "And I'm thinking that a drink is about the safest thing I can offer you right now. Things don't go so well for us when I offer you anything else stiff." Despite his morose mood right then, EJ gave a little giggle at his own joke.

"Why would you say such a vicious lie about Will?" Sami spat out. "I can have you sued for slander!"

"You can only sue for slander if it isn't true," EJ pointed out. "And Will is gay, so that was one of your more empty threats, sweetheart."

"I'd know if my son was gay!" said an indignant Sami.

"No, you wouldn't," EJ argued, "because Will being gay isn't about you, and you only care about things that happen to you. In reality you'd be the last person to know anything about your son's life, because you're not interested in anyone other than yourself."

"How dare you?" Sami hissed. "Like you can talk, EJ! You've only ever cared about yourself!"

EJ gave a regretful sigh. "That isn't true, Samantha, but I think by now I've resigned myself to the fact that you'll never understand that."

"I love my children!"

"Of course you do," said EJ easily, "but you love yourself just that little bit more, don't you, sweetheart? Right now I bet you're trying to process this whole Will thing and your first thought is what you've done wrong to make him gay." EJ eyed Sami intently. Her lips thinned and her face went even pinker and EJ knew he was right. He gave a humourless laugh. "And the prosecution rests, your honour. You're first thought isn't about what Will is going through, but about yourself, Samantha. You see everything in relation to yourself first, and then everyone else a distant second. I worked out years ago it was a coping mechanism, but I have to say, at your age, sweetheart, the old standbys are getting a little dull. No wonder Rafe dropped you like a hot potato as soon as he could."

"Rafe left me because of what you did!" Sami spat out.

EJ scratched his cheek. "I think you mean what we did. I wasn't alone on that sofa; I had someone under me at the time." He waved a finger up and down her length. "So please don't play the victim, Samantha, I find that the least intriguing of your many multiply personas."

Sami put her hands on her hips. "I had the perfect life with Rafe until you ruined it, EJ. You always ruin everything in my life!"

EJ snorted. "Oh please, the only reason Rafe high tailed it out of Dodge was because he got a glimpse of the real Sami Brady and he couldn't deal. He wanted sugar and spice and everything nice and instead he got piss and vinegar."

"I was building a life with Rafe, I was happy, for the first time in my life I was happy."

"You were playing a part, nothing you two had was real."

Sami's eyes flashed death. "Oh, and I suppose you and Nicole were the real deal?" she sneered. "Give me a break."

"Nicole accepted me for who I was," he snapped.

It was Sami's turn to snort. "And you're calling me delusional. Nicole accepted the version of you she had in her head. Sure, that meant she was okay with the wheeling and dealing, but she still had you built up as this man who wasn't ever going to lie to her. Which, by the way, makes her the world's biggest idiot! Nicole accepted her version of you and thought by admitting you had faults that it was enough. Well, it wasn't, because the faults you do have, she can't live with!"

EJ ground his teeth. "I guess that is why Rafe and Nicole make such a loving couple – they have so much in common when it comes to spouses they didn't understand."

Sami looked at him in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about now, EJ?"

"I've just come back from the hotel Nicole is staying at," said EJ. His hand tightened on his glass. "I walked into her room, ready to beg Nicole yet again for a second chance and assure her the only thing I felt for you was hatred-"

"Ditto," Sami bit out.

"And who should I see but your Mr. Wonderful with his hands all over her."

Sami staggered back as though he'd struck her. "Wh-what?"

"They said they were just hugging and giving each other some comfort because of their cheating spouses, but I know bullshit when I hear it," said EJ in annoyance. "Rafe can't help it when it comes to women I've married – he's got a hard on a mile long for them."

Sami still looked stunned. "This is crazy, Rafe has feelings for my sister, not Nicole."

EJ shrugged. "Apparently he's hedging his bets." He smirked. "That mourning period for your marriage must have been measured in dog years."

Sami shook her head slowly. "I don't believe this, Rafe and Nicole? How could he? First Carrie, now Nicole – what the hell is he thinking?"

"If I had to guess – that they're not you."

Sami's eyes narrowed. "So what did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You found the great love of your life in the arms of another man, what did you do?" The sarcasm practically dripped off Sami's voice as she referenced Nicole.

"I left," said EJ simply.

"What, no jealous encounter, no swearing to fight for Nicole with your dying breath?" Sami mocked him. "I thought she was the one you found true love with, EJ? What happened, did the shine go off that particular crab apple sooner than you expected?"

"I could ask the same question of you, Samantha," he snapped. "I hear Lucas is back in town and you're sharing cosy little tête-à-tête. It didn't take you long to find another man, now did it? You're like a monkey in a tree, Samantha, you won't let go of one vine until you've got your hands on the next."

Sami gasped in outrage. "That's not what happened!"

EJ gave her a disgusted look. "You'd do anything rather than being alone with yourself, wouldn't you, sweetheart – even go back to that little Momma's boy. Did you ever stop to think the very reason you couldn't bear to be alone with yourself is the same reason you can't hold onto a man – they can't stand to be alone with the real you either?" EJ knew Sami was going to slap him for that little home truth and he grabbed for her wrist. He caught it just in time and pulled Sami's arm to his side. "The old outraged slap in the face is a bit uninspired when it comes to us, don't you think, sweetheart? We've found so many better ways to hurt one another over the years."

Sami was actually shaking with rage. "I hate you."

EJ pulled his face in close to hers, his own rage threatening to erupt. "I'm sure you do, Samantha, but I'm also sure it's nothing to how much you hate yourself."

Sami's eyes flashed death at him as he held her captive in that bar, their voices low as they hissed hate at one another. "I'm going to kill you!"

EJ's eyes flared with fire. "Take your best shot, Samantha, I've been waiting for this moment ever since you put a bullet in my brain."

"I'm not afraid of you!"

"That would be your latest in the long line of mistakes," EJ growled, fingers tightening around her wrist...