Disclaimer: I don't own anything. CBS and whoever wrote this episode owns them. I'm just changing their story a little.

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Chapter Six

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It's funny how the world looks so different sometimes. One minute everything makes sense and the next it blows up in your face. If anyone had told him last year that he would be sitting under his favorite tree waiting for his best—well only real—friend to show up and that friend was a girl who dressed and acted like a boy, he probably would have punched that person out. If he was then told that he would share a kiss with this peculiar girl and enjoy it, that person would probably not be walking anytime soon.

But it happened, and here he is. His body was still a little sore from the fight last night with his dad. All in all, it didn't go too badly. Dad came home in one of his moods but he was slightly more out of it than usual so he passed out sooner than he typically did—though not before he yelled at Dom a lot about being a freak. And not before his mom tried to make his dad stop which is never a good thing. Dom took a couple blows while trying to protect his mom. He still can't understand how she's put up with him all these years. Most women in his mom's situation don't complain though. They take what gets dished out to them. That's probably why he was so drawn to Sam to begin with.

She's a strong female who never backs down. If some guy ever hit her she wouldn't take it lying down. She'd give as good as she got.

Maybe that's why he finds himself sitting beneath this tree unable to forget how sweet her lips tasted or how protective he felt towards her yesterday when those guys were messing with her.

He's kind of scared of the feelings he has. He doesn't understand them. He's never felt anything like this before. He doesn't really have anyone to talk to either because he didn't know anyone else who had the hots for a girl like Sam. So he has to figure it out on his own. He's not sure if he's going to be able to do that. He figured he's just gonna have to take it slowly and see how things play out.

A soft rustling was his only warning before Sam walked slowly out of the clearing. She was wearing her customary button down male dress shirt with jeans. She had her hands stuffed in her pockets, arms locked at the elbows, looking down and shuffling her feet as she moved forward. She looked as uncertain as he felt.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said, finally looking up and seeing his face. "Whoa, what happened to you? Red did all that?" She didn't run to him and fuss like girls usually do. He was kind of glad about it. He despised pity about as much as he despised his father.

"Nah, he only got one lucky hit in. The rest was courtesy dear ole dad. I got a couple shots in myself though," he shook his head and gave a little smirk of a smile.

"Glad to hear it. Your dad's an ass," she said. "I guess that means things didn't go so well once you got home. He was sober?" She walked over and sat down near him but not too close. He had told her a little bit about his dad before and she knew he usually got violent when he drank.

"I got this shiny looking beauty when we got home," pointing to his right jaw. "Red gave me the black eye. The scratches and welt on my forehead came later that night. Weren't as bad as usual," he let out a mocking laugh. "So how'd your obligatory fatherly lecture go once you got home?"

"Well, the way all obligatory fatherly lectures go," she said the next with a deep voice and stern menacing brow clench, "Don't do it again." She let out a laugh. "I found it funny considering I didn't do anything to begin with, but who cares about that small fact."

"Yeah," he muttered.

"Yeah," she whispered. She was having problems looking at him. This conversation was going well but she knew he wanted to talk and she didn't know what to say. She figured she'd let him run the show.

He looked down. He was twirling a blade of grass in his fingers. With a sigh he tossed it to the side and stood up.

She looked up at him in surprise.

"Let's get out of here. I know a place," he said impulsively.

"Alright," she said. She took a breath and jumped to her feet. She wasn't the type to wait around for a guy to offer his hand to help her up.

"Where to?" she asked, following him to his car.

"You'll see," he grinned back at her. They reached the car and got in. He took off with a spray of dirt.

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"Whoa, where is this place?" she said, looking around at all the trees and grass.

He got out of the car and slammed the door, waiting for her to do the same.

"This is an abandoned fort. It's considered a state park now or something, but it used to be some army camp," he started walking along an overgrown trail. She followed quickly behind him. She was up for exploring. They walked along silently, just taking in the scenery for a while and acting tough as a way to cover up how shy and uncertain they both were.

"This is great," she said, deciding to get the conversation going. "There was some woods not too far from where dad and I used to live. I spent a lot of time out there climbing trees and practicing with my slingshot."

"Slingshot?" he said, quirking an eyebrow.

She laughed. "Yeah, a slingshot. I got real good at hitting the side of a can." He laughed out loud at that.

"What can I say? I've got many talents," she smiled at him.

He stopped in the path and looked at her. She really did have a great smile.

She turned her head to the side of him and looked at something over his shoulder.

"Whoa, they didn't grow them like that where I come from."

He turned around, "What are you talking about?"

"That tree Dom!" she exclaimed, pointing before she walked a few yards over to a very very tall, very old tree.

"Yep. That's a big tree," he laughed.

She circled around it, checking it out. She seemed to be looking for something.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"This is too good to pass up!" she exclaimed right before she found the branch she was looking for. She jumped and grabbed hold of a thick lower branch of the tree. She swung back and flung her legs up onto another branch. She climbed her way up to a sitting position.

"Dom, you have got to try this!" she smiled down at him before continuing to climb.

He sighed. He hadn't climbed a tree since he was twelve. No time like the present to re-live your childhood, right? He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it to the ground before grabbing onto the same lower limb and climbing up behind her.

"Ha, race you to the top," she shouted.

"Hey, you got a head start." He started to climb faster while she just laughed and kept climbing.

Finally they both got to a point at the top that they couldn't go anymore. The branches were just too thin. They were both breathless and grinning. Dom looked down. "Whoa, that's a long way up."

Sam was hardly listening to him though. He looked at her to see why she wasn't responding and caught his breath at the look on her face.

"Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" she whispered. He tried to follow her gaze, but all he saw was the Marina and some buildings in town. "Well, I guess the town is okay to look at…" he was slightly perplexed.

"No, look, see?" she said pointing at an angle to the sky. "That bird right there." He followed her hand and finally saw what she saw.

"It's so free Dom. That little bird is just flying. It's free to go wherever it wants to go. If it wants to turn to the left, or head down river, it doesn't matter. No one tells the bird where to go. I want to be like that Dom. Free, like a bird. I want to fly," she grinned and spread her arms wide. She lost her a balance a little and started to slip.

He grabbed a hold of her around the waist and pulled her back up to her limb. In the process he almost lost his balance. Somehow they ended up holding onto each other, at the top of this huge tree, staring into each others eyes.

He kissed her. He started with a brief gentle brush of her lips. He pulled back briefly and saw her eyes were so huge and beautiful before leaning forward to kiss her again. This time with more passion, he deepened the kiss, begging for entrance to her mouth with his tongue, angling his head to the right then moving to the left, exploring her lips and just enjoying the taste of her.

He finally eased back and stared at her, wondering what her reaction would be. Her lips looked well kissed and she was once again breathless. She stared at him, her eyes almost asking if that just happened.

"Sam," he whispered, "I like you too." He was responding to the words she had said to him two nights ago. He thought this was a better response than the last one.

"I'm sorry about last time. I just needed time to think. I…I want to give this a try, if you still want to, I mean, I know things will be… different…but I want to be free… with you too" he had never stuttered this much in his life. He hoped she hadn't changed her mind—that would certainly be unsettling.

"I do," she whispered back before leaning forward to kiss him some more.

At that moment he would have given anything to be out of the stupid tree.

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"Hey Dom, I noticed an almost clicking noise on our drive over here," she said, leaning into his side. They were walking back to the car. The afternoon had passed by too quickly while they continued to explore the area and get to know each other better. Sam had realized how late it was getting and knew she had to be home when her dad got there or she'd be in even more hot water. They decided it was time to go back, unfortunately.

"Oh yeah?" he looked at his car, "I didn't hear nothin'. You sure about that?" He had no doubt that if she said she heard something, she really had. He just wanted to fool with her.

"Yeah, I think it was the motor mount. Pop the hood," she said as they arrived back to the car. He did as she said and, sure enough, the motor mount had to be readjusted.

"Told ya," she laughed. He looked at her and pointed to her face, "What is that?"

"What?" she brushed at her nose leaving behind a trace of grease that was absolutely adorable. He laughed and pulled her towards him, "Oh, don't worry. I got it." He kissed her for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon. He couldn't seem to get enough of her.

Knowing that she needed to be home soon, he finally backed away and closed the car's hood. "Let's head out," he said. They got into the car and headed to her house.

"You really are great with engines Sam. I wouldn't have heard that noise for another week at least and it would have made it a lot worse. How do you know so much about cars if that dumb school won't let you take those classes?" he asked.

"Oh, well, I've got a car," she explained.

"What?" He certainly hadn't seen another one besides her father's ever in front of their house.

"Dad broke down and bought it for me a few years back. He knew I wouldn't back down about taking mechanic and shop classes at school, so he got me an old clunker that was basically scrap to work on and figure out how things work. We keep it in storage. I head up there when I get the chance. It's just about ready for the open road. I need probably one more day on her." He loved how she called her car a girl just like all other guys do.

"Well how about it?" he asked.

"Huh?" she didn't follow.

"You free tomorrow? Got something more exciting to do on a Saturday? I could pick you up and we can spend the day getting her operational. What'd ya think?" he was hoping she'd say yes.

She grinned, "Course, man, that'd be great."

He finally arrived out front of her house. He started to lean towards her for a kiss but got confused when she drew back away from him.

"Um, okay?"

"Dom," she began slowly, "I would like nothing more than to kiss you right now, but I don't want to make things worse for you—at school, or at home. Friends is enough of a problem. I think we should keep the other stuff to ourselves…for now at least, okay? There are any number of neighbors around right now, keeping their eyes peeled for the best gossip to spread. I want to be myself, and I know you do too. I just don't want to get you hurt again." She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, right?" she asked.

"Right," he said slowly, still staring at her.

She turned to pull on the handle of the door and started pushing it open.

"Sam," he said.

"Huh?" she asked, turning back to look at him.

He continued leaning towards her and kissed her hard on the mouth. She moaned into the kiss for a moment before pulling back.

"Let them talk," he said. He leaned back into his seat and looked straight ahead.

She looked at him in shock and somehow wobbled out of the car and closed the door. She walked up to her house, glancing around to see if any of the neighbors were out and about. No one seemed to be around, but that's what curtains are for. She sighed and continued the walk up to her front door. She glanced back at the car after she got the door open.

He nodded at her and smiled that devastating grin before pulling off with a wave.

She couldn't wait until tomorrow.