The Other Talk

By the time Heath spotted Sam walking back into the rec center, after talking to JD, he had gotten a chance to tell the nerds about the shopping trip. A few of them seemed interested, others were unsure and there was at least one or two who had no interest. It was fine; he just left them to decide.

Dawn had gotten a chance to talk to April while Heath was talking to the guys. April said she would come on the shopping trip with the girls, as well.

Heath walked over to Sam, letting his hand brush her arm. She smiled at him. "Busy night, huh?" He smiled back.

Sam nodded. "Yes. So, can we go talk now?"

"Sure," Heath said before he and Sam walked outside to the area off the side where there weren't a lot of people but still a few in the bushes could be heard.

The two of them sat down next to each other at a table and Heath took her hand in his. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"First. Rose said I could tell you what happened. Not just today but why she wasn't here last semester." Of course, Sam needed to tell him that for what had happened earlier in the day to make any sense.

Heath looked surprised but just said, "Alright."

Sam proceeded to tell him the story of Rose, the accident, being in a coma, losing her brother, and everything else about it but stopped short of explaining about Rose's parents. Things had happened last year, like Rose's parents not showing up for anything that had already given Heath an idea about them but Sam figured it was best if he asked Rose directly.

She went on to explain what had happened with Rose at practice and JD helping them, going to the hospital, dinner, and anything else relevant to all of that.

Heath took a moment to let it all sink in before speaking. " Why did she want me to know?"

"Because you're a friend and someone she trusts. Also, though I think that she figured, after today, that I might sometimes need other people to know." Sam knew Rose well enough to trust her feelings on this. "She still doesn't' want most people to know, though."

"OK, I won't tell anyone." Heath was a man of his word and he wouldn't break the trust of a friend.

Switching topics, after a moment of silence, Heath spoke again. "So, on to the next topic."

"And what would that be?" Sam grinned mischeviously.

"You know exactly what it is." Heath shook his head. "Us."

"I know." Sam looked down for a moment and then back up. "Can we wait just a little longer? I don't want Rose to feel abandoned while she's trying to get settled back into school."

"Of course." He wasn't pushy about it but they had almost started dating last year and then when Rose didn't come back, everything got put on hold. He now understood that more than before but he had been willing to wait. Now, Rose was back and he understood Sam's concerns but still... "I hope you know that I would never expect you to abandon your friend, even if we are dating."

"Oh, I know." Sam gently spoke. "I just don't want her to feel that way."

Heath nodded but still leaned in close to her and kissed her, gently on the lips. "I guess that has to hold me over until we can make it more official."

Sam returned the kiss, then smiled at Heath's words. "Thank you for understanding."

The girl took a breath and bit her lip slightly thinking for a moment before speaking again. "Don't say anything to anyone but I think JD might be interested in Rose. He was asking about her."

"He was?" Heath raised a brow. "I won't say anything but what was he asking."

"Just questions about what she thinks about the scholarship students vs the rich kids, things like that. I told him that Rose doesn't care about that kind of stuff." Sam paused. "I mean maybe I'm wrong but it just seemed like a possiblity. I guess time will tell."

"I guess so," Heath said. "We should go back before everyone wonders where we went."

"Yeah." The two of them got up from the table, letting their hands linger in each other until they reached the door. They then dropped holding hands and walked back inside the rec center.

...........................

(While all that was going on...)

Courtney watched as Heath got up and met with Sam. She saw his hand brush the other girl's arm. She saw them go outside, she wanted to avoid that, she wanted to avoid them when they came back inside.

Courtney got up from the table and went over to talk to some girls from the basketball team, trying to get her mind off of what might be happening with Sam and Heath outside. With all the people in the rec center at one time, it was starting to get hot in their and Courtney said she needed some air.

She tried to avoid where Heath and Sam had gone and she managed to do that but she spotted them in front of her as she made her way back inside after a few moments. Courtney noticed them holding hands until they reached the doors.

Courtney stood back from them and decided, she couldn't take anymore tonight. She texted Conner to tell him she was headed back to her dorm room and would see him tomorrow. Just so he didn't think she had disappeared .

Back in her dorm room, the girl put on her headphones, some country music and lay down on her bed starring at the celing. She didn't think she could take another day of seeing Heath all the time . She would get over him and be Ok with him and Sam; she just needed a little time. While she couldn't avoid them all day, she did have times when she could and would use those to her advantage.

A sigh, it wasn't ideal but it would have to do. With that she got up and took out a text book and started studying; it was something to distract her.