| May 6 | Sunday Morning |

~ Sam's POV ~

My fingers drummed on the steering wheel of Megan's car as we rode in silence. My girlfriend was aimlessly staring out the passenger window as we made our way to her mother's home. We had agreed to this dinner over a month ago, but I felt as if circumstances between Megan and I had changed.

The slamming of the apartment door made me jump.

"Megan," I fumed. "What the fuck?"

I watched Charlie run in to greet us, but my girlfriend completely ignored the excited pup. Something she never did.

Then she looked at me.

"Are you what-the-fucking me?" she asked. "Because I could ask you the same damn thing, Sam."

I tried to calm my heart rate, but what had just happened back at Jinx wasn't allowing it. Nikki had blindsided the both of us, but she wasn't the only one!

Megan sat on the couch and put her head in her hands. I couldn't tell if she was trying not to cry or kill someone. I had never really seen her like this, and I wasn't sure what to do.

"This is exactly why I was hesitant to tell people the truth," she revealed. "Because people like Nikki could find out."

"This isn't my fault," I defended.

"It is." Megan looked up. "And I'm not saying that I think this relationship is wrong, or that I didn't sign up for the consequences, but you told Jas. You told someone who should've never known the truth about us!"

I felt my ego shrink at her comment. She was right.

"Then you told Mariah about Nikki and let her see how worked up you get around her." Megan shook her head. "Fuck, none of this should be happening."

"Nikki isn't gonna do anything," I said. "She's all talk."

"You don't know that," Megan disagreed. "Nikki isn't just manipulative verbally."

I decided that fighting against Megan on this situation was the wrong move. We should stick together. This is what Nikki wanted. She wanted us to fight and doubt our relationship.

I sat next to Megan and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "I won't let her ruin our lives."

She shook her head. "Thing is, you won't lose anything, Sam."

I just stared at her.

"If she tells the wrong people... anyone... within the education system, or even her coworkers... I'm screwed. They'll look into our relationship, they'll find out, and they'll never let me step foot in another classroom." Megan rubbed her eyes. "We should've moved far away from all this bullshit."

I could hear the pain in her voice. She was terrified of what could come of this. I couldn't bear to watch Megan start to believe her teaching career was over. It was one of her passions. She loved teaching.

"It's not gonna happen," I reiterated. "I promise."

The silence continued as a soft rock song played on the radio. I turned it up just a few notches to give myself the illusion that nothing was wrong.

Ever since Blair's birthday, Megan and I had barely been able to get through a day without fighting over this situation. I tried to tell her that this is what Nikki really wanted, but she didn't believe me. She believed her ex wanted to ruin her life, but I couldn't wrap my head around that.

We pulled up into her mother's driveway and I exited the car. Not only was the whole Nikki situation taking a toll on our relationship, but Megan couldn't even enjoy her last week before graduation.

God, what I would do to get my hands on Nikki...

I clipped Charlie on her leash and watched Megan walk towards the front door. She looked back at me.

"Go in," I ordered. "I'll meet you inside after Charlies uses it."

She just nodded and disappeared inside.

I took my time walking our dog. A few minutes passed before I was guiding Charlie to the door to join the others. Didn't want to think I was ignoring them.

When I walked in, Megan's mom, Beth, greeted me.

"There you are!" She pulled me in for a hug. "I've missed you two so much."

I reciprocated and looked past her, scanning over the new boyfriend who was talking with Megan. I mentally gave Ms. Beth props.

"I know, it's been too long," I admitted. "But, we're here now."

"Yes, you are," she agreed. "Come. Lunch is ready."

We enjoyed the lunch Ms. Beth cooked and talked about what we had all been up to. Megan talked about school and how she was ready to graduate. I talked about managing Jinx and tried to hide the fact that I was fabricating my excitement about it.

I noticed after lunch that Megan and her mom's new boo were getting along and having great conversation. I admired the fact that she was able to accept him so easily.

"Sam, would you help me in the kitchen?" Ms. Beth asked.

"Sure."

I followed her, only for her to hand me a bottle of red wine. A smile showed on my face. Megan and her mom were so extremely alike it was scary sometimes.

"This is Megan's favorite," I admitted.

Ms. Beth laughed. "Well, she is my daughter."

I used the wine key how I had been taught and began pouring four glasses. Megan's mom and I were never alone, and we never got to talk about things without other people intruding on our conversation.

But there was something I had been meaning to mention to her.

"Ms. Beth..." I started.

"Will you just call me Beth," she ordered. "We're all adults here."

I smiled. "Beth... I uh, I've been meaning to ask you something..."

Beth sipped her wine and leaned back on the kitchen counter.

"Megan and I are pretty serious, and I've only talked to my best friend and my brother about this, but..." I took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about proposing. Soon."

Beth only smiled.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Sam, you know you've had my blessing for a while," she informed. "We're all just waiting for you to do it."

"I know, I just... Only until recently did I feel ready to."

"Megan loves you." Beth swirled her wine. "She really does, and I've never seen her this happy. Not since..."

Lacey, I thought. My expression let her know she didn't have to say it.

"She had this, emptiness. As if she was missing something... but you and the way you love her, it's at least healed the ache." Beth smiled. "There's no way you two weren't made for each other."

I felt more of the weight over the situation fall off my chest. If only Nikki would fuck off and let us be happy for once.

"Nikki's back," I said. "She's back and she's giving Megan hell." I rubbed my neck. "It's making me second guess everything."

"Don't," she ordered. "Don't second guess what got you two so far in the first place."

The look in her eyes let me know Nikki wouldn't come between us, but it still didn't make me understand why she cared so much. I mean, sure, she could be jealous, but so what? She was jealous. It didn't mean that it would make her want to ruin Megan's career. That was a bit rash.

"Thanks," I said. "For talking to me about it."

"Anytime." Then she hugged me to her side. "I can't for you to be my daughter-in-law."

I just smiled.

Then my phone rang.

"Excuse me," I apologized. "It's my brother."

I escaped into the hallway for the call.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey kid," Shawn greeted. "How are things?"

"Great. Meg and I are at her mom's visiting and having lunch."

"Tell Beth I said hi," he ordered. "Hey look, I'm calling because Casey and I have this... opportunity we'd like to run past you, and I think you're really gonna like it."

I wasn't sure what to expect, but any good news was likely to put me in a better mood now that Nikki had been brought up today.

"Sure."

"I'm gonna put you on speaker so Casey can chime in."

I heard rustling in the background, and then Casey's voice came through the speakers.

"Sam, how do you feel about a new job opportunity?"

* * *

My body was buzzing with excitement on the way home. Megan was oblivious, because I hadn't told her just yet. It was all new and I was still trying to process everything. It certainly was a great opportunity, but there would have to be a lot of changes. That's for sure.

"So, what were you and my mom talking about?" Megan asked.

"Just you know, life, what our future plans were..." I semi-lied. "I had to ask her something."

It was as if Megan knew what I was talking about, but she decided not to pester me. She didn't have to. I saw a small smile creep onto her lips.

"We also talked about Nikki," I revealed. "I told her she was back and giving us hell."

Megan looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. She still looked so stressed over the situation. I wish I could do something to help the matter.

"I'm really scared, Sam," Megan admitted.

I glanced at her. My heart pulled at the look on her face. I slipped my hand into hers.

"It'll be okay," I reassured. "We will figure it out as it happens."

"It's just making me want to leave and I hate that, because I love living here with you."

I gave her a smile. "Well, Shawn and Casey called, and I still have a lot of thinking to do on it, but we might be able to relocate if you really want to."

She sat forward. "What?"

"I'll tell you all about it, but would you be opposed to moving to Tampa?"

I could see thoughts racing around her mind, but she didn't know what to say. She looked excited, but scared, and torn.

"You don't have to make a decision," I said. "Just think about it."

"Well, what did they say?" she asked excitedly.

I smiled. This was the first time in a week that Megan had showed excitement and joy. Nikki had been able to suck it all out of her, but things were looking promising at the news.

"So, they have this friend, that has a venue..."

I continued to explain, watching Megan's expression glow at the thought of this manifesting. She looked so excited, and I began envisioning building a life with her somewhere far away from Missouri.

Of course, it also made me think of leaving Blair and Tony, and my parents, and Megan's parents...

But we had time to figure it out, and that's all that mattered right now.

***A/N***

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Much love,

Lauryn