Chapter 32

Dave and Sammy sat on either end of the bench in the back yard of Sammy's new home. They had been speaking very hesitantly before Sammy waved goodbye to Bobby and Collette, as the other pair of teens left to go to Collette's house.

Raul and Barbara had then discovered an immediate need to go to the mall for something or other, and disappeared.

Now they sat mostly silent. They were both afraid to talk to the other about their feelings. Each feared the other was still angry about their recent trysts with Leticia and Bobby.

They didn't realize that they had both separately received the same advice, from either Collette or Bobby: 'let him/her yell at you without getting angry.' As a result, they sat on pins and needles. Neither was eager to prompt the other to start yelling at them.

Finally, Sammy decided she had to try to get the conversation started.

"Dave, I want to tell you... some... things. But... I want to ask you first... are you still mad at me? I know I pissed you off, when I got mad about your date with Leticia. I'm really sorry I did that."

She paused and waited gingerly for the explosion from Dave.

"No, I'm not mad," Dave said, with obvious relief in his voice. "I thought you were still mad at me, for getting upset about you... living... with Bobby."

Sammy visibly relaxed a little. But then she tensed yet again.

"Dave... I need to tell you some things. I'm afraid you're going to get mad at me, so just hear me out, okay?"

"Bobby told me that you guys had been together, Sammy," said Dave simply. "It's okay."

"He what?!" exclaimed Sammy.

"Sammy... he said that I needed to talk to you about... about how your relationship with him... has changed." Having said that, he sat waiting as calmly as he could for her to respond.

"Dave... before I do that... I need to know how you feel about me. I know we started our relationship with... certain understandings. I want to talk about that. But I'm not going to spill my guts out, if you don't... if you don't... love me," she said softly.

"I love you, Sammy," said Dave sincerely, if automatically.

She stared back at him intently, as if trying to read his innermost thoughts. It was too much of a 'stimulus and response' type of answer for Sammy to feel totally comfortable.

"I know what we said when we started going out," Dave continued. "But, I've wished for a long time that we hadn't said those things. I've tried not to let it show, because I know how you feel about Bobby, and I didn't want to hurt you."

Somewhat reassured, Sammy smiled back at him affectionately. She patted the bench next to her. Dave slid over, and they took each other in their arms, and squeezed as hard as they thought their partner could stand it.

After they'd rocked back and forth silently for what seemed like a long time, Dave could hear Sammy sniffling against his neck. He pulled back to see that there were tears running down her cheeks, even though she smiled happily at him.

He dabbed at her tears with the sleeve of his shirt as she sniffled.

"Sammy... can you tell me why you and Bobby have... I don't know. What's changed, exactly?"

"I sorry, I can't really explain why, Dave. But... we've decided we're not going to live like there's only one possible person for us to wind up with someday.

"Bobby and I are always going to be friends. That's as much as we'll commit to each other now. So, we aren't going to stop looking for 'mister and missus right, ' anymore. Maybe we'll still wind up together some day. But if we're not meant to be together, we don't want to miss who we're supposed to be with, because we've got our eyes shut when they come along."

She took Dave's hands in hers. "Right now, Dave, for me... well, I'd like to give us a shot. So, I don't want to date anyone else. Including... including Bobby. I hope... that you don't want to date anyone else either."

They hugged again. They pulled apart, and Dave gave her a little kiss on her nose.

"Sammy, that's good enough for me. But I'd feel better if I knew what made you and Bobby split up. I want to know, so I don't... do the same thing someday."

Sammy smiled affectionately at him. How could she tell him there was little chance that she and Bobby would have an alternate shared dream about their fates? Eventually, she decided all she could offer was a simple assurance, and hope it was enough.

She gave him as passionate a kiss as she could. Then she tenderly held his face in her hands, and looked earnestly into his eyes.

"Don't worry, Dave. You won't."