Never Say Forever

"You know, I never really understood the point to these lame game shows. Who would subject themselves to something like that?" Sam giggled as he watched the Price is Right with Kimmi. A couple days had passed. Kaleah was still in mourning in her bedroom and Kimmi and Sam could really only be together in the basement. But they were loving every minute of each other...not realizing that it will soon have to come to an end.

"I would kill to be on this show!" Kimmi chimed in her Okie twang. "Bob Barker is the sexiest old man in the world!" 

"Excuse me?" Sam joked. "He is like a million years old."

"What?" Kimmi blushed. "He aged well." The two laughed together as they continued to watch. A couple minutes later, Kimmi stood up. "I'm thirsty. Want a drink?" Sam nodded and Kimmi headed towards the stairs. 

"No, you're not listening to me. I need a car at the airport at four o'clock sharp! I don't care if my flight gets delayed. I don't care if a fricken fighter plane shoots a missile and blows my plane up. That car needs to be there and waiting for me so that I don't have to wait for it!" Kimmi heard Sloane yelling at someone on the phone and hesitantly entered the kitchen.

"My flight leaves Sunset Valley at noon and I have a stop over in Oklahoma to drop off my annoying Okie cousin....Ya I don't care if the stop over will take longer than an hour, the car has to be there at four!" Sloane kept rambling on and on. Kimmi stood there, watching her cousin go insane at whoever it was she was talking to. "Just remember, Brian...you work for MY daddy and MY daddy can have you fired in mere seconds if I tell him to. Call me if you have any problems." Sloane hung up the phone and turned towards Kimmi. "I swear that man is just looking for reasons to get laid off." She rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to be so mean to people like that, Suh-loane." Kimmi said, annoyed.

"Whatever. Like I care." Sloane responded. "Hey, listen. I hope you have some extra room in your suitcase. With all the clothes I bought here, I don't have enough room in mine." Kimmi stared at Sloane blankly while they stood there in silence. "Kimmi?" Sloane asked. She rolled her eyes. "Look, Kimmi, if you don't have enough room either, that's fine. Our flight isn't until the day after tomorrow...I have plenty of time to go buy another suitcase."

"Sloane..." Kimmi wasn't sure how to word what she was trying to say.

"....What is Kimmi?" Sloane asked, getting annoyed. "What...do you need help packing?"

"No...that's not it." Kimmi sighed. "I can't get on that flight."

"Like hell you can't! These aren't open ended ticket, Kimmi. If you don't get on this flight, you can't use your ticket to get onto a different one."

"I know..." Sloane looked at Kimmi quizzically.  

"Oh my god..." Sloane said, frustrated. "Is this about Sam?"

"I can't leave him." Kimmi said, sadly. "I won't. It will be too hard."

"You can't just decide to not go home, Kimmi. You guys have only known each other for a few weeks! He can't suddenly make you decide to change your life." Sloane interjected.

"He's not making me do anything, Suh-loane! I chose this! He doesn't even know I decided this yet." 

"So you've completely decided to ruin your life over some stupid boy?"

"There's no life for me in Oklahoma, Suh-loane! There's nothing for me there anymore! I have every right to change my life and it doesn't have to be just for a boy. I want this...for me. Not just for Sam. And it's not ruining my life!"

"What happens if you and Sam break up? Then you're in Sunset Valley for no reason."

"We won't break up! And it's not like if I decide to stay here, I'm stuck here. If I ever change my mind, I can go back home if I want to!"

"....Kimmi." Sloane's voice went into almost a whisper.

"Sloane, don't try and talk me out of it. It won't work."

"Kimmi, I have to tell you something. Before you make any rash decisions, hear me out." Kimmi looked at Sloane with puzzling eyes, wondering what she could possibly have to say.

"YOU NO GOOD, JEALOUS, LYING PIECE OF TRASH!" Sam stood instantly when he heard Kimmi screaming at Sloane. "HOW DARE YOU LIE TO ME LIKE THAT!?"

"I'M NOT LYING, KIMMI! I SWEAR TO GO IT'S THE TRUTH!" Sloane hollered back. Sam felt uncomfortable as he listened to the women fighting. 

"Oh boy..." He said under his breath before running up the stairs. 

"THIS IS TOTALLY OUTRAGEOUS! YOU'RE JUST MAD BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO DIE BITTER AND ALONE!" Kimmi hollered. When Sam entered the kitchen, the girls were in a mini cat fight. Sloane pulled Kimmi's hair and Kimmi was slapping Sloane. Sam was hesitant to stop them, as it's just about every guy's dream to watch two hot blondes attacking each other. But he had to intervene.  

Sam stepped between Sloane and Kimmi.

"What's going on!" He hollered, facing Sloane.

"She can't handle the truth." Sloane hollered back. "She can't handle the fact that something she thought was so perfect is really based on a big, fat lie!"

"The only thing that I can't handle is your ability to manipulate anyone and everything and lie through your teeth!" Kimmi yelled.

"Sloane! Kimmi! Stop it!" Sam raised his arms. The two girls stared at each other, breathing heavy.

"You know what, whatever! I'm out of here." Sloane turned around and left the kitchen. 

Sam turned to face Kimmi, who was glaring at the empty doorway that Sloane had just escaped through.

"Kimmi..." Sam said. "What just happened?"

"Nothing. She's stupid." Kimmi responded, barely looking at Sam in the eyes.

"Kimmi..." Sam said, knowing there was something else.

"I don't know what happened Sam! She asked me if I had spare room in my suitcase for the flight home in two days and then we just started arguing!" Sam felt a tinge of tingling pain circuit throughout his entire body. He had forgotten that Kimmi had to go back home. He turned his face away from Kimmi to hide the emotion that took over his face.

"Oh..." He said quietly.

"Sam?" Kimmi asked, noticing his reaction. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing...it's...nothing." Sam shook his head.

"Sam, look at me!" Kimmi said, pulling on his shoulder. Sam turned his face and looked into Kimmi's big, blue eyes. "What's wrong?"

"It's just...we've been having such a good time lately that I totally forgot you had to go home eventually." Sam said slowly. Kimmi smiled. "What?"

"I'm not going." Kimmi said quickly. Sam beamed.

"What!" He asked, through excitement.

"I told Sloane that I can't get on that flight with her. I'm staying in Sunset Valley." Kimmi smiled again.

"But I thought you were arguing over space in a suitcase!" Sam said, unsure of how to feel.

"We were more fighting over the reason why I chose to move here." Kimmi giggled.

"Which is...?" Sam asked.

"Not important." Kimmi stuck her tongue out at Sam. Sam smiled big and brought Kimmi close to him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her neck and kissed her shoulder.

"You have no idea how happy this makes me." He whispered. 

The next morning, Sam headed upstairs to get himself some breakfast. He was surprised to see Kimmi was up already and on the computer.

"Mornin' sugar!" She called with a big smile.

"Well, good morning." Sam smiled back, a bit confused at her enthusiasm.  

"I was just online searchin' for apartments around here. There's not much to choose from." She giggled.

"Kimmi, why would you rent a different apartment? You can just stay here." Sam said, more confident about the idea than he actually felt.

"Well that's just silly. Kaykay would never like that idea." Kimmi claimed. She exited the website she was on and stood up to approach Sam. "Besides, I actually want our relationship to stand a chance. If we lived together permanently, it will be over before we could blink an eye!" She giggled.

"That's not true. We've spent a couple weeks under the same roof together, and look at how well we are doing." Sam smiled.

"Yeah, but that's because we always knew I would eventually be leaving. If we lived together permanently, we'd get too comfortable." Kimmi sighed. "Now, go get ready." Sam was confused.

"Get ready for what?" He asked. Kimmi leaned in close to Sam's ear.

"I have a surprise for you." She whispered. The heat of her breath on his neck made Sam's body tingle. He had no choice but to agree.

"O...Okay. I...um...will go get ready then." He said, unable to compose himself after the sensation took over his body. Kimmi blushed as he hesitantly walked back towards the stairs. 

Not 20 minutes later, Sam and Kimmi were loaded up in Kayleah's Audi and headed to Kimmi's mystery destination. Sam didn't like that he didn't know where they were going, and something deep in the pit of his stomach was telling him that he wasn't going to be happy about it.

"Buckle up, hun." Kimmi explained. "We'll be on the road for quite some time."

"Can you please just tell me where you are taking me?" Sam asked, as he strapped the seatbelt across his chest. "Not knowing is killing me."

"That would ruin the surprise!" Kimmi chimed.

"I don't think I've ever told you this before, but I hate surprises." Sam said.

"Well then this is more so that you can't refuse to go." Kimmi giggled. "Just relax. You will be fine." 

They were driving towards the border of Sunset Valley and onto the highway. Sam was really worried now.  

They drove for hours upon hours, but to Sam it felt more like days. They barely spoke as they drove, besides the occasional argument over which radio station to listen to. Kimmi was just as nervous as Sam was. As they got closer and closer to their destination, she began questioning herself on whether or not this was the greatest idea. By the time they got there, the sun was setting. Kimmi made Sam keep his eyes closed until they were right outside the front doors.

"Okay, open them." Kimmi said, swallowing her nervousness down. Sam slowly opened his eyes and, at first, he had no idea where he was. He was standing directly in front of two giant stone doors on a very tall, thick brick building. He looked around until he saw a sign. It read:

'Women's Penitentiary'

"Kimmi..." Sam said, feeling slightly angry. He turned towards her, forcing a smile. 

"Don't be mad." Kimmi quickly said, noticing the anger across Sam's eyes. "It's her birthday."

"I haven't seen my mother in years! Just because it's her birthday, doesn't mean I have to start seeing her now." He sighed and looked back at the building. "Besides...she probably won't want to see me."

"That's not true. You're her son! I'm sure she will be thrilled to see you. I bet she misses you like crazy." Kimmi spoke softly.

"I think this is a bad idea." Sam shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kimmi, but I'm not going to do this. Thanks for driving me all the way out here, but there is no way I'm going inside that building." Kimmi rolled her eyes and turned Sam to face the doors. With a little nudge, she forced him inside.

"I can't believe you are making me do this." Sam said quietly as they waited in the cold, bland visitor's room. The room was small and only contained a table, a couple chairs and a light fixture. It was depressing and reminded Sam all too much of where he was.

"Relax, Sammy. Just give her a chance. There's no harm in trying!" Kimmi said sweetly. 

"There's lots of harm in trying! What if she freaks out at me? What if she rejects me? This is my mother. It's hard enough that I don't have her in my life...imagine how I'm going to feel if she makes it even worse." Sam started to get extremely nervous and his breathing picked up. Kimmi put her hand on Sam's shoulder.

"I'm right here, sugar. I'm right beside you. I will be here for you know matter what happens." Kimmi smiled. Sam was about to argue, but a strange noise in the distance interrupted him. It was a door opening. His mother was coming.

"There better be an extremely good reason for this, officer! I was three deals away from winning that hand!" He heard his mother's complaining voice getting louder and louder as she approached the tiny room. "Why won't you tell me who it is? Is it Mario? It better be Mario...he owes me fifty bucks!" The big metal door opened slowly. Sam watched it as it opened all the way, a bead of sweat forming on his brow. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. His mother stepped through the doorway and froze. "Samson?" She asked softly. The officer took off her handcuffs and pushed her in the room all the way, closing the metal door behind her.

"You have twenty minutes!" He called through the peephole. 

"Mom..." Sam whispered, unsure of how to feel. He hardly recognized her. Her hair was cut short, she lost a ton of weight, and her orange jumpsuit was all too distracting. She sat down.

Sam's mom, Claire, sat across from Sam at the table. Nobody said a word. They just stared at each other in complete silence, not knowing what to do or say next. Eventually, Claire threw her hands up and broke the silence.

"So why are you here?" She asked, cockily. Sam lowered his eye brows, uncertain of how to react to her snobbishness. 

"It's your birthday, mom." Sam said, slowly. "I wanted to visit you on your birthday." He looked over at Kimmi and gave her eyes of pleading. Kimmi patted his back and nodded for him to keep going.

"Who are you?" Claire asked, pointing a long, boney finger at Kimmi. Kimmi smiled and put her hand across the table.

"My name is Kimmi Westerly. I'm Sam's girlfriend." Kimmi said sweetly. Claire looked at Kimmi's hand, disgusted. Kimmi noticed that Claire wasn't about to shake her hand, and embarrassingly brought her arm back to her side.

"Again, I'm going to ask....why are you here?" Claire asked Sam once more. 

Sam tried to fake a smile. He thought to himself that if he was going to be there, talking to his mother, he had nothing to lose and better try and be nice to her.

"I haven't seen you in years, mom. I wanted to see  you." He said. His voice was shaky, and Claire could see that he was faking his enthusiasm. She rolled her eyes.

"That's bull crap, Samson." She said, angrily. "You're either here because you've gotten yourself into some trouble, or your dying." She looked over at Kimmi with possessive eyes. "I see what's going on here." She said, accusingly. "You got this blond bobble head over here pregnant and you need help affording it!"

"Mom!" Sam hollered. 

"That's it, isn't it?! Let me tell you...you got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself right out of it!" Claire hollered back.

"I'm not pregnant, Mrs. Fairchild!" Kimmi interjected. Claire shot a look over at Kimmi, her eyes narrow and her lips pursed.

"I'm not Mrs. Fairchild! My husband's dead, didn't Samson tell you?" She said, with a sarcastic tone. Kimmi felt her face get hot and looked down at the ground, suddenly regretting ever bringing Sam to meet this terrible woman.

"Mom...listen to yourself! It's me here...your god damn son is sitting across this table from you! I haven't seen you in years and you act like this?" Sam was getting angry.   

Claire looked at Sam through angered eyes.

"I never asked you to come." She said, through her teeth.

"Of course you didn't, mom! You never have! All these years go by and I never once received a call from you! How many of my birthdays have passed that you didn't even so much as acknowledge? How many milestones have I gone through without you there?" Sam could feel himself finally confident enough to stand up to his mom. After all these years, he never had the guts.

"If it wasn't for you, Samson, I would've never got sent to this god forsaken place!" Claire hollered. "It's because of you and that old friend of yours that I'm in here!"

"How was I ever supposed to know that Hank's mom would do something like this?"

"You could've stood up for me!"

"I ALWAYS stood up for you, mom! I always believed that you were innocent. I was the ONLY one who EVER believed that! I can't believe this right now. You are supposed to be my mother!" 

"I never wanted to be a mother! If I never would've married that man you called your father, then I would've never had a child! And now he's dead, and stuck me with you!"

"Goodness, lady! How dare you talk to him that way? He and I drove all this way to wish you a happy birthday and you're telling him that you wish he was never born?" Kimmi interjected.

"Kimmi, stay out of this!" Sam hollered. "It's your fault we're here." Kimmi was appalled by Sam's harshness. She shook her head and looked the other way, unsure of whether to cry or walk out of the room. Sam looked back at his mother. 

"Do you honestly feel that way, mom?" Sam asked, softly. He could feel the lump forming in his throat and the tears burning his eyes. Claire saw her son upset, and suddenly felt remorse for what she had said. She turned her hand and stuck her hands up.

"I want you to leave." she said sharply. "Now!" Sam pushed his chair back hard as he stood up. Kimmi quickly followed as he headed towards the door. 

As Sam walked behind his mom's chair, he paused.

"You know, it's times like these when I truely believe the wrong parent died." He said in almost a whisper. He continued to the door, but was stopped when he mother stood up.

"Sam, wait." She said, feeling the tears threaten her eyes as well. Sam sighed and bent over in defeat.

"I don't care what you have to say." He said.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of what I just said. You know how we are with our tempers...we hide hurt with anger. I just don't like you seeing me like this...in jail in an ugly orange jumpsuit. It pains me to know that my boy is all grown up and I missed everything because of a false accusation. I'm sorry."

"Mom..." Sam said, the tears finally rolling down his cheeks and staining his skin. "You can never undo what you just said to me. That pain will stick with me for the rest of my life." He grabbed Kimmi's arm and pulled her after him through the door.

"Sam!" Claire called after him. "Samson, wait!" But Sam kept walking. He took his sleeve and wiped his eyes clear of the tears, his hurt now turning into anger. 

Sam got into the driver's side of Kaleah's Audi.

"Sam, maybe I should drive." Kimmi said, hesitantly. Sam ignored Kimmi's suggestion and closed the driver's side door behind him. Kimmi sighed and got in the passenger's side. They headed back toward's Sunset Valley in silence. Kimmi tried to talk to Sam, but every time she opened her mouth to talk, he would turn up the radio to drown out her voice. Kimmi knew she had messed up by taking Sam to see his mom, but she didn't think she really deserved to be ignored. In all fairness, she truely believed she was doing him some good when she thought of the idea.

They pulled up to the house hours later, without a single word spoken. Sam shut the car off, got out, and slammed the door behind him, quickly headed towards the front door. Kimmi had had about enough, and decided she wasn't going to take this kind of treatment. She hurried after Sam.

"Sam! Enough of this!" She hollered after him. He paused before heading up the deck stairs. "I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what else to say! I thought it was a good idea, but it turned out that it wasn't. How was I supposed to know she was like that? You never told me she was like that."

"I never told you because I didn't want to tell you Kimmi. You had no right butting into my life like that!" Sam hollered back, angry as ever. 

"I had no right, Sam? Aren't I your girlfriend? Aren't I allowed to feel like the need to make you happy?" Kimmi asked, fighting back tears.

"Well that didn't make me happy, now, did it Kimmi?" Sam said back. Suddenly, Kimmi found it much easier to hold back the tears that were threatening their way out as her sadness turned into pure anger. She wasn't appreciating Sam's attitude and did not deserve it one bit. Sam continued up the stairs towards the front door, but Kimmi ran after him.

"How dare you act like this?" Kimmi said, grabbing Sam's arm to make him face her. "I didn't mean for this to happen and you are being totally mean about it!"

"KIMMI!" Sam screamed. "I told you back at the library that I didn't even consider my mom my family anymore! My friends are my family and that's all I care about! There was a reason why I said that to you, and you should've realized that! My mom has been that way since the day my dad died and she's an awful, selfish, cruel woman who will say anything to anyone to make herself feel better! Now look at me! Your so called bright idea to force me to see her has not only made me upset, but it has made me hate my mom for good!"

"I'm sorry Sam! Goodness, I thought I was doin' no harm!" Kimmi screamed back.

"You want to know why I didn't go see my mom in jail after all these years?" Sam paused. "I knew she felt that way about me all my life. I knew she regretted having me. She always hinted at it and ignored me...I was afraid to hear the words she finally spat at me tonight! How would you feel if your mother talked to you that way? Made you feel completely insignificant to her life?"

"Yeah, okay, Sam. I will admit! I would suck. But you could've warned me that that was the reason!" Kimmi explained.

"Why would I have warned you about that? How the hell was I supposed to know that you would take me there as a so called surprise?" Sam could feel his face get hot...his anger had taken control over his entire body. "I knew telling all of you that was a huge mistake. I should've never trusted you with any of it!" Kimmi stared at Sam, wide eyed. He shouldn't have trusted her? Trust was a huge part in a relationship and, to Kimmi, it was the most important part. She felt hurt by what Sam had said. Like he had stabbed her directly in the heart.

"Your mama was right. You do hide hurt with anger." Kimmi said, unable to look up at Sam. "Only problem is, you are directin' your anger at the wrong person."

"No, actually...I'm not." Sam said under his cold, hard breath. "You did this to me. You made me see her. As far as I'm concerned, being angry at you isn't wrong." Kimmi looked Sam in the eye. She felt her own face get hot with anger. She could see their relationship plummeting fast and she knew why. Sloane was right about what she had told Kimmi in the kitchen. She accused Sloane of being jealous and lying to her...but she now realized that she was telling the truth.

"YOU..." Kimmi raised her finger at Sam. "...HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE ANGRY AT ME! I am not the only person who's done something wrong here and you know it!" She hollered. Sam looked at her confused.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, smacking Kimmi's finger away from his face.

"YOU ONLY DATED ME TO GET OVER KAYKAY!" Kimmi screamed. She was out of breath and breathing hard, unsure if she was about to cry or throw a temper tantrum. Sam's jaw dropped and he stared at Kimmi. 

"How did you find out about that?" Sam asked, his voice softer and pleading.

"You know today when I was yellin' at Suh-loane? Calling her a liar and jealous and whatnot?" Kimmi asked, her voice still sharp with rage. Sam nodded. "She told me everythin', Sam! She told me about that little conversation you had with her a few nights ago. I told her I was stayin' in Sunset Valley to be with you and she told me to make sure I knew the truth before I made my decision. I didn't believe her, because I thought you would never be that kind of guy." Kimmi paused and took a deep breath. She looked down at the ground and shook her head, tears finally pouring down her cheeks. With a softer, more of a whispered voice, she continued. "But you are, Sam. That's obvious now. Because if you weren't that guy, you wouldn't be treatin' me this way right now. If you weren't that guy, you would've seen that I was sorry and didn't mean for you to get hurt and that it was an honest mistake. But you're treatin' me like dirt as if I meant to do this to you. So you are that guy...everything Sloane said was true." Kimmi stopped and stared directly into Sam's eyes. Sam didn't know what to say. He felt his anger cease and regret took over his emotion. He was about to lose Kimmi...he could see that clearly. And he truthfully and whole heartedly didn't want to lose her.

Kimmi wiped the tears from her cheeks and rolled her eyes as she turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Sam said, quietly. Kimmi didn't respond, but instead headed inside the house, slamming the door shut tight behind her. Sam dropped his head and tears began to form in his eyes. Sloane was telling the truth...at first, he had dated Kimmi because he wanted to get over Kaleah. She had told him that he couldn't be jealous about any future boyfriends she would have and he agreed. He wanted to keep Kaleah in his life, even as a friend, and that meant that he would have to get over her. Kimmi showed up just in time for Sam to come to that realization and she was completely attractive to Sam. At first, he thought of her as the perfect distraction. But...that was only at first. Not even 5 days after he began something with Kimmi, he fell for her...harder than he ever expected to fall for someone other than Kaleah. He wanted to tell Kimmi all of that, but he knew that he might just be too late.

Sam stood out on the deck for what seemed like hours, just thinking to himself in the cool, evening breeze. Eventually, he headed inside. When he walked through the front door, he caught a glimpse of Sloane sitting on the bench near the back door. Sam walked over to her.

"Hi..." Sloane said slowly, knowing every bit of what had just happened. She knew Sam was about to give it to her and prepared herself to get screamed at. But, Sam didn't scream and holler at Sloane like she had expected. Instead, he gave a short hello smile back and sat down next to her. 

"I thought I told you to forget about everything I said to you that night...that none of it was even true anymore and I liked Kimmi for real." Sam said, softly. He was angry as hell at Sloane, but he was exhausted and couldn't bring himself to actually get angry at her.

"She needed to know, Sam. She was willing to change her entire life for you without really knowing the truth." Sloane explained, matter-of-factly.

"It's not the truth, though, Sloane...not anymore, anyways." Sam sighed.

"Well it was how your relationship started and your relationship started off as a lie. If it started as a lie, then it's based on a lie." 

"Have I ever told you how much I actually hate you?" Sam paused. "I despise you."

"Good. Then we're on equal terms." Sloane said, sarcastically. 

"I don't even know why I ever thought I could trust you to begin with. You know, you ruined everything with me and Kimmi now. We actually had something great." 

"Sam, get over yourself. You just treated her like absolute crap and you expect me to believe that? She was disposable to you."

"No! She actually wasn't. Not in the least bit." Sam stood up. "I can't wait until you leave tomorrow. I never want to see your face again." Without another word, Sam headed to the basement, leaving Sloane smirking smugly by herself on the bench. She didn't care what Sam thought, and now, her cousin wasn't about to ruin her life over some guy. She was feeling good, despite Sam's hatred for her.

"Tye, I need you to come over." Sam said once Tyler answered the phone.

"Sam, you know where I stand with all of the sneaking around and secrets and hormonal Morgan women running around over there. I don't want to come over." Tyler explained.

"I need you man. You'll never believe what just happened..."