Committed ✦ Wilk

Twenty-Eight

"Is that a key?" Emily asked in astonishment. "What the hell, man I thought you were proposing." Sam chuckled and handed the key to me. "Way to get us all worked up."

"What is this to?" I smiled at him.

"Our new home," he said grabbing my hand. I grinned and placed the key back in the box and sat it down on the table. In a way I was relieved that he didn't propose, we had so much on our plate as it was, and I didn't want it to seem like we were rushing anything. We all ate the dinner that Lori and I prepared, and Sam kept telling me how amazing it was causing me to blush a slight shade brighter each time. Sam and I migrated upstairs with the guys, and we all took seats in his bedroom and Sam seemed upset about something.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him quietly.

"Are you disappointed?" Sam looked at me, intently staring into my eyes. "Were you hoping that I was going to propose to you?"

"Babe," I laughed lightly. "I thought it was really sweet, and no I'm not disappointed. We're going to have a home together. Like you said: it's the first step to our life together. And if you make that big of a scene when you're giving me a key, I can only imagine the lengths you're going to go through to ask me to marry you," I smiled. "I don't want you to feel like I'm disappointed, we're both still young, and we have years down the road to get married."

"So you're not upset?" He smiled softly.

"Nope," I said kissing his cheek. The five of us watched a comedy film that was playing on TV, until the three guys left. I was nearly asleep, and I felt Sam nudge my shoulder lightly. "Huh?" I asked fluttering my eyes open.

"Get in bed, baby," he whispered softly. I nodded and walked over to his bed and slipped under the comforter. Sam walked out of the room, but I was too tired to even ask where he was going. When he returned a few moments later with Raina in his arms and he put her in the crib. He laid down next to me, and he ran his fingers down my back causing me to shiver. "I love you," he whispered combing his fingers through my hair. 

__________

"Thank you so much for having us," I said hugging Lori. "It was nice of all of you to be so welcoming."

"It was a pleasure," she smiled. It was the day Sam and I were leaving for California, and I was sad to have to leave Sam's amazing family, but I was more than excited to finally make it out west. We all said our final goodbyes, and the three of us piled into my car. Sam decided that he would drive halfway, and I would drive the other half. It was only fair since it was going to be an insanely long drive. Sam turned on the radio as we made it onto the highway and grabbed my hand.

"It's really happening," he smiled over at me.

"Yeah," I nodded and laughed a little. We stayed quiet for a little while the music played through the speakers. It was quite relaxing having his fingers interlaced with mine and sitting quietly while we let occasional glances do all of the talking for us. After about five hours of driving, Sam wanted to pull over and get food. I tended to Raina while he texted him mom telling her where we were and that everything was okay so far. When we walked into the small restaurant we received long stares from the people inside. I bit on my lip nervously, and Sam squeezed my hand. Others went back to what they were doing before, but a woman who looked to be in her thirties kept giving disapproving looks. She had her two younger children with her, and she was whispering to her husband while staring at Sam who was holding Raina. It was a dead giveaway that she was talking about us, but I did my best not to let it get to me. I was finally happy with everything in my life, and I wasn't going to let some judgmental stranger get under my skin. 

It was a constant cycle the entire drive out there. I would take occasional naps, we would stop to grab something to eat, use the restroom, and care for Raina who was restless. When we reached the halfway point Sam and I switched seats, and he fell asleep without any trouble. The sky was completely black, and the highway was empty while I drove straight through Utah. 

I kept glancing over at Sam while he slept, smiling to myself wondering how I got lucky enough to have someone like him. 

"Baby," he moaned out in his sleep causing me to look over at him. He shifted in the seat, and I saw his eyelids flutter. He moaned again, and I held back laughter. "Yeah, right there," he said shifting in his seat again, and my eyes grew wide as I realized what he was dreaming about. He moaned out a few more times, before he went completely silent, and I continued to silently laugh every time I would look over at him. His mouth was hanging wide open, and it looked as if he was dreaming about something crucial.

_____________

"I missed this place," Sam said as we sat in the traffic on the highway. We were caught up in the middle of L.A. traffic and I was severely uncomfortable due to the fact that it felt like my bladder was going to burst. "Didn't miss the traffic though," he sighed. He glanced over at me, as I had my legs crossed and squeezed together. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up," I groaned.

"No, seriously what are you doing?" He laughed earning a deadly look from me. "You look like you're trying to...wait," he smirked. "Do you have to use restroom?"

"I really hate using public restrooms okay," I whined. "I haven't used it since Colorado."

"What? How," he said in pure amazement.

"I don't know, just shut up because it's making me think about it," I whined again. He chuckled and grabbed a bottle of water. I looked over at him, and he smiled deviously before taking a sip. 

"Water is really nice you know," he said smiling wickedly.

"Sam I swear to God I'm going to murder you if you don't stop," I shot him the death glare and he nodded. 

"What? I'm just telling the truth," he was having way too much fun with this.

"Sam!" Gradually the traffic started to move along, and I found the exit. Sam directed me how to get to the apartment complex. When I pulled up to it, I was amazed by how much more luxurious it was compared to my place back in Illinois. There were planted palm trees scattered around the exterior of the tall modern building, and large glass windows gave you the perfect overview of the city. 

We walked into the apartment, and I couldn't believe how spacious it was. There were two total rooms, and a nicely sized kitchen with newly updated appliances. "What do you think?" Sam smiled at me.

"It's amazing," I grinned at him. "Well, let's get unpacking."

"Do you want to invite your dad over later?" Sam asked as we carried boxes into where our room was going to be. 

"We don't have any furniture," I laughed. "I'll invite him over once everything gets set up."

"Fair enough," he laughed. We carried the boxes to their designated rooms, and we walked back out to the car. We were leaving to purchase some of the furniture we needed until my dad was able to bring back everything from Illinois. "We definitely need this," Sam said pointing to a state of the art cotton candy machine.

"Why would we need a cotton candy machine?" I grinned.

"I think you answered your own question," he smiled proudly. I playfully rolled my eyes and tried my best to navigate around the gigantic store that was Bed Bath & Beyond. We finally found the mattresses, and Sam flopped down onto one of the memory foam ones and let out a satisfied sigh. "I think we should get this one."

I sat down on it and was impressed with how cushioned it was. "I don't mind," I shrugged. "What size were you thinking?"

"King," he said simply causing my eyes to grow wide. "What? More room for us," he winked at me.

"Raina is right there," I said playfully slapping him on the chest.

"Hi, baby," he smiled at her innocently causing her to laugh. "See, she's totally down with the idea."

"You're such an idiot," I smiled while shaking my head.

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

Kind of a short chapter, but Sam and Bay's relationship is goals, let's be real here. 

P.S. I published a new Nate story called "American Dream." It's a pretty crazy story line, so please go give it a read and let me know what you think :)