John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 57 - Love and Liberty

Sami glanced through the peephole before unchaining the safety catch and opening the door to Austin.

"Hi Austin," she greeted him diffidently. "Thanks for coming over."

"Sure." Austin didn't look at her, but his eyes flicked around the apartment. "Where's Will?"

"At Granma and Grandpa's." Sami closed the door behind him. "They're looking after him while I sort some stuff out. I'm going to start doing some courses at the university." She tried to sound enthusiastic but she could almost feel the hostility emanating from her brother-in-law and her voice quavered.

Austin ignored her and walked into the lounge.

"So, what's going on Sami? Why were you so upset on the phone?" Sami suddenly felt her heart start to thump again. He was never going to believe her. Why had she ever thought he was going to believe her? Grant was his friend. She was just.... well, after all the stunts she had pulled over the last few years, why would he choose to believe her?

Suddenly dejected, she walked past him twisting a battered tissue in her hands.

"It seems a little silly now," she said in a small voice.

"What seems silly?" Austin's tone became a little softer as he detected Sami's apprehension. "Something upset you Sami. You said there were noises?"

"Well..." Sami flicked her blonde hair behind her shoulder and stared down at the ragged tissue. Taking a deep breath, she launched into an explanation of her recent run-in with Grant and his burst of temper. Leaving out the open drawer in her bedroom, she related the odd phone call and the noises she had heard outside the apartment.

"I don't know what's going on Austin," she finished hurriedly, her words tumbling out before she had hardly thought about them. "He scared me I guess and I'm a little jumpy. I just wanted some reassurance."

"So you phoned me?" Austin asked coldly.

"I..." Sami looked up at him, her glacial blue eyes ringed with dark sapphire and offering guilt and uncertainty. "I didn't know who else to call."

"You've got a whole *family* to pick from Sami," Austin glared at her. "Why didn't you call your mom?"

"I tried," Sami said in a small voice, her eyes flooding with tears. The last thing she wanted right now was to be treated like a pariah by Austin. "She wasn't home."

Austin sighed heavily and walked back to the door.

"Stay there," he demanded. "I'll have a look around."

******

John looked down the street. Even at this time of the night, New York was bustling. There were people everywhere and John could hardly walk a few steps without being battered by people walking like automatons in the opposite direction. He wasn't really looking where he was going, he merely watched his feet as they followed, one after the other, as if by automatic pilot they were taking him somewhere. Where, he didn't know.

He crossed the pavement and walked blindly onto the road, somewhat surprised when a blare of horns greeted his sudden movement. He miraculously dodged several lanes of traffic to make it to the other side of the road, shaking his head as he did so. His heart fluttered wildly as he realized what he had just done, and he wondered for a moment whether he had a death wish.

He walked to the building that was in front of him and leant against the cool concrete, trying to calm himself. This was getting beyond a joke. He had to pull himself together before he really did kill himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath wondering what he was doing here. He had known the moment he had gotten in the car he had been running away. And he knew that running away was wrong, but he couldn't stop himself.