CLOSER (SAM FENDER)

TWENTY-SEVEN

Violet

It was pouring rain by the time I laid down in the oversized hotel bed.

The storm started as I was leaving the festival grounds, and it matched the way my insides felt. Angry. Violent. Sad. Alone.

Perhaps that was the worst feeling of all. I was utterly alone. Sam's Mom and brother stayed with Sam as the medics checked his pupils and ran some basic tests after the fight. Shirley wouldn't leave him like that, she hated the thought of anything bad happening to him. Jake disappeared after the fight, and no one saw him or where we ran off to, but Dean grabbed me and led me away from the stage and the disaster that was happening all around us, and called for a car.

He walked with his arms around me the whole way, holding me up as I shook against the night air and the impending storm that rolled in the distance. My nerves were shot, my emotions were high and I didn't know what to say.

"You alright?" Dean asked as we weaved our way through the back lot.

I nodded as I chattered from distress.

"It's going to be okay, Violet."

I wanted to believe Dean, but we'd made a big mess of everything and we both knew better. I knew better. And all I could think about was that I let the entire band down, and that I was ruining everything for everyone. Dean talked to me the whole way to the car, rattled on about the scene before I arrived and how Jake kept pushing Sam to admit things. When I didn't say anything back, he simply tried to keep me calm. I blacked in and out of what he was saying.

That was hours ago. I came back to the hotel. Alone. And I sank into the too large bed, alone. And I cried myself into a lifeless mess, alone. The only thing that pulled me from the intense feelings running through me, was a small knock on the door. I sat up quickly, listening as I heard the sound again, and climbed out of the bed and opened the door slowly.

Sam was standing in the doorway, dripping water from his hair and shirt, looking just as depressed as I felt. Everything inside of me clenched when we locked eyes and I sucked in a sharp breath. He stood in the doorway unmoving, eyes uncertain as he scanned my face.

He wanted an invitation, and he wasn't going to force himself in. It was one of the things I loved about him the most. He was placid where Jake was direct. And not that I wanted to compare the two, but it was easy to be with Sam for that trait alone.

I stepped to the side and let him in. He walked in slowly, shuffling his way into the seating area before looking at the flowers on the table. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he saw the open card, his fingers trailing lightly over one of the roses.

"I wondered if you'd gotten them."

"I didn't get a chance to thank you, yet. They're beautiful. I never get sent flowers."

Sam winced at my words and turned to face me. "Someone should always send you flowers, Vi."

I felt my cheeks flush as I took in the state of him. "Let me get a towel. Just...stay right there. Don't leave."

"I'm not going anywhere." He said lowly and my stomach tangled in knots.

I moved into the bathroom and grabbed a towel, glancing at myself in the mirror. I was a mess. My hair was piled high against my head, still damp from the rain I'd been caught in hours before. My cheeks and eyes were puffy from crying and thinking the worst of everything. I hated that he was seeing me like this, but I knew he'd seen at my worst. This was nothing new.

I stepped out into the living area and found Sam in the exact same spot I left him in, shivering lightly and gnawing on his lip. He looked...worried. I handed him the towel and he took it on a smile, drying off his arms and face before rubbing it quickly through his hair. His shirt was soaked and my eyes traveled to it as he tugged at it and pulled it over his head before laying it over a chair. I reached for a blanket on the couch and handed it to him as he shivered. "Maybe this will help."