Ipswich, MA

James gave an exasperated sigh, slipping his hands into her back pockets, "Please?"

Sam smiled and gave a small nod, "alright, I guess I can go get ready." She kissed him again then slipped from his arms and headed towards the bed room. Her stuff was in his room since the place had only two rooms and it would be awkward to get her things from Soda's room. She went to the corner where she had stashed her bag and began to rifle through it for something to wear.

Soda smiled, slipping her shirt off, his body singing happily as her skin pressed to his. There. That's as far as he was going. That's what he told himself anyway as he kissed her.

What the hell, the new contact made the flame a bonfire. The intensity and need nearly hurt, she needed something to quench it so much. She gave a frustrated sigh, removing his shirt as well, her kiss turning desperate.

James watched her go, plans already filling his head for what they'd do.

Sam got dressed, brushing her hair out and tying it at the nape of her neck with a ribbon. She came out, slipping on some white flats to go with her semi-white shirt and jean cut offs that came to her mid-thigh. "This ok?" she bit her lip as she looked at him and gave a small twirl.

Soda gave a small groan, the small flame now a roaring fire beneath his skin as he kissed her. He fought to keep his mind as the fire threatened to take it over, breaking away from the kiss. He didn't want her to be mad at him like before, so he didn't want to go to far.

Hurt flashed across artemis's face, not understanding why he pulled away. Was it her fault? It must be...
"I'm... I'm sorry..."

James grinned, gathering her in his arms and kissing her nose "perfect. you look beautiful"

Sam blushed as she looked up at him and gave a small smile. "How long does it take to get there?" she asked as she watched him.

Soda looked at her, shock flying across his face. "Why are you sorry?" He asked as he brushed the hair from her face.

Artemis bit her lip and pulled away, fumbling to find her shirt "I thought you'd, I mean, I didn't mean to push you, I just thought you'd want to, ....silly me." Tears threatened to fall, her cheeks flooding red.

James shrugged. "Twenty minutes, give or take. You ready?"

"Whenever you are," Sam said with a smile and pulled him towards the door, excitement filling her.

Soda grabbed her, gently pulling her back to him, kissing her gently. "I didn't want to hurt you," he said as his eyes searched her face. "If you want to...then ok. But I didn't want to take anything from you."

Artemis cried softly, staring at him, trying to understand him. "I love you... I'm yours," she whispered.

Soda watched her for a long moment and then kissed her again, rolling so he was over her. He couldn't help feeling a little guilty for doing this, but she seemed to want it. It didn't take long before the room was filled with passion and his mind was lost to her. Hours later he was holding her close, his eyes closed in exauhstion.

Artemis traced his chest, her breathing ragged, body humming happily. "Wow," she murmured, resting her head against his chest.

Sam peered out the car window excitedly as the fair came into view, her eyes widening. It was huge and filled with people.

Soda couldn't help the small smile that came to his lips. "Ya," he said as he pulled her a bit closer. "Wow," peace floated through him. This was how it was suppose to be.

gtg, I'll be back in an hour.

Artemis closed her eyes, trying hard to push back thoughts that were ruling her mind. "I.. I love you."

James chuckled, sparing a glance and watching her "you've really never been?"

"Well," Sam bit her lip and gave a small shake of the head, a slight blush of embaressment filling her cheeks. "I wasn't allowed to leave the house before...and then there really wasn't time to do anything between the court cases and everything else."

"I love you too," Soda said as he held her close. "More than life itself."

Artemis swallowed hard, squeezing her eyes shut, listening to his heart beat.


James frowned, pullung up into a spot and looking at her "wanna talk about it?"

Soda looked down at her, his fingers running up and down her spine slowly. "Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes searching her face.

Sam bit her lip a little bit harder as she looked down at her hands that had fallen into her lap. Tears began to form in her eyes, making her bite harder on her lip, not noticing as it drew blood. "When I was born," she said softly after a long moment. "No one knew I existed except for the doctor, the nurse, and my parents. Not even Jaimie new until I came home with them. Jaimie took care of me, raised me but..." her eyes took on a sort of distant look. She cleared her throat. "But of course my parents still held the authority. I wasn't allowed to ever leave the house. Jaimie only got out because he snuck out, but I was to little to climb through the windows. It felt like we never had food, I was always hungry. They would tell me and Jaimie that they didn't have the money to really feed us, and then they would go out, locking us in the closet." She stared at her hands, her body turning rigid, chewing her lip to pieces as she debated telling him the rest of the story. "When I was eight, Jaimie snuck out around midnight...and a guy came over that was friends with my parents," her voice had turned soft by now, catching on invisible tears. "I lost my virginity that night...and when Jaimie came home and found me...he was angry. He promised it would never happen again and he never left after that. I tried to sneak out that same year...i couldn't take it anymore....they caught me and locked me in the small cellar." Tears started to fall now, big fat ones, though they were gradual, not nearly the flow of tears she usually cried. But honestly, in the last few weeks, she had pretty much cried her eyes dry. "For three days I couldn't see anything, but would wake up with spiders in my hair or on my face or I would feel them climbing over me and there wasn't a way to escape it. Jaimie finally got me out and he hid me in his room. So I never left that room until I was twelve. My parents found me in there and Jaimie had somehow got a gun and he had put me in the closet. I heard the shots and then a few hours later there were sirens." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep from crying anymore than she already had. "When they found us, I barely weighed 60 pounds and he weighed maybe a hundred and thirty...he had just turned 18..." She swallowed hard and looked over at James. "There were tons of trials and everything that lasted for about four, maybe five years. He's dead now...he died in prison when some guy smashed his head into the wall." She took a deep breath and tried to smile, trying to lift the mood some. "But ya, that's why I've never been to this," she gestured out the window to the fair that seemed so far away now, lost in its own state of happiness. And here she was, trapped in the memories and nightmares of yester-year.

James went through an array of emotions, all of which flashed from horror to outrage to complete and anger. He slipped his hand in hers, squeezing it gently "You amaze me, do you know that?"

Artemis worried her lip, turning her head away. "ya" she lied, "perfect." she tucked her head into his shoulder so he couldn't see her

Sam blinked and looked at him confused. "I do?" she asked, her tears forgotten, the bad memories shoved back into the vault she had locked them in. There was a time for those sort of things, but this wasn't the time. Now was the time for James.

Soda shifted, propping himself up on his elbows to look at her. "No, something's wrong," he said as he watched her. "What's wrong?"

James nodded,"you do, I mean really, you do." he brought her lips to his, brushing up against them. "you are so strong, I am lucky to have you by my side."

Artemis looked away, staring at the wall. "how... how many others were there?" she whispered, dreading the answer.

"Others?" Soda looked down at her, his brow furrowing in confusion. "You mean that I've done this with?" He sank back down next to her and thought for a moment. He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, "none actually...I'm new at this."

Sam blushed a little as she kissed him back, a strange warmth filling her. "You're mental," she managed to say around a kiss, then pulled away and slipped out of the car and waited for him to get out.

Shock flew across Artemis's face, followed by joy. "really?" she moved on, closing the distance they had put between eachother.

James chuckled "I know." he slipped in besides her, pulling her along and paying for the ticket, entering the gates

Sam's eyes grew wide as she looked around the fair. There was so much to do, so much to see. She turned her head to the side slightly as she saw spinning strawberries and gaint swings and people dropping from huge heights. She blinked a few times in confusion, trying to figure out how they worked and why people would want to do some of that stuff. She waited until he was done paying for tickets, then dragged him off towards the spinning strawberries, her intrest in them growing.

Soda looked at her and gave a small nod. "Really," he said, putting his arm back around her. "This is my first time," his eyes searched hers.

James smiled as he watched her, enjoying her reaction " want to go on?"

Artemis rested her head on his chest "me too." as the pleasure dwindled, a slight throb found it's way into her lower half, empaizing her point.

Soda gave a small smile, kissing the top of her head. "You know I love you, right?" he said as he resumed trailing his fingers up and down her spine.

Sam looked at him, then at the ride and bit her lip as she debated. "No," she said slowly as she watched the people get on, the ride start, and heard their screams. "I'm not stupid," she concluded. She then started to drag him around the fair, going from booth to booth, ride to ride, just to watch with the curiosity of a child. When they hit the ferris wheel she stared up at it and watched it go round and round. "Can we go on this one?" she asked after a moment, her voice in a sort of awe.

Artemis shIvered under his touch. "yes, very much so. How are you feeling?" she asked, meaning his left side.

James nodded, pulling her gently along and slipping the conductor a twenty, asking him to stop them at the top. He sat down and patte the seat next to him "coome on" he encouraged