Sam poured a glass of wine from the box on the kitchen counter, forcing the last dregs into the glass before placing the box back on the counter as it had been before.
Her heart ached a little as she carried the glass to her bedroom and got into bed with her book.
Pete had always insisted on buying boxes of wine rather than bottles, something about it being better value.
Sam had argued that it only worked out cheaper because the wine wasn't as good as the stuff that came in bottles.
Pete had never had a reply, but had grinned at her every time as if she'd just conceded to his point.
Sam opened the book and started reading, although she took nothing in, reading the same paragraph three times before closing the book and giving into her thoughts.
Pete had loved her, she knew that, and she'd loved him too, really loved him actually.
He probably didn't realize that now and it hurt her to think that he thought she didn't care.
She supposed it was the house that had done it; the whole wedding thing hadn't seemed real until then.
But then the house, and the dog, had brought back all the memories of what Fifth had tried to trick her with when she was on his ship.
It had made her recall how much she'd fought the idea, even in the occasional brief moment that she'd almost believed it.
Eating pancakes at the kitchen table, keeping horses in the yard, granted maybe a whole farm was a bit much but Sam did want some of that one day.
Why not today? Why not now when someone was offering it to her?
That's what she didn't understand. She loved Pete, really loved him, but she had fought against actually being with him.
Part of her wanted to believe she'd broken it off because her Dad had been so sure Pete was wrong for her, but that wasn't fair. Sam's mind had been made up long before that.
It had been so great to have a fiancé, to imagine actually having a husband.
Sam supposed her problem was with imagining ever being someone's wife, much as she tried to ignore it the whole idea convinced her that she'd lose everything that made her who she was.
Taking another sip of her wine Sam realized the glass was empty and remembered that the box in the kitchen was also empty.
Which meant that was it, the end of Pete in her life; the last thing he'd left behind was gone.
A tear slipped from Sam's eye and she blamed it on the wine. Her fear of losing everything like she had in Fifth twisted fantasy world had made her push away a man who loved her more than anything else.
She'd traded pancakes at the kitchen table and that look of absolute adoration that was always in Pete's eyes when he looked at her, for tears over a glass of wine whilst she sat in bed alone.
What was it in her that always made her go after impossible relationships?
She thought she'd broken away from dysfunction when she broke up with Jonas "I'm a god" Hanson, but instead she'd traded one kind for another.
Every guy she'd cared about since then was so far out of reach that they may as well have been on another planet.most of them had been.
Then she'd found Pete.
Mark had been thrilled. Sam guessed that he felt he'd finally have some part of her life he could share in after they'd been so far apart for so long.
Her loving older brother, her first dysfunctional relationship with a man.
She didn't blame Mark or anything; she couldn't blame her Dad either, after all he'd had a perfectly healthy marriage for as long as her Mom was alive.
Sam went to put her glass in the dishwasher and decided to leave the empty box of wine where it was. After all, she may not have been ready for it with Pete, but that was what she really wanted in the end.
When Sam woke up the next morning it was to knock on her bedroom door.
Opening her eyes she saw Jack push the door open half way.
"Wakey wakey," he grinned. "Daniel and Teal'c are making pancakes."
As Jack left, leaving Sam to get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast, she couldn't help but grin as well.
It seemed that maybe she had it all. Tears over a glass of wine in an empty bed, and a set of adoring eyes looking at her and pancakes at the kitchen table for breakfast.
It may not have been perfect, or exactly as she'd have liked it, but then how many things in life really were?
What she couldn't deny was that overall it wasn't so bad.
"Do you want me to bin this empty wine box?" Daniel called from the kitchen as Sam reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Sure, go for it," Sam decided. After all, empty mementoes of lost loves were one thing she didn't need more of.
"You drink wine that comes in a box?" Jack raised an eyebrow as if he'd never heard of anything quite so absurd.
"It's better value," Sam replied.
"You realize it only works out cheaper because the wine isn't as good a quality as the stuff that comes in bottles right?" Jack informed her, his eyebrows still not having quite settled to normal.
Sam didn't reply, just grinning at him, because there was nothing to say.
Jack watched her for a moment, a smile touching his own lips before he turned away to help Daniel and Teal'c with the pancakes.
Sam sat down and leant back in her chair, watching as her three favorite guys made her breakfast.
Things definitely weren't so bad.
In fact, things were pretty damn good.
The End
Story Notes: Email- sameri86uk@btinternet.com
Spoilers- Threads, New Order
Status- Finished
Archive- SJD, Jackfic, Event Horizon yes. If you want it just let me know.
Feedback- Yes Please.
Author's note- I'd just watched New Order and decided to have a glass of wine. At this point it was 2am, this is the result. So much for 6 hours sleep. I was actually gone stop about a page earlier and have a misery fic.I guess my muse got to the wine though, cause she had other ideas.
Dedication- For my muse, as she's often overlooked and frequently the subject of assassination plots, and yet she never gives up on me.
Copyright- Samantha Fox 03/05
Spoilers- Threads, New Order
Status- Finished
Archive- SJD, Jackfic, Event Horizon yes. If you want it just let me know.
Feedback- Yes Please.
Author's note- I'd just watched New Order and decided to have a glass of wine. At this point it was 2am, this is the result. So much for 6 hours sleep. I was actually gone stop about a page earlier and have a misery fic.I guess my muse got to the wine though, cause she had other ideas.
Dedication- For my muse, as she's often overlooked and frequently the subject of assassination plots, and yet she never gives up on me.
Copyright- Samantha Fox 03/05
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]