"He bought a house," she blurted out as soon as he opened his front door to her.
"Carter?" he asked, more than a little surprised to see her standing on his front stoop in the pouring rain. She hadn't even bothered to change out of the BDU's she had put on when she had arrived on base.
"He bought us a house and wants to paint the kitchen yellow for me and get a dog."
"Pete bought you a house?" he asked, finally catching up to the conversation. She nodded.
"It's beautiful and huge and gorgeous and perfect and it made me feel like I was suffocating, like I was screaming as loud as I could and no one could hear me."
"Come in out of the rain," he said, stepping out of the way and trying to usher her into the house. "I'll find you a towel and something dry to wear."
"And all he can talk about is flowers and cake and catering menus and all I can think is how it doesn't mater and I don't care." Jack sighed and reached out, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her into the house. She jerked her arm away from him and grew silent for a moment. "Tell me not to do it." His eyes got wide when she said that.
"Sam," was all he got out. Long ago, when he had realized that he was starting to care too much for her, he had stopped calling her Sam and stuck with Carter. he had forced himself to separate Sam from Carter as best he could to keep himself from doing anything stupid. And he really wanted to do something stupid right now.
"My dad, he kept asking if I was happy if Pete was what I really wanted and I looked him right in the eye and said that I was and he was what I wanted and he didn't believe me."
"You can't know that."
"I know," she said firmly and Jack could tell by the tone of her voice that her tight grasp on control was starting to slip. "He started telling me not to let rules and regulations keep me from what I really want in life, that life is too short and I had nothing to say to him about that. I lied to my dying father and he saw right through it."
"Dad always was a bright guy, Selmack on made him smarter," Jack said lamely. A teary laugh escaped Sam before she reigned it back in.
"Tell me not to marry Pete Shanahan," she said again.
"I can't be your excuse, Sam," he said firmly.
"What if I resign?" she asked, remember the conversation she'd had with imaginary him ont he Prometheus that one time.
"You love your job," was all he could say to that and she shook her head.
"I love working at the SGC, not the Air Force," she clarified, shaking her head to try and get her wet, dripping hair out of her face. Jack studied her carefully for a moment before he slowly reached out and took hold of her hand, trying to pull her into the house and out of the rain again. She let him take her hand, but she wouldn't budge. She locked eyes with him and he could see the desperation and pleading in them.
"Don't," he finally said, so quiet it was almost lost in the rain. "Don't marry Pete Shanahan," he got out.
"Ok," she said, nodding her head and swallowing hard.
"Don't resign," he told her. He held onto her hand more tightly when she tried to pull away from him. "Flying a desk sucks," was all he said and she understood.
"Ok," she said again.
"Come inside and dry off," he said, tugging a little on her hand. Silently, she allowed him to pull her into the dry warmth of his house and close the door behind them.
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