"It looks like Alex has had a lot of fun with Ellie in the few minutes they've been on the phone," Sam said with a smile after they'd said goodbye to the others in the hallway and he'd closed the door behind them. He followed Penny into the bathroom, who was already brushing her teeth, and he did the same, since further conversation like that wasn't possible for the next three minutes anyway.

"I think it's mutual. Ellie wrote to me that I had something to tell her about one of our new friends. I should call her tomorrow after breakfast," she said when she was finished and went back into the room. He took some time so that she could change in peace. Although they were now together, they had not yet become close enough to feel uncomfortable if she saw him unclothed, so he should accept her privacy as well, no matter how much he wanted to be able to admire her complete beauty. He was and remained just a man.

He heard Penny close the closet door and carefully peeked around the door. Penny was sitting on the bed and was wearing shorts and a shirt, which she slept in every night - unless she was hypothermic and had to be stripped down to her underwear by him.

"So something like love at first click is brewing?" He quickly changed his shirt in the closet door and took off his pants before pulling a pair of boxers over his pants and was surprised to see Penny watching him when he turned around. He looked at her questioningly and she just raised an eyebrow with a smile. Well, at least he knew since Sunday morning that she obviously liked the view, so he let her and hoped that he would get to enjoy her's too some day.

"It seems so. But it's still better than letting your own fears slow you down." Sam knew she was talking about them, stepped towards her and pulled her to her feet, only to sit on the bed himself and then pull her onto his lap.

"We were interrupted at the bar, so I couldn't tell you what else was on my mind."

"Is this one of those conversations where you tell me it was just a slip-up?"

"What?" he asked in shock and Penny raised a skeptical eyebrow. "It wasn't...at least I hope it wasn't...so from me it definitely wasn't...I..." Penny put a finger on his lips with a smile.

"You shouldn't have had that third beer, Sam," she replied with a smile.

"That's right, I shouldn't have done that," he replied embarrassedly. "May I... I mean, would you mind if I kiss you again... well, if we both..." She completely had him off brought the concept with her comment about the slip and his nervousness suddenly came back.

"Absolutely not, Sam. I would be very happy with that," she replied, smiling and watching with joy as his eyes sparkled before they lost themselves in a long and tender kiss.

"You have no idea how much I love you," he then sighed, smiling contentedly between two kisses on her lips and Penny kissed him again with devotion, so much did his confession send her into a frenzy of pure joy and sheer happiness, just like him, during which Sam slid her back onto her pillow and followed her without their lips ever parting.

"I love you too, Sam!" she replied occasionally and felt a brief smile on her lips before he took possession of them again.

It was so indescribable and beautiful that neither of them wanted to miss it. They wished so much that they could just hold and kiss each other forever, making up for all the lost time they had wasted thanks to unfounded fears. But not everything was always so easy in life and their bodies began to take their toll as it got later and later.

"You must be tired, Sam," Penny murmured as she felt his kisses getting softer and, unfortunately, she felt no different.

"A little. It's been a long day, but I'm more than happy that I went with you instead of staying here."

"I am, too. Very much so," she replied with a smile and kissed him again on the lips before grabbing the blanket at the foot and pulling it over them both, then snuggling into Sam's strong arms that were already on her.

"Sleep well, Tiger," she sighed contentedly and felt him give her another kiss on the forehead.

"You too, my kitten." It only took him a moment before he fell asleep and Penny followed him into dreamland a little later - both of them with happy smiles on their faces.

When Penny opened her eyes the next morning, she found herself snuggled with her back against Sam. She felt his breath on her neck and his right arm wrapped around her, as if he wanted to protect her even in their sleep and make sure that he couldn't lose her.

She couldn't help the smile that lit up her face. She was happy like never before - but how could it be otherwise when all of a sudden all her dreams had come true?

She felt Sam awaken when he stirred a little and a moment later began to stroke his fingers over her arm where his hand was resting. It sent shivers down her spine, but in a pleasant way.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," he murmured into her hair and she turned to him in his arms, but saw that his eyes were still closed.

"Shall we get up?"

"No, I don't even want to open my eyes?"

"Why not?"

"Because I couldn't bear it if I open it and found myself alone in bed because it was all just a dream."

"Sam? Open your eyes!" she asked him with a smile and when he did, a smile appeared on his face before she kissed him gently. "It's not a dream, Sam."

"Yes it is. One that has come true," he replied and kissed her gently again. "I love you." He would never get tired of telling her those words. He have had to hold it back for too long.

"I love you too. More than you can imagine," she murmured now contentedly as she cuddled up to him again.

"At least I'm a good reason to stay in bed," he replied with a grin as he looked at the clock and realized that Penny had overslept her morning routine - again.

"You really are."

"So we have to be careful that you don't eat too much cheese."

"Oh, Sam! You really can be so romantic," she murmured sullenly. "I'm definitely not going to stop jogging either. I just want to enjoy this with you. I've been hoping for this for so long."

"Just like me, my angel."

"Angel? Why angel now?"

"You've always been that to me because you're just as good-natured, patient and beautiful."

"Are you just trying to improve your romance score?"

"Did it work?" he replied with a grin and received a gentle punch in the stomach.

A cell phone beeped and he reluctantly reached around on the nightstand where they had both left their phones yesterday and grabbed it. Penny took hers from him with a smile and read her message, while Sam apparently had one too.

"Tom asks if we're awake...in his own way," he objected and Penny smiled briefly before reading her message. Ellie. She wrote to her every morning and asked if there was anything interesting to tell that morning. She constantly hoped that they would forget each other in the evening, alone in the hotel room.

"Ellie is curious again. How should we deal with this? I mean with the others? Should we tell them?"

"Let's do this when we get home. I'd rather enjoy the time with you here and not be constantly annoyed by congratulatory calls."

"Congratulatory calls? We're just together. It's not like we were in Vegas and got married secretly," Penny replied with a smile and Sam wrapped her in both arms as he turned to look her in the eyes to be able to.

"Don't say just. It's so much more than I dared hope for just a few hours ago. It still seems completely unbelievable to me that you love me and we're together. If it's a dream, I never want to wake up again." He kissed her gently, just enjoying being so close to her.

"If you would just listen to yourself, you would understand one of the many reasons why I love you," she murmured against his lips and felt him smile.

"I love you too," he replied between two kisses. "And Vegas isn't such a bad idea. Maybe it's that easy here too?!" he then said with a grin and Penny backed away a few centimeters. to be able to look him skeptically in the eyes.

"Now you're in a hurry," she replied seriously and he laughed quietly.

"It was just fun. We'll take it slow. First of all, I want to enjoy every minute with you," he kissed her so gently that her legs went weak. "But you'll never get rid of me, so you should think about it", he then replied with a grin.

"Good. I would never let you go either," she objected with a smile and kissed him so tenderly that it clouded his senses. He was instantly captivated and pulled her a little closer to him as she deepened the kiss.

It was so wonderful to be able to hold her in his arms and just kiss her. He had never wanted anything else, nothing else he would ever want. Her hand went to the back of his neck and her fingertips slid gently into his hair. The tingling sensation that ran through him electrified him and he let out a quiet moan that he couldn't hold back. He felt Penny's smile on his lips and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that she accepted it so easily that she didn't leave him cold at all. A simple touch like that made him weak like a little child under her hands, but he wouldn't complain about it, it all just felt wonderful as he ran his own hands over her sides and, after he untied them, too into her silky soft hair. It was better than he ever had dreamed of. So much better.

"Should we leave you alone?"

They jumped up and found themselves face to face with Tom, Alex and Franziska, who were standing in the doorway and watching them with a grin.

"You shouldn't even be here. How did you get in here?!" Sam replied, shocked.

"One of you left your key in our room yesterday. We thought we'd bring it to you again," said Tom and threw it to Sam, who caught it in the air.

"So kind of you," Penny murmured and looked at the three annoyed. Despite the disruption, he couldn't help but smile at her obvious displeasure about it.

"Then did you want to get ready so we can go and have breakfast? I'm starving," Tom asked her impatiently.

"You could go without us and we'll come after you," Sam suggested as he stood up and pulled back the blanket.

"Absolutely not. If we leave you here, you might forget breakfast and knock us over at the awards ceremony later."

"We're not going to keel over just because we missed a meal." Penny gathered some clothes and went to the bathroom.

"Where do you want to go now?" Tom asked her admonishingly and Penny looked at him skeptically.

"Have a shower."

"Oh, really? You just did that yesterday!" groaned Tom, annoyed. "What are you doing all the time that you have to shower every day?!"

"Tom!" Penny and Franziska admonished him at the same time and Penny decided to punish him with ignorance.

"Then at least take Sam with you so it goes faster!" he called after her and was answered by the door slamming shut, while Sam just shook his head but couldn't help but smile. Sometimes it was almost as crazy here as it was at home.

To be continued...