The room drowned in pepperoni and mushroom aroma, forcing Sam's stomach to growl. Thankfully the chatter between the group was loud enough so that no one heard it. Ray led the way to the U-form couch and seated them on the left side near Andrew. Logan and Rory occupied the middle of the sofa, and Molly, Courtney, Chloe, and James sat on the right side, in front of Sam.

"I have a controller," Logan said, lifting the item in question high in the air. "So I will be picking the movie."

"No!" the rest of the group yelled in unison.

The blue TV light seemed barely visible as chandeliers brightly lit the room, the group already devoured the food, leaving half-empty cardboard boxes on a glass table. Thankfully there was enough pica left, Sam grabbed a plate, tossing a piece of pepperoni pica inside as the rest of the group debated on the movie. Ray followed Sam's example stuffing his face with cheese pica, ignoring Logan's pleas for his movie choice.

Movie choices seemed vast, white guys wanted to watch "Baywatch", and girls leaned more toward "Before I Fall" Sam wasn't a fan of either of them.

"What if we watch "Happy Death Day"? she asked, making sure to swallow all the food.

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Logan asked.

"It's better than to watch a sad movie in which a girl dies with emotional turmoil," Sam explained. She got why all of them looked at her that way, with pity and fear, maybe it was too soon after a real-life shooting to watch a Horror movie, but for Sam, it made no difference.

Horror always felt less emotional even with characters dying she was prepared for death unlike in real life where you don't really know who was "the final girl". She rested her case on the movie and with a small nod from Ray the movie credits roll. Andrew dimmed the lights so the room gave more of a movie theater experience. As the group settled on the "who was the killer" discussion, Sam leaned back to the couch, sipping cola with white rum.

Ray's hand rested on her waist, and even though it was not too comfortable on Sam's spine it brought comfort and reassurance. He was watching her, she knew it but ignored his gaze on her. She tried to focus on the movie and soon the slurping sound appeared, thankfully no one noticed. The leftover ice chimed in the glass as Sam stood up getting herself another cocktail. The rest of the girls continued with champagne and the guys mainly sipped whiskey.

The shoulder pain reappeared in mid-movie, she took a Vicodin pill just before dressing so it had been a few hours, the doctor said to take them by requirement and Sam gladly obliged to his rules. The pain varied though and the more she put physical strain on her body the more pills she needed.

"I will be right back," she whispered to Ray, tapping his knee lightly. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I need meds." He nodded, letting go of her waist.

She swiftly left the living room, climbing upstairs, to Sam's surprise Molly followed her into the bedroom. The coconut smell still lingered in the room, and it felt like a much more pleasant environment than the living room. Sam plopped on the bed, burying her face in a fuzzy cream blanket.

"Are you okay?" Molly asked, sitting near Samantha.

The bed swayed from Molly's weight and Sam groaned, flipping on her back. She put her healthy forearm on her eyes as the light seemed too bright.

"How can you just sit with them and make small talk?" Sam asked, suddenly sitting up and staring at her best friend.

"What am I supposed to do?" Molly asked, not waiting for Sam's answer. "You stood there frozen, Ray as well, I don't think I had much of a choice, besides they are kinda nice."

"Sure, nice," Sam said in a mocking tone, moving from the bed toward a nightstand. "They nicely said how fat I am, and also how my style sucks," She took out the bottle with pills. "And of course, we can't forget how ugly I am."

"You know she is just jealous because you have Ray, and she can't even get Andrew to flirt back," Molly laughed. "Didn't you just take a pill a few hours ago?"

"My shoulder hurts again," Sam swallowed the pill. "Maybe she is jealous, but it doesn't change the fact that she is very pretty, and basically mocked me, and you just laughing with her."

"First, I had no idea what she said about you," Molly replied standing up from the bed. "And secondly my choices were to talk to them or talk to Rory, who by the way is dating Ray's brother, what's up with that? And why you didn't tell me he is coming?"

"Fair point," Sam said. "I had no idea they dating, and Logan thought we were like friends I guess, honestly Rory slipped my mind at this point."

"Yes," Molly slowly nodded. "Because everything and always is about you Sam, your feelings, your problems, and whatever the drama of the week you have! I need a drink." Molly swiftly left the bedroom.

Sam plopped on the bed, staring at the top. She never noticed the patterns on the ceiling, it felt like they moved in a steady rhythm, and looked like waves in the sea just before they hit the shore. Maybe Molly was right, but Sam knew that her best friend was one of those "happy" people. She barely had any problems and never lost a loved one, it's not like Samnahta invited the drama or sought it but somehow it eventually kept following her.

The music from downstairs seemed barely audible but Sam realized she missed the end of the movie. The chatter meant the group was socializing but Sam needed a moment, she turned on her stomach, crawling toward the nightstand. The shoulder pain decreased but the self-pity came back, she grabbed her phone opening messages.

"Hey," she typed, looking at the screen with one eye closed.

"Hey," he replied, way faster than she thought he would.

"How are you?" Tom asked as Sam typed her next message.

"Do you think Sara saw me as a threat? Like I would possibly take you away from her at any moment?"

A moment passed and he didn't reply instead a video call request popped up on her screen. Sam sighed, rolling on her back, lifting her phone in front of her face, and swiping the answer button.

"I'm pretty sure she did," he replied in a groggy voice. "You did take me away from her, I always thought she knew that. But what brings this question now?"

"I didn't really take away you from her," Sam rolled her eyes.

"Yes you did," he argued, shifting on his side. It was clear he was in bed, his hair seemed messy, and the only light in the room appeared to be the phone screen. "I left her, hoping to be with you."

Sam lowered the phone. "Can you see the blanket?" She clumsily flipped on her stomach, pressing her face to the blanket. "It's so soft," She looked at the camera again.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know, we having a party," she said.

"Clearly you having so much fun,"

"Ray's ex is here, and she is like pretty, model-level pretty, I can't compete with that,"

"And you figured the best way to deal with that was to get wasted and message me at three am in the morning?"

"I'm not wasted-"

"You look wasted," he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"That is not helping, I had two maybe three drinks, but the point is, that I never knew how Sara felt around me, but I think Courtney knows, she knows she is superior to me."

"She can only be superior to you if you let her, if you let that thought to your head, I thought you were solid, in love and all that."

"We are, I think."

"Sam?" She hummed to his question, raising her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I am," she said, shrugging her shoulder. "I'm just lost, Tom. You were lost. Do you have any advice on it?"

"What do you mean I was lost?"

"After we lost Abby, I got into university and we just fought a lot, you looked lost and then a few months after you were fine, so you must have a secret formula."

"I wasn't fine," he said, sitting down. "I lost everything that year and I never recovered from it. You left and started a whole new life without me."

"I see," she said nodding, trying to digest what he said. She did leave, but he never fought for her to stay nor he offered to go with her. Sam blindly stared at the phone screen. "You never wanted to come with me."

"You never asked, is there a point to this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You messaging me in the middle of the night."

"Just wanted to talk..."

"You can't do this anymore, Sam. You told me to let you go, and I am trying really hard to do that, but if you keep popping up I can't move on. You can't come to me with the boyfriend problems because it just gives me false hope."

The screen remained lit but Tom's face disappeared, Sam groaned, tossing her phone on the bed. He really seemed fine and happy that first time she saw him after she left for LA, but maybe he was better at hiding his darkness than she was. Samantha stared at the wall, slowly blinking until the view blurred and she finally closed her eyes.