THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT ON HS. IT'S INSANE!

Just a friendly reminder: I've entered HS into the Wattys2016, so I would really, really, REALLY appreciate any support, whether it be voting or commenting!

- - - - -

Tap. Tap, tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap, tap.

One of Sam's green eyes shot open in irritation.

Who the hell is making those tapping sounds? she asked herself.

She closed her eye again after she scanned her room and found no source of the sound.

Tap. tap, tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap, tap.

The beat was constant, getting more persistent the longer she took to wake up.

Tap. tap, tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap, tap.

Sam groaned and sat straight up, reached for her glasses, and got out of bed.

She followed the sound to her window, and pushed the curtains aside.

"Are you guys insane?" she exclaimed when she saw Lucas at her window, sitting on Reece's shoulders.

She pulled her window open, and looked down to see the rest of her friends either holding them up, or grinning up at her.

"Why'd you wake me up so early?" she groaned, lifting her glasses and rubbing her eyes.

"Consider it pay back," Sameer said, referring to when she woke them up at camp.

Lucas shot her a lazy smile.

"It's actually the afternoon, Sam."

"WHAT?" she said, more as a statement than a question.

Lucas chuckled. "Yeah."

Sam shook her head. "You better come inside -- all of you -- before one of you gets hurt."

Lucas nodded quickly. "You're right. I can feel Reece's shoulders shaking. And his legs. And -- oh, God, Reece! Get down, get down, get down! I'm gonna fall!"

Sam laughed as she watched them tumble over each other.

"Not funny, woman!" Reece yelled at her from down below.

"It really is," she replied.

She moved away from her window and ran downstairs to open the door for them.

They pushed past her as they came into the house, and she would have got knocked over if Lucas didn't catch her in time.

Sam laughed. "Thanks."

He nodded, smiling.

"I hate to break it to you, but the only reason we're here is to mend our wrongs and keep you happy until your parents come back."

Sam sighed. "I kinda figured that out. But at least that's one -- two -- things off the list, right?"

He nodded. "Right."

Sam smiled and then walked into the lounge. Everyone sprawled themselves on the floor, couch, or leaning against the couch or table.

"If only you knew how comical you all look right now," she said to them, taking a seat next to Steph.

They laughed.

Steph pulled Sam up before anything else could happen, and Jay-Jay followed them up the stairs and back into Sam's room.

Steph immediately pulled Sam into a hug, squeezing her tightly.

"I'm so sorry," she said, choking over her words.

Sam pulled away from her embrace and shook her head.

"No. It's me who should me apologising. I was wrong from the beginning," she held up a hand to stop them both from speaking.

"I was driven by anger and pain, as much as I told myself I wasn't. I acted foolishly, without thinking, and knowingly put you all in danger. I don't know what I was thinking," Sam whispered the last part, tears pooling in her eyes again.

Steph pulled her into a hug again, and Jay-Jay joined in, hugging them both.

They cried together for a while. They sat and talked it out. They helped Sam with her words, her situation. And, eventually, the three of them went back downstairs so that Sam could talk to the rest.

Sam first pulled George up, wanting to talk to her alone.

George didn't struggle and willingly went with her.

The moment they entered Sam's room, she said, "This doesn't mean I'm suddenly one for hugs now, hey."

They laughed and, nevertheless, still hugged.

"I'm so sorry, George. I don't know what I was thinking. Why I spoke back. I didn't even mean what I said. I -- I --"

"It's okay. I understand," George cut her off.

She sat down on the floor, cross-legged. Sam copied her action and they sat in silence for a bit.

Sighing, she said, "I was scared."

"What?"

"I didn't wanna go in because I was scared."

Sam did a double take.

She was scared? George was barely ever afraid of anything.

She tiredly rubbed a hand down her face.

"Lucas and Reece already made up, so besides them, I turned everyone against everyone --"

"No," Sam said firmly. "That was my fault. You didn't do anything wrong. You took everyone out of danger's way, and I couldn't be more grateful."

George didn't argue.

They sorted out their differences with little talk, and that's exactly what Sam had hoped for.

She just decided to speak to them one by one; she had something to say to everyone personally.

She even told them every little detail she left out before. She told them about what happened when she, Lucas and Carter went in, and everything after that, too.

In the end, all that mattered was that their friendship was still intact. And it was.

"Soooooo . . . ," Steph said slowly, handing the last glass to Sam and putting the dishcloth down.

Sam sighed, knowing what she was going to say. She packed the last dishes away and dried her hands, turning to face Steph.

"Yeah. They haven't spoken to me yet. Tonight they will, though."

Steph blew out a breath.

"It wasn't your fault, you know."

"Oh, but it was. Nothing you say will change the fact."

Reece and George walked into the kitchen just then, hand in hand, laughing over something.

"Wait."

Steph, George and Reece looked at Sam, waiting for her to continue.

"When did this happen?" she exclaimed, gesturing to their intertwined hands.

"Oh . . . that," Reece laughed.

"Not too long, I promise. Just a little while now."

Sam stood, shocked.

Steph laughed. "That was our reactions, too."

Sam didn't comment on it. She had a feeling this would happen.

- - -

"Sam?" Anne called as she closed the front door, Ian in tow.

"In the lounge," Sam called back.

She gulped nervously. This was it. Anne and Ian were going to give her hell for her foolish actions.

They took a seat on the couch opposite of Sam, sitting tensely, watching Sam carefully.

Sam coughed and looked away, unable to meet their gazes.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sam could see them mouthing to each other. Then after a bit, Anne sighed.

"Sam," Anne started softly.

Sam turned her head to look at them. She sunk lower into the couch.

Ian glared at Anne when she said no more than that.

"Do you wanna say anything first before we start?" Anne rushed out.

Ian rolled his eyes.

It was clear that this was getting no where, so she took it into her own hands.

"Look, I'll just explain everything from the beginning. Will that work?"

They let out a breath of relief, and she took that as her cue to continue.

As she narrated everything from the beginning, she watched their reactions carefully, hoping to catch a glimpse of what they were thinking.

Their facial expressions changed from time to time, but, thankfully, they never interrupted her.

Sam concluded with the talk Chief Cross gave her once the night was over, where he reprimanded her for her actions and everything else necessary.

"I feel terrible for what I did. Now that I look back on it, I can see that my actions were completely foolish and done out of anger. Pain. I'm so sorry," Sam choked out.

"I'm so stupid."

They didn't try to comfort her, and for that, Sam was grateful.

She was wrong, and nothing she tried to tell herself -- or anyone else, for that matter -- would change that fact.

"Have you apologised to your friends? And their parents, most of all?" Anne asks.

Sam nodded. "They were all here earlier. I left them here after I apologised, and went to each of their houses."

"And Chief? You told us he wanted to see you again today."

"I went to see Chief then also."

"And?"

Sam sighed. "He just wanted to clarify a few things with the case. He did all his talking yesterday."

"Good."

"Well . . . ?"

Ian sighed."We're grounding you, Sam. That's all we can do."

Sam nodded. She was expecting worse than just getting grounded.

"And we're taking your camera, too," Anne added.

Sam shut her eyes. She deserved it.

She pulled the strap from around her neck and up over her head, holding it out to Anne.

Anne took it slowly, hesitantly.

They sat in a tense silence for a while, not moving.

Anne huffed and got up. "I can't do this."

Sam watched her leave the lounge and go upstairs.

Ian didn't say anything either, and just like Anne, he got up and left.

Sam sighed and fell back on the couch.

What have I done?

- - -

"So that's it? They just took your camera and grounded you?" Steph asked incredulously.

Sam nodded, then remembered Steph couldn't see her. "Yeah."

She could picture Steph shaking her head.

Her voice sounded squeaky over the phone, and that made Sam want to laugh. But she wouldn't dare do that.

"Well . . . ," Steph said. "Well."

Sam laughed. "If you have nothing to say, don't say anything."

"Whatever. So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'm grounded, Steph. You forgot already?"

"Oh. Right. Then I'll talk to you tomorrow. If I survive handling Jay-Jay by myself, that is."

"So dramatic."

She could picture Steph rolling her eyes at that.

"Bye, Sam."

"Bye."

Sam hung up and went up to her room.

She flopped down onto her bed, hoping to rest. Unfortunately, the universe had other ideas for her.

"Sam!"

"Megs."

"No need to be so loud," Jeff muttered as he followed Megs into the room.

Both girls rolled their eyes.

"Where did you guys go?"

"The pools."

"And did you fall asleep there, too?" Sam joked.

Jeff laughed. "They built these hotel things just next to it. We spent the night there."

Sam didn't comment.

"Speaking of . . . Megs, didn't you say you're leaving soon?"

"Oh, yeah. Bye, Sam, Jeff!" She sprinted out of the room.

Jeff sat down on the bed.

"She has more of a social life than I do."

"She does," Sam agreed.

"I'm leaving today," Jeff said.

"I know."

"Nic says hi."

There was an awkward pause.

"Are you going to be back to normal any time soon?"

"Normal?"

"This isn't you. One worded answers. Being so quiet. Shut off."

"Oh."

"Well?"

"No. Probably not."

Jeff sighed. "Do I even want to approach the topic?"

"No."

"Okay, I guess. I'm all packed up, so I'm leaving. Call me when you're ready to talk."

He planted a kiss on her forehead, then got up and left the room.

Sam sighed and rolled over.

So this is what regret feels like, Sam thought. It's the worst feeling one can ever have.

- - - - -

Hi, everyone! How are you?

I'm sorry, this chapter isn't so long and it sucks. I just can't find it in me to write this part . . .

Don't forget to vote comment and share the story! It'll make me unexplainably happy :)

Follow me on social media:
Instagram: crocodiletears__
Twitter: crocodileears__
                 (I typed it
                 incorrectly and
                 can't fix now :/)

Peace,

Croc