Silver Lake

Sam was awoken by the sound of the front door closing firmly, she scrambled out of bed as she heard the truck’s engine rumble to life, moments later she heard the wail of sirens as it tore onto the road. The woman stepped out into the living room to find it in disarray, the blanket had been tossed off the pull out bed and the couch was slightly out of place. Turner, as well as his clothes, were missing. His gunbelt and radio were also among the things that had disappeared, Sam was still a bit surprised by his sudden departure. Resting on the dining room table was a hastily scribbled note that read ‘Emergency call. Back when I can. Breakfast in the kitchen.’.

The woman sighed briefly and put the note back down before walking into the kitchen, resting on the counter was a plate which had been covered with tinfoil. Sam removed the covering and found herself staring at a pair of eggs, sunny side up, and a couple pieces of bacon which had been arranged to look like a smiley face. The woman smiled right back, quietly she looked out the window over the sink at the town of Silver Lake. Dawn had barely broken, and Sam had to admit it was something she wasn’t expecting. Sunrise here was beautiful, the reds and pinks in the clouds was truly breathtaking. They painted the distant mountains in a beautiful palette of colors.

Sam took the plate to the table and sat down, eating her breakfast quickly while she tried to think what emergency would have prompted Turner’s sudden departure. Once she’d finished her meal she put the plate in the sink and went about her usual morning routine. After around an hour she was dressed, the dish was cleaned and put away, and the pull out bed had been folded up and stored back in the couch. The woman adjusted her hair one final time before she walked out the front door. The sun was far brighter here as she was looking right at it, Sam quickly turned her eyes to the side and began walking down the steps.

As she walked away from the apartment complex she found herself near mainstreet, there were ponies going about their normal days, paying almost no attention to her. She’d snuck her way to Turner’s house the first time, unsure of how the Ponies would react to her, but as Turner had said they were just treating her like a normal person. A large smile formed on her face at the prospect, in Canterlot she had to sneak around a lot to avoid ponies. Seeing as Turner was off at work, Sam decided to go and explore the town a bit. Part of her was concerned about Turner, but in a town like Silver Lake what could possibly go wrong?

Walking down mainstreet gave her the opportunity to see what life was like in Silver Lake, the majority of ponies going about their business looked like farmers or ranchers. There were more than a few ponies that also looked like they were just visiting, judging by how out of place they looked compared to the locals. There was a General Store that mostly seemed to sell seed and feed for various farm animals, a market place where farmers could sell their crops, an inn, an apothecary, and a restaurant that seemed to double as a bar. The rest of the businesses in the area had been boarded up long ago.

“Mornin’, Ma’am.” A stallion said as he walked past Sam, tipping his hat slightly while walking towards the marketplace. Sam replied with a quick ‘Morning.’ as she watched him and several others approach the first couple of stalls. While Sam was interested in seeing what the marketplace had to offer, she wanted to do a bit more exploring. The woman continued walking along the road, passing by the mostly boarded up buildings. After ten minutes she happened upon the Sheriff’s Office, Turner’s truck wasn’t parked outside, and it looked like there had been a carriage there as well which was also missing.

Sam walked up the steps to the office and entered cautiously, the office was almost completely empty. There was, however, an older looking blue unicorn stallion sitting at a desk off in the corner in front of a radio set. He seemed to be looking at it intently, a pair of headphones placed over his ears so he could hear whatever it was that was going on.

“Be with you in a minute.” The stallion said, not looking away from the radio. He wrote down a couple notes on what he was hearing before removing the headphones and turning towards Sam. “What can I do for… Oh.” He trailed off as he realized that Sam was a human. “I take it you’re hear about Deputy Turner?”

“Yeah, I’m just curious what’s going on. I’m Sam, and you are?” Sam asked.

“Static... It’s a mononym.” The stallion replied with a grunt. “I’m fillin’ in as dispatch here for Sheriff Long Wire, on account of everyone bein’ sent out on that call.” Sam nodded quietly as she walked into the room and looked around. “That sparse lookin’ one is your bo’s desk, reckon he won’t mind you sitting there.”

“Oh, he isn’t my ‘Bo’.” Sam replied in a somewhat surprised tone as she walked over to the desk but didn’t sit down, instead she took the time to examine it. The desk had a little more decoration, there were various doodles scattered about on sticky notes and a weird statue that seemed to be made from paper clips. Static shrugged and looked back at the radio set, holding one earphone to his head. “You still haven’t told me what’s going on.”

“Some tourists camping up at Blue Mountain trailhead, one of their little ones wandered off this morning.” Static replied tiredly. “I been here since the Sheriff went up there, nothin’ so far.” That would explain Turner’s sudden departure, he likely had just finished making breakfast when the call came in. “They got Turner and a couple Changeling scouts up there, so it shouldn’t take much longer to find ‘em.”

“I’m sure things will turn out okay.” Sam genuinely believed her own words. She picked up a notepad and examined one of the doodles, which seemed like a sketch of a valley or perhaps a river, or maybe he was just drawing random lines. Briefly she glanced at Static, the stallion was once again looking at his radio set up. With him distracted Sam carefully opened one of the drawers on the desk, her curiosity getting the better of her. There was mostly office supplies, some notepads, but notably there was what looked like a piece of paper from the County Land Office.

Sam could see that it had several listings for pieces of land for sale by the county, a couple farms that had been abandoned, and various other properties. A good portion of them had been circled in pen, and stapled to the back was a plain bit of paper which had rough translations of what each circled bit said in english, as if someone was dictating when they were transcribed. This was something that gave the woman some more insight into where the deputy’s priorities were. He didn’t decorate his apartment because he was more focused on something a little different. Sam quickly tucked the papers back into the drawer and closed it, her eyes flicking around the room to see if anyone had been watching her.

Static was still at the radio, mumbling into it every now and then. Sam watched him for a couple moments. Part of her wanted to continue exploring, but at the same time there was a child that could be in danger. With a slight sigh she walked towards the door, there wasn’t much she could do here, best she could do was just go ahead and hope things worked out for the best.

As she walked outside she could hear the faint sound of sirens along the road to the North. Her eyes were drawn almost instantly as she spotted the familiar sight of Turner’s truck driving down the road. Oddly enough it wasn’t at a rapid pace, if anything it was leisurely. After a couple minutes the truck pulled in in front of the Sheriff’s office and the siren was turned off. There were three ponies seated in the bed of the truck, and one in the cab. A little colt by the looks of it.

Turner opened the driver’s side door and hopped out, he was wearing jeans, his boots, a t-shirt, and his deputy uniform shirt which was unbuttoned. As he got out he turned to the cab and gestured for the colt to come towards him while the two ponies in the bed of the truck, a mare and a stallion, began to climb out.

“Alright, kiddo. Ready?” Turner asked, the colt nodded and the deputy lifted him out of the truck and put him on the ground. The two adult ponies meanwhile came around the side of the vehicle and hugged the colt. “Alright, if you folks could head inside real quick, we have some paperwork you need to fill out.”

“Alright, thank you Deputy. I can’t apologize enough.” The mare, an Earth pony with cream colored fur, said as she and her family started walking towards the building. Sam stepped to the side to allow them in while Turner reached into the cab and grabbed his radio before closing the door and walking towards Sam.

“You found the lost kid.” Sam said with a cheerful tone, Turner shrugged.

“Wasn’t really lost, he was just hiding, playing around.” The man said with a slight sigh, rubbing his neck before clipping the radio to his belt. “We get cases like this once or twice a year, some kid runs off and hides to play a joke on mommy and daddy.” He seemed rather annoyed actually, briefly looking through the door at the family which had taken a seat near his desk. “Honestly, can’t stand this stuff. If there had been an actual emergency we wouldn’t have had enough officers to respond because we were all out looking for him. At the same time, I’m glad he wasn’t actually in danger…” The man walked up the steps and into the Sheriff’s Office with Sam following behind him.

“Deputy.” Static said from his radio set up, Turner nodded to him.

“You’re good to go, Static. Sheriff’s radio bugged out on him though, so he’ll probably swing by later to see if you can fix it.” Turner replied, Static nodded as his horn glowed. In a flash of light he’d teleported his radio equipment away, with only a slight nod the stallion walked past Sam and outside. Meanwhile Turner moved to his desk and took a seat across from the family that had gone in, allowing Sam to get a look at him in action, at least somewhat. “Okay, so, I need to go over a few things with you and your son before we send you on your way.”

“Of course.” The stallion replied, he was a Pegasus with light blue fur, and as it turned out the colt was also a pegasus of a similar color.

“So, first and foremost I cannot stress this enough, you need to make sure your son understands how serious we take things like this.” Turner said, looking at the parents directly. “We’re a small department, we can’t afford to spend time looking for ponies who aren’t missing. Now I understand you’re only here camping, but even still, it’s a misuse of law enforcement resources.”

“We understand, Deputy.” The mare said, looking at her son. “Swift, you know you can’t do what you did again, right?” The colt frowned and nodded apologetically, Turner quietly opened his lower desk drawer and leafed through a couple files before withdrawing a pair of sheets and setting them out on the desk.

“Alright, now if you could sign these…” Turner said, offering them a pen. The mare and stallion looked over the papers for a couple seconds before nodding and signing them. “Great, and we can send mail to you at the address you provided the Sheriff, right?” They nodded. “Alright, you can go. I’d recommend spending the rest of your trip here at the Inn just down the street.”

“We’ll definitely consider it, Deputy… And again, we’re so sorry…” The mother said as she and her family got up, Sam watched as they walked out of the Sheriff’s Office before Turner put the sheets of paper in his desk.

“I thought you couldn’t read Equestrian.” Sam said as she walked across the room.

“I’ve picked up on a few things, even if I’m not totally fluent… And Deputy Buckeye helped me translate the various forms for my files.” Turner replied, he stood up and put the two signed papers into a bin on the Sheriff’s desk marked ‘To Be Filed’. “So, how has your day been?”

“It’s been fine, took a walk through town… There’s not much to see though, and eventually I just ended up here.” Sam explained as she leaned against Turner’s desk, she briefly glanced at him for a moment, then at the top desk drawer. “Sorry if this is a bad time…”

“Huh? Oh, no, not a bad time… Actually since you’re visiting the Sheriff wants to give me another week off…” Turner replied, though he didn’t seem too enthused.

“Is something wrong?” Sam asked, the man paused and walked towards a water cooler near the wall.

“Not particularly, I just don’t like the idea of leaving all my work to Buckeye and Long Wire for a week, especially since I’ve already taken time off.” Turner replied, he got himself a little paper cup of water and took a quick drink before sighing. “Granted, the total population of the county is only around five hundred people, but still…” He took a moment to breathe. “I wasn’t totally honest earlier, he didn’t give me the week off… He ordered me to take a week off. That’s more what’s bothering me.”

“Ah…” Sam said quietly.

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have someone to hang out with.” Turner said quickly, the woman raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m just having a bit of trouble adjusting is all, but I haven’t even been on the job a month yet, so I’m sure things’ll work themselves out.” The man tossed the paper cup in the trash and walked back to his desk. “Hope you don’t mind, but do you think we could hang out at the apartment for a couple hours? Blue Mountain is a helluva hike.”

“Yeah, that sounds fine.” Sam smiled as she watched him sit down from where she was still leaning on his desk. “You know, I have a feeling a rumor is gonna start about you and me…”

“What makes you say that?” Turner asked.

“That guy, Static, he called you my ‘Bo’.” She replied, Turner started laughing to himself. “Crazy, right? You and me? Together?” Her tone was incredulous, like the possibility of such a thing happening was less likely than finding a white hole in space.

“Yeah… Crazy.” Turner said in a bit more of a quiet voice, a maelstrom of thoughts was starting to form in his mind. Had he done something wrong? Said something wrong? There were only four humans on the entire planet, and from what Turner could tell ‘Thomas’ was already spoken for… He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about the notion that him ever getting a date with fifty percent of the human female population had seemingly evaporated.

Sam, meanwhile, could see the wheels spinning in Turner’s head. What she’d meant to say was that they barely knew eachother, how could they be in a relationship. The way she’d said it though caused even herself to flinch.

“Turner, I didn’t mean to say that. I just meant we barely know each other…” Sam said, Turner only nodded quietly. “Jeez… Gwen was saying I needed to work on thinking before I talk, now I kinda see why.” The woman sat on the desk and sighed. “Can we talk about this when we get back to the apartment? Please?”

“Sure, Sam.” Turner replied distantly as he got up and walked towards the door, he peeked outside and hummed. “Sheriff’s almost back.” The man quietly watched as the Sheriff got closer, when he saw Turner the Sheriff gestured for him to get going rather insistently. “Alright, we can go…”

The short drive back to the apartment was spent in relative silence, as was the walk up the steps. When Sam and Turner were inside the man removed his work shirt and hung it up near the door before sitting on the couch, to his surprise Sam sat next to him. They both sat there, each of them unsure of what to say to the other. It was Sam that spoke up first, she looked over at Turner and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I take it you’ve been alone since you got here? I mean… Well, you know what I mean.” She asked, Turner only nodded. “It’s been that way for me too.” She sighed and squeezed his shoulder. “Look, I can tell I hit a nerve back there, and I really am sorry…”

“I’m sorry too, I don’t think I responded as well as I should’ve.” Turner replied as he leaned back on the couch, his eyes focussing on the pictures on the wall. “I mean, it wasn’t fair of me to act like that. It’s just I don’t know about you, but me and ponies? That’s just not happening… So when you said that it hit a little harder than expected.”

“I know, right?” Sam asked, Turner looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Gwen’s okay with ponies, Thomas is okay with ponies, I’m not. I mean, they’re fine to be in a platonic relationship with, but something more? Doesn’t it just seem…”

“Weird?” Turner finished for her, Sam nodded. “Yeah, yeah it does.” The woman leaned back on the couch as well, her eyes settling on the landscape paintings as well. “So where does that leave us?”

“Honestly? I don’t know, I don’t think that term ‘Plenty of fish in the sea’ really applies here.” Sam said softly. This had been the first time that Turner had ever talked about how he felt in regards to romance in Equestria, though it appeared Sam had discussed it more with her other human friends. For that reason, he opted to let her steer the conversation, as she had more experience. “It’s just you and me. You’re the only other person on the planet that I can see myself with.”

“I don’t think that statement holds as much weight, considering the lack of other options.” Turner said with a rather sarcastic tone.

“Stop that, I’m trying to be nice.” Sam replied, Turner smiled faintly, a real and genuine smile. “I want to give it a chance, for both our sakes. Six years alone for you, eight years alone for me, I think we owe it to each other to at least try.”

“That’s not guilt talking?” Turner asked, Sam nodded. He quietly looked at the floor and clasped his hands together. “Alright, what the heck… Can’t win the lottery if you don’t play, right?” He looked over at Sam and quietly rubbed the back of his neck. “So… Dinner later?”

“Sure.” Sam replied with a smile.

“That felt like the weirdest and most roundabout, yet somehow direct, way of asking someone out I’ve ever seen in my life.” Turner said with a somewhat relaxed sigh. The man quietly leaned his head back, his expression softening somewhat. “What do we do now?”

“Want me to take a look at the CD player in your truck?” Sam asked, Turner looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Before I sold any tech to the ponies I familiarized myself with it, car stereos were a pretty easy one. I could probably get that John Denver disc out easy peasy.”

“Well, shit, yeah that sounds like a good use of our time.” Turner stood up quickly. “As much as I may be a fan of John Denver, listening to nothing but him for two years has been a tad excessive.” Sam laughed slightly as she got up as well, the two of them went to the door and stepped outside.

Over the course of the next couple hours they worked to remove the disc from the stereo system, getting the system out of the truck had been the easy part, but getting it to give up the disc was something else entirely. With a little finessing, some moderate swearing on Sam’s part and a little prayer on Turners the disc finally came free. Half an hour later and the two of them had the eject mechanism running like new, with the stereo finally cleared of the disk Turner was free to finally take his music collection out of storage. Some he’d purchased, some he’d burned at home.

Sam had thought that after reinstalling the stereo Turner would want something a little different, like classic rock or maybe even some classical music in general. She found that most of Turner’s music was old cowboy and country music. Marty Robbins, Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Cash and so on. The remainder was classic rock and blues. Despite her hesitation for Turner’s choice in music she proposed something they could do to celebrate his newly fixed stereo, she wanted to see what Evergreen County was like outside of Silver Lake. Turner was more than happy to oblige, but only after he returned to the Sheriff's Office to complete the remainder of his shift. Thankfully, all the excitement had been at the beginning of the day and Turner was able to clock out at a reasonable time. When he returned the two of them got ready in their own ways, and once that was done they hit the road.

The drive out into the Horseshoe Basin took the usual amount of time of around two hours or so, most of which Turner and Sam spent listening to the sweet dulcet tones of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Of all the music that Sam noticed however, it seemed that the majority of it was Johnny Cash. They drove for hours and hours, occasionally stopping at points of interest like Switchback River, and so on. It was a rather good time, mostly spent talking about the local wildlife or the local history. The truck reached the Western edge of the Basin as the sun was starting to set, the sky once again becoming a tapestry of brilliant reds, pinks and oranges.

“Wanna stop for a bit?” Turner asked as he looked at the sunset, Sam nodded quietly and with that Turner turned the truck around so that the bed was facing the sunset. With that done Turner killed the engine and the two of them both got out and walked towards the back of the truck. He did, however, leave the keys in the ignition as to allow the stereo to keep playing softly in the background. Sam waited patiently as Turner lowered the tailgate and opened up one of the bags they’d packed, from inside he withdrew a blanket which he laid down in the bed of the truck. He also took a couple sandwiches that were wrapped up in tinfoil.

“When did you get a chance to make these?” Sam asked as Turner helped her up into the bed of the truck, the woman crawled forward a little bit before sitting against the cab of the truck so she could get a good look at the sunset. Turner climbed up with a grunt and sat beside her, offering her one of the wrapped sandwiches.

“When you were in the bathroom getting ready.” Turner replied while leaning back and watching the sunset. “The Diner in town is okay, but I dunno, I felt like we wouldn’t get much privacy there.” The two unwrapped their sandwiches, they weren’t anything fancy in the way of food, but it was clear Turner had put effort into making something. “Besides, the Diner doesn’t give you a view like this.” The man gestured to the sunset, the warm glow of the light bathed both of them in it’s embrace as they sat beside one another.

“Well, you certainly know how to make a first impression.” Sam mused as she took a bite of her sandwich and looked out over the vast fields that were dotted with groves of trees and shrubs. “I kinda see why you’ve never left Evergreen County, it really is beautiful here.” She looked over at him as he was starting to speak. “And if you say something corny like ‘Not as beautiful as you.’ I’m going to smack you.” Turner began laughing, and soon after Sam joined in.

“How-How did you know?” The man asked in between giggles.

“Because that’s something right out of the trashy romance novels I read.” Sam replied in a mirthful tone. After a couple moments they calmed down enough to continue eating. “Come on, Turner… I know you can come up with better stuff than that. Come on, give me a real compliment.”

“You’re asking for a compliment?” Turner asked with a raised eyebrow, Sam nodded.

“Yeah, complimenting people is a skill, it requires practice. I’m merely trying to help you grow that skill.” Sam said simply, as if it was merely her being magnanimous. She took another bite of her sandwich and waited for the man’s response, her eyes drifting back towards the sunset in the west.

“Fine, put me on the spot. Gimme a second.” Turner incredulously replied while grinning, he looked off to the side before looking back at Sam. “You’ve given me a lot to think about in only a few days of knowing you, that’s not something that’s easy to do… And you’re funny, but that's just gravy. Maybe it's just because I've been with ponies so long I've never really connected with anyone in this particular way... I find myself trusting you more deeply and quickly than anyone else...” The man smiled faintly and looked off to the side. “And… If you want… I guess you can call me Paige.”

“That was good. Could work on the delivery a little bit, but not bad.” Sam said with a grin, Turner smiled back at her and leaned back with a nervous sigh. “Were you serious?”

“I’m always serious when it comes to stuff like that, Sam.” Turner stated as he took another bite of his sandwich and went back to watching the sunset, the light was dimming as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

“Alright, I just wanted to be sure…” Sam’s tone sounded genuine as she and Turner lapsed into a silence, watching as the sun continued to set in the distance. “So, I get Paige isn’t really a guy’s name, but does it really bother you that much?”

“Not as much anymore, but I still like to keep it to myself.” Turner stated simply, Sam quietly looked off towards the side of the truck for a couple moments before she hesitantly scooted a little closer to Turner.

“I’ll only use it when it’s just us then.” Sam said after finishing her sandwich. She began scooting even closer, before just leaning against him. She felt him go rigid, like someone had just placed a snake in his lap. After a couple moments she felt him relax his posture slightly, the two of them once again lapsed into silence. Turner finished eating and leaned back, feeling Sam’s head resting on his shoulder had been nerve racking at first, but he forced himself to play it cool. As far as he was concerned he was batting a thousand at this point. Just sitting there and listening to the stereo play in the background while the sun set had to be the most romantic thing he could think of, and it seemed to be working.

Sam looked out as the sun was getting closer to setting completely, she felt Turner nervously move his arm up and drape it around her shoulder. The woman reached up quietly and grasped his hand, squeezing it softly. Turner nervously looked over at Sam, and almost simultaneously she had the same thought. The two of them ended up looking into each other’s eyes, this felt like the critical moment for Turner. Make or break time. Slowly he leaned closer to her, she leaned up to meet him. They both closed their eyes as their lips met, in the background the song ‘Cowboys and Angels’ by Dustin Lynch began to play on the stereo.

Their first kiss lasted for a couple seconds at most, but their second lasted even longer, all while that music continued to play in the background. Inside Turner was in total panic, was he doing the right thing? Was he overstepping? Maybe he just should’ve stopped himself. Sam quietly put her hand on Turner’s back, embracing him as they stayed close. They weren’t sure where things were headed, but there was little that could stop what was happening.

“Freeze!” A voice boomed from the back of the truck, both Turner and Sam jumped in surprise and looked to the rear. There were three changeling’s standing there with spellrifles, at the head of the group was Mourning Cloak.

“Mourning! What the fuck!?” Turner shouted as he sat up, Sam meanwhile wasn’t sure what to do. So she did the best she could and put herself behind Turner, as he was the law enforcement professional here.

“She’s trying to take your love, Turner! I came to rescue you! You said it yourself. You’re the only human, remember? She musta brainwashed you into thinking there's more than one!” Mourning Cloak replied, still holding his rifle.

“No, I’m not! There’s like four of us. Shit, you're a changeling, if she was a changeling you'd be able to tell, right?” Turner grunted loudly. “I just found out, like… Two days ago!” Mourning looked between Turner and Sam for several seconds, his eyes narrowing a couple times on Sam before a very deep look of awkward regret washed over his face.

“So… She’s real…?” Mourning asked nervously, Turner nodded. "And I just interrupted..." Another nod, this time from Sam. “Oh… Oh… I am so, so sorry… Turner, I had no idea...” He and the other changelings lowered their rifles sheepishly, several of them rubbing the backs of their necks as they averted their eyes. “Uh… Well, look at the time, we really should be going.” Bye!” In several flashes of light the changelings teleported away, leaving two very flustered humans behind.

“Friend of yours?” Sam asked awkwardly.

“Not sure anymore after that…” Turner replied equally as awkwardly, he looked off the side and groaned. The mood was effectively dead, the sun was pretty low in the sky. “Maybe we should just head home…”

“Yeah.” Sam concurred flatly, the two of them awkwardly shuffled out of the truck bed and closed the tailgate. Turner secured the blanket they’d been using in its rightful place, and the two of them began the awkward drive back to town. The radio was off for the majority of the way home, and not much was said between the two of them, each processing what had just happened in their own way. Turner, for his part, was somewhat unsure of what he’d done right back there. It had mostly just been on instinct, and he had trouble wrapping his head around that. Sam, on the other hand, was wondering what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been interrupted. How far would things have gone?

These thoughts circulated through their heads right up until they pulled in and parked outside the apartment complex, quietly they ascended the steps and walked inside. Once they were inside, Sam thought it prudent to take the lead.

“Paige.” She said, Turner looked at her quietly. “I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed myself today, up until the part where we both almost got shot…”

“Thanks.I enjoyed myself too, despite how my day may have started. Sorry for the worst ending to a first date ever though, I probably should’ve called ahead.” Turner said as he began to move the couch cushions to pull out the couch bed.

“Oh, oddly enough that wasn’t the worst ending I’ve had to a date, not even close.” Sam replied with a smile and a slight laugh, she watched as Turner began to reach into the couch to remove the bed. “Hey, uh… Do you want to sleep together, I mean, in the same bed… Not… Well, you know.”

“You sure? I’m fine sleeping out here.” Turner said with a bit of genuine concern, Sam nodded and smiled a bit more.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Come on.” Sam said, Turner’s confidence in himself shot up considerably when she said that, maybe the night hadn’t completely torpedoed his chances with Sam after all.

Turner put the cushions back on the couch and walked with Sam to his bedroom, while she was putting on her pajamas in the bathroom Turner was doing the same in the room. He normally just wore boxers and that was it, but as he had female company he opted to wear sweatpants and a tank top. His tattoo felt better once it had been exposed to a bit more air, he’d been doing his best to keep it clean given his circumstances, so far it was healing up nicely.

“Whoa, okay.” He heard Sam say as she came out of the bathroom. “You have a tattoo.” Turner gave her a deadpan expression. “It’s, uh… It looks good on you.” The woman quietly walked a bit closer and took a closer look at it. “I have a tattoo too.”

“Really?” Turner asked as he took a seat on his side of the Queen sized bed, Sam was wearing a tank top as well as her pajama pants, but Turner couldn’t see any tattoos on her arms, shoulders, or even on her back when he caught a glimpse of that. “Where is it?”

“Oh, uh… It’s… Somewhere.” Sam replied as she walked to her side of the bed and sat down as well. Turner looked thoughtful as he laid down, before a look of realization crossed his features and a deep red blush crossed his cheeks. “Yeah…” The woman laid down and got under the covers, then reached over and turned off the light on the bed stand. Turner got under the covers as well and turned away from Sam, resting his head on one of the pillows. “Hey, Paige?”

“Yeah?” Turner said quietly, he felt a shift in the blankets as Sam rolled over and draped an arm over his side.

“Sweet dreams.” She softly whispered, Turner let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. It was a deep sleep, deeper than he had had in a long time. Sam settled in to sleep as well, closing her eyes as she too prepared to slip off into the land of dreams. It had been an odd day, and an even odder ‘first date’, but she was hopeful. The deputy seemed like an honorable man, something Sam had thought at one time in the past to be made up. Despite the fact he was bad at math, or grammar, or that he was as insecure about something as inconsequential as a name…

Despite how fast things were progressing, she didn’t feel ‘rushed’. Maybe it was because she hadn’t had anyone like him in her life for nearly a decade, maybe it was hormones, but whatever the reason she felt a connection… That was good enough for her.