Punch Drunk Crazy

Sam hadn't seen Tom in over two weeks. Between her own work schedule, and his constant road trips it was like playing telephone tag. She would arrive home from work just in time to see him and Mike leaving the parking lot of their building, and then when she was leaving to go to work it always seemed as though they would pass each other down the street. Their schedules just did not sync up well, especially lately.

Their lack of physical contact didn't put a damper in their telephone conversations however, most were through text message, though, on occasion when they both had the time they would talk on the phone here and there. Even on long days, when she was distracted, or ready for bed, Tom kept their conversation flowing until one of them fell asleep, and then he would pick it right back up the very next morning. 

There didn't seem to be a time when he couldn't find something to talk about and Sam was beginning to realize she liked that about him. Actually, she was beginning to realize that there was a lot that she liked about Tom. Like the way there was never a dull, boring or quiet moment with him around. She liked how tall he was, despite the fact that he was a foot taller than her; she fit perfectly into his side, and she never needed to get a stool when he was around, it truly was the little things in life. She liked the way he listened when she talked, and even responded most times, showing real interest in the things she was saying. She liked the way he looked at her, what girl wouldn't want a guy to have eyes for only her no matter where they were and who they were with? She liked the way his voice sounded in the morning; groggy, deep and damn near grumbly. 

There was a lot she liked about him, and there was a lot more than Sam knew she could like about him one day as well. She was on a very dangerous, very slippery slope and it was like she had two angels on her shoulder; one telling her it was a really bad idea, and the other daring her to take that ride down and see where it ended. 

If she could only get out of her head long enough to try it. 

- - -

"You have any luck with the hot neighbor yet?" Tom rolled his eyes as Andre asked him this. They were on the plane, heading back to Washington after a long road trip, the last thing Tom wanted to do was talk about Samantha. It wasn't that he didn't want to, no, he wanted to talk about Sam all the time, just not with these yahoo's.

Mike however saved him from having to, but it made Tom roll his eyes again, when Mike said, "He hasn't been home all week practically."

There were cat calls, as usual, but what surprised Tom was when Brooks asked him, "What's she like anyway?"

Tom had a smile on his face when he said, "She's great."

"You're so hard up for her." Tom rolled his eyes at Mike, wishing more than anything that he had kept his mouth shut from the get go.

When Andre got up to go talk to someone Brooks dropped into the seat beside Tom and asked, "You really got a shot with her? I mean aside from the occasional hookup?"

Tom wouldn't exactly call what they were doing a hookup, and certainly not occasional. Mike was right, he had barely spent any time at home this week, in fact the most time he had spent with Mike in days would be when they got home in an hour and he would drag his roommate to the furniture store, finally intent on buying a bed.

Tom simply nodded in response and said, "I think so. I don't know… things are different with Sam, especially from every other girl I've been with."

He wasn't just talking about the sex. Not that the sex wasn't great, and astronomically better than he had ever had in his life, because it was, Sam knew things he didn't even know existed, and for what felt like the first time ever it seemed he found someone who was a little more adventurous. Sure, missionary was great, but after a while it just got boring. Sam was just about open to trying new things; places and positions included, as he was and right now Tom was content with just enjoying the little things like that.

Brooks raised his eyebrow and asked curiously, "How so?"

"I actually want to put the effort in this time." He was eluding to Ari, and he knew Brooks would know that. Beyond the first few weeks of that relationship Tom got to the point where putting the effort in to do things, plan things, to try this hard to make her happy just because.

"I'm glad to hear that."

Tom, practically bursting with excited and wanting to tell someone, said, "I'm taking her to Memphis next week."

"Tennessee?" Brooks asked with a raised brow.

Tom nodded and told him, "We have a break in our schedule, and Norah Jones is playing in Memphis that Monday. So I bought tickets, and we're gonna fly out Sunday and come home Tuesday morning."

"Does she know?" Brooks asked him.

"About Memphis? No. She thinks we're spending two days in Richmond." Tom stated, he was, admittedly, proud of himself. Even though he knew it was a little much for a technical first date, he liked the idea of the two of them getting away, where Sam didn't need to be in her head so much. The concert was an added bonus that he hoped would earn him a few brownie points, or at the least, make her see that he really did care about her.

"I'm proud of you kid." Tom rolled his eyes but he smiled nonetheless.

An hour and a half later Tom and Mike were walking through a furniture store. Michael was dragging himself slowly behind Tom, more absorbed in his cell phone than helping Tom shop for a bed.

Michael glanced up, and asked Tom, "Why do you even need a bed?"

"So that Sam will actually spend the night in our apartment." Tom stated absentmindedly as he looked at a platform bed with a wooden headboard.

Mike stated out loud, "I still don't see why you need a bed for that."

Tom had never been so grateful to see Kelly in his life. So much so that when Mike wrapped an arm around her shoulder and went to pull her into his side Tom reached out, grabbed her hand and pulled her away from Mike as he told him, "You can have her later. I need her right now."

Kelly grinned and joked, "I've never felt so wanted in my life."

"I need some help, and seeing as you're the only girl I know that would get up at an ungodly time in the morning to help me…" Tom trailed off with a grin as Kelly rolled her eyes. He informed her, "I need a bed. Like… you know... frame, headboard, whatever."

Kelly grinned, "You're finally growing up."

Tom smiled as he looked over a row of show beds, and he heard Mike tell her, "I'm a grown up."

"No. You're a child." Kelly stated, joining Tom again at a leather platform bed with a tall headboard and no footboard, which for all six foot four of him was a plus.

"Black, white, or grey?" Tom asked her curiously, listing all of the colors it came in.

Kelly asked him, "What colors are your bedding again?"

Mike practically snorted and asked, "What? His quilt and one pillow?"

Kelly sighed and said to Tom, "Okay, I'm hosting an intervention right now. We are buying you all new bedding, pillows, and you should also probably get a dresser or at the very least a closet organizer system."

"You've unleashed the ocd beast my friend, have fun." Mike stated, dodging Kelly's fist as he patted Tom's shoulder.

Tom simply shrugged and said, "I probably need it."

Kelly stuck her tongue out at Mike, who rolled his eyes, before she turned to Tom and told him, "Black or white. Also get the matching nightstands, and do not argue with me."

"Yes ma'am." Tom said, nodding his head. Kelly grinned over at Michael again, he simply shook his head in amusement and was content to stand back and watch the show. He asked her, "What about navy bedding?"

"Then get the white bed." She stated, and his brows raised so she explained, "Never pair navy and black. Yeesh, what did I get myself into?"

Later that morning Tom and Mike had spent three hours assembling a platform bed, sleek white nightstands, and a shelving system in the closet. Kelly did all of the bedding, adding a lamp on one nightstand and a picture of Tom and his family on the other before they all called it a day.

Tom was rather impressed with himself, but he didn't continue to stare at his bedroom, which actually looked like a bedroom, he simply pulled his door closed and walked out of the apartment, heading next door.

When he had knocked on Sam's door he had intended on grabbing her hands and dragging her into his apartment to show off he and Kelly's handy work, but when she opened the door with bedhead and in a silky camisole and pant combination of pyjamas all coherent thoughts went right out of the window.

All that would come out of his mouth was, "God I missed you."

She smiled, and laughed as he immediately leaned down and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her tightly into him as he rested his chin on her shoulder. She wrapped one arm around his waist and the other wrapped around his shoulder, as she spoke softly, "I can see that."

He pulled back enough to see her face, and he pouted, "You didn't miss me?"

"Maybe a little." She said with a soft smile, which he felt grow as he pressed his lips to hers. When he pulled back she informed him, "Okay, a little bit more now."

"Oh yeah?" He asked her with a smirk and she nodded her head.

"Just a little, not that much though." She said, nearly smirking as he leaned down and kissed her with a little more force than he had last time. When he pulled away she smiled and said, "Almost."

He leaned down, grabbed the backs of her thighs and pulled her up off of the ground. She let out a squeak as he did so, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as his arms wrapped tightly around her own waist. She leaned down and kissed him this time before Tom carefully moved down the hallway toward her bedroom. He could show her his work later. Tomorrow maybe.

- - - 

Hours later, after working up a sweat and an appetite, Tom rooted through Sam's fridge for something to eat while she showered. There wasn't much that he deemed appetizing, unlike in he and Mike's fridge Sam didn't have anything he would really regret eating tomorrow. All she had was fruits, and vegetables, two different types of cheese and condiments that weren't even within the range of chocolate or syrupy. Still, as he heard the shower turn off he grabbed a bowl of strawberries and he headed back down the hallway and into her bedroom.

He was leaning against the headboard, sheets pooled in his lap, bowl of strawberries in his hand when Sam walked into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around herself. As she passed him to near the closet Tom couldn't help but reach out and smack her butt, making her reach out and mess up his hair before she continued into the closet. 

He fixed his hair and asked, "Do you have to put clothes on?"

"It's one o'clock on a Sunday, yes, I need to put some clothes on." Sam informed him and as she glanced at him over her shoulder she swore she saw him literally pout in response. 

"Naked Sunday's are a thing." Tom stated, glancing over at her as she pulled a loose fitting t-shirt over her torso. 

He looked away, biting into a strawberry when Sam turned to look at him, and she smiled as she told him, "Not in this house."

"Fun sucker."

She pulled a pair of boyshorts underwear over her hips, hung her towel on the hook by the closet door before she walked into the bedroom again. She didn't far, the moment she was without touching distance Tom wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto the bed, onto his lap. Sam let out a laugh when he nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck, before he pulled her off of him and onto the bed beside him. 

Sam glanced at his bowl of strawberries and asked him, "That's your idea of lunch?"

He shrugged, held a strawberry out to her and asked, "Isn't this shit supposed to be romantic?"

Sam rolled her eyes at him, but she did lean forward and take a bite out of the strawberry, watching him with a slightly raised eyebrow as he popped the rest of it into his own mouth. As she chewed he put the bowl on the nightstand, and then he laid down on his back in the bed, the sheets still barely covering his lower body. Sam's eyebrow raised even further when he rolled onto his side, and pushed her t-shirt up enough so that he could press a kiss to her hip, and then a few down her thigh, which was when she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Showing you how good naked Sunday's can be." He told her, looking up at her, a slight smirk on his lips as he settled into the space between her knees. 

He lifted one of her legs up and kept his eyes on her as he pressed his lips against the inside of her knee gently, and then left a few quick, soft kisses down her leg, before he did the same with the other. He held her firmly at the knees and with one swift, but gentle, yank he had her laying her on her back, and she couldn't help but let out a laugh at him. 

His fingers pressed gently into her skin as they dragged up her thighs, to her hips, where they delicately traced over the waist band of her underwear. Tom couldn't help but smile at the light pink satin and lace mixture, and he looked up at Sam to find her watching him with dark eyes. He smiled gently and he pulled the fabric between two of his fingers and tugged on it gently before he told her, "I think pink is my new favorite color."

His fingers curled under the sides of the waistband of her underwear and he pulled them down over her butt and then down her legs, gingerly lifting her at the knees until he was able to toss the underwear onto the floor beside the bed. He laid on his stomach, wrapping one of his hands around her thigh, his palm spread out across her hip and lower stomach, while the other lifted her other leg up and against his shoulder, her heel pressing gently against his lower back. 

He pressed a gentle kiss to the inside of her thigh, making Sam let out a mixture of a whimper and a breath, and she tangled one hand in his hair, the other gripping the sheets below her as he went to work. It never seemed to take him very long at all to find a groove, and when he did Sam tilted her head back just the slightest and she tried, and failed to keep the moan that was building from bubbling out.

Tom paused, pulled away, and he looked up at her, before he looked back down at her and said, "Yeah, definitely my new favorite color."

He didn't get much further when a knock on the door rang through the apartment, and he paused but Sam told him, "Ignore it."

And so he did, right up until they both heard a voice call out, "Samantha?"