Sam Guthrie really hated Mondays. Even though his 'job' was something he didn't get a day off from, there was just something about the day Monday. It was always horribly long, and either rather dull, or far to stressful.
And today, unfortunately, was a Monday. And it was even one of the marginally better boring Mondays; it was the stressful kind that made you wanna pull all the hair out of your head.
"Ah HATE Mondays." Sam growled under his breath as he ran through the exercise program that Cyclops had assigned to him. Again. For the fifth time.
"You missed those people, Sam. Do it again."
"You blew up that building. Do it again."
"Sam, you blew up the building AGAIN! Once more."
"Sam!"
"Stupid, egotistical jerk." Sam muttered to himself as he blasted through the scenario.
His annoyance was actually directed more at himself, then his leader. He KNEW what he was doing; but for some reason, just couldn't DO it.
This day had just started out badly, he reflected. He'd been late to the early morning practice because he had forgotten to set his alarm clock. This had resulted in a through chewing out by Cyclops, in front of the entire team no less, and the extra practice he was currently running. It wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't ALREADY think about me like a kid, Sam thought bitterly.
Then he'd gotten into a fight with his girlfriend, Tabitha Smith, after breakfast over something rather stupid. Her nasty words still rang in his head, much as he tried to drive them away.
"You never have any TIME for me anymore Sam!" Tabitha accused, her eyes flashing.
"That's not true girl!" Sam protested, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Oh yes it is! All you care about is kissing the damn X-Men's asses!" She snarled back, lips curling.
"This is IMPORTANT to me, Tabitha! If you cared about me at all, you'd understand that!" He hollered back, his face turning dull red.
"And if YOU cared about ME at all, you'd stop ignoring my all the damn time!" Tabitha screamed.
"Ah DON'T ignore you!" Sam said, shocked. To his surprise, Tabitha gave a short bark of laughter.
"Bullshit! You're so busy sucking Xaiver's dick…"
"Shut UP, Tabitha!" Sam yelled, furious.
"Fuck you!" Tabitha yelled back, equally as furious.
"THAT'S IT! WE'RE OVER!" Sam roared , whirling and stomping away from the furious blonde.
"FINE!" Tabitha screamed at his back. -
He was now running the exercise layouts Scott had come up with for him, and having a hell of a time at that. Ah don't see why Ah can't blow that damn thing up, that's what Cable would have done.
So wrapped up in his musings that he failed to see the missile streaking towards him, until FAR too late. It exploded not half a foot from him, knocking him off course, and into a wall. The combined explosion and impact stunned him and he slumped down to the ground.
Suddenly, the surrounding city flickered and died, followed by Cyclops voice over the loud speaker.
"Are you alright Cannonball?" His voice held the absolute minimum of concern.
"Ah'm fine." He snapped, rising to his feet. He immediately began to waver, and had to lean back against the wall. Scott noticed.
"No you're not. Go get Hank to check you out, and take the rest of the day off." Scott's voice was clipped and controlled. Sam growled low in his throat, but went to do as he been instructed.
"Maybe Cyke just really hates Mondays to." Sam decided as he made his way toward the infirmary.
According to Hank, he had just been stunned, and he would be best served by following Cyclops advice and taking the day off. Sam trudged off to his room, sore and rather ashamed of his stupid mistake.
No sooner then he had just collapsed onto his bed than the phone rang. Sighing, he picked it up.
"Hello?" He asked, sharper then he had intended.
"Samuel?" A female voice on the other end asked. He recognized it, and felt a little better.
"Momma! Why are you callin' up here?" Sam asked, suddenly realizing that there must be something wrong.
"Sam…do you remember Billy Wales?" His Momma asked, her voice serious.
" 'Course Ah do, he was one of mah best friends back in school." Sam said, confused why his mother would be asking about him.
"Sam…he died this morning. He…he was hit by a train, and died instantly." His mother's voice was choked up. Sam couldn't say anything for a long second, so shocked was he.
"Ah…oh mah God." Was all he could say. "Billy…dead?"
"Ah'm sorry Sam." His mother said, tears in her voice. Sam just shook his head, shocked. "Sam, Ah have to go. Ah call back later with information on the funeral and such, alright?"
"Alright. Ah love you Momma." Sam whispered, swallowing hard.
"Ah love you too Sam." She said. Sam hung up the phone, and sat on his bed for a long moment, his head spinning.
Billy? Dead? It didn't seem possible. All Billy had wanted to do when they were in high school was find a nice girl and have lots of kids.
He was the one that took all the risks; he was the one that chanced death everyday. But Billy was the one that wound up dead.
Suddenly, all the little things that had been bugging him all day didn't seem as important. At least he was still alive. At least he still had a chance to do everything he wanted to do in life. Billy didn't.
Sam sat there for an immeasurable amount of time, gauging all the things in his life in their importance to him. His family, friends, Tabitha, and everything in between.
Then he sat back and had a good hard look at his life. And he didn't like what he saw, not one bit.
Sam swallowed hard, and rose to his feet. With jerky movements, he walked toward the door and into the hallway, and headed for Tabitha's room.
The door was closed when he got there, and he lifted his hand and knocked. He thought she was in there; he could hear the telltale signs of life.
After a minute, the door was pulled open and his girlfriend's little face peered at him, tearstained and blotchy. The fading sunlight glint off her hair, and her eyes were dark and troubled. She had a pair of beat up sweat pants on, and a shirt he recognized as his own.
To Sam, she looked more beautiful then he had ever seen her.
"Sam, what are you doin' here?" Tabitha asked in surprised.
"Can Ah come in?" He asked faintly, still reeling. Tabitha looked at him again, but pushed the door all the way open and stepped aside.
Sam stepped into the room, and closed the door behind him. Tabitha walked over to her bed and sat down, looking at him expectantly. Sam moved over to the bed and sat down next to her, clasping his hands in front of him. He looked down at the floor wondering where to start.
"Tabs," He finally settled on. "Ah…Ah just wanted to say that Ah'm sorry."
"I'm sor--" Tabitha started but Sam cut her off by turning to her and placing a hand to her lips.
"Let me finish, please? Ah said a lot of stupid things, and Ah didn't mean a dang one of them. Ah was just in a bad mood, and Ah guess Ah took it out on you. Ah know that Ah haven't been spending time with you, and Ah'm so sorry for that. Ah'm not gonna let being an X-Men distract me away from the REALLY important things in my life-mah family, mah friends, and the woman Ah love--ever again." Sam said softly, taking her hand and kissing it.
"I'm sorry too." Tabitha whispered, laying her head on his shoulder. "I was just being bitchy. I didn't have any right to say any of those things to you."
"You were right though." Sam said, pulling her into his arms, and hugging her tightly.
"I was?" Tabitha asked, looking up at him.
"Yeah…Ah was being stupid. Ah never want anything like that to come between us, ever again. Ah got one hell of a wake up call today." Sam said earnestly, kissing her forehead.
"You did? What do you mean?" Tabitha asked, laying her head on his shoulder. Sam swallowed so hard she could see it, then began to speak.
"Ah just got a call from mah momma…one of mah best friends from school is dead. He-he was hit by a train this morning." Sam said.
"Oh, Sam!" Tabitha whispered, hugging him close to her body. Sam laid his head on her shoulder and felt the tears begin to fall from his eyes. "I'm so sorry."
Sam began to sob in earnest then, clutching the small blonde close to him, as though he would never let her go. Tabitha kissed his hair softly, and hugged him back as hard as she could. Sobs were torn from his throat as he wept for everything that his friend, and he, had lost, everything that could have been.
Finally, the storm of his weeping passed. He pulled back from Tabitha, and looked into her bright, concerned eyes. Sam reached to brush a lock of her hair away from her face, and tried to force a slight smile.
"You do realize that it's nearly ten o'clock don't you?" Tabitha asked, stretching.
"No!" Sam cried, shocked.
"Yeah…"Tabitha said, smiling softly at him. Sam smiled as best he could back, and looked down.
"Tabitha…"He asked, almost shyly. "Could Ah…could Ah stay in here tonight?"
"Sam-you wanna…?" Tabitha asked, shocked. Sam understood what she was asking and was quick to explain.
"No, not THAT! Ah just…Ah just want to hold you tonight. Ah just want to know that you'll be there when Ah wake up in the morning." Sam said, stumbling over his words.
Tabitha smiled at him, and nodded. "Yeah…I'd like that."
She climbed into bed, as Sam removed his shoes. He crawled in next to her, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. Tabitha reached up and killed the light.
"Love you Sam…" She whispered into the dark.
"Ah love you to, girl." He whispered back.
He stayed awake, long after her steady breathing told him that she was asleep, and just held her. It felt good to know that she be there when he woke up.
Smiling in the dark, Sam shut his eyes, and fell asleep.