#[[i'm...]]

Sam had screwed up countless times in his 27 years, but the worst decision of all was breaking up with you.

The two of you were the best of friends, starting even further back than either of you could remember. His father and your parents had been close friends and colleagues, so you spent a lot of time together, leading to a tight bond. One that became something beyond friendly as the years went by. You were the one he could tell anything to. The one he could spend every day with and never get tired of. You'd had his heart long before either of you realized it. And he threw it all away.

While you were excelling in your career as a programmer at ENCOM and making plans for the future, he was as stagnant as ever, unable to grow up and move on from the loss in his past. He wasn't the kind of partner you needed or deserved. He would only drag you down. So even though he knew he was making the biggest mistake of his life, he let you go.

He'd regretted it many many times over the past few years, but even more so as he stood in the entrance of your tiny office on the software design floor. You hadn't noticed him yet, too absorbed in the game you were playing on your DS. He recognized the beeping sounds from that lawyer game you liked.

"Ed, I'm on lunch. I have another 20 minutes before I have to talk about work," you said, not looking up from the little screens.

"I'll try not to be offended that you think I'm Ed Dillinger."

Sam's voice made you instantly freeze. He'd been around ENCOM Tower the last week or so, and you were doing your best to avoid him, always turning right back around whenever you spotted him. But it seemed you couldn't avoid your ex—and now boss—any longer.

You hesitantly looked up at him, hoping you could keep yourself from getting swept up in his eyes or his stupidly pretty face. "Well, what I said applies to you, too. Because work is all we have to talk about."

"That's not true." Sam crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the door frame. This wasn't the best place to talk about your personal relationship, but he knew it was the only place. You were never going to answer his calls, and Alan and Lora knew better than to get involved by being the middleman. "I have some things to say..."

"I'm not interested. Goodbye, Mr. Flynn," you said with a sigh, going back to your game.

Sam's brow raised at your formal words. You weren't making this too easy, were you?

"I'm sorry for being such an idiot."

You stopped again, glancing at him. After being in one another's lives since infancy, you knew Sam well. You could read him like a book, the sincerity was clear on his face. And, honestly, it was nice to finally hear those words from him. Closing your DS, you gestured for him to sit down in the chair across from you. "Go on..."

Sam closed your office door and took the only other seat in the tiny space, the desk still keeping a healthy distance between you. He'd thought of what he'd say to you so many times, but it turned into nothing as you watched him expectantly. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Breaking up was a mistake."

"I tried to tell you that," you mumbled. That night, you'd pleaded with him not to listen to that self sabotaging part of him. You knew how he saw himself, and a piece of you realized long ago that it would drive him away from you one day. It didn't make it hurt any less.

"I remember." He chuckled, but it didn't have much humor in it. "You always deserved better than me. Did you know that? Because I sure as hell did. I'm a mess. Always have been. I wasn't ready to be who you needed, and I didn't want to keep holding you back."

"Sam, you told me all of this before. You were determined to dump me 'for my own good'," you used the most sarcastic air quotes he'd ever seen, "and you did. So why are you here now?"

Sam sat back in the seat, taking a moment because he knew he couldn't tell you the full truth about his father and The Grid. Not yet. He didn't want to sound completely insane. "Something happened to me recently. It made me realize that things needed to change. That's why I'm here at ENCOM...and trying to make things right with you."

You breathed out a laugh, tears stinging at your eyes. Now he could make a change? After ripping your heart out and stomping on it? After taking away one of the most important people in your life?

Leaning forward, you looked him right in the eye with your watery ones. "You know what the hardest part of all of it was, Sam? It wasn't losing my boyfriend...it was losing my best friend. You were in my life for as long as I could remember, then you suddenly weren't. You...you didn't have to just disappear, Sam. Do you realize how much that hurt?"

"I thought a clean break would be easier." But looking at you then, hearing you talk about it, he knew the loss of your relationship had been just as hard on you as it was on him.

"For you, maybe." A tear escaped down your cheek, and you quickly wiped it away with your sleeve. "It looks like you haven't had trouble moving on. She's gorgeous, by the way."

"What?" He frowned, unsure what the hell you were talking about until he remembered who had been accompanying him at ENCOM. The idea of Quorra being anything besides family hadn't even occurred to him, and it made him cringe. "It's not like that. Quorra's basically my sister."

"It's not my business, Sam. So, you came here and apologized. What else do you want? Because if you think we're just going to get back together, you're dreaming. I'm not going to throw myself into your arms and pretend the last two years never happened."

"I didn't come here to try and get you back." Sam sat forward in the seat, resting his arms on the edge of your desk. "I want my best friend in my life again, that's all."

"That...does sound nice." As much as you missed the romantic aspects of being with Sam, your friendship was the most important. It was the foundation of everything you'd ever had together. Not being able to talk to him after a bad day or just hang out watching movies and gaming still hit you hard even after a few years apart. "I guess I'm willing to start over. But Sam, you're not getting a third chance."

"I won't need one."

"I hope you're right."

Sam smiled as he sat back in the chair. "So, we're starting over, huh? Like 'Hey, my name's Sam. Nice to meet you' starting over?"

You rolled your eyes playfully. "No way. That would be so weird. Let's just go with...friends."

Sam reached his hand out to you. "Okay. Friends."