Terms of Surrender (Rafe)

[Samantha Montgomery]

It was a bad idea. An extremely bad, horrible, terrible idea, and if Caleb, Christine, Julian, Nicolas, or any of her newly acquired friends at the school knew what she was up to they would have tanned her hide...not that they'd actually strike her for fear of her retaliation, but they certainly would be tempted to do something, anything, to stop her.

She was seated on a tree stump looking rather regal for the location, like a fairy queen attending her royal subjects, little would anyone know she was more nervous than a mouse in a cat's claws. She had asked for Rafe to meet her there privately. He had simply gone too far with too many things and before she took more permanant action against him she had to try and reason with him one last time.

She heard a rustling in the brush up ahead, her hand on her wand she relaxed a little when she saw him, then tensed even more, "Thank you for coming..."

[Rafe Colby]

Rafe, of course, had no idea what she had owled him about. In his twisted brand of optimism, he honestly believed that maybe, just maybe, she was finally going to give him the chance that he'd been dreaming of. That maybe she had finally realized that he was the only one who would ever love her truly, madly, and deeply.

For this reason, he went to meet her, dressed in his best muggle clothes, with his hair neatly combed back. He was an attractive young man, really... it was just the obsessive nature of his fixation with Samantha that made him seem ugly.

He smiled when he saw her, stopping in his tracks to take in her radiance. He couldn't imagine another girl who could ever compare to her.

"Hi, Sam," he said, a little too eagerly.

[Samantha Montgomery]

Samantha nodded in acknowledgement but there was no smile to curve her lips or soften her features. "Rafe stop there. No don't come any closer. I asked you here today to listen and not speak. This has to stop. There is no us. There will never be an us. You are beyond delusional and you have begun to frighten me with your actions and if you don't stop I will be forced to seek a higher authority. I want to be perfectly clear, this is the last time I will tolerate any more of your insanity." She took a deep breath then stood awkwardly.

"That's all I have to say, and though you may not listen I thought it only fair to give you warning. I'm going to leave now and if you so much as speak to me or blink in my direction I will hex you to the spot and have my father remove you from this school." she wasn't sure if her father could do that, but she was willing to bet he'd do something.

[Rafe Colby]

Rafe's face crumpled and his body seemed to slump over, like a balloon with the air leaking out. Was this what a broken heart felt like? Did the sound of a heart breaking make a sound? It felt like it should, like the sound of shattering glass. That was what it felt like inside. He should have expected it, should have been used to it by now. But the message had allowed him to hope for just the slightest moment, and to have that hope dashed once again was too much.

While his methods and actions might have been wrong and inappropriate, the fact remained that, ultimately, he really did love her. He just never really learned the right way to love. It was a selfish, controlling, possessive love, which was the only kind of love he'd ever learned. And even now, when all seemed hopeless, there was a part of him that just couldn't give up.

"But... Samantha, please. I just..." He closed his mouth. What could he say that would change her mind?

[Samantha Montgomery]

She knew he wouldn't just leave things alone, she expected it, her hand tightened on her wand, she wouldn't hear another ford from him, spinning around to hex him on the spot but then something she didn't plan for happened. A snap from above momentarily took her attention as she glanced heavenward to a rapidly descending object that looked remarkably like a falling tree branch.

[Rafe Colby]

Just about any other man would have given up. But Rafe had nothing else going for him, and no idea how to give up on her. Yes, it was sick, but it was also sad and pathetic. He really would have done just about anything for her. If she'd told him to jump off a building, he would have done it.

When he thought she was about to hex him, he didn't move. He was prepared to let her do her worst to him, and maybe it would put him out of his misery. He had no self-preservation instincts where she was concerned, or he surely would have walked away long ago.

But he did have an instinct to protect her. Yes, he'd hurt her himself, but he wouldn't stand for seeing her in danger. So when the tree branch broke and started to fall, he didn't even think. He leapt over to her, pushing her out of the way. It hit the ground so hard that it shattered into several pieces, and one of the pieces was stuck straight down into the soft forest floor... right where Sam had been standing only moments before.

"Are... are you OK?" he asked worriedly. He was bleeding from a scratch in his arm, but he didn't even notice.

[Samantha Montgomery]

She felt his heavier weight crushing her but even then she knew it could have been much worse.

"You...saved my life." she whispered as if she couldn't believe it. She really couldn't. All this time she thought of him as a threat, it was a strange feeling to be thankful he was there and interceded where fate would have taken her. "I..."

Just then a noise in the brush cut off her sentence and she glanced towards it, "Nicolas..."

[Nicolas Everhart]

Sam was his responsibility and he took his responsibilities seriously. It was true he allowed her a lot of space to figure things out on her own, and to let her spread her wings but unlike Sam he didn't think Rafe's actions were that of a lovesick swain but basically harmless. No there was something much darker there.

He couldn't explain it but anyone who knew Sam would be able to understand. There was just something about her that inspired loyalty or madness, she was kind of like love itself and he saw the madness in Rafe's eyes.

That's why he had a few spies in the school that he paid to keep an eye on Sam, he knew where she'd be and when she'd be there, so when she disappeared this morning it took him only a little while to track her down.

What he saw he didn't like. Rafe was on top of her and Sam wasn't moving, on pure instinct his wand was drawn and he sent a curse flying at Rafe to fling him at least ten feet away.

[Rafe Colby]

It all happened so fast. Rafe was about to reply to Sam, even to get up off of her and check her for any injuries she might have sustained in the fall, when another voice called out and a man, one of Sam's protectors--although Rafe had never bothered to learn the man's name--stepped into the clearing. Rafe opened his mouth, about to protest that he hadn't hurt Sam, when he felt himself flying backwards. He slammed into a tree, hitting his head but not hard enough to lose consciousness. He felt a dampness, something trickling from the back of his head and matting in his hair.

"I swear.... I didn't. I didn't hurt her," he said, knowing even as he said it that his words would go unheard. The man was never going to believe him. Only Sam could absolve him.

[Samantha Montgomery]

Nicolas had come from out of nowhere and Sam was still in shock when finally her senses caught up with her Nicolas was alreayd half way over to Rafe his fist raised high ready to pummel the boy into the next world.

"Nicolas no!" Sam shouted getting to her knees then her feet and rushing over to them, grabbing onto his arm. He pulled her a bit with his downward force seeing only red.

"No Stop! He saved me! Stop it!" she cried. She must of cleared him of his haze cause he turned and examined her, there was a small cut on her forehead but she looked to be fine he cradled her face tenderly and kissed her brow.

She allowed it for a second before kneeling next to Rafe, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" her eyes were kind as she moved his hair back away from his face.

[Rafe Colby]

He had hit his head too hard. That was surely the only explanation for what was happening right now. Or maybe she'd hit her head and forgot that he was Rafe, the man she never hesitated to remind how much she loathed him. He didn't even care which one it was... just so long as it didn't end. He'd happily dream his life away if it meant she would still be kneeling beside him, brushing his hair back from his face.

He could still feel the trickling sensation on the back of his head, though, and he sat up slowly, blinking at her and reaching up to touch the sticky clump of hair that was tender to the touch.

"I'm... I'm bleeding," he said softly. In a couple of places, he realized as he noticed the scratch on his arm was now dripping blood onto the forest floor. "I hit my head."

Any hope that it would have knocked some sense into him was shattered with his next words, however. "It doesn't matter. Are you hurt?"

[Samantha Montgomery]

"I'm alright. Just a scratch." she smiled, then frowned, "But you, you are indeed bleeding." she said with a sigh, "Nicolas help him." she commanded.

She heard a scoff in the background and turned a vicious look his way, "He just saved my life Nick, or would you rather me be crushed beneath that thing?" she said pointing at the large branch that would have surely injured if not killed her.

Grudgingly her fiance came over and without any gentleness to speak of started muttering a few spells to heal most of the damage.

"Feeling better?"

[Rafe Colby]

Rafe sat up slowly, still not quite able to believe the change in her demeanor toward him. His eyes flitted between her and Nicolas, certain that at any moment the other man was going to attack.

"I'm fine," he said, rubbing his head. The blood was gone now, and all he felt was a slight tenderness.

He smiled gratefully at her, feeling strangely... shy. Of all the times he'd been this close to her, she'd always been pushing him away, her face contorted with anger or disgust. Now she was looking at him with kindness in her eyes, and he thought it was the most beautiful he'd ever seen her look.

But Nicolas was still here, and Rafe couldn't afford to forget the other man's presence. He forced himself to look away from Sam and focus on Nicolas. "Look, I didn't follow her, and I didn't hurt her. She asked to meet me here and I came. And the branch fell, so I pushed her out of the way. That's all that happened. I swear."

[Samantha Montgomery]

For a solid moment Sam remembered her first meeting with Rafe. He had been a popular boy at her last school. He had charmed everyone around him including her at first. Sam remembered that at the time Rafe could have had any girl that he wanted.

Sam's mother had been the one to push a relationship between the two of them and that disappointed Sam. She didn't want to get Rafe caught up in her mother's schemes. When had everything changed? When did their friendship turn into his obsession? Wasn't it her fault too? Didn't she lead him on?

Maybe she was the one who hit her head since she couldn't explain what she did next except out of insanity. "It's fine Rafe, you don't have to explain yourself. Nicolas just give us a moment. I'm fine, Rafe met me here because I asked him to."

She could tell that Nicolas was about to argue but she glared sharply at him in a way that would take no arguments and as much as he hated it he walked away, not completely out of sight but so that they could have some privacy.

She waited til Nicolas walked away before turning her attention back on Rafe, "Thank you Rafe...you saved my life." she sighed. "You even risked your own...I owe you for that. I can't say that things are changed between us...you need to calm down and give me my space. And you need to understand that under no circumstances are you and I going to be together the way that you want us to be...I'm sorry for how I acted at Beauxbatons...I led you to believe that I had certain intentions...I'm sorry Rafe, truely we were both caught up in my mother's schemes but it's true that we were friends once, and we had some good times." it was ironic but Sam had forgotten that until this point.

[Rafe Colby]

Rafe could barely even remember the time before he met Sam. It seemed like something out of another lifetime. Their friendship, which he had believed meant more to her than it did, had shaped his life to the point where he didn't remember anything that came before it, and couldn't accept anything after it. And while he wanted more than just friendship, like he'd been led to believe once might be possible, he honestly was willing to accept any part of her, no matter how little.

Now it seemed that his simple act might have reawakened her memories of what he once had been to her. And no matter what she said, that gave him renewed hope.

"It wasn't any big deal, really," he said, attempting to play it down. "It was an instinct. I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt. I... Look, I know I've acted crazy. I'm sorry. It just hurt when you turned away from me. If I try to tone it down... maybe we could be friends again, like we were? Strictly platonic, and I swear I wouldn't touch you."

[Samantha Montgomery]

"You said that before Rafe..." she said hesitating. She must have been crazy. He had stalked her, hidden in her room after hours, tried to force himself on her, nearly kidnapped her, could one act of kindess erase all of that?

Rabastan would have her head if she even considered it, not to mention the rest of her rather large protectors.

"Just let me think about it alright?" She wouldn't say either way, it would require some serious consideration, he had crossed so many lines in the past few months, but didn't everyone deserve forgiveness?

[Rafe Colby]

"I know," he said with a sigh. She was right. He'd ruined any chances with her long ago, even though there was still a part of him that wouldn't let go of the hope that she'd change her mind. But the more rational part of his brain knew that he had blown all his chances and didn't deserve any more.

The reality was that he hated himself more than she ever could. He hated himself as much as he loved her. Every stupid crazy thing he had done to try and get close to her he had come to regret. When she wasn't around, he could see his behavior for what it was--insane. Several times he had almost managed to shake himself from her spell. But she triggered something in him that he couldn't seem to control. When she had left France, he had actually been fine for about a week. But then, like a junkie, he found himself twitching and shaking and needing to see just a glimpse of her... and that was when he'd transferred to Hogwarts. Later, he had found himself wondering just what the hell he was doing here... and then he promptly forgot again and started following Sam.

Usually, when he was around her, he lost all sense of reason. But for once, standing there with her, he was lucid and clear. He knew what he had done to her was wrong, and he regretted it more than he could ever tell her.

"OK," he said, taking a breath. "That's fair. Think about it. And... I'll try... to stay away from you for a while."

It was hard to even say the words, knowing that he wasn't sure he could keep that promise. But he felt certain that this would be his last chance, and he didn't want to blow this one, too.

[Samantha Montgomery]

She nodded surprised that he was complying and for a second she saw the man he used to be, the lucidity the insanity clearing from his eyes. She realized then it was only when she did pull away from him that he acted insane with her and she wondered why she hadn't caught on to that before. Suddenly something familiar triggered in her mind, something her mother had said long ago that she hadn't paid attention to at the time.

Was it possible that Rafe wasn't to fault for all this craziness? Could there be more behind it?

Sam had enough on her mind that she realy couldn't delve into the past and the erratic ramblings her mother used to rant about toward her, still it deserved some thought.

"Thank you Rafe." she hesitated looking at him, then on a whim she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

[Nicolas Everhart]

Nicolas was trying hard to focus sternly on his shoes but it was impossible instead he glared at the boy and was trying to get Sam's attention. He didn't care if the prat had saved her life, he had done far too much damage already for Nicolas to find any saving grace what so ever.

But the final straw was when Sam kissed him, "Samantha!"

[Rafe Colby]

Rafe could have died from happiness in that moment. He'd long since given up all hope that Sam would ever even speak to him, let alone kiss him. It was almost too much for him to take. He half expected Nicolas to come running up to murder him, because how could he dare hope for more than that one kiss from Sam?

He turned a very deep red and stepped back instinctively as Nicolas shouted out her name, angrily. He even raised up his hands in front of his face unconsciously to shield his face from an expected attack. Was this what he'd come to?

The moment passed, and he wasn't dead, so he shot a nervous glance over at Nicolas before smiling shyly at Sam. "You're welcome. I... I'd better go. I don't think your friend is so forgiving." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll... see you around."

And then he did something he hadn't done in a very long time--he willingly walked away from her. He didn't even glance back, even though he wanted to.