Samantha could have easily found a million reasons to continue to apologize for the grief that she knew she had caused Dorian. Even though she had been broken inside from her trauma, she had known deep down that Dorian needed her. The modern world had been such a mystery to the centuries old Fae King, and Samantha had disregarded that when she'd taken off with nothing but a note to explain her absence. And yet Dorian did not seem to hold a grudge against her in the way that she would hold one against herself. It was a simple shake of his head and a smile that dismissed her worries, and Samantha allowed the tension to slide off of her. He seemed, at least partly so, happy to see her despite everything. Samantha responded to his reassurances by wiping the tears that had threatened to spill from her eyes, giving a small nod to him in response.

Samantha was not naive, however. She knew that a simple afternoon apology would not be enough to repair their fractured friendship. But it was a start, at least. She knew Dorian well, and knew that he could never fully hate someone. There was too much kindness there. Too much good. She envied it, sometimes. That he was able to be so trusting and kind and yet hold power and be respected. Her kindness had gotten her taken advantage of, and it was... it was harder to trust people blindly now. Harder to be kind instinctively. She had lost so much by trusting Frost, and she refused to be taken advantage of in such a way again. But Dorian... Dorian was something to be admired. He was impossibly kind, and yet no one would question his authority. Perhaps some of that might rub off on Sam.

There was a spark of joy in the other man as Samantha reassured him that she had seen the magazine covers that featured his wedding to Sebastian. How she had longed to be in attendance, though she knew it was fault of her own that she had not. Samantha's feelings on that confirmed by Dorian, speaking the thoughts she had just considered. "I know," Samantha said softly, looking up at him. "I would have been there if things had been different. I would have been there and had been so incredibly happy for you. I am so incredibly happy for you, Dorian." Samantha bit her lip as he continued, considering those pictures that had undoubtedly not been published in any of those magazines. "I would love to see your wedding pictures, Dorian. The pictures in the magazines were incredible, and knowing you, the best ones aren't those."

Her voiced plea that she would like to try again with Sebastian was one that she was entirely sincere about. She had regretted the awful way that she had treated the vampire, and a chance to fix what she had damaged... that was why she was here, wasn't it? Her words seemed to have pleased Dorian, given the way that the tension seemed to disappear from his body entirely. "Just let me know when it is convenient for the two of you, I'd love to meet him again. I... I promise that this time will go so much better." She offered him a tiny smile, clearly nervous at the idea that Sebastian might not like her. "I'll even let you pick out my clothes, I know that was important to you last time." It was a slight tease to their past.

"Speaking of which, when did you get so casual?" She teased, gesturing to the white shirt and jeans he wore. He looked so informal compared to the blue dress that Samantha wore. "I got all dressed up for this, and you show up in jeans?" That one moment of ease was all but lost by the notion that Aiden had become... family to Dorian. There had been one point that she had considered herself and Dorian to be a family of sorts, and it seemed that even that had changed with the appearance of his actual family. She stumbled over those words as she asked for some sort of explanation, her tongue feeling entirely too heavy at the thought of Aiden. But neither of them seemed as rushed for that explanation. Instead, Samantha felt the dire need to explain to him how much she missed him, and how much she wanted a simple hug from him.

She expected, really, to not get the hug she asked for. He'd never been overly keen for physical affection with his proclaimed best friend, after all. And yet Samantha was pleasantly surprised when he returned her gesture. Samantha sighed happily as she was pulled gently against his chest. She squeezed him gently in the manner that she always had, and for the first time since returning to Sacrosanct, she almost felt at home in Dorian's embrace. "I really, really missed you," She murmured, though she supposed that was already entirely clear to him. Still, she had two years to make up for, and two years that she had missed him desperately.

She stepped away from his embrace, easily taking the chair that was offered to her. She took only a moment to straighten out her skirt as Dorian crossed the room. She expected to be handed a photograph depicting their wedding, and yet the photo she was presented with showed three faces, two of which were all too familiar to Samantha. She swallowed as she stared at it. They looked happy, all three of them. She glanced up at Dorian then, hoping for some explanation, which he, thankfully, seemed willing to give. Matteo. The name was entirely foreign to her, and yet she paired it easily with the man standing in the middle of the boys. She didn't have to see his ears to know that he was distinctly fae, like Dorian. He had to be, to be Dorian's true father, did he not? It still didn't explain his relationship to Aiden.

She was just opening her mouth to ask those questions when Dorian continued. Samantha's eyes flicked from the photograph up to land on Dorian as he spoke. She had known Dorian's father, the Italian King, had not really been his father, so it was no surprise that the fae man was his true father. And yet his presence was a bit of a surprise. "I am really happy for you, Dorian," She said softly, her thumb gently touching Aiden's place in the photo. "I... Aiden never spoke of... Matteo." She said quietly. "At least not to me."

At his mention that he and Aiden were very different people, Samantha's lip quirked up slightly. "You're not wrong," She chuckled slightly. "You two are very different. I... I kept you from meeting him at times, because I thought you two wouldn't get along. I selfishly didn't want to..." She paused, thinking of the best way to continue. "I didn't want to have to put myself between you two. Or choose. I don't think I could have. Though now it seems silly. You two would have done better than I thought." Samantha handed the photograph back to him. "I hope I will get a chance to meet Matteo as well. I want to meet the important people in your life. If they're important to you, they're important to me."