Look at Sam. Closely.

Ethan looks at Sam. REALLY looks at Sam.

The **** greases the wheels in his head, allowing him to consider things from an angle he'd never considered before. The resemblance is there. It was always there, or at least mostly was. Ethan just never took a moment to notice it. But now he can't unsee it. The hair. The eyes. The tits. Even their faces. The height is the biggest difference, which is a throw off. It takes a few moments still for the connections to form, but when they do they hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Holy fuck! Layla's your mom!"

Sam winces and halts, stopping so fast Ethan staggers to match her. She glares at him with her bright blue eyes. Layla's blue eyes. "She's not my fucking mom!" Sam seethes, her nostrils flaring. "She's my... Fucking father..."

"Ah..." Ethan swallows, not sure how much of a faux pas he just made. "Sorry..."

Huffing, Sam turns away from Ethan, appearing to be grinding her teeth. The two stand in silence for a very long few moments before Sam lets out a shakey breath. "It's okay. You..." she shrugs, "It's fine."

Ethan isn't sure what to say, so he follows it up with the first thing that pops into his head. "Do you... Wanna talk about it?"

"No," Sam exhales, rubbing her brow, "But..." she starts walking, Ethan scrambling to start after her. "There really isn't much to tell. She's my absent father and I'm her bastard daughter."

"Right," Ethan figured that out already, based on what he knew from Layla and about Sam. "And you two don't talk at all?"

Sam shrugs. "That's right."

"Why?"

Sam shrugs again, offering nothing else.

Ethan frowns, considering her nonanswer. Is she not answering because she doesn't want to say it, or because she doesn't know? Recalling his conversation with Layla, Ethan takes a small leap. "She wants to, you know."

"What?" Sam gives Ethan the stink eye.

"Layla. She wants to know you."

Sam grinds her teeth again, considering what Ethan just said. "She talks to a near total stranger, but not her own daughter?" She snorts, "Perfect."

"She said she isn't close to you because that's what your mother wanted," Ethan shrugs, fairly sure he's paraphrasing, but telling the truth.

Sam slows slightly, her expression twitching. She doesn't say anything for a few long moments. "She said that?"

"She did." Again, Ethan isn't totally sure, but sure enough.

"Hm," she clucks her tongue, "Fucking slut... She told me... Hmph." Sam picks up the pace again, forcing Ethan to follow suit.

He can tell he just gave Sam a lot to think about, and decides to leave it there for now.