Sam pursed his lips, his head resting on his hands, which were propped up on the marble counter of his boyfriend’s main kitchen island. The tall, stocky blond boy standing on the other side gave him a look.
“Please, Sammy? Just a little bit?” He slid the plate containing one fourth of a waffle out in front of Sam, who raised his eyebrows.
“Nope.”
“Sammy, come on! Just one bite!”
“I'm not hungry.” He protested, looking over his black polished nails with a blank expression.
“Samuel Andrew Sommers if you don't eat right now I'll...uh..I'll break up with you!” Lucas yelped.
Sam knew it pained him to say those last five words, so he grinned and looked up at him.
“You will?”
“...Y-yes...I will…”
“No you won't, you couldn't. You're too much of a simp. We both know you couldn't live without me.”
“Yeah and if you die because you starved yourself to death then we’ll have a serious problem.”
“Aww, you're concerned about me.”
“I always have been! You're so picky about what you eat that it's almost impossible to make you anything!”
“Take it with us, I'll probably be hungry on the way.”
“See?! It's like you've got some irregular eating schedule that I don't know about and I want to! I don't want my baby to die because he forgot to eat. Besides, you're already skinny, so if this is about what Darrel said the other day I'll beat him up for you.”
“No, fuck him. I don't care about what he thinks. Stupid fucker.” Sam mumbled.
Lucas picked up on Sam’s excess use of swears, and sighed, swinging around the island to give him a hug.
“Hey, he's an ass and we all know it. But don't let him bother you. What'd he say?”
“Something about how being seen around a paper thin femboy threatens his rep or some shit.”
“He thinks being seen with anyone ruins his rep. But you have to remember that no one but him gives a shit about it.” Lucas rubbed his back, kissing the top of Sam’s head.
“We should get back to my house before my aunt thinks I've been kidnapped.”
“Dude you didn't tell her you were spending the night?”
“...No…” Sam grinned sheepishly.
“Sammy! She probably thinks you crashed and your body is somewhere in a ditch!”
“Probably.”
-
Sam didn't bother knocking, so when they got to the little ranch house in the front of the property - a mid sized log cabin surrounded by the perfect circle of willow trees, of course with a gap in the front for the driveway - he just walked right in. His sister was sprawled out on the couch, sharing her four pieces of peanut butter toast with Red, who was drooling all over.
“Hey Samantha,” CJ called, rolling over and looking at her brother, “Aunt Ginny was really worried you died last night. You should pick up your damn phone once in a while.”
“It died,” Sam shrugged, “Now fuck off, your dog is drooling and I need to change.”
“Have fun!” She waved crazily, taking another big bite of her toast. Sam made it a point to shut the door behind him as he and Lucas made it into his room. He pulled off the shirt he'd borrowed, then the baggy sweats he'd also borrowed - both from Lucas - and gave his lovingly gazing boyfriend a long, lingering kiss before quietly making his way towards the closet.
“I'm thinking crop top, that new grey skirt you got me yesterday, black tights...or no tights?”
“Black tights.” Lucas nodded, still sitting a little dumbfounded on the foot of his bed.
“..Got it, black tights, that choker with our names on it..”
“And those cool tall boots you have!” Lucas added before Sam could finish. He quickly pulled his skirt up before turning around and grinning at Lucas, “You stupid genius, I love you.”
“Why what were you gonna say?”
“Just my normal converse but I forgot I had those boots.” Sam smiled, pecking Lucas on the forehead, “I think I'm all set now, you sure you're okay going in that?” It was just a hoodie and jeans, but Sam still wanted to make sure.
“Yes, I don't have the confidence to dress like you, but boy do I wish.”
“SAMUEL?!” A distressed yell came from downstairs.
“Hey Aunt G! I'm up here!” Sam stuck his head out of the doorway and waved at her. She wrapped him in a hug so tight he nearly choked.
“Oh my god I thought you died and then maybe Lucas killed himself too because you were dead and…”
“Calm down okay?” Sam laughed a little nervously, “I'm not dead, my phone just died and I didn't know you called me. I figured by now you knew if I was gone I was probably with him,” He glanced back at Lucas.
“You're lucky I like him or else I'd ground you.”
“I'm seventeen?!”
“Doesn't mean I can't take away your phone.”
“That's not fair though I'm almost an adult!”
“Almost, so until your birthday I can still ground you. And if you two are going out in public would you at least put a jacket on? It's forty degrees out there and you're dressed like it's mid July.”
“If I get cold I'll just use his hoodie.”
“No, go get your own.” Ginny gave him a look as he grabbed a thin jacket from the coat closet.
“Now have fun! And don't talk to strangers!” She called as the two of them headed out the front door towards Lucas’s car. It was bigger and less messy, so they often took that instead of Sam’s.
They'd made a date to go downtown all day, with a reservation to a fancy restaurant for lunch, and plenty of money to buy whatever they wanted. They were mostly going to end up looking at home decor, because they'd had a secret plan to move in together for a long time. And now they had an apartment, both of them chipping in half of the rent each month even if they weren't quite living there yet.
“Please please pleaseeeee can we just get a few fish? They don't stink and they're easy to take care of! Plus they can be pretty!” Lucas begged, as he and Sam wandered around the pet store downtown, which was locally owned and all of the animals were very well taken care of. Sam had never bought any of them, they were mainly turtles, fish, amphibians and a couple snakes, with the exception of the fancy mice and the cats and dogs the owner fostered to try to promote their adoption.
“You sound like a child.” Sam snorted, reaching down hastily to pat the pit bull who stood next to him on the head, “Please don't bite me..” He whispered. But she didn't, she instead reached up to lick his palm, wagging happily. For the first time since...ever…Sam actually liked an animal. This one was cute, small, and friendly.
“Was that a smile? Directed at a dog?” His boyfriend teased, reaching down to pet her too.
“She seems decent.” Sam quickly went blank again, refusing to look at her.
“Her name’s Lola! Aw, you're so cute!” Lucas sat down on the floor, letting the dog lick his face. Sam grimaced. “You're okay with them doing that?”
“Yeah, there's no harm! At least she's not biting me. Right Lola? Aren't you just the cutest thing ever!” Lucas cooed, scratching her where she seemed to like it - behind the ears. “What about a dog?”
“Mmm….how much does she cost?”
“THAT WASN'T A NO!” Lucas jumped up happily, wrapping his arms around Sam with the same for a as his aunt had earlier, just with a different purpose.
“Come on Sammy please please please please pleaseeeee…..?”
“If you stop acting like a toddler, let's see how much she costs. Because then we also have to buy food, water, get her bowls for both of those things, a bed, toys, collar, leash, she'll need walks every day because it's an apartment…” Sam was already regretting this. But it made Lucas happy, so he kept his mouth shut and just tried to focus on how happy it made the boy he loved.
“Could we put her on hold?” Turns out she’d been in and out of the shelter so much, she was cheap. But the shelter had to come make sure you were really, honestly going to keep her. It was sad how many times people had gotten rid of her because they couldn't handle her energy. But Lucas knew he could. He went on runs every evening and sometimes the morning anyway, so why not take Lola with him?
“I'll have to check with the shelter, but for now, I'll give you guys three days.” The lady behind the counter smiled, “I really hope it works out well with her..she's been adopted then rejected so many times, poor girl has never had a permanent family…” Sam would have listened, if it weren't for the bulletin board he initially went over to to look at the lost pet posters, hoping maybe one of those new stray cats that was hanging around the barn belonged to someone. But there was something else there that caught his attention more than the vaguely familiar photo of a half blind orange tabby male. An ad, on bright pink paper.
“A scavenger hunt? Around town? How does that work?” Sam was so busy reading all the fine print ‘not responsible for loss or destruction of personal items….partners will be unknown to participants prior to the hunt...all around the town, maybe even out of it…prizes for those who make it out are as follows...no set end date...and so on. It gave off sketchy vibes. Not allowed to partner with someone you know, but you had to have a partner? There was no map of the course, nothing showing when it would end, just a start date. October 22nd.
“Whatcha reading?” Lucas picked Sam up from behind, who yelped before relaxing into his grip.
“That flyer.” Sam pointed at the pink paper, giving Lucas a minute to scan it.
“We should do it together!”
“That’s just it, we couldn't. It's not allowed.”
“What do you mean?”
“Says there you're partnered with a stranger.”
“Oh. Oh? Awww, but why..?”
“It's run by Mr. Magus, why do you think?”
“Oh.”
Mr. Magus was the weirdest man in the whole town, maybe even the world. He was constantly doing social and scientific experiments, with or without people's consent. Luckily this time he had to have people sign up, which Lucas was already positive he was doing.
“It'll be a chance to meet someone new!”
“Or die.”
“Well...no…”
“Yeah, we're going to die doing this. And before we do, I'd like to let you know that I love you with all of my heart, but you're a dumbass.”
“Awww, I'll just focus on the I love you part, cause I do too.” Lucas beamed, pressing his lips to Sam’s. Sam didn't fight it, he just kissed him back. They stayed that way until Lola ran into Lucas, trying to catch a ball someone had thrown for her.
Fog Early followed by Afternoon Showers
