Capturethechaos

There’s something truly liminal about a grocery store when it is, for the most part, unoccupied.

You stood alone, listening to the quiet music playing over the speakers as you deliberated on which cereal you wanted.

“You know, personally I’d go with the Count Chocula, or Apple Jacks, but maybe that’s just me.”

The sudden voice next to you caused your body to tense up, and you whipped around, coming face to face with Sam as he stood with his usual goofy ass grin plastered on his face.

Your eyes rolled, but a smile quickly formed on your lips. “You know, a hello would have sufficed, rather than scaring the shit out of me.”

He shrugged, and reached past you to grab a box of the aforementioned Count Chocula cereal. “Maybe, but where’s the fun in that?”

It had been a couple weeks since you last saw him, since the night at the pub… and since you woke up the morning after having dreamed about him all night, about how his lips felt against your own, how gentle he was as he held you close to him… It was a lot to grapple with, and it left you in desperate need of a cold shower and a strong cup of coffee.

But there he stood, leaning against the handle of your cart as he watched you pick out cereal.

“You know, it’s funny I ran into you actually.”

You turned to him as you reached for a box of Apple Jacks, a curious look on your face urging him to continue speaking.

“I was gonna text you to see if you were free tonight. I’m having some friends over for a game night, gonna get some pizza, have some drinks, if you’d like to come.”

Your eyes caught something, well someone walking past the end of the aisle, and your focus drifted from Sam. He quickly noticed the change in focus, and turned to see what you were looking at.

“You alright, Y/n? Is that the uh… the dreaded ex?”

You slowly nodded, continuing to watch as he walked around with his new girlfriend on his arm.

“What’s his name?”

“Adam”

“Well, Adam is a loser, and what he did to you is fucking awful.”

You turned to him, confused as to how he knew about what happened between you and your ex, but he was still looking down the aisle at Adam. “How do you know what happened?”

He turned back to you, shaking off the sour look he had been directing at your ex before speaking. “Eleanor gets chatty after a few drinks.”

You nodded in agreement, but stayed quiet, peeking over his shoulder again to see Adam looking back at you, and you froze.

“Hey.” The feeling of Sam’s hand on your arm calmed your nerves, and his voice brought your attention back to him. “I mean what I said, he’s a fucking loser, and you’re way out of his league. Pay him no mind, he doesn’t deserve your attention.”

You nodded, and looked down at your shoes for a moment before you felt the gentle pressure of Sam’s finger beneath your chin, lifting your face to look at him. “Can you repeat that back to me? He’s a loser…”

“He’s a loser.”

“You’re out of his league.”

You stared blankly at him for a moment, and he sighed. “Come on, say it for me.”

“I’m out of his league.”

“Yes you are, and he doesn’t deserve your attention.”

“He doesn’t deserve my attention.”

“Atta girl.” You watched a smirk form on his lips as his finger dropped from your chin. “Now, would you like to continue shopping together? I could use a second opinion on what snacks to get for tonight.”

The simple nod you gave him was enough for the smirk to turn into a wide grin, and you turned back to lean against the handle of your cart. “So, what kind of games should I be preparing to play tonight?”

“So you are gonna come?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it.”

The two of you made your way to the end of the aisle, and you turned to Sam. “Where to next?”

“Deli, need to pick out some meat and cheese.”

Your gaze dropped to the small basket he was carrying before lifting back up to look at him. “There’s no way you’re going to fit everything you need in that basket.”

He looked down at his basket, then at your cart before looking at you. “Would you mind if I put my stuff in your cart?”

You shook your head, and gestured for him to add his stuff into the cart. “Of course not, go ahead.”

You stayed stationary while Sam placed the basket of his groceries into the cart, and waited for him to take the lead, but he simply made his way back to the space beside you. You turned to look at him, and were met with movement as he tucked himself closer behind you and placed a hand over each of your own on the handle of the cart before slowly pushing it, and in turn, you forward. “Lead the way, gorgeous. I’m perfectly content following you around.”

There was an undeniable feeling in you that your brain short circuited the moment he touched you, but his words brought a blush to your cheeks that would make a rose jealous. He stuck to you for the first few steps before he let his hands slip from yours and he fell into step with you.

You could imagine the smug look on his face without having to look at him, but what you didn’t see was the way Adam watched you turn into a flustered mess at Sam’s proximity and words, or the way Sam made a show of holding back to watch you walk away for a few seconds before making a move to catch up with you.

The two of you made your way around the store, slowly filling the cart with whatever you chose before you finally ended up in the produce section. You watched as Sam sped ahead of you a little, making a b-line for the assortment of melons on display. He pondered over the pile for a moment before he picked up two cantaloupes and turned to you. “Which one looks better?”

Your eyes dropped to the melons in his hands, and you couldn’t help but giggle at the way he had them held against his chest. He seemed to catch the small laugh as it escaped you, and his eyes dropped to look at what you were seeing. An airy chuckle came from Sam as he looked back up at you. “My eyes are up here you know.”

You rolled your eyes and stepped away from your cart to take one of the cantaloupes from his hand and place it in the cart. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Sam.”

“I could say the same to you, dear.”

When you turned to look back at him, somewhat taken aback by what he had called you, he had already walked away, looking instead at the array of different peppers.

You were only in the store for another ten minutes before you and Sam walked out into the parking lot.

“Where are you parked?”

You turned to look at him quickly before swiveling to find your car and point at it. He hummed and stepped away from you and the cart. “Why don’t you head over to your car, I can see an empty spot next to you. I’ll grab my car and make my way over.”

You gave him a quick nod and began to walk over to your car, trying your best not to get hit by the idiots who don’t know how to drive in a parking lot. Your head was hung as you searched through your bag for your car keys, leaving you unsuspecting of someone walking up to you.

“What happened to your little boyfriend? Did he get sick of you already?”

You knew exactly who the voice belonged to as it invaded your ears, but you kept your gaze focused on your task as you pulled your keys from your bag and popped the trunk of your car.

“If that was some attempt to make me jealous, that’s kind of-”

Before you had the chance to turn around and snap at him, the sound of a car horn cut him off, and you turned instead to see Sam’s car idling as he waited to get into the empty parking spot that Adam was standing in.

You watched as the window rolled down and Sam turned to look at Adam. “Hey asshole, the brakes in this car are on the fritz, so I can’t promise that it won’t run you over if you don’t leave her alone and move the fuck out of the way.”

Adam scrambled out of the way, looking over at you one last time, seeing the shocked look on your face, and the fresh blush creeping up onto your cheeks as you looked at Sam, before walking back to his car. Sam pulled into the spot and got out of the driver's side before making his way back to you, popping his truck as he walked.

“Are your brakes actually broken, Sam?”

He turned to you and chuckled, shaking his head as he gave the car a soft pat. “God no, I just bought this car, if the brakes were broken I would cry.”

“So you just-”

“Lied to get your jackass ex to move, yeah. Why? Did you not want me to? I can call him back over” his voice was teasing as he slowly turned and lifted his hand.

You quickly closed the distance between you and Sam, grabbing his arm and lowering it back to his side. “Please, god, no.”

He chuckled and lifted his free hand to your arm. “I would never, I’m just teasing.”

Your hands loosened from around his arm, falling back to your side as Sam turned to grab his groceries from the cart. “So… when should I make my way to your place?”

“Well.” He placed two bags into the trunk of his car before turning to you. “I know you’ve got lots to put away when you get home, so I won’t say right now, but whenever you’d like to make your way over the door will be open. Be warned though, I may put you to work helping me out with plating all this food if you come over too early.”

You rolled your eyes playfully, and stepped back to close the trunk of your own car. “Well, we’ll just have to see then won’t we?”

His lips turned into a small smirk as he watched you slowly back up toward the driver's side door of your car. “I guess so.”

You pulled open the car door and tossed your bag into the passenger's seat before turning back to him. “I’ll see you soon then.”

The smirk on his face grew to a smile, and he gave you a soft nod. “See you soon.”

The second you closed the car door you leaned over to your purse to grab your phone.

Your fingers hovered over the keyboard for a few seconds, but before you could begin to type a knock on your window scared you back into paying attention to your surroundings. Sam was leaning toward your window before you could even roll it down, his knuckle still resting in the spot it had been even after the glass had lowered.

“Figured you might need these.” His hand opened, revealing your keys. “You know, for driving and getting back into your apartment.”

Slowly, you lifted your hand to pluck the ring of keys from his palm, retracting your hand back through the window before you chanced a glance at him. “Thanks, I must have dropped them while I was packing the trunk.”

“Guess you’re lucky I noticed them.” He straightened himself out and slowly began turning back to his car. “I’ll see you later, Y/n. Don’t miss me too much.”

There weren’t many times that you felt as frantic as you did walking into your apartment, grocery bags hung from each arm as you kicked the door shut and shuffled into the kitchen. If there were an olympic category for putting away groceries, you would have won gold, and only once you were sure that everything had been placed in the correct spots did you pick up your phone. You spend the short walk to the bathroom staring at your screen as you typed out a detailed account of what happened at the grocery store to send to your friends.

The realization dawned on you as you walked into the bathroom that you hadn’t put much effort into how you looked before going to the store. You looked in the mirror, noting the fact that your hair hadn’t been washed in a few days, which you had attempted to hide with a bit of dry shampoo and a claw clip, and the clothing you had plucked from your “chair pile” of clean clothes that you had yet to fold and put away.

A shower was exactly what you needed, and you spent ample time beneath the blistering heat of the water before you stepped out and back into your bedroom.

After spending almost an hour just laying on your bed scrolling through a variety of apps, and some much needed deliberation over FaceTime with your friends, you were finally dressed and ready to go. You were thankful for Nadine, who had informed you that she would be joining in on the fun as a fellow friend… and plus one to Danny.

You hadn’t realized just how badly you had been fidgeting in the back seat of the car until the sound of the driver's voice pulled you from your own thoughts.

“You alright back there? You seem nervous.”

A nervous chuckle bubbled out of you, and you looked down at your hands as you twiddled your thumbs. “That obvious, huh?”

“Just a tad.” The chuckle that came from the older man in the front seat was much lighter than yours, and when your gaze lifted, you were quickly met by his warm smile and kind eyes in the rear view mirror. “So what’s got you feeling so nervous, first date?”

You choked on your own spit at the thought, immediately even more flustered than you were before. “No… no nothing like that, just going to hang out with some friends.”

“Just hanging out with friends… hm. Am I correct in assuming that you have feelings for one of these friends of yours.”

“Yeah…”

“And do you know if this friend has feelings for you as well?”

“I… I don’t really know.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, the last time we hung out we shared an Uber to go back to our respective houses… and when we arrived at my place he got out to say goodnight, which isn’t unusual… but then we kissed.”

“Well that’s a great sign!”

You could still see the soft expression that crossed Sam’s features as he looked at you that night. You could feel the weight of his gaze as his eyes took in every little detail on your face, and the way his lips pressed against your own.

“Sure, except that immediately after he muttered goodnight and scurried back into the car.”

“Well that just sounds like the poor boy was just as nervous as you are now.” His eyes flickered back to the rear view mirror as he pulled up to the curb outside of what you assumed to be your destination, and when he saw the skeptical look on your face he made the effort to turn and look at you properly. “Let yourself relax, darling. The longer you get stuck in that head of yours, the worse it’s gonna be.”

You nodded and looked back down at your hands.

“I was the same as him at some point in the distant past. Just a nervous, idiotic young man that would forget how to function around a girl that I had feelings for. Let yourself relax, if it’s meant to happen, it will happen.”

You looked up at him, offering a small smile to match his, and he gave you a reassuring nod. “My late wife, the love of my life, used to tell me that fate always meant for the two of us to end up together, we just had to allow ourselves to believe that love would find us when we were ready.”

Something caught his attention, causing him to turn away from you and look out the window. “Is this the guy?”

You turned and followed his gaze, finding Sam as he walked curiously down the driveway of the house. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

Sam’s eyes squinted in an attempt to figure out who was on the backseat, and you watched a wide grin break out on his face when you lifted your hand to offer a small wave.

The moment he stopped at the side of the car, your door was opened, and Sam offered a hand to help you out. “I was beginning to think you had taken a wrong turn.”

You thanked the driver as you stepped out of the car, and watched as Sam dipped his head down to look into the car. “Thank you for getting her here safe.”

“Any time, kid. It was a pleasure, she was the best passenger I’ve had in a long while. You two have a good night.”

“That’s the plan.” Sam stood up straight once again, giving the driver a wave as he shut the car door. “Have a good one.”

“Well.” Sam turned to you, and the intoxicating smile on his face caused a flurry of butterflies to erupt within you. “Come on then, I’ve got to give you the grand tour.”

You followed closely behind him and as the two of two walked through the front door, you immediately felt some of the anxiety you had been carrying fall away. Sam continued to walk as you shrugged your coat from your shoulders and bent over to untie your shoes.

“Where’d you go?”

His voice had become distant, having passed through what you had suspected to be at least one hallway of sorts before he finally noticed that you weren’t following behind him. “Taking my shoes off.”

He came shuffling back into the entryway within seconds, standing and watching as you pulled your shoes off and straightened up. “Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself there.”

You chuckled and stepped closer to him, your lips curling into a smile that you couldn’t fight, not in his presence at least. “No need to apologize, now show me around.”

A giddy energy blanketed the two of you as Sam reached for your hand, wrapping it within his own before dragging you along behind him further into the house.

After painstakingly showing you every inch of the main floor, Sam ran ahead of you and beckoned you up the stairs. “Alright, so we’ve got another bathroom here.”

His hand brushed along a closed door, and continued along the wall. Your gaze travelled along the decorated hall, pictures of family and friends leaving little room in the space between door frames.

“And this…” The soft tapping of his fingers against the dark wooden door brought your attention back to him. “Is where the magic happens. Also known as my bedroom.”

A playful smirk crept its way onto your lips as you turned your attention to the way he continued staring down the hall. “Where the magic happens, huh?”

His head whipped around to look at you, and he quickly mirrored your smirk. “Do you doubt me?”

And just like that, any thoughts that may have crossed your mind were washed away into the gutter. You wanted to say no, you didn’t doubt him, in fact you wanted him to prove it, but instead the two of you simply stood staring at one another until he chuckled and broke the silence. “Do you want to see the music room?”

You shook from your trance and gave him a small nod. “You have a music room?”

He beamed and nodded, waving for you to follow him as he turned and walked to the end of the hallway. He opened the door and made a dramatic show of displaying the now open room to you as you walked up to the doorway. “Holy shit. I knew you liked to play guitar, but I wasn’t expecting this.”

It was beautiful, a comfortable couch resting against the wall beneath a cascading display of various guitars. Across the room was a standing desk with a keyboard resting beneath the main deskspace. You watched as he made his way toward the couch, letting himself freefall into the cushions before looking back at you. “Kind of comes with the job I do, I guess.”

“You know, we never really talk about your job.” You were still leaning against the door frame, your eyes taking in all the small details of the room.

“There’s more interesting things to talk about.”

You turned back to him, your eyes locking with his as a small smile pulled at the corner of your lips. “Well I’d like to know more about it than you just ‘working in a music store with your brothers.’ Seems like it would be fun.”

His smile returned, and one of his hands dropped from behind his head to pat the empty space beside him on the couch. “Well come on over then, I’ll tell you all about it.”

You shuffled across the room, lowering yourself into the seat across the couch from him and turning to give him your full attention. “Go on.”

He turned himself to face you, readjusting himself to get comfortable. “It’s nothing overly special. I work with my brothers, and Danny. The store is owned by an old family friend, but the four of us have been keeping the place going now that he is getting a bit too old to manage it on his own.”

You pulled your legs onto the cushion to sit cross legged as you listened to him talk, nodding along, but when he paused, you worried that’s all he was going to say. “Well that can’t be all of it. What do you do?”

He looked somewhat surprised by your genuine interest, but quickly picked up where he left off. “Well, Josh pretty much runs the place. Danny helps with customer service and most of the heavy lifting. Jake does maintenance, he’ll fix pretty much whatever instrument someone brings in, he’s kind of a whiz with that stuff. He also does guitar lessons.”

“And you?”

He smiled and watched you sink further into the cushions, getting comfortable as you listened to him. “I mostly do customer service, but I also give guitar and piano lessons.”

“It’s nothing special… Sam, that’s such a cool job, you’re teaching people to play music, that’s so special.”

He seemed taken aback by what you said, and you watched him stare down at his hands as a light blush blossomed across his cheeks. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

There was a moment of quiet before Sam looked back up at you. “Do you play any instruments?”

“Not really, no. I wanted to learn how to play guitar in high school, but I never really got the hang of it so I just gave up.”

The smile on his face fell to a small frown, and you watched the cogs turn in his brain for a moment before his eyes locked on yours once again. “Would you let me try.”

Your eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion as you looked back at him. “Let you try?”

“To teach you.”

“You’d really do that?”

Sam became somewhat sheepish at the question, but held eye contact with you. “Only if you want to. I’m not going to force you to learn.”

“No, I uh… I’d like that.” His smile returned, bright and warm at your words, and this time he got to watch as a blush rose to your cheeks. “I’d like that a lot actually. Maybe this time it’ll stick.”

The two of you fell into a comfortable quiet for a few minutes until Sam groaned and stretched before standing from the couch. You watched as he made his way to your side of the couch, and he made a show of offering a hand to you with a dramatic bow. “Shall we make our way downstairs to get the food plated?”

You giggled, nodding as you placed your hand in his and felt him pull you from the cushions. The two of you made your way downstairs, and Sam took the time to show you where all of the food was before he ran into the living room to turn on some music.

“We can’t be working in silence, that’s insane.”

Within an hour the two of you managed to put together a table full of various snacks. Bowls full of different flavors of chips, and platters covered in various meats and cheeses laid before you, organized to perfection along the length of his dining room table.

A low whistle passed through Sam’s lips as you made the final adjustments to the display, and you turned to see him staring at all of the food. “You think there’s enough?”

You shrugged and straightened up, turning properly toward him. “Good question, I don’t know how many people are going to be here, so you’d know better than me.”

His eyes flickered up from the table, meeting your eyes as the music kept the room from falling into silence. Sam pulled his hand from the pocket of his jeans and lifted it towards you. “Come here.”

You looked at his hand, then back up to his face, a curious look crossing your features as your hand slowly lifted away from the table you had been leaning against. He caught the look and chuckled. “Come on, let’s dance.”

“But—”

His hand breached the gap, wrapping around your own. “Nope. No excuses.”

“Seriously, Sam?” You relaxed into the gentle pull of his hand, making a show of dramatically rolling your eyes. “Don’t you remember the wedding?”

“Very well, yeah.” When your eyes landed back on Sam, you felt a flash of something you hadn’t felt in a while, bliss. Something in the way he smiled at you released the tension in your body, you felt relaxed with him.

You stepped forward, planting yourself in front of Sam, keeping your eyes “So you remember what I said?”

Your gaze fell to the hand enclosed within Sam’s, watching the way he readjusted his hold to be more comfortable for the both of you as he spoke. “I remember you enjoying yourself until what’s his name interrupted us.”

“Oh, I was enjoying myself was I?” Your words were accompanied by a small smirk and a quirk of your brow as your eyes once again found his.

“Sure seemed that way” Sam gently pulled you closer, and you could feel the tingle of his touch as his free hand ghosted over your waist, as if giving you an out of you genuinely didn’t want to dance. “Of course you’re free to tell me otherwise.”

You hummed as your free hand came to rest on his bicep. “As fun as it is to bicker with you, I agree. I did enjoy myself, quite a lot, actually.”

Sam’s smile widened, and his lips parted, but before he could speak the sound of the door opening and closing stole the attention of the both of you.

“Honey, I’m home.”

You and Sam separated when the sound of Danny’s voice echoed through the house, instead you watched as Sam popped his head into the living room. Sam was the first to speak as he took a large step out of the dining room. “You’re back early.”

“No… not really. It's actually later than I planned to get home.”

There was a beat of silence before Danny spoke up. “It’s quiet in here, where’s Rose?”

“Shit. I put her in her crate earlier and meant to let her outside before everyone showed up.”

“And have you?”

“Clearly not, I’ve been a bit distracted.”

“Distracted, what could have distracted you from your dog?”

Nadine popped out from around the corner, and as quickly as she found you, she was back out of the dining room with you in tow. “I think I know.”

Danny turned at the sound of her voice, and a smile quickly formed on his face when he caught sight of the two of you. “Well hello, stranger. Where were you hiding?”

“She wasn’t hiding, she’s been here for a while.”

Everyone turned to see Sam standing at the base of the staircase, and in his arms was the cutest puppy you had ever laid eyes on. “She was passed out when I walked into my room.”

Your gaze lifted and locked with Sam’s, earning a small smile and wave from him, beckoning you towards him. Rose was eagerly wiggling in Sam’s grasp when you walked over to them, her little tail thumping against his side. “Well hello, Rose. You are so cute.”

Rose gave your hand a brief sniff before lowering her head as if to ask for you to pet her, which you gladly did, running your fingers along the soft fur between her ears.

“I’m gonna take her out for a bit before everyone gets here. Might smoke a joint as well, care to join?” Sam’s voice pulled your attention from the puppy, though your hand remained scratching a spot beneath her chin as you looked up at him and nodded.

Sam’s head briefly lifted to look toward the others, but your attention remained on him and Rose as he spoke. “Danny, Nadine, you two coming along?”

You turned then to look at them, and found both shaking their heads. Nadine spoke up when her eyes locked with yours. “Gonna wait till later, don’t want to get tired super early.”

“Alright, well looks like it’s just gonna be you and me.” You turned back to Sam and found him already staring back at you with a small smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

“Lead the way.”

The two of you got to the sliding glass door, and Sam opened it. He looked down, and your eyes followed, watching as he slipped on a pair of shoes and looked back up at you. “Hold on a second, I’ll be right back.”

He turned and sped off, leaving you watching and wondering what on earth he was doing, until he came back holding your shoes. “Figured you wouldn’t want to go outside in your socks.”

You looked back down at your feet, eyeing the mismatched socks you had pulled from your pile of clean laundry in a hurry before your gaze found him again. “Honestly, I hadn't even realized, thank you.”

He placed your shoes on the floor and straightened back up before sliding open the door and stepping outside with Rose in tow. You slid your shoes on as quickly as you could and stumbled behind him onto the patio as Rose barrelled ahead into the large backyard.

It took a few steps to catch up to Sam as he leaned against the railing. “This house is amazing, how did you two manage to find such a nice place?”

Sam turned to you, body still leaning against the wooden railing, with a joint between his lips and his hand lifting to light the end. He took a long drag, clearly enjoying the way you were simply watching him, before blowing the smoke from between his lips. “We got lucky.”

He took another drag before holding the joint out for you to take, and watched as you plucked it from between his fingers. “Elaborate.”

“The owners are friends of Danny’s grandparents. When they retired they bought an R.V. to travel, and offered to give us cheap rent if we helped fix the place up.” He watched you intently as you breathed in the wondrous substance within the perfectly rolled joint, and his attention only broke when Rose let out a hushed bark from across the yard.

Both of you turned, watching as she stared back at the two of you, lowering the front of her body onto the grass, but keeping her rear end, and wagging tail off of the ground.

“What is it Rose? Do you want to show Y/n the garden, is that it?”

She hopped from her spot, her small body swaying from the force of her tail wagging, and you turned to Sam. “You have a garden?”

He eagerly nodded, and accepted the joint as you offered it back to him. “I do.”

Sam passed the joint back to you on the walk over to the garden, and Rose happily trotted along behind the two of you. The two of you made your way over to an area off to the side of the patio and you were honestly a bit surprised at what you found. A long garden bed spanned the gap between fence posts, filled to the brim with flowers of every color, shape and size you could imagine. Across from it stood multiple raised garden beds, each with a different cluster of fruits and vegetables growing within them.

“So…” Sam turned to look at the sound of your voice, and watched as you took another drag of the joint before holding it out for him to take. “What do you have growing in this garden of yours?”

He plucked the joint from between your fingers and carefully tapped the side until the ash scattered to the ground. “You really want to know?”

His question was followed by a deep drag of the joint as he looked to you for an answer. What he found was a soft smile across your lips as you nodded encouragingly for him to tell you. “Yeah, I really do.”

“Well, uh…” You watched Sam look between all of the planters, eventually stopping at the one at the end of the row. “This one has beets and carrots in it.”

“That one.” He pointed to the next box, and you followed his movement. “Has a few kinds of lettuce, and green beans growing up the lattice.”

A quiet bark sounded from between the two of you, and you looked down to see Rose sitting next to you, wagging her tail as she looked back up at you.

“I think she wants a green bean, she loves them.”

You quirked an eyebrow, and kneeled to pet Rose. “You like green beans, Rose?”

She yipped, and pressed her head into your hand.

“Here.” You looked up and found Sam holding out a green bean for you to take. “Give her one, she’ll love you forever.”

You took the small green vegetable from his hand and looked back at the small puppy that was damn near vibrating with excitement at your feet. “Does she know any tricks?”

“I’ve been teaching her how to shake, but she’s still learning.”

“Rose, would you like a green bean?” Her tail was whipping back and forth as she continued to stare at you. “Can you shake a paw for me?”

You offered your free hand to her, and watched as she stared blankly at you for a moment before she lifted a paw and placed it in your palm.

You lit up, and gently shook her paw before letting it slip from your grasp, instead you held the green bean out for her and watched as she gently took it between her teeth, bolted up onto the patio and jumped up onto one of the chairs to lay down as she ate her treat.

“That was impressive.” You straightened up and looked back at Sam, who was beaming as he continued to look at Rose. “She doesn’t usually listen that well to new people.”

“I guess she just really likes me.” It was a cheeky comment, paired with a goofy grin as you continued to look at him.

“She’s not the only one.”

He still wasn’t looking at you, and for a moment you wondered if you had misheard him, but before you could respond another voice echoed into the backyard. “Now what on earth is going on out here?”

You turned to follow the sound of the voice and found the twins leaning against the railing. Josh’s eyes found yours, and seeing his bright smile, you couldn’t help but smile yourself. “Sam was just showing me his garden.”

“You don’t say. You know, usually Sam waits until the third date to show a girl his cucumber.”

Jake’s comment was followed closely by a booming laugh from Josh, and a scoff from Sam. After a few seconds of tense silence, Rose broke through the quiet by barking and scratching at the sliding glass door.

“Well, didn’t mean to interrupt your tour, just wanted to let you two know that we had arrived.” Josh’s words were quickly followed by him dragging Jake back into the house, leaving you and Sam alone in the garden once again.

“We should probably head inside if people are starting to show up.”

“What, you’re not going to tell me about each and every one of the flowers you have in this garden bed?”

He chuckled, and shook his head and he began walking back towards the patio. “There’s too many to list, plus it’s not that interesting.”

“I beg to differ.” You followed closely behind him, falling into step as you made your way toward the door.

You were startled when he suddenly came to a stop, which caused you to bump into him as he turned to you. “Maybe next time.”

His gaze dropped to watch as you lifted your hand into the small gap between the two of you, with all of your fingers tucked away, except for your pinkie. “Promise?”

He chuckled and lifted his own hand, looking back into your eyes as he wrapped his pinky around your own. “Promise.”

You followed Sam into the house and quickly found both the twins settled into the living room with Danny and Nadine.

“So, has Sam told you that he makes pickles?”

You made your way over to one of the remaining empty spaces on the loveseat being occupied by Danny and Nadine. “He did not, but I am eager to hear about it whenever he chooses to share.”

The remaining guests slowly trickled into the house, and suddenly the space was filled with boisterous laughter and conversation. Everyone dug into the food as they talked, and you found yourself comfortably conversing with Sam’s friends, listening as he made jokes with them, and joining in as they asked questions to get to know you.

“Who’s up for some drunk uno?”

You leaned over to Sam, who had made himself comfortable leaning against the table next to you, close enough to warm his body with the heat radiating off of you. “What is drunk uno?”

Sam let out a quiet chuckle before turning to Jake, who had brought up the idea. “I’ll go grab the cards, you guys will have to explain the rules to Y/n and Nadine, I don’t know if they’ve ever played, and it never hurts to refresh everyone on how to play.”

Sam scurried off to find the game as the rest of you made you way into the living room and settled into spots around the coffee table as Jake explained the rules, they were as follows;

If you forget the rules, or you must ask a question, you take one drink.

If you lose a turn because of a skip card, or miss a turn, you take one drink.

+2 cards = two drinks

+4 cards = four drinks

If you don’t have a matching card and have to pick up from the deck, you take one drink.

If you forget to say Uno on your last card, take four drinks.

If you play an identical card (same color and action/number), everyone takes one drink.

The player with the most cards at the end of the game must finish their drink. In the event that their drink is less than half full, they must get a fresh drink to finish.

Sam returned with the game in his hand, and he quickly maneuvered his way around his seated friends to lower himself into the empty spot beside you.

You listened to the small conversations that had sparked up in the time since you all sat down, but your attention had been stolen by Sam the moment he sat beside you. You watched as he sat quietly, pulling the cards from their box and checking to make sure that they were all facing the same way before he began to shuffle them.

It wasn’t hard to become transfixed, watching the way his nimble fingers handled each card with such care, you had tuned out your surroundings, and figured that the weed was finally settling in your brain, bringing with it a serene sense of calm.

“So, did Jake confuse you enough with the rules?” Your eyes flickered up to see Sam still concentrated on the cards as he dealt the hands for each player.

“Might take me a round to get used to, but I’m a quick learner so I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out.”

His eyes left the cards, and he caught the way your gaze lingered on his lips as he ran his tongue along his bottom lip. A smirk quickly formed as he leaned towards you to nudge his shoulder against your own. “Well if you have any questions, ask me, I won’t make you drink.”

—

“Dickhead!”

Sam’s boisterous laugh filled the room as he dramatically tossed his final card onto the pile. “Sorry baby, it was all I could play.”

Your cheeks flushed pink at his words, and he watched you pick up four cards from the deck, and when you lifted your drink to your lips, he kept eye contact with your icy gaze, watching intently as you took four sips of your drink.

Thankfully, even with the addition of the cards at the last second, you still weren’t holding as many as Josh, who made a show of standing for everyone to watch as he downed his drink.

The group was in the fourth round… or was it the fifth? Of uno, and you were finally on your last card. At least you were until Sam played that damned plus four. You weren’t sure how much time had passed, as breaks had been taken between each round to eat, go pee, or smoke.

“Alright, someone has to open the store tomorrow, so I’m going to head out.”

Josh’s statement was followed by a chorus of boos from those still sitting on the floor, but once it had quieted down, Jake piped up with a loud groan as he stood and stretched. “Josh is right, gotta have a couple people capable of working tomorrow morning, so you two-” He turned to Danny and Sam, waggling his finger at them briefly “-are off the hook, but you’ll have to be in to close tomorrow.”

Slowly people began making their way around the house, cleaning up and collecting their belongings before bidding farewell and heading out. Danny and Nadine said goodnight as they made their way towards Danny’s room, and soon enough you were left in a quiet house with Sam.

One of his friends had passed out on the couch, so the two of you kept your voices low as you followed close behind him, helping to clean up what remained of the food.

You took the liberty of filling the sink with warm soapy water to do the dishes while Sam packed up whatever food had to be refrigerated, music playing quietly from his phone on the counter.

“You know.” The ghost of his touch on your waist jolted you from your own thoughts. “You don’t have to do the dishes, it was more than enough that you hung around to help me clean up the food.”

You reached for the drying towel beside the sink to wipe your hands as you slowly spun around to face him, and found yourself within inches of the man that had been invading your every sense since you came to realize the depth of your feelings for him.

You swallowed the lump in your throat as you looked up into the warmth of his deep brown eyes. The majority of the lights in the house had either been dimmed, or turned off, so the two of you stood in the dim orange light of the kitchen, staring at one another and waiting to see who would break the silence.

“It’s the least I could do, really.”

He hummed, dropping one of his hands from your waist, but before you could mourn the loss of his touch, his fingers brushed your own. “Could I ask one more thing of you?”

You nodded, looking down to where the tips of his fingers danced with yours as you awaited his request.

“Dance with me?”

A smile graced your lips and you nodded once again, and you felt the pressure of his skin against yours as he took your hand in his own, and pulled you closer with the one that remained on your waist. The song changed, and the dulcet voice of Nat King Cole graced your ears as Sam began to sway with you.

You weren’t sure whether to credit the weed, alcohol, or Sam’s presence for the drowsiness that overcame you, though it was a safe bet that all of the above had a part to play in it.

You could feel the steady beating of his heart as your head rested against his chest. “Hey, Sam… can I tell you a secret?”

“Of course.” His voice is hushed, much like your own, as if despite everyone else either having left or gone to sleep, you were making an effort for only one another to hear what was being said.

There was a beat of silence as your brain tried to comprehend what you were going to say. Eventually a soft sigh escaped from your lips, and you finally said it. “I think I’ve fallen for you.”

You could have sworn you felt his heart skip, and though you couldn’t see it, Sam’s smile was as dopey as ever as he took in what you said. “Is that so?”

You nodded as best as you could with your head still against his chest, and it once again fell quiet as you relaxed further into his hold.

Your eyes had fallen closed not long after you began to sway with him, so the feeling of his breath suddenly tickling the shell of your ear sent a shiver running down your spine. “I think I’ve fallen for you too.”

He was still wearing the goofy grin when you leaned back, looking up at him with dreamy eyes. “Really?”

He simply nodded, lifting the hand from your waist to move a stray hair from your face. Your eyes were growing heavier with each passing moment, and Sam clued in before you could try to fight it. “You tired?”

You nodded, and Sam’s smile softened. “Alright, let’s get you to bed. We can talk more when we’re both sober, but for now you need to rest.”

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There’s something truly liminal about a grocery store when it is, for the most part, unoccupied.

You stood alone, listening to the quiet music playing over the speakers as you deliberated on which cereal you wanted.

“You know, personally I’d go with the Count Chocula, or Apple Jacks, but maybe that’s just me.”

The sudden voice next to you caused your body to tense up, and you whipped around, coming face to face with Sam as he stood with his usual goofy ass grin plastered on his face.

Your eyes rolled, but a smile quickly formed on your lips. “You know, a hello would have sufficed, rather than scaring the shit out of me.”

He shrugged, and reached past you to grab a box of the aforementioned Count Chocula cereal. “Maybe, but where’s the fun in that?”

It had been a couple weeks since you last saw him, since the night at the pub… and since you woke up the morning after having dreamed about him all night, about how his lips felt against your own, how gentle he was as he held you close to him… It was a lot to grapple with, and it left you in desperate need of a cold shower and a strong cup of coffee.

But there he stood, leaning against the handle of your cart as he watched you pick out cereal.

“You know, it’s funny I ran into you actually.”

You turned to him as you reached for a box of Apple Jacks, a curious look on your face urging him to continue speaking.

“I was gonna text you to see if you were free tonight. I’m having some friends over for a game night, gonna get some pizza, have some drinks, if you’d like to come.”

Your eyes caught something, well someone walking past the end of the aisle, and your focus drifted from Sam. He quickly noticed the change in focus, and turned to see what you were looking at.

“You alright, Y/n? Is that the uh… the dreaded ex?”

You slowly nodded, continuing to watch as he walked around with his new girlfriend on his arm.

“What’s his name?”

“Adam”

“Well, Adam is a loser, and what he did to you is fucking awful.”

You turned to him, confused as to how he knew about what happened between you and your ex, but he was still looking down the aisle at Adam. “How do you know what happened?”

He turned back to you, shaking off the sour look he had been directing at your ex before speaking. “Eleanor gets chatty after a few drinks.”

You nodded in agreement, but stayed quiet, peeking over his shoulder again to see Adam looking back at you, and you froze.

“Hey.” The feeling of Sam’s hand on your arm calmed your nerves, and his voice brought your attention back to him. “I mean what I said, he’s a fucking loser, and you’re way out of his league. Pay him no mind, he doesn’t deserve your attention.”

You nodded, and looked down at your shoes for a moment before you felt the gentle pressure of Sam’s finger beneath your chin, lifting your face to look at him. “Can you repeat that back to me? He’s a loser…”

“He’s a loser.”

“You’re out of his league.”

You stared blankly at him for a moment, and he sighed. “Come on, say it for me.”

“I’m out of his league.”

“Yes you are, and he doesn’t deserve your attention.”

“He doesn’t deserve my attention.”

“Atta girl.” You watched a smirk form on his lips as his finger dropped from your chin. “Now, would you like to continue shopping together? I could use a second opinion on what snacks to get for tonight.”

The simple nod you gave him was enough for the smirk to turn into a wide grin, and you turned back to lean against the handle of your cart. “So, what kind of games should I be preparing to play tonight?”

“So you are gonna come?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it.”

The two of you made your way to the end of the aisle, and you turned to Sam. “Where to next?”

“Deli, need to pick out some meat and cheese.”

Your gaze dropped to the small basket he was carrying before lifting back up to look at him. “There’s no way you’re going to fit everything you need in that basket.”

He looked down at his basket, then at your cart before looking at you. “Would you mind if I put my stuff in your cart?”

You shook your head, and gestured for him to add his stuff into the cart. “Of course not, go ahead.”

You stayed stationary while Sam placed the basket of his groceries into the cart, and waited for him to take the lead, but he simply made his way back to the space beside you. You turned to look at him, and were met with movement as he tucked himself closer behind you and placed a hand over each of your own on the handle of the cart before slowly pushing it, and in turn, you forward. “Lead the way, gorgeous. I’m perfectly content following you around.”

There was an undeniable feeling in you that your brain short circuited the moment he touched you, but his words brought a blush to your cheeks that would make a rose jealous. He stuck to you for the first few steps before he let his hands slip from yours and he fell into step with you.

You could imagine the smug look on his face without having to look at him, but what you didn’t see was the way Adam watched you turn into a flustered mess at Sam’s proximity and words, or the way Sam made a show of holding back to watch you walk away for a few seconds before making a move to catch up with you.

The two of you made your way around the store, slowly filling the cart with whatever you chose before you finally ended up in the produce section. You watched as Sam sped ahead of you a little, making a b-line for the assortment of melons on display. He pondered over the pile for a moment before he picked up two cantaloupes and turned to you. “Which one looks better?”

Your eyes dropped to the melons in his hands, and you couldn’t help but giggle at the way he had them held against his chest. He seemed to catch the small laugh as it escaped you, and his eyes dropped to look at what you were seeing. An airy chuckle came from Sam as he looked back up at you. “My eyes are up here you know.”

You rolled your eyes and stepped away from your cart to take one of the cantaloupes from his hand and place it in the cart. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Sam.”

“I could say the same to you, dear.”

When you turned to look back at him, somewhat taken aback by what he had called you, he had already walked away, looking instead at the array of different peppers.

You were only in the store for another ten minutes before you and Sam walked out into the parking lot.

“Where are you parked?”

You turned to look at him quickly before swiveling to find your car and point at it. He hummed and stepped away from you and the cart. “Why don’t you head over to your car, I can see an empty spot next to you. I’ll grab my car and make my way over.”

You gave him a quick nod and began to walk over to your car, trying your best not to get hit by the idiots who don’t know how to drive in a parking lot. Your head was hung as you searched through your bag for your car keys, leaving you unsuspecting of someone walking up to you.

“What happened to your little boyfriend? Did he get sick of you already?”

You knew exactly who the voice belonged to as it invaded your ears, but you kept your gaze focused on your task as you pulled your keys from your bag and popped the trunk of your car.

“If that was some attempt to make me jealous, that’s kind of-”

Before you had the chance to turn around and snap at him, the sound of a car horn cut him off, and you turned instead to see Sam’s car idling as he waited to get into the empty parking spot that Adam was standing in.

You watched as the window rolled down and Sam turned to look at Adam. “Hey asshole, the brakes in this car are on the fritz, so I can’t promise that it won’t run you over if you don’t leave her alone and move the fuck out of the way.”

Adam scrambled out of the way, looking over at you one last time, seeing the shocked look on your face, and the fresh blush creeping up onto your cheeks as you looked at Sam, before walking back to his car. Sam pulled into the spot and got out of the driver's side before making his way back to you, popping his truck as he walked.

“Are your brakes actually broken, Sam?”

He turned to you and chuckled, shaking his head as he gave the car a soft pat. “God no, I just bought this car, if the brakes were broken I would cry.”

“So you just-”

“Lied to get your jackass ex to move, yeah. Why? Did you not want me to? I can call him back over” his voice was teasing as he slowly turned and lifted his hand.

You quickly closed the distance between you and Sam, grabbing his arm and lowering it back to his side. “Please, god, no.”

He chuckled and lifted his free hand to your arm. “I would never, I’m just teasing.”

Your hands loosened from around his arm, falling back to your side as Sam turned to grab his groceries from the cart. “So… when should I make my way to your place?”

“Well.” He placed two bags into the trunk of his car before turning to you. “I know you’ve got lots to put away when you get home, so I won’t say right now, but whenever you’d like to make your way over the door will be open. Be warned though, I may put you to work helping me out with plating all this food if you come over too early.”

You rolled your eyes playfully, and stepped back to close the trunk of your own car. “Well, we’ll just have to see then won’t we?”

His lips turned into a small smirk as he watched you slowly back up toward the driver's side door of your car. “I guess so.”

You pulled open the car door and tossed your bag into the passenger's seat before turning back to him. “I’ll see you soon then.”

The smirk on his face grew to a smile, and he gave you a soft nod. “See you soon.”

The second you closed the car door you leaned over to your purse to grab your phone.

Your fingers hovered over the keyboard for a few seconds, but before you could begin to type a knock on your window scared you back into paying attention to your surroundings. Sam was leaning toward your window before you could even roll it down, his knuckle still resting in the spot it had been even after the glass had lowered.

“Figured you might need these.” His hand opened, revealing your keys. “You know, for driving and getting back into your apartment.”

Slowly, you lifted your hand to pluck the ring of keys from his palm, retracting your hand back through the window before you chanced a glance at him. “Thanks, I must have dropped them while I was packing the trunk.”

“Guess you’re lucky I noticed them.” He straightened himself out and slowly began turning back to his car. “I’ll see you later, Y/n. Don’t miss me too much.”

There weren’t many times that you felt as frantic as you did walking into your apartment, grocery bags hung from each arm as you kicked the door shut and shuffled into the kitchen. If there were an olympic category for putting away groceries, you would have won gold, and only once you were sure that everything had been placed in the correct spots did you pick up your phone. You spend the short walk to the bathroom staring at your screen as you typed out a detailed account of what happened at the grocery store to send to your friends.

The realization dawned on you as you walked into the bathroom that you hadn’t put much effort into how you looked before going to the store. You looked in the mirror, noting the fact that your hair hadn’t been washed in a few days, which you had attempted to hide with a bit of dry shampoo and a claw clip, and the clothing you had plucked from your “chair pile” of clean clothes that you had yet to fold and put away.

A shower was exactly what you needed, and you spent ample time beneath the blistering heat of the water before you stepped out and back into your bedroom.

After spending almost an hour just laying on your bed scrolling through a variety of apps, and some much needed deliberation over FaceTime with your friends, you were finally dressed and ready to go. You were thankful for Nadine, who had informed you that she would be joining in on the fun as a fellow friend… and plus one to Danny.

You hadn’t realized just how badly you had been fidgeting in the back seat of the car until the sound of the driver's voice pulled you from your own thoughts.

“You alright back there? You seem nervous.”

A nervous chuckle bubbled out of you, and you looked down at your hands as you twiddled your thumbs. “That obvious, huh?”

“Just a tad.” The chuckle that came from the older man in the front seat was much lighter than yours, and when your gaze lifted, you were quickly met by his warm smile and kind eyes in the rear view mirror. “So what’s got you feeling so nervous, first date?”

You choked on your own spit at the thought, immediately even more flustered than you were before. “No… no nothing like that, just going to hang out with some friends.”

“Just hanging out with friends… hm. Am I correct in assuming that you have feelings for one of these friends of yours.”

“Yeah…”

“And do you know if this friend has feelings for you as well?”

“I… I don’t really know.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, the last time we hung out we shared an Uber to go back to our respective houses… and when we arrived at my place he got out to say goodnight, which isn’t unusual… but then we kissed.”

“Well that’s a great sign!”

You could still see the soft expression that crossed Sam’s features as he looked at you that night. You could feel the weight of his gaze as his eyes took in every little detail on your face, and the way his lips pressed against your own.

“Sure, except that immediately after he muttered goodnight and scurried back into the car.”

“Well that just sounds like the poor boy was just as nervous as you are now.” His eyes flickered back to the rear view mirror as he pulled up to the curb outside of what you assumed to be your destination, and when he saw the skeptical look on your face he made the effort to turn and look at you properly. “Let yourself relax, darling. The longer you get stuck in that head of yours, the worse it’s gonna be.”

You nodded and looked back down at your hands.

“I was the same as him at some point in the distant past. Just a nervous, idiotic young man that would forget how to function around a girl that I had feelings for. Let yourself relax, if it’s meant to happen, it will happen.”

You looked up at him, offering a small smile to match his, and he gave you a reassuring nod. “My late wife, the love of my life, used to tell me that fate always meant for the two of us to end up together, we just had to allow ourselves to believe that love would find us when we were ready.”

Something caught his attention, causing him to turn away from you and look out the window. “Is this the guy?”

You turned and followed his gaze, finding Sam as he walked curiously down the driveway of the house. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

Sam’s eyes squinted in an attempt to figure out who was on the backseat, and you watched a wide grin break out on his face when you lifted your hand to offer a small wave.

The moment he stopped at the side of the car, your door was opened, and Sam offered a hand to help you out. “I was beginning to think you had taken a wrong turn.”

You thanked the driver as you stepped out of the car, and watched as Sam dipped his head down to look into the car. “Thank you for getting her here safe.”

“Any time, kid. It was a pleasure, she was the best passenger I’ve had in a long while. You two have a good night.”

“That’s the plan.” Sam stood up straight once again, giving the driver a wave as he shut the car door. “Have a good one.”

“Well.” Sam turned to you, and the intoxicating smile on his face caused a flurry of butterflies to erupt within you. “Come on then, I’ve got to give you the grand tour.”

You followed closely behind him and as the two of two walked through the front door, you immediately felt some of the anxiety you had been carrying fall away. Sam continued to walk as you shrugged your coat from your shoulders and bent over to untie your shoes.

“Where’d you go?”

His voice had become distant, having passed through what you had suspected to be at least one hallway of sorts before he finally noticed that you weren’t following behind him. “Taking my shoes off.”

He came shuffling back into the entryway within seconds, standing and watching as you pulled your shoes off and straightened up. “Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself there.”

You chuckled and stepped closer to him, your lips curling into a smile that you couldn’t fight, not in his presence at least. “No need to apologize, now show me around.”

A giddy energy blanketed the two of you as Sam reached for your hand, wrapping it within his own before dragging you along behind him further into the house.

After painstakingly showing you every inch of the main floor, Sam ran ahead of you and beckoned you up the stairs. “Alright, so we’ve got another bathroom here.”

His hand brushed along a closed door, and continued along the wall. Your gaze travelled along the decorated hall, pictures of family and friends leaving little room in the space between door frames.

“And this…” The soft tapping of his fingers against the dark wooden door brought your attention back to him. “Is where the magic happens. Also known as my bedroom.”

A playful smirk crept its way onto your lips as you turned your attention to the way he continued staring down the hall. “Where the magic happens, huh?”

His head whipped around to look at you, and he quickly mirrored your smirk. “Do you doubt me?”

And just like that, any thoughts that may have crossed your mind were washed away into the gutter. You wanted to say no, you didn’t doubt him, in fact you wanted him to prove it, but instead the two of you simply stood staring at one another until he chuckled and broke the silence. “Do you want to see the music room?”

You shook from your trance and gave him a small nod. “You have a music room?”

He beamed and nodded, waving for you to follow him as he turned and walked to the end of the hallway. He opened the door and made a dramatic show of displaying the now open room to you as you walked up to the doorway. “Holy shit. I knew you liked to play guitar, but I wasn’t expecting this.”

It was beautiful, a comfortable couch resting against the wall beneath a cascading display of various guitars. Across the room was a standing desk with a keyboard resting beneath the main deskspace. You watched as he made his way toward the couch, letting himself freefall into the cushions before looking back at you. “Kind of comes with the job I do, I guess.”

“You know, we never really talk about your job.” You were still leaning against the door frame, your eyes taking in all the small details of the room.

“There’s more interesting things to talk about.”

You turned back to him, your eyes locking with his as a small smile pulled at the corner of your lips. “Well I’d like to know more about it than you just ‘working in a music store with your brothers.’ Seems like it would be fun.”

His smile returned, and one of his hands dropped from behind his head to pat the empty space beside him on the couch. “Well come on over then, I’ll tell you all about it.”

You shuffled across the room, lowering yourself into the seat across the couch from him and turning to give him your full attention. “Go on.”

He turned himself to face you, readjusting himself to get comfortable. “It’s nothing overly special. I work with my brothers, and Danny. The store is owned by an old family friend, but the four of us have been keeping the place going now that he is getting a bit too old to manage it on his own.”

You pulled your legs onto the cushion to sit cross legged as you listened to him talk, nodding along, but when he paused, you worried that’s all he was going to say. “Well that can’t be all of it. What do you do?”

He looked somewhat surprised by your genuine interest, but quickly picked up where he left off. “Well, Josh pretty much runs the place. Danny helps with customer service and most of the heavy lifting. Jake does maintenance, he’ll fix pretty much whatever instrument someone brings in, he’s kind of a whiz with that stuff. He also does guitar lessons.”

“And you?”

He smiled and watched you sink further into the cushions, getting comfortable as you listened to him. “I mostly do customer service, but I also give guitar and piano lessons.”

“It’s nothing special… Sam, that’s such a cool job, you’re teaching people to play music, that’s so special.”

He seemed taken aback by what you said, and you watched him stare down at his hands as a light blush blossomed across his cheeks. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

There was a moment of quiet before Sam looked back up at you. “Do you play any instruments?”

“Not really, no. I wanted to learn how to play guitar in high school, but I never really got the hang of it so I just gave up.”

The smile on his face fell to a small frown, and you watched the cogs turn in his brain for a moment before his eyes locked on yours once again. “Would you let me try.”

Your eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion as you looked back at him. “Let you try?”

“To teach you.”

“You’d really do that?”

Sam became somewhat sheepish at the question, but held eye contact with you. “Only if you want to. I’m not going to force you to learn.”

“No, I uh… I’d like that.” His smile returned, bright and warm at your words, and this time he got to watch as a blush rose to your cheeks. “I’d like that a lot actually. Maybe this time it’ll stick.”

The two of you fell into a comfortable quiet for a few minutes until Sam groaned and stretched before standing from the couch. You watched as he made his way to your side of the couch, and he made a show of offering a hand to you with a dramatic bow. “Shall we make our way downstairs to get the food plated?”

You giggled, nodding as you placed your hand in his and felt him pull you from the cushions. The two of you made your way downstairs, and Sam took the time to show you where all of the food was before he ran into the living room to turn on some music.

“We can’t be working in silence, that’s insane.”

Within an hour the two of you managed to put together a table full of various snacks. Bowls full of different flavors of chips, and platters covered in various meats and cheeses laid before you, organized to perfection along the length of his dining room table.

A low whistle passed through Sam’s lips as you made the final adjustments to the display, and you turned to see him staring at all of the food. “You think there’s enough?”

You shrugged and straightened up, turning properly toward him. “Good question, I don’t know how many people are going to be here, so you’d know better than me.”

His eyes flickered up from the table, meeting your eyes as the music kept the room from falling into silence. Sam pulled his hand from the pocket of his jeans and lifted it towards you. “Come here.”

You looked at his hand, then back up to his face, a curious look crossing your features as your hand slowly lifted away from the table you had been leaning against. He caught the look and chuckled. “Come on, let’s dance.”

“But—”

His hand breached the gap, wrapping around your own. “Nope. No excuses.”

“Seriously, Sam?” You relaxed into the gentle pull of his hand, making a show of dramatically rolling your eyes. “Don’t you remember the wedding?”

“Very well, yeah.” When your eyes landed back on Sam, you felt a flash of something you hadn’t felt in a while, bliss. Something in the way he smiled at you released the tension in your body, you felt relaxed with him.

You stepped forward, planting yourself in front of Sam, keeping your eyes “So you remember what I said?”

Your gaze fell to the hand enclosed within Sam’s, watching the way he readjusted his hold to be more comfortable for the both of you as he spoke. “I remember you enjoying yourself until what’s his name interrupted us.”

“Oh, I was enjoying myself was I?” Your words were accompanied by a small smirk and a quirk of your brow as your eyes once again found his.

“Sure seemed that way” Sam gently pulled you closer, and you could feel the tingle of his touch as his free hand ghosted over your waist, as if giving you an out of you genuinely didn’t want to dance. “Of course you’re free to tell me otherwise.”

You hummed as your free hand came to rest on his bicep. “As fun as it is to bicker with you, I agree. I did enjoy myself, quite a lot, actually.”

Sam’s smile widened, and his lips parted, but before he could speak the sound of the door opening and closing stole the attention of the both of you.

“Honey, I’m home.”

You and Sam separated when the sound of Danny’s voice echoed through the house, instead you watched as Sam popped his head into the living room. Sam was the first to speak as he took a large step out of the dining room. “You’re back early.”

“No… not really. It's actually later than I planned to get home.”

There was a beat of silence before Danny spoke up. “It’s quiet in here, where’s Rose?”

“Shit. I put her in her crate earlier and meant to let her outside before everyone showed up.”

“And have you?”

“Clearly not, I’ve been a bit distracted.”

“Distracted, what could have distracted you from your dog?”

Nadine popped out from around the corner, and as quickly as she found you, she was back out of the dining room with you in tow. “I think I know.”

Danny turned at the sound of her voice, and a smile quickly formed on his face when he caught sight of the two of you. “Well hello, stranger. Where were you hiding?”

“She wasn’t hiding, she’s been here for a while.”

Everyone turned to see Sam standing at the base of the staircase, and in his arms was the cutest puppy you had ever laid eyes on. “She was passed out when I walked into my room.”

Your gaze lifted and locked with Sam’s, earning a small smile and wave from him, beckoning you towards him. Rose was eagerly wiggling in Sam’s grasp when you walked over to them, her little tail thumping against his side. “Well hello, Rose. You are so cute.”

Rose gave your hand a brief sniff before lowering her head as if to ask for you to pet her, which you gladly did, running your fingers along the soft fur between her ears.

“I’m gonna take her out for a bit before everyone gets here. Might smoke a joint as well, care to join?” Sam’s voice pulled your attention from the puppy, though your hand remained scratching a spot beneath her chin as you looked up at him and nodded.

Sam’s head briefly lifted to look toward the others, but your attention remained on him and Rose as he spoke. “Danny, Nadine, you two coming along?”

You turned then to look at them, and found both shaking their heads. Nadine spoke up when her eyes locked with yours. “Gonna wait till later, don’t want to get tired super early.”

“Alright, well looks like it’s just gonna be you and me.” You turned back to Sam and found him already staring back at you with a small smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

“Lead the way.”

The two of you got to the sliding glass door, and Sam opened it. He looked down, and your eyes followed, watching as he slipped on a pair of shoes and looked back up at you. “Hold on a second, I’ll be right back.”

He turned and sped off, leaving you watching and wondering what on earth he was doing, until he came back holding your shoes. “Figured you wouldn’t want to go outside in your socks.”

You looked back down at your feet, eyeing the mismatched socks you had pulled from your pile of clean laundry in a hurry before your gaze found him again. “Honestly, I hadn't even realized, thank you.”

He placed your shoes on the floor and straightened back up before sliding open the door and stepping outside with Rose in tow. You slid your shoes on as quickly as you could and stumbled behind him onto the patio as Rose barrelled ahead into the large backyard.

It took a few steps to catch up to Sam as he leaned against the railing. “This house is amazing, how did you two manage to find such a nice place?”

Sam turned to you, body still leaning against the wooden railing, with a joint between his lips and his hand lifting to light the end. He took a long drag, clearly enjoying the way you were simply watching him, before blowing the smoke from between his lips. “We got lucky.”

He took another drag before holding the joint out for you to take, and watched as you plucked it from between his fingers. “Elaborate.”

“The owners are friends of Danny’s grandparents. When they retired they bought an R.V. to travel, and offered to give us cheap rent if we helped fix the place up.” He watched you intently as you breathed in the wondrous substance within the perfectly rolled joint, and his attention only broke when Rose let out a hushed bark from across the yard.

Both of you turned, watching as she stared back at the two of you, lowering the front of her body onto the grass, but keeping her rear end, and wagging tail off of the ground.

“What is it Rose? Do you want to show Y/n the garden, is that it?”

She hopped from her spot, her small body swaying from the force of her tail wagging, and you turned to Sam. “You have a garden?”

He eagerly nodded, and accepted the joint as you offered it back to him. “I do.”

Sam passed the joint back to you on the walk over to the garden, and Rose happily trotted along behind the two of you. The two of you made your way over to an area off to the side of the patio and you were honestly a bit surprised at what you found. A long garden bed spanned the gap between fence posts, filled to the brim with flowers of every color, shape and size you could imagine. Across from it stood multiple raised garden beds, each with a different cluster of fruits and vegetables growing within them.

“So…” Sam turned to look at the sound of your voice, and watched as you took another drag of the joint before holding it out for him to take. “What do you have growing in this garden of yours?”

He plucked the joint from between your fingers and carefully tapped the side until the ash scattered to the ground. “You really want to know?”

His question was followed by a deep drag of the joint as he looked to you for an answer. What he found was a soft smile across your lips as you nodded encouragingly for him to tell you. “Yeah, I really do.”

“Well, uh…” You watched Sam look between all of the planters, eventually stopping at the one at the end of the row. “This one has beets and carrots in it.”

“That one.” He pointed to the next box, and you followed his movement. “Has a few kinds of lettuce, and green beans growing up the lattice.”

A quiet bark sounded from between the two of you, and you looked down to see Rose sitting next to you, wagging her tail as she looked back up at you.

“I think she wants a green bean, she loves them.”

You quirked an eyebrow, and kneeled to pet Rose. “You like green beans, Rose?”

She yipped, and pressed her head into your hand.

“Here.” You looked up and found Sam holding out a green bean for you to take. “Give her one, she’ll love you forever.”

You took the small green vegetable from his hand and looked back at the small puppy that was damn near vibrating with excitement at your feet. “Does she know any tricks?”

“I’ve been teaching her how to shake, but she’s still learning.”

“Rose, would you like a green bean?” Her tail was whipping back and forth as she continued to stare at you. “Can you shake a paw for me?”

You offered your free hand to her, and watched as she stared blankly at you for a moment before she lifted a paw and placed it in your palm.

You lit up, and gently shook her paw before letting it slip from your grasp, instead you held the green bean out for her and watched as she gently took it between her teeth, bolted up onto the patio and jumped up onto one of the chairs to lay down as she ate her treat.

“That was impressive.” You straightened up and looked back at Sam, who was beaming as he continued to look at Rose. “She doesn’t usually listen that well to new people.”

“I guess she just really likes me.” It was a cheeky comment, paired with a goofy grin as you continued to look at him.

“She’s not the only one.”

He still wasn’t looking at you, and for a moment you wondered if you had misheard him, but before you could respond another voice echoed into the backyard. “Now what on earth is going on out here?”

You turned to follow the sound of the voice and found the twins leaning against the railing. Josh’s eyes found yours, and seeing his bright smile, you couldn’t help but smile yourself. “Sam was just showing me his garden.”

“You don’t say. You know, usually Sam waits until the third date to show a girl his cucumber.”

Jake’s comment was followed closely by a booming laugh from Josh, and a scoff from Sam. After a few seconds of tense silence, Rose broke through the quiet by barking and scratching at the sliding glass door.

“Well, didn’t mean to interrupt your tour, just wanted to let you two know that we had arrived.” Josh’s words were quickly followed by him dragging Jake back into the house, leaving you and Sam alone in the garden once again.

“We should probably head inside if people are starting to show up.”

“What, you’re not going to tell me about each and every one of the flowers you have in this garden bed?”

He chuckled, and shook his head and he began walking back towards the patio. “There’s too many to list, plus it’s not that interesting.”

“I beg to differ.” You followed closely behind him, falling into step as you made your way toward the door.

You were startled when he suddenly came to a stop, which caused you to bump into him as he turned to you. “Maybe next time.”

His gaze dropped to watch as you lifted your hand into the small gap between the two of you, with all of your fingers tucked away, except for your pinkie. “Promise?”

He chuckled and lifted his own hand, looking back into your eyes as he wrapped his pinky around your own. “Promise.”

You followed Sam into the house and quickly found both the twins settled into the living room with Danny and Nadine.

“So, has Sam told you that he makes pickles?”

You made your way over to one of the remaining empty spaces on the loveseat being occupied by Danny and Nadine. “He did not, but I am eager to hear about it whenever he chooses to share.”

The remaining guests slowly trickled into the house, and suddenly the space was filled with boisterous laughter and conversation. Everyone dug into the food as they talked, and you found yourself comfortably conversing with Sam’s friends, listening as he made jokes with them, and joining in as they asked questions to get to know you.

“Who’s up for some drunk uno?”

You leaned over to Sam, who had made himself comfortable leaning against the table next to you, close enough to warm his body with the heat radiating off of you. “What is drunk uno?”

Sam let out a quiet chuckle before turning to Jake, who had brought up the idea. “I’ll go grab the cards, you guys will have to explain the rules to Y/n and Nadine, I don’t know if they’ve ever played, and it never hurts to refresh everyone on how to play.”

Sam scurried off to find the game as the rest of you made you way into the living room and settled into spots around the coffee table as Jake explained the rules, they were as follows;

If you forget the rules, or you must ask a question, you take one drink.

If you lose a turn because of a skip card, or miss a turn, you take one drink.

+2 cards = two drinks

+4 cards = four drinks

If you don’t have a matching card and have to pick up from the deck, you take one drink.

If you forget to say Uno on your last card, take four drinks.

If you play an identical card (same color and action/number), everyone takes one drink.

The player with the most cards at the end of the game must finish their drink. In the event that their drink is less than half full, they must get a fresh drink to finish.

Sam returned with the game in his hand, and he quickly maneuvered his way around his seated friends to lower himself into the empty spot beside you.

You listened to the small conversations that had sparked up in the time since you all sat down, but your attention had been stolen by Sam the moment he sat beside you. You watched as he sat quietly, pulling the cards from their box and checking to make sure that they were all facing the same way before he began to shuffle them.

It wasn’t hard to become transfixed, watching the way his nimble fingers handled each card with such care, you had tuned out your surroundings, and figured that the weed was finally settling in your brain, bringing with it a serene sense of calm.

“So, did Jake confuse you enough with the rules?” Your eyes flickered up to see Sam still concentrated on the cards as he dealt the hands for each player.

“Might take me a round to get used to, but I’m a quick learner so I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out.”

His eyes left the cards, and he caught the way your gaze lingered on his lips as he ran his tongue along his bottom lip. A smirk quickly formed as he leaned towards you to nudge his shoulder against your own. “Well if you have any questions, ask me, I won’t make you drink.”

—

“Dickhead!”

Sam’s boisterous laugh filled the room as he dramatically tossed his final card onto the pile. “Sorry baby, it was all I could play.”

Your cheeks flushed pink at his words, and he watched you pick up four cards from the deck, and when you lifted your drink to your lips, he kept eye contact with your icy gaze, watching intently as you took four sips of your drink.

Thankfully, even with the addition of the cards at the last second, you still weren’t holding as many as Josh, who made a show of standing for everyone to watch as he downed his drink.

The group was in the fourth round… or was it the fifth? Of uno, and you were finally on your last card. At least you were until Sam played that damned plus four. You weren’t sure how much time had passed, as breaks had been taken between each round to eat, go pee, or smoke.

“Alright, someone has to open the store tomorrow, so I’m going to head out.”

Josh’s statement was followed by a chorus of boos from those still sitting on the floor, but once it had quieted down, Jake piped up with a loud groan as he stood and stretched. “Josh is right, gotta have a couple people capable of working tomorrow morning, so you two-” He turned to Danny and Sam, waggling his finger at them briefly “-are off the hook, but you’ll have to be in to close tomorrow.”

Slowly people began making their way around the house, cleaning up and collecting their belongings before bidding farewell and heading out. Danny and Nadine said goodnight as they made their way towards Danny’s room, and soon enough you were left in a quiet house with Sam.

One of his friends had passed out on the couch, so the two of you kept your voices low as you followed close behind him, helping to clean up what remained of the food.

You took the liberty of filling the sink with warm soapy water to do the dishes while Sam packed up whatever food had to be refrigerated, music playing quietly from his phone on the counter.

“You know.” The ghost of his touch on your waist jolted you from your own thoughts. “You don’t have to do the dishes, it was more than enough that you hung around to help me clean up the food.”

You reached for the drying towel beside the sink to wipe your hands as you slowly spun around to face him, and found yourself within inches of the man that had been invading your every sense since you came to realize the depth of your feelings for him.

You swallowed the lump in your throat as you looked up into the warmth of his deep brown eyes. The majority of the lights in the house had either been dimmed, or turned off, so the two of you stood in the dim orange light of the kitchen, staring at one another and waiting to see who would break the silence.

“It’s the least I could do, really.”

He hummed, dropping one of his hands from your waist, but before you could mourn the loss of his touch, his fingers brushed your own. “Could I ask one more thing of you?”

You nodded, looking down to where the tips of his fingers danced with yours as you awaited his request.

“Dance with me?”

A smile graced your lips and you nodded once again, and you felt the pressure of his skin against yours as he took your hand in his own, and pulled you closer with the one that remained on your waist. The song changed, and the dulcet voice of Nat King Cole graced your ears as Sam began to sway with you.

You weren’t sure whether to credit the weed, alcohol, or Sam’s presence for the drowsiness that overcame you, though it was a safe bet that all of the above had a part to play in it.

You could feel the steady beating of his heart as your head rested against his chest. “Hey, Sam… can I tell you a secret?”

“Of course.” His voice is hushed, much like your own, as if despite everyone else either having left or gone to sleep, you were making an effort for only one another to hear what was being said.

There was a beat of silence as your brain tried to comprehend what you were going to say. Eventually a soft sigh escaped from your lips, and you finally said it. “I think I’ve fallen for you.”

You could have sworn you felt his heart skip, and though you couldn’t see it, Sam’s smile was as dopey as ever as he took in what you said. “Is that so?”

You nodded as best as you could with your head still against his chest, and it once again fell quiet as you relaxed further into his hold.

Your eyes had fallen closed not long after you began to sway with him, so the feeling of his breath suddenly tickling the shell of your ear sent a shiver running down your spine. “I think I’ve fallen for you too.”

He was still wearing the goofy grin when you leaned back, looking up at him with dreamy eyes. “Really?”

He simply nodded, lifting the hand from your waist to move a stray hair from your face. Your eyes were growing heavier with each passing moment, and Sam clued in before you could try to fight it. “You tired?”

You nodded, and Sam’s smile softened. “Alright, let’s get you to bed. We can talk more when we’re both sober, but for now you need to rest.”

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