Chapter Text
Graduation Day — Sam
"Say cheese or sex, whatever makes you smile!"
Sam let out a startled laugh at his mother's instruction, his face crinkling into a smile as she pressed the shutter button on her camera with one hand, while trying to keep her grip on Vincent's hand with the other. "Great!" she beamed at him, tears in her eyes. "My little boy!" she cooed. "Graduating from high school! I wish your father was here to see this!"
Sam's smile faded a moment, becoming just a little more forced for the next half-dozen photos his mother took. "Oh, there's Sebastian!" she said. "Sebastian!" she called, waving him over.
Sebastian slipped his pack of cigarettes under his graduation gown, having clearly snuck away from his family for some "fresh air."
"Hi Mrs. Turner," he greeted her.
"Congratulations on graduating!" she beamed at him. "And as valedictorian, too," she said. "Your mother must be so proud!"
Sebastian blushed bright red. Sam knew he hated the attention that had come along with graduation top of his class, but he also knew he was secretly really pleased. As was his family. In the distance, he could see Abigail and Haley chatting while Demetrius was proudly extolling all the virtues of "my step-son, Sebastian."
"She is," Sebastian mumbled.
"Alright, well you stand next to Sammy," Sam's mother instructed him. "I want to get a couple pictures of you two to send to Kent." She winked at them both. "Maybe I'll print you both a copy, as well, to keep as a memento of your time together in high school."
"That would be nice," Sam said, his heart beginning to race uncomfortably. In spite of the fact that they'd discussed vague future plans for the last half year, Sebastian diligently filling out applications to at least a dozen colleges and universities, while Sam submitted resumes to every company he could think of, they hadn't actually discussed what would happen after graduation.
Sebastian pressed a small kiss into his cheek, setting his mind at ease for the moment, in spite of the PDA. "Do you want to slip away for a couple of minutes?" he suggested once Jodi had taken her photos. "I could definitely use another smoke."
"Sure," Sam smiled at him. "Mom, Seb and I are going to go catch up with some friends. Will you be okay on your own for a couple minutes?"
"Of course!" Jodi said, scooping Vincent up against her hip. "I'll just go chat with Caroline and Pierre for a bit."
"Great," Sam said appreciatively.
"Come on," Sebastian murmured, tugging Sam's hand to bring him to an alleyway between the outside of the gymnatorium and the main area of the school. Once there, instead of reaching for his cigarettes, as Sam had expected, he pulled him into a proper kiss. "Been wanting to do that all day," he said when they broke apart. "You look ridiculously hot in a cap and gown."
"You do, too, baby," Sam said, grinning at him. "And your valedictorian speech was amazing."
Sebastian shook his head. "I don't care what happens in the future," he muttered. "I'm never fucking doing something like that again!"
Sam nodded in commiseration, his heart in his throat. He really didn't want to ask the question, but he was dying to find out. "Did you decide what school you're going to go to in the fall?" he asked quietly, fiddling with the stole around his neck.
Sebastian froze and then let out a long sigh. "Sam," he said, but Sam cut him off.
"I've been thinking about things a lot, the last little while," he said with a rush. "I know we had all sorts of plans to go to the city together and I'd work and you'd go to school, and we could maybe live together off campus somewhere, or you'd sneak me into your dorm, but I… I just don't think I can leave, Seb," he said. "And I know it's shit of me to tell you on literally the last day of school when you've probably already accepted a school, but with Dad not coming home for Yoba knows how long, I just think I need to stay with Mom to help her take care of Vincent."
"Sam," Sebastian said again, trying to cut him off, but Sam shook his head, unable to stop now that he'd begun speaking, the words he'd been holding back now freely flowing.
"I applied to work at the new JojaMart," he said. "It's part time to start, and doing janitor work, which isn't exactly my dream job or anything, but it will help Mom with groceries now that Vince is eating solid foods and seems to want nothing but berries, grapes and cheese." He paused. "Yoba's ass crack, Seb, did you know how expensive those are?" He shook his head. "And I'll get a discount, too, that Mom can use to help save money that way. Plus that will leave me time to work on songs and maybe start a website or something to get my music out there. Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and some big producer will notice me. I just… I wish I could move to the city with you, you know? But maybe you can come visit? Or I can come to you once in a while. Unless…"
Sam trailed off, closing his eyes, ignoring another "Sam" from Sebastian.
"Unless you want to break up," he whispered. "I mean, I definitely don't want to, but I understand if you do, especially if you're going to be away at school, with who knows how many hot guys at your disposal. With your looks, and your smarts, and your ass, you could probably get any guy you want, after all, and—"
"SAM!" Sebastian yelled. Sam opened his eyes, staring at the ground, too afraid to meet Sebastian's gaze.
"I turned down all my admission offers, Sam," he said quietly.
Sam blinked, finally raising his eyes to meet Sebastian's gaze.
"What?" he asked.
"Well, deferred the one from the Zuzu Institute of Technology," he amended. "But… yeah."
Sam blinked again, trying to find anything he could say in response to that unexpected news. "Why?" he finally managed to gasp.
"A few reasons," Sebastian admitted. "First, I don't know if college or university is for me," he said. "All the people, the crowded classrooms. I took a look at the first year courses offered by the schools and most of it is shit I've already taught myself. Hell, in some cases, so are the second and third year courses. Why should I pay all that money for someone to teach me stuff I already know?"
"Didn't your mom and Demetrius offer to pay for school?" Sam asked in confusion. "Wait, didn't you get scholarships, too?"
"That's not the point," Sebastian said offhandedly.
"So what are you going to do then?" Sam said, after a moment, his mind still reeling. "I assume you'll try to find a job at a tech company in the city?"
"I'm going to freelance," Sebastian explained. "I looked into it, and I can make decent money. I can also set my own hours and work as much or as little as I want to. I've already signed a couple of contracts to work on over the summer."
Sam nodded. That did sound like something Sebastian would like.
"It also means I can work wherever I want to," Sebastian added after a moment.
"Oh?" Sam asked, with a frown. "So where are you going to work from?"
Sebastian let out a long sigh, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I'm going to work from here, Sam."
"From our high school?"
"No!" he snorted. "From Pelican Town, you goofball."
"But…" Sam spluttered. "Your dream! You always wanted to move to the city."
Sebastian shrugged. "The city used to draw me in," he admitted. "But now I'm finding myself happier at home in the valley. With you," he added.
"Seb," Sam shook his head. "I can't ask you to stay because of me." As tempting as it was. "What if you regret it one day."
"You aren't," Sebastian said. "And I won't. Besides, just cause I'm not going to the city now, doesn't mean I never will. Maybe once your dad is back home, we'll both go together like we originally planned. Or maybe the band will make it big. Or maybe neither of those things will happen, and we'll just live happily ever after in Pelican Town. Anything can happen, really. In the end, the only thing that matters is that I'm with you."
"Seb," Sam whispered, tears falling down his cheeks. "I love you," he choked out. He wanted to say so much more than that, but, by now, Sebastian was a pro at reading between the lines.
"I love you, too," he said, leaning in for another kiss.
A couple minutes later, after they'd broken apart and Sebastian had finally lit his cigarette, Sam asked another question. "So what did your mom and Demetrius say when you told them you weren't going to school?"
Sebastian grimaced, letting out a slow stream of smoke before answering. "Well," he said. "Let's go find out."
*~*
