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Samson Foster was undeniably, and shamelessly attracted to one his friends, Emmett: A boy he’d met a few weeks ago at the start of the school year. And like a glorified golden retriever, he began spending a lot of his time with him- much to the annoyance and teasing of both Abigail and Sebastian.
It had gotten to the point where he literally had to postpone a few of their band meet-ups just so he could talk to, or spend time with Emmett after school.
So, when he waved off his two best friends to go find Emmett one morning, he was immediately concerned as to why the dark-haired boy wasn’t at his locker. Usually, Sam would find him nearby, sitting against the wall with all his books and staring off into space in that cute, pondering face of his as he waited for his homeroom door to open and…
Sam was getting sidetracked- to make a long story short, the blond ended up sending him a quick text or two as he headed off into his own homeroom class.
As usual, it was mundane to not have anyone to talk to during that time. None of his friends were in there with him, and even if he had someone to have a conversation with, he honestly doubted whether or not they’d be able to keep up with his hyperactive energy.
He was spacing out, mindlessly bouncing his leg in anxiousness as he wondered where Emmett was. It was painful to not know… so he impulsively took the phone out of his pocket, looked around and sent a couple more messages to the boy.
Several minutes passed until he got a proper response, though.
Emmett: Fevr, cnt tak rn… dizzzy.
That was weird. Emmett usually took the time to careful punctuate each of his words, even in his texts and Sam found that fact about him absolutely endearing and-
Haley: Why’d you make a group chat with him? 🙄
Why was he in a group chat with Haley?
Sam: Hey!
He typed out, staring at said girl from across the classroom. She glanced at him, turning her head around before rolling her eyes and returning to her phone.
Haley: Hold on, I think I understand your text. I’m coming over after school.
Then... It suddenly clicked in his mind: Emmett had a fever.
Sam: Wait… you’re sick? I hope you get better soon. Do you want me to come by later? 🥺
Haley: Shoot- Sam, hide your phone! The teacher’s right outside the door.
Sam: Emmett, are you there? Could you text me your address?
Haley: Ugh, just follow me later. He might be asleep.
“Ahem, Mr. Foster.” A shiver went down his spine as the deep voice of his teacher came from behind him.
Nervously, he spun himself around and tried his absolute best to shove his phone out of sight. “Yes?”
“You know my policy. When the class starts, phones are a no-go. Hand it over, I’m confiscating it for the day.” They said, and Sam sighed in defeat- dramatically handing the teacher his phone as the rest of the class watched the scene in amusement.
At least he knew where Emmett was now…
…
“How many times do we have to listen about how much you like him?” Abigail flicked a piece of bread from her sandwich at him. “We get it, you find him cute.”
Sebastian was the next to laugh at the boy’s torment. “So, he’s sick. We know that much.”
“Yes… but you have to understand! He literally misspelled each of his words!” The blond fired back, defending his concern for the noiret. “I’m worried, okay?”
A pair of teal eyes gazed at him with an unimpressed look. “All you’ve talked about all morning is Emmett. Can we move past your gay disaster and talk about how suspicious Haley has been lately? I heard that she was talking to Penny of all people-” She threw her hands up in frustration. “Penny!”
“Uh… no. We’re not feeding your creepy obsession with her. We get that you hate her, but we’ve spent entire lunches hearing you vent about her. It’s a bit hypocritical to tease Sam for his problems.”
Abigail huffed, unable to deny the things he said. “I'm still suspicious of why she sat beside her at lunch yesterday… what reason did she have to talk to her?”
“I heard Maru talking to Penny on the phone. It was something about her not being able to make it to some baking thing Emmett was doing at his house. Haley was probably just asking if she could join. Apparently, she even asked nicely .” Sebastian took a bite of his own food, and the girl gawked.
She raised an eyebrow. “You said that way too weirdly. Who are you and what have you done to Sebastian. You know, the guy who sulks around and mutters about how much he hates people. You said most of those names without even a hint of malice.”
“Those are some fancy words. I think what you mean to say is: ‘why are you not hating this girl that you literally don’t care about.’ So they hung out, big whoop.” Abigail then said something in response.
Sam just listened as the two friends bickered. He frowned as he mumbled something out. “I get it… you think my crush on him is dumb, but could you at least try to help me out here! I really want to ask Emmett out for homecoming.” The second half was said with a slightly raised voice.
The two pause for a moment to share a look and sighed, postponing their argument for later. “Fine. As long as you stop bailing on us every time Emmett asks you to go out. You could invite us too, you know?”
“I know… and I’m sorry I haven’t been.” The blond said, taking Abigail’s words into account. “I just really like him, but I don’t even know if he’s into guys!”
Sebastian interjected, “Don’t worry, he is.”
“How do you know that?”
The boy only shrugged in response. “He was at my house to study with Maru and Penny. The greatest dad of the year showed up and tried to scare him off and ask what his intentions were, because they were headed to her room.” Sebastian left the other boy waiting in suspense as he took an agonizingly slow bite of his lunch. “To quote him, Emmett said that he was ‘very much into men’. So… yeah.”
“See, now you know. Are we done talking about how adorable you find him, or do we have to keep hearing you gush about this thing he did when you two were doing who-knows-what.” Abigail asked, blunt in her delivery. Sam knew she cared to some degree… but to be fair- he may have annoyed her too much with his Emmett-talk during their morning classes. “You clearly like him… so just go for it. Em’s a nice guy, so what’s the worst that could happen?”
Sam frowned. “He says no, and we watch a movie while I cry and eat ice cream?”
“Sure… let’s go with that.” Sebastian snickered. “You’re heading over to his house later, right?”
The blond immediately perked up. “Yeah! I can’t not drop by. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t at least check in to see how he’s doing?”
“Jeez… how has he still not caught on that you like him? It’s so obvious.” Abigail teased, laughing as he gave him a sympathetic grin. “Seriously though, we’re rooting for you.”
And suddenly, Sam was feeling a million times better about his plans to eventually ask Emmett out.
...
The blondes rang the doorbell, waiting for their friend to come and open the door.
“So… you’re worried about him too?” Sam asked. He was never that good at small talk.
She looked at him as if that was the dumbest question ever asked. “Obviously? He’s like… one of the nicest people I know. It’d be rude of me to not show at least some concern. Besides, he’s my friend.”
“I said the exact same thing!” Haley rolled her eyes at the tall boy, but smiled nonetheless.
They watched as the door opened to the flushed face of Emmett, wobbly and… wearing nothing but a loose-fitting hoodie and his underwear. Sam gulped as he tried to keep his gaze directly at his face.
“Hey…” He grinned in a drunk-like way, and it somehow made the blond’s heart skip a beat. “T-thanks for… coming over.” Emmett tilted head at Sam, who failed to maintain eye contact as he kept looking him up and down. “Was too lazy to get dressed…”
Had he noticed Sam blushing? He swiftly replied, his voice awkwardly cracking as he did. “Right.”
The noiret let out a yawn, making Sam blush even harder at the sound that was made. “I’ll go get something for you to… to drink.” He let them in, and when he went to shut the door- he almost tripped. Luckily, the blond was able to keep him steady as he caught him last-second.
“No, you look like you’re about to collapse. Sam, stop checking him out and carry him back to the couch before he falls over.” Haley carefully brushed past them, carrying a bag of stuff they’d bought just before walking over to the house. She explained what was in it briefly as retreated into what he saw was the kitchen. Emmett let out a tired moan as he leaned his head against the other boy.
“O-okay, let’s get you back over there, Emmett.” Sam held onto him tightly, like he was fragile.
Haley called out from the other part of the house. “Sam? I’m sure you’re enjoying Emmett getting all cozy with you, but if you don’t help me out here, then I may or may not accidentally cause a fire!”
He sputtered, turning red at her implications and teasing. The boy shouted out a retort as he began walking the other toward the couch. “You’re boiling water, how would that even-”
The girl nearly screeched. “Just come over here!” Sam carefully rested Emmett down onto the sofa, and threw a nearby blanket over him before running off to the kitchen.
He was handed a kettle and when he turned on the stove to let it boil, only he and Haley were there. They stood in silence as the latter looked over at where the noiret was.
“So, about Emmett.” It felt like he was being interrogated at that moment. “You like him, right?”
Sam sighed, laughing in self-pity as he responded. “Yeah... was it that obvious?”
“A bit.” She then turned her attention toward the stove. “Are you going to ask him out for homecoming? You two would be a cute couple.” Haley then inspected Sam. “All things considered.”
Ignoring the catty comment, he thought for a moment. “I can’t help but feel drawn to him, you know?” Sam blushed as he remembered something. “Not to mention the things he does are all somehow just incredibly-”
“Adorable.” Haley interrupted, checking her phone to pass the time and half-paying attention to the conversation taking place. “Emmett’s magnetic. Though, I don’t think he realises it.”
The blond whole-heartedly agreed. “Exactly. It’s weird though, how the first people he talked to in the entire school were us. Like me, you… our friends.”
“ Friends is overselling it by a long shot. We all just grew up together… it is sort of weird though.”
As if on cue, the kettle began to whistle, ending their brief talk as they poured the boiling water into the instant noodle cups, and into a mug where Haley prepared some lemon, honey tea with disturbing amounts of sugar in it.
They carefully made their way over to the napping boy, and gently shook him awake.
- Brief Intermission -
After an… interesting next few minutes, in which Emmett had gotten comfortable in the embrace of Sam and nuzzled into his body- it was agreed upon by the two blondes that he wasn’t in any shape to be left alone. So, the taller boy would be staying over. And with that, Haley left.
He begrudgingly slipped out of the position he and Emmett were in, and nervously called his mom.
After a few rings, she answered. “Sam, is everything okay?”
“Yes. Um, listen, my friend- Emmett has a fever right now.” He looked over to the boy in question. “I was worried, so I visited him. Now… I’m just wondering if it’d be fine if I stayed here overnight, ‘cause his parents aren’t home and I don’t think he should be alone right now.”
Silence followed as he heard a brief sigh. “That’s kind of you.” She hummed for a moment. “Say, you have been happier than usual. I’m guessing this is because of your ‘friend’. Do you by chance...”
“What’re you… no! I mean- yes?”
A laugh came from the other end of the phone. “I understand Sam, I was a teenager once too.” His mom yelled something off the phone and soon returned to say: “Send me the address and I’ll drop off some clothes for you... I trust you won’t do anything inappropriate during this sleepover of yours?”
Sam coughed. “What? I- don’t make it weird!”
“Sorry, not a lot’s been happening in life. Let me enjoy teasing my son about his crush.” He groaned as the voice erupted into a gentle laughter. “Love you.”
The blond rolled his eyes at her antics. “Love you too, mom.” His phone made a noise, and the call ended.
Now all that was left to do was wait for his mom, and eventually carry Emmett upstairs to his room for the night… wait. It was like his heart stopped when he realised: He’d have to sleep in the same bed as him.