Hello, and welcome to Simply Seddie, a oneshot collaboration in support of Seddie. Portrait Magazine is having a poll for the Top TV ships of 2012. Guess who's currently #4 on the list? That's right! Our beloved Seddie! We need your help to gain support for this couple, and so we have created this collaboration as an incentive for voters. With each update, we will set a goal that we'd like to reach before the next one. The faster you vote, the faster we update! So read on, and support Seddie!
It's almost 10:30 PM when he realizes that Sam is in love. At least, that's what his Mood Face app says; and it was running great this morning. Sam's face is deceptively neutral, and to be honest Freddie had expected something like hungry to pop up on the screen; but he's always trusted technology. If the app says Sam is in love, then she's in love.
Wow. Sam is in love.
The girl in question calls for his attention, and one glance is all he needs to put together the rest of the puzzle. She sits perfectly still, not one muscle twitching in her usually restless body; while not ten feet from her, holding a camera, is the object of her affection. He's convinced that it's Brad—hindsight tells him that Brad is the obvious choice. Sam changed almost the instant Brad appeared. She's been so helpful, considerate; offering compliments and smiles instead of threats of beatings and humiliation. He'd often dreamed of what it would be like if Sam were this way, being near him without something painful in store; and he guess he owes the appearance of that Sam to Brad.
He can't even stop to decipher his own feelings on the matter, because he suddenly really needs to tell Carly. He throws out an excuse and hopes it's a good one, because he can't stop to think about anything else right now.
This is actually kind of exciting.
It's just after 10:45 PM when he's just starting to feel like there really was something in that guacamole; some weird substance that only Sam is immune to; because he feels kind of queasy. Or maybe he's getting uneasy about the whole 'Sam is in love' thing, because honestly? It's weird. He shouldn't be just now realizing that Sam is a teenage girl that has those feelings, but the concept still seems very foreign. Carly knows better than he does. She's way more excited than he is at this point. Once the initial geekery over his program—his program!—calculating something as complex as love settled down, he was struck with the realness of the situation. If Sam is in love, then she's hiding it; and people only hide when they're scared. Sam Puckett doesn't do scared…right?
Here comes that queasy feeling again. This has got to be the root of the problem. The idea of dealing with a scared Sam Puckett is like knowing you're about to walk into a nest full of raccoons. Make the wrong move and you'll be left with a rabid animal hanging onto your neck with its jaws. But more than that, it's unsettling that something like this could scare someone as strong as her. It's a weakness in Sam that he never thought he'd see.
He's successfully managed to psych himself out by the time he sees Carly again, and is somewhat relived to hear that Sam has denied being in love with Brad. He wants to call it case closed; lock it up tight and never speak of it again; much better for everyone. Deep down, he knows Carly better than that. She's not giving this up without a fight; and in fact, she has a battle plan. Admittedly, her amusing comparison to Sam and the horses on the animal channel lightens the mood…and while he isn't totally sure that this will work, Carly convinces him. Nest full of raccoons or not, he actually does want to see Sam happy.
He's not running away this time. Sam would be proud.
It's almost 12 AM, midnight; and he's thinking that listening to Carly was a stupid idea. Okay, well, maybe not that stupid. Carly was a little over-enthusiastic about using the contrived horse-breeding method, but truthfully, he knows that Sam does need a little push. Just…something a little less heavy-handed. No more setups; no two-headed frogs; no horses. Just a talk between friends. Enemies. Frenemies. Not important right now.
When he finds her, she looks defeated; quite literally cornered like an animal. He wonders for a split second if this really was all a mistake, and the app was wrong; but that can't be it. If it were really wrong, she wouldn't look so lonely. She's still hiding.
He knows what it's like to be in love, and to worry about rejection. She knows he knows—he spent years pining openly over Carly; how could she not know? He knows how scary it all is. But he also knows how liberating it is to let those feelings out, no matter what the reaction. And he knows that Sam is stronger than this. He knows that she is the last person who should live in fear.
He stands his ground, not budging an inch even though she's lashing out. He knew she would. He's not running away this time. It's a little exhilarating, staring down Sam Puckett, the keeper of his many nightmares. It's almost literally like sticking his hand in the fire. He's lucky—her walls are coming down, leaving him free to get his point across unharmed. He tells her what she needs to hear. He tells her to go for it.
As the clock chimes behind him, he's very certain that even hindsight could not have prepared him for this. Even in hindsight, he can't see the signs. They're all lost in a blur of wedgies, insults, and beatings. And now all he can think of is the trembling pair of lips attached to his own.
It's 12 AM, midnight when he realizes that Sam is in love with him.
Today's writer: PurpleHam
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