The footprints over the snow
the fabric of all the lonely
C-Covering only
the fables and hands
the rest is out in the cold
holding the last of the season
F-F-F freezin' Yeah
It was early February in Seattle. The school bell rang and hundreds of high school students filed out through the double doors and onto the streets, leaving footprints in the light dusting of snow covering the sidewalks. A junior was sitting on a bench near the front door, watching his classmates leave. He had dark brown hair that spiked up in the front and brown eyes. His blue backpack was at his feet. He stood up when his eyes met the blue ones of a shorter girl with blonde hair, making her way through the crowd towards him.
"Where's Carly? She was supposed to meet us here so we could walk home together?" Sam asked as soon as she was in earshot of Freddie. He hoisted his backpack over his shoulder and pulled the hem of his shirt lower.
"She had something to do after school for one of the clubs she's in, so it's just us." Freddie waited for her typical snarky reply that would manage to lower his self esteem yet again and put him one insult closer to counseling.
"Okay. I guess I can survive walking home with a dweeb like you once or twice." Sam laughed, punching him lightly on the arm.
"You're so nice." Freddie insincerely replied, rubbing his shoulder, although it hadn't really hurt.
"Don't push your luck, Benson."
The snow plows had come through the night before and pushed everything to the side, leaving pedestrians with no where to walk but in the street. Sam was walking right behind Freddie, jabbing her index finger into the side of the snow drift, leaving a long line engraved in the snow as she walked. Freddie was doing his best to place both of his feet on the white lane line, one foot in front of the other, like an imaginary tightrope.
Sam saw this as an opportunity for mischief, so she grabbed a fist full of snow from the drift to her right and shoved it down the back of his jacket. Freddie was used to this, unfortunately. She did it almost every day. He spun around to find her smirking with her hand on her hips. Before common sense caught up with him, he reached out with both hands and slammed into her, sending her crashing into the snow drift.
If looks could kill, Freddie didn't even want to think about what her fist could do, so he took off down the street, making it to the Bushwell before Sam caught up to him.
Let's just say Lewbert wasn't too happy about the mess in the lobby and Mrs. Benson nearly filed a police report. It wasn't pretty.
We're walkin' in to the fields.
We're walkin in to the forest.
The moon is before us.
Up above
The sound of footsteps on the dirt path echo through the warm September evening, the only sound for miles. Two teenagers approach the clearing, slowing their pace and finally sitting down near the mossy trunk of a fallen aspen. Neither one of them talk. The one on the left, a girl with blonde hair, rests her head on the shoulder of the boy. He adjusts and they are silent for a few minutes, just enjoying being together.
"This is actually kind of nice." Sam says. Freddie smiles softly and turns his eyes to the night sky.
"Yeah. Look, the moon's out." he points, and she looks through the tree tops. Sure enough, the silvery glow of the crescent moon is filtering in through the leaves.
"Wow. And we're far enough from the city that the stars are visible." she adds. Silence falls on them once again.
"This is too peaceful." Sam says all of a sudden, sitting up and running her fingers through her hair. Freddie laughs and nods his head.
"Smoothies?" he offers. Sam's eyes light up and she stands, brushing the dead leaves from the back of her jeans.
"Race you to the car?"
"Oh, you are so on, Puckett."
We're holdin' hands in the rain
S-sayin' words like I love you
D-d-d'you love me? Yeah
It's a wet Seattle day. The sky is gray. The ocean's grey. The sidewalks are gray. But the red townhouse on the corner overlooking the bay is standing like a beacon in the storm for all of Seattle, brightening up the town just a little bit on this much-too-gray day. The lights are on inside, shining warm and yellow through the little round windows, trimmed with white frilly drapes. Two people are moving around inside. If you're standing outside, you just might catch a glimpse of the blonde haired woman passing by the kitchen window, followed by an eccentric border collie.
"Sam, where are you doing?" Freddie asks as she reaches for the doorknob. Sam turns around, flipping her hair over her shoulders and out of her face.
"I'm taking Roscoe out for a walk. You wanna come join me?" she asks. Freddie looks at her like she's lost her mind.
"Are you crazy? It's pouring rain!" Sam rolls her blue eyes and shifts her weight, bracing herself for another one of his mother's infamous rhymes about health.
"Oh come on. This is Seattle. It's always pouring rain. Suck it up." To her surprise, Freddie shrugs and stands up, heading down the hall to their bedroom.
"Okay. Just let me get my shoes."
"But your flip-flops are right here. Wouldn't that be easier?" she points out. He turns around and raises his eyebrows, doing a poor job of concealing his smirk.
"You're really weird, you know? Flip-flops and walking the dog in the rain."
"Hurry up, Benson. I want to get out before the rain stops. We don't have all day." she complains, clipping the leash to Roscoe's collar and stepping out onto the porch. Freddie laughs, but slips into his sandals and follows her out into the storm. Although Roscoe and Sam go unfazed by the hurricane winds and icy rain, Freddie pulls his sleeves down and his hood up, although his sweatshirt does nothing to protect him against the wind. He soon realizes it's hopeless and gives in completely to the cold, throwing his head back and laughing with Sam in nothing but shorts and a t-shirt, their sweatshirts lying forgotten in the middle of the asphalt. Roscoe whines and runs circles around the couple, pausing every now and then, allowing them to untangle their legs from the leash. Once their laughter dies down and the shivering begins, Freddie's eyes meet hers and he can't believe the woman that's standing in front of him.
Who would have thought that Sam would have the nerve to confess her love for him in high school? Who would have thought that her GPA would go from a 2.3 to a 3.7 in a semester with the help of her boyfriend. Who would have thought that that 3.7 would get her into WSU with a half scholarship? Who would have thought that four years later, she would graduate with a degree in criminology and a diamond ring on her left hand? Who would have thought that a boy like Freddie would grow up loving Samantha Puckett?
Freddie pulls himself away from his thoughts and slips a hand around the dripping waist of her t-shirt, drawing her in closer. Their shivering slows so that they can almost hear each other breathing over the roar of the wind.
"I love you, you know?" Freddie whispers with his face by her ear.
"Yeah."
"Well?"
"Ugh. I love you too." she laughs, leaning in for a kiss but being rudely nudged out of the way my a mass of sopping wet fur. Roscoe yips from their feet signaling that he's had enough of the elements for one night.
"Yeah, yeah. We love you, too, Roscoe." Freddie chuckles, taking the leash in one hand and Sam's in the other. Slowly, the couple heads back home through the raging storm, holding hands in the rain, saying words like 'I love you'.
Song: Kick Drum Heart~The Avett Brothers (check 'em out, they rock)