A U T H O R ' S N O T E: Because we seriously need more Sam stories, I took it upon myself to write one. 1) Contains moments of over exaggeration, 'cause that's what teens tend to do. 2) This takes place sometime after the series finale and sometime after Jubilee and Rahne com e back to the Institute. 3) I chose not to write in dialect. Just imagine Sam talking with a southern accent and all should be fine. 4) Also, this is for Valentine's Day, even though it's getting posted really late on this day and probably won't be read until tomorrow. Warning: hints of unconventional pairing. I apologize for any OOCness and/or grammatical errors.

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Valentine's Day, while a great holiday for all those sappy, in love couples around the world, was torture for Sam. Despite Rahne's claims that this was due to his being single, it had nothing to do with that. He knew he would find love when the time was right, and until then he had no reason to complain. It was really everything but that that got to him – the couples making out in the halls, the nonstop stream of love songs playing on every station, the overwhelming amount of pink and white and red everywhere you turned. It was enough to make any sane person (which apparently didn't include ninety-nine percent of the occupants of the Institute) lose their marbles, or at least run into the nearest wall. He had contemplated the latter at several points during the day, but the fact that doing so would do more damage to the wall than to him (which he would have to pay for, no doubt) had stopped him each time.

Still, it was very tempting.

The minute he was back at the Institute, he ran straight to his room to escape his love struck housemates' antics. If his stomach hadn't started growling and distracting him from his homework, he would have stayed there in sanctuary for the rest of the night. But his stomach did start growling, and he found himself reluctantly heading down the stairs, determined to ignore all the giggling and swooning for the sake of his last shreds of sanity. He made it to the kitchen without incident, but as soon as he entered, he cursed his luck and his hungry stomach.

Bobby and Jubilee were sitting at the table, gorging on Oreos and chocolates and occasionally shooting each other flirtatious looks. It took all the self-control Sam possessed not to bash his head against the counter as Bobby fed Jubilee a Hershey's kiss. That was the last thing he needed to see while he tried to enjoy some dinner – another couple being all "sweet."

While he debated whether or not to leave before the "cuteness" made him sick, Kurt and Kitty ported into the room, him with his arm around her waist and her snuggled against him. Without bothering to detach from each other, Kurt used his tail to grab a box of Twinkies from the cupboard and Kitty phased a hand though the fridge, grabbing one soda and then another. Looking at each other with playful, coy glances, they once again teleported to a different location.

Sam gripped the edge of the counter. One more thing like that and he was going to blow.

Of course, as the universe would have it, as soon as he finished that though, Jubilee giggled as Bobby slid an arm around the back of her chair. And thus Sam snapped.

"Seriously?" he shouted, startling the couple at the table. "Can't you find another place to have your little love fest? Some people want to enjoy a meal without a show."

Bobby and Jubilee just stared at him blankly. "Dude, when did you get in here?"

Facepalm. "Y'know what? Just forget it. I was leavin' anyway."

Sam shook his head as his friends did just as he said. With an exasperated sigh, he exited the kitchen and made for his bedroom. He would just sneak down later for a midnight snack.

He stopped himself when a thought struck him. A wide grin spread across his face, and he quickly changed direction. He raced down to the Professor's study, barely managing to skid to a stop before he rammed into the door. He knocked twice and, as soon as the Professor called for him to enter, thrust open the door. Sitting at his desk with a bunch of papers spread out in front of him, Professor Xavier smiled at the blonde teen. "Hello, Sam. What can I help you with?"

Crossing his fingers for luck, Sam asked, "Can I borrow the X-Van?"

This was a crucial moment. If Xavier said yes, then Sam could drive into town and get away from his crazy friends. If not, then he would be stuck in his room turned hideout for the next several hours. The older man stayed silent for a moment, a look of contemplation on his features. "Since I don't think that anyone else has asked to use the van, then yes, you may borrow it, Sam."

Sam could barely keep himself from pumping his fist in the air. He grinned at the older man and said, "Thanks, Professor."

Without waiting for a response, Sam ran out of the room and down to the garage. He snatched the key off of its hook and hopped into the driver's seat, ready to go, go, go.

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Ten minutes later, he parked the van in front of the nearest McDonalds. Thankfully, he carried his wallet with him everywhere and consequently hadn't needed to make a return trip to grab it. As he slipped out of the car and took a breath of fresh air, he was glad to be in a less sanity breaking environment.

The inside of the building was nearly empty with the exception of an elderly couple occupying the far corner booth and a few families sitting at a few of the tables. Sam stepped in line behind a local college student and examined the menu. The girl who had been ordering as he walked in turned away from the register, making way for the college student to place his order, and began placing her change in her wallet. When she was nearly done, the wallet slipped from her hand as she tried to zip it closed. Coins scattered across the floor, clinging and clanging as they hit the floor. The girl dropped to the floor and began to pick them up.

Being the gentleman that he was, Sam knelt down to help her. He collected a handful of quarters and dimes and held them out to their owner. The girl looked up to grab them, and her eyes sparked in recognition. He dropped the coins into her open palm.

"Hi, uh, Amanda."

Outside of being Kurt's former girlfriend, Sam recognized Amanda from school. They had the same English class, and she had stood up for him and the other mutants when they were put down in class. It felt weird seeing her outside of the halls of Bayville High – sort of like seeing a teacher at the grocery store or seeing the loner who sat by himself at lunch hanging out with a group of friends at the movies. Ever since she had stopped coming around the mansion, he had seemed to have forgotten that she had a life outside of school, a life that brought her to places that he went to and had ultimately led to them crossing paths.

"Hello, Sam." She smiled at him and stood up. "Are you here with somebody?"

He stood up beside her. "Nope. All by my lonesome. You?"

"Same. My parents went out for a romantic dinner, so I decided to come here. It beats being all alone."

"Really?" he asked, shooting her a quizzical look. "I'd rather be all alone than deal with the craziness back at the mansion."

Amanda shrugged. "I guess if the roles were reversed, I'd want to be alone, too. But I'd still choose this place over a quiet, empty house any day."

He opened his mouth to respond, but she motioned toward the counter and said, "It's your turn."

He nodded and walked over to the counter. But before ordering, he spun back around to face her. "Hey, Amanda, since you're here alone… and I'm here alone… would you maybe wanna… eat together?"

Where that question had come from, Sam had no clue. He had just blurted it out without thinking about it. He waited awkwardly for a moment before her face lit up in a smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."

A feeling of relief and, oddly enough, excitement flooded through him. "Great."

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"No way. You have that many siblings?"

After receiving their food, the two had settled into one of the tall tables in the middle of the floor. While at first the conversation had been little more than small talk about school or the news, they slowly transitioned into swapping funny stories about their past. He had just finished telling her about a camping trip with his family, and her jaw had dropped when he mentioned the chaos that came with having the entire Guthrie clan in one place at the same time.

"Yeah," he said, laughing at her expression. "It's a lot of kids in one family. Most people react like that."

"Maybe I could borrow a few of them," she joked. "You know, take them off your hands for a bit. I always wanted a sister."

"I'd gladly let you have 'em, but I think you'd get a bit of a fight from Ma."

She laughed, and his smile widened. Now that they had gotten past the awkward stage of conversation, he found that she was fun to be around. All of her smiles and laughter were genuine; there wasn't an ounce of fakeness to be seen in her. He was beginning to see what Kurt had seen in her before. She was nice, sweet, good company. He only hoped she could say the same about him.

"You're so lucky to have a family like that." She paused to take a sip from her soda. "In my family, I don't even have cousins my age. It's always just been me."

He swallowed the french fry he'd been chewing. "I can't even imagine that. Family reunions must'a been a real bore."

"Definitely. I just sat around while the younger kids played together." She shrugged. "But I don't mind it so much. It's only once a year. Outside of that, I always have friends to hang out with, so there really isn't a chance to dwell on it."

They fell into a comfortable silence. He finished off the last of his fries, and she took a long drink from her cup. He watched as she tucked her hair behind her ear. It struck him how cute she looked like that, a small smile on her lips and her eyes fixed on him pensively.

"You must miss them." Her voice shook him from his thoughts. When he looked at her in confusion, she clarified by saying, "Your brothers and sisters. You must miss them."

"Well, maybe not Paige…" he joked, then took a deep breath and turned serious. "Yeah, I miss 'em. Paige writes me ten page letters at least once a week to keep me up with the latest news, but it's not the same. I can't wait 'till spring break when I get to see them again."

"I bet."

The conversation changed again, and he listened as she animatedly told him about a trip to the beach her family had taken when she was eight. The way her face lit up as she talked made her look even prettier. He wondered why he hadn't noticed this before, why he hadn't paid her much attention until this accidental meeting. Just over an hour earlier, she hadn't even been on his radar, but now he was wishing it wasn't a school night so he could stay out later and talk with her. This brought him to thoughts of what would happen tomorrow at school. Would he get another chance to talk to her like this? Or would it be the same as any other day?

As she got even more into her story, he shook these thoughts from his head and focused himself on what she was saying.

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An hour later, Sam glanced at his watch. It was a quarter past nine. In another fifteen minutes, it would be time for curfew. Their food had been finished long ago, but they had stayed to continue their pleasant chatting. Amanda looked down at her own watch also, a small frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I should be getting home. My curfew is soon."

"Mine, too," he said. Both of them stepped down from their chairs and gathered their trash. "I'll walk you to your car."

After they threw away their garbage and stepped into the cool night air, Amanda said, "I had fun tonight."

"I did too."

She stopped in front of a black Honda, looking at him almost expectantly. Like he had at the beginning of the night, Sam struggled to find something to say. He ducked his head down and looked at his feet. There was only one thing he wanted to get out, but he couldn't get his mouth to form the words. Taking a deep breath, he turned his gaze back to her and gave it his best shot. "We should, uh, do something like this again. Maybe next Friday, at the movies?"

"That sounds great." The excited expression she wore made him realize that she had enjoyed herself as much as he had. This gave him the courage he needed to say the last thing he had wanted to ask.

"So it's a… date?"

A light blush colored her cheeks, and she nodded her head. "It's a date."

He let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. If at all possible, the grin on his face broadened. He watched as she got in the car and turned on the ignition, giving him a little wave that he returned before turning around to go back to the X-Van. He had gone a few feet before he heard her call out again. "Sam!"

He turned around and saw her leaning her head out of her window. "Happy Valentine's Day, Sam."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Amanda."

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