Feliz Cumpleaños
Chapter Three
The Rival and the Kiss
"Those freakin' little twerps!" Lars roared, clenching his fists. He was beyond livid and appalled. "When I get my hands on them, they'll wish they were never—!"
He was cut off by a low sniffling. Sweating slightly, he turned his attention to Sam who was getting ready to go into another crying fit. Lars gave him an exasperated look as he wailed yet again.
'Ya think he woulda ran outta tears by now…' He thought with a moan. He sighed.
"Come on Squid, calm down already." He boredly told the blond as he started rocking again.
However, the younger boy was too distraught and busy thinking over everything that's happened to even feel the other's gentle movements. Lars only tried harder to make him settle down. He moved his legs faster. It didn't work, causing the brunet to panic. And Sam was becoming louder and louder by the minute! Lars gritted his teeth trying to think of something when he blinked, remembering another facet of his past.
'Whenever Twister cried and moaned as a kid, Mom would always hold him close to her until he shut up…'
He gulped when he realized what that meant. He would have to hold Sam! He sat there, looking at him with a wide-eyed, almost frightful expression. The blond's crying soon got to him, causing him to blink and grit his teeth in annoyance.
'Oh alright! I'll do it!' He thought with a growl. 'It's better than letting him carry on. I swear, I'm gonna kill them for making me go through this…'
With a strong desire of revenge for those that brought the boy to him, he wrapped his arms around Sam's waist and held him against his chest. The one in the glasses started to calm down a bit, but was still crying slightly.
"Shhhhh…" Lars tried, imitating his mother. "Come on, it'll be alright. Just chill…"
He blushed big time in embarrassment from doing this. But at the same time, it made him kind of happy to be holding Sam in his arms like this. If it wasn't for the fact that the blond was completely confused and disoriented, Lars would think that he completely trusted him. Maybe even saw him as a friend or…perhaps something more…?
Lars shook his head at the notion. There's no way Sam would look at him that way! He blinked as he registered all this. Feeling his face go redder and redder, he looked down at the younger one, who was starting to quiet down again.
'Do I really like him…?' He cracked a small smile. '…Well, he is kinda cute… I certainly wouldn't mind getting with him…' He shook his head. 'But that's nuts. He doesn't think of me that way at all.' He sighed and looked ahead at the TV, which was turned off.
'But at least he decided to come to me for help…' He blinked and slapped his head. 'Wait a minute, he didn't come to me on purpose, remember!.?'
"…Lars…?" The dry and cracked voice penetrated his thoughts. Coming back to the situation at hand, Lars looked down at Sam. There seemed to be a small smile on his face, as well as a tinge of pink. The brunet returned the smile with one of genuine warmth.
"Feeling better, Squid?" He asked gently. Sam nodded slowly. "Think you can keep going?"
"I…I guess so…" The blond answered, looking away.
"Whenever you're ready. Just do one thing for me first."
Sam gave him a curious look. "What?"
"Take off your gear already! If I'm gonna hold ya like this, I wanna at least be comfortable and not have that damn helmet jabbing me!"
For the first time that day, Sam laughed. It was a good natured chuckle, not forced at all like when he was at Mad Town. Lars only looked at him like he's gone crazy. A minute passed before he caught his breath.
"Alright, alright. I'll take off my stuff. It was getting kinda warm anyway."
Stifling his laughter, he sat up, unbuckled his helmet, and unstrapped his pads. After putting said pads in his helmet, he placed it all on the table. He then laid back down against Lars' chest. The brunet blushed as the younger boy nestled himself in. When he was sure Sam was comfortable, he wrapped one arm around his waist and kept the other near his head. Sam contently played with the lint on Lars' shirt as he thought about what to say next. As if to help ease his troubled mind, the brunet gently ran his hand through the other's hair. Lars hid a small grin when he thought he heard Sam purr lovingly.
"Anyway, next was the absolutely worst part of the day…"
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"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!.!.!" Sam screamed as he fell for the thousandth time today. He landed hard on his butt in the middle of the half pipe. He groaned as he stood and rubbed his sore spot. Otto, Twister, and Reggie laughed and teased him as he started walking towards the stairs again.
"Pahahahahahahaha!.!.! What a clod!" A malicious and dark voice shouted. Feeling his blood run cold, Sam turned towards the only one who could've said that.
Izzy Lopez, the most conniving, despicable, and evil person in Ocean Shores (next to Lars), smirked smugly at the blond. He was a couple of inches shorter than Lars, which annoyed Sam because it was so easy to look down on him. He was a month and a half older, which annoyed Sam even more. He was wearing a purple short-sleeved shirt under a red vest and a pair of baggy black shorts. He had a dark tan. Spikes of black, raven-like hair stuck out from underneath his purple helmet. Considering their long rivalry of over two years, you'd think that it would be the complete opposite of Sam's. Instead, it was the complete opposite of Twister's helmet. Two bat wings stood out on top of it. A red and black skateboard bearing the image of Shadow the Hedgehog on its underside was beside his legs.
"Hi, Sammy-Sam!" An energetic and cheery voice greeted. Its owner walked out from behind Izzy.
Iggy Lopez was the younger of the two siblings. He was fourteen years old. He was four feet, seven inches tall. He had a lighter tan than his brother. He was wearing a light green shirt that had the dinosaur Yoshi pictured on it and a pair of khaki shorts. His black hair, which was much longer than Izzy's, was barely contained under his forest green helmet, which had a koopa's shell pictured on the front. He was holding a yellow skateboard that had a picture of a spiny shell on its bottom underneath his left arm.
"Hi." Sam waved at Iggy before glaring at the older brother. "What'd ya say!.?"
Izzy's smirk never wavered. "You heard me."
The slightly shorter boy held his shaking fists at his sides as he growled at him. "I'm warning you, Izzy. I'm not in the mood today."
"Oh yeah? Well, get in the mood! Hahahahahahaha!.!.!"
"I'm serious…" Sam said through gritted teeth. "Don't push me today or else…"
The brunet grinned. "Or else what? You'll cry? Ahahahahahahahahaha!.!.!"
To the blond's great displeasure and shock, Otto and the others joined in. With a gaping, wide-eyed look, he looked up at the half pipe in horror. Indeed, they were laughing and pointing at him! Sam snapped his head towards his rival when he heard him snickering.
"Well, well, well, it seems that your friends have turned their backs on ya. Kinda surprising they haven't done so sooner. Heh, heh, heh…"
Sam glowered at him. "What would it take to get you off my back?"
"Play me in a game of I-Z-Z-Y." The evil one replied, pointing at him while kicking up his board. "Let's see who wins in a skateboard battle!"
The bespectacled boy rolled his eyes as his rival grabbed the board gracefully, generating applause from Iggy.
"Yeah right! Why should I face you!.?" He demanded.
"Aw, are ya too chicken Squid?.!" Otto's voice was heard, making Sam pale in disbelief.
"Hmph! Once a Squid, always a Squid!" Twister supplied.
"Yeah, Sammy! I thought you were braver than that!"
The blond gasped. Even Reggie wanted him to do this! Even after all that pain and humiliation he went through when they were playing. And they were still teasing and mocking him! Pushed beyond words, he gritted his teeth and glared at his adversary.
"Fine!" He shouted, picking up his own board and starting towards the pipe. "Let's get this over with."
Sam didn't really have anything to worry about. This was Izzy after all. He had more or less the same skills in extreme sports that the blond had. Normally, their contests would last for hours on end. And every single time, the one in the glasses would prevail. Following every duel, the brunet would swear that he would one day beat Sam, no matter what. That was two years ago. They still go at it whenever they see each other. And not just in sports too. They even once had a staring contest that went on for days.
Soon, the two were standing atop the pipe. Otto and the others had left to watch from the ground with Iggy. Izzy looked down at the spectators and then back up at Sam.
"So what's the deal with them?" He asked, pointing a thumb towards the trio, who were strangely cheering him on instead of their friend. Sam looked down with a confused expression before turning back to the brunet.
"I have no clue." He answered. "They were like this when I got here."
"Why did they suddenly turn on ya?"
Sam gave him an angry look. "Why do you care? Let's go already!"
Izzy shrugged nonchalantly. "So much for small talk." He crossed his arms. "I'll let you go first. Just to show ya how much I improved since our last encounter."
The blond scoffed at that. "Yeah, whatever. Here I go!"
And the match was on. Sam performed his best moves to throw his rival off. But miraculously, Izzy was able to match him almost perfectly. The light one performed flying back spins, swivel chairs, nose grabs, and a host of other moves. Snickering all the while, the dark one defeated his attempts at victory with no problem. Even the blond's greatest move, the KF-Superman (a type of tailgrab), was no match for the brunet, which made Sam gape in total disbelief.
'How did he do that!.? He didn't even fall once!' He thought after the tenth round finished. He was panting, seemingly worn out.
"Are ya…done yet…?" Izzy panted. Those moves were hard to pull off. Sam nodded.
"Yeah, it's your turn now."
"Goodie. Took ya long enough." The taller boy said, getting his second wind. He looked over the side at their audience, specifically at Otto. The redhead caught his eye and nodded. Izzy smirked evilly as he returned the nod. He turned back to Sam.
"Alright Blondie, watch this! This is my Shadow Air move."
He dropped in and rolled around on the pipe, gaining speed. When he was sure he was going fast enough, he shot up into the air and performed his move, which Sam has never even heard of. Izzy's stunt was basically Otto's Rocket Air, except aggressive spins were added to the mix. Just before returning to earth, he stood up and pulled off a quick 360. He then went back to where a gulping Sam was standing.
"Heh, your turn." He said with a snicker. Sam glowered at him before mounting his board.
"Here goes!"
He went along the pipe for a few moments before shooting off into the air. He managed to set himself up the same way Izzy did, but due to his current emotional state, he couldn't get the spins done right, let alone pull off the 360. With a yelp, he crash landed on the pipe yet again. Iggy gasped and covered his mouth while everybody else laughed and pointed at him.
"Heh, heh, heh… That's an I for ya, Blondie!" The one in the purple helmet bragged. "Hurry up and get back up here!"
Desperately trying to shut out their voices, Sam made his way back up the half pipe's stairs. Izzy sneered as he returned.
"Now we can move on." He said, preparing to drop in again. "I like to call this one, 'Walking on the Dark Side.'"
"Oh please." Iggy muttered, crossing his arms.
Growling at his brother, Izzy took off. When his speed was sufficient, he sent himself airborne. Once at the proper height, he grabbed his board, stepped off it, and moved his legs as if he was walking on thin air. As gravity affected him, he performed a couple of back flips before getting back on his board. He then returned to Sam.
"You're up." was all he said before stepping aside. The trio started their heckling again, causing Iggy to react.
"Huh? Why are you guys acting like that?" He then faced the half pipe and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Come on, Sammy-Sam! Beat him like always!"
"Hey! Whose side are ya on!.?.!" Izzy demanded, shaking his fist.
'Well, at least one person believes in me.' Sam thought with a small smile. He put on a determined look as he jumped off the platform.
His board landed and rolled Sam up and down both sides of the structure before he obtained the necessary speed. When he was up in the air, he performed the first part of the move perfectly. He was pretty used to performing air walks. It was one of the first advanced moves he perfected. Unfortunately, that was the only part he did perfectly. As he did the first back flip, he dropped his board, causing him to skid his knees on the half pipe. Good thing he was wearing his pads or it would've been pretty ugly.
"That's Z sucka!" The dark one called teasingly. Sam got up, retrieved his board, and hobbled back to the half pipe.
Each agonizing step was made even more painful by his friends' jests. His morale was dropping more and more by the second. Iggy's cheering was the only thing that propelled him to continue trying to defeat his rival. If he could do that, then he will at least be able to say he had a happy birthday.
Sam reached the platform and the game started off again. This time, Izzy performed a combination of flips and spins while on his board. When Sam tried to imitate the technique, he wound up getting the first two or three spins done right, but ended up snagging his shirt on a huge splinter. With an almost sickening ripping sound, he fell to the ground with a huge hole over his chest. Everybody but Iggy was in hysterics. They were practically struggling just to remain standing. Feeling tears threatening to fall worse than ever, Sam begged himself inwardly to remain calm as he returned to his rival.
"That's another Z, Blondie. One more mess up and victory's mine! Muahahahahahaha!.!.!"
"Can it! There's no way I'm gonna lose to you!" Sam retorted. Izzy only laughed harder. He soon breathed and got ready to perform his next move.
"This here's my best move. Beautifully named Dark McTwist."
The one in the vest jumped in and started building up his speed. When he reached the right velocity, he took off and shifted himself so that he was upside down. From what Sam could tell Izzy was performing a McTwist, only he was spinning backwards and while upside down. He gaped in complete and total disbelief. It was crazy hard to perform a move like that! Not even Otto can possibly do that one! He trembled in fear as his rival returned, panting hard.
"Hah…hah…You're…up…" Izzy breathed with an air of smugness.
Sam gulped. He could barely perform a normal McTwist, never mind doing it upside down and backwards! …But he had to. He had to beat Izzy and shut up Otto and the others. One thing was going to go right today!
With an outraged, determined look, he dropped in and rolled back and forth until he was going fast enough to perform the move. But when he launched off the pipe, he tilted his body too far and wound up flying far from it! With a horrified scream, he plummeted and landed face first on the concrete. The sound of breaking glass and cracking wood was heard. While everybody on the ground ran over to check him out, Izzy was dumbstruck.
"I…won…?.?.? I seriously beat him?.?.?" He punched the air and danced around. "I actually beat Blondie! At long last I, Izzy Lopez, have defeated my great rival! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!.!.!"
"Ugh…" Sam groaned, slowly sitting up.
"Sammy! Are you ok!.?" Reggie asked with concern deep in her voice. Sam tried to focus on her, but only saw hundreds of blurred objects around him. His eyes widened when he realized what happened.
'M-m-my glasses… They're totaled!'
He struggled to hold it together as he felt around for his board. He let out a choked gasp when he felt the splintered remains of half of his board. He soon found the other half and stood, keeping his head bowed. Letting a few droplets loose, he ran out of the park and left in the direction of his home.
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"An-an-an-and that's what ha-ha-ha-happened!.!.!" Sam wailed, covering his eyes.
Lars, feeling pure remorse for the boy and extreme hatred for everybody that dared to wrong him today (himself included), embraced him. Still bawling, the blond cried into the other's chest. The brunet felt his temper burning hotter and hotter each second that Sam was in that position. He wasn't gonna let anybody or anything stop him from being happy and joyful. He couldn't stand to see him grieving. He pressed Sam closer to him in an attempt to quell the sobs.
'I swear, I'm gonna get back at all of 'em!' He thought with great rage in his heart. 'They're all going to pay for hurting his feelings! I love him too much to see him get picked on or bullied by anybody!.!.! …Well, except for me. And another thing—'
His eyes widened when he went over what he just said.
'I…love him…?' He looked down at the slightly younger boy, who was starting to relax, and smiled. 'Yeah… I love him and I wanna be there to protect him.'
"Squid—I mean Sammy…" He spoke. Sam stopped and looked up, tears still spilling from behind his shattered glasses. He actually called him Sammy. Not Squid, geek, or nerd, but Sammy!
"Y-y-yeah…?" He responded. To his surprise, Lars hugged him and put his head on his shoulders.
"I'm sorry all that happened to you." He started. "Nobody deserves to have all that happen to them, especially on their birthday."
He pulled back and removed Sam's glasses, revealing puffy, red eyes. Those cerulean orbs were wide with surprise as Lars stared into their depths. The brunet saw, among fear, desolation, and loneliness, a strong light. The light of love illuminating the darkness of his heart. Sam grew red in the face when he noticed the older teen coming in close.
Before he knew it, their lips met in a feathery soft kiss. The blond blinked, trying to digest what was happening before giving into his feelings. He closed his eyes and returned the gesture, embracing Lars as well. After enjoying the warmth of each other's spirit for some time, they parted. Despite being out of breath, Sam grinned, finally knowing how his crush feels about him. Lars also grinned at the boy, happy to finally unlock his feelings for him. They leaned their heads against each other.
"Happy Birthday, Sammy." The taller one whispered. Sam felt tears welling up again. This time they weren't tears of sorrow. They were tears of joy and happiness.
"Th-thank you…" He replied, resting his face against Lars' chest. They sat like that for a few minutes before Lars stood up along with him.
"Come on." He said, grabbing Sam's belongings. Sam blinked, following him.
"Where are we going?" He asked. Lars stopped and faced him.
"Well first, we're gonna stop by your house andget yourself a new shirt and your spare glasses. Maybe even talk some sense into your mom." He explained. "Next, I'm gonna go and beat the snot outta every single one of those kooks, especially that Lopez punk. Then, we're gonna go to some expensive restaurant and throw ya a party like one you'll never forget. And if there's still time, I'm gonna get ya a birthday present, plus a new board and gear. If not, we can come back here and get you an even better present." He winked at that, causing Sam to blush and giggle. "Now come on."
Lars took his hand and left through the door.
