CHAPTER 16

Miguel and Johnny watched the movie and it ended at around midnight. At that point, Johnny got up and went to bed, leaving just Miguel in the living room. Miguel took out his phone and saw that he had an unread message from Sam from 5 minutes ago. Miguel was instantly nervous. Sam could well be texting to break up with him. In retrospect, he had been pretty stubborn with Mr. Larusso. He could've just bit his tongue and ignored Daniel's comments about Johnny. Why did he have to retaliate? Even though his tone remained polite, he could've tried harder to keep peace. Miguel read the message…

I'm so sorry about tonight. Idk what my dad was thinking. Meet at our spot? x

After sending a quick response, Miguel reluctantly grabbed his coat and headed out the door. He was exhausted. It had been an extremely long day and he really wanted to go to sleep. However, he forced himself out of the house and into an uber (he had had a couple of beers so didn't want to drive) and he went to the bench in Griffith Park, where Sam was already waiting. Miguel walked over to her and sat beside her. She looked up and smiled at him when she saw him. It had clearly been a rough night for her; she looked extremely weary too.

"Hey." Sam murmured, exhaustion taking over her whole body as she leaned into Miguel's side and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hey. Long night for you too?" Miguel asked. Sam sighed and nodded, her eyes fluttering open and shut as sleep came closer and closer.

"Like you wouldn't believe." She replied.

"Hey, Sam, I'm sorry for causing problems tonight." Miguel murmured. Sam looked at him, confused.

"You? It was all my dad! I mean, what kind of person starts ripping into their rival from 45 years ago, right in front of their son?!" Sam exclaimed. Miguel shook his head.

"No, no, It was partly my fault too. I could've just bit my tongue and not responded when he was talking about Johnny and the night would've gone fine. My stupid pride got in the way and I just had to defend him. I should've just shut up."

Sam shook her head.

"No, you did the right thing! You stood up for the people you care about. If anything, I'm impressed. You kept your cool and remained polite and respectful, locked horns with my dad, and you stood up for yourself. His reaction to that is his problem, not yours."

"Still, by doing so, it's not like I was exactly endearing myself to your family in the process." Miguel remarked. Sam shook her head.

"You know, I don't actually think that's the case. My mom and brother loved you. It's just my dad that…"

"Hates my stepdad and I with a fire-like passion that will never be quenched for as long as my family live and breathe?" Miguel remarked. Sam nodded and looked at him, surprised.

"Yeah, that's exactly it. How do you know?" Sam asked. Miguel smiled faintly.

"Um… because it's exactly how my stepfather feels about your family." Miguel replied. Sam groaned and banged her head against Miguel's shoulder again and again.

"Ugh… why do our dads have to be so immature?" Sam grumbled. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, I love how chill our moms are, and then there's just our dads…" Miguel chuckled. Sam laughed.

"Yeah. Saddest part is they have so much in common. They could be friends in another lifetime." Sam stated. Miguel nodded.

"Yup. I feel like if they just sat down and talked through their issues, they could be over it in a half an hour." Miguel said. Sam shook her head.

"Nah. This is a 45 year old grudge between two man-children we're talking about here. It's going to take a lot more than a single conversation. They need a whole night of bonding at least." She replied. Miguel sighed.

"Well that ain't happening, what with them not willing to be within 100 yards of each other." Miguel commented. Sam nodded.

"Going to make future Thanksgivings and holidays pretty awkward, huh?" Sam stated. Miguel laughed and nodded.

"Little bit." He responded. "We need to find a way for them to be forced to communicate with each other."

"Yeah, what do you suggest?" She asked. Miguel shrugged.

"I don't know. Any ideas?" He asked. Sam sighed and shook her head. The two sat on the bench and pondered, racking their brains for any possible way they could get their fathers to talk to one another. After nearly 20 minutes, both of them were practically falling asleep on the bench as it was past 2 in the morning, but they still had no ideas.

"Okay, I think we should probably go home and get some sleep, huh?" Sam remarked. Miguel nodded and stood up.

"Yeah. Could you please swing by and drop me home on your way?" Miguel asked. Sam nodded and the two of them walked towards Sam's car. They got inside but then, disaster struck… When Sam turned the key to turn on the car, the engine made a couple of spluttery chokes before going silent. Sam tried to turn on her car multiple times again but despite her efforts, it still wouldn't turn on. She turned to Miguel, annoyed.

"Well I guess my car's decided to die now. Great timing." She remarked. Miguel nodded.

"I mean I could try and fix it in the dark, but without any light, I'd risk damaging the car further." Miguel replied. Sam shook her head.

"Yeah, don't do that. Maybe try calling a tow truck?" Sam suggested. Miguel took out his phone, looked at it and sighed.

"No signal." He replied and groaned. "The one place in all of L.A that doesn't get a signal."

"So I guess we're stuck here." Sam muttered, walking around her car in circles. Miguel shrugged.

"Hey, it could be worse." He remarked, opening the back door of the car and pulling Sam inside. He then reclined the back seat so that they were lying horizontally, grabbed the blanket that Sam always kept in the boot of the car and he draped it over the two of them. The final thing he did was opening the sunroof of the car so they got a gorgeous view of the midnight sky and the clusters of stars above them.

Sam and Miguel then lay back on the soft, plush seats and cuddled in the blankets.

"You know, two years ago today, I was sleeping on a sand dune, being baked by 40 degree temperatures in Bahrain. I'd have killed for something like this. Not such a bad night, huh?"

Sam nodded.

"Not bad at all." She replied, thinking back to the very first night they met. Looking back on it, that was one of the best nights of her life. She had met the love of her life that night. She just prayed that when she finally got around to telling him about San Diego, he sticks around.

Around 6 hours into their sleep, Sam awoke with a start. She had just had a dream that had given her an amazing idea on how to get her dad and Miguel's dad to see each other.

"Miguel." She whispered, not wanting to wake him as his eyes were closed and he was sleeping peacefully, but on the other hand, really wanted to tell him about her idea.

"Yeah?" He replied in a perfectly clear, not groggy voice, his eyes snapping open and proving that he had been awake for a while.

"You're awake?" Sam asked, confused. He seemed to be sleeping just moments earlier.

"Yeah. I wake up really early, remember?" Miguel said. "I've been up for like 4 hours."

"Well, why didn't you get up?" Sam asked.

"Well, um… you're kind of laying on my arm." Miguel replied. Sam sat up quickly, and Miguel was able to move his arm away.

"Sorry." She murmured.

"Don't worry. All good." He replied. He then winced as he moved his arm, and he shook his shoulder out gently. "Ow, pins and needles."

"Hey, hey, listen. I had an amazing idea on how to get our parents to get over their grudge last night." Sam stated. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Is it for them to cuddle in the back of a car? I mean, I'm all for trying that but I don't think that'll work." Miguel joked. Sam rolled her eyes and hit him on the shoulder playfully.

"No, you idiot! This is an actual good idea." She stated.

"Oh, yeah? What is it?" He asked, curiously. She smiled.

"Well… have you ever heard of the movie The Parent Trap?"