After Gideon's defeat, everyone was excitedly preparing for the Mystery Shack's grand re-opening that they were going to throw tomorrow. Well, nearly everyone. Since Stan couldn't exactly get around on his broken leg, he was content with sitting around and barking orders at everyone else, telling them where to put the streamers and decorations, what foods and drinks to buy, and no Mabel, you cannot host your own karaoke contest for the party, no matter how badly you want it. What do you think I am, made out of money? Whoops. Tap, tap.
Though despite all the ruckus and planning that went on that day, Sammy couldn't help but notice just how… tired Stan looked. Usually, that wasn't much of a surprise, considering that Stan always looked tired, what with the baggy, bloodshot eyes, and the unkempt whiskers on his square chin… but on that particular day, he looked especially tired, as though he had been up all night or something. When Sammy asked him about it, the conman waved off his concerns, giving an excuse of how he couldn't get to sleep because of the itchy cast on his leg. Sammy had a feeling that there was more to it, but didn't want to overstep his boundaries.
Wendy and Soos, of course, were thrilled to have the shack back. Wendy especially, because that meant she didn't have to go to her cousin's logging camp after all. Soos was also glad to be working at the shack again, but apart from helping in putting up the decorations for the party tomorrow, he also spent most of the day fretting over Stan and his leg, much to Stan's annoyance. Sammy was glad to have the shack back as well, but for him, the more important thing was that Dipper and Mabel were allowed to stay for the rest of the summer.
As for said twins, they were probably the most ecstatic out of the bunch. Mabel was back to being a zany ball of energy, flitting all over the place like a hummingbird and helping in putting up the decorations with gusto. Although Dipper was still slightly suffering from the injuries that he received from Gideon, he was still recovering remarkably quickly, and displayed almost as much enthusiasm as his sister throughout the day. In fact, he was so excited about the party and so happy to be back that he forgot to ask Stan if he could have his journal back.
There was one thing that he didn't forget, however. Not long after they got the deed to the shack back, Dipper confronted Sammy in private and tried to give Sammy his bracelet back. Even though Sammy refused it at first, telling Dipper that he should keep it instead, Dipper was insistent on giving it back. "Your bracelet actually helped me a lot back there," he said a little bit sheepishly. "On that cliff, I was ready to give up. But then, I looked at the bracelet you gave me, and… well, I remembered when you told me how I didn't need the journal to do all those great things I did, and… it helped me gather my courage and just act. I honestly have no idea what would've happened if you hadn't given it to me. But now, I want you to have it back."
"Thanks, Dipper," said Sammy, gratefully taking the bracelet back. "I'm glad it was able to help you in the end." He chuckled. "Of course, I didn't intend for it to help you leap off a cliff and then battle a giant robot with your bare hands, but I'm glad nonetheless."
So for most of the day, everyone in the shack was excitedly making plans on how they were going to set up the greatest grand re-opening party that the town had ever seen. And of course, you couldn't have a great party without lots and lots of fruit punch. That was why Stan sent Dipper and Mabel up to the attic, in the hopes that they could find any loose change to buy more fruit punch with. What, did you think Stan was going to pay for it himself? Ha!
So that was where the twins currently were; inside the attic, on their hands and knees, searching through every nook and cranny. They looked through the cracks in the floorboards, in the closet, underneath their beds, and even in one of the vents, but so far, they were unlucky. Mabel found a lint ball that she affectionately named Timmy, but other than that, they couldn't find a single coin. "I don't understand why Grunkle Stan can't just buy the fruit punch with his own money," Dipper grumbled. Needless to say, he was not too happy that Stan was making them crawl around on their hands and knees just to find a bit of loose change.
"This is like treasure hunting!," said Mabel, always the one who looked on the bright side. "Check out all this cool stuff I found while searching through our room!" She began taking out little trinkets that she found out of her sweater pockets. "A paper clip, a piece of chewed up gum, a marble, and of course, Little Timmy!" Dipper could not help but cringe. "Ew! Seriously, Mabel, you put gum in your sweater?" "If that's enough to gross you out, then you don't wanna know what else I've put in my sweater," Mabel said ominously, still smiling widely.
"...Okaaay…," said Dipper, before standing back up and brushing his hands on his vest. "Welp, there's definitely nothing to find in here. Let's go check somewhere else." Mabel looked around, then realized something. "What about under Sammy's bed? We haven't checked there yet," she pointed out. "Oh, yeah… But are you sure that's a good idea?," asked Dipper. "I mean, do you think Sammy would mind if we look under there? I'm pretty sure some of his belongings are under there, so…" "It'll be fine!," Mabel reassured him. "Come on, it's not like we're gonna go through his stuff or anything like that." Dipper thought about it for a moment, then hesitantly agreed. "Fine. But remember, we should not look through any of his stuff, alright?"
"Got it, bro-bro!," said Mabel, before taking in a deep breath and diving under Sammy's bed like she was a scuba diver. Dipper just stood there and waited, watching Mabel's legs kick around erratically as her upper body was completely concealed. After a few minutes, Dipper grew a bit impatient. "Well? Did you find anything?," he asked, crossing his arms and tapping his foot on the ground. Mabel finally popped her head out from under Sammy's bed, her hair now in a state of disarray. "Nope!," she said. "Nothing under there except some cobwebs, dust… and this cool duffel bag!" She suddenly pulled out a black duffel bag from under the bed, much to Dipper's alarm, since he immediately recognized that bag as belonging to Sammy's.
"Woah, woah, woah! Mabel, what did I just say about us not going through his stuff?," he asked anxiously. "Come on, Dipper, aren't you even a little bit curious?," Mabel pleaded. "What do you think he could have in there? A treasure map? Stolen money from a bank?" She gasped loudly. "Or maybe it's a bunch of tapes revealing that Sammy was an alien from outer space this whole time!" "I seriously doubt it's any of those things," Dipper deadpanned. His annoyance and anxiety grew when Mabel started unzipping the bag with no hesitation. "Hey! Mabel, come on! Put it back! What if Sammy comes in and sees us?," he asked anxiously. Ignoring his brother, Mabel reached into the duffel bag and took out what appeared to be a blue ribbon with a golden trinket attached to it. "Whoa, what do you think this is?," she asked, holding it up.
"Ugh, Mabel!," Dipper groaned, snatching it out of her hand. "Don't touch that! You could end up breaking it or something! Seriously, why do you keep ignoring everything I… say…?" He trailed off, staring at the trinket in his hand. Now that he got a good look at it, his eyes widened in shock when he realized what he was holding. The ribbon was blue, and in the middle of that ribbon was a light blue octagon with thirteen little white stars on it. Attached to that octagon was a golden medal in the shape of a five pointed star, surrounded by a green ring and with a little eagle statue on top of it, its wings spread out proudly. Inside the star was the engraved image of a soldier wearing what appeared to be a Roman helmet, and in between the star and the eagle was a gold bar that had the word VALOR printed on it. "No way," Dipper gasped, staring at the medal with wide eyes. He had seen that same medal enough times in history books to be able to recognize it. "What?," Mabel cried out in excitement. "What, Dipper? What is it?!"
"It's… Mabel, don't you recognize it?," Dipper asked excitedly. "It's the Congressional Medal of Honor!" "Wow, the Conventional Medal of Honor!," gasped Mabel, before the smile on her face was replaced with a confused look. "Wait, what's the Conventional Medal of Honor?" "It's Congressional, not Conventional, Mabel," sighed Dipper. "And how do you not know what the Medal of Honor is? Didn't we go to the same history classes together?" "Aw, come on, you know how bad I was at those classes!," Mabel whined, flopping onto the floor. "I couldn't even remember who the first president was!" "It's George Washington. It's not that hard to memorize, Mabel," Dipper deadpanned. "See? You were always better at history than I was!," said Mabel, sitting back up and scooting towards him. "So come on, bro-bro, spill. What's the Competitive Medal of Honor?" "It's Congressional, Mabel, not Competitive," sighed Dipper. "And most people just call it the Medal of Honor. Anyway, this medal is supposed to be a huge deal. It's the highest military decoration for American soldiers! They're even handed out by the president! And only the bravest and most fearless soldiers are awarded this medal!" "Wow…," gasped Mabel, now seeing the medal in a different light. "I can't believe that Sammy has one of these!"
"Yeah… I can't believe it either…," Dipper murmured to himself, deep in thought. "Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, why does Sammy have the Medal of Honor in his bag? Maybe it belonged to his father or grandfather or…?" While Dipper was lost in thought, Mabel continued rifling through Sammy's duffel bag. Then, something at the bottom of the bag caught her eye, so she reached in and took it out. It was an old, worn out photograph with white creases.
Mabel unfolded the photo, and her eyes went wide at what she saw. "Whoa. Hey Dipper, check this out," she said, handing it over to Dipper, whose eyes also went wide. The photo was clearly very old, its edges being ripped and worn down. The image itself was black and white, and even though it was partly faded from age, he could still make out three people standing side by side, smiling at the camera. They were all dressed in military uniforms, with rifles strapped to their backs, and had their arms over each other's shoulders like they were old pals. Dipper did not recognize the two men on the left and right, but he immediately recognized the one in the middle. "Wait a minute. Is that… Sammy?!," he cried, staring at the man in the middle. Though his hair was much shorter and his forehead was concealed by the cap he wore on his head, the eyes and face were a dead giveaway. "It totally is!," Mabel squealed excitedly. "I can't believe he had two friends this whole time! We should ask Sammy to introduce them to us!"
"Wait. Mabel, something about this doesn't add up," said Dipper as he began pacing around the room. "That photo looked old. Like, very old. And yet, in that photo, Sammy doesn't look a day younger than he is now! And why were he and those two other guys dressed in army clothes? Are they war buddies? Did Sammy fight in a war? That would explain both the photo and the medal. But how is that even possible? Why did he never tell us? And why–?"
Suddenly, the twins heard the attic door open. They quickly went silent and turned their heads to see Sammy standing in the doorway. His mouth was open, as though he was about to say something, but upon seeing them, he also went silent. His eyes grew wide when he saw what was going on - Mabel on her knees, and next to her, his opened black duffel bag, which he had hoped they would never find. Dipper, staring back at him like a deer frozen in headlights, holding the Medal of Honor in one hand and the old photograph in his other hand.
For Sammy, this was the worst thing that could've possibly happened. Thoughts of escape rapidly went through his head. Should he run away? Deny everything? Pretend that he saw nothing? At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to flee, but he stayed rooted to the spot, paralyzed from head to toe. His throat began to tighten, and his heart beat so rapidly in his chest that he thought it was about to burst out soon! He began to hyperventilate.
"S-Sammy!," cried Dipper, finally finding his voice. Realizing how incriminating this must have looked, he quickly hid the medal and the photo behind his back, but of course, the damage had already been done. "This isn't what it looks like! …O-okay, I take that back, it's kind of what it looks like. But we didn't mean to do it, I swear! We were just looking for spare change in the attic like Stan told us to, then Mabel decided to check under your bed, and she found your bag and decided to open it even though I definitely told her not to–!" "Snitch!," Mabel hollered. "–and she found that medal and the photo in there and I took them from her because I didn't want her accidentally damaging them or anything and…" As Dipper babbled on and on, Sammy was still lost in his thoughts, barely listening to a word he was saying. He was still in a terrible state of panic, though not as severe as it was just now. The fact that the twins hadn't outright called him a monster and chased him out of the house was enough to tell him that they didn't have the full picture just yet. He could still salvage this situation! He just needed to act quickly!
"I-it's okay. Dipper! It's okay, it's okay," said Sammy, trying to be heard over Dipper's rambling. "You don't need to keep coming up with excuses. I'm not upset." "Oh. Really?," asked Dipper, sounding quite relieved. "You don't mind that we went through your stuff?" Sammy's face scrunched up. "Well, I'm not exactly happy about it… but it's all water under the bridge." He held out his hand, trying to make the smile on his face appear as convincing as possible. "Here. Just give these things to me, I'll put them back in my bag, and we can all forget that this whole thing even happened. Deal?" Dipper nodded, glad that this disaster had been averted, and was about to give the medal and the photo to Sammy… before Mabel suddenly stopped him.
"Hold on a minute, bro-bro," she said, putting her hand on her brother's shoulder. She stared at Sammy and cocked her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at him with a pout. "What kinda game are ya tryin' to play with us, mistah?," she asked suspiciously, suddenly adopting a bad Brooklyn accent for some unknown reason. "Game? What game? Nobody's playing a game with anyone," Sammy said nervously. "And I'm no mistah!" "Mabel! Just let it go!," Dipper hissed, turning to glare at her. "We shouldn't have even thought of looking through Sammy's belongings without his permission. Just be glad that he's willing to let us off the hook." "But Dipper! Weren't you the one who was just asking all those questions about Sammy?," asked Mabel. "Who were those other people in that photo? Why does Sammy have that medal in his bag? And why does he want us to forget about it so badly? It all sounds kinda weird, right?" Dipper thought about it for a moment, and his eyes widened in realization. "Yeah… it does sound weird," he said, taking a step back while casting a suspicious look at Sammy, much to the latter's dismay.
"Oh, come on, Dipper!," groaned Sammy. "Not everything has to have some conspiracy behind it! And I was gonna let bygones be bygones, wasn't I?" "Yeah, but why?," asked Dipper, keeping both the medal and the photo far away from Sammy just in case he tried to snatch them from him. "Why are you so insistent on getting us to forget about this? It's like you're trying to… hide something from us." "No, I'm not," Sammy mumbled under his breath, looking away as his face burned red. Even to himself, that didn't sound convincing in the slightest.
"Come on, Sammy!," Mabel said excitedly. "Whatever you're hiding, it can't be that bad, right?" She began pumping her fists in the air while chanting, "Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!"
For a moment, just a very brief moment, Sammy considered doing to the twins what he did to Gideon at the pool. Scare them, a dark voice in the back of his mind whispered. Make them too terrified to probe any deeper into your secrets. That is the only way to get them off your back. It's not like you'd be hurting them or anything. Just give them a scare…
NO! Sammy shook his head and snuffed that voice out immediately. No. As much as he wanted his secrets to remain secrets, scaring the twins into submission was just too far. Scaring Gideon was one thing, but… No, he thought to himself. I would never do that to them. But there was another option left, and unfortunately, it would come at the cost of his own dignity.
Much to Dipper and Mabel's surprise, Sammy suddenly got down on his knees, folded his hands in his lap, and bowed his head down, his long bangs covering his eyes. "Please," he whispered in a shaky voice. "Just… forget about all of this, okay? I'm begging you." The twins' confusion turned into horrified guilt when they saw actual tears dripping from Sammy's face and onto the floor. "P-please…" Never in their lives have the twins felt such shame and guilt before. At that moment, they deeply regretted ever coming across Sammy's bag and confronting him about it. "Sammy, I'm… I'm so sorry," Dipper said gently, slowly edging towards him. "I had no idea that… I mean… we didn't mean to… sorry." Mabel didn't say anything, but the expression on her face said it all. "Here," said Dipper, handing over Sammy's medal and photo.
Sammy wiped the tears from his eyes and accepted them. "Thanks," he said, trying to sound grateful, but his voice only came out as sad and tired. "And I'm sorry too, for putting you guys in this position. Do you… promise me that you won't tell anyone else about what happened in here? Not Stan, not Soos, not Wendy? Do you promise?" "We promise," said Dipper, nodding his head with a sad smile. Sammy smiled and nodded back, but it was half hearted at best. And then, without saying another word, he got back up and walked out of the attic.
Dipper went up to close the door so that nobody else would walk in on them, then began pacing around the room again. Meanwhile, Mabel went up to her bed and quietly laid down on it, no longer in a jovial mood. After a few moments of silence, Dipper spoke up. "It still makes no sense, though," he sighed in frustration. "Think about it, Mabel. If that medal and photo that we found points to the conclusion that I think it does, then Sammy would have to be–"
"Dipper!," Mabel suddenly snapped, sitting straight up while giving him the fiercest glare that Dipper had ever seen her use. "How could you still be thinking about that after what we just did?!" At that moment, Dipper was lost for words, which prompted Mabel to continue. "We made him cry, Dipper! We actually made him cry! We should be thinking up some way to make things up to him, not keep probing into his private life!" Upon hearing those words, Dipper sighed and looked down at the floor in shame. "You're right, Mabel," he sighed. "Obviously, Sammy doesn't want us to know about his secrets, so the best we could do is just leave it alone."
Mabel laid back down and stared up at the ceiling with a sad frown. "Do you think he'll forgive us?," she asked in a quiet voice. "Yeah, of course he will," Dipper said with an uncertain chuckle. "Come on, this is Sammy we're talking about. He couldn't hold a grudge if he tried." But even as he said those words, Dipper couldn't entirely believe them. Having completely forgotten about the task that Stan gave them, the twins stayed up in the attic for the rest of the afternoon, mulling over their mistake and what they could possibly do to make up for it.
Even as the sun was setting, the twins were still hiding away in the attic, and that was where Soos eventually found them. The handyman opened the door and poked his head inside, smiling when he saw the twins in the room. "Hey, dudes! Glad I found you two. Stan told me to come get you two. Said we were gonna have a meeting downstairs. You coming?"
As the twins got up from their beds, Soos noticed how somber they looked, and his smile turned into a frown of worry. "Whoa, you dudes okay?," he asked. "You guys kinda look down in the dumps right now." Dipper and Mabel gave each other sad glances. "We don't really want to talk about it," said Dipper. Soos nodded in understanding and refrained from saying anything else about the situation. The twins followed him downstairs and into the living room, where Stan and Wendy were already sitting in separate chairs. Waddles, who was taking a nap on the rug, twitched a little as he caught the scent of his owner. Waking up, he blinked open his little piggy eyes, then squealed happily as he jumped into Mabel's arms. Mabel smiled again and rubbed her face into Waddles' neck fat as she held him in her arms. "Well, you kids sure took your time up there, huh?," Stan snarked. "You two found any loose change up there or what?"
Instead of responding, the twins just sat down on the floor, with Waddles curling up in Mabel's lap. Stan and Wendy, realizing that something had just happened, looked to Soos for answers, but the handyman just shrugged, then made a cutting motion with his hand to silently tell them not to say anything. Stan and Wendy got the message and did exactly that.
After an awkward silence, Dipper asked, "So what's this meeting about, Grunkle Stan?" Stan just crossed his arms and shrugged. "Hey, don't ask me," he grunted. "Sammy was the one who set this meeting up, not me." Dipper and Mabel tensed up and gave each other wide looks of alarm. Sammy was the one who set up this meeting? Literally right after they confronted him about his secrets and made him cry in front of them? This couldn't be a coincidence.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Sammy finally entered the living room. Other than his eyes being slightly red, there was no evidence at all that he had been crying. To Dipper and Mabel's surprise, in his hands, he was holding the Medal of Honor and the old photograph. The rest of them watched silently as Sammy placed the medal and the photo on the table, then sat down in an empty chair next to the small aquarium that they had in the living room.
"Well, don't keep the rest of us in suspense here, kid," said Stan. "You mind telling us why we're all gathered here?" "Yeah, as much as I like working at the shack, it's getting late and I'm supposed to be heading back home right now," said Wendy. But Sammy remained silent as he looked down at his lap, wondering if he was making the right choice or not. He looked up at Dipper and Mabel, who still looked pretty guilty over what happened between them. Then, he sighed heavily and took a deep breath, about to do something that he had never done before in his life - tell the whole truth. "Thanks for showing up, everyone," he said, suddenly feeling much more vulnerable than before. "Before we start this meeting, I just want everyone to know that it was great working in the Mystery Shack with all of you, and that I would never forget any of you for as long as I live." "Heh, being a little dramatic, aren't you?," Stan chuckled. "You're making it sound like you're about to skip town." A melancholy frown appeared on Sammy's face. "Mister Pines… after this meeting is over… I might have to skip town…," he said sadly.
The chuckle in Stan's throat quickly died down, his brow furrowing in confusion and worry. "Wait, what? You're leaving?," gasped Wendy, just as shocked by the news. Soos' mouth was wide open, unable to say anything. Even Waddles suddenly sat up in alarm. But out of all of them, nobody took the news worse than Dipper and Mabel. Their eyes went wide, the hairs on the back of their necks stood up, and their blood went cold. Sammy was… leaving? But why? It wasn't because of them, was it? …No. Was it all their fault? Did they cause this?
"...Sammy…kid…," said Stan. "What brought this on? Is it work? Am I not paying you enough or something?" Sammy chuckled bitterly. "Mister Pines, in case you forgot, I specifically requested not to be paid when I first came here looking for a job. Money's not the issue. Neither is work. Like I said, I love working here. This shack sort of became my new home, and you guys became… my new family." "Then why, dude? Why do you wanna leave?," asked Soos. Sammy sighed. "It's not that I want to leave. You see, earlier today, me and the twins–"
Suddenly, Mabel bolted up, which caused Waddles to fall off her lap with a squeal. "I'M SORRYYYYY!," she cried, running up to Sammy and hugging his waist. "Whoa! Wha– Mabel!," cried Sammy, taken aback by such an extreme reaction. "I'm sorry!," Mabel sobbed, burying her face in Sammy's sweater. "I didn't mean to go through your stuff! I didn't mean to make you cry! Please don't leave! Please!" "Wait, what? You made him cry? What the heck happened between you three?," asked Stan, looking to Dipper for answers. Dipper looked down at his lap in shame. "Up in the attic, we… came across Sammy's belongings and looked through them without his permission," he admitted. "We found some weird stuff before Sammy caught us in the act. We confronted him about it, and… he started crying. He literally begged us not to tell anyone what we found." The others, hearing what Dipper just said, looked towards Sammy, who was trying his best to comfort the crying Mabel, patting her on the head in a soothing manner.
"Shhh, it's okay, Mabel, it's okay. I'm not leaving… or, well, maybe I will. It's a little bit complicated. But I promise, you and Dipper are not to blame for this, alright?" Mabel looked up at Sammy with tearful eyes. "Do you really mean that?," she sniffed. "We didn't drive you away or anything like that?" Sammy smiled and shook his head. "Of course not," he said gently. "Go sit down with everyone else, alright? I'll explain everything shortly." Mabel nodded and let go of Sammy, then walked back to her spot while wiping the tears from her eyes. Waddles jumped back into her lap and pressed his snout against her face in order to comfort her.
Sammy sat back down and sighed again. "So back to why you're all here… Yes, what Dipper just said is true. I went up to the attic and found him and Mabel looking through my bag. They found these." He gestured to the medal and the photo on the table. "I guess you could say that… we all panicked. Dipper and Mabel, just like any other curious children, wanted to know what it all meant, and I was just trying my best to prevent what I thought was a disaster waiting to happen. I'm ashamed to admit… I kind of emotionally manipulated them. Not intentionally, of course, it just sort of… happened. I begged them not to tell anyone, to just drop it all and forget about it. And yes, I even started crying. And it worked. They both agreed to stop."
"But…," Sammy sighed, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. "I spent most of the afternoon thinking about it. About what happened in the attic, and what that could mean for the future. And I finally decided that… I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I never told any of you the truth, especially after Dipper and Mabel now know that I'm hiding something. Besides, I guess it was kind of stupid of me to think that I could keep it all a secret forever. You were all bound to figure it out sooner or later, and… I'd prefer to tell it to you all instead of letting you guys find out on your own and feel betrayed about it." The others were quiet for a while as they slowly digested what they just heard. "So you got something to tell us," Stan finally spoke. "Something big, by the looks of it. I understand that part. What I don't understand is… why did you say you might have to leave the shack after telling us?" Sammy frowned and bowed his head down. "Because… you might not even want me around after this…," he said.
Immediately, there were loud protests from everyone else in the room, saying that he was their friend, that he was practically a member of their family, that there was no way they would even think of driving him away. But with all of these reassurances going in one ear and out the other, Sammy simply held up his hand to get them to stop. "Guys… I appreciate what you're all trying to say… but maybe you should wait until after you know the whole story, and then you could decide if I'm worth keeping around or not." "Alright, we'll listen," Stan grunted irritatedly, leaning back with his arms crossed. "But no matter what your story is, by the end of this day, you're still gonna be one of the Pines family, whether you like it or not."
Sammy couldn't help but smile, touched by what Stan said. But that smile quickly disappeared. No matter how much wishful thinking, he knew how this day was going to end - with him leaving Gravity Falls forever, while everyone sitting in this room with him, as well as the townspeople, would yell and hurl abuse at him. Abuse that he rightfully deserved.
"Okay, then," sighed Sammy. Goodness, I can't believe I'm actually doing this. "Where do I even start?" "How about the beginning? That's usually a good place to start," Wendy said jokingly. "What about that old photograph?," Dipper suggested. Sammy nodded in agreement, and picked up the photo, making sure that he held it high up so that everyone in the room could see it. "Well, I guess I'd better start by explaining who these people in the photo are. The one in the middle is me, of course. The person to the left of me is Carlson, and the one to the right of me is Hutch. We used to be old friends." Soos leaned forward to get a closer look. "Why are you dudes wearing military uniforms?," he couldn't help but ask. "And are those rifles strapped to your backs?," asked Wendy. "And why does that photo look so… old?," asked Stan.
"Well, this photo was taken during the Vietnam War, after all," Sammy said casually. The others slowly turned their heads to stare at him in bewilderment, as if Sammy had just grown a second head. "Excuse me, what?," asked Stan. "The Vietnam War? You're pulling my leg, aren't ya?" But Sammy shook his head. "Nope. It's like I said, this photo was taken in the middle of the Vietnam War," he said. "Okay, hold up," said Wendy, shaking her head in confusion. "Listen, I'm not exactly a huge history buff, but I'm pretty sure that war ended in, like, the 1970s."
"Yes, April 30, 1975 to be more exact," said Sammy, nodding his head. "But… but that makes no sense!," Dipper finally cried out, unable to contain himself any longer. "In that photo, you don't look any younger than you do right now! Actually, scratch that, you shouldn't even be in that photo because you wouldn't have been born yet! I mean, you're seventeen!"
"I said I was seventeen, that's true," Sammy said calmly. "But… what if I told you that I'm actually much… older than I look? I mean, considering all the supernatural phenomena we have encountered so far, a person who doesn't age wouldn't be really far-fetched, would it?"
Dipper's eyes went wide when it finally sunk in. "So… you actually fought in the Vietnam War?," he asked, scarcely able to believe the words that were coming out of his own mouth. "I… I guess that'd explain both the medal and the photograph…" "So how old are you, dude?," Soos asked eagerly. Sammy couldn't help but giggle. "Soos, didn't your abuelita ever tell you that it's rude to inquire about someone's age?," he asked jokingly. "That rule only applies to ladies, now spill!," said Stan, who was just as impatiently eager to know Sammy's true age.
"Well, it's the year 2012," said Sammy. "And I'm pretty sure I was born in 1944. It gets a little harder to remember as time goes on. So if you do the math, that would make me–" "Sixty eight years old," Dipper replied numbly, having already done the math in his head.
"You're sixty eight?!," cried Mabel, staring at Sammy in shock. "But that would make you even older than Grunkle Stan, and he's ancient!" This caused Stan to splutter indignantly while Sammy and Wendy couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Great, now I do feel ancient. Thanks, Mabel," Sammy chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. Wendy also managed to get her laughter under control. "Wow, so you're sixty eight. That's insane!," said the redhead. "Now I know why you act so weird." Sammy blinked at her in surprise. "Really? You think I act weird?," he asked, sounding a little hurt. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to make that sound like an insult," Wendy said quickly, shaking her head. "It's just that I always thought you acted way more… mature than all of my friends. Now that I think about it, I don't think you've ever swore even once."
"Yeah, I gotta agree with Wendy here," said Stan. "Ever since your first day here, you've been acting… well, not like an old man, but like someone who's from some different time period, ya know what I mean?" Sammy couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Mister Pines, my personality has nothing to do with how old I am. It's just who I am," he corrected. "There's still something I don't get, dude," Soos spoke up. "If you're so old…" Sammy's eye twitched. "...then how come you look so much younger? Shouldn't you have some wrinkles on your skin, maybe some gray hairs in your head, weird body odor…?" Sammy looked up at the ceiling in thought. "I… have no idea, actually," he said. "I remember growing pretty normally for the first seventeen years of my life, but after that, I just… stopped aging. And it's not like I have some weird medical condition that's messing with my growth hormone or something. Every doctor that I've ever visited came to the conclusion that I've literally stopped aging, and not a single one of them could understand what was going on with me. One of them even referred to me as a 'biological miracle.'"
"Wow, that's actually amazing," said Wendy, her eyes wide with shock. "I knew some people back at my school who would've killed for that kind of thing." "Eternal youth is not all it's cracked up to be, Wendy," Sammy said in a rather serious tone. "Believe me, I'm speaking from experience." "But when we first met, you didn't even believe in the supernatural," Dipper pointed out. "In fact, you thought the journal I found in the woods was some kind of hoax. How could you not have believed in the supernatural if you were a walking, breathing example of it?"
"I mean, I just stopped aging," said Sammy, shrugging his shoulders. "It was weird, but there was nothing mind blowing about it at the time. It would've been a huge leap for me to start believing in the supernatural just from that." "Wow! You must've seen some amazing stuff in the past, then!," Mabel said excitedly with literal stars in her eyes. "Did you live with dinosaurs? Did you shake hands with the person who invented chocolate?" She gasped loudly. "Were you pals with Quentin Trembley?!" "Mabel, he's not that old," sighed Dipper. "And seriously, you really need mom and dad to help you brush up on your history when we return home."
"Well, you were right about one thing, Mabel," Sammy chuckled. "I did see some pretty amazing things in the past. I never fought any dinosaurs, sorry to disappoint. Mister Pines here already beat me to it." "Heh. It was one of the best moments of my life," Stan bragged, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "But I still witnessed some pretty cool stuff," said Sammy. "In fact, when I was a kid, I saw Elvis Presley sing on a stage once."
"Whoa, you met Elvis?! Like, the singer?!," cried Wendy. "'Met' is a strong word," said Sammy. "I just went to one of his concerts when I was a kid. It was inside of a bar, nothing too wild. As a singer, he was… a bit overrated, in my honest opinion. But I enjoyed it nonetheless." "What else did you see?," Soos asked excitedly. Sammy couldn't help but smile a bit from all the attention he was getting, no longer afraid and nervous like he was before. "What did I not see is the better question," he bragged. "I grew up during a… tumultuous time, to say the least. I saw schools and universities finally being desegregated. There was also the famous moon landing, the Watergate Scandal, Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his 'I Have A Dream' speech, and the Beatles were all the rage back then, and of course, there was the V… the Vietnam War… Like I said, things were crazy back then. You can vouch for me on that, right Mister Pines?"
"Oh! Uh, I mean…," said Stan, suddenly very nervous. "Yeah, I could definitely vouch for you, kid. It was crazy times back then. But I never really paid attention to any of it, mostly 'cause I was… ya know… busy with other stuff…" Sammy stared at Stan for a moment, wondering why the conman was suddenly acting so nervous. He decided not to pry, however.
"So let me get this all straight in case I missed anything," said Dipper as he began counting on his fingers. "You're actually sixty eight years old, you don't know why you look so much younger than you really are, and you fought in the Vietnam War with two other people named… Who were they again?" "Hutch and Carlson," Sammy replied. Dipper nodded. "Right. Hutch and Carlson," he said. "I mean… It's all pretty surprising news. I think we still need some time to digest it all. But… I still don't understand why you think you might leave…"
"Right," Sammy sighed heavily. "See, I still haven't told you guys the whole story, only the basics. I had to tell you about my age first, or the rest of it won't make any sense. Although I've just told you about all the major events that happened during my life… I still need to tell you about me. About my own story. That's really why I set up this meeting to begin with."
"Dipper, Mabel… do you two still remember when you traveled back in time and met younger me?," he asked. "It's pretty hard to forget," Dipper said with a nod. "Well, you two didn't know at the time, but you guys accidentally traveled back in time to 1953," said Sammy. "I was only nine back then. And as you already know… I wasn't exactly the nicest kid on the block, or heck, even a nice kid in general. I was a schoolyard bully, plain and simple. You would think that getting saved by two strangers would help you turn over a new leaf… but for me, that was not the case. I didn't just stay as a bully. I grew worse. More violent. More conniving. By the time I was old enough to enroll in college, I was an absolute terror to those around me…"
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50 YEARS AGO
It had been only a few days since Sammy first stepped foot on Harvard's campus, and he was already making a name for himself. Nobody dared to mess with him now. Not the jocks or class presidents, not the other bullies, and not even the professors were willing to incur his wrath. And who could blame them? If people thought he was bad as a child, well…
Nobody would be exaggerating if they described Sammy as a demon in the form of a man. That was exactly what he was going for, anyway. He had already long forgotten about the two kids who saved his life nine years ago. Though he had temporarily lost his taste for bullying back then, the passing years since have reignited it really quickly. In fact, he was practically a legend in the bullying community now. No longer was he simply beating up other kids and taking their lunch money from them. Hmph, child's play! He was better than that now…
But how could Sammy have possibly become such a dreaded presence on the campus of Harvard, arguably the most prestigious university of its time, in just a few days?
Well, whoever said that brute force was no way to achieve power over others clearly didn't possess any themselves. And Sammy was quite a bit stronger than your average joe. As a kid, he could beat up other kids who were older and often much bigger than he was. And ever since elementary school, he had only gotten stronger. By the time he graduated from his high school, he was the best of the best in athletics, with tennis being his main specialty. Despite his rather thin frame and unimposing appearance, he was a physical force to be reckoned with. He was only eighteen years old and weighed about 160 pounds, yet he could still bench press over three times his own bodyweight in the gym, and anyone who had the misfortune of getting on his bad side would swear that he possessed the combined strength of three men.
And unfortunately for everyone around him, Sammy never really learned to use his strength for good. In fact, quite the opposite. Anyone who tried to stand up to him? They came back to school the next day, black and blue all over. Anyone who tried to bully him back? They showed up the next week with a brand new cast on their arm. Anyone who so much as looked at him the wrong way? They were shoved into their lockers or given toilet swirlies.
But it was not just physical strength that Sammy had in abundance. There was a reason why he was accepted by Harvard, after all. Despite his bullying ways, he was often at the top of his classes academically, and it was partly due to his extraordinarily high IQ of 160. So naturally, he could learn new concepts without too much trouble, and even his chess skills were quite a bit better than most other people. However, Sammy never really bothered to hone or improve his mental capabilities - he considered that beneath him - and since IQ could only take one so far, he often found himself struggling in particularly challenging high-level classes. So what did he do to combat this? Simple. By scaring and intimidating his teachers into letting him pass their classes. With honors, of course. Strength and intellect; a dangerous combination.
From kindergarten to high school, Sammy was a menace through and through, and his first few days in college proved to be no different. Even though Harvard was considered one of the best universities out there… it was still 1962. Back then, bullying was seen more as a totally natural part of life, rather than something to be frowned upon. Practically nobody would've come to an authority figure to inform them of Sammy's misdeeds, because they simply would've been told to "suck it up and deal with it like a man." Even Harvard was not exempt from it.
So for Sammy, the entire campus was practically his hunting grounds. He could do whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted, because who else was going to care? And what was he currently doing at the moment? Just teaching Harry a lesson, that's all.
Who was Harry? Just a brutish knucklehead who thought he was the only big fish in a small pond. Tall, strong, good looks, captain of the football team, and a brain the size of a pea, except even that would be an insult to peas everywhere. Sammy didn't know Harry personally, but he could only assume that the latter was really that stupid. After all, only an idiot would've bumped against Sammy in the hallway yesterday and laughed about it to his dumb jock friends afterwards. It appeared that some people still had no idea who Sammy was.
Then it was a good thing Sammy didn't mind "educating" them on who he was…
"You're crazy, man! You're freaking crazy!," Harry screamed. He was currently tied up at the moment - literally tied up with rope - and squirming like a worm, desperately trying to escape the menacing figure (Sammy) that was looming over him. Unlike in the present day, Sammy had a very different wardrobe back then. His brown hair, instead of being rather long and tied back into a bun, had been cut messily, as though he had taken a pair of scissors and given himself a careless haircut without even using a mirror. It was dyed almost completely black, with a dark shade of red at the tips of his bangs. His skin was even paler back then than it was now, and he had dark rings under his eyes, like a raccoon. He wasn't wearing his trademark glasses either - because glasses were for losers! - and he also wore a spiked collar around his neck.
Instead of a blue wool sweater and gray jeans, he wore a black tank top with a picture of a white skull on it, and dark leather pants. He looked a bit like one of those emo stereotypes you would see in teen movies, or someone who had gotten into a notorious biker gang.
And at the moment, he was standing over a tied up Harry with a baseball bat in his hand. Without any hesitation, he lifted up his foot and stomped down on Harry's face, ignoring his cries of pain. It didn't help that he was also wearing heavy boots with studs at the bottom.
"Man, shut up," sighed Sammy, not bothered at all by what he was doing. "Your whiny voice is giving me a migraine." He lifted his foot off Harry's face and walked in front of him, then squatted down so that their faces were nearly touching. "You didn't think you'd get away with it, did you?," he asked. "Did you genuinely not know who I was, or are you just that dumb?" "You better let me go right now, you freak!," snarled Harry. "You'd better pray that my guys won't get their hands on you and–" "Wait a minute. Your guys? Are you talking about your teammates on the football team?," Sammy scoffed. "Oh, please. Don't think I haven't done my research on all of you. Your so-called guys are nothing more than your loyal minions. They only do what you tell them because they're afraid of you. So if, or when, they find out that I just kicked your ass like it was nothing, who do you think they're gonna end up siding with? You… or me?"
"Y-y-you're the moron if you think you're gonna get away with this!," yelled Harry. "You have any idea who I am?!" Sammy rolled his eyes. "I know exactly who you are," he said. "And frankly, I'm not impressed. You were too stupid to learn anything and flunked out of high school, so your rich and powerful daddy pulled some strings to get you into Harvard. But let's face it. If it wasn't for the fact that you're still a somewhat competent football player, they would've revoked your scholarship and kicked you out the moment you stepped foot onto the campus."
"I'll… I'll… I'll tell on you!," Harry said frantically. "I'll go straight to the dean! I'll have you expelled!" But Sammy was not intimidated in the slightest. "Oooh! You're gonna tattle on me? I am so scared!," he said sarcastically. "Honey, this is the 20th century. Nobody's going to care, not even the dean. Sure, you could try, but… that would just give me incentive to come after you again, so it wouldn't be such a smart move, would it?" With no other options left, Harry threw his pride away and began to scream for help. "HELP!," he shouted. "HEEELLLPPP!"
"You can scream and shout all you want, dude," Sammy said nonchalantly. "In case you haven't noticed, and I'm willing to bet you didn't because you're so stupid, we're all alone in the locker room, and not a single person is around. Do you really think anyone's gonna hear you?" But Harry, too afraid to listen, continued screaming for help. "HEEEELLLLPPPP!"
Annoyed and irritated, Sammy suddenly swung his baseball bat at Harry. However, he made sure that the bat didn't actually hit Harry in the face, but rather, it missed him by about an inch and slammed into a nearby locker door, putting a large dent in it. And that was more than enough to get Harry to finally shut up. "Man, you really are stupid. I almost feel sorry for you," Sammy muttered. "Listen, man," Harry said nervously, sweat pouring down his face. "Listen, I totally get it, okay? I shouldn't have done… W-what did I do to you again?" "You bumped your shoulder against me in the hallway yesterday," Sammy answered. Harry stared at him. "That's it? That's why you tied me up and threatened me with a baseball bat?!," he cried.
Sammy began to raise the baseball bat over his head. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!," cried Harry. "Okay, okay! You're right. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have bumped you in the hallway." "And told your friends about it," Sammy said with a scowl. "Right. That too," Harry said nervously. "Look, I know I made a mistake. I didn't know who I was messing with, but now I do. Just… What do you want? Money? A place on the football team? 'Cause I'm the team captain, I can make that happen!" "Ugh, shut up," groaned Sammy. "You really think I'm doing this to you because I want to be on your team? Give me a break. I'm just teaching you a lesson. And I want you to remember this, Harry. If you or your friends decide to mess with me again, I'll break every bone in your body. Got it?" Harry nodded frantically. "Yeah, got it! A hundred percent!"
"Good," Sammy said with a smirk, standing back up. "Just remember who the real king of the campus is, and we won't have any more problems." He turned around and began to walk away. "Wait a minute!," Harry called after him. "Aren't you gonna untie me?" Sammy ignored him completely and walked out of the locker room, not even bothering to look back.
Yes, life was pretty good for Samuel Finch.
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Dipper, Mabel, Wendy, Soos, and Stan stared at Sammy in silence, which was quickly broken by Soos. "Whoa… You weren't exaggerating, dude. You were way worse than when you were a kid!," the handyman blurted out. "Soos!," snapped Wendy, giving him a harsh slap on the shoulder. "Oops. Sorry," Soos apologized with a wince. "No, no, you were right," sighed Sammy. "I was the biggest bully on campus. Everyone was terrified of me. And I liked that."
"Okay… but I'm still not sure why you were so afraid of telling us," said Dipper. "We already know you used to be a bully, and we've forgiven you for that." "Yeah!," Mabel agreed. "You're definitely not the same person as before. You're one of the nicest guys we know now!" Sammy smiled in slight embarrassment. "Thanks, guys," he said. "But there's way more to the story than that. What you've heard was just the tip of the iceberg. Like I said, I've lived a very eventful life. And… not all of them were good." "Then what are you waiting for, kid?," asked Stan. "Tell us the rest of it!" The conman didn't want to admit it to anyone, but he was actually more hooked on Sammy's backstory than any other he had heard before in his life.
"Actually, before you continue…," said Dipper, suddenly taking out a notepad and pen with an excited smile on his face, "...do you mind telling us what Harvard was like? What was the campus like? The classes? Was it everything that people said it was?" "Harvard is Dipper's dream school," Mabel explained. "He's, like, obsessed with it." "I'm not obsessed!," Dipper said defensively. "Harvard's a really great university! At least, that's what they all say…"
"And it was," Sammy answered with a fond smile. "It was really great. But…" The smile slowly disappeared. "Well… it was a different time. People weren't always… understanding of each other, back then." He exchanged discreet glances with Stan, who nodded in agreement, since the conman had also lived through that time period, and knew firsthand that not everything was kittens and rainbows back then. If anything, it was usually quite the opposite…
"Anyway," sighed Sammy, "after I had taken care of the… ahem, Harry situation… I went back to my dormitory and decided to take a rest, since our classes were going to start the next day. And that was when I finally met the person who completely changed my life…"
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Sammy could only stare at the person who was currently in his dorm room, unpacking all of his belongings. He had been hoping to spend the rest of the day all alone, but upon opening the door and seeing his new visitor in the room, hunched over an open suitcase and pulling his stuff out, he finally realized, Oh right, my roommate was supposed to arrive today.
About a minute passed with Sammy staring at his new roommate, who was so busy unpacking that he didn't even realize he was being watched. Quickly growing impatient, Sammy leaned against the doorframe, crossed his arms, and cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem!" With a sudden jolt, the new guy bolted to his feet, seemingly surprised that someone else was standing there the whole time, and finally turned to face Sammy. "Hello!," he said in a very cheerful voice, waving at him with a smile. "My name's Hutch!" Now that this… Hutch… was finally facing him, Sammy could get a good look at his face. Hutch was quite small. That was one of the first things that crossed Sammy's mind when he first laid eyes on him. He was pretty short, with the top of his head only reaching Sammy's chin if the two of them were to stand right next to each other. He had red, curly hair, a few freckles dotting his face, and a kind smile that immediately made Sammy want to punch that guy in the face. He also wore a bright pink shirt and white pants, clothes that were so bright and colorful that it hurt Sammy's eyes to look at them.
"And you are?," asked Hutch, reaching his hand out for a handshake. Sammy inwardly scoffed. If this guy thought he was going to get a handshake from him of all people, he'd better think again. Instead of replying immediately, he stood there and stared at him silently, simply as a way to intimidate Hutch. When Hutch still had his hand out with that infuriating smile still on his face, waiting for a response from Sammy, Sammy finally relented. "I'm Samuel," he said, making his voice sound as intimidating as possible. He didn't bother with the handshake.
"Hey, Samuel!," said Hutch, seemingly not afraid in the slightest. Then, to Sammy's utter shock, Hutch walked right up to him, grabbed his hand, and shook it anyway. "Hey!," growled Sammy, squeezing Hutch's hand hard enough to crack the bones inside. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Did I ever give you my f*ing permission to shake my hand?!"
"Nope!," Hutch said cheerfully, even though his hand was being squeezed so hard that he should've been crying out in pain. "But I always insist on a handshake whenever I meet new people, and you weren't gonna make the first move, so…" Sammy grinded his teeth together in anger, glaring at Hutch and wondering how this nobody could've had the balls to do something like that, and to a complete stranger no less! He thought of crushing Hutch's hand right then and there, just so Hutch would have to be taken to a hospital and Sammy would never have to see that little insect ever again. And he probably would've done it, but… something was stopping him. It wasn't because he wasn't able - he could certainly do far worse to Hutch than breaking his hand - but despite being quite angry at the new guy, he also felt a begrudging… respect for him as well. He couldn't remember the last time anyone stood up to him like that.
So, with some hesitation, he slowly let go of Hutch's hand. "Wow!," Hutch laughed, rubbing his hand with a wince. "You got a pretty strong grip there, Sammy! Can I call you that instead of Samuel?" "No!," growled Sammy. "Too late, you're Sammy from now on," Hutch said jokingly. "Anyway, it's very nice to meet you! I'm so excited to be your roommate!"
Yep, he's crazy, Sammy thought derisively. "Hey. Buddy," he said menacingly, looming over him with his superior height. "Do you have any idea who I am? I'm guessing you don't, or you'd be running out of here and crying like a little baby." To his utter bewilderment, Hutch just laughed again. "Silly Sammy!," he said, suddenly reaching up and pinching Sammy's cheek. "Of course I know who you are!" "LET GO!," Sammy roared, smacking his hand away.
"Yeah, I know who you are," Hutch said casually. "Everyone in Harvard knows who you are by now." Sammy stared at him. "But… you're not afraid of me," he said in confusion. "Nah!," said Hutch. "Why should I be, anyway? You're not such a bad guy." "Not such a bad– Are you serious right now?!," yelled Sammy, finally losing his composure. "What do you have, sh*t for brains?! There's a reason why everyone's afraid of me, you know! In fact, you should be afraid of me! I can beat you up so badly that they'd have to send you to the infirmary and make you drink your food with a straw!" Despite Sammy being bigger, stronger, and more than willing to go through with this threat, Hutch was still calmly smiling, which drove Sammy mad.
"No, you won't," Hutch replied. Sammy froze, unable to believe what he had just heard. "What did you just say?," he asked, his voice now soft, quiet, and dangerous. "You won't," Hutch repeated, smiling at him. "You know why? Because we're friends now. And friends don't beat each other up and send them to infirmaries where they drink food through straws."
Suddenly, Sammy could no longer hold onto his anger. He, for lack of a better word, deflated, both emotionally and physically, his shoulders slumping as he trudged towards his bed and sat down on it, his head hung low. Hutch had just done something that nobody else except for Sammy's own father had done before: he broke Sammy. "You're insane," Sammy muttered under his breath, but there was no heat in his words. "I get that a lot," Hutch chuckled. "Hey, you mind helping me unpack? I brought a lot of stuff with me, and it's probably gonna take all night if I do it alone, not to mention that classes are starting tomorrow. Help? Pretty please?"
Sammy stared up at him, a glowering scowl on his face. Hutch just smiled at him again, then bent down next to his open suitcase and continued unpacking his things as he had been doing before. Sammy watched him at work for a few moments, the gears in his head turning like never before. Then, he sighed heavily, got up from his bed, and did something that the Sammy from ten minutes ago would never have done. He began to help Hutch unpack.
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"...Well, that was… something," said Stan after hearing how Sammy and Hutch first met each other. "It sure was," Sammy agreed with a nod. "You weren't really going to… hurt Hutch, were you?," Mabel asked worriedly, clutching onto Waddles like a life preserver. Sammy turned away with guilt on his face. "Honestly, I'm surprised that I didn't end up hurting him," he said in a melancholy voice. Mabel let out a sad sigh and squeezed Waddles harder. Dipper immediately noticed his sister's dampening mood and patted her on the back to comfort her.
"So wait, I'm confused," said Wendy. "What was different about Hutch? What made you decide not to… you know?" Sammy thought about it for a moment. "Probably because he was the first one not to be afraid of me," he said slowly. "Or the first one not to treat me with anything other than kindness. It confused me. A lot. I had no idea how I was supposed to react."
"So what happened next, dude?," Soos asked eagerly. "Did you and Hutch become best friends after that?" Sammy gave a little laugh. "Well, no Soos, we just met," he said. "And I was still trying to figure him out. That's a long, long way from us becoming best friends. Anyway, we had classes tomorrow, so after I helped Hutch with his belongings, we went to sleep…"
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Sammy woke up. That alone was nothing exciting. People wake up all the time.
But waking up because someone blew a whistle into your ear? Now that was something that didn't happen every day. And unfortunately for Sammy, it was too early for this sh*t.
TWEEEEET! "Gah!" With a start, Sammy bolted upwards, only to suddenly fall off his bed from the sudden motion. Letting out an irritated growl, he glared up and saw Hutch standing over him with a whistle in his hand. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!," he said, already dressed up. "Come on, up, up, up! It's gonna be a big, big day!" After getting his bearings back, Sammy slowly got back up, still in his pajamas, his hair a total mess, looming over the smaller Hutch as he ground his teeth together in anger. "What. Is. Your. Problem?!," he growled.
And just like last night, Hutch was not intimidated in the least. "Come on, Sammy, it's our first day of classes at Harvard! Aren't you as stoked as I am?!," he cried. "No. I'm not," Sammy sighed, already wishing that the day was over just so he could go back to sleep. "And I told you to stop calling me Sammy." "Hmmm… nah!," Hutch said with a wave of his hand. "Sammy just sounds better, you know? Way better than Samuel, in my opinion. It sounds like an old man's name." Sammy gritted his teeth in frustration and bit back an angry retort, though he couldn't help but silently agree with Hutch. Samuel really did sound like an old man's name.
"Now come on, hurry up and get ready!," said Hutch. "You don't wanna miss your first day of cooolleeege~!" Sammy had to keep reminding himself not to kill Hutch on the spot as he got ready for the day; changing into his clothes, brushing his hair, taking a quick shower, and all while grumbling and yawning the whole time. He didn't get much sleep last night, and it wasn't simply because he stayed up late helping Hutch unpack - the latter brought so much stuff with him that it was downright ridiculous. Even after both he and Hutch went to bed, Sammy could not go to sleep, no matter how hard he tried. As he laid awake in bed while Hutch slept in the bed on the opposite side of the room, snoring like a chainsaw, Sammy's mind was filled to the brim with questions about his new roommate. Why is he not afraid of me? Is he stupid, crazy, or is he something else? Should I just ignore him, or should I show him who's boss?
Needless to say, Sammy didn't sleep well last night at all. If anything, he probably got only a couple of hours of sleep at most, so when Hutch woke him up with that damn whistle and told him to "rise and shine", it was easy to guess that Sammy was not in a good mood.
Finally, Sammy was all prepared for the day. He made sure that he looked his best. Or at least, he made sure to look as best as he could with a spiked collar, a tank top with a skull on it, and leather pants. He may have been a bully - he had enough self-awareness to know that - but he also knew exactly how prestigious Harvard was and how important first impressions were. It was not the same as his old schools, where he could get away with just about anything. Harvard was the real deal. Harvard being the best of the best was the entire reason why he enrolled in the first place. He had to be the best. He had to be the best! He had to be the best!
"You okay there, Sammy?," asked Hutch, breaking him out of his trance. Sammy blinked for a moment and stared at him, not realizing that he even was in a trance. Seeing Hutch giving him that worried look made Sammy's blood boil. The last thing he needed was pity.
"Fine!," he snapped, quickly looking away. He cleared his throat. "I'm fine," he repeated in a quieter tone. "Just got lost in thought for a moment." "Cool, cool. Hey Sammy, you mind if I get real for a minute?," asked Hutch. Sammy looked back at him in confusion, which turned into surprise when he saw the eerily serious expression on Hutch's face. "Listen… I just wanted to say… how glad I am to have you as a roommate," said Hutch, nervously playing with the fabric of his pink shirt. "It's probably hard for you to believe, but… I've never really had friends before. They all thought I was weird, so they either avoided me or made fun of me. Even my parents thought I was weird. We don't… talk to each other anymore. So I really, really, really hope that we can become best friends soon." Sammy stared at Hutch for a while longer, and for a brief moment, he felt a pang of empathy in his heart, something that he thought his father had beaten out of him a long time ago. But then, he quickly put on a front of I-don't-give-a-crap and looked away again. "Well, sucks to be you, then. Now get going, we have classes soon."
Initially, Sammy was actually looking forward to his classes, not just so he could finally prove himself, but also so he could hopefully get away from Hutch for the day. But when he started walking to his first class, he was annoyed to see that Hutch was following close behind him, that infuriatingly happy smile plastered on his face, and when he abruptly stopped in his tracks, turned around, and angrily demanded why Hutch was following him, to his dismay, the latter explained that they were both attending the same classes. Which meant that the two of them were going to have to spend the entire day together, whether he liked it or not.
You could imagine how Sammy must have felt once he found that out.
The two of them entered the lecture hall together, and immediately upon doing so, it was as though the entire atmosphere in the room changed. The dozens of other students, who were being quite loud and rambunctious just now, suddenly went silent as a hush fell upon the entire crowd. All eyes were on Sammy the moment he stepped foot inside the room. For Sammy, this was not surprising in the least. As said earlier, he had already made a fearsome reputation for himself in the few days that he was on campus. Nearly everyone knew about him.
Sammy couldn't help but smile. It was not a pleasant smile by any means, but more of a smile that you would expect to see on a wild predator that had just found a wounded animal to feast on. After the harrowing day he had with Hutch, this was something that he could get more than used to. Everybody fearing him, as they all should. This was going to be a good–
"Hey, everyone!," Hutch suddenly hollered, waving his arms around like mad. "Nice to meet you all! I'm Hutch, and this is Sammy! We're best buds!" There was yet another period of silence after that, but this time, the tension was completely gone, and had been replaced with a sense of levity. Some of the students were even laughing and snickering at them.
Very, very slowly, Sammy turned his head towards Hutch, a dark and stormy expression on his face. His eyes were now two pits of darkness, with embers of pure rage hiding in them. His smile was replaced with a snarl, and a deep growl was slowly erupting from the back of his throat. Anyone would've taken one look at his face and immediately died from fear.
But not Hutch, of course. Because apparently, Hutch was not afraid of anything.
"Look, there's two empty seats right over there! Come on!," said Hutch, grabbing Sammy by the arm and dragging him along. He either didn't notice the absolutely terrifying expression on Sammy's face, or he just didn't care. As they passed the other students, some of them kept on snickering to themselves while pointing at them, but a single glare from Sammy was enough to quickly shut them up. As the two of them sat down, Sammy sent another glare at Hutch, who completely ignored it. I'm going to MURDER that little slug, he thought darkly.
Of course, this was not the right time and place to do so. Not a second passed before the professor finally came in, about to start the lecture. Everyone in the room quieted down and listened carefully. Everyone except for Sammy, who was too busy plotting on what he was going to do to the nuisance sitting next to him, how he was going to teach him a lesson…
After the lecture was over and everyone was filing out of the building, Sammy grabbed Hutch's arm tightly, enough for it to hurt. Even then, Hutch just looked at him with a smile, not worried or perturbed in the slightest. "Let's go back to our room," Sammy hissed. "I'd like to have a small talk with you. Just you and me." "Sounds great to me!," Hutch said cheerfully. This only made Sammy angrier, and he practically stormed in the direction of their dormitory, while pulling Hutch along like leading a lamb to the slaughter. Everyone that they came across saw the look on Sammy's face and immediately turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Once they were finally in their room, Sammy slammed the door shut, then picked Hutch up by his collar and slammed him against the wall. Other than a small wince, Hutch didn't show any signs of fear or pain. If Sammy wasn't so livid at the moment, he probably would've been impressed. "You…," he whispered in a shaky voice, feeling like he was about to burst from all the rage that was pent up inside of him. "You… disgusting… little… COCKROACH!"
"...That's kinda rude, you know," Hutch said casually. With a loud roar that he had been dying to let out since last night, Sammy tossed Hutch to the floor like a ragdoll, then punched him directly in the nose when the latter tried to get back up. Even after all that, Hutch was still smiling, but for the first time, his smile seemed a little strained. Sammy loomed over him once again, and a maniacal grin formed on his face now that things were finally, finally going the way they should be. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that, Hutch," he sneered, the venom in his voice becoming more apparent upon saying Hutch's name. "Now I'm gonna show you why I'm not to be messed with. You're gonna wish you've never even met me…"
Finally, Sammy thought to himself with smug satisfaction. Now Hutch knows who I really am. He's afraid of me now, as he should've been this whole time. Oh, I am going to enjoy this. He reared back his fist and was about to punch Hutch in the face again, but before he could do so, Hutch suddenly did something completely unexpected. He jumped up and wrapped his arms around Sammy's midsection, burying his face in Sammy's tank top. For just a moment, Sammy thought that Hutch was attacking him back, but he realized that he was wrong. Hutch was not attacking him. He was actually hugging him. It was enough to make Sammy pause.
Then, still hugging him, Hutch looked up at Sammy, who was surprised to see tears in the former's eyes. Not tears of fear or pain, but of sadness. His smile was still present, but it was now more strained than ever. But it was the words which came out of Hutch's mouth that really bewildered him more than anything. "Please don't leave me," Hutch whispered, his voice cracking for the first time. "You can do whatever you want to me. You can beat me up, call me names, and hurt me any way you like. But please… don't leave me alone. Please."
Sammy couldn't believe what he was hearing. It made no sense. It went against his entire experience as a bully. People that he beat up would usually start begging, so that was nothing new. But those people usually begged him to leave them alone. This was the complete opposite. This time, the victim was begging to not be left alone, to stay with them.
Sammy suddenly recalled this morning, when Hutch told him about his childhood, how nobody wanted to be friends with him because he was "weird", how even his parents seemed to have neglected him. Was that it? Was Hutch so lonely that he was desperate to have anyone as a friend, even a notorious, deranged bully with sociopathic tendencies like Sammy?
Suddenly, Sammy felt that strange sense of empathy from earlier stir in his heart. His arms began to move on their own. Hey! What's going on? Arms, get down! But Sammy's arms paid no attention to his brain, and before he knew it, he found himself hugging Hutch back. It was a totally alien experience for him. It felt unnatural. It felt pathetic. It felt… nice.
Neither of them knew how or why it happened, but for the next ten minutes, Sammy and Hutch simply embraced each other in silence. Sammy was no longer angry, and Hutch was no longer crying. And as they hugged, a content smile slowly formed on Sammy's face.
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"Whoa," said Wendy. "That was kind of sweet. Intense, but sweet." "Yeesh! I'm gonna be blunt with you, Sammy. You were pretty screwed up back then, were ya?," asked Stan. "Grunkle Stan!," snapped Dipper, glaring at Stan. "No, he's right. A hundred percent right," Sammy sighed heavily. "I'm really glad I met Hutch. If we had never met… I don't even want to know where I'd be right now." "So did you and Hutch become best friends after that?," asked Soos.
"Yeah!," said Mabel, cheering up. "After that adorable hug you guys had, you got to have become BFFs, right?" "Well…," said Sammy, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "It wasn't instant, but it was a start. It still took a while for us to get used to each other's… mood swings, I guess you'd call them. But as time went on, things did start improving between us…"
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Many months went by in what seemed like the blink of an eye. It was astonishing how fast time passes, especially the older you get. For Sammy and Hutch, the rest of their days at Harvard were not nearly as eventful as that first day. Things were pretty awkward between them at first. Neither of them knew how to act around each other, and neither of them knew when the other was about to blow up. But as time passed, something slowly happened over the course of those months, something that both bewildered Sammy and also delighted Hutch.
The two of them were actually becoming very close friends, almost inseparable.
But how did that happen? How could two people who had almost nothing in common and had such a terrible start with each other end up becoming this strange duo?
If you were to ask either of them that question, neither of them would be able to tell you. Well, Sammy would tell you that it's none of your business, and to screw off before he decides to give you a wedgie, but the details aren't that important. The only thing that was certain was that something had changed between them after Hutch had poured his heart out to Sammy. It was as though for the first time, in both of their moments of weakness, Sammy suddenly found out that the person in front of him was more deep and complex than he could've ever imagined, and has started to consider that maybe, just maybe, they could be kindred spirits.
Of course, like all great friendships, things started out rough, to say the least. Sammy was still prone to lose his temper with Hutch, and he even came pretty close to beating him up again on several occasions, but he made sure to restrain himself every time. Hutch, meanwhile, had no experience at all when it came to being friends with someone, so he started clinging to Sammy like a metaphorical life preserver, following his every move, making sure to sit right next to him in every class that they took together, and generally never leaving his side.
But as time went on, things got better between them. Sammy still occasionally lost his temper around Hutch, but slowly came to tolerate his antics, and even began to find them rather endearing. Hutch was still pretty clingy towards Sammy, but he also became less uncomfortable and awkward around him, and even started changing Sammy in radical ways that nobody could have predicted. Since the two of them were usually together most of the time, Sammy couldn't really get away with his bullying ways like he used to, as Hutch sort of became a moral compass for him, always urging him to be better and treat others with kindness and respect.
And Sammy, who usually loathed things like change, actually did grow into a somewhat respectable person. He was still cruel and condescending towards people other than Hutch, but he no longer resorted to physical violence to get what he wanted, even though the urge to do so never really left him. His reputation around Harvard changed as well. He was still someone who should be feared and avoided, but they knew as long as Hutch was around, there was nothing to be afraid of. There were, however, some not-too-bright thugs who viewed Hutch as an easy target, or someone that they could use to "overthrow" or "usurp" Sammy. Needless to say, the not-really-former bully was not amused in the slightest, and he made sure to confront them and threaten them into submission, telling them to never mess with him or Hutch again.
They listened, of course. After all, they knew better than to invoke Sammy's wrath.
But other than that little mishap, things were going surprisingly smoothly over the course of these months. Sammy and Hutch were glad to have each other's backs, and everyone else in Harvard was just glad that someone had finally come around and tamed the beast.
And then, one day, it happened. The moment that Sammy had always dreamed about as a child, the moment that he had dismissed long ago as something that would never happen, not even with all the luck and good fortune in the world. It happened in a hallway. Sammy and Hutch had just finished one of their classes and were walking down the hall. Hutch was chatting away like a songbird, as always, while Sammy was just content on nodding and listening.
"...and there are still sooo many people who are still mad about that conman selling them the Sham Total, even though when you think about it, it should've been pretty obvious, I mean, it was literally in their slogan, 'It's a Total Sham!' Anyway, one other time, I–" Hutch stopped in his tracks upon realizing that Sammy was no longer by his side, and turned around to see his friend just standing there in the hallway, staring at something in the distance with misty eyes.
"Sammy?," asked Hutch, walking back to him. "You okay? What are you looking at?" But Sammy didn't give an answer. Hutch slowly followed Sammy's line of sight, and saw a girl about their age, sitting on a small bench in the hall, reading a large textbook in her lap.
The girl had long, blond hair cascading down her back, and she wore a large pink bow in her hair, as well as a blue jeans jacket and a white skirt. Her skin was light and had almost no blemishes to speak of, and she had clear blue eyes with slightly long lashes.
Nobody else in the hallway paid any attention to this girl as they walked past her. That was not the case for Sammy. He was blown away by her beauty, the innocence in her eyes, the way she reminded him of a delicate bird, or a flower blooming in the middle of a desert. In fact, he probably would've spent the entire day staring at her if Hutch hadn't snapped him out of it. Literally, by snapping his fingers in front of his face. "Sammy? Yoohoo!," he said, as Sammy blinked and shook his head, as though he had just been in a hypnotized trance.
Sammy gave Hutch an annoyed look, then looked back at the girl… only to see her already walking away with the textbook tucked under her arm. As she turned and disappeared around the corner, Sammy finally looked back at Hutch, only to see the latter giving him a look that exuded excitement and smugness. "What?," he snapped. Hutch leaned towards Sammy - he had to stand on the tip of his toes - and booped him on the nose. "Someone has a crush~," he sang. "Shut up," Sammy muttered, even though his face was turning bright red.
Ignoring Hutch's teasing, he looked back at the small bench where the girl had just been sitting. He blinked back tears, and a soft, fragile smile appeared on his face, a sight so unusual that even Hutch was taken aback. "Isabelle…," he whispered under his breath.
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"AAAAAH!," Mabel screamed happily, causing everyone else to jump. "Mabel, what the heck?! You almost gave this old man a heart attack!," said Stan, clutching his chest. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!," cried Mabel, jumping up and down in excitement. "I can't believe it! You really did meet Isabelle again!" "Uh, I'm confused, dude," said Soos, scratching his head in confusion. "Who's Isabelle again? I feel like I've heard that name before…"
Dipper was also confused, but his eyes then widened in realization when he finally remembered. "Wait a minute. Soos, you have heard that name before! It's not the same Isabelle that you met as a child, is it, Sammy?," he asked. "One and the same," Sammy said with a nod. "I did say I was going to tell that story another time. I just didn't think it would be… like this, you know?" "So did the two of you actually end up together?," Wendy asked eagerly, just as excited about this revelation as Mabel was. Secretly, she was a total sucker for romance.
"Well, I don't want to give it away just yet…," Sammy said with a teasing smile, "...but yeah, we did." "AAAAAH!," Mabel screamed again, jumping up and down in excitement. "Ow! Mabel, I'm sitting right next to you!," said Dipper, covering his ears painfully. "But like with Hutch, it wasn't immediate," Sammy clarified once everyone had calmed down. "In fact, for the next few days, I didn't even approach her, even though I couldn't stop thinking about her. And I absolutely did not want to scare her away like last time! But then, one day, something happened…"
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Sammy was walking down the hall after attending yet another lecture, only this time, Hutch was not walking alongside him. He was back in their dorm room, laying in bed and sick as a dog. Despite their friendship, Sammy couldn't help but feel slightly relieved now that he finally had some time to himself. He really grew to like Hutch, but he still had his limits.
As he walked out the lecture building, he suddenly heard what sounded like two people talking to each other. The voices were coming from the space between the buildings, so clearly, it was a private conversation. And normally, Sammy would not have cared at all and would've continued on his way, but both voices sounded so familiar that he couldn't help but investigate anyway. One voice was male, and the other was female. As Sammy entered the dim and dark place between the buildings, he saw two figures talking to each other, a boy and a girl. Neither of them noticed that Sammy was watching and listening in on their conversation.
As he silently got closer while remaining out of sight, the two voices that he was hearing finally became clear. The boy was Harry, the team captain of the football team that Sammy had threatened in his first few days at Harvard. And the girl that he was talking to was…
Sammy almost let out a sharp gasp. Almost. If he had actually done so, it would've given him away immediately. Fortunately, he was able to hold it in, and neither Harry nor the girl were aware of him. Still, that didn't stop his heart from beating rapidly in his chest, or his throat getting tight so that breathing became uncomfortable. The girl… was none other than Isabelle.
And Sammy did not like what he was seeing. Or hearing.
"Come on, babe," Harry whispered. "Don't be like that. It'll be real quick. Nobody will even know about this." Although Sammy couldn't see Harry's face clearly, he could imagine the smug, pompous expression on his face, which made Sammy's fists clench tightly.
"And I already told you. I'm not interested," Isabelle replied in a tense voice. "Now can you please leave me alone already?" Even though Sammy hadn't heard Isabelle's voice in so many years, he could still remember it clearly, and after so much time had passed, her voice was still just as beautiful as he remembered. "Don't be like that, Isabelle," Harry pressed on, ignoring her plight. "Come on. You look like you could really use it…" "I said no!," snapped Isabelle, pushing Harry away. Harry stumbled back, but it was clear that he was not pleased. "You b*ch!," he snarled, pushing Isabelle back and pinning her to the wall with ease. "Do you have any idea who I am?!" Sammy had seen enough and chose to reveal himself.
"I think the real question is, do you have any idea who I am?," Sammy spoke. Without even needing to look, Harry immediately tensed up. He slowly turned around, and the fear on his face only grew tenfold when he saw Sammy standing behind them. Isabelle also saw him for the first time, but unlike Harry, she wasn't as outright terrified. "S-S-Samuel," Harry stammered, losing all of his earlier bravado. "The one and only," Sammy spoke lightly. He tried to make his voice sound as light and calm as possible, for Isabelle's sake. But anyone who actually knew Sammy's reputation also knew that he was someone not to be trifled with.
"L-l-listen, man," Harry said nervously. "This… this isn't what it looks like…" "Uh huh. Sure it doesn't," Sammy replied sarcastically. "So why haven't I seen you around in so long? You haven't been avoiding me, have you?" Harry's eyes turned even wider, showing that yes, he actually was avoiding him. "Um… Do you two… know each other?," Isabelle asked meekly. "We sure do!," Sammy said cheerfully, suddenly wrapping his arm around Harry's shoulders, causing him to flinch. "We're pals, right Harry?" "S-sure," Harry muttered noncommittally. Sammy dug his fingers into Harry's shoulder. "I mean, sure!," Harry repeated with a painful wince.
"Oh. Well, I'm glad you're here," Isabelle said with a smile. In his head, Sammy was squealing like a little child upon hearing her say those words. "Your friend's been… giving me some trouble lately," Isabelle continued, looking down at her feet sheepishly. "He's been making advances towards me, and when I told him to stop, he… wouldn't…" "Oh, really?," Sammy said through gritted teeth, giving Harry a discreet glare that almost made him pee himself. "Come on, Harry, we've talked about this already. When a lady tells you to stop, what do you do?"
"I… stop…," Harry said nervously. "Good!," said Sammy. "Now run along. Oh, and one more thing." He leaned towards Harry and whispered into his ear, "If I catch you bothering her one more time, I will f*ing kill you, understand?!" With drops of sweat pouring down his face, Harry nodded frantically, then ran away without looking back once. Sammy chuckled mirthlessly, then turned to face Isabelle with a kinder and more genuine smile. "Hey," he said. "Your name's Isabelle, right?" Isabelle smiled and nodded. "That's me," she said nervously. "Um… Sorry, what was your name again? I'm pretty sure Harry said it, but I can't really remember…"
"Oh, it's Samuel," Sammy answered without thinking. He immediately regretted it and started panicking. Why did I put my name out like that?! Ugh, this is bad! She's gonna recognize me! She'll know that I'm the one who beat up that bully for her and scared her away. She'll run away, she'll never want anything to do with me ever again, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, SH*T!
To his immense relief, Isabelle showed no signs of recognizing him. "It's nice to meet you, Samuel," she said politely, holding out her hand for a handshake. Sammy put his hand in her own and shook, then cringed when he realized just how sweaty his hands suddenly were. Fortunately, Isabelle didn't seem bothered by that either. "I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but… is that a spiked collar?," she asked, pointing at his neck. "And why does your tank top have a skull on it? You're dressed kind of strangely for someone who goes to Harvard. N-no offense!"
"N-none taken," Sammy murmured, hating himself for stuttering like that. "This is just… I guess you could call it a fashion statement or something like that. It's just who I am." "Oh," said Isabelle, smiling at him. "That's nice. Like I said, I'm not trying to offend you." "You could never offend me," Sammy said immediately, then quickly covered his mouth. Seriously, what the heck was going on with him? Why was his mouth suddenly working against him? Fortunately for him, Isabelle gave a small laugh, finding it more endearing than strange. "Well, it was nice talking to you," she said. "Goodbye." She began walking away. "W-wait!," Sammy called out.
Isabelle stopped and looked back at him in surprise. For a moment, Sammy was lost for words, as he didn't really have anything to say to her, he just didn't want her to leave. He racked his brain for ideas on what to say. "Uh… Would you… I mean… Would you like to come by our dorm room sometime?," he asked nervously. Isabelle tilted her head in confusion. "Our dorm room?," she asked. "Y-yeah," said Sammy. "I share it with my roommate, Hutch. He's a pretty good guy. You'd like him." "I'm sure I would," said Isabelle. "But are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, Harvard is an all-male college, and I come from Radcliffe…" "But you're still allowed to take classes here! That's why you're here now, right?," Sammy asked eagerly. Isabelle nodded. "So nobody would bat an eye if they saw you here!," Sammy continued. "It'll be easy to sneak you in at night. The security here is sh*t anyway." He tensed up with fear upon realizing that he had just inadvertently cursed right in front of her. "It's okay," Isabelle assured him, noticing his discomfort. "I don't mind when guys swear in front of me. When should I come by?"
"Maybe… tomorrow night?," Sammy asked nervously, hoping that he wasn't coming off as too eager or desperate. "Alright. Tomorrow night," Isabelle said with a nod. "See you soon." Without another word, she began walking away again. Sammy watched her until she was out of sight, then began heading back to the dormitory with the biggest smile on his face. And anyone who saw him that day immediately went in the opposite direction, since the giant grin on his face made them all believe that Sammy had finally snapped and gone completely insane.
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"AAAAAH!," Mabel screamed happily, jumping up and down in excitement. "Ow! Really, Mabel, again?," Dipper groaned, covering his ears. Mabel ignored him and continued jumping around like a hyperactive hamster. "That was so cuuute!" "Come on, Mabel, cut it out!," Sammy laughed, his face turning as red as a tomato. "So you finally got the girl of your dreams. Not bad, kid. It only took about ten years or so," Stan said jokingly. "So how did Hutch take it when you brought a girl to your room?," asked Wendy. "He didn't get… jealous, did he?"
"Of course not," said Sammy. "Hutch couldn't get jealous of anyone if he tried. In fact, throughout our entire date, he was far more interested in actually getting to know Isabelle, while also teasing and embarrassing me the whole time, of course." Dipper, with his sharp listening, quickly caught onto something that Sammy had just said. "Hold on. Sammy, did you just say… date?," he asked. Sammy's face immediately turned even redder than before.
"Oooooh~," everyone else said in unison, sending teasing looks at him. Sammy buried his face in his hands out of embarrassment. "Come on, guys. I'm trying to tell you my own life story here," he mumbled. "I feel like I'm out of the loop right now," said Soos, being the only one who didn't get it. Wendy whispered something in his ear, causing the handyman to finally nod in understanding. "Never mind, I get it now," he said with a naive and content smile.
"Okay, okay," sighed Sammy, still blushing furiously. "So even though I've never really specifically asked Isabelle to go out on a date with me… it kind of happened, anyway. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, in hindsight. I mean, asking a girl to sneak into your room… kind of speaks for itself." "So how was it?," Mabel asked excitedly. "The date, I mean! Was it great? Amazing? Romantic? Gimme the juice details!" Sammy chuckled, then looked up at the ceiling with a nostalgic smile on his face. "Actually, we didn't do much that night," he said, sounding as though he was speaking more to himself than to the others. "We didn't go out or anything. We just stayed in our room and… talked. Hutch introduced himself and teased me relentlessly - he was probably the only one who could get away with that - but he left us alone after that. It was nice. And peaceful. Honestly… I have never felt more at peace than that night…"
"Okay, okay, enough with the romance nonsense," said Stan, not really a big fan of such a subject. "What happened next?" Suddenly, the smile vanished from Sammy's face, replaced by a sour expression. "Right after the date… something bad happened…," he said.
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He should've known. Sammy should've known that Harry would never forget how utterly humiliated he was, how much he absolutely loathed Sammy, and had spent the past few months planning and conniving, trying to find that secret chink in Sammy's armor so that he could stab a knife in it and twist. But he was arrogant and overconfident. He believed he had Harry under his thumb, that the former team captain wouldn't even think of going against him.
For most of the night, Sammy and Isabelle stayed in his dorm room, and they talked about whatever came to their minds. Hutch left them a long time ago, so it was just the two of them. At least, that was what Sammy believed. Then, in the middle of their conversation, he heard a suspicious noise from right outside the window. He excused himself, saying he had to use the bathroom, and secretly snuck outside to investigate the noise's origin.
That was how he had Harry pinned to the wall, glaring into his eyes. Harry, the source of said noise, was strangely calm and collected, and even had a smug smile on his face, almost as though he was in on a joke that Sammy wasn't. "What do you think you're doing here?," Sammy growled, keeping his voice down so that Isabelle wouldn't overhear. To his surprise, Harry just scoffed at him. "So what, I'm not allowed to go wherever I want? You do know that I have rights just like any other American, right?" Sammy, who had his arm against Harry's throat, pushed it against him harder, causing him to slightly choke. "You were listening in on us, weren't you?," he growled. "You wouldn't know we'd be here otherwise." Harry scoffed again, then pushed Sammy off of him. "What, like how you listened in to our conversation? You hypocrite…"
"Hey, you can't blame me for not wanting to stand by and let a lady be taken advantage of without her consent," Sammy snarked. "And in case you've forgotten, I did make a promise to break every bone in your body if you messed with me again. You want me to make good on that promise?" But for some reason, Harry didn't seem frightened at all, a far cry from how terrified he was earlier today. Sammy narrowed his eyes at him. What was he planning?
"Last time, you had the advantage over me," Harry growled. "Now, it's the other way around. You didn't think I'd just let you walk all over me, did you?" Sammy looked Harry over and smirked at him. "I dunno. You seem like the type," he mocked. Harry gritted his teeth in anger. "Ha. Ha. Laugh it up, you psycho," he snarled. "But I'm not as stupid as you think. I've been watching and listening for a while. And I know you have the hots for that girl."
"...I don't know what you're talking about," said Sammy, looking away for just a brief second. Harry grinned, having caught Sammy in his life. "Oh, I think you do," he said. "I don't know why just yet, but you have a crush on that Elizabeth girl." "Isabelle," Sammy hissed. "Her name is Isabelle!" "Sure, whatever," Harry scoffed. "The point is, I know your weakness now, Samuel. And I'm gonna make you pay for all the sh*t you made me go through!"
For the past few months, Harry's life had only gone downhill. His encounter with Sammy in the locker room ended up afflicting him with deep-seated fear and trauma, which seeped into his college life. He was demoted from being the team captain of the football team, then he was kicked out of the team altogether. His grades dropped drastically. He got less and less sleep, and he was stressed 24/7. He lost all of his so-called "friends", and even his father, a famous politician, was starting to lose hope in his son ever having a successful future.
"You really are a moron, aren't you?," said Sammy, rolling his eyes. "I didn't make you go through anything! In fact, I bet you ruined your life by yourself, and you need someone to blame because you can't handle being a total failure." Harry's face turned red. "SHUT UP!," he roared. "You did this to me! You ruined my life!" "So what are you going to do? Ruin my life?," Sammy sighed, already getting tired of this. "No," said Harry, shaking his head. "I'm not gonna ruin your life." A creepy smile suddenly formed on his face. "But I can sure as hell ruin hers…"
"...What," Sammy whispered, a hint of shock and rage in his voice. "That's right," said Harry, relishing in his so-called victory. "One phone call. All it'll take is one phone call to my dad, and your precious little girlfriend will be expelled from Radcliffe before the sun comes up. Oh, but it gets better! She won't just be expelled… No other university will ever accept her again! She'll end up on the streets. And the only way she'll make any money is to work in a strip club. It's more than what that little sl*t deserves, to be honest." He noticed that Sammy was being unusually quiet and decided to taunt him even further. "Aw, what's the matter? Are you upset that I finally one-upped you? You know, if you promise to be my servant for life and do whatever the hell I want, then maybe I'll forget about the phone call. So what do you say?"
"That's not happening," said Sammy, his voice now quiet and soft. "You're not going to make that phone call." He chuckled darkly. "Not if I kill you first, that is." Even Harry was taken aback by this overt death threat. "Wait, wha–?," was all he could say before Sammy suddenly lunged towards him and wrapped his fingers around his throat. "Hey! Get the hell off me, you– ack!" With immense strength that only a 500 pound giant could possess, Sammy pushed Harry back to the wall and pinned him against it, only now, he was literally strangling him with his bare hands. Harry tried to break free, but Sammy's grip was as strong as steel. Even though Harry was one of the best football players that Harvard has ever had, and a top athlete in his own right, he found himself almost powerless against Sammy's superior strength.
Pretty soon, Harry started growing more and more lightheaded as his brain was slowly deprived of precious oxygen. His vision grew darker, and his eyes began rolling up in the back of his head. "What's the matter, Harry?," Sammy asked with a sinister smile as he watched his victim choking to death in front of his very eyes. "Got nothing else to say to me?"
If this had gone on longer, would Sammy have actually killed Harry in cold blood? The answer to that question would not be found, because suddenly, Sammy was snapped out of his murderous trance by a shrill voice screaming, "Samuel, what are you doing?!" With a gasp, he turned around and saw Isabelle standing outside, staring at him in horror. "Isabelle?!," Sammy cried out in shock. Isabelle immediately ran towards him and began attacking him with rather weak and ineffectual punches. "Let go of him, you monster! Let go of him now!"
Sammy immediately let go of Harry, horrified. Not because he almost killed Harry, but because it was Isabelle of all people who caught him in the act. Harry slumped to the ground, coughing violently. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice now hoarse. "I'll never bother you ever again. Just please don't kill me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…" Isabelle stared at Harry, then at Sammy with fear and disgust in her eyes. Without saying a word, she turned and ran away.
Suddenly, Sammy was bombarded with memories of this exact same thing happening. Sammy beating up another bully in front of Isabelle, only for the latter to run away from him in fear, never to talk to him, or even to look at him until her family moves away. It was a memory he replayed in his mind over and over again, only this time, it was actually happening.
"Isabelle, wait!," cried Sammy, chasing after her. He couldn't lose her again. He couldn't. "Wait, come back!" Isabelle ran even faster, but Sammy caught up to her so easily that she may as well have not been moving at all. He ran in front of her and blocked her path, holding out his arms to prevent her from escaping. "Get away from me!," Isabelle cried, afraid and rightfully so. "Isabelle, just stop!," said Sammy. "Keep it down, okay? You'll wake somebody up."
"Y-y-you were about to kill that guy!," cried Isabelle. "What is wrong with you?! Why would you even do that?!" "Please, just let me explain!," Sammy said desperately. "That guy, he was gonna blackmail me! And he was gonna use you to get to me!" "And that makes what you did any better?!," Isabelle asked in disbelief. "You're insane! Now get out of the way or I'll really start screaming!" "Wait!," said Sammy. "I can't let you leave because… because…"
"Because what?," Isabelle asked angrily. Sammy took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Because I love you," he said. Isabelle stared at him in utter bewilderment, then began laughing hysterically. "You… love me? Samuel, we barely even know each other!," she cried.
"That's not true!," Sammy denied. "We've met before, back when–" He immediately cut himself off. "No, hold on! What I meant was…" "Yeah, sure! We've met before… when we were kids!," Isabelle cried out in exasperation. "And even back then, we have never even exchanged words with each other! All you did was brutalize another student right in front of me, thinking that was the way to 'win my heart' or whatever was going through your messed up head!"
Sammy stared at her in shock. "You… you knew?," he asked. "Yes, I've known the entire time, Samuel," Isabelle sighed. "Since I spotted you in the hallway a few days ago, I recognized you. It's kind of hard to forget the person who traumatized you for most of your life."
"You knew…," Sammy murmured, still in disbelief. "But… you weren't afraid of me…" "I was," said Isabelle. "I've just gotten good at hiding it." "B-but… if you knew who I was the whole time, then… why did you…?," asked Sammy, unable to finish his question. "Why did I give you a second chance? Is that what you wanted to ask me?," said Isabelle. Sammy nodded.
Isabelle sighed heavily. "I didn't want to," she confessed. "In fact, when I first saw you in that hallway, I was terrified. I wanted to run away like last time. But then, you helped me out with Harry. And when we talked afterwards, you were kind and polite, nothing like the kid you were back in elementary school. I had hoped that maybe… you've changed since then. That you've become a better person." She laughed bitterly. "I guess we're both disappointed."
"Then… can you give me a third chance?," asked Sammy, cringing from how pathetic he must've sounded. For a few moments, Isabelle gave Sammy a hard, cold glare, and suddenly, the latter felt smaller than he had ever felt before. It was almost as though he was standing in front of his father again, when he was on one of his drunken tirades. "Answer me this honestly, Samuel," said Isabelle, still glaring at him. "Why do you love me?" Sammy looked at her with confusion. "It's a very simple question. Why do you love me?," Isabelle repeated.
There was a long silence between them, with neither one saying anything for a while. "You can't answer that question, can you?," said Isabelle, breaking the silence. "I'll tell you why. It's because you don't love me. Not really, at least. You think that what you're feeling is love, but it's not. It's obsession. To you, I'm not even a real person. I'm just a valuable. I'm something that slipped through your fingers a long time ago, and you'd do anything to get it back, because you believe that doing so would finally fill that dark hole inside you, the hole that never seems to be filled no matter what you put in it. And you can't bear losing what you have left."
Sammy still couldn't say anything, but the distraught look on his face said it all. He hung his head and stared at the ground, his shoulders slumping. "Y-yeah…," said Isabelle, her voice starting to crack as tears formed in her eyes. "That's what I thought…" She moved past Sammy and began walking away again. But as she got further away, she heard Sammy say something behind her, which she didn't catch. "What?," she asked, turning around to face him.
"...I'll change," Sammy whispered. Isabelle's eyes went wide as she stopped in her tracks, staring at the back of Sammy's head. Sammy slowly turned around, and Isabelle was even more shocked to see genuine remorse in his eyes. "You're… You're right," he whispered, feeling more vulnerable than he had ever felt before. "I'm messed up. I've been like this longer than I can remember. When I see something that I want, I just… take it. I only ever think about myself. You're probably right about me never really loving you…" He began shaking, and tears that mirrored Isabelle's began pouring down his face. "But I still want you, Isabelle. I want you more than anything. And I'll do anything to get what I want… even if it means changing myself for you." He bowed his head and dropped to his knees in front of her. "Please…"
Isabelle was silent, and for a moment, Sammy thought that she had already left. Then, he heard her soft footsteps coming towards him, then felt her gentle hand cup his chin and bring his face up to look at her. The fear and anger in her eyes were mostly gone, now replaced with sadness and pity. "Do you really mean that?," she asked. "You'll really change… just so you can be with me?" Sammy nodded. "Like I said, I'll do anything," he said. Isabelle seemed to ponder over this for a moment. "Alright then," she finally said. "I'll give you one last chance. But first, I need to ask you something. Other than Harry, how many people did you hurt?"
"I don't know," said Sammy. "I didn't bother keeping count." Isabelle took a deep breath and sighed heavily, realizing that she had her work cut out with him. "Okay, if you really want us to work, then we're going to need to set some ground rules. And I'm talking about serious rules, not rules that you only follow when it's convenient for you. If you break even one of them, then our 'relationship' is over, and we agree to never see each other again. Deal?"
Sammy nodded. "Deal. Just tell me what the rules are," he said. "Alright, then," said Isabelle, sternly crossing her arms. "The first rule is that you must never harm anyone else ever again. No beating people up, no threatening or blackmailing, none of that! And if there's anyone on campus that you did hurt, you will go to each and every one of them, and apologize. Even if some of them don't accept your apology, you will accept that with grace and courtesy." Sammy winced. "That's gonna be pretty hard, considering how many there are," he said.
Isabelle's eye twitched in irritation. "Then you'd better get started as soon as possible," she said. "I suggest starting with Harry. You'll apologize to him first thing tomorrow for… almost strangling him to death." "What?!," Sammy cried out in outrage. "No way! Harry's an a*hole! He was gonna use his daddy's influence to ruin your life!" "Samuel," Isabelle said sternly. "We had a deal, remember? If you cannot follow any of the rules, then there is no point in us continuing our relationship." Sammy groaned in dismay, but finally relented. "Fine! I'll apologize to Harry in the morning… even if I think that prick doesn't deserve it." "Don't forget everyone else you've hurt," Isabelle reminded him. "The second rule is that you must let me and Hutch find you a therapist. And I want you to show up for every. Single. Appointment. I try not to judge other people by their cover, but after everything I've seen, I'm pretty certain you've got some mental issues going on up there. We'll need to deal with that first before you can become a better person."
Sammy wanted to argue against that, wanted to tell her that he didn't need a therapist, that he had no mental issues. But… that would've been a straight up lie. Even as a kid, Sammy knew how weird and messed up he was, but until now, he had never really cared.
"And the third and final rule…," said Isabelle, before her eyes softened, "...is that I want you to learn how to really love." This was the one rule that Sammy wasn't expecting to hear. He stared at Isabelle with wide and confused eyes, waiting for an explanation. "Samuel, we don't really know each other that well, but… I'm going to make an educated guess and assume that you haven't experienced much love in your life, so you don't really know how it feels."
"...You guessed right," Sammy muttered bitterly, thinking back to how his father abused him and how his mother left him when he was only a baby. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would've thought you could read people's minds. You're a psychology major, aren't you?" "Best in my class," Isabelle said with a smirk. "It makes sense, when you think about it. You've never had any friends until you've met Hutch, and after you two became friends, you slowly became a better person than you were before." Sammy's eyes widened in surprise. "Okay, how the hell do you know all of that? I never told you about… Wait, let me guess. Hutch told you."
"Yep. Hutch told me," said Isabelle. "We talked a bit while you were getting snacks for us from the dorm kitchen. He believes in you, Samuel. He's seen all the changes that you've gone through, for his sake." "Changes?," Sammy snorted dismissively. "You mean I no longer scare away everyone in a three mile radius? I would hardly call that progress." "Any sort of change is progress, no matter how small it may seem," Isabelle corrected him in a lecturing tone that was strangely fitting for her. "So do we have a deal?" Sammy thought it over for a moment. As much as he wanted to be with Isabelle, another part of him absolutely despised not being in complete control. "If I follow these rules…," he said slowly, "...you'll give me another chance?"
"You have my word," Isabelle said firmly. "As long as you apologize to everyone you've hurt, stop bullying other people, show up for every appointment with the therapist that Hutch and I find for you, and learn how to really love, then I'll give you another chance." She narrowed her eyes at him. "But this is going to be your last chance. No more after that, understand?"
"...I can live with that," said Sammy. Isabelle smiled softly and held out her hand for a handshake. Sammy smiled and shook it. In most stories, deals and handshakes don't often lead to good things. An old scientist and a dream demon could certainly attest to that.
For Sammy, his deal with Isabelle was going to change his life… but for the better.
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"W-wait a minute," said Mabel, interrupting Sammy's story. She was hugging Waddles in her lap, staring at Sammy with sad and confused eyes. "Why would Isabelle say that you never loved her? I thought you did love her, when you first saw her in elementary school."
"No, Mabel," sighed Sammy, shaking his head. "Isabelle was right to call me out. What I felt for her back then wasn't really love. It was obsession. The reason why I felt so terrible after scaring her away, why I couldn't stop thinking about her after her family moved away, was solely because she was a reminder of what I couldn't have. I couldn't get it from my father, my mother, or from pretty much anyone else in my life. So I thought I could get it from Isabelle."
"But… No, you did love her!," Mabel cried, suddenly standing up, causing Waddles to fall off her lap. "Mabel?," Dipper asked worriedly, looking up at her. "Mabel, pumpkin, calm down," said Stan, who was just as worried. "What's goin' on with you?" Wendy and Soos also looked at her worriedly, not used to seeing her act so distressed. "I don't believe it!," cried Mabel, shaking her head vehemently. "What about that story you told us when we were falling in that bottomless pit? When you and Isabelle first met? You did love her! You just… didn't know how to express it to her!" Sammy shook his head sadly. "No, Mabel, I didn't," he said. "It felt like love at the time, but it really wasn't. Real life doesn't work the same way as it does in storybooks. There's no such thing as love at first sight. I'm sorry, Mabel, but… that's the hard truth of it."
To everyone's surprise, Mabel began crying. "NO!," she sobbed. "You did love her! I… I know you did…" Dipper quickly pulled Mabel back down, then hugged her tightly. Mabel hugged him back, crying into her brother's shoulder. Stan, who wanted to comfort her, tried to stand up from his chair, but he had forgotten that his leg was still broken, and he quickly sat back down while hissing in pain. Waddles, despite having been thrown off of Mabel's lap, still snuggled next to her and rubbed his snout in her face, also doing his best to comfort her. Sammy, Wendy, and Soos quickly ran over to the twins. "W-what's going on?," Sammy asked worriedly. "Mabel, why are you crying? Was it something that I said? I'm so, so sorry! I-I didn't mean to–"
"It's not your fault, Sammy," Dipper said in a melancholy voice. "She's been holding this in for a while now." The others looked at each other in confusion. "Dipper, what do you mean?," asked Wendy. "Yeah, dude. What's going on with her?," asked Soos. Stan furrowed his brow in thought, trying to figure out what was going on. Then, realization came over him. "Something's going on back home, isn't it?," he asked. Dipper nodded sadly. "W-what is it?," asked Sammy. Dipper thought about it for a moment, wondering if he should just tell them now.
"...Our parents are getting a divorce," he finally confessed. "That's why they sent us here to Gravity Falls. They didn't want us around to see them… fighting." Mabel started crying even harder, so Dipper patted her on the back. Everyone else was in complete shock, unable to say anything. Suddenly, listening to Sammy's story didn't seem so important anymore…
