Something to Talk About

Chapter 6 - The Plan

Sam wakes up at ten to an empty bedroom, which means that his brilliant scheme of bribing his younger brother with gummies paid off. Sebastian's still sleeping next to him, with his back pressed against Sam's chest and his head pillowed against Sam's left arm. Sam's other arm is curled around Sebastian's waist, and he uses it to pull Sebastian closer, pressing a quick kiss to Sebastian's neck before Sam closes his eyes again.

He only gets to enjoy the warmth and comfort of having Sebastian asleep in his arms for a minute, before Sam hears the telltale click of his bedroom door opening.

"Sam?" his mom calls, and Sam hurries to untangle himself from his boyfriend. "Sam, Alex was just here asking for you." Jodi steps into his room, and in a panicked, last second attempt to put more distance between himself and Sebastian, he rolls over and off his bed.

"Fuck," Sam mumbles into the green carpet. He really needs a bigger bed.

"Sam! Language!" his mom scolds.

"Sorry, Mom."

She sighs as he climbs to his feet, and takes a seat on the edge of his bed. "Honestly, Sam, that bed is far too small for two boys your age to be sharing. I don't know why you can't just use the pull-out couch in the living room."

"Dad usually sleeps there," Sam explains, which is a shitty excuse because his dad's been away for almost four years now. "We kinda just got in the habit of sleeping in here, I guess? And, uh, what was that about Alex?" He'd been too busy freaking out at the prospect of his mom catching him cuddling his best friend-turned-boyfriend to process anything beyond his own name, and Alex's.

Yoba, Sam hopes Alex hadn't shown up to tell his mom that they'd been snooping around in the locker room – or worse, that he knew Sam was dating Sebastian.

"He said he needed to give you something? I don't know what; he ran off when I offered to give it to you." Jodi's brow furrows. "Samson you're not buying something illegal are you? I will not have that in this house." She shoots a quick, accusatory glance in Sebastian's direction. Sam's glad that Sebastian's not awake to notice.

"Mom, no!" It's technically not a lie; Sebastian had adamantly refused to bring Sam along on any of his runs to Zuzu. "It's probably a stupid prank, or something."

"Well, alright," she says, looking relieved, but there's still a hint of suspicion in her eyes. "But if I find anything in your room-"

Sam cuts her off with a groan. "You don't have to search my room, Mom. I promise I'm not doing anything bad, okay?"

His mom seems satisfied with that answer, because she finally changes the subject. "I'm making a batch of brownies for you boys to bring over to Caroline's. Can you make your own breakfast, please?"

"Yes, Mom," Sam agrees.

"Tell Sebastian there's extra towels under the sink if he wants to take a shower," his mom adds, before she shuts the door behind her.

"I call dibs on the shower," Sebastian – who's evidently been feigning sleep the entire time – mumbles beside him.

Sam manages to make an edible breakfast for the two of them while Sebastian's in the shower. They slip back into Sam's room once they've finished eating, and spend the rest of the morning curled up together on Sam's bed watching movies, until Abigail interrupts with a text asking if they're done canoodling yet.

They're at her place an hour later, loaded up with brownies, two sleeping bags, Sam's pillow, and the mayor's shorts – which Sam stashed in Sebastian's bag, despite his loud protests.