"Hello? Hellooo? Earth to Sam? Anybody home upstairs? Hello?"
"I left for two minutes, Eli, you're so needy."
"And I take pride in that," Elijah was quick with his response. "Where did you go?"
"To the bathroom, if you must know," Sam said, knowing he was lying, but keeping up the faux excuse regardless. If truth be told, Sam was actually going outside the walls to check if Leo was back or not. He was once again residing in the bedroom of the human, phone placed up against the wall, and thought he heard the teenager come back home from classes. It must've been the wind, because Leo wouldn't come back for another two hours at the most. So with a bounce in his step, Sam returned to his phone conversation with Elijah for the time being.
Ever since the first phone call with Leo, Sam took to prompting all his new friends with a ring almost every day afterwards. Skip, while enjoying the affection and proof that Sam was not a pedophile (which might have been disproven, but Skip was still suspicious), got tired of his persistent phone calls after a week. Leo was always busy with homework or attending school, which left Elijah at the base with nothing to do and no excuses to get out of the conversation. Not that he minded the attention, of course he didn't, but Sam had a way of never letting the talks die out. There would always be a reason for them to hang up one way or another.
Sam was never complaining about the phone calls, either. In fact, he couldn't get enough of them. It was something more than a simple group text, and he could properly use his voice to talk to someone, no matter how raspy it was from years of abandonment. Sam's tail never seemed to stop bouncing from side to side at every new conversation opportunity with his friends outside of the walls.
He was learning of the group's individual mannerisms; how they emoted without the use of facial expressions, how they inflected certain words with their differing accents, and even how they turned soft at the mention of the others in the chat. It seemed the appreciation for each other was mutual in all respects, no matter how far the teasing went.
Sam spoke with Elijah the most over the following weeks, acquiring information on the human's lifestyle and how he lived in retrospect to Leo. He learned that Elijah was on a "break" in his studies, which happened every year and lasted an entire month without fail. Sam found out that Leo was due to start his break soon, and Skip immediately following, which only meant more time for phone calls and new conversations. His tail swung harder at the thought.
He was excited for everything to come, up until a certain plan was put into action out of the blue one day. The plan began with a faux suggestion.
NucLEOnic: guess what
MyNameIsSam: ???
E_J_K: wassup
Skipperrr: ?
NucLEOnic: just found out parents are gone for a three week long cruise started dec. 7. The day before my break starts. House to myself for a whole month baby!!!
Sams heart skipped a literal beat at the mention of being able to talk to Leo for a whole month straight.
MyNameIsSam: hell yes!
Skipperrr: nice. Don't throw any parties without us lol
E_J_K: nah if Mr. goody two shoes throws a party im def coming. 6 hours on a plane ride but worth it to see Leo get drunk
Skipperrr: Sorry Eli, I'm less than an hour plane ride away. Guess I'll get there first
E_J_K: not if I tell u when I'm leaving.
Skipperrr: is that a challenge
NucLEOnic: I dare y'all to come to Ohio. House is big enough for four
'House is big enough for three and a half,' Thought Sam, but he didn't dare type it out.
E_J_K: don't dare me. I'm already tempted
Skipperrr: same. Looking up flights rn lol
NucLEOnic: Wait. That's a lot of money don't do it
E_J_K: I live in California. If I couldn't afford a plane ticket to Ohio, I would be living out of a cardboard box rn
Skipperrr: you mean if ur parents couldn't afford a plane ticket
E_J_K: we are a family and that means we share accomplishments. Money just so happens to be an accomplishment.
NucLEOnic: I've seen ur house through the videos on ur profile. I can vouch for the money part of it
NucLEOnic: Skip wbu?
Skipperrr: if I can't afford a ticket I could just drive lol. My truck is old but she's not in the ground just yet
E_J_K: are we actually considering this? Like fr?
NucLEOnic: I might have to ask the parents but honestly why not. It'd be nice to meet y'all away from the screen for once
Skipperrr: ^^^ Sam u in? Where do u even live
It was a good question; One Sam had been avoiding for the past five minutes. The only logical explanation would be to straight up tell them no, a firm shake of the head, and not give a reason because they didn't need one.
A part of Sam wanted to cry.
His brain had been filled to the brim with enough fantasies about meeting his friends in person, and now they were all going to do it without him. Every night from the start of it, Sam's tail curled around his form and begged for an ounce of physical touch from the people he cared most about. This whole time, all he could think about was seeing them face to face, no fear in his heart, no shaking limbs or anxious tears streaming down his hollow cheeks. All Sam wanted was to say hello to his friends, and now it was going to happen. Only, he wouldn't be a part of it.
His brain told him to tell them no, because he couldn't bear the thought any longer, but his heart went in another direction.
MyNameIsSam: I'm only a few hours away. Let me ask my family and I'll get back to u. This might actually happen
E_J_K: omg we might get to meet THE Sam
NucLEOnic: I feel honored rn
Sam could practically hear the sarcasm from the screen, but didn't dare allow a smile to come to his face. It was hard enough to say no, it was even worse to give in to false fantasies and pretend like everything was going to work out when he knew it wouldn't. Instead of a smile, the only expression that came to Sam's face was one filled with red eyes and wet cheeks. Sam's tail dropped to the cold floor he was seated upon, but he had no motivation to walk a few centimeters to his nest. There was no need anymore.
MyNameIsSam: I can't wait to meet you all.
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A/N: a shorter chapter, I know, but rest assured; longer ones in the foreseeable future. Also, poor Sam!!!
As always, please feel free to let me know all your thoughts! Thank you for reading! :)
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Fantasy"Out of all four boys that were a part of the unlikely friend group, only three of them were human."
