I sent Sam a text quickly.

Me-

Hey Sam. I want to talk to you about something, and it's really important. I was wondering if we could meet up somewhere?

Barely a minute had gone by before I got a response.

Sam-

Okay. What is it? 🤔

I smiled slightly as I typed my response.

Me-

I'll tell you when I see you. Meet me in the park near Cara's

Sam-

Will do. See you there :)

I stuffed my phone in my pocket and started walking to the park.

——

I rushed over as I spotted Sam.

He looked slightly surprised as I nearly knocked him over with a hug. "That's an incredibly enthusiastic greeting. Hello to you too."

I stood back, my heart pounding.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked curiously, a strange expression that almost seemed like anxiety on his face.

"Well, it's kind of complicated..." I hesitated before saying in a rush, "So basically I realised something a few weeks go but I was really preoccupied with finding Slimecicle so I didn't get round to telling you, so I wanted to tell you that I really like you, like, a lot, and if you don't feel the same way then that's fine, we can just carry on being friends-" I broke off as he drew me into a hug and kissed me. I blinked, surprised, before kissing him back and then stepping away.

"I'll take that as a yes, you feel the same way."I muttered with a small smile.

"Correct. I'm just... not very good at talking about this kind of stuff. Is all." He mumbled, his face going bright red.

"Hey, I'm not very good at it either, evidently." I said with a nervous smile. That... couldn't have gone better.

——

"Come on, it's the grand re-opening, and you are coming with me!" I said with a laugh, poking him

Sam batted my hand away, mumbling sleepily. "I wanna sleep, Y/N.."

He had stayed over at my place last night and had fallen asleep while I was getting ready for Cara's re-opening.

"Come on! Don't be boring, love." I said, poking him again. "It's been months since I've been to Cara's."

"Fine." He grumbled, blinking his eyes open. "But only for you."

"Thank you." I said gratefully, hugging him before rushing into the next room to get my phone.

With the money I was making from being a hero, I had managed to move to a slightly bigger place, and was hoping to have saved up enough be able to afford a house soon.

I hurriedly called Karl. "Hey! You going to the re-opening?" I asked curiously.

"Yep. I'll be glad to have a job again. As nice as it is staying with the Soots, I want to get my own place again."

"Ah, that makes sense. How's it been, staying with Tommy's family?" I asked curiously.

"It's been quite nice, actually. They're very friendly. I've been talking with his brother Will quite a bit- we have the same taste in music, it would appear." He sighed. "I'm actually gonna miss them all quite a bit."

"I mean you won't be moving out for a few months or so yet, you still need to get money back, so you don't need to say goodbye quite yet." I pointed out.

"I guess you're right. I'm gonna head down to Cara's now with Tommy. When'll you be there? Or are you there already?"

"I'll be there soon. Sam's only just woken up so I'm letting him get ready first." I could picture Karl's eyebrows raising, that look of polite curiosity he often wore painted onto his face.

"Oh yeah, Sam. How have things been with you two? You've been dating for like... four months now, right?"

"Correct. And things have been great, thanks for asking."

"Me and Cara totally called it, you know." He said, and I could hear his cheeky grin.

"What do you mean?" I let out a fake gasp of outrage. "Gossiping about my love life? Without me? Outrageous."

Karl laughed. "Well, let me know when you're getting here."

"Will do, bestie."

"WAIT, BESTIE?! I KNEW IT, I AM YOUR BEST FRIEN-" his sentence was cut off as Sam ended the call, reaching over my shoulder.

"When did you get there?" I asked with a smile, turning my head kissing him on the cheek with a curious glance.

"A minute ago. Come on, you were the one who woke me up for this." Sam said with a yawn.

"Okay, okay, let's go. Thank you for dealing with my nonsense, love." I said with a laugh, leaning against him.

"Anything for the person I love. Even if it means getting woken up for no reason." He smiled wryly. "Let's go, come on."