Characters: Sam Ruiz and Abernathy Ford
Setting: Casa Ruiz, just outsie of NOLA
Rating: SFW, likely swearing but minor
Summary: Sam helps AB unwind after her detention by spending the rest of their weekend at his house.

Sam had been waiting patiently for AB’s detention to let out but as the time got closer he realized he was getting pretty nervous. He had played his guitar, rolled around on the floor in his room, and watched Harry run in his wheel for what seemed like hours. When his door finally popped up Sam was laying on his back on the floor with his legs on his bed playing drums on his knees and the floor while Harry sat on his stomach. He turned his head and looked over at the open door with a big grin. “Hey AB,” he said easily.

“Hey,” she said, flopping down on his bed. She had already stopped by her dorm to pack up pajamas and a toothbrush for the night. She didn’t care too much to bring homework. She needed a day off. “Are we ready to blow?”

“Yeah,” he slid his legs off the bed and sat up, making sure to scoop up Harry and place him on his shoulder. “I’m set to go,” he grabbed his baseball glove off his desk and shoved it into his backpack. There were no clothes in there, just baseball things, a bag of his favorite lime flavored tortilla chips, and his blanket. “How was your date with Fortis and Legaux?” he asked slinging his bag over his shoulder.

“I don’t want to even talk about it,” she replied. At least that part of her punishment was over. She still didn’t know why Fortis would care a damn about her making it through probation, but their little conversation had certainly given her things to think about. “Can we just have some fun and raise some hell off campus?”

Sam gave her a mischievous grin and a little elbow. “Fair enough,” he said leading her out to the truck. “Marina and Ema went home yesterday,” he explained as he threw his bag into the back of the truck. “Marina has been texting me non stop since they left,” he laughed. He realized he would have to explain to AB at some point this weekend why his dad was no longer staying at the house and that made him stop short before he went around to the other side to unlock the door.

She tossed her bag into the back with his and jiggered the handled twice before looking at Sam plaintively. “Are you going to hold me prisoner on campus or what?” she asked. The thought of being able to blow of some steam far away from campus with her second favorite family in the world (second only to her own) was the only thing that kept her going through all those detentions.

He grinned, snapping out of his thoughts and unlocked the door. “I wouldn’t think of it,” he said with his usual charm. He got into the truck on the driver’s side and started it up. There was a chance his dad might not be at the house yet and he still hadn’t explained the whole living situation to her yet. There was no better time to explain the situation, they could talk later but he figured he should give her a warning. “So...” he said quietly as he turned out of the school parking lot. “Things are a little bit different at the house,” he said vaguely.

Ordinarily AB would have been fiddling around with the radio, but this piqued her interest enough to keep the cab silent for a bit. “Different how?” she asked just as quietly. She didn’t want to push too hard, but obviously Sam had something to say.

He shrugged his shoulders a little heavily, keeping his eyes trained on the road. “Dad... uh... he moved out about six months ago,” he said still very quiet. “He’s been living with Aunt Lola on the other side of town. He comes home every night for dinner but it’s not the same.” He didn’t think he could say much more about it now, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

Six months. That was kind of a big deal to AB, keeping a secret from her for that long. She sat quietly trying to clear her head and come to a reasonable emotional compromise. Maybe that was why things had been so weird between them. Maybe that’s why she was suddenly hyper sensitive to everything he said or did lately. “That sucks,” she offered quietly. There was a reason Sam hadn’t told her sooner. He needed that time to deal with it on his own. Now he had the chance to talk about it with her, or just have her support. Whatever he needed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he said softly. It was the first response he could think of, the only thing he really wanted to say for now.

“Oh. Don’t apologize for that.” She was glad he did, but she wanted him to know that he didn’t need to. “So the munchkins are home?” she asked knowing that his tone of voice indicated he wanted to talk about anything else. “I don’t know how much trouble we can get into with those wee ones around.”

Sam laughed easily. “Yeah, they’re pampering Frankfort but I’m going to steal him for baseball as soon as we get in,” he smiled brightly at the thought of his puppy. It sucked having to leave him at home while he was at school but at least he was close by. “We might be able to get into a fair share of trouble though. As long as Ema doesn’t suspect anything,” he grinned. Ema had a way of whining and convincing everyone that it was against the rules.

“I’m sorry Sam, I just can’t imagine that dog as a puppy. He’s huge already.” She grinned at him sideways and turned on the radio at last. “We could always make a game of it and try to get Ema in trouble.” It was an evil idea, but she was already enjoying it.

Sam laughed. “He’s just a little guy,” he said with a goofy grin. He felt relieved when AB turned on the radio and they were back to their regular banter. It was weird... different when everything was significant. “Now that would be fun,” Sam said brightly. “I feel like the whole time she would be screaming I didn’t do it! It was Melchor’s fault! It would be so much fun though!”

“Absolutely worth every moment of torture and any home grown punishments heaped on us.” AB tapped her fingers on the windowsill of the door. This was already turning into a pleasant distraction, though she was still talking about punishments it wasn’t high stakes. “Please tell me your mom is cooking something phenomenal for dinner.” She was starving, which was weird considering all the smells coming from some of those potion bottles.

“Yes, yes torturing Ema will be worth every second of punishment mamá can dole out,” he grinned. “Of course she’ll be making something delicious. It’s pizza night, although it’s usually quite the process,” he laughed. “Three pizzas, two to each pizza, and you get to pick what goes on it. One time Marina and I made enchilada pizza, it was way better than it sounds,” he added sneaking a look at his best friend for the first time since they got into the truck.

She respected Mrs. Ruiz, but sometimes the younger ones needed to understand the pecking order. “Enchilada, eh?” She peeked over at him when he looked at her. She tried not to laugh at him, but that was one of his more hair-brained culinary concoctions. “We should leave the cooking to your mom.”


He laughed loudly at that. “Yeah, I probably should leave the cooking to her. She’s way better at it,” he felt at ease seeing her smile like that. He couldn’t even rationalize now why he had kept his parents separation a secret from her for so long. He put the thought out of his head as he pulled into the driveway. “You could always share a pizza with Ina or Ema, but I should warn you, Ema puts pineapples on hers,” he grinned mischievously as he opened his door and hopped out.

“I happen to think pineapple pizza is one of the great unsung heroes of Italian cuisine.” She popped out of her side of the truck and grabbed her bag before heading inside. “Mama!” she called as if she’d been living here along. “I dragged the dirty laundry home!”

Anna was more than pleased to hear Abernathy when she entered. Sam had warned her not to mention anything about detention, the first week back, or to ask what her favorite family friend had been up to lately. She beamed at Abernathy and Sam. “Look at you two,” she said brightly, giving them hugs even though she had just seen them last week. “And you’ve made it before your father,” she said, there was a slightly hint of annoyance to her voice but she smile all the same. Sam gave her a meaningful look, there would be no fighting this weekend.

“And by dirty laundry she means Sam,” Marina peeked her head around the corner with a big grin. Sam scrunched his face up and sniffed his arm pit. “It’s not too bad this week,” he tease right back.

“Behave,” Anna shot at the twins. “Abby, how have you been?” she asked taking her bag and handing it to Sam. Sam grinned and took the bag to put it up with the three other packs already crowding the shelf which was supposed to be used for shoes. When the Ruiz children were home, it was definitely a bag shelf.

“Oh, you know, a train wreck.” She shrugged. Even if Sam had told his mom not to ask or mention it, Abby wasn’t going to sugarcoat the mess she was in. “I’ll manage.” She peered around the house and waved enthusiastically to Marina. “I heard it was pizza night and I was threatened with pineapples, which is easily the best kind of threat I’ve ever had.”

Anna gave her a sympathetic smile, one that said We gotcha kid. “Of course! I bought an extra pineapple because I wasn’t sure!” Anna laughed.

Marina waved back and smiled. “Hey!” she called enthusiastically. Ema rounded the corner into the living room following a rather energetic and large puppy. “FRANKY!” Sam dropped to his knees with his arms wide open and the dog jumped up for kisses and hugs. “Franky boy! Have they been making you go to tea parties and spa night?” he asked the dog while rough housing on the floor.

“Did someone say pineapple?” Ema asked, her eyes wide. “Abby! Hi! Sam didn’t tell me you were coming home this weekend! I’m so out of the loop,” it was hard to keep up with the fourteen year old but she never really learned how to tune it down.

“Chaos. Giggling. Lots of talking. Welcome to Casa Ruiz,” Marina said walking forward.

“My kind of crowd,” AB replied to Marina. She grinned to Ema. “Guilty as charged. I believe we’ll be sharing a pizza tonight because the others heathens don’t have refined pallets like you and me!” Finally AB felt like she could relax and let it all go. Sam’s family had become a second home, a refuge in the deep south. “Sam, do you need some alone time with your dog?” she teased playfully.

“Ooo!” Ema said excitedly. “See you guys! Someone else likes pineapples on their pizza too! Heathens!” she threw in at the end giving Abby a big smile.

Sam held Frankfort under his chin so that the dog was facing AB and grinned. “How could I deny this face?” he asked. “How could anyone deny this face?” he set the dog down but Frankfort put his paws on Sam’s lap. “Aww, come on bud,” he picked him up and stood up from the floor.

“Melchor Samuel David Ruiz, you are not bringing Frankfort into the kitchen while we’re making pizza,” Anna said with her hands on her hips.

“Ma, he missed me, I can’t deny him,” he pouted, something he hadn’t done since he was about seven or so. Anna stood strong, shaking her head. “Put the dog down, wash your hands, make your pizza, then you can go play with the dog. Unless you want your salad first.”

“Want salad? Nah!” he set Frankfort down though. “I gave it my all little buddy.”

“I could deny that face,” AB said and then gave the dog a little ruffle on the head anyway. Heading into the kitchen to wash her hands she noticed that Mrs. Ruiz already had the pizza dough set out and the toppings organized and tidy. Smart woman, AB mused to herself. She let Ema make most of the decisions regarding their pizza, but she asked for at least half of it to have ham. “Trust me Em, it makes the pineapple.”

Ema looked at little suspicious. “Really?” she asked AB. “I think I’ll try a little bit of it,” she said putting some ham on the pizza.

Sam and Marina goofed off the while time they were picking out toppings for their pizza and ended up making buffalo chicken pizza, their old stand by. While they were cooking Tito came in looking more tired than usual. “Hey guys,” he said forcing a smile. “Sorry I’m late, the mandrake order came in late today,” he sighed and leaned against the counter.

AB grinned at Ema. Hopefully she’d like the pineapple ham pizza. She smiled and waved to Mr. Ruiz when he came in, but the poor man seem so bedraggled she wasn’t sure she should say anything else. The atmosphere in the house was definitely different than it used to be. She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed it the other night when she and Sam had come over for dinner. It probably had something to do with school looming the next day and the peculiar shift in the dynamic between her and Sam.

“Oh, hey Abernathy,” he gave her a genuine smile, albeit a tired smile. Anna dismissed the apology. “No matter,” she said quickly. “Dinner just needs to go into the oven,” she started putting the pizzas in the oven. “Twenty minutes kids, don’t get yourselves too dirty,” her voice was slightly clipped but she smiled all the same. The past few months had been hard but she had gotten quite good at pasting that smile to her lips.

Sam rose his eyebrows and smiled over to AB. “Wanna throw the ball around for a bit? Give you a chance to warm up,” he teased gently. “I know how you’re always calling elements.”

Anything to get out of the house so that the Mr. and Mrs. could have a moment to discuss what they needed to discuss. “Come Ema, Ina. Can’t let Sam’s ego get too inflated. Three of us should be able to take him down in a game of catch.” She didn’t wait for their answer and simply sauntered out toward the back yard.

Ina laughed. “Yeah, can’t let that happen,” she ruffled her brother’s hair.

The Ruiz girls were not far behind AB with Frankfort trailing behind, his little stub of a tail wagging. Sam slunk into the living room to get his bag full of baseball supplies. When he walked through the kitchen Tito and Anna were having a hushed but intense conversation that Sam promptly ignored and went out the back door to join the girls. “AB! Heads up!” he called once the ball was free of his bag. He let it fly once he was sure she was paying attention. The last thing he wanted to do was smack her in the head with it.

Abernathy turned at Sam’s voice. The ball grazed her extended fingers and landed behind her in the grass, rolling toward the back fence of the property. “Have I ever told you girls how much your brother’s aim sucks?” She broke into a fit of giggles while chasing the ball, scooped it up and tossed it back in his general direction.

Ema and Ina both laughed at AB’s comment. “He thinks he’s some sort of Derek Jeter,” Ema giggled brightly.

Sam had to back up a few steps to catch AB’s lob. “You’re arm is a little better than I remember,” he called back as he caught the ball. He tossed the ball to Ema with ease. She caught it and tossed it to Marina who missed the ball and had to chase Frankfort for it. “Sam! Call your mongrel off!” she laughed as she tried to wrestle the ball away from him.

“Franky!” Sam called. “Drop!” Frankfort dropped the ball and ran for his boy, jumping up and tipping him back a little. “Good boy! Who’s a good boy!” he scritched behind the dogs ears and stood up just in time to catch a pop up from Ema.

AB rolled her eyes at Sam’s antics with the dog. She was very good with animals, but she didn’t baby them the way Sam was currently babying his dog. It was cute, but ridiculous all the same. She caught a fly ball from Ina and tossed it back in her direction. It felt good to be outside and throwing things around. It was releasing some of the pent up energy that had been building all week.

After at least thirty minutes of tossing the ball around Tito emerged from the kitchen. He stood on the back porch watching the kids play for a few minutes before calling them in. It was nice to just enjoy the muffled sounds of his kids playing catch as opposed to the bickering, the fighting, and the screaming. "Eh! Sam! What kind of lob was that?" he teased.

Sam turned at the sounds of Tito's voice and grinned. "Can't all be pros pop," he shrugged. "Food ready?"

"Of course it is, come on in kids. Your mother wants you to wash your hands too," he called before turning back and walking into the house. Sam lead the girls back to the kitchen but had to stay behind to pat Frankfort and convince him to stay outside. "You alright dad?" he asked looking up and noticing Tito was still on the porch, looking out at the yard.

"Yeah," he said simply. "Yeah, come on," Tito clapped his son on the shoulder and lead him into the kitchen where the girls were already splitting up their pizzas.

AB grabbed a big slice and starting munching on it before even leaving the kitchen. "Oh Ema. You have to try a little slice with the ham. It's aces."

Ema grabbed a slice with ham and just like AB munched right in. She stopped moving and chewed thoughtfully then looked to his brother's best friend. "You can come to pizza night EVERY FRIDAY!" she did a little dance and continued into the dining room after piling another piece onto her plate.

Sam and Ina split their pizza and joined the others in the dining room. Anna was quiet as Tito and the kids talked about school and work over dinner. "So Sam," Tito said as the meal was winding down. "Are you going to home coming dance with anyone this year?"

Sam blanched and tried to hide by taking a sip of juice. Fffffffff. "Uhhhh... I don't know..." he shrugged. "Why?"

"No reason," he smiled and finished his dinner. "Have fun tonight kids, I have to get back to the shop to put away the new order," he stood from his seat. "Thanks for dinner," he said to Anna who barely raised her head. "See you around."

AB kept her eyes on her pizza when Mr. Ruiz asked about homecoming. AB didn't have any intention to go and she hoped Sam wouldn't even ask. She didn't want to have to say no to him, or get talked into going and then try to avoid dancing with him the whole night. She pretended to be too busy eating to make her own comment on the subject.

The tension in the house didn't seem to ease when Mr. Ruiz left. AB sat in the awkward silence and tried to enjoy her pizza, but the flavor seemed to go out of it. Her mood had soured a bit and the idea of coming here to relax after the difficult week was beginning to have the opposite effect.

Sam saw AB's discomfort. This was supposed to be about relaxing and instead she was just having to put up with the awkward tension he had been trying to protect her from the whole time. "AB," he said getting up from the table and motioning toward the kitchen with his head. He brought his empty plate with him and set it in the sink, waiting for her to join him.

Abernathy grabbed her plate and followed Sam into the kitchen. She didn't say anything but rinsed her dish before setting it into the sink. She didn't know what to say to make any of this better. They were both in difficult situations, Sam's ostensibly worse than hers.

He looked out the window for a few seconds, trying to gather his thoughts. "Want to go outside?" he asked. He looked into the dining room, the girls were already worrying over their school work together and Anna was busying herself with the cleaning. Maybe now was the best time for talking, better late than never. He didn't wait for an answer before walking out the back door and sprawling out on the lawn. Frankfort wasn't far behind, snuggling up next to Sam.

"Or not," she said quietly as he wandered outside. She frowned behind him. Ordinarily it didn't bother her when Sam assumed something, but this whole situation had her walking on eggshells and she didn't know how to react. She didn't trust the way her breathing hitched or the instant irritation that sprang up.

She followed him outside just as she'd followed him to the kitchen, but this time she hung back a bit. She didn't run out and plop down like she normally would. She stayed standing a few feet away, her eyes trained up to the stars which were already beginning to sparkle in the dimming sky. "That was kind of awkward," she said quietly. "You should tell your dad he doesn't have to put on a show for me." Or any of you, really, she thought.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "This was supposed to be a nice, quiet, relaxing weekend," he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I didn't mean for it to be some huge blind side hit of awkward," he put his hands in his hair. "They're so stupid, why can't they just stop? I hate them sometimes AB, I really do," he was frustrated and angry, and this conversation was long overdue. He wiped his eyes quickly, trying to hide all evidence of tears.

She understood what loss could do to a family. Her father had spent an entire week locked up in his woodshed out back. Tim did most of the mothering that week. Aunt Veruca had stormed out and she hadn't been back north since the funeral. This wasn't quite the same, but it was. She wasn't sure what sort of comfort she could offer. This wasn't their usual easy banter. Things had changed over the summer and she couldn't help but think she might have known what to say just a month prior.

"It's fine," she lied. "It's good to be away from campus and all that. I mean. I know it's awkward, but it's hard. They're trying to keep things normal for you guys, but it's not like it used to be." A lot of things weren't what they used to be. She pursed her lips, seeking out the enormous moon. It hadn't yet risen over the trees. "It's okay to hate them," she added quietly. She still hadn't quite forgiven her dad for some of the hard times they faced after her mom's death, but she moved past it. "But you know they're doing all of this for you and your sisters."

"Blaming each other for what happened to Felix? Screaming and fighting all the time? Hurting each other?" he questioned quietly. There was no anger in his voice though, only sadness. "Once I overheard dad saying that Felix was only trying to protect us, mom said he shouldn't have been protecting us, that they should have been protecting him," he sighed. "And the only thing I could think was, they're fighting and his dying... it's my fault," he reached for Frankfort and held the dog close. He felt like it was the only thing tying him to the ground. "The only reason Felix was in those woods was because I wasn't fast enough, I wasn't strong enough. Now everything is falling apart... and it's all my fault."

She listened and she wondered how hard she should kick him. Then she realized how entirely inappropriate that reaction was. "Jesus Sam, is that what you think?" She took a few steps closer, but stayed standing. She didn't trust herself to even sit close to him on the grass right now. God only knew what could happen. "It's the fucking werewolf's fault."

She knew about the guilt and the blame too. And those haunting, awful what ifs. What if I stayed home sick that day? What if dad had gone with her? You could let it drive you completely mad, Abernathy knew that from watching her sister nearly unravel. These kind of things had a way of tearing a family apart or making a family stronger. Billy Ford opted for strength and he worked toward that goal every day after his stint in the woodshed. Tragedy wasn't going to defeat the Fords.

Abernathy was determined to be damned if she let it defeat Sam. "You can't do this to yourself. You can't blame yourself. Sam, if you'd been faster or stronger you still would have been scarred and badly hurt. Or worse," she intoned, not ready to shake him into the realization that he'd be the dead brother. "You can't play what ifs over and over again in your head."

As he was listening to AB there was a moment where it clicked but guilt wasn't something that just went away. Over time he might feel less of it, but at least for now it was confirmed that he wasn't to blame. AB told him, it must have been true. He couldn't even think of what to say. "Thanks AB," he said sitting up, still holding onto Frankfort who was giving kisses and trying to help out the best a puppy could.

He turned around to look at his best friend. "How can I salvage what's left of the weekend for you?" he asked putting on a brave face. A little false bravado never hurt anyone.

She wiped at her nose absently. It wasn't running and she wasn't crying, but it allowed her the chance to cover her mouth with her hand. Even in the dim light from the house and the stars above she didn't want him to read whatever mix of emotion was crawling over her face. She couldn't decipher them all herself.

"I dunno," she replied a little bashfully. "Let's try and cheer your mom up or something."

"Okay," he stood from the ground, and set Frankfort down. He took a deep breath before stepping over to meet with AB, he put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I don't know what I'd do without you bud," he left it at that and walked beside her with the dog trailing behind.

Once they were inside he leaned against the kitchen sink and sighed. "Pictionary? It's always been one of mom's favorites," he suggested.

His hand felt heavy on her shoulder, but then it was gone and they were walking back into the house. "You'd probably make out with your dog if I wasn't around," she joked. She leaned against the fridge and frowned at Sam. "I was thinking a little bigger. Like we could clean the attic or something."

Sam laughed at AB's comment about the dog. "What, a dog's mouth is exponentially cleaner than a human's mouth," he joked right back. He liked it when it was nice and easy between them. She wasn't distant, he wasn't noticing things about her that made him swoon a little, Bobby wasn't poking him in the god damn side about Abernathy being "off limits" on account of her and himself. It was nice having the good old days back.

He folded his arms, trying to hide the dread that rose up in his chest. "If you're up to the challenge," he said. "The attic is pretty epic. Lots of stuff," all of Felix's stuff. He was sure that cleaning it up with make his mother happy but he wasn't sure how he would react to it. "Wanna see it?"

This evening had done its part to bombard her with a lot of different emotions. She was still distracted, enough so that she didn't sense his hesitation. "Sure. Lead the way."

Sam lead her through the living room and up the stairs. They walked down the hallway together and Sam opened the door at the end leading up to the attic. "Here it is," he said hesitantly before leading the way up the stairs. Standing in the attic, it didn't look terribly bad but it was still pretty messy. There were a ton of boxes, unlabeled and shoved in corners or just laying on the floor with the top open. There were gardening tools, potions bottles, small boxes of herbs, Christmas decorations, Halloween decorations, and of course there were Felix's things.

Sam flipped on all the light switches so it was easier to see and walked around while AB looked things over. He was twiddling his thumbs, clapping his hands together, and hoping that AB would loose interest in the attic and chose another home improvement project for the evening.

She noticed the hesitation this time, but she followed him up the stairs out of curiosity. The question she didn't want to ask was answered when she stumbled upon a box of Felix's belongings. There were several of them up here, another thing that the family was holding on to. She still had a box of her mother's things, some of them saved by her father and others later given to her by Aunt Veruca.

They could tidy it up, but there was nothing they could throw away yet. She looked to Sam and noticed the way just being in this room was making him feel. "It's not so bad up here," she offered, which was clearly a lie. "We could tackle another project. Maybe your mom's garden needs some weeding?"

Sam nodded vigorously. "The garden is a mess," he said running a hand through his hair. The garden was not a mess, it could use a weeding but surely the biggest project in the house was the attic. He wasn't sure if he was ready for it yet though. He still carried around Felix's acoustic guitar, not letting anyone else touch it for the fear that they might make it less Felix's guitar and more just a plain old guitar. He let AB lead the way this time, hanging back to look at the mounds of stuff for a few more seconds before cutting the lights and following her down the stairs.

She made her back through the house, trying to be quieter this time. It was a Saturday night, but the hours were creeping on. They'd have to weed the garden one handed by lumos lighted wands. "Maybe we could just spend some quiet time with her tonight and weed tomorrow?" Abernathy had the tiniest smile on her face, trying to hold back her amusement at how decidedly downhill their plans for the weekend were going.

"Yeah," Sam agreed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. He felt bad, everything had suddenly gone awry. "That's a good idea," he nodded. It wasn't too hard to find Anna sitting in the family room with the girls. "Hey mom," Sam sad leaning in the doorway. "Want to hang out?"

Anna smiled. "Of course," she motioned for Sam and AB to come join them. After a few rounds of pictionary, and watching one of those terrible movies from the nineties it was time to turn in for the night, especially if Sam and AB wanted to get an early start for weeding the garden. After saying goodnight Sam was off to his room which he was sharing with Ina for the night and AB and Ema shared the girl's room.

Sam tossed and turned for hours thinking about practically everything, he just couldn't sleep. Finally forfeiting to his restlessness he went to the kitchen in his pjs to get a glass of water. He stood at the sink for a while trying to think of a way to fix things, things between his parents, things with AB, things with his family anything really.

It turned out pleasant even though nothing went as planned. AB enjoyed Sam's family when they were laid back like this. When it came time for bed she stretched and yawned, changing into her pajamas in the bathroom and bedding down in Marina's bed. She couldn't sleep right away and chattered with Ema for a bit. Eventually she grew tired, but the sleep was fitful. She kept waking up from half-finished dreams that didn't make any sense once her mind was clear.

Maybe a drink of water will help. She felt at home enough here that she didn't need to make a fuss. She headed downstairs and into the kitchen without thinking someone else would be standing in the dark at the sink. When she realized someone was there she yelled. "Oh fuck!" and moved to flick on the light.

Sam turned when he heard AB yell fuck and was half blinded when the light flashed on. He squinted in the brightness. "Shit, is everything okay?" he asked not yet registering that he was standing in the kitchen wearing only his boxer shorts and a necklace.

"Uh. Yeah," she replied letting her eyes cruise over Sam once up and once down. "But you're kind of naked dude."

"Uh, yeah..." It finally registered that he was standing in his boxer shorts in front of AB. "Oh fuck," he ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't think anyone would be awake, I just needed some water, figured I didn't need to put pants on for that, right?" he turned back to the sink and filled up his glass one more time. He was pretty mortified.

Abernathy turned away from him and before she had time to process it she flicked the kitchen light back off. "Sorry. Yeah. Lights out, pants off." She felt horrified and amused all at once, wanting to laugh or cry at how weird this little encounter was. It was kind of like seeing him in a bathing suit, wasn't it? Then she thought of the way men's boxers had a button on the fly (which is why she had to sew all of hers shut or buy the kind made for women). Oh god. Don't think about the fly hole. Don't think about it. Jesus Abernathy, mental pictures! She was grateful for the dark because her face turned a brand new shade of mortified red. "Sorry," she said again. Without waiting for a reply or getting the drink of water she'd come down for she headed back upstairs.

"Yeah, sorry, um... I'll put some pants on next time," Sam emptied his cup in one swallow. "G'night," he said with his back to Abernathy as she sped away from the kitchen. He didn't know why it was so weird. It was just shorts, albeit boxer shorts, but it wasn't like he was running around naked. He leaned against the sink once more and then made his way back to his bedroom. What a friggin' mess. He scruffed up his own hair before heading back to bed, hoping things wouldn't be weird in the morning.

Abernathy crawled into Marina's bed with a fearsome blush on her face. She tugged her blanket up over her head and tried to forget about her encounter in the kitchen. Eventually she fell asleep, but she was going to be tired and a little cranky in the morning.

Tags: !complete, melchor ruiz