Chapter Text
It’s the sixteenth of summer, and holy Yoba, it is hot. It was ninety degrees Fahrenheit inside and even hotter outside. The small fan you had gotten from Pierre’s was doing little to nothing to fight off the summer heat.
Laying on the floor of your cabin, you felt your skin slowly melting (of course, it’s just your sweat, but you’d prefer to be a little dramatic right now). Bubbles was probably lying somewhere nice and cool while you slowly cooked like a turkey in an oven in your small cabin.
Next to you, your phone vibrates twice, indicating a text message. With a groan, you reach over and unlock your phone, careful not to drop it on your face. You’ve done that a few times before and it’s never fun. Once, you gave yourself a black eye from dropping it just right. That was a fun one to explain at work. You press your thumb at the bottom of your phone’s screen, watching as the biometrics brought your phone to life. Tapping on your messages, you scroll to the top of the screen, spotting a little red number one next to Alex’s name.
Alex: hey u! R u melting yet?
Too tired to smile at his joke, you quickly respond.
You: Uggggghhhhhh
It takes a few minutes for Alex to respond.
Alex: ya i figured. Wat if i brought over some drinks & we have a bbq?
His message makes you pause. A barbeque? You can’t remember the last time you’ve even been to one. What would you need again? Food, duh. Burgers and hot dogs on the grill actually sound pretty good. Drinks? Alex said he’d have that covered, so you’re not too worried about that. Do barbeques usually have music? Games? It’d probably have a nice touch, honestly. Guests would be the last thing on this mental list you have going on.
However, is it really a barbeque if it’s just you and Alex? Probably not. But who else would you invite? Penny might want to join, and you’re not too sure on inviting Sam, especially with everything that happened at the Luau.
You look at your phone with a determined look in your eyes.
This might just be just the thing to smooth things over between you and the blonde once and for all.
You: Sounds good, Alex! Come by around 2, okay?
Alex sends a thumbs up in return and you sit up, your hair frizzled from laying on the floor. Since the Luau, you’ve seen Sam once or twice, and during one of those times, he not only apologized profusely (to which you told him it’s okay, no harm was done), but he gave you his phone number in case you needed to get ahold of him for any reason. Well, now’s one of those reasons. You find his number with ease and quickly tap on his name.
You: Hey, Sam. Alex and I are throwing a BBQ on the farm. You interested?
Now all you have to do is wait. While you wait, you send out a text to Penny as well, extending the invite to her as well. Since it’s the summer, and the fact she’s probably at the library doing some reading in AC, she’s more than likely to accept the invitation. It takes a hot minute, but your phone vibrates twice.
Sam: hell ya! what time are we talkin’?
You grin and send him the details. His response is much faster after that.
Sam: 2pm? sure man! sounds good. can vince come along?
You: Yeah, that’s fine! He can even bring Jas, if he wants. Alex is bringing some drinks and I’ll be grilling
Sam: dude that sounds so dope. i’ll text shane and let him know. i’ll see you there.
You have a feeling it’ll be a fun day.
Two o’clock is right around the corner and you have almost everything set up. Penny, ever the modest woman, arrived around one wearing a flowy yellow summer dress and a pair of white flats. She looked absolutely stunning, and from the way she carried herself as she walked onto your farm, she must’ve felt amazing about herself as well.
While you both waited on the men and children to arrive, Penny helped you set everything up. There’s a patch of grass south of your farmhouse and just a little north to one of the two lakes on your farm. That’s where you and Penny decided to set everything up. Lawn chairs were placed, the grill was dragged over, and a fun ring toss game was set up. Penny brought a folding table from her home and helped set it up. A simple sun-themed disposable table cloth was set over the table, bottles of bubbles, plates, silverware, and a vegetable tray you spent an hour setting up held the table cloth down.
Sam’s the next to arrive. He’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a white tank top underneath and blue jeans ripped at the knees. How he’s not dying in the heat, you have no idea, but he admittedly looks amazing in that outfit. Instead of gelling his hair, he has it down, and you had absolutely no idea how long his hair actually was. Truth be told, your heart skipped a happy little beat at the sight of him looking so casual, but this is something you’d take to your grave.
“Wassup, ladies?” he calls out with a grin. Vincent and Jas follow him, looking around at the farm with wide, curious eyes. Sam holds a few floaties in his arms: a couple of the donut floaties and two of the water loungers. Vincent and Jas are both carrying a basket of cupcakes and cookies.
“Hello Sam, Vincent, Jas.” Penny greets, her tone soft. You notice the way her cheeks reddened faintly, the way her eyes glimmered as she took in the musician’s appearance. A pang of guilt hit your chest as you remembered the way your heart skipped a beat. She probably likes Sam, and from the way her entire face lit up, you don’t have any doubts about it. Putting your own silly thoughts aside, you decide to kill those feelings before they can become something more.
Penny liked him first, anyway.
Sam’s eyes flicker over to you, a warmth in his eyes that you’re sure spreads whenever he sees a friend. He gives you a toothy grin.
“Who else is coming?” he asks, tossing the floaties into the pond. Penny quickly busies herself with putting sunscreen on the kids. You shrug, arranging the snacks the kids brought onto the table.
“It’s just us, Penny, the kids, and Alex,” you tell him. Sam nods, leaning against the table with his hands in his pockets. He gives you a boyish grin.
“Sounds like fun,” he purrs. Rolling your eyes, you send him a playful smirk.
“Careful, Sam. There’s a pond right there, itching for someone to accidentally fall into.” This causes Sam to chuckle, his eyes closing as he shakes his head in mock disappointment.
“(Y/N), (Y/N), (Y/N)...” he drones on. “You should know better than to make empty threats.” Empty threats? This causes one of your eyebrows to raise incredulously.
“Excuse me, but I was being completely serious,” you playfully snap back. Sam smirks, his eyes glinting, a mischievous look in his eyes.
“Oh really?” Sam challenges, taking a step towards you. You take a step back, not liking the look in his eyes.
“Sam…” you warn. He grins, walking towards you.
“If you were being serious, then so am I.” Before you can react, Sam lunges towards you, wrapping his arms around your legs and hoists you up and over his shoulder. You let out a surprised scream, suddenly face-to-face with his ass.
“Sam!” you yell. You squirm in his arms, trying to break free from his iron-clad grip, your hands pushing against his lower back. Penny looks up at you both, Vincent laughing and Jas giggling behind her hand. “Put me down!”
“Put you down?” Sam parrots. You can only watch the ground moving as he walks forward. He lets out a deep-bellied laugh. “Sure! I’ll put you down!” Eyes wide, you see the ground, then the sky, then a grinning Sam right before you fall backwards into the pond.
The refreshing water felt absolutely amazing. It wasn’t too cold, and surprisingly, it was a lot cleaner than you expected it to be. Kicking your legs and pushing your arms, you emerge from the water, sputtering. You wipe your eyes and glare playfully up at Sam.
Penny’s currently fussing at Sam, rocking her finger up and down in front of his face, Sam’s grinning with his eyes closed, the kids are laughing, and Alex is marching towards Sam with a pissed off expression. Not wanting Sam to feel Alex’s wrath yet again, you reach up, wrap your hand around Sam’s wrist, and yank him down into the water as well. Sam gives out a yelp right as he falls in, causing you to burst out laughing.
“Told ya it wasn’t an empty threat,” you call out. Sam pops up from under the water, shaking his head quickly, his blonde hair now a wet mess on his head. Sticking your tongue out at him, you swim towards the edge of the pond and hoist yourself up. Alex’s tanned hand grabs onto your forearm as he helps you out of the water.
“(Y/N), are you okay? Do I need to kick his ass?” Alex questions, shooting a glare in Sam’s direction. You chuckle and shake your head, wringing out your shirt.
“Nah, I’m fine. We were only messing around.” Alex visibly relaxes. He glances over at Penny, the kids, and Sam, who’s currently climbing out of the pond, his clothes soaked.
“You invited them?” the jock murmurs to you. You turn to him with a smile.
“Yeah, of course. It’s a barbeque, isn’t it?” Alex’s forest-green eyes flicker over to you.
He speaks lowly, clearly not wanting his words to reach the others, “Not to sound like a dick or anything, but I was under the impression it would be just… you know, just us.” Confusion clouds your mind as you look up at him.
“Just us?” Alex nods, looking over at the musician, teacher, and children. “Why would it be just us?”
Alex’s mouth opens and closes one, two, three times before he shakes his head, reaching up to scratch the side of his scalp. “Nevermind.” He gives you one of his smiles. “I guess it’s a good thing I brought non-alcoholic drinks, then.”
You smile. You had told Alex a while back of your dislike for alcoholic beverages. You haven’t gone into detail, but Alex could tell it had something to do with your past.
“I also happened to bring some water guns, so if anyone wants to have a water gun fight,” Alex trails off, throwing a dark smirk in Sam’s direction. Sam, sensing the inevitable danger of being soaked yet again, turns, his eyes wide when he notices Alex’s piercing glare.
“Alex, c’mon, man,” Sam starts, raising his hands defensively. “I thought we were past all this!” The jock chuckles, a sound that sends a chill down your spine, as he lowers the water cooler and mesh bag of water guns. You watch as he pulls out a bigger gun, the water gun already wet from being previously filled. It makes you wonder if he did that to get the jump on you instead of an unsuspecting blonde.
“Sam, if I were you, I’d run,” Alex growls, his gaze narrowed. Sam doesn’t waste any time in turning and bolting away, but he was no match for Alex’s athletic speed. Penny and the kids come over and stand by you, watching as two grown men run around your farm, Sam yelling at Alex to knock it off, and Alex firing the water gun. Surprisingly, he doesn’t hit Sam once.
“Wow,” you chuckle, still watching the two. “He really can’t aim that thing.” Penny nods in agreement, grinning behind her hand as she watches them. Sam turns, running towards your group. Vincent quickly grabs one of the smaller water guns.
“Sammy!” Vincent shouts. Sam’s expression changes from surprise to a smug determination as he runs towards his little brother. Vincent throws the water gun and Sam catches it with ease. You watch in fascination as Sam turns, holding the water gun comfortably as though he had done this thousands of times, and shoots a blast of ice cold water straight into Alex’s face.
Alex may be faster than Sam, but Sam has the knowledge of how to handle a firearm, whether it was a real gun or a fake.
The four of you watch as Alex takes blast after blast of cold water to the face and chest. Each shot Sam takes is a direct hit, and surprisingly, Alex isn’t able to land a hit on the musician.
“Alright, alright!” Alex shouts, slowing to a stop. “I give.” Sam comes to a stop, panting hard but grinning. The brunette rests his hands on his knees, panting as well.
“That was fun,” Sam comments. Alex looks up at him, giving Sam an exhausted glower.
“How are you so good with water guns?”
Sam shrugs, “Dad would bring me to the range every weekend for a few years when I was growing up. We stopped when he found out he was being deployed.” This catches your attention.
“Deployed?” you ask. “What do you mean?” Sam gives Penny a knowing glance, and within moments, Penny whisks the children away to play with a bottle of bubbles. You raise an eyebrow.
“My dad’s fighting the Gotoro Empire,” Sam murmurs to you. Shock flows through your veins. Half of the Ferngill Republic was crawling with Gotoroian soldiers. You’ve heard that in the east, a few territories had to evacuate their citizens to protect them from the gunfire and exploding bombs. Cities have been destroyed, innocent lives taken, and too many brave men and women have been taken as prisoners on both sides. It’s hell on earth.
“I’m so sorry,” you muster. Sam nods grimly, looking over at his brother, who plays with Jas and Penny, laughing loudly.
“Mom and I are trying to keep it from Vincent. He’s too young to know about the war. All he knows is that Dad’s away for a while.” Alex crosses his arms, watching the children play.
“I talked to Gramps about mentioning the war,” Alex says lowly. The brunette gives Sam a sideway look. “Tell Jodi we’re sorry that Gramps mentioned the war around him.” Sam nods in appreciation.
“Thanks, man. It means a lot.” Sam looks at you and notices your confused expression. “You heard how Rayside was attacked?” You nod, feeling the blood drain from your face. Sam nods and looks back at the kids and Penny. “Some of the townspeople were talking about it, how our soldiers are being shot up and our people being killed. Vincent overheard some of it.” Ice fills your veins.
You’ve heard how a platoon of Ferngill Republic soldiers were being kept prisoners of war in Rayside. It was terrifying to think about, and an eerie thought crossed your mind. Was Sam’s dad one of the captured soldiers?
Sam makes you and Alex jump by clapping his hands, a bright smile on his face, but you see right through it. You see the fear and the uncertainty, the weight of being the man of the house and having to watch his little brother while taking his dad’s role. Your heart breaks for the blonde.
“Why don’t we start grilling? I’m starving.”
The five of you lay on a thick blanket, staring up at the twinkling stars. Vincent and Jas are close to falling asleep as Sam strums on his guitar, sitting cross-legged nearby. Today had been a long and fun day. While you worked on the hamburgers and hot dogs, Sam and Jas swam, Penny read while dipping her feet in the pond, and Alex taught Vincent how to throw the gridball properly. After the meal, you had gotten into a water gun fight. It was you, Sam, and Jas against Alex, Penny, and Vincent. Both teams were drenched in water by the end of it.
“Can I make a request?” Alex speaks up, startling you out of your thoughts. Sam’s fingers stop moving as he looks over at the brunette.
“Sure,” he replies. Alex is quiet for a moment before speaking up.
”Girls Like You. You know, by Maroon 5.” You glance over at Alex. Whenever he’d play music while helping you build fences around your farm, he’d always play Eminem or other rap artists. Alex keeps his gaze locked on the starry night sky. Sam hums, retuned his guitar, and began to play the song, singing softly. Your little group listens quietly as Sam’s voice carries across your farm, sounding like sweet honey.
“‘Cause girls like you run ‘round with guys like me, ‘til sun down when I come through,” Sam sings.
He continues to sing, strumming his guitar until the song ends.
“You’re really good,” you comment as the song comes to a close. Sam smiles, absentmindedly strumming the guitar.
“Thanks. I taught myself how to play back in middle school.” Penny smiles, watching as a shooting star passes the night sky.
“You should hear him on his electric guitar. Jodi always complains about the noise, but he’s talented,” she pipes up. You sit up a bit, leaning back on your elbows as you look over at Sam. He meets your gaze, a gentle smile on his face as his fingers pluck the guitar strings. Alex clears his throat, and when you look at him, he’s giving Sam a dark look. Sam’s smile fades, his eyes locked with Alex’s. They seem to be having a silent conversation before Alex speaks up, his voice tight.
“Vincent’s asleep. You should get him home.” Sam frowns, putting his guitar down.
“Maybe I should,” he bites back, surprising both you and Penny at the tone of his voice. Mister Sunshine himself almost sounds… angry? “By the way, shouldn’t you be helping Evelyn with George right about now?”
If looks could kill, both men would be dead, and you have no idea why.
“Why don’t we all retire for the night?” Penny suggests, ever the peacemaker. Sam and Alex glare at each other before looking away.
“Yeah. It’d be best,” Alex grumbles.
“Good,” a new, gruff voice pipes up. You feel dread washing over you as you recognize the voice. You sit up more to see Shane standing a few feet away, looking exhausted and frustrated, his Joja Mart cap still on his head and his jacket tied around his waist. He smells of alcohol. “I need to get Jas to bed.”
You and Penny help the men with the kids, Sam carrying Vincent on his back while holding onto the deflated pool floaties and Shane carrying a sleeping Jas in his arms. You turn to start picking up the mess from the table.
“Hey,” Shane snaps. You freeze for a moment before turning to him warily. He eyes you in silence before speaking up. “Thanks for today. Jas looked like she had fun.” Your shoulders relax.
“It’s no problem. She’s welcome to visit any time,” you tell him. Shane gives you what you hope is the ghost of a smile before it disappears. He nods once before turning and walking towards Cindersap Forest, Jas snoring gently on his shoulder. You watch them go, turning your head slightly as Alex places a hand on your shoulder.
“C’mon. I’ll help you clean up,” he says. You nod. Waving goodnight to Sam and Penny, you and Alex spend the next half hour throwing away trash and packing away the food. You make small talk, but the lack of energy is obvious.
“Thanks for helping me, Alex,” you say with a smile. He returns your smile with a tired one of his own.
“You’re welcome. I’m gonna head home, so get some rest, okay?” Giving Alex a farewell hug, you watch as he disappears past the gate to your farm.
Today was fun, and you hope you can have another barbeque soon. Hopefully, more townspeople will go to the next one.