Fic: First Date
Rating: G
Characters: OFC, Sam (vaguest of references to OFC/Sam)
Genre: outside POV, gen
Wordcount: 647
Warnings: Abuse of past tense conjugation. No spoilers.
Disclaimer: This is fanfiction, written for entertainment purposes only. Supernatural and its characters belong to various corporate interests, which are in no way associated with the author or this work of fiction.
She remembers the first time she went out with Sam alone, without the rest of the gang.
It had been a beautiful California day; burning heat and bright sun. Parched, she’d ordered an iced tea, practically snatching it from the waiter’s hand when he returned to the table. Sam had watched quietly, his mouth curved in a bemused smile, as she lifted the glass to her mouth and took a huge gulp. He’d let out a hearty laugh as her face twisted into a grimace.
“Yuck! It’s bitter!” she’d gagged. “There’s no sugar in this!”
“Of course there isn’t, you’re supposed to put the sugar in it yourself,” he’d chuckled, passing her the sugar shaker. “What did you expect, you ordered an iced tea!”
“I didn’t think they meant it was literally iced tea,” she’d replied, rubbing her tongue across her top teeth, as if trying to scrape the awful taste from her mouth.
“Ah, well, I’ll let you in on a secret: iced tea is tea that has been brewed, cooled, and served with ice.” She’d blushed then, feeling silly.
“How was I supposed to know?” she’d answered with a pout. “At home it comes already sweetened. I mean really, is there anyone who actually drinks it without sugar?” It wasn’t as if she didn’t already feel out of place; always doing stupid little things like that: asking for vinegar packets with her fries, getting corrected on her papers for adding in an extra ‘L’ or ‘U’, or asking for diet pop instead of soda. It was these little things that gave her away as an outsider; reminded her just how far from home she really was.
“Probably not,” he’d answered, watching her stir several spoonfuls of sweetener into her glass. “If it makes you feel any better, I had the same thing happen to me too. We lived in the South a lot when I was a kid, and it comes pre-sugared there. When we moved to the Midwest, I discovered that sweetened tea is mostly a Southern thing.”
Ah, Sam. He’d never let her feel dumb for long. He’d always smile sympathetically, and ask her all about it. Anything to let her know it wasn’t a big deal, like advising her to order “sweet tea” next time so that the server would know to tell her if she had to add sugar herself. Sometimes she got the impression he was a so kind about it because he was a bit of an outsider too, as there were times he seemed unfamiliar with things the rest of the gang took for granted.
“Well, in Canada, it’s basically all sugar, and it comes from a mix, like Koolaid. I doubt you’d find many places where they serve real ice tea, sweetened or not.”
“And I thought you Canadians would have been fanatical about your tea being the good stuff,” he’d chided. “We’re the ones who threw the tea in the harbour, after all.”
“You should have seen your face when you took that drink though,” he’d said with a smile. “It was cute!” He’d looked overjoyed to see her face turn scarlet in response to his compliment.
They’d gone on a few more dates after that, but in the end they decided they were better off as friends. Several weeks later she’d met Ted, and shortly after he finally convinced Jess to go out with him. She always held a soft spot for him though.
Thinking about him now, she realizes is been a long time since she last saw him. He’d left school after his Jess had died in a house fire, and never came back. It was what, three years now? She hopes that wherever he is, he’s okay.
When the waitress comes to take their order, Ted asks for a Coke, and she makes certain to specify that she wants a sweet tea.
Date Started: Feb. 22, 2007