For IDF: A Different Kind of Tension (Popular, fanfic100)
Title: A Different Kind of Tension
Fandom: Popular
Pairing: Sam/Brooke
Rating: PG
Prompt: 004 Insides; written for the fanfic100 challenge
Word count: 2,407
Disclaimer: Alas, I don’t own the characters of Popular. They belong to Ryan Murphy, but hopefully he won’t mind if I borrow them for a little while.
Summary: How Sam’s world gets turned upside down over the course of two weeks.
A/N: It’s junior year in high school.
A/N2: Thanks, as always, to my two awesome betas, theagonyofblank and wolfemeister!
FEBRUARY 2
“What do you mean, you’re not going to be here? Why not?” Sam had finally gotten up the nerve to talk to George about potential Valentine’s Day plans, but now he was telling her that he wasn’t even going to be in California? So not fair.
“I’m really sorry, Sam,” George replied. “I know it’s bad timing, but I have meetings with the football coaches at both University of Texas and Texas A&M. One meeting’s on the twelfth and the other one’s on the sixteenth, so it would be pretty crazy for me to come back here in between the two.”
It made sense. Sam knew that it made sense, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating. “And were you ever planning on telling me all this? That first meeting is only ten days from now, George.”
George shrugged sheepishly. “It just slipped my mind, I guess. But I promise to make it up to you when I get back! You will be the most pampered girlfriend at Kennedy!”
Sam sighed. She didn’t want to be pampered. She just wanted to spend the most romantic day of the year with her boyfriend, but apparently, that was too much to ask.
FEBRUARY 13
“This sucks. I finally have a semi-serious boyfriend on Valentine’s Day for the first time ever, and where is he? In Texas! I hate Texas.”
Sam and Brooke were supposed to be working on homework, but Sam thought that venting about George sounded like a lot more fun.
“Yeah, it’s really weird being single on Valentine’s. I’m not even sure when the last time was that I didn’t have a date for tomorrow.”
Sam turned to look at Brooke and laughed. “God, you don’t even realize how conceited that sounds, do you?”
“What?” Brooke asked, a combination of innocence and indignation. “It’s true! I don’t see how that makes me conceited.”
“Never mind.” Sam smiled. A year ago, Sam would have used this conversation as more evidence against Brooke’s character. Now, she could only find Brooke’s obliviousness to the trials and tribulations of the single life oddly endearing.
“You know what?” Brooke’s question broke into Sam’s thoughts. “We should go out for dinner tomorrow!”
Sam eyed Brooke in confusion. “’We’ as in you and me? Or the whole family? Or...?”
“You and me! Dad and Jane already have plans, and so do all of our friends -- Lily and Josh; Mary Cherry somehow conned Harrison into a date; there’s no way that Nicole’s going to be alone; and Carmen is still working on patching things up with her mom.”
“So since I’m the last option available, you might as well hang out with me?” Sam teased.
“No, of course not. You know I like hanging out with you, Sam. And instead of staying home and feeling sorry for ourselves, we should go out! Come on, what do you say?”
Sam shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”
“Oh, that won’t do.” Brooke stared at Sam seriously. “I will not have an apathetic date, even if it’s you. Where’s the enthusiasm? If we’re going to have fun, there will be no ‘Sure, I guess.’ Now let’s try again: Will you be my Valentine, Sam?”
Chuckling, Sam replied, “It would be an honor, Brooke.”
FEBRUARY 14
“Tell me again how you managed to get a reservation here at the last minute?” Sam asked, as she and Brooke were seated at one of the nicest restaurants in town.
Brooke shrugged. “The guy who takes reservations used to have a huge crush on me in middle school. He squeezed us in, somehow.”
Sam smirked. “You and those magical feminine wiles of yours. Seriously, sometime you’ve got to teach me how to make everyone do what you want.”
The evening was proving to be surprisingly comfortable for them both, with everything going smoothly until it was time for dessert. Brooke, entertaining Sam with the stories of all her bad Valentine’s Day dates over the years, was in the middle of telling about the year when Josh took her to a hockey game when the waiter showed up.
“Ladies, might I interest you in some coffee or dessert this evening? Our dessert special was prepared for all you couples, tonight-”
He paused, looking concerned as Sam practically choked on the water she was in the process of drinking. Her eyes widened as she took in the romantic atmosphere, the way that her hand and Brooke’s were sitting quite close together on the table, the way they’d been talking, and laughing, and smiling all night...
Brooke merely laughed as Sam blurted out, “We’re not a couple! We’re just, you know, friends. I have a boyfriend. And he’s great, but just...not here, and-”
“I think we’re going to pass on dessert, tonight,” Brooke interrupted, still smiling in amusement. “We do have a movie to catch. Thanks, though.”
“You all right, there, Sammy?” Brooke asked, once the waiter had left again.
Sam coughed once more before replying, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m great.” She paused. “Why does it not seem to bother you in the slightest that he thought we were dating? I mean, we’re supposed to be sisters!” Not that Sam actually thought of Brooke as a sister, but still, it was weird.
Brooke shrugged. “I dunno. It’s just not that surprising, I guess, given the circumstances. It’s Valentine’s Day, it’s just the two of us, and we’re not that far from West Hollywood, after all. So it’s actually pretty logical that this would look like a date.”
“Right.” It did make sense. And yet, somehow it had never even occurred to Sam that they’d be perceived as anything but friends.
The waiter returned with their bill, apologizing for the misunderstanding. Sam bit back the urge to tell him that George was in Texas but would be back soon.
“Come on, girlfriend. Time for part two of our not-a-date,” Brooke teased, taking Sam’s hand and pulling them out to the car. Oh, right. Sam kept forgetting about the movie -- the romantic comedy -- they were going to see. Sam got in the car, resolving to ignore the weird feeling, almost like nervous butterflies, she’d had since the waiter’s false impression of her relationship with Brooke.
Well, Sam supposed that at least this could serve as an interesting story to add to Brooke’s list of Valentine’s Day adventures.
FEBRUARY 15
“Lily! Are you even listening to me?”
They were hanging out in Lily’s room, with Sam talking about her not-a-date with Brooke and her confusion about the waiter’s misinterpretation of the situation. She realized that Lily seemed more interested in the magazine in front of her, though, than whatever Sam was saying.
Lily’s eyes finally came into focus, but she only waved a vaguely bored hand through the air. “To be honest? Not really, but I got the gist of it a while ago. Someone thought you were dating Brooke, and it made you feel all tingly inside, and why, oh why could that be?”
Sam narrowed her eyes, sensing Lily’s sarcasm. “I’m not homophobic, Lily.”
Rolling her eyes, Lily yawned. “Never said you were, Sam.”
“And wait... ‘Tingly?’ What’s that supposed to mean? I never said anything about feeling ‘tingly.’”
“No? That must’ve just been my interpretation of things, then.”
“Okay, now you’re just being cryptic on purpose,” Sam huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Lily turned to fully face Sam, more focused on her friend than she’d been all afternoon. “Think about it, Sammy. You’re a bright girl; I know you can figure this one out. Why might it be upsetting for you that someone looked at you and Brooke, and saw a happy couple, instead of two perfectly platonic friends?”
Sam frowned. Lily had obviously already come up with an answer to the question, and while Sam felt like she might be semi-close to cracking Lily’s stupid code, nothing was coming to her. Her mind could only draw blanks.
When it became obvious that Sam wasn’t going to say anything, Lily continued, “Look, you and Brooke have always had an interesting ‘relationship,’ or whatever. I mean, there was always so much...” Lily paused, apparently searching for the right word. “Tension between the two of you. And tension like that, I don’t think it just goes away. It just, you know, might feel a little different than before. A different kind of tension.”
Sam laughed, still not really following Lily’s supposed hints. “What, like sexual tension?” she joked.
Lily just stared at her.
“Oh God, you’re serious,” Sam realized, horrified. “You think I have sexual tension with Brooke? That’s... That’s ridiculous! I’m with George. I like George!”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t deny that you and George seem to work well together. All I’m saying is that you might have felt weird last night because, while you and Brooke aren’t a couple, at least part of you wouldn’t exactly mind it if you were.”
Sam could only blink at Lily in bewilderment. “This conversation is stupid, and you suck as a therapist, just so you know. You were supposed to make me less confused, not more!”
“Sorry, Sam. I’m just telling it like I see it. But hey, you’ll have some time away from both Brooke and George to think about things, when you and your mom go to Boston over the three-day weekend to check out colleges.”
Sam, who had flopped over onto Lily’s bed, suddenly sat upright. “Shit, Boston. Didn’t I tell you? With Mom’s pregnancy, she doesn’t really feel up to traveling much, so we agreed that Brooke would come with me instead. Three days alone with Brooke. Shit!”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Well that’s interesting. Don’t freak out, Sam. Brooke’s still your friend, so just act normal, and you can just forget all about this conversation if you want.”
Right, like it was that easy.
FEBRUARY 17
“Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in Boston shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts, make sure your seatbacks and tray tables are in the upright and locked position, and prepare for landing.”
Sam woke up with her mouth open and her head leaning fully on Brooke’s shoulder. She immediately sat up, embarrassedly wiping away the saliva at the corner of her mouth as Brooke stretched out her shoulder.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” Sam muttered, her voice still groggy with sleep. “Why didn’t you shove me off or wake me up?”
Brooke just smiled affectionately and shrugged. “Didn’t see a need to, I guess. You looked comfortable. Well, as comfortable as you can get on a plane.”
Just then Sam noticed a spot on Brooke’s shirt that was darker than the rest. Her eyes widened as her face flushed. “Oh God, I drooled on you. I’m so sorry! Brooke, how could you let me drool on you?”
Brooke looked down at her shoulder and then sighed dramatically. “Seriously Sam, the things you put me through. Free trips to Boston and a little bit of drool on my shirt. I think I’ll survive,” she deadpanned. “But to make up for it, I guess you’ll just have to come shopping with me tomorrow! I’ve been dying to get to the stores on Newbury Street ever since we started planning this trip!”
Still embarrassed, Sam could only roll her eyes and agree. Between college tours and shopping with Brooke, the next day was shaping up to be a long one.
FEBRUARY 18
“Brooke, I swear, my feet are about to fall off,” Sam whined. “And then you’ll have to stop shopping anyway, because you’ll need to take me to the hospital. And how do you plan to explain my lack of feet to the parental units? I don’t think they’ll be very happy if I come back with no feet.”
Brooke just laughed. “Seriously, Sammy, you’ve got to work on curbing the melodrama.” She apparently took pity on the brunette, though, as she continued, “Okay, our dinner reservation is in about a half hour, which doesn’t give us time to go back to the hotel first, but we can just sit and chill for a bit, if you want.”
“But it’s cold!” Sam knew she was complaining a lot, but couldn’t help it. “There’s no way that I’m sitting outside on a random bench in the middle of Boston right now.”
“Hmmm. Ooh, I know!” Brooke immediately started moving across the street, as Sam followed slowly behind.
“A furniture store?” Sam frowned in confusion as she saw where Brooke was headed.
Brooke turned around and smiled. “Don’t you think your weary feet would appreciate the chance to be propped up on a soft mattress?”
Sam’s face practically lit up at the prospect, and she smiled gratefully.
Inside the store, she sighed in happiness as she and Brooke sank down onto a large, very comfortable mattress. She closed her eyes, but opened them again when someone nearby cleared his throat. “Excuse me, ladies. I’m sorry, but these mattresses are only out for people seriously considering buying one. They’re not simply here for you to sleep on.”
Sam sat up and was about to apologize, when Brooke spoke first. “Oh, we are seriously considering buying one.” Sam turned to stare at Brooke, becoming quite nervous at the mischievous look in the blonde’s eyes. And there were those damn butterflies, again. Sam had been feeling them more and more whenever Brooke was around.
“You see,” Brooke continued, sitting up, “We’re moving in together for the first time, and we really want the perfect bed for our bedroom. Right, honey?”
Brooke turned to look at her, nonchalantly reaching down to grab hold of Sam’s hand.
Sam swallowed. “Um, right. Exactly.”
The salesman barely batted an eyelash. “Oh. I apologize, then. Let me know if you have any questions, or if I can help out in any way.”
Brooke smiled and lay back down, not letting go of Sam’s hand as she tugged Sam down next to her again.
Sam felt like someone was twisting her insides; like someone had just reached into her and squeezed. Because Lily might be right, it seemed. She and Brooke were apparently fake dating, and it was all a pretense, a silly joke, but some part of Sam wanted it to be real.
The realization nearly took her breath away.
Sam sighed. Goddamn waiters, and Lily, and Valentine’s Day, and Texas for causing this craziness, and putting all these stupid ideas in her head.
Never mind losing her feet, Sam had a feeling she might be losing her mind.
