Open-Hearted

It was the third of fall, just a week before my birthday. All four of us were huddled in Sebastian's room. He set up Super Mario Odyssey on his computer monitor so we could continue our speed runs and Easter Egg hunting.
"So, are you two a thing now?" Sebastian asked, clearly talking about what happened at the beach.
Sam blushed. "Quiet, Seb.. you weren't even supposed to know about that. And no, we're not." Sam was currently in the middle of his speed run so he couldn't elbow Sebastian.
"Wait, I wanna know what happened!" Abigail exclaimed, looking at Sam. We never talked about what happened, so Abigail never knew.
"Abby, I would tell you. But.. I'd rather not." Sam responded, trying to keep the event a secret.
"Please??" Abigail begged, tugging on Sam's arm.
"Abby, you're messing me up!" Sam yelled, scooting closer to the monitor. Sam and I were sitting on Sebastian's futon while Abigail was doing a puzzle and keeping track of time on the floor. Sebastian was sitting on his bed looking up moon locations.
Abigail looked up and me. "Do you know, Liv?" She asked. Here eyes were wide and she attempted using her puppy dog face.
"I have no clue.. it's probably nothing." I lied, sipping my coffee Robin made me.
"Liar." Sebastian said, grinning at me.
Abigail gasped. "She does know!" Abigail was on her knees begging to find out.
"Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" Abigail chanted. She was banging on the futon.
"Abby, I'm not going to ask again. Stop trying to figure out what happened, it was nothing!" Sam yelled, pausing his game. "We'll let you know when we feel like it."
Abigail frowned and sat back down to finish her puzzle. Sam resumed the game. I let out a sigh of relief.

Watching Sam power up the Odyssey, I noticed Abigail was scribbling notes on a piece of paper. This sheet was different from the speed run sheet.
"Um, what are you doing?" I asked Abigail, trying to look at it over her shoulder.
"N-nothing!" She yelped, hiding the paper against her chest. I shrugged and finished off my coffee.
"Hey Sam?" Abigail asked, putting her paper down.
"Yes?" He responded, focused on the game.
"Does this event involve Sebastian?" She asked.
"Dang it, Abby, I said don't ask about it!" Sam yelled, turning slightly red in anger.
"Dude, calm down. Ignore the questions." I told Sam, pulling him back on the futon by his shoulder.
I looked at Sebastian. "No, it didn't." He said, grinning. I gave him a dirty look.
"Thanks, Sebastian!" Abigail exclaimed, picking up her paper again.
I caught a glimpse of what she was writing. Involved Sam. Involved Olivia. Happened at beach.
Snatching the paper, I let out a sigh of anger. I read over all of the notes she was writing. I looked back at Abigail and she had a big frown plastered on her face.
I balled up the paper and threw it away before Sam could see it. I mouthed out the word 'sorry' to her.

Sam passed three more kingdoms, and Abigail was now sitting with Sebastian on the floor.
"Yo Olivia, can you fetch me my soda?" Sebastian asked, fitting a piece into the puzzle.
"I'm not your servant. Besides, Abigail's way closer!" I exclaimed, pointing to her.
"Sam chased Olivia onto the dock an-"
"ALRIGHT, I'LL GET IT!" I screamed, nearly turning pale. I got up and handed him his drink.
Sam ignored Sebastian. He was at the moon now, about to battle Bowser.

We all handled secrets differently. Abigail would accidentally tell people about the secret in conversation. Sebastian tells secrets to embarrass the person. Sam wouldn't tell another living soul if you asked him to. I wouldn't tell anyone either, as I would eventually forget about the secret existing.
Sam was reaching the final cutscene now. I took Abigail's phone, ready to stop the time when the cutscene ended.
"Come on.. come on.." Sam whispered as he crawled towards the goal. He slammed down his controller when he finished. "YES!"
I flipped my eyes between the monitor and the timer, ready to stop it.
"Hey Liv.. mind getting me my phone?" Sebastian asked.
"One sec.. I need to keep track of the time.." I said, keeping all of my focus on the game. The cutscene only had a few seconds left.
"Go get the phone." Sam said, also focused on the game.
"I can't, I'll mess up the time!" I yelped.
"GO GET IT!" He yelled. Mario threw Cappy and the cutscene ended. We both cheered, and I stopped the time.
Sam hugged me, then Sebastian's request got to my head. I swore loudly, sprinting towards the bed to get his phone.
"Olivia kissed Sam!" I heard Sebastian yell. I fell to the floor, throwing his phone at him in defeat.
Sam plopped on the futon, covering his face with his hands. We looked like we had both been shot and died. Of course, we both mentally died after Sebastian revealed what happened.
"Oh my god, yaaay!" Abigail yelled, jumping up in excitement. "I ship it, I ship it!"
"I'm gonna go now.." I said, packing up my stuff. "See you later, I guess.."
"No, don't go now!" Abigail frowned.
"Sebastian ruined the fun." Sam said, getting up to follow me out the door.

The walk home was super awkward. Sam and I didn't talk the whole time. We were super embarrassed.
We arrived at my house. I let him inside since there was still time left in the day.
"At least it was just Abigail, not anyone else like Haley or Alex." I said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, but I'd rather neither of them know." Sam said, sitting down on the couch.
"Me too. Let's make sure we're in private before doing anything like that again." I said. I then blushed, realizing I said again like we would do that more.
I sat down next to him on the couch after putting my stuff away. I remembered when we watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch. Jodi angrily knocked at my door asking for Sam. She had to wake him up and dragged him home. What a weird day that was.

Having nothing else to do, Sam and I found ourselves making a fort under the kitchen table. We draped blankets over it and filled it with pillows. I brought my laptop inside and we watched some YouTube videos.
We shared a blanket and some popcorn.
"Sam?" I asked him after a video ended.
"What's up?" He responded.
"Do you think we'll always be friends? Best friends?" I asked.
"We'll always be best friends. Even if we're considered more than that. Even if we're married, we'd still be best friends." He said, looking at me. I blushed, looking back at him.
"Doesn't your mom ever complain about you never being home?" I asked. He spent most of his time with me.
"I've been home for 18 years, she's just waiting on the day I'll leave so she can retire." He responded.

Sam helped me clean up the fort as it got late. He had to be home for dinner. I waved him goodbye and let Rotchi inside.
Pulling my covers over me, I wondered if Sam and I would ever actually be more than friends, or if that kiss only happened to show us we were better off as just best friends.