#SamGabeHSAU --
The immediate upshot of Gabriel getting the part is that he barely sees Sam anymore. Every afternoon is consumed by blocking and choreography and note-pounding, and by the time rehearsal gets out he is bone-tired, more exhausted than he ever remembers being. Sam would call, and he'd grope for the phone, one chicken-bone arm the only part of his body he is willing to move.
"Y'ello."
Sam sounds immediately chastened. "Oh, hey, Gabe, I just thought I'd see, you know, if you felt up to coming over this weekend, but I guess not, huh?"
Gabriel wants to say yeah, sure, he'll scrounge up the energy, but he has tests to study for and lines to memorize, and he just can't think about it.
He misses Sam, of course he does. Sam's his best friend. But he's getting to know Vic and Jo and Pam, and they're right there with him at rehearsal. He doesn't have to make extra time for them. Sam's just... inconvenient.
Maybe this is best. Branching out. Meeting new people. He has been pining after Sam long enough. Which is of course romantic in its own way, but enough is enough. He likes the community he's found here, and Sam's not a part of it.
And then Sam shows up at five. At rehearsal. With sandwiches.
Gabriel is in the middle of pretending to make scores of teenage fans faint. The song is called "Honestly Sincere," and if Gabriel is, at that moment he could be a real rock star, not just a pretend one, and he still wouldn't see anyone but Sam.
He is hopelessly in love.
While Vic rolls his eyes and fights with his onstage mother, Gabriel fairly floats toward the back of the auditorium and grins at Sam. "Hey there."
"So this is what I'm gonna have to do to see you, huh?" Sam rolls his eyes and groans.
"That's right. Bring me dinner, peon." Gabriel waves his hand imperiously. "I expect it every night at five from now on."
But Sam just nods. "Well, yeah, that's the idea."
Gabriel stops smiling. "I was kidding."
"I know. But if that's what it takes...."
"I don't need you to feed me."
"Oh, I'm not. You're paying for yours. Tonight is my treat... or Mom's, since it's her groceries. But tomorrow I'll go to the Baking Angel and pick up some fritters if you want."
Gabriel laid his hands on his head and tried to screw it on straight. "You're serious."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Beats calling you and having your corpse answer the phone." Only Sam can say the word corpse and have it sound light and breezy.
"But why bother? I've done nothing but blow you off."
And Sam pinks a bit in the cheeks. "Cause you're my friend? And I miss you?" They sound like questions, not answers, the way Sam says them.
"Um, OK." Gabriel doesn't sound much surer of himself. For a moment everything is very, very awkward.
"Eat," Sam prods, "before they steal you back." And that puts everything back to normal again. At least, on the outside.
But Gabriel's heart is humming close to his throat. He's definitely in love. But not hopelessly so. Not if the pink in Sam's cheeks is any indication.