DONT LET ME FALL ,, samson ,,

Samson slept little last night. Or rather, not at all. He actually couldn’t remember. When he returned home, all he remembered was falling over into his bed and turning all night. And unlike most children, he could blame his ‘mother’ for his exhaustion. It had been her idea to go to the old condemned house, which was probably illegal. But she knew the boy wouldn’t argue with her, couldn’t really argue with her. ‘This is wrong and illegal’ was not as powerful on the screen. So he was forced to squat as Beatrice lit candles and drew a circle, chanting words she most likely made up. The Thunder boy didn’t even know what they were trying to do, simply sat, staring at the dark beyond the reach of candle light.

Therefore, he decided to sleep in that day. He knew he should be heading back to the dorms, but he was sure nothing could pull him from his bed. And it was a pretty comfy bed, too. Antique with lots of plushy pillows and blankets—unsurprisingly, Beatrice decided to have a hand in decorating and so he had God’s Eyes everywhere on his walls and different other talismans he collected himself. The ringtone for his text messages woke him up, and without lifting his head, he felt around for the phone vibrating on the glass top of his night stand. Grabbing hold, he peaked over the blankets and saw that it was a text from Harley. To go to the lake. Well, that woke him up. Two things he loved—Harley and the lake. Of course, it took quite a bit of effort to pull himself out of bed, but after texting back ‘Be there soon’, he got dressed posthaste.

Soon enough—as promised—he was walking through the Academy grounds, ruffling up his unruly hair as he yawned one of his noiseless yawns. Summer had been great, and even though he would be going back to school, he would enjoy the heat as long as it lasted. Harley too, it seemed, for he found her sprawled out on her towel. And she looked pretty damn good. He stood over her looking down, his form blocking the sun and casting a shadow over the blanket. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too mad that he was interrupting her tanning.

Honestly, Samson was apprehensively waiting the day Beatrice would voice her disapproval of the relationship between he and Harley. She had all the qualities of a mama bear, but it seemed that Harley had rubbed her the right way, considering words like “I don’t think she’s good for you” or “Another Fire girl?” never left the woman’s mouth. For which Samson was thankful. Even fi he didn’t have her on his side, though, he’d still just sneak around with Harley. There really wasn’t anything that could keep him from the girl. But if that ever happened, he’d have to think of ways to sneak around on another day. Right then, his brain was fizzing out. Like a bottle of soda that’s been sitting out in the sun for a long time.

When Harley stood, he turned his head to catch her lips instead and grinned at her. It felt good to have her in his arms again, he had to say. Now that they were back in school, he wouldn’t have to miss the feeling though. Pulling her down so that he could sit next to her on the towel, he pulled his phone out of his shorts. ”Missed you too, Har,” he wrote. Oh yes, Samson truly wished he could better convey affection over phone. Even when he didn’t think about his disability much, it was still there somewhere in his mind. He was very much aware that he was mute, after all. It wasn’t something you forgot about over time, especially when you spoke with people who could talk up a storm. Which is why he stayed away from a lot of people who could ramble on and on—it made him a bit jealous, he had to say. No, he wouldn’t say that. Samson was fine with his ‘condition’. Used to it now.

Shedding his shirt and throwing it on the sand, he texted out, ”Sorry if I’m a bit out of it. Séance with Bea last night.” He was tired enough that he could barely text out full sentences. Excluding ‘I’ and ‘me’ seemed to help with that, though. Hopefully he didn’t accidentally ‘slur’ his words on the screen and type out ‘ajLSKJNhkj’. He believed himself to be coherent enough to hold a decent conversation. He just needed to wake up a little first. Splash some water on his face. And this was the perfect place to do so. Just as he thought this, he received a text. Beatrice. ”How the hell are you up?” She must have discovered him missing. Smiling, he wrote back, ”Caffeine. I’m at school. Call you later.” And he sent that text, turning his attention and blurry eyes to Harley. Caffeine could only do so much.

Samson rolled his eyes, smile small and exhausted. But it was there for Harley. ”I’m still pretty, aren’t I?” he joked through written word, waggling his eyebrows for effect. Despite first appearances, he really was a jokester with an easygoing personality, to boot. You just needed to get to know him before he stopped being a dick to you. He’d known Harley for a while, and of course teased her like any guy did to their girl friends, but he never really was an outward dick. That would mean he’d have zero friends, and he liked having people he could get along with. Sure, communication was a problem, but if he really liked you he’d make a whole-hearted attempt.

He shook his head, typed out, ”It’s hard to get sleep in general. Chores need to be done. I wouldn’t have been up soon, anyway.” He was pretty much Beatrice slave boy, but at least he got paid. Still, she probably wouldn’t have allowed him to sleep in too long. And not just because she could act like a real mother sometimes, but because she was still his employer. She never got tired of that, either. Sam never resented the woman for it though. Clearing the box, he wrote on, ”I’d rather see you than get sleep anyway.” The romance and sweetness was lost with time as he had to backspace several times thanks to fingers clumsy from lack of sleep. It didn’t matter. ”I could take a nap here anyway.” And another sign that he really, really liked Harley was the fact that he was willing to write out so much for her just so she knew that he wanted to be there with her, sitting on the shore of the lake.

Samson could say he didn’t mind Harley looking at him, he enjoyed it actually. He wore a secret little smile, because the girl couldn’t hide that blush from him. He rolled his eyes and looked up at the sky when the phone vibrated again before sending Harley an exasperated look. It was a text from Jolene, a friend of his. But he was unaware she was also friends with his girlfriend. ”Hanging with Harley. I’ll see you later, though. Wanna meet up some time?” Of course, he wouldn’t ignore the friends he did have in favor of the redhead he was sitting next to right now, but he preferred her company to anyone else’s really. After the text, he decided to start some conversation, always glad that Harley could more than make up for his lack of speech. ”Hows your day been so far? Wit school and everything.” Again, he managed to screw up some of the typing, but he didn’t even bother to fix it this time, just looked at his phone with half-hearted exasperation.


(JOLENE, YOU SON OF A WHORE >D)

Just as Harley wondered how she bagged Samson, he wondered how he could have deserved her. It was his first time feeling like that in a relationship. In all the others, he knew exactly how it happened and what he did right. But when the pretty green eyed Fire elemental expressed her interest, it’s hard to believe that a mute introvert would have a chance. In all the ways he was silent, she was loud—Sam guessed they balanced each other out. ”Your lack of faith is disturbing,” he texted to her Superman comment. It was nice to have someone like her telling him that—instead of working him like a dog. Even though he was far from bitter, Samson did do most of the grunt work around the shop. Sometimes he was tempted to tell her, “I am not your bitch.” Or rather…text her. But it was the same idea. He leaned into Harley’s embrace, and smirked when she kissed his head. Yeah, he knew he was romantic. Even when half asleep.

Plopping down next to Harley, he wished that this moment could last for a while. Forever, maybe. If they could stay in this place, with her against him as they lay next to the lake, he would be perfectly content for a lifetime. Especially if he could listen to her talk about her life and family. It was astounding, how interesting he found her. ”Sounds like fun.” He lifted the phone above them, squinting in the sunlight. Jeez, the one time he didn’t want the sun to be bright. ”I’ll probably be staying in the dorms more now.” Beatrice could be overwhelming sometimes, and he’d much rather avoid her in the mornings. It wasn’t nice waking up to tribal music or pounding on his door. The Thunder dorms had none of that—hell, they were probably the quietest of all the dorms, though he wouldn’t know. Harley probably would, having defected in the war. At least he wasn’t angry with her, especially since she was back in his arms now.

Phone vibrating in his hand, the Thunder elemental sighed. He wanted to talk to Harley right now, thank you very much. It was Jolene again, and he would have ignored it save for what he read. Samson frowned at the words. He knew it was rude to be texting when he was with his girlfriend, but what Jolene wrote caught his interest. And worried him. ”Oh? What did you hear?” For some reason, a nervous anxiety worked its way into his stomach. But he convinced himself that it was nothing. He of all people understood how tone and meaning could be misconstrued through text. He decided to shrug it off for now, and just ran his fingers through Harley’s red hair, just enjoying being with her like this.



(I AM ENJOYING THIS TOO MUCH, KAY)

Samson’s eyes lit with amusement at the mention of Harley’s family. ”I’m an interesting topic of conversation, huh?” He wrote. Well, that was a boost to his ego. Not that he had much of an ego. Probably why he still didn’t understand why Harley was with him right now, lying on this towel in a perfect moment. And it was perfect, despite the fact that the hamster on the wheel in his head was dying of exhaustion and he could barely keep his eyes open. It was still pretty freaking nice.

But of course it couldn’t stay like that. Keeping half his attention focused on Harley and her lips on his, he looked at the next text, screen turned so that Harley wouldn’t be able to read it if she’d wanted to. The worse part about texting, it was easier to lie. Too easy. You couldn’t read emotion, couldn’t read anything really. And this is what got Samson—he froze. Time must have stopped for a moment, even though there were people still moving around him. As if nothing happened. As if he hadn’t just been crushed through a text. He didn’t reply. A sickness was bubbling in his stomach.

A Fire guy? His first thoughts went to Dale, but then he remembered that he had a girlfriend now, the same person both he and Harley had defected for. But that didn’t even matter. All that mattered was that it was like Samson’s worse nightmare coming true. Perhaps it was his doubt that made him so succeptible to Jolene’s words, but he never claimed to be the most certain kind of guy. He shifted up from the towel, suddenly feeling like a stranger in Harley’s arms. It took him a moment before he was able to text, ”I should get home to sleep.”

And with that, he stood without even a kiss goodbye, and walked away. He was a coward, he knew that. He didn’t know what to make of what Jolene said. But remembering that he didn’t say anything back to the girl, he texted, ”Thanks for telling me. I appreciate it.” But did he? Did he appreciate this terrible feeling? This tightness in his chest? No, he really didn’t.