Summary: Although they grew up in the same small town, Chris and Sam had both gone their separate ways a long time ago. Chris moved up to become a MLB star, one of the best in the business, while Sam stayed stuck in the same small town. But when multiple injuries ended the Red Sox prodigy’s career, he winds up back in the same small town he swore he’d never be back to. The past may not stay in the past any longer, as old wounds begin to creep back up.
Pairing: MLB!Chris Evans X OFC Samantha “Sam” Merrick
Word Count: 2,459
By: @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour
We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.
Previous | Main Masterlist | On Deck Masterlist
As Sam stood in the hotel room buzzing with excitement, she couldn’t help but sneak a glance over in the mirror as she stood still while Lisa tied the back of her dress. It still felt so surreal to her, seeing her own reflection in the white satin dress. Sam felt as if she was living a dream, unable to believe that this was actually her. That over twenty years after meeting Chris when they were children, she was now standing in a wedding dress in Mexico getting ready to marry him. Part of her brain just couldn’t seem to accept that fact, but in her heart she knew that nothing could have been more right.
“Alright, you’re all ready, honey,” Lisa murmured with a pat to Sam’s back once she’d secured the tie back of her dress. “What do you think?”
Sam stared at her reflection in shock, unable to comprehend just how this was happening… finally. It’d been a long day already, between the breakfast in her suite with Lisa, Shanna, Carly, and a brief appearance by Riley, to the getting ready process with the hair and makeup that’d culminated in this here. Any other time she’d relish in the pampering and happy mood, but she’d been in a state unlike herself all day that morning, unable to focus on much besides the time as it ticked closer and closer to the magic hour… the one where she and Chris would finally be together in more than just name and theory. “I…I don’t know what to say,” she finally replied, eyes moving over the simple make-up and red lipstick to the low bun her hair was pulled into. “I just can’t believe I’m here doing this.”
Her eyes found Shanna’s in the mirror as the woman – the one she could finally say, after over twenty years, was her sister – scoffed, “Don’t tell me you’ve come to your senses now and decided not to marry my brother.”
Sam’s genuine smile quelled any chance of that being true, and she knew Lisa knew as well when she shook her head, her fingers tapping Sam’s wrist as she stepped to the side. “Well I always knew you two would end up together. Ever since you were kids,” she shared, and while Sam might’ve been inclined to believe her, that thread of doubt and insecurity still remained. She still felt as though she didn’t deserve half of what she’d been given in the last year and she found it hard to believe that now, nine months after reconnecting with Chris, she was here, in a beautiful suite in Mexico, preparing to marry the man she loved more than she ever thought was even possible.
Sam shifted nervously, fidgeting with the delicate bracelet wrapped around her wrist. “I certainly didn’t… I never thought I’d ever get married.”
“I didn’t think Chris would either there for a while, but I knew if he did, it’d be to you,” Shanna confided, a kind, emotional smile on her face. Sam was grateful for everything this year had brought, even if she didn’t deserve some, but the one thing she was the most grateful for was reconnecting with the extended Evans family. Shanna was her best friend as a child, and to have her back in her life meant the world and more to Sam, and even more now that she was standing in a white satin dress, a bouquet of roses on the table, ready to go. “He’s always been crazy about you.”
Not one to easily believe what others said, even today, Sam shook her head, fighting back tears. She didn’t want to waste the beautiful makeup that was just applied, but she knew that likely was a lost cause. “I just… really can’t believe this,” she murmured.
Lisa’s face was nothing if not thrilled when Sam turned to finally look her and Shanna in the eyes. “Are you happy, honey?” She asked quietly, reaching to push a bobby pin further into Sam’s hair.
Feeling the last bit of tension leave her body at Lisa’s simple reminder about today – that it was a celebration of her and Chris’ happiness – she affirmed, “...You have no idea.”
Shanna smiled at her words, swiping one last pass of lip gloss across her lips, just as her phone chimed with a text from Carly. “Do you want Riley to come see you now?” She asked Sam, glancing up at her as she typed out a reply to her sister.
Sam’s breath caught and excitement flooded her system. Riley had been in and out of what he’d deemed the ‘Estrogen Suite’ all morning, full of grins and energy while he bounced between Chris and Sam’s spaces. Sam couldn’t even remember much of what Riley had done already that day, besides a workout with Chris before breakfast. But he’d been with Chris, Scott, and the rest of the Evanses for a while now, and had yet to see Sam all ready to marry Chris. “Yeah, would you go get him?” She asked Shanna.
With a simple nod, Shanna exited the room while Lisa helped adjust the satin dress, making sure everything was laying right. Sam was so preoccupied with watching Lisa fuss with the dress that she hadn’t even noticed the teenager standing behind her until she caught a glimpse of him in the mirror. She found herself staring in the mirror for a moment, always feeling as if she didn’t recognize him because the once helpless little boy left with an absentee mother was now becoming a man and Sam felt like for the first time, she was fully seeing it.
Riley was her brother, but over the years, she had become a mother to him, filling in the many gaps that their life circumstances had left. She remembered being the same age he was and throwing every college advertisement she received straight in the garbage, instead going to the diner each and every day to work herself sore to provide for her and Riley. And here he was, an eighteen year old who had become hard working, kind hearted, and loyal to everyone in his life and for the first time, she realized that for all her shortcomings, she did do something right on her own, and it was Riley.
Tears were stinging in her eyes, blurring her vision and making her unable to see the tears that were in Riley’s own eyes. Feelings had never been the Merrick siblings strong points, especially for Sam with having to stuff so many of her own feelings just to get through daily life, but things were so different now. So beautifully different. She couldn’t seem to get any words out and just walked over to wrap her arms around the boy who now was a good chunk taller than her, instantly feeling his arms come around her just as tightly.
Her hands moved over his perfectly ironed white dress shirt to wrap around him, still in disbelief at how suddenly he’d seemed to grow up. “You look really pretty Sam,” his low voice whispered.
She smirked, unable to stop herself from laughing at his words. Once she’d stepped back carefully, so as to not trip over the short train, she joked, “I better for what this dress cost.”
“I still can’t believe you’re getting married,” Riley admitted with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “But I’m glad you are.”
“Are you really?”
He nodded, a sideways grin sliding onto his face. “Yeah… I like seeing you happy, Sam,” he replied. And while Sam knew how she felt, how she’d felt so determined for the last eighteen years of that boy’s life to do right by him and push aside every ounce of selfishness for his sake, she couldn’t imagine how Riley felt, seeing her growth over the past year.
“Chris does make me happy,” she confessed, pausing as she reached to pick a piece of lint off of Riley’s tie. “But so do you, Riley.”
“I know,” he smirked, shrugging his shoulders again cheekily. “I love you Sam.”
Her lips turned into an emotional frown, a knot in her throat as she, meaning every single ounce of the word and not struggling with them like she normally did, told the boy, “I love you too.”
And Sam knew that those words were the most true ones she’d ever spoken. She loved Riley with her whole heart and when she thought about all they’d gone through together, it made even more tears well up in her eyes. But with all the shitty places they’d lived, the nights she’d cried while watching him sleep on the couch, wondering how she’d possibly pay for rent or new clothes for Riley, she couldn’t believe that they’d gotten here. That he was going to be going to college, that they didn’t have to worry where their next meal was coming from, and that they not only loved one another, but now had Chris who loved them both so wholeheartedly.
They’d come a long way together, but Sam also knew that a lot of their recent growth was thanks to Chris. He pushed them both in so many ways, showing them that there was so much more to life than what was just in front of them and making them both believe they could achieve it. Chris had brought out the best in them and she liked to believe that they helped bring out the best in him as well.
It wasn’t long before Lisa knocked on the door and slipped inside the room. The small smile on her face told Sam everything she needed to know, that it was time to begin heading downstairs and towards the beach. With the all-clear that Chris was already down there with Scott, his father, and his brother-in-laws, Lisa and Shanna escorted Riley and Sam through the hotel and out to the beach.
The occasional comments from passers-by of nothing but congratulations and well wishes filled Sam with those butterflies again as she walked side-by-side with Riley, the small bouquet of flowers in her hand while Shanna helped with her train. She almost felt as if it was silly to feel so nervous. She’d known for a long time Chris was it for her, there was nobody but him that she even felt an ounce of what she felt for him, but it was just how surreal this whole moment was that brought tears to her eyes.
As Sam walked up to where the rest of the family was waiting with the officiant, her eyes went right to Chris as he patiently stood there looking handsome as ever in his suit. But what got to her is that he was there waiting for her. She was actually here, walking down the aisle toward a man who had loved her his entire life and as undeserving as she felt of it, she couldn’t be any happier.
She felt as if she blinked and here she was, standing across from Chris as their immediate family members surrounded them. She couldn’t help but sneak a glance to Riley, smiling at the boy as he sat next to Chris’ parents. But before long, Chris took her hands gently, squeezing them as he gave her an excited grin and listened to the officiant.
Once the officiant prompted him to begin his vows, Chris took a long, deep breath and spoke, “Sammy, I can’t remember a day in my life that I didn’t love you. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been in deep for you and the fact that I’m standing here with you now is the most surreal experience but it also just feels so right. There’s nobody for me in this world but you.”
Sam couldn’t help but smile when Chris had to let go of one of her hands, moving it up to wipe at a few of his tears that had spilled out of his eyes before looking deeply at her and continuing, “I love your smile, and how it can light up a room. I love your sass and how you can always bust my chops. I love how much you give without end to everyone around you. I love how through everything you’ve been through in life, you’ve kept that compassion and deep love for the people around you and honestly? I just don’t think I could love you more. There’s nothing in life I want more than you and being your husband is the greatest gift and honor I know I’ll ever get in life. It was and will always be you.”
At this point, Sam knew her makeup was a lost cause, tears spilling down her cheeks from his heartfelt words that she knew were true. But she didn’t know it just because he’d told her, Chris had shown it in so many ways over their relationship, having supported her, encouraged her, and loved her at every turn in the road.
It took her a minute to even be able to compose herself enough to finally squeeze his hands and start her own vows, telling Chris, “Ever since you came back into my life, everything has changed. At first, I didn’t want it to because I was convinced you still were a stuck up asshole-”
“Bummer for you that you found out it was true,” he interjected with a smirk on his face, and Sam couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she felt her heart skip.
“That’s for damn sure,” she agreed, before she gathered herself again. “But when I started spending time with you, I found out that same sweet sensitive kid was still there. You showed me what it’s like to love people so openly and I still just feel really thankful that you chose to love me that way. You know I’m not really the best with words or sharing how I feel but I think you know I love you more than anything, Chris. You’ve turned my entire life around and I just want to be with you forever and for the first time in my life, I’m having a dream come true.”
And that’s what it was. A dream come true when they finally slipped those rings on one another’s fingers and pledged themselves to each other, vowing to continue to be the family they’d already become together.
And as they turned, with matching mile-wide smiles, to look at their excited guests, Sam’s heart felt whole for the first time in her entire life. Here she was, with rings on her finger and a man on her arm, both of which she never expected to have, looking at – for the first time ever – multiple members of her loving family.
A/N: Thank you all so much for your love and support on this story. We became so attached to Sam and Chris nad because of that, we’re going to be continuing their story through one shots so they’re not over yet!
Okay, so, background time: thanks to some interesting Twitter choices, I see a lot about Obvious Shirts on my timeline and there was a recent stretch of crossover potential. Some of the shirts mentioned are real, while others are not. Many thanks go to Kat for this AU to begin with, let alone freaking out whenever a possible Twelfth Doctor and baseball crossover happens, even if it is an accident. She also provided one of the following shirt slogans.
2308 words; I should be working on my submission for A Pile of Good Things; takes place RIGHT NOW, aka, Late Summer 2019; I feel like there would be a sort of teasing comradery between the likely-AL Gallifreyans and the NL Cubs, as well as some fan crossover and friendly banter (see here for more league-related info); I am so glad that m’man Nick’s on a team that suits him better now because that team is no longer my Tigers as much as it pains me to say (ten thousand Whose’s Line points to whomever can guess what OC I partially named after him); in other news, I’ve basically taken most of August off when it comes to writing, if that’s not obvious by now, so hopefully things are back to somewhat-normal with TTOU next month
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
John Shea Smith-Oswald, often known as “The Doctor” to those in the game of baseball, wasn’t completely deaf to things that happened outside of his office in the TARDIS. As a matter of fact, things often happened in his wife’s office as well, or out on the field, or anywhere, really. It still did not help, however, when Stalkingwolf dropped a package on his desk, the bag likely fresh from the mail room.
“What’s this?” the Doctor asked cautiously. His bench coach shrugged, giving off an air of indifference.
“Got dropped in my office by mistake,” Stalkingwolf said. “You know how they’re short on mail room staff. It feels like fabric though; is it the new warmup shirt design Harkness was talking about? I heard him say he might just send it directly to you…”
“Let’s see…” The Doctor opened the bag and took out what was, yes, a t-shirt. It was blue—nearly Gallifreyan—with white block letters, all in capitals.
BIG IN THE BOX.
KICK HIGH.
SWING HARD.
RUN FAST.
“Huh, that’s odd,” Stalkingwolf muttered. “Does it say who it’s from?”
“No—there’s not even a packing slip,” the Doctor replied, taking a quick peek in the bag. “I like it though. One of the lads on the Cubs said it not too long ago, I think.”
“Oh, the one they rescued from the Tigers? I know she’s your wife and our boss, but I’m not forgiving Clara any time soon for allowing that deal to slip past us.”
“I’m telling Cassie you’re becoming bitter in your old age,” the Doctor said. He took off the t-shirt he was wearing, leaving his upper half covered by his long-sleeved compression shirt, and put the new garment on. “Fits perfectly too.”
“I am not bitter, nor old.”
“Prove it.”
Just as Stalkingwolf opened his mouth to bring up how cranky the Doctor was on a daily—no, hourly—basis, Alba came bouncing into the office, unknowingly diffusing the situation. The little girl looked up at her father and pointed as she tilted her head.
“New shirt, Daddy?” she asked.
“Yes, kiddo—someone sent me this. Do you like it?”
“It a new shirt,” the girl observed. She then held her arms up and out, bouncing slightly in place. “Please?”
“Please what?”
“Please carry me Mommy’s office,” she insisted. “I tired.”
“Is it nap time?”
The little girl grunted insistently, telling the Doctor all he needed to know. Once her father was able to get another “please” out of her, he grabbed her backpack and picked her up, telling Stalkingwolf they were going to begin gathering the troops for game footage analysis after the most important delivery of them all. Alba snuggled against her father’s chest as he carried her through the TARDIS and was nearly asleep when he gently placed her on the couch in her mother’s office.
“Look what we have here,” Clara smirked as she watched her husband and daughter. “I guess no shouting when I need to get Dorothy’s attention down the corridor?”
“Not for about forty-five minutes, no,” he replied quietly. The Doctor went to his wife’s side and pecked her on the lips, the motion easy in comparison to five years beforehand. Hell—five years beforehand, they were simply just trying to keep the Gallifreyans’ second season from nosediving. He saw her eyes glance over the shirt he was wearing and he suddenly felt very self-aware. “Oh… this came in the mail today.”
“…did you order that…?”
“No; it just appeared in Stalkingwolf’s inbox, addressed to me.”
“It suits you,” she said. “I knew it sounded wise… though you want to know what’s not wise?”
“What’s that?”
“…wearing a shirt with a saying from another team, around the job, without having it checked-over—let alone washed—first,” she scolded. “You don’t know where that’s been, who touched it, or what’s on it.”
“I know what’s on it: wise words.”
“…John…”
“Here I thought you wanted to live life on the dangerous side.”
“Get out and go get the team on film study—it’s about time for today’s overview, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
With another kiss, the Doctor was off, ready to go over video footage of the teams they were going to face in the week ahead. He wasn’t worried about what or who was behind the shirt—that wasn’t something he was going to allow him to lose his focus.
He did, however, get plenty of compliments on it.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The next one to arrive, did so in a small box.
“Ugh, it’s all wrinkled,” the Doctor scowled as he unfolded the new t-shirt. It was a small one—more meant for Alba, despite the fact it was probably way too big on her—and that fact was not lost on his daughter.
“Oooh! Oooh! I wanna see!” She moved a chair over towards the desk and stood on it so as to properly see over the top. “It’s for me!”
“No, it’s not; I don’t know who it’s for,” he replied.
“It’s too small for you and too small for Mommy, so it must be mine!”
“If you want it so badly, what does it say?” The Doctor laid the shirt flat for her and she furrowed her brows as she read.
“‘Their… coach… is a… child’… Daddy! That’s me! I a child! It’s mine!”
“It is, isn’t it?” He allowed her to take the t-shirt and put in on over her other clothes. It wasn’t too big—maybe it would fit her the following summer—but for now it would have to be a pajama shirt and nothing more. “You look good in it, kiddo.”
“I gonna show the team my new coach shirt!” Alba grinned. She hopped down from the chair and left her father’s office, going out into the main of the clubroom and out of sight. The Doctor let her go, as he was interested in the package the shirt had arrived in, or lack of anything else inside it.
Same shipping label as before, same lack of anything inside aside from a t-shirt… it was definitely a puzzle worth solving. He picked up the phone and dialed his wife’s extension.
“What do you need, John? I’m kind of busy.”
“Another shirt arrived,” he said, cutting straight to the issue at-hand. “Were you the one who sent it?”
“Wait, what…?” It took Clara a second, though when she figured out what her husband was talking about, he could hear the realization over the phone. “You mean, like your Kick High, Swing Hard, Run Fast shirt?”
“Yes, except this one is clearly a guess at Alba’s size.” He glanced towards the door and watched her skip by, headed off towards who knows where. “It says ‘Their coach is a child’…”
“…which is also a clear reference to her; that’s not worrisome, not at all. Has she seen it?”
“She’s wearing it.”
“For the love of—without even washing it first?!”
“It doesn’t seem toxic. Well, the first one wasn’t, and this one is the same, and I just figured…” He attempted to shrug, yet it was no use. Body language did him no good over the phone. “She’s fine, alright? I’ll let you know if she starts acting oddly.”
“You better.” The call then cut—she hung up.
Well, there were definitely a couple ways in which that could have gone better.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
CORNFIELDS
PRODUCE
THE BEST
PLAYERS.
Clara stared at the shirt, wondering what in the hell was going on. Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye and she looked—a bird flying by—only to see the fields outside of her office window. It was corn at the moment, but the following summer it was going to be soybeans. The Gallifreyans’ staff was always very conscious of the fact that they built the TARDIS on the outskirts of agriculture, which meant that they did everything in their power to help keep their sprawl to a minimum. It was the same field as when she had started, except now with Iowa’s most famous crop growing happily in the sun.
“Uhh… Ace…?” she called out. A few moments passed and her assistant came into the room. “Did you send me this?”
“I didn’t send you anything,” McShane frowned. She looked at the shirt in her boss’s hands and folded her arms across her chest. “Isn’t that what you were joking to the media the other day?”
“…because of our initiative to keep farms around us instead of building up the area? Yeah.”
“It’s neat that they put it on a shirt,” McShane shrugged. “Whoever’s sending you those must really like you.”
“…or really wants me scared.”
“Nah—you’d know if they wanted you scared. If they wanted that, then you wouldn’t’ve even gotten the package.” She saw Clara’s eyebrow go up and she snorted in response. “You don’t know? The mail here is all checked thoroughly, independently of the post office and delivery services. We’d know if someone tried to send something dangerous to us.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, positive; it’s just someone having a laugh. Don’t worry—if anyone has any mind to hurting you, I’ll knock them all the way to Des Moines with one swing.” McShane mimed hitting a ball and laughed. “Don’t worry so much. You can’t control everything.”
“I can and I shall to the best of my ability,” Clara reminded her.
“At least try it on before you toss it out,” McShane requested. Clara shrugged and took off her jacket, pulling the t-shirt on over her blouse. “See? It looks good on you.” She pointed in the direction of the window, where they could both see their reflections.
Well, at least she had a point, Clara admitted to herself. It was a nice blue and she liked the fabric. The fact she did not know who the sender was still bothered her, but she couldn’t deny it was a nice shirt.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Dragging his suitcase behind him, the Doctor trudged into the house. Crossing the threshold meant that the road trip they’d been on was finally over, and if there was one thing that could kick his ass more thoroughly and completely than anything else in the game, it was a twelve-game West Coast road trip jammed into ten days. He flopped face-down on the living room couch as his daughter began running around the house, reacquainting herself with the various toys she had left “in charge” of certain rooms.
“You were the one who insisted on two double-headers,” Clara said nonchalantly as she walked through the house. Putting some of their things in their home office, she didn’t even need to see her husband to know he was being extremely overdramatic in his tiredness. “Will this teach you to listen to me about rescheduling games?”
“Yes,” he mumbled into the couch cushion. He rolled off the couch and landed on the floor with a heavy thud, causing his wife to poke her head into the room.
“Glad I didn’t marry you for your subtlety,” she deadpanned. It was then that the mess atop an armchair caught her eye: a week’s worth of mail thrown onto the seat haphazardly. “How on earth did Susan think that this was bringing in the post in an organized fashion?”
“…because it’s all in one spot,” the Doctor replied. He got up and helped Clara gather up the mail, sorting it into bills and junk and genuine business correspondence until they reached the bottom. Both adults froze, realizing what was there…
…another shipping bag from the shirt company.
“Did Susan tell you anything about this arriving?” Clara asked. She watched as the Doctor picked up the bag and brought it over to the kitchen island, where he procured some scissors to open it up.
“No, and they better hope I never find out who they are at this point.” He opened the bag and looked inside—there was a piece of paper this time, sitting right on top of the soft t-shirt fabric that made up the bulk of the content. Taking it out, he read the message aloud for Clara to hear. “‘Didn’t mean to freak you out—sorry. I’ll stop now.’ Oh, so now it’s an apology. Pretty shitty one if you ask me, apologizing with the things you’re supposed to be apologizing for…”
“John, let’s just see what it is,” she sighed. She took the shirt out of the bag only to see that there wasn’t just one, but three of them, all in different sizes. They both took one and opened them up, seeing that the text across the front matched.
BASEBALL
IS A FAMILY
BUSINESS.
“That’s actually rather sweet,” she said. Clara put down her shirt and looked at the last one—small enough for their daughter but big enough for her to wear for a long while—and saw it was emblazoned in the same saying. “I mean it—this is very kind of them.”
“I guess it is,” the Doctor agreed. “How about we all wear these on the season closer?”
“Isn’t matching too cute for that image Harkness is still trying to create for you?”
“At this point? I don’t think anyone cares.” He then stopped to pull his cell phone out of his pocket—a text from Stalkingwolf. “What does he want? I thought we agreed on silence until tomorrow…”
“They found me,” the text read. The Doctor rolled his eyes and fired a text back.
“What do you mean they found you?”
“I got a shirt. Somehow they know.”
“Know what?”
“My deepest secret.”
A moment later a photo came through; it was a very nervous-seeming Stalkingwolf, wearing a blue t-shirt with a familiar font across it, reading:
I’M ALLERGIC
TO ST. LOUIS.
The only thing the Doctor and Clara could do was laugh.
We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.
Summary: Although they grew up in the same small town, Chris and Sam had both gone their separate ways a long time ago. Chris moved up to become a MLB star, one of the best in the business, while Sam stayed stuck in the same small town. But when multiple injuries ended the Red Sox prodigy’s career, he winds up back in the same small town he swore he’d never be back to. The past may not stay in the past any longer, as old wounds begin to creep back up.
All the below work is by @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour! Some links will take you back to @k-evans-writes' blog as she has moved towards posting her new works here.
We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.
One-Shots
Built to Last - Ongoing
Small town bookstore owner Nora is used to living her quiet life blending into the background and diving into her world of books, until a charismatic carpenter comes to build some new shelves and her entire world gets turned upside down. A collection of drabbles.
The Artist - Complete
Chris meets a fun loving, exuberant and sassy artist who he’s smitten with but finds out there’s one problem… she’s taken.
Higher Love - Complete
Higher Love Main Masterlist | Extensions Masterlist
Chris Evans is going to direct his second film, he knows A-list Hollywood star Nickie Morrison would be perfect for the role. When he calls her out of the blue to offer her the role, he’s surprised when she accepts but when they start filming, their onscreen relationship doesn’t stay just on the screen.
In Living Color - Complete
When Natalie Marton, lead character designer for Buzz Lightyear, meets the voice of Buzz, Chris Evans, the sparks are undeniable. But when their work pushes them away from each other, both physically and emotionally, will the sheer differences between their worlds be enough to force them apart?
Make It to Me - Complete
When Officer Chris Evans walks into his usual stop at the corner coffee shop, he’s surprised to see a different face behind the counter. Soon both he and Nina realize that this would be the moment that would drastically change the rest of their lives.
On Deck - Complete
Although they grew up in the same small town, Chris and Sam had both gone their separate ways a long time ago. Chris moved up to become a MLB star, one of the best in the business, while Sam stayed stuck in the same small town. But when multiple injuries ended the Red Sox prodigy’s career, he winds up back in the same small town he swore he’d never be back to. The past may not stay in the past any longer, as old wounds begin to creep back up.
The Spare - In-Progress
When Princess Rosie unexpectedly is thrust into a political tour of the country, a working-class Air Force Captain is assigned to be her pilot. Although the princess is unhappy about the decision, she realizes she’s stepping into unknown territory when the unexpected happens
The Outsider - Complete
Princess Penelope of the Isle of Brida has been forced into an arranged marriage with the heir to the throne, Prince Chris, of Queensnorth. What starts out as a contemptuous relationship may not stay that way.
Playing With Fire - Complete
After a change of heart nearly ten years into her career as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse, Ellie Maxwell has moved back home and returned to her old job at the local bakery, where the regulars are the firefighters from down the street. When sparks begin to fly between Ellie and the guarded, closed-off Chris, will anything come of it?
We truly can’t believe that 2022 is coming to a close and we’re about to head into a new year! In celebration of the past year, here’s a little recap of what happened on the blog:
We finished Higher Love and wrote a bunch more for them
We began and finished our first Royal AU
MLB!Chris made his debut
We wrote a Firefighter!Chris AU
And we started In Living Color!
Our word count for the year has ended at 463,434 words, along with 96 pieces of work posted (and a couple dozen honesty hours!)
Moving forward we wanted to give a few updates. One big one that we have been feeling for a while, but haven’t announced, is that we are officially finished with Higher Love. We truly cannot believe what that story turned into and the love it got. That truly was the story that began it all, bringing the two of us together as writers and friends, and gaining hundreds of new followers because of it. We are so thankful for that story and all it’s done for us, but are feeling that we’ve maxed them out creatively. We’ve grown so much since then and are excited to dive into new things in 2023 and really focus on In Living Color, which is a story we feel so in love with and are so proud of.
Sometimes we still can’t believe how much people enjoy our work and take the time to comment, send asks, and engage with us. We truly are so thankful and love having this little outlet. Every comment, every reply, every ask, every tag, and every reblog is truly noticed, appreciated, and freaked out about. We see you guys and appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.
As a special thank you, we will be posting an On Deck extension this week! It’s one of our favorite things we’ve ever written, and it’s definitely one you guys will enjoy! Keep your eyes peeled for that this week.
Thank you all for making those 463,434 words worth every bit of the blood, sweat, and tears, and for making 2022 one for the books. We love you guys and cannot WAIT to see what 2023 brings us!
Summary: Although they grew up in the same small town, Chris and Sam had both gone their separate ways a long time ago. Chris moved up to become a MLB star, one of the best in the business, while Sam stayed stuck in the same small town. But when multiple injuries ended the Red Sox prodigy’s career, he winds up back in the same small town he swore he’d never be back to. The past may not stay in the past any longer, as old wounds begin to creep back up.
Pairing: MLB!Chris Evans X OFC Samantha “Sam” Merrick
Word Count: 5,893
By: @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour
We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.
Warnings: Mentions of poverty.
Previous | Main Masterlist | On Deck Masterlist
Chris walked through the side door to his mother’s home, adjusting the cap on his head as he heard a raspy voice call, “Hey old man!”
A single eyebrow rose as Chris shot smiles to the rest of his family members, and took the hugs his mother and younger sister were offering as he asked Scott, “Since when is thirty old?”
“Since you’re now in a different decade of your life than me,” his brother laughed, but the smile on his face was genuine. It was a welcome sight, one Chris hadn’t seen since early in the spring, and the others in the room were welcomed as well. It had been a long time since all of his siblings were in one place - for not a holiday - with the previous summer being it.
Scott now lived in New York City, doing theater and living his long-time dream like Chris once had with the Red Sox. Carly was married with kids, who had stayed behind in Upstate New York with her husband, and taught college English classes. And Shanna, his youngest sibling, was getting her Masters in Psychology from a school in Pennsylvania. They were all thriving, all achieving their goals while he had wallowed and puttered around their hometown for the last six months, and while some things were stirring in his mind, he was pushing it to the side for today - his birthday - and enjoying the time with them.
“Did you really just drive all the way from New York just to come and insult me?” Chris asked, dodging a fake jab from Scott before he clapped the younger man’s shoulder.
“Basically, yeah.”
As they loudly laughed together, catching up on the missed opportunities to chat, Lisa’s voice carried over the kitchen. “Okay, break it up you two, dinner is almost ready.”
“It smells so good, Ma,” Chris groaned, a wide smile on his face as he grabbed a beer from the fridge.
“Well I made plenty for seconds, but I was wondering if I should set a place for Riley. I wasn’t sure if he was coming or not,” Lisa admitted, glancing at Chris and moving as if she was going to grab the teenager a plate to add to the stack on the counter.
“Nah, he’s with his girlfriend and some friends at that mini golf place,” Chris told her, taking a sip of his beer with a shake of his head. He glanced at the watch on his wrist, telling them all, “Sammy should be here soon. She was going to come right after her shift at the diner.”
“I still can’t believe you’re dating Sam Merrick!” Shanna laughed as she pulled utensils out of the drawer and took them over to the table, Carly following with the plates and placemats as the sisters began to set the table. Chris finally made his way over to his dad, hugging the man.
“I thought I heard Ma wrong when she told me on the phone,” Scott laughed from where he was pulling cups out of the cabinet, Chris following to help him fill them with water.
“You two have been together for a few months now, haven’t you?” Carly asked him with a curious expression from the other side of the room, a knowing look on her face. “It must be going well if we’re actually going to spend time with her. Normally we don’t even meet your girlfriends!”
He shrugged, his cheeks twinged as he admitted, “Well Sammy isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, I can tell you that much.”
“Does she still work in the diner? I saw her there last year when I was home,” Scott turned to glance at Chris as they walked back to the table with four glasses in hand, then the pair headed back to fill the remainder and help Lisa bring the food to the table.
“Yeah she’s working there and then her younger brother Riley was on the baseball team,” he informed them, then shrugged and added, “They live together with their mom.”
“Are they doing better?” Bob asked as he followed his sons. “Do they still live in that trailer on the outside of town?”
“No, they live in an apartment on the east side of town,” he recalled, but a frown was on his face and he admitted, “I didn’t know they lived in a trailer. When was that?”
Lisa’s brows furrowed before she confessed, “All through school I think?”
“Yeah I remember going over there once for a playdate after school with Sam and when Mom came to pick me up and saw what it was like there, we always had playdates at our house after that,” Shanna supplied, eyes locked on Lisa as their mother nodded and confirmed her suspicions.
“When did they move out of the trailer?” Chris asked quietly as they sat down, Scott next to him and Lisa sitting on the other side at the head of the table - an empty chair between him and Lisa for Sam - with Bob across from her and his sisters across from him and Scott.
Lisa glanced at the ceiling as she passed the salad to Chris, remembering, “I think when Sam got the job at the diner in high school. I’m sure they needed more room with Riley and then had a little more money because of Sam’s income.”
“How old is Riley now?”
“He’s going to be eighteen in the fall,” Chris mentioned, remembering Riley’s birthday was in October as a smile slipped onto his face. “He’s such a great kid and a really good baseball player. I’ve actually called some scouts to come check him out sometime this next school year.”
Bob raised an eyebrow with a smirk, asking, “Is that a little bit of nepotism I hear?”
“...Maybe just a little bit,” Chris admitted with a chuckle.
“I haven’t seen Riley since he was just a little kid, it’s so weird to think that now he’s on your baseball team,” Shanna murmured. “Does he look like Sam?”
“Well they have different fathers so they don’t look a ton alike but they both have those cute freckles and they have the same curly hair and smile for sure,” he grinned, the fond dopey expression Sammy had begun to tease him about slipping onto his face.
Lisa chuckled as they dug into their steaks. “Sam was such a cute little kid but she was always the tiniest little thing. I always tried to send her home with leftovers,” she remembered fondly.
Chris froze, glancing over to his mother. “Wait… what do you mean?”
“Susan was only seventeen when she had Sam and they never really had much money so I know that a lot of the time food was pretty scarce for her,” Lisa shrugged, a frown on her face. “I remember seeing that tiny little girl eating more than Bob did when she stayed for dinner after her and Shanna had a playdate.”
His face fell and his heart broke as he listened to Lisa, whispering, “...I had no idea.”
“Mom used to pack me an extra sandwich everyday all through school for Sam in case she didn’t have a very big lunch,” Shanna recalled quietly.
“Sammy never told me that she didn’t have enough to eat as a kid,” Chris whispered, his mind racing as he took in this information. He’d been so absorbed in his own self that he didn’t even recognize Sam didn’t have food on the table, and certainly not the things he’d been used to at that age, coming from a stable two-income family. “I knew her life growing up was hard but I didn’t realize it was like that.”
“I can still remember that time that I picked Shanna up from school and she was crying because a group of kids made fun of Sam for having holes in her shoes and wearing the same shirt every day,” Bob told the family before he took a sip of his wine.
“That just broke my heart,” Lisa tutted, a pinched expression on her face. “After that I always bought her some clothes and just took the tags off and told Susan they were Carly’s hand-me-downs so she’d accept them.”
Chris sighed, his shoulders slouching as he told them, “I guess it makes a little more sense why she hates letting me buy things for her.”
“Well I’m certainly glad that you’re with Sam now, if she’s still like I remember, she’ll be able to bust your chops even better than we can,” Lisa comforted him, patting his hand.
“Oh trust me, she’s still the same,” Chris grinned, picking his head up to look at her but seeing Sam’s green car pull into the driveway through the windows. “But I guess you’ll get to see for yourself, she just pulled up outside.”
Chris pushed himself up from the table, going to the back door to open it, the warm summer air coming in as he leaned against the doorframe. He just stood there watching Sam as she climbed out of the old green car with the chipped paint and windows that wouldn’t roll down anymore. She went to close the door before stopping and remembering to grab her purse, the new leather one he’d gotten her last week after she’d lost yet another item from her tote bag due to the hole in the worn fabric. She put the bag over her shoulder before he watched her smooth down her cap sleeved shirt and jeans, leaning down to look in the mirror of the car, stopping to dig into her purse and put on a coat of red lipstick before she stood up and turned to begin walking up the sidewalk toward the house, completely unaware of him watching her every step of the way.
He had already admired every bit of Sam. He had never been as impressed with anyone the way that she continually impressed him with her dedication and determination. She was easily the most incredible person he’d ever met, but after finding out so much more of her history tonight, he was even more amazed at how much Sammy had worked to change their lives to the best of her ability, and give Riley a better upbringing than she had received. But it also solidified something inside of him, and that was that he had determined it was about time Sam got a break from shouldering everything herself and that he wanted to continue to do the little things that he could for her simply because he adored her.
When Sam turned on the pavement to follow the path up to the back of the house from the driveway, her eyes finally lifted up to find him standing there leaning against the doorframe. He watched as her red lips parted, shining that bright smile at him and Chris swore there wasn’t a more beautiful sight on earth. He stayed planted where he was as she climbed the few steps, throwing her arms around his neck while he hugged her tightly, lifting her off her feet which caused her to laugh as she squeezed onto him tighter.
The moment that he put her back down on her feet, Sam was pressing her lips against his for a long kiss that took his breath away. When she finally pulled away from him, Chris left his arms around her waist, not ready to let go of her yet as Sam reached up to wipe the lipstick off of the corners of his mouth.
“Happy birthday, bigshot,” she murmured with a smirk, her brown eyes twinkling as they met his own blue eyes.
He grinned, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he whispered, “It is now that my baby is here.”
A frown appeared on her face and her brows furrowed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t really spend much time with you when you were at the diner for lunch. Ken was in a worse mood than normal so I know he would have jumped down my throat if I chatted with you too much,” she apologized, shaking her head.
“It’s fine, baby, I understand. You know I just love to see you,” he reassured her, his cheeks blushing when he heard the silence from the table, knowing they were all likely staring at them. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” she smiled, the anxiety he knew was bubbling beneath the surface then dissipating at his reassurances.
“We didn’t know exactly when you were coming so we just started eating,” he jerked his head towards where his family was waiting. “I hope you’re hungry because Ma made a killer meal.”
A smile was on his lips when Sam pecked him quickly before he tossed an arm around her shoulders and led her into the open dining room where he wasn’t surprised to find every eye of his loud close family watching him. He thought back to what Carly had said earlier, knowing that it was true he hadn’t hardly ever brought a girlfriend for them to meet. He certainly had some along the years, but nothing had ever been serious, half barely above a fling let alone being something truly meaningful. But this was different. Sammy was different. And he knew this wouldn’t be the last time he brought her to be with his family.
“Well I guess I don’t really have to do any introduction here, do I?”
Sam sat down next to Chris at the end of the table, gratefully taking the food he began passing to her and listening to the Evans banter fly around the dining room. Chris watched as she shed her nerves as the night went on, enjoying the familiar and yet new atmosphere with the siblings and their parents. As they enjoyed the steaks, salads, and the sides Lisa had made, Chris couldn’t help but see how well Sam was doing. He could see she was still nervous, but she was the Sammy he’d come to know in the last year. The Sam who liked to talk to people and learn about them, who cared about how their kids were and how work was going, even if she still hesitated to share details about her own life for fear of embarrassment.
Everything just felt so natural and so right with Sam there with him and he knew from the look on the faces of his family members that they found Sam as natural of a fit as he did. Chris found it ironic that this birthday, one that he would have thought just a few months prior would have been the worst of his life, was turning out to be one of his favorites…. ever. Being back in his hometown had been the absolute last place he had wanted to be. He felt like he had lost everything when he couldn’t play due to his injuries but this experience hadn’t just taken things away from him, it’d given him his Sammy and he felt nothing could compare to that.
As it started growing later in the evening, Carly left, needing to make the drive back home and help get the kids to bed, and one by one the rest of them followed after. When it was down to just Chris, his mother, and Sam, they stayed to talk for a few minutes before Chris saw Sam trying to hide the long yawn coming out of her mouth. Reminded that she had worked a grueling shift on her feet all day, he gave her a sweet kiss and told her to head out and that he’d be just a few minutes behind her, leaving Chris and Lisa sitting at the counter while they finished their last bites of birthday cake.
“Sam is good for you, you know,” Lisa quietly said, gently bumping her shoulder against her sons.
“I am well aware of that,” he chuckled, his nose scrunching. “But what makes you say so?”
“Because she brings out the best in you. She brings out who you really are,” Lisa simply stated with a shrug. Then, she paused with a smile. “And because I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you smile more in the time you've been with Sam than I think I’ve seen you smile in the last decade.”
“I love her so much,” Chris admitted, swallowing nervously as he turned vulnerable. “I just can’t believe I had no idea about those things you did for her when she was a kid.”
Lisa shrugged, a hint of her wise maturity soaking into Chris as she began speaking, Chris knowing it was something she wouldn’t have clued any of them in on if they hadn’t pressed. “I didn’t want anyone outside of the family to know. I don’t think Sam knows either and I prefer to keep it that way,” she shrugged again, silent for a moment as she gathered their plates and began loading the dishwasher. “I’m glad it seems like they’re doing a little better now and have been able to do things for Riley.”
Chris propped his chin in his hand, foot bouncing as he admitted to her, “I know it’s a lot harder than Sam will admit to. She busts her ass at that diner.”
Lisa deflated a bit as she turned and met Chris’ eyes from over the large island, telling him, “I wish she had some time to relax. The poor thing is always so high strung and running a million miles an hour when I see her at the diner.”
“Sometimes when she works doubles, she’ll come over and need to soak her feet in the tub because they’re so sore,” he confided, frustration for Sammy flaring within him at the memory. “Ma, you should have seen her when we were in Boston for the weekend. It was like she had a weight off her shoulders.”
Lisa shrugged, pointing out, “Well she actually got to be a normal girl enjoying her twenties rather than having to be a mother and trying to scrape by on a server’s wage.”
“She cried on the way home because she didn’t want to have to go back to real life. That fuckin’ broke my heart,” he whispered, his voice thick and cracking at the end. He truly felt stuck. Stuck between wanting to listen to Sam’s wishes and be more hands off, just as she’d implored him out of shame. But he also wanted nothing more than to say ‘fuck it’ and overstep, using the money he’d barely touched since retiring to help her and Riley get back on their feet and set them up for life. That money did nothing for him, but it could do a hell of a lot more for them. “I just wish I could do more for her. I wish I could take more of that off of her.”
Lisa was silent as she thought for several moments before her face lit up, brows raising excitedly as she suggested, “Chris, you should take her on a vacation!”
“I’d love to but I know she wouldn’t say yes,” Chris knew Sammy, and she was nothing if not stubborn when it came to accepting things from others. “It was hard enough getting her to go with me to Boston for the weekend and I know she wouldn’t want to leave Riley.”
Lisa deflated a bit, lips pursed as she and Chris both were silent. “What if you told her it was a trip for your birthday? You could make the arrangements and tell her that accepting it would be her gift to you,” she suggested again, voice much quieter this time around. “And you know I’d look after Riley and have him over for dinner while you’re gone.”
He was quiet as he thought it over and his head, immensely grateful for Lisa’s immediate offer to keep an eye out for Riley. “Do you think she’d go for it?”
“Give it a try,” she said, reaching out and patting his hand before she turned to put the last of the dishes away. “I think it’d be good for both of you to get away. You both deserve to have some happiness and relaxation.”
“I think I’m going to do it,” he decided, standing up to help her. “Thanks Ma, for everything.”
And with a hug and a final “Happy Birthday” from his mother he headed off into the dark June night, back to his apartment where Sam was waiting for him. She was curled up on the couch, her bright red lipstick and makeup long gone, showing off those freckles and dimples to him the way he loved. Her lanky frame was covered in one of his tee shirts and a pair of her Walmart leggings, sitting with her legs crossed and a wrapped package in her lap.
“Baby, I told you not to get me a single thing for my birthday,” Chris whispered, a frown on his face as he crossed the front hall and came into the open living area. He had - doing his best impression of Sammy actually - made her promise to not get anything for his birthday, wanting her to save her money for something she or Riley wanted instead. “I don’t need anything.”
But she rolled her eyes, telling him, “Oh c’mon, everyone needs a present on their birthday, even bigshots like you.”
“Seriously Sammy, I didn’t want you to fuckin’ buy me anything,” he huffed, sitting next to her on the couch.
She rolled her eyes again, shoving the gift - wrapped in what seemed to be Christmas wrapping paper - in his hands as she nearly begged, “It’s nothing big, just come open it!”
He finally obliged her as he took the present she excitedly thrust into his hands, neither one acknowledging the obviously Christmas themed wrapping paper before he quickly tore into it. Chris got the top off of the box while Sammy curled up against his side, her cheek resting against his shoulder and he pulled back the tissue paper and found a black plastic picture frame but that wasn’t what he paid any attention to.
It was the picture of him sitting on the front porch of his mother’s house and judging by his terrible haircut and teeth that were starting to stick out, he guessed he was around nine or ten years old, but what caught his attention was the little girl sitting on the porch next to him. Her hair was in a frizzy curly mess around her face, freckles showing visibly from the summer sun, dimples showing as she smiled so big her nose was wrinkled up. He vaguely remembered seeing this picture at one point years ago, but had forgotten all about it. Seeing the two kids sitting on that top step of his mother’s house playing on some summer day brought so many emotions flooding into his chest, so in love with that fact that all these years later here he was by her side once again and couldn’t be happier.
His voice was flooded thick with emotion, Chris swallowing the lump in his throat away so he could ask her, “How in the world did you find this?”
“Your mom helped me,” she whispered, her head moving so she could press a kiss to the sleeve of his tee shirt. “I got it printed bigger and cut Shanna off of this side so don’t tell her.”
“Baby,” he murmured, pausing as he shook his head, unable to take his eyes off of the younger versions of themselves, sitting there entirely unaware of what trials the future held for them, what hope there was to come. “This is the best present you could have given me.”
With a hand on the back of his neck, Sam pulled him down so she could connect their lips, so much being said without words. That’s how they stayed for a long time, their arms around each other as they kissed until they got interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing with a loud thud.
“Tonight completely sucked!” Riley’s voice cut across the large apartment, his keys clattering as they hit the key rack in the entryway and he kicked off his shoes one after the other.
Sam pulled back, her brows furrowed in confusion as she and Chris met each other’s eyes. She extracted herself from his hold and turned, looking at Riley as she asked, “What happened?”
“Someone invited this other guy who just moved to town and everyone was obsessed with him. He’s such an asshole!” Riley ranted, his jaw clenched tightly as he came into the living room.
“Wow this sounds a lot like someone else when I came to town,” Chris said to try to make Riley laugh, but failed when the teenager only fell into the armchair across the room from them with a loud groan. “What made him such an asshole?”
“He thinks he’s better than everyone else because his parents are some bigshot business owners and all the girls were practically glued to him,” the teenager said bitterly, a frown on his face as he looked down at his bare feet. “Even Kayla barely looked at me.”
Chris let out a deep breath, and as he felt Sam relax next to him, he raised an eyebrow at Riley and asked, “Oh so that’s the problem, huh?”
“I just don’t get why she was so obsessed with him!”
“Riley, she probably was just intrigued by the new guy. There’s always a buzz when somebody new comes to town,” Sam murmured, sitting up a bit more as Chris leaned to put the picture frame on the coffee table in front of them.
“I can’t believe Kayla would want to pay attention to an asshole like him,” Riley continued ranting, his brows pinched. Chris felt deep sympathy for the boy, knowing how confusing it must feel at only seventeen. “Why do girls like jerks like him?”
Chris shrugged, his voice sarcastic as he told the boy, “I don’t know, ask Sam. She liked me so she must know something about liking assholes.”
“Shut up you idiot,” Sam laughed quietly, shoving Chris’ shoulder before she turned her eyes back to her baby brother. “Riley, she probably just got caught up in the excitement of someone new.”
“Yeah bud, I’m sure that’s it. And if it bothers you, tell Kayla that it did so that she knows how it bugged you,” Chris tried to reassure him.
“I guess,” Riley sighed, a deep frown on his face as he looked at Chris. “I wish I would have just come to your birthday dinner instead.”
Sam sighed again with a smile, nodding her head towards the kitchen as she told him, “Well Lisa sent me back with some leftover macaroni and some cake for you in case you want to bury your sorrows in food.”
Riley laughed softly at the comment but nodded his head, prompting Sam to get up to go grab the piece of cake for her brother while he and Chris joked back and forth from where they were sitting. It was easy for her to see how quickly Riley’s mood could turn around thanks to Chris, and that was because of how easy it was for Chris to comfort someone, then tell a joke and get them to laugh. Sam felt so overwhelmed by gratefulness to Chris as she curled back up to his side on the couch, so happy that he was there to help Riley through some of the moments she didn’t quite see the same way. Riley never had a male role model in his life before and Sam could so easily see the way he looked up to Chris, and in that moment she knew that she wasn’t the only member of the Merrick family that loved Chris with their whole heart.
The bell above the door chimed and a set of heavy footsteps padded into the diner. Sam was sending an order into the kitchen as Ify bumped her hip, telling her, “Hey Sam, your favorite customer is here.”
Sam glanced behind her, shoulders deflating as she hissed to Ify, “I thought you said it was my favorite customer, that’s just Chris.”
“Wow, I come here just to see you and that’s the greeting I get,” Chris laughed as he settled into his usual barstool with a smirk. “Maybe I’ll just have to take my business elsewhere.”
“Yeah, because there’s so many other restaurants in town to choose from at ten in the morning on a Tuesday,” Sam rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face betrayed her as she came to a stop in front of Chris. He was in a pair of athletic shorts, his black shirt practically clinging to his muscular frame, along with rosy-tinted cheeks.
He huffed out a laugh, the sideways grin sliding onto his face. “Alright smartass, can I get an omelet?”
“Branching out from your egg whites and whole wheat toast, huh?” Sam asked him with a grin, turning to grab the pot of coffee for him as Ify headed into the back.
“I did a more intense workout this morning so I’m pretty hungry,” Chris admitted, his cheeks growing even more red as he shrugged sheepishly.
Sam raised a single eyebrow at him, looking at him suspiciously with narrowed eyes. “You’ve really been jumping back into the workouts now that physical therapy is over, haven’t you?” She asked him quietly, pouring him some coffee.
“Some of it’s just out of habit, but I want to keep trying to get my knees working better so we’ll see how it goes,” Chris shrugged again, glancing down and taking a sip of coffee.
She nodded, deciding to drop the issue for now. “I’ll go put this order in, be right back,” she promised, eyeing him one last time before she turned to send the order in.
As Sam pushed the swinging door open to walk back out, she couldn’t help but stare at Chris just a little bit. Sometimes she couldn’t believe that this man was hers. That gorgeous, broad shouldered, smirky smiling, sarcastic, and heart of gold man was the one that she got to be with and sometimes that thought almost felt impossible to wrap her mind around. She quickly made the rounds of the few tables, filling up their coffees before coming back to the counter where she rubbed a hand on that smooth back of Chris’ before rounding the counter to come in front of him. Chris put down his phone that he had been staring at when Sam topped off his coffee, then turned to slide the pot back onto the warmer while using her free hand to tuck some of her stray curls back up into her bun.
“You picked a good time to come. The other tables already have their food and Ken is out sick today so I can actually talk to you and not have him jumping down my throat to keep moving,” she murmured, leaning the small of her back against the back counter across from him.
A small grin appeared on his face again as he sat up a bit more, eyes twinkling as he said, “Good, because I came to bring you something.”
“Christopher-”
“No baby, you can’t scold me before you even know what it is!”
“Okay fine, what is it?”
His hand moved towards the papers next to him, telling her, “Here.”
With a bright smile on his face, Chris handed over a small piece of paper to her, not saying a word as she took it. Sam quickly looked around, making sure no customers needed her before she looked at the paper, finding a plane ticket with her name on it with the destination as Mexico. Her brown eyes were wide as saucers when she looked at him, nothing but shock on her face.
“It’s a plane ticket for you to come with me to Mexico at the end of next week,” he whispered, eyebrows raised with hope as he waited for her reaction.
Her muscles felt frozen, opening and closing her mouth a few times before she sputtered, “Chris I ca-”
“Before you say no, hear me out Sammy,” he interrupted, swallowing before he continued. “I already talked to Brooke and Ify and they’re covering your shifts and Ma is going to keep an eye on Riley and have him over for dinner a few nights while we’re gone. I wanted us to go on this trip for my birthday so you saying yes would be your gift to me.”
“I just…I don’t know Chris,” she confessed, feeling her cheeks warm as she struggled with the proposition.
“Please baby,” he whispered insistently. “Please let me do this for us.”
Her jaw clenched as she stared at the piece of paper in her hands. “...Lisa will look out for Riley?” She asked Chris quietly, glancing up to meet his eyes.
“Yep and your shifts are all covered. All you have to do is say yes,” he assured her. “Do it for me.”
“Okay.”
“Okay as in you’ll go?”
“I’d love to go with you,” she agreed, before her face split into a wide grin. “Oh my god, Chris this is going to be the first vacation I’ll ever get to go on!”
His body filled with relief as a matching smile appeared on his face, his eyes practically shining with happiness. “It’s going to be so amazing, baby. I booked us at this incredible resort and we’re going to be doing nothing but just relaxing,” he told her, before his face fell a little and he paused. “It does come with a stipulation though.”
She rolled her eyes playfully, admitting, “I should have known you’d have something else up your sleeve.”
“Do you still have that credit card I gave you?” Chris asked, raising his eyebrow and pausing until she nodded confusedly. “I want you to use it to buy whatever you want for the trip. If you want new clothes, makeup, bathing suits, whatever. I want you to get anything you need.”
She pursed her lips, looking down at her wringing hands in front of her stomach. “I just don’t feel comfortable spending your money,” she confessed to him quietly, glancing up nervously to meet his eyes.
“Well get used to it because I invited you so that means I’m providing everything,” he murmured, shoulders falling as he met her eyes and saw the look in them. “C’mon Sammy, I never even look in the account that card is joined to so I won’t even know what you got.”
She frowned and shook her head, telling him, “You still are so damn difficult sometimes.”
“And you’re still so stubborn,” he replied instantly with a smirk.
As he listened to Sammy’s laughter at his response, he found himself - for the first time in a long time - filled with excitement for the coming week alone with Sam in Mexico. He was excited to get to show her the world, to see her fully relaxed for longer than a day, and just to be fully present with each other. And yet again, he found himself realizing that the birthday he once dreaded was now one of his favorite memories - ever.
A/N: ICYMI, we made an announcement last night that there will be NO Sam update next week. We fell behind with writing and need some time to catch up! Also, as some general housekeeping, a reminder that we are an 18+ blog. Any and all minors that we find to be following us WILL be blocked!
We can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter!
