it’s late but it’s here and it’s 2k. also posting during school because...heck the rules. shout out to @sweetlialia for sending words of encouragement when i had to announce the chapter was late ur the best
title:heartbeat on air
masterpost
ships/pairings:ladrison (astrid x diana) and sinn (sam x quinn) with some platonic sastrid in the mix, also lana x dekka and lana x sinn get a smol mention in this chapter
things you probably wanna know:radio dj au, all ur faves are gay unless they’re villains sorry hets (some of you are lovely but I’m starved for representation), everyone is like, 18 in the present time thing
summary: All it takes is hearing Diana’s (aka Huntress) voice over the radio, and Astrid is in love. Sam knows that Astrid falling for Diana is tied up in his own complicated family issues, but keeps silent, wanting to give his friend the romance of her dreams. Yet things become more complicated when Sam and his boyfriend, Quinn, are caught up in a sadistic plot by Caine Soren to win back his ex.
tw/cw:a lot of homophobia. like, a shit ton. and based somewhat off of my personal experience so it’s not just “ooooo slur how Evil”
tag list: @emilybarger @lordcheesy @sheeswee @tayuya3 @sweetlialia @thesickeststupidestcreep as always let me know if you’d like to be added/removed!
chapter 5/a shitload idk bro
word count:2,058
[[chapter 4]] (((ao3))) [[chapter 6]]
Moving past the awkwardness, the sleepover was fun. Astrid and Sam stayed up talking late, long after Diana signed off with “good night” and a few heart emojis.
Speaking of which, texting Diana went great. They picked up from their conversation at the festival, and Astrid loved it. Talking wasn’t awkward over text-they both used similar, internet-type grammar, unlike a certain Sam Temple.
When she was done texting with Diana, it was Sam’s turn to talk about his crush, or rather, boyfriend. Astrid knew about him, but nothing beyond that they were dating.
Talking about Quinn made Sam happy, and there was no end in sight to the stories Sam told about his boyfriend. They only stopped talking at three AM, when both realized that they had things to do the next day, and didn’t want to be completely sleep deprived.
Sam passed out on the floor, cocooned in a blanket and resting his head on a throw pillow, while Astrid took the couch in her sleeping bag. They slept peacefully until morning.
Ping. Sam’s phone lit up with a new text. He opened one eye to look at the phone lying on the carpet near his head. It was from Quinn. With a quick glance at Astrid, who was fast asleep, he opened his phone and looked at the message.
Ready for a hot date tonight ;)
Oh fuck. Sam had nearly forgotten about his date with Quinn, what with the all-encompassing craziness that was last night. He’d mentioned it to Astrid maybe once.
He also would have to tell Quinn about everything with Caine. Since Caine’s proposal involved Quinn, and Sam really didn’t have anyone to talk about this with, he was going to have to tell Quinn tonight.
Can’t wait! I have smth to tell u about then tho
Is it serious
Ya a little. But I want to talk w u about it
Ok, can’t wait. Gtg I have a job interview wish me luck
Good luck, see you later.
Sam gave a small sigh, releasing the tension from his shoulders. At least he had Quinn to talk to. They could come up with something together to keep Caine out of their lives.
Also, as Sam read over the texts, he realized that Astrid had corrupted his texting style. She almost exclusively texted in abbreviations and awful grammar, and Sam, who much preferred short, well spelled messages had initially hated it. But it appeared that he’d adapted it, to a certain extent. He looked over at Astrid, who was sleeping away on the couch even as sun shined through the tiny window in the basement.
He was going to have to tell her about this sometime soon. Sam knew it was only prolonging the inevitable, but he wanted Astrid to be happy. And, if last night was any indicator, Diana made Astrid incredibly happy. Sam could see that they were going to be such a power couple. Caine was the only one fucking with the situation in this case, and Sam was probably the person with the power to stop him. At least when his brother was giving the threat, Sam knew him better than most.
It was 10:45 am. Probably about time for Sam to get up and do stuff. He had to go home, and probably tell his mom that he’d slept over at Astrid’s. Of course, he’d sent her a text, but she was usually too distracted to check her phone. Getting sued was stressful, and she was obsessing over money. Sam worried about her, but he had his own things to deal with right now. Like finding a job and making sure Caine didn’t ruin his life.
Sam got up from the floor and went over to Astrid. Knowing her, she had something to do today. Considering how anxious she got sometimes, she probably wouldn’t be happy sleeping in until noon.
“Astrid. Astrid, it’s 10:45. Time to wake up,” Sam said, nudging at her sleeping bag.
“Is it really? I’m hungry.” Astrid’s voice was muffled, and she poked her head out from inside the bag. Her hair clung to the sleeping bag with static. “I want pancakes.”
“Me too,” Sam said, realizing that he was pretty hungry. “There’s a breakfast place near here.”
“Yeah. That,” Astrid said, untangling herself from the sleeping bag, which had gotten rather contorted during the night. “Maybe you should go home though. You didn’t bring a change a of clothes.”
“I didn’t, didn’t I. Well, if you still want to meet up with me for breakfast, I can go home and come back to that little cafe sometime around noon. You’re probably sick of me.” Sam tried to smooth out his shirt, becoming aware of the wrinkles dotting it.
“Nah. I’m not sick of you yet. I will be after another two hours of interacting with you, though,” Astrid said, stretching and yawning, “I feel like that’s when I’ll start wanting to strangle you.” Sam was getting the vibe that Astrid was very...odd when she’d just woken up. Filterless, and interesting, but temporary.
“Alright, I’ll get out of here. Noon, right?” Sam asked, mentally calculating where his things were in the room.
***
Breakfast with Astrid was quick, just Sam filling her in on his mom’s mood (bad, she hadn’t said anything about him not coming home last night), and Astrid telling him Diana had texted her that morning. They were kind of sick of each other, and went their separate ways after finishing their pancakes.
Sam drove home from the cafe to a silent house. He checked his phone for anything new, of which there wasn’t much. Just a few groupchats, a spare meme, and a message from Caine.
Remember what I told you last night.
Several profanities ran through Sam’s head as he read it. Evidently, there was no chance of Caine letting his threat fall by the wayside. One more thing to tell Quinn about tonight.
To kill time before the date, Sam actually took time to look for a job online and sent out some emails. While college had always been something he’d wanted to do, Sam couldn’t leave his mom behind. Everything in the last few years-finding Caine, him and Quinn, their financial situation, and the trial-had worn on her a lot. She was overworked at the hospital, and stressed out everywhere else. Her mental and physical health were in decline, and Sam couldn’t imagine leaving her alone.
When it came time, Sam threw on a jacket and went down to his and Quinn’s usual restaurant. It was a small old-style diner near the waterfront, called The Healing Place. Despite the odd name(or maybe because of it), it was one of the few places where he and Quinn could have a casual date without getting odd glances.
Lana and Dekka ran the place together. They were pretty obviously in love, and weren’t shy about their affections. The result was that the place was free of homophobes. Lana also had a boyfriend, which only served to make the diner seem more accepting. It was a cute, small little place, with a short menu and several private booths.
It was only a short walk away from Sam’s house, so he got time to think to himself. Sam remembered how he’d met Lana and found The Healing Place.
***
The relationship was new. It had been a week or so since he and Quinn had taken the jump from just-friends-nothing-more to boyfriends. So far, it was enjoyable. The honeymoon phase that Sam thought they would grow out of.
Mostly, they met to surf and kiss and talk. No official dates yet, just love notes in class and clandestine meetings by the waves. It was a sweet secret that Sam hadn’t told anyone about, because it felt so good to be with Quinn that he didn’t want anyone to ruin it.
They’d arranged to do…things after surfing with everyone else in their crew. So they spent an hour out on the ocean with their friends, competing with each other to catch the biggest waves, to do the craziest things. Eventually, everyone decided it was about time to go home. Sam and Quinn told their usual lie that oh, my house is this way, and waited until everyone had walked away.
Sam took Quinn’s hands in his own, and said, “So, down for another wave or two?”
“Only if you go with me,” Quinn said, leaning over to kiss Sam, putting one arm over his shoulder and leaning in more. Sam deepened the kiss, and it wasn’t long before they were making out on the beach, bodies pressed together.
Quinn broke the kiss after a while, “Ah, finally I get to kiss you.” A smile spread across his face. “You looked really good out there.”
“Did I? I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you,” Sam said, kissing Quinn again. They’d been desperate for another moment like this, after being too busy with school to surf all week. Neither of them were willing to risk using empty classrooms or closets at school to spend quality time together. Breaking apart, they took a good second to stare into each others eyes, savoring each others presence. It was a peaceful moment, a bubble of time where nothing could go wrong.
But something popped it. Voices, and footsteps were approaching, and a bad feeling started to sink into Sam’s stomach. They broke apart, but the damage was already done.
“What the hell?” someone said, and then a “Wait, are they…gay?” The voices were derisive, the contempt and confusion brewing a storm on the calm beach.
The two boys looked to find their friends, or their now ex-friends saying things to them that Sam had mostly blocked out from his memory. The message was clear though. Nobody was comfortable having them there. It would be weird. Too much like…those people. They weren’t homophobic, but…as long as Sam and Quinn were dating, they weren’t welcome in the Perdido Surfing Crew. A name that Quinn himself had come up with.
Quinn started crying and Sam had led him away, holding his boyfriend’s hand and walking as far away from them as he could, kicking up sand as he went.
Sam stopped when they reached a road. They sat down on the side of it, tears still pouring from Quinn’s eyes, and a few from Sam’s as well.
“Hey, it’s gonna be ok,” Sam said, squeezing Quinn’s hand, “We-we don’t need them. If they couldn’t accept us dating, they’re not worth our time.” His voice was shaking, the reassurance as much for him as for Quinn.
The two sat there for a long time, Sam trying his best to be calming, but they were both panicking nonetheless. The setting sun behind them only made the situation seem more grim when the sky changed from warm daylight to empty blackness.
When they thought there weren’t any more tears to cry, and were just sitting there, shaking from the cold, Quinn turned his head and said, “We’re going to be ok, right?”
“Yeah,” Sam said.
“They’re not going to ruin this, right?”
“No,” Sam said, and leaned to Quinn, and after a moment of hesitation, pressed his mouth to the other boy’s. He needed their closeness right then, needed to feel the salt of the ocean and their tears blending together underneath his lips. It lasted only a second, but the kiss told both of them everything that couldn’t be said. They were in this together.
“You two look like you need a place to warm up,” an unfamiliar voice said. “Come on in. I’m Lana, and you two make a sad ass pair.”
Sam and Quinn got up off the ground and followed Lana into her restaurant. She gave them food, bundled them in blankets, and gave them hot tea to drink while they told her what had happened. When Quinn insisted that he pay her back, she shrugged and said it was on the house. Then, she told them about her girlfriend Dekka, and how they were always welcome here.
They’d gone to The Healing Place for dates ever since. While the name might seem a little weird, it was true to the establishment. Lana did more than serve food, she healed the souls of troubled people with conversation and love.
it’s posting day lads you know what that means...another chapter. i was thrilled by the response to the last one, so i hope you guys like this continuation.
title:heartbeat on air
masterpost
ships/pairings: ladrison (diana x astrid) and sinn (sam x quinn). also platonic sastrid if anyone’s into that.
relevant things/ao3 tags: tis a radio dj au, the original file name of the document was “No One Is Straight” so that gives you an idea of how this is gonna go, everyone is aged up (18-19), caine is still That Guy
summary:All it takes is hearing Diana’s (aka Huntress) voice over the radio, and Astrid is in love. Sam knows that Astrid falling for Diana is tied up in his own complicated family issues, but keeps silent, wanting to give his friend the romance of her dreams. Yet things become more complicated when Sam and his boyfriend, Quinn, are caught up in a sadistic plot by Caine Soren to win back his ex.
tw/cw:astrid is Very Anxious in this chapter, the homophobia has yet to arrive
tag list: @emilybarger @lordcheesy @sheeswee @tayuya3 @sweetlialia @thesickeststupidestcreep let me know if you would like to be added/removed from the tag list, feel free to send an ask or a dm!
chapter 2/??? we still don’t know hun
word count:1,923
[[chapter 1]] (((ao3))) [[chapter 3]]
Sam and Astrid’s internship was almost over, and Astrid was still listening to 104.5 every time they were in the car. Things were coming to a close for learning about all things nuclear, their instructors starting to run out of material for their class. It was ending along with their last year in highschool.
This afternoon, when Astrid first switched on the radio, it was playing one of Huntress’s songs. Usually, when they tuned in at this time, it was prime time to hear the DJs talking, and they hadn’t heard anything about King being out of town.
The next song was Huntress’s upbeat, feminist style as well. Astrid obnoxiously lip synced along to it, much Sam’s horror.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I’d actually prefer it if some of King’s music was playing right now,” Sam groaned. Not that he’d ever say that to “King”s face.
At a long last, the song came to a close. Astrid milked the last note in all her fake-popstar glory, then kept listening. Maybe she would hear from Huntress, or mind-numbing commercials were in their future.
A female voice came over the speakers. “Anyways, if you want to hear some more stuff like that, go check out our iHeart radio station because it still plays my music since King doesn’t know how to do anything with it. Also, speaking of not knowing what to do with something,” she paused, “I’m breaking up with King.”
“What? But we’ve been together for so long. Babe…” Well, this explained the different music.
“Lucky you guys, I own this station, not King. And he can stay on the station on the condition of not acting like my ex and acting like my co-host.”
“Not acting like your ex? I am your ex!”
“Like Justin Bieber said, we can still be friends.”
“Or more than friends.”
“Get out”
King didn’t return to the station for a week, and even after he did, Huntress’s music still played.
***
An inviting summer breeze eased its way into the slightly cracked windows, teasing of school’s incoming close. Senior year was ending for Sam and Astrid, and they were both ready for the summer. A song about school being out was playing on 104.5.
Huntress’s voice sounded tempting over the car speakers. “Call in after this next song to win free tickets to the Perdido Summer Music Festival, we’ll be giving those to our fourth caller. And another special caller will get a prize that is very, um, special! Up next, Renegades by X Ambassadors, alternately known as the only dark-themed song I like that Caine does not.”
Astrid considered it for a second. “Should I call in?”.
“Yes, absolutely,” Sam answered. Astrid reached for her phone automatically. “But let me dial it, ok. Don’t crash the car.”
He punched in the number and waited for the song to end. Astrid pressed the green call button and held the phone to her ear as soon as the last note played.
Huntress began with a quick bit about the song, then talked about the tickets up for grabs.
Astrid had her ear pressed to the phone hard enough to leave an imprint. Whoever was on the other end said, “Hello, you’ve reached 104.5 radio station, and you are on hold.” They didn’t hang up, and Huntress was now talking to Taylor, the girl who’d won tickets and was going to go with her boyfriend. Astrid mouthed “What do I do?”to Sam.
“I don’t know, just stay on the call,” Sam answered. “And maybe pull over soon.”
After some celebration of Taylor winning her tickets, Huntress took her off of the line and announced, “We’ll get back to that special listener after this next song.”
Right now, Astrid was just trying to keep from crashing the car while keeping her phone firmly pressed to her head.
The song ran its course, then Diana said, “And now for that special listener, we’ve got someone on line who is about to receive the best prize they ever could.”
Was it me? Astrid thought. Then, she started to hear a very strange echo.
“What’s your name?” Huntress said over the phone. And on the radio.
“Astrid.” Have I actually won the prize? she asked herself.
“Alright, Astrid, you are the lucky winner of two backstage passes to the music festival where you’re not only going to get to hang out with the coolest stars in the music industry, but with King and I. I know there’s something of a rumor that there’s a lovely lady named Astrid who has a bit of a crush on me? Is that you?” Huntress asked.
“Yes, it is,” Astrid said, while shooting Sam a death glare that would intimidate most criminals. “ I thought you should break up with King, and found your music taste impeccable even though it was nothing like my own. I also enjoyed your commentary a lot. Eventually, my friend Sam pointed out that I liked you.”
Huntress laughed.
“I realized that he was correct.”
“Well, now that I’ve broken up with King, I guess I’m pretty available. Guess I’ll see you there,”Huntress said. She hung up.
Astrid turned to Sam with a look of disbelief on her face. He gave her a fist bump. “Girl, you got game.”
***
Through the power of memes and communal bitching about their separate issues, Sam and Astrid kept in touch after their internship. Since Sam was the one who’d gotten her to call in and get the tickets, Astrid invited him as her plus-one to the festival. It was going to run June 6th-9th, and the passes covered all of those days. Because of babysitting jobs, Astrid could only make it to the last day.
Sam showed up at her house that afternoon, before he was going to drive them to the event. Astrid opened up the door.
“Come in, come in. I need your opinion on some things.” She motioned him to follow her into her room, which looked like the aftermath of the nuclear explosions they’d learned about months earlier. Clothes were thrown over every available surface, including the floor. Various makeups and odd objects-was that nail polish?-were strewn across every surface, floor included.
Astrid continued talking. “So, I’ve narrowed it down to”-she pulled two outfits out of the mess-“white shirt, jeans, cropped jacket and tie-dye shirt, blue leggings, flannel. Which is better?” She barely took a breath between each word.
“White shirt and jeans but with the flannel instead,” Sam answered. Did he know which looked better? No, but they needed to leave in ten minutes to make it on time, and Astrid looked like she could stress over this for another hour.
“Ok, dark makeup or au natural?” Astrid grabbed a makeup bag off her desk and opened it, rummaging through its contents.
“Au natural. You’re a little worked up over this, it’s just a festival,” Sam said, trying to reassure her.
She walked into the bathroom in the hall, and Sam followed her. “It’s just that I’m going to meet the girl I’ve liked a lot for 2 months and maybe some of the best music artists in the world. I can’t show up looking like trash, this needs to be perfect. Now go somewhere else,” Astrid said, slamming the door in Sam’s face. “I’m changing.”
“What happened to ‘perfection is an illusion’?” Sam asked, mildly amused at how worked up Astrid was over this. He waited, checking his phone for any odd text message or update. There was a single meme from his boyfriend.
“You know what I mean,”Astrid said, emerging from the bedroom. She threw some makeup into her purse. “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s go to the Perdido Summer Music Festival and show them what we’re there for!”
Sam struggled to keep up with Astrid as she strided to the door, although Astrid was much shorter. “You’re there to stare at Huntress and obnoxiously sing along to every song. I’m there to enjoy some music and you making a fool out of yourself.” And avoid someone else, he thought.
“Fair, but we’ll be late if you don’t actually open the door. I’m holding things.”
Sighing, Sam opened the front door. He trailed after Astrid to the car, holding the car door open for her. He’d barely started the car and she was already double checking her makeup and adding invisible touches.
“Hey, relax. You’re gonna have an awesome time tonight, ok,” Sam said, already worried. Astrid looked tense.
“Fine.” She put the makeup back in her bag. “Let’s turn on the radio.”
He turned 104.5 on, and let the dancey pop songs fill the car with noise. According to Astrid’s future girlfriend, there were going to be live performances of many of these songs tonight. Sam and Astrid were both bouncing with excitement by the time they pulled into the parking lot at the festival.
A crowd had already gathered, but there were maps and advertisements everywhere. They made their way to the booth for the radio without much fuss, especially since Astrid had memorized where it was last night. Sam could see her nerves returning as they got closer.
An official-looking guy wearing a headset approached them as the two walked towards the booth. “Excuse me, are you Astrid Ellison and Sam Temple?”
“Uh, yeah,” Astrid said.
He gave them passes on lanyards that read “VIP” in large letters, a bag full of goodies, and a program for the evening. “There’s a VIP lounge inside the tent. They’ll let you in if you show them the badges.”
Astrid did not move, paralyzed with indecision. Sam decided to step in and rescue her before this security guy thought they were serious weirdos. “Where are the DJs? Are they going to be in the lounge?”
“Maybe, probably a little later in the night. They’re announcing some acts, and all that. Actually, they might be in there right now.”
Sam could feel Astrid tensing up next to him. “But I don’t really know. You should really go check out the VIP room though, there’s loads of snacks.”
That was all the persuasion Sam needed to start walking into the little tent behind the booth, Astrid following behind him.
“What if she’s in there?” Astrid asked, making Sam stop in his tracks before the entrance.
“Then you talk to her and see what happens,” Sam said, resuming his original trajectory towards the booth.
The security guy had been right about the snacks, so Sam took it upon himself to gather as many of them as possible on his plate, and then eat them. Astrid looked around the room anxiously, as if expecting Huntress to pop out from behind one of the walls.
“Chill,” Sam said through a mouth of food, “Have some Doritos.” It was slightly hypocritical advice coming from him, since he was stress eating to avoid thinking about who was coming to this event with Huntress.
Astrid nibbled on a cupcake, and her and Sam talked about the artists performing, both trying to diffuse the nervous atmosphere inside the lounge. Finally, an over-caffeinated secretary came and got them for the performances about to start.
As he led them to their seats, Astrid and Sam had a hard time containing their excitement. They were front row front row. Sam had checked who was performing a few days ago and…wow. No matter how things went with Huntress and King, this was going to be a night to remember.
