Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If you asked Sam, time was something he found bittersweet. There were times Sam begged to have more time, yet times he wished the gods would be so gracious as to skip time for him.
In his life he did a lot, learned a lot. He regretted very few moments of his life. He didn’t regret adopting two boys, he didn’t regret marrying his partner, or meeting his friends.

Watching his kids grow up was hard on its own. George was quiet and quick to be independent. He always knew what he wanted but he hardly asked for help with things. Sam wondered if it was his overprotective fathering that made him that way (In his defense, he was a first time single father and worried).
George was a lot like Sam in the aspects of how their minds worked. Sam was a coding teacher at the highschool when George was a baby. Often Sam brought his son to work with him seeing as George was a quiet child, watching and observing everyone rather than fussing.
George found himself fascinated by the letters and numbers on his fathers screen, watching how they worked to create something almost magical. It’s what led George to follow in Sam's interest, helping so that he could learn where he could.

“Dad! They’re doing a robotics club at school!” George shouted, waving a paper in Sam's face. Sam raised his eyebrows at the 9 year old and took the paper, looking over it. The sponsor was a friend, someone Sam coded with often before now. “Callahan is a good teacher. You better listen to him so you can create the best of the best” Sam smiled.
“I will! Dream and Sapnap agreed to come with me if I go with them to football!” George flapped his hands.
“Football?” It’s not that Sam was opposed to sports… Sam was a football player himself. But he was worried about his oldest, he didn’t want him hurt.
“Dad, don’t worry, I’m not doing it for real. I’m just playing with them for a little bit! Dream's older brother said he’d help us out with not getting hurt!”
Sam rolled his eyes but nodded and handed George the paper again. “Do you know what kind of robot you’re going to make?” Sam asked, sorting papers for his classes.
“One like yours, that you made to help your classes!” George bounced on his knees, his hands gripping the counter. “Yea?” “Yes! And obviously it will be the best, because I am the best” George boasted. Sam rolled his eyes at the dramatics. Punz said George definitely picked it up from Sam, Sam didn’t agree. He believed he was the least dramatic out of everyone (even if he did complain about host advantage every other Saturday).

“Just make sure you listen and ask for help where you need it. Maybe you can help others too, George” Sam hummed.
“Nah.”
“No?”
“Because then sap and Dream will steal my idea.” George rolled his eyes. “And if I’m the best then they’ll rely on me for more in the future and they’ll have to do many many favors for me” George hummed.
Sam sighed and stared at his son. Perhaps Ponk was becoming a big influence too.

George was quick to tell Sam he was trans. Sam didn’t for a moment doubt him. He listened and did what he could as a parent, yet in some ways it made Sam worry even more.
He listened as George sat in the living room with Karl. “If my nails are painted it will only give them more of a reason to bully me.” George scoffed. Sam nearly dropped the pan he was holding.
“Come on Gogs, they’re idiots. Besides! Sapnap let me paint his nails!” Karl whined.
“It looks good on sapnap.”
“And it will look good on you.”
“Why don’t you just go paint Q’s. I don’t want to give anyone a reason to misgender me” George scoffed.
“Fine. If you change your mind I’ll be with Alex” Karl huffed.
Sam waited painfully, the clock seeming slow as he tried to figure out what to say, how to handle this. Were people picking on George? Did George stand up to them?

“Dad? What’s for dinner?” George asked, wrapping his arms around himself. Sam looked over his oldest and couldn’t help but notice the small things. The way he tried to make his voice deeper even if it wasn’t time yet, or the way he wore layers even in warm weather.
“Shepherds pie” Sam said gently, still staring at his son. There was a pause before George rolled his eyes. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Do people misgender you, George?”
“Huh-? No?”
“At school?” George went quiet and avoided looking at Sam. Sam's heart broke and his posture softened.
“How often?”
“Just- just in gym. I change in the stalls and everyone makes a big deal out of it. Sapnap called them queer for wanting to look at me, but-“ George shrugged.
Sam knew sapnap got in trouble for something. Bad called him in a fluster not knowing how to handle this and Sam had to calm him down and tell him to maybe accept Skeppys parenting skills for once.
It made his heart warm up more knowing George had friends who would get in trouble for him. “Do you want me to do something about it?” Sam asked.
George finally looked at his dad and shook his head. “No. It’s fine…they’re just dicks”
“Language” Sam warned, yet there was a fondness in his voice.
“Once we’re done with the wedding planning stuff, we’ll bring shots back up to ponk, okay?” Sam smiled. By then George would be just old enough to genuinely consider hormones.

There weren’t a lot of issues with George being trans. Not in their house anyway, it really didn’t change anything. It helped that Ponk was a doctor and was there to guide Sam. Punz was trans, yet Punz was more closed off about everything. He didn’t openly talk about it, and Sam didn’t want to make him. He knew how to administer the shots, and he knew how to comfort on the bad days. But that’s about it.
Sam wasn’t prepared for his son coming into his room sniffling and red eyed, hugging himself like his life depended on it. Sam put his laptop aside right away, accidentally hitting Ponk in the process, but that could be dealt with later.

“Georgie? What’s going on?” Sam asked, now sitting at the end of the bed as George shuffled closer. George wiped his eyes and opened his mouth before starting to sob, leaning forward into his fathers arms. Sam couldn’t do anything but hold George, running fingers through his hair and letting him cry.
By now ponk was also up, his hair everywhere and clearly he was disoriented, but he was next to Sam and rubbing George’s back. Both sets of comfort seemed to get the teenager to a point where he could at least breathe.
“Can you talk to us george?” Ponk asked, doing his best to be coherent. George sniffled and wiped his eyes again. “Dream- dream and Sap started having voice cracks and changing more and now I’m not- I’m not on the same level as them- and- and it-“ George coughed and sniffled, covering his face again.
Sam and Ponk shared a look. When George was younger they went through doctors and therapists, but by the end George decided against puberty blockers, thinking he would still match with his friends and would need an extra boost by the time he was old enough. They respected it and waited until they knew they would have better luck to get George testosterone.

“George,” Sam said gently. “You’re never on any level compared to them. You’re on your own level.” He murmured, moving to wipe tears from his son's face. “This just means you get to make fun of them for sounding silly” Ponk quipped.
George smiled a little at that and looked down as Fran followed in and flopped down behind George’s feet, seeming just as tired as Ponk.
“Do you want to look into shots now?” Sam asked. By now their life was calming down, in reality everything for the next few months had been planned and it just needed to happen. Adding one more thing wouldn’t hurt, especially when it came to his kids.
George shrugged. “Will they let me?” Sam looked at Ponk for this answer. Ponk took a moment, blinking to think. “Uh- probably. I’ll look into what we need to do tomorrow” he nodded slowly. Sam nodded, offering his arms open for a hug. George was touchy with physical affection, but he didn’t always deny it.
He shuffled forward and hugged his father tightly, wiping the rest of his tears on Sam's shirt. “Okay kiddo… we’ll look into it this week. Meanwhile, just make fun of them. They’re probably feeling more awkward than you think”

It wasn’t always easy though. Sam stopped teaching eventually and started programming for the prison in town. His oldest seemed to think that gave him an advantage in the activities he did
The brunette sat in the chair with his arms crossed and staring up at his father, Sam staring back.
“Drinking? Really George?” Sam sighed.
“It’s not even- dad. Come on, we were safe! Punz lived down the street! We could have called him!” George argued.
Sam was gaining wrinkles by now. They showed by his eyes and his forehead. If he stopped keeping up with his hair there would be grays too. “Where you were doesn’t matter George. You’re underage! You were in a public park, not even smart about hiding it-“ Sam groaned and rubbed his face, leaving his hands over his eyes
“If it was Alex that were caught you wouldn’t care” George scoffed, making Sam's head snap up.
“What?”
“Nothing”
“No- repeat yourself George.” Sam challenged. George didn’t know if he should, there was a look in his eyes. He was scared. Sam didn’t know if he did that or if it was the fact George was scared of the consequences.
Either way George didn’t talk. “George I- you-“ Sam sighed. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you both. I don’t favor you or your brother over the other. Alex would be in just as much trouble…I’m just…”
“Dad don’t- I know- I’m sorry-“
“Worried,” Sam finished. George looked taken back, but looked down quickly.

“George. If someone else found you guys you could have gotten hurt… you could have come to me or puffy…”
“You would have said no”
“Maybe…but at least we could talk about why” Sam said, moving and crouching down in front of his oldest. “I’m your father. It’s my job to worry about you and keep you safe” Sam said gently.
George didn’t look too sure about it, avoiding his dad’s eyes and wringing his wrists. It wasn’t a secret George was afraid of letting people down. It’s why it shocked Sam when he got in trouble. As loud as he was with friends, or the grins that held quick wit behind them were contained enough to keep it under the table.
“Come on. They’re letting me off for the night to take you home” Sam said softly.

George didn’t often tell out of pure anger. If he did it was frustration or to distract someone such as when he would chase Dream during their manhunt games.
So when Sam came home to shouting from George one night he sighed and began to prepare himself. He let the shouting go on between his two children for a moment, finding Fran under his office desk looking annoyed.
“It doesn’t give you a right to be an asshole!” George shouted. “I would be an asshole if your boyfriends weren’t dick-weeds” Alex scoffed.
“I don’t even know what your issue with them is! Before now, you were friends with them!”
“Well maybe if you were a better brother you would understand! But no- you’re too googly-eyed over a blond bimbo and a Whiney stoner”

Sam was quick to react before George’s hand could come down on Alex. And they both were wide eyed as their father stood between them. “Alex. Go wait at the kitchen table.” Sam said, his voice monotone. Sam was known for being kind, for helping people and he prided himself on that. But everyone knew he could be scary.
Sam closed his eyes for a moment and let George’s wrist go, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. When he opened them again George had an unreadable expression and Alex was gone.
“Dad I-“
“No- there’s no excuse for raising your hand at him.” Sam uttered.
“Dad-“
“George-“
“Dad, listen! He got mad at me because I wanted sapnap and Dream over, just us, and he was pissy because he claims that us dating changed the fact that he was friends with them too, and he tried to tell me that Karl felt the same way he just didn’t want to admit it- but he’s just-“ George groaned and waved his arms around.
“He’s just jealous that I’m dating sapnap when he used to have a crush on him and now he’s being petty!” George snapped.

Sam stared at his son and sighed. “It doesn’t give you an excuse-“
“I know. I’m sorry, I swear I’ll apologize but…he can’t get away with his pettiness affecting me.” George murmured.
Sam learned a lot while fathering two boys, mostly on his own. One thing is the way they got along so well, yet there would always be times they would be reminded they were siblings. Sam never had a favorite, never put one over the other. He knew his boys were strong in their own ways and had points and flaws.
Sam thought he did a pretty good job at keeping them from killing each other at times like this.
“Wait until I call you down.” Sam said gently. “Just think everything over.”

Sam swears he didn’t cry when George graduated. He says the pictures were edited to make his face look wet and eyes red. But he did wish time would slow down. He wished he could enjoy more moments where he held his son after nightmares, or laughed with him in surprise as the code they had been working on for an hour finally worked.
“Sam” puffy laughed, shoving him. “Can you believe we’re old enough to watch our kids graduate?” She grinned.
“No, puffy, I refuse to believe it.” Sam grinned. “I’m still young and teaching highschool students who are bored, and coming home to crayon on the walls”
Puffy giggled and nudged Sam lightly. They watched George and Dream scream as they chased each other, some sort of mushed food in dreams hands. “At least you still have a kid to go” she hummed. Now both of puffys kids were out of the house, really just leaving her.

“I suppose so. But I think I’m okay with it. George will do just fine on his own” Sam sighed.
“Sa-a-am” she pushed him. “Don’t get sappy. Come on. Let’s get a picture, yea?”
Sam watched George duck as food was thrown at him, smiling as his son rebounded, turning on his heels to go after both sapnap and Dream now.
“Yea, you’re right.”

Chapter Text

Sam never planned on having two children so soon, but he never regretted it. Alex’s birth mother was panicked and desperate. She didn’t want to go through the system or put a newborn there; so she got referred to Sam. And Sam took her son and helped her through the grueling and stressful pregnancy.
She agreed on no contact after that, and from then on…Sam had two children and mostly on his own. His relationship with Ponk was rocky, they were both busy, and ponk wasn’t too upbeat with the whole babies in the household thing. Nonetheless, Sam adored the infant and George was so excited to have a baby brother.

As much as George was a quiet baby, Alex was loud. It’s what made George result in calling him Quackity, or Q. It was a shift for Sam, and it left a lot more sleepless nights for the man. And things didn’t change as fast as they did for George.
Q was a loud kid in general and typically had the ability to make others just as loud. It didn’t matter what he was being loud about. Sam worked with him a few times on volume, yet he knew if he got too excited or upset it wasn’t worth the argument.

“Dad!” Quackity yelled, running down the hallway and into the office. Sam jumped and spun in his chair to face the child. “Yes?”
“Can we host a game night?!”
“What?”
“Please!! Karl and sapnap and- uh- Wilbur and uhm- Dream can come over and we can all play games and eat food! Like what you do with your friends?!” Quackity flapped his hands, something he seemed to pick up from George.
Sam took a moment to process what his son just asked for before nodding slightly. “I don’t see why not? Is there something that spurred this on?” Sam asked.
“Nope! I just think it would be fun! All my friends in a room, you know” he crossed his arms proudly.
“Do I need to talk to their parents?”
“Probably…” Sam rolled his eyes but nodded. It wouldn’t be an issue, but he didn’t exactly find it the best activity to ask his friends if their children could stop by for a while. Sam didn’t completely enjoy making himself out to seem like an open babysitter, even if he agreed whenever asked.

Sam had a lot of friends, which meant his kids had gained a lot of friends through them. One thing Sam learned is that kids and their friendships are rocky and unpredictable. It was hard to tell what would happen or who would last. It made it awkward too when Sam's best friends were the kids' parents. He believed Alex went through the most friend cycles. Not that he complained about most of them, they were typically good kids. It just made Sam realize that at least he did right in helping his kids be socially open.

The first few were clear and simple, yet had the rockiest stories. Sapnap was over so Bad could work and Sam was tired of pulling George and sapnap off of each other telling them if they want to wrestle to at least go outside. He didn’t even know why the duo were fighting but he did know it wouldn’t stop.
So eventually he sent George to his room and sapnap to sit in the living room and calm down. It was during that time Quackity came out with Fran on his heels, making company for their guest. Sam only heard small parts of the conversations, but it wasn’t long before they were laughing and playing games.

Karl came next. He was the first school friend Quackity begged to have over and Sam didn’t see why it would be an issue. The issue came when all of Quackitys friends seemed to also gravitate to George, making some spite split them. Sam didn’t worry about it though, and he trusted his boys. Looking back, perhaps it’s something he regrets. He regrets not checking in on them and their friendships more, making sure there wasn’t jealousy.
“Dad” Alex sobbed as he stood in the doorway of the office. Sam looked up and dropped everything right away, moving over and crouching in front of his youngest.
“Alex? What’s wrong?” Sam asked, bringing his hands to his face and wiping his tears.
“Sapnap ditched me again! He’s with george and they didn’t even invite me- and- and when I asked if I could come- they told- they told me I wasn’t allowed” the pre-teen sobbed, his arms hanging limp at his side.

Sam's face soured and he sighed, pulling Alex into a hug, rubbing his back. “Did you ask Karl to hangout?” Sam asked quietly.
“No because- because he’s busy” he muttered shakily into Sam's shoulder. Sam knew there would be hard moments as a parent, but no matter what, he was never prepared for the hurt in his heart when his children sobbed like this.
“Should I talk to George?”
“No! No- then they’re all gonna think I’m just his annoying little brother!” He wailed, now crying harder. Sam closed his eyes tightly and gave his son a squeeze before pulling back, ignoring the snot now on his shirt.
“Then what can I do for you mi hijo?” Sam asked quietly. This seemed to make Alex stop, taking shaky breaths and trying to think what to do.
“Can we play cards?” He asked after a moment. Sam smiled and used his sleeve to wipe his son's face. “Of course.”

Sam says he doesn’t have any favorites of anything… Yet when he looks at all of Quackity’s friends he thinks Charlie is his favorite for his son. They met at lunch when quackity was in middle school, and apparently Charlie was sitting alone.
Sam isn’t overly judgmental, or he thinks himself not to be, but he remembers not having total faith in the boy when he first came over. That’s one of Sam's regrets, it’s not trusting Charlie more from the start. Charlie was good to Quackity, and it even made babysitting Purpled easier as Purpled seemed to get along with Quackity more when Charlie was around.

“Dad!! Can we go to the store?”
“For?”
“We need a bunch of things”
“I understand, but what do you need?”
“Glue, and food coloring, and/ what else?” Alex looked at his friend. “Uh- solution!”
“Yes, but what kind?”
Sam finally looked up from what he was doing, looking at the two boys. “What are you going to do with all of this?”
“We’re making a pool full of slime to cover me in!” Charlie grinned.
Sam took a moment to process the new information he was given. “I’m- I’m sorry what?”
“Dad, don’t worry about it! We’ll do it outside, and we’ll make sure Fran doesn’t get in anything!”
“Alex- no- that’s not-“ Sam rubbed his eyes and let a deep sigh out. “Why do you need to cover Charlie in slime?”
“So I can be a slime man, Mr.Sam!” Charlie smiled wide. “It’s okay, it was my idea after all!”

Sam loved his kids and he knew they were smart. It didn’t always mean they made smart choices or had the brightest ideas.
“No- that’s- no” Sam shook his head.
“But dad, why?” Alex whined, pulling down at his beanie.
“Why? Because you’re not going to make a mess and ruin Charlie’s hair or clothes. I don’t think his parents would be very appreciative of that”
“Oh! No they don’t mind!” Charlie smiled.
Sam reminded himself a lot that parenting was something that always threw him in for challenges he wasn’t prepared for. No amount of parenting books would get him ready for this.

Sam never regretted how he taught his children. He did wish he had more time to think things over though on how to deal with certain situations. If there were moments where he could slow down time just to let him think, he would have done it many times.
Where George was quick with how he did things, almost impulsive, Quackity thought things out. He knew how they would end, meaning Sam had to work around that, find the original root of the issue rather than knowing it was building pressure. The beginning of highschool was rough for Alex and Sam wishes he spent more time figuring out why rather than how to handle it.

Phone calls from the school never were good, especially as they got older. Sam wished he could pause time every time his phone rang for the school.
“You thought you could- ambush him?” Sam asked, his voice strained and his hands focused on gripping the wheel. They hadn’t even left the school parking lot.
“He was defenseless! I didn’t think he would have something in his pocket!”
“That doesn’t matter! You don’t attack people unless they go after you first!”
“But he did!”
“What did he do then?” Quackity went quiet for a moment, and Sam sighed, starting the car. “You have the whole drive to explain the story.” Sam said, not looking at the boy next to him.
“He turned me and Wilbur in for cheating.” He mumbled. “It was this really big test, and for freshmen it’s really, really hard to pass it! The teacher makes it so freshmen would have to retake her class! And Wilbur offered to help me, and so we came up with this plan, but apparently techno found the evidence in Wilbur’s room and-“ Alex rubbed his eyes, cursing in Spanish at the situation.

“I was mad, okay? I really need this class and I need a good score if I’m going to advance quickly…Karl promised me that if I passed we could go on a road trip together for spring break…” he shifted, pulling at his beanie.
“There’s nothing to get back at him- so I figured the best thing would be to ambush him to try to send a warning and…” he shrugged.
“Was it worth it then?” Sam asked, his voice monotone.
“What?”
“Was it worth it? Nearly being blinded over getting called out for cheating?” Sam asked. “No”

Sam considered himself lucky his husband was a doctor. Ponk was able to work quickly and Quackity would be okay other than a nice scar going down his eye. He didn’t know what went wrong here. Ponk tells Sam that some things his kids just had to learn on their own. To Sam it made him wonder if it was something he missed in teaching them.
It’s never that Sam believed he was a bad father, but he definitely wasn’t perfect and there were times he found himself hurt over that.

Quackity picked up and kept his Spanish he got from his mother. Sam made sure he didn’t lose that. He didn’t want Alex to grow up having lost that part of him just because of a situation he cousins control. So Sam worked to ensure he could have conversations in Spanish to the best of his ability.
And in some cases it really benefited them both.
The times that Alex needed to talk about something yet George was around, or when Sam just wanted to have a private conversation with him. It was nice, and Sam found it was something they could use to stay close.
“I want to begin my own business.” Alex stated. “Like- after law and stuff.. or even before?! It would be this huge strip of shops… a bar, a club..” Sam watched his son talk and listened to him. He wasn’t too fond of the concept but he knew Alex was driven now and he gave this a lot of thought.
“And how are you going to keep up with law school, and this?”
“Dad, Confía en mí… solo necesito ayuda y alguien que lo mantenga en secreto” Sam knew this was more serious in the way he leaned on the table, looking at Sam with wide but dark eyes.
“Nadie puede saberlo?” The older man asked quietly. George was the only one around, yet it still felt better to keep it quiet.
“Solo nosotros.” Alex Grinned “Es nuestra sorpresa.”

Sam could help with the layouts, with the financial aspect of everything and the integrity of what was being done. But he had to let his son sprout his own wings for this if it’s something he wanted. It was a big project, but Sam knew it could go well.
He just had to trust Alex, and trust was something he never lost in his kids. No matter how many times they defied him or argued. Sam always trusted his kids over someone else

It was that reason that when they turned on eachother it made it hard to help them. Them having the same friends didn’t make it any easier.
Sam sat down at the table and put his face in his hands, trying to think about what to say. For him, it did feel like time stopped, the one thing he wished for; yet there was nothing coming to his brain.
“Estás molesto conmigo?” Sam didn’t respond to his son.
“Dad?”
“What started it?” Sam asked finally. There was another long moment of nothing.

“Alex. What started the argument?” Sam repeated, finally looking up. His youngest had a guilty look on his face. Sam knew both his kids were at fault this time.
“George..George wanted his boyfriends over, But he didn’t want me here so he asked if I could leave and hangout with someone else” Alex said quietly. “I…I got mad because it feels like we haven’t hung out as a group since they got together, and Karl and I are always left out now…expect they still let Karl talk to them and go with them to events” Alex sighed.
Sam never said anything, just listening. “So I got mad that he wanted to kick me out of my house when dream and sapnap are my friends too and it’s not fair that their relationship can change things, so I called him out.. and it got worse and then,..” Sam nodded and put his hand out.

Sam watched officers handle teenagers a lot, and he learned while watching them that reacting aggressively won’t help. Making them defensive won’t give you what you want.
“You should talk to sapnap.” Sam said quietly. “George can’t force them not to hangout with you, and you are correct- he has no right kicking you out.” Sam agreed.
“But you have to help yourself sometimes Alex.” Sam said, keeping his voice calm.
“I know dad but I-“
“Alex. George was in the wrong, and he knows it. But you have to also look at yourself..talk to sapnap and Dream. George is easy to attack because he’s your brother right? But he can’t force them to do anything.” Sam said gently.

Sam sighed and leaned back in the chair. “I’m going to call George down now. Talk it out calmly and then call sapnap.”
Sam believed he had a level head. He was known to be cold occasionally, and even scary at work despite him not handling inmates. But he knew where he stood, and he knew that his kids wouldn’t benefit if he acted like that to them.
Sam learned a lot over the years, but one thing is that his kids were raised with love, and any time they’re angry, they’re hurting and they don’t know how to express it. So all Sam can do is be there for them, and that’s what he does.

“It was approved!” Quackity grinned. “We have the building plot and I even have supporters to help me pay- dad it’s happening!” Quackity laughed and wiggled where he stood
Sam laughed and hugged his son tightly. “I know! It's an amazing hijo!” Sam grinned, pulling back, holding his son's face. “You did so amazing advertising and finding sponsors, and I know you’ll do even better at running this.” Sam praised.
Quackity took the praise well, his face flushing and him just grinning. “It’s gonna be better than any amusement park, or public event-! And Charlie promised that he would be with me the whole time!!” Sam laughed at his son’s excitement.

If there was one thing Sam could change, it would be nothing. He was proud of his son, and he knew he got quackity far in life despite the small hiccups. They were in the past anyway, and there were new things to prepare for.
Part of Sam wishes he prepared him more for what was to come, but seeing the smile and pride on his son's face was better than anything else.
“I’m proud of you. Come on, let’s go see it then!”

Chapter Text

Sam has had the same friends for as long as he can remember. They’ve been through the worst together but somehow stuck it through. They made it through many petty arguments, a problem with drugs, life or death choices. Sam looks back on a lot of it with a hurt heart, knowing things probably would be a lot different if they weren’t so dumb in highschool.

Puffy was Sam's first friend. Sam really doesn’t remember how they became friends; but he does know they really never left each other's sides. They knew how to help each other when the other was struggling, and their parents loved them. Sam and Puffy hardly argued, and often actually were on their side in arguments.
They supported and lifted up, always sticking by. Sam thinks he probably wouldn’t be where he was if Puffy weren’t in the picture.
They were the first of their friend group to have kids too. Neither of them had a partner to support them, and the kids were more so handed to them in desperation. Sam and Puffy weren’t ones to say no to someone in need.

“Puffy” Sam sighed. “I just- I can’t sleep- the crying- George wont stop crying” Sam mumbled, the baby in his arms sniffling and whining. Sam was losing sleep and his mom could only do so much. She was aging too.
“I don’t know what to do, I’ve tried food- I’ve tried toys, and books, and rocking-“ Sam yawned into the phone.
“Sam- Sam-have you tried singing?” Puffy asked. “Singing?”
“Singing” there was a pause before Sam spoke up. “No” he sighed.

“You should try to sing then. It might work!”
“Puffy I can’t sing”
“Yes you can”
“No-“
“Sam, it's your kid. A baby, you’ll be okay” Puffy assured. Sam hated how she was right. Because the little one in his arms seemed to stop crying and grew fascinated as Sam sang a lullaby.
Sam was lucky to have Puffy as a friend, and he doesn’t think he would be standing if it weren’t for her. She was level headed and often was able to find the right words to help him when he was struggling.

Puffy was the one that introduced Sam to everyone else too. Bad, Skeppy and Ant. Sam got along with the three just as he did with Puffy, and honestly it felt nice to have a friend group like them. Bad was fun and a good baker, Skeppy got the group to let loose, and Ant knew how to add fun into even the most dreaded things.
And with them came Ponk, Velvet, and Gumi, and eventually Punz and 5-Up. Sam loved his friend group and he honestly didn’t think there would be anything that could split them up other than the typical drifting.
Well, highschool Sam did. He was wrong. Everyone needs a reality check at some point. The events of his senior year were a blur, and Sam honestly doesn't try to look back on it a lot.

It started with Bad. Bad of all people, got sold something that they came to call the egg. It spread from bad, to ant, and then to ponk. Sam and Puffy hated it. They argued a lot with their friends over it, and they watched as Skeppy was pressured into taking it in fear of losing Bad.
“It’s not that bad sam!” Ant hummed. “Ponk likes it. It would make you guys stop arguing, you know?”
“We don’t argue.” Sam rolled his eyes, his arms crossed. He was trying to avoid Ant, yet found himself trapped.
“You don’t? I thought you argued because he kept ditching you to hangout with Bad and I” Ant smirked.
“Can you just go away?”
“Sam, that hurts you know?” Ant pouted. “I’m just trying to help you out man. We all like it.”
“Velvet doesn’t do it”
Sam and Puffy became a duo again in the midst of this. And Sam wishes he could have stopped it sooner, but he’s not sure where he would be if the egg never got in the way.

Sam and Ponk were high school sweethearts. Sort of… they were very off and on again. But by the time of the egg they were supposed to be on again, It was Sam's senior year after all, and they planned to beat Bad and Skeppy or Callahan and Alyssa in prom court. Yet the egg seemed to get between them. Ponk slowly stopped coming over, going to Bads basement in the night to get High, hardly texting Sam back.
It makes Sam sick thinking about it. The way he figured Ponk was finally getting better because he started hanging out with him more, and they talked about prom every week. Ponk even let sam take him out on a public date!

Yet the day sam wishes he could erase from the hourglass of his life will never go away. Sams truck was old, green, and it was something that everyone very much could point out as being sams.
Yet he wouldn’t get to drive it to prom.
“My mom was thinking we could make pizzas tonight if you wanted to join us!” Sam hummed, smiling as his eyes were glued to the road.
“Uh- actually Sammy! I was hoping you would..join me at a party Bad is hosting?” Ponk asked. Sams heart dropped.
“What?”
“Yea! It would be fun, and everyone’s gonna be there-“
“Ponk I don’t- I’m not going to bads drug party” sam deadpanned. His eyes never left the road, but his knuckles were white as he gripped the wheel.

“Sam, come on! You don’t even have to take it. Just come with me!”
“Ponk- we’ve talked about this- I don’t- why can’t you listen to me when I’m saying I don’t like the egg?”
“Why can’t you just do this one thing for me?” Ponk snapped.
Sam was watching the road. He swears he was, yet the driver came out of nowhere. The sound of glass crunching and ponks scream still gives Sam nightmares.
Sam finds it a little funny how he wasn’t even worried about himself and the way his whole body hurt, but rather he called out for ponk, his first thought was trying to make sure his boyfriend was okay.

They were lucky. Sam came out with a few minor injuries. Ponk had nerve damage in his arm, but that was it for now. The doctors said the damage would get worse with age but god were they lucky.
They didn’t win court that year. They didn’t care either, not as they held each other and slow danced in apologies.

As they grew up and out of highschool, they all remained friends. Bad puffy and Sam were the trio with kids, the rest the babysitters they had to trust. It made an interesting dynamic between them, but Sam saw how their kids interacted. How everyone seemed to get along.
Even as punz grew up, grew into their friend group and introduced his own additions. Everyone stayed close. They stayed together and were never apart.

“Hey hey hey- you cannot- you- gumi!” Bad cried out.
“This is cheating! Velvet is kissing ant to get his way. This is cheating.” Bad pointed out. Gumi just giggled and shook her head. “I think you’re just jealous Skeppy isn’t kissing you” she hummed and leaned into Sam as Sam grinned at the group.
“This game is always unfair” puffy put her face in her hands. Though she seemed annoyed, everyone knew she was grinning.
“Yea, common bad. If you kiss me I won’t go for you.” Skeppy made a fish face in the direction of his husband, only to be met with bads hand pressing into his face and being shoved away.

Sam snorted and rolled his eyes. “Listen, Ant and velvet have a host advantage anyway. This ain’t changing anything” Sam whistled, smiling over at ponk,
“Host advantage? God really? Get over it sam” ant laughed.
And Sam knew that with this, With his friends at his side forever. He would be okay.