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An array of snacks, drinks, and dice are spread across the surface of the small square table that sits in Sebastian's bedroom - the result of a lengthy Solarian Chronicles session that the three of them plan to continue late into the night. As Sebastian draws a new scenario card to play, Sam plunges his hand into an open bag of chips, only for his fingers to be met by crumbs.
"Man, who ate all the good snacks?" Sam complains, glancing between his two best friends as he waits for the culprit to fess up.
"Quit looking at me like that," Sebastian snaps. "You demolished that entire bag before we even made it halfway into the cave; I've barely eaten anything."
Sam sighs, eyeing the bag longingly in hopes that it might magically replenish itself. When that fails, he swivels around in his chair to check the time - Joja Mart was still open for another two hours, though he'd already spent the entirety of his last paycheque on pizza and actual groceries. Sam turns back around, his gaze settling on Abigail as he wonders if she could be convinced to pilfer another batch of snacks from her dad's store.
"There's still hot chips left," Abigail interjects, as if reading his thoughts.
He studies the open bag of chips. X-treme Chipz. Dangerously Hot, the package promises, with pictures of fiery peppers to help drive the point home. The chips themselves are coated in a bright red powder, which coats his fingers as he gingerly pulls one from the bag. "There's no way these are edible," Sam protests.
"Can't be any less edible than your disgusting double butter ranch chips," she fires back as she helps herself to a handful. "Just try one. I dare you." The corner of her mouth, stained red from the chips, twitches up into a smirk.
Sam's never been one to back down from a dare, and he 's not about to start - not with Sebastian watching. Without a second thought, he pops the chip into his mouth, locking eyes with Abigail as he chews.
It tastes entirely normal at first, but before he can chalk the warnings on the bag up to typical Joja marketing, the heat kicks in. Immediately the shards of chip turn into white hot pokers, burning his tongue. He swallows, quickly, and then nearly knocks his can of Joja Cola over in his haste to grab it.
"Fuck, Abby! What the fuck is wrong with your mouth?" Sam chokes out after chugging half the can. It does little to abate the heat - his tongue still stings, his lips burn, and his throat feels like he's swallowed a hot coal.
Abigail cackles in response, as Sebastian grins in amusement. "It can't be that bad, dude," he remarks.
"Yeah?" Sam takes a second swig of his drink for good measure. "Why don't you eat an entire handful then? I dare you."
It's game on from that point - their Solarian Chronicles session swiftly forgotten as Sebastian discards his scenario card in favour of a generous handful of chips, about half of which he actually manages to shovel into his mouth. He's got a look of confidence in his eyes, that quickly dissipates as they begin to water. Sebastian doesn't surrender, but he does deposit the rest of his handful onto a nearby napkin, wincing when he finally swallows.
"Oh fuck that," he spits out, pushing himself away from the table with both hands, before exiting his bedroom in a hurry.
"Yoba, you guys are such drama queens," Abigail says loudly, over the sound of Sebastian taking the basement steps two at a time. She reaches over the tabletop, gleefully scooping up Sebastian's discarded pile of chips. "More for me, though!"
Sebastian returns after a moment, clutching an open jug of milk. "I was going to finish those," he claims, when he spots Abigail eating his chips.
She grins. "No you weren't."
He takes a seat again, before sliding the jug of milk across the table to Abigail. "For you," he says, when she shoots him an inquisitive look.
"Don't need any," she replies, pushing it back towards him. "Unlike you guys I'm not a baby. Besides, I'm not drinking out of anything your lips touched."
"Drink it," Sebastian repeats, "the whole jug. I dare you."
"Come on, Abby," Sam chimes in. "His lips can't possibly be that gross."
Sebastian's lips are curled up in a smirk that rivals Abigail's earlier, looking pink and soft and completely the opposite of gross, in Sam's personal opinion. "Forget it," he says. "We can just go back to playing Solarian Chronicles if Abby's going to chicken out."
Abigail stands up then, and uses the hem of her shirt to wipe the rim of the jug. "I'm not chickening out," she insists, before grabbing hold of the bottle with both hands. The milk inside sloshes around as she lifts it to her mouth, and spills over the top as she begins to drink, dribbling down her chin. It's still over half-full when she sets it back down, gasping.
"No way," she says, wiping her mouth with the back of her hands. "Not unless you want me to puke all over your room."
"Does that mean I win?" Sam asks. "Because if so, I'd like to request some better snacks as my prize."
Sebastian and Abigail exchange glances. "I dunno, was eating a single hot chip that impressive, Seb?" Abigail asks.
"Don't think so," Sebastian decides. "We could definitely come up with a more impressive dare than that."
"Do your worst and I'll do mine," Sam challenges.
Just like that first bite, the dares start off easy. Crank-calling the Joja Customer Service counter in turns, stealing a sample out of Demetrius' lab, all relatively harmless until Abigail looks at the two of them with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"I've got a good one," she says, "and if you actually do it, dinner and drinks at the Saloon are on me this week. Otherwise, you have to buy them for the next two weeks."
It's an offer that's too good to pass up, so Sam accepts it eagerly. "I'll do it."
"I'm not so sure…" Abigail replies. "Maybe I should dare Seb instead?"
"I'll do it," Sam repeats, a little more insistently.
Her eyes flicker between the two of them again. "I dare you to kiss him."
With those words, it's as if the heat in the room has been turned up. His palms are sweaty, his face is on fire, and he can't even bring himself to look at Sebastian.
It's not that he doesn't want to. Sam's fantasized about kissing Sebastian more times than he'd like to admit. Behind the saloon after a night of pool, out on the dock in the glow of the moonlight jellies, sprawled out on his bed together, surrounded by a cloud of steam in the spa pool; he could conjure an endless list of way he'd like to share a kiss with Sebastian.
But on a dare, with Abigail watching? It's not even in his top ten, let alone the way he wants to have his very first kiss.
"Wait," Sebastian says before Sam can protest, and for a moment he's filled with a rush of relief, like a cold sip of a drink. "What if I say no? Does that mean that I have to buy drinks for the next two weeks?"
"Sure," Abigail agrees.
Sebastian looks over at him, and sighs. "Get over here, Sam."
"What?" He's frozen in place, unable to move.
With another sigh, Sebastian gets up and rounds the corner of the table, gently tugging Sam out of his seat. "Let's just get this over with," he says. "I'm not spending my gas money on drinks for the next two weeks."
"His lips can't possibly be that gross," Abigail interjects, throwing Sam's own words back at him.
Sebastian's hands are on his waist, the weight of them gentle and warm through the thin fabric of Sam's shirt, and his face is right there, lips only inches away from Sam's.
"Seb, wait," Sam says, craning his neck in an attempt to put much-needed space between them. "I-I can't."
He can't. He can't do it like this. He can't kiss his best friend, knowing that it's only because he'd rather kiss Sam than pay for a round of drinks. Not his first one.
"Whatever." Sebastian lets go of his waist then, and slinks back to his spot at the table, but not before Sam catches the hurt look on his face. He manages to rearrange his expression by the time he takes his place at the table again, into something of vague annoyance. "Guess the next two weeks are on Sam, then."
Sam sits down without looking at either of them, though he can feel Abigail's eyes on him.
"Let's draw another scenario card," she finally suggests, after an uncomfortable stretch of silence.
It's the last round they end up playing, before the three of them decide to call it an early night. Abigail hunkers down with a mountain of extra pillows and blankets on Sebastian's couch, while Sebastian himself insists on sleeping on an old air mattress on the floor, leaving his bed to Sam.
He feels wrong sitting up in Sebastian's bed alone, in the dark of his room, while Sebastian lies on the floor next to him with his back to Sam. He can't remember a sleepover where they didn't end up sharing his bed, despite Sebastian's protests that Sam takes up more than half of it.
Was everything they shared going to feel wrong now? There's a lump forming in the back of Sam's throat at the thought that he might have ruined their friendship.
He glances at Abigail who's sound asleep on the couch, if her snores are anything to go by. Sebastian, on the other hand is silent, and Sam's almost positive that he's still awake. "Seb?" he tries, in a whisper. When Sebastian doesn't move he tries again, a little louder this time. "Sebastian?"
Sebastian rolls over on the mattress, peering at Sam with one eye open.
"Can we talk?"
He kicks the sheets off himself in place of an answer, padding over to join Sam on the bed.
"I'm sorry," Sam says, twisting the bedsheets in his hands.
"You don't have to be sorry," he finally answers. "You didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't have to kiss someone that you don't want to. I… I'm sorry, too. I should've just told Abby to fuck off."
They both fall silent. Sam waits for Sebastian to retreat back to his air mattress, but he remains seated on the bed, his head lowered. "It wasn't because of you," Sam tells him in a low voice, "if you were wondering. I just… it was my gonna be my first kiss, and I panicked, and-"
Sebastian's eyes grow wide as they meet his. "You've never kissed anyone before?"
"No," Sam admits. He's almost afraid to ask Sebastian, but he does anyways. "Have you?"
Sebastian shakes his head. "I can't believe it," he says. "I was sure you must have kissed somebody by now, even if you never told me about it… Not even Penny?"
"No," he replies again. "I know it's kinda lame, but I really want my first kiss to be special… you know?"
"I don't think it's lame," Sebastian says. He lets his gaze drop back down to the bed. "You deserve to have your first kiss with someone special."
"I think you're someone special." It comes out so quietly that Sam's not even sure that Sebastian hears him at first, until he lifts his head again. "Do you think, um… Do you think we could try again?"
Sebastian studies him for a moment. "Only if you want to."
"I do," Sam assures him. "Do you?"
He reaches out, placing a tentative hand on Sam's leg. "Yeah," he says. "I want to."
Sam shifts closer to Sebastian, who moves his hand to cup the side of Sam's face instead. Slowly, tentatively, Sam closes the gap, pressing his lips to Sebastian's, and though it's brief it makes his lips burn white hot all over again.
"Was it worth the wait?" Sebastian whispers, after they've pulled back.
"I think so," Sam answers, "but maybe you could kiss me one more time? I wanna make sure I remember this moment forever."
Sebastian's lips part, breaking out into a lopsided grin, before he surges forward to kiss Sam once more in a way that sets his entire body ablaze.