Dedicated to @full-time-lunartic for the cover at the top✨ Thank youu💙

Chapter Twenty-Nine: "Are You Stupid?"

"IT'S IN YOUR apartment?" I asked Sam for the hundredth time, walking with him to the elevator. We entered the empty elevator and I leaned against the mirrored wall. My foot tapped against the ground impatiently and Sam looked amused the entire time at my slight irritation.

"Yes. Just have some patience, would you?"

"Have you met me? That word is not in my vocabulary."

A half smile appeared on Sam's face at my aggravation. I've waited many days and he would remind me the entire time that he had something waiting for me the entire time. The anticipation was killing me especially when he would ask me to guess and never answered to any of my suggestion. Idiot.  "Why is this elevator ride so fricking long?"

"Maybe because I live at the top floor?" I shot Sam the dirtiest look I could muster at his sarcasm and he stilled, exhaling dramatically when the door opened. "Okay, go ahead. It's inside."

I ran to the door, almost tripping over my feet. I opened it quickly with my key and stepped inside. I looked around, a frown on my face when I saw nothing new. "Okay, where is it?"

"Wait for it." Sam closed the door before putting his hands on my shoulders, gradually embracing me from behind.

I heard it before I could see it. The sound of Peter Cahill screaming in frustration as he made his way over to us. "Finally. Take it. Take it. I hate this thing. It's too...happy. I couldn't stand being with it for three hours. Take it now."

My eyes widened at the puppy in his hands that was yapping happily. My jaw dropped as I reached out for it. "Oh my God."

"Take it. Take it now." Peter shoved the puppy in my hands and I almost screamed hugging the puppy to my chest. It was a golden retriever almost like Freddy except it's fur was black instead of golden. 

I turned around to face Sam. "You got me-"

"Yeah. Caleb and I went to find you the perfect one. And this little guy had the recessive out of his brothers and sisters. I know how much you love Andrew's dog and I figured you would want one of your own. Believe it or not I can tell when you're missing your best friend when you're here and I thought this would at least remind you of him."

"Sam," I leaned over to kiss him, only to pull back when the puppy continued barking, getting between us. "God, what are we going to name you? So it's a boy right?"

"Yeah." Then I made up my mind.

"Okay," I held him in my arms looking down at its wide eyes. "I'm going to call you Soccer."

"What?" Sam and Peter said at the same exact time.

Peter looked at me like I was insane. "This thing is going to be like your first child. For the both of you. And you want to name it soccer? What the..."

"Yeah. Soccer. You like that?" I directed the question to the puppy and he squirmed in my arms. I put him down, watching him run around our feet happily. "See, he likes it."

"He didn't say anything." Peter muttered, eyeing Soccer carefully.

"Soccer." Sam repeated, his eyes on our dog too.

"Yeah. It's perfect." I told both them.

"Your first child and you name him Soccer. I can't believe you people. Your next kid might as well be named basketball or any other godforsaken sport." Peter walked into the kitchen.

"He doesn't seem very happy." I pointed out, kneeling to gently feel the fur on Soccer's head. He rubbed his head against my hand and I smiled before standing back up. "Um, Sam thank you so much but you know that residence doesn't allow pets-"

"Soccer will stay here for the most part," He assured me. "That's why Peter's a little snide today. I've got it covered. He's all yours."

"Nope," I linked my arms around Sam's neck, hugging him tightly. "You heard Peter. He's our child and if we get another dog, then we can call him Football."

Sam stared at me the same way Peter almost did. "Babe no."

"I thought you would like that."

"You're funny." I laughed at his sarcastic tone, looking down at Soccer. 

He ran around our legs twice with a smile before running over to the kitchen where I could hear Peter curse loudly. I laughed at the profanities coming from Peter, hearing him tell Soccer to stop following him. I turned back to Sam, my chin on his shoulder. "Thank you."

"You really love him?"

"You got me a dog that reminds me of home, named after our favorite sport-the way I say it, not the way you do-and he annoys Peter. Of course, I love him."

"I'm glad," Sam said, kissing me again longer than expected. "Now, I'm going to get Soccer before Peter does anything he might regret in five minutes."

"Take the little fucker. He's chasing me." Peter loudly cursed in the living room.

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Two weeks without Maddy sucked. I was so used to having her in my life with her constant Youtubers and interrupting me whenever I tried to read but I missed her terribly despite us only knowing one another these pasts four to five months.

When I entered our dorm room that very day, I surprised her with a hug that made us both collapse onto her bed. "Maddy!"

"Macy!" She shrieked back but pushed me off her. "Wait. Why are you so happy and...perky? What the-did you and Sam finally have sex or something?"

"What? No," I sat down next to her. "Why does everyone always resort our relationship to sex?"

"I'll move on from the topic," Maddy raised her had in fake surrender. "Now, why are you so happy?"

"He got me a dog."

"He got you a-what? A dog?"

"Yeah," I pulled out my phone and showed Maddy the videos I had already taken. "Look. His name is Soccer."

Maddy pulled back and stared at me incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"You named your dog after a sport that you play?"

"Yes. Why are people having a problem with this?"

"You're one of the weirdest people I know, I swear. He's so cute." She murmured, flicking through the multiple photos I had on my phone. "What happened over your break?"

"It was pretty good. I go to see old friends and family. What about you?" I told her.

"Something else went down didn't it? Was it that Alexis girl?" 

"No. Surprisingly Alexis hasn't done anything yet but she's going to be in London like soon."

"How soon?"

"She has a photoshoot and-"

"What? Sam's going to be in it too?"

I took the hat off my head and flung it towards my bed, smiling genuinely. "Yup. With a bunch of other people for this designer. He's going to be on billboards everywhere."

"Damn."

"And there's also the whole her being part of this runway show in a few weeks and from what I know is that Sam is definitely going."

"Why?"

"Because they're friends and friends support one another. There's also the deal that his mom is going to be there too so per Liz I am going to have to be there."

"Why?" Maddy asked again, laughing.

"Liz wants to convince me to be a model...again." I love Sam's mom. She's one of the greatest people in my life but her trying to get me to be something I really don't want to be gets a little too much. But she has good intentions.

"You really should do it." Maddy told me, crossing her legs on her bed.

"No. Moving on. Okay, remember how you noticed that Sam didn't like Matteo? When they first met?"

Maddy instantly rolled her eyes, fixing her glasses for a brief second. "Oh Matteo, that stupid Italian son of a-"

"He will never subscribe. Get over it." I exclaimed and Maddy quickly shut up, turning her body to give me full attention. "Anyway, Sam doesn't trust Matteo around me."

"You mean he's jealous of Matteo." Maddy corrected, giving me a look.

"Kind of. Yeah." I agreed.

"I can see why. Matteo's attractive. The shoulder length hair thing really works for him. Also, his personality is attractive. It is definitely one of those you can't let go-"

"Maddy, just date him already." I persuaded for her sake and mine. I would be happy if both of my friends got together. But I would be even happier if Sam understood that Matteo had someone else to fully give his attention to.

"I'm not dating that guy," She directly said. "We're not even friends until he apologizes."

They were both so childish it let me dumbfounded especially since they were both arguing over something so stupid. "I can't believe you two. Anyway, I kind of suggested that they should hang out-"

Maddy instantly hissed giving me her best "what the heck are you doing' face. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"You realize that Sam is still going to be jealous of this guy, right?"

"But it doesn't make sense why he should be. Matteo's not going to try anything. We're just friends. And even if he did, I can tell him to back off and Sam will be informed instantly."

"Honey, think about it. Matteo is in your major. He's taking most of the same classes as you. He is going to be spending way more time with you than Sam will get to since you both already have busy schedules. When you don't understand something, who are you going to call? Sam? No. Matteo."

"Are you telling me that I have to switch my study for my relationship to not have a problem?'

"No. I'm telling you that you need to breathe for a second and realize that Sam's not being paranoid. I think that he's not just worried about Matteo feeling something for you. It's that with all the time you both might spend in the future that there's a slight possibility that you might fall for him."

"But that's not going to happen."

"I know that. You know that. Sam's just worried. He has insecurities Macy. Do you forget that even though he seems invincible, that overall he's still human?"

I took a moment to think about that. I've seen Sam at his most vulnerable. I've seen him cry in front of me and Caleb's seen even worse before I could. Sam was human, he had feelings like everyone and although he liked to hide them for the sake of others, he couldn't hide it from me. He could get stressed but wouldn't bother showing it. Stressed about soccer and school and possibly his future. Now with Matteo, he might be even more stressed for the sake of our relationship.

"He's one of the strongest people I know. It's hard to remember that little things can bother him."

"Well now you remember," Maddy said promptly. "Now-I'm sorry. Sam and Matteo hanging out? This is the kind of decisions you make when I'm not in the same part of Canada with you? Are you stupid?"

Yup. Missed her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Stop!" Maddy exclaimed hours later at Matteo who had just closed his mouth after only saying a sentence.

"Why? It's fun annoying you."

"I didn't sign up for this." Maddy fell back in step with me. "Does he have to make a pun every single day?"

"You get used to it over text but never in person." I agreed when we entered the pub. Sam was behind us all, a hat on his head, his phone in his hands. "You okay?" I asked him when he tucked it into his pocket.

The pub was buzzing, there were people left and right of us all chatting and some laughing in corners. The faint smell of alcohol lingered the air but was masked when Sam leaned closer to me. "I'm alright. You didn't tell me he was very annoying."

"I thought you already thought he was."

"I said I didn't trust him, not that he's annoying. But his absurd puns make me think that he's not just annoying. He's insufferable. I don't understand how you think this night is going to end."

"Hopefully it will end with you not having hatred towards him."

"I'd rather be at the flat with Soccer than stare at his face."

"You'd rather do a lot of things than stare at his face, Sam." If Matteo possibly made a wrong move I think Sam may be thinking of punching his face as well. 

"I'm doing this for you, you realize this right Hazel?"

"I know." I smiled, grabbing the rod by the side, noticing that Matteo already had one in his hand. "Alright Matthew, it's time to lose."

"My name isn't Matthew, Victoria." He said while I took off my jacket and put it on the chair, the heat in the place was already making me feel sticky in contrast to the cold weather outside.

"My name isn't Victoria, Matthew." I shot back when he racked them up, all the balls into a perfect triangle in the center. "Just for that, I'm going first."

I could hear Maddy and Sam on the side, the both sitting on stools near the pool table. "Who do you think is going to win?" Maddy asked Sam.

"One million dollars on my girlfriend." He glanced my way and I gave him a heartwarming smile while preparing for my shot.

"Okay, how about instead of one million dollars because some of us don't have all the money in the world, we bet five dollars. I'm trying to get rid of the little Canadian money I have in my pockets that aren't pounds anyway."

"Trying to get rid?" Matteo looked at Maddy with disbelief. "Do you really think I'm going to lose to her?"

Maddy and Sam exchanged a look and I couldn't help but grin, closing my left eye to focus and line up my shot correctly. "Yes." Maddy said.

"Wow, Maddy no faith in me?"

"Ever since you've been mean to me and brought your stupid puns outside of a cellphone, yes. I have no faith in you."

Matteo chuckled. "We'll see."

I took the shot and watched the balls roll in different directions off the table. My eyes scanned the pool table and I was pleased with my action, making sure to knock Matteo's shoulder with mine as I moved around.

"Well, this is rather interesting." Sam mumbled with his arms crossed about fifteen minutes later.

I had one solid ball left to get my chance to get the black one in while Matteo had two. Matteo looked rather confident, getting ready to take the shot with his cue. When he did, I had seen the opening he had before he probably did. He killed two birds with one stone, knocking the lined balls both into one socket.

Sam's eyebrows raised in surprise and I held my cue against me, gripping the wooden rod tightly. "Sam?"

"Yeah, love?" There was a faint smile on his face. He already knew. 

"Can you get me water, please?"

"Sure." Sam hopped off the stool and went over to the counter.

Matteo smirked. "You ready to lose now Macy?"

"Not yet. It's still your turn. All you must do is get the black ball into a socket. And then you win. You know how to play right?"

"I'm beating your ass in it right now. I think I know how to play." He whispered that last part, bumping his shoulder lightly against mine and humming under his breath. Dumbegg.

Sam returned with water in his hand and I gladly took it, handing my cue for him to hold. I sipped my drink, peering at Matteo over the rim and waiting. Just waiting.

He was confident. Really confident that he had this in the bag.

I spotted Maddy already videotaping this entire thing and laughed internally. Matteo lined himself up with the easiest spot to get the black ball into.

When he shot it, I didn't even react. The end of his cue hit the ball softly and I watched the ball roll towards the socket only to stop right near the edge.

"Fuck." Matteo cursed and I bit back a smile at his profanity.

"That's what happens when you too cocky." I sang, hearing Sam chuckle behind me.

I pushed Matteo away from the table and not even under twenty seconds I had won the game with a proud grin on my face. Sam walked over to Maddy. "Pay up."

"You're the rich boy here, why do I have to pay you?"

"Pay up." Sam repeated, a snarky grin on his face.

"Good game Victoria." Matteo lightly hip checked me.

"Why am I not surprised that you lost?" I asked sarcastically. "Now since I won, it means you have to do something."

"Like what?"

"Buy me food."

"You're kidding."

"For future's heads up," Maddy spoke, slapping the money into Sam's hand. "Macy never jokes about food. Never."

Matteo handed me his cue, rolling his eyes. "Fine."

When he left, Sam had started to rack the balls up and I sat next to Maddy. "What did he say?"

"He thinks Matteo's shirt is way too tight and that he's-and I quote a 'possibly a lazy prick who needs to wake the fuck up and realize that my girlfriend is going to kick his ass'."

I licked my lips, leaning my elbow against the counter behind us. "So, what I am hearing is..."

"He's not going to like him. He's not going to like him now. He's not going to like him ever."

"Thought so." I mumbled, taking a sip of my water.

"What's going to happen now? We're just going to pretend the entire night that Sam's going to ignore him and that Matteo might already have the slightest hint that Sam doesn't like him being friends with his girlfriend?"

"Um..." I trailed off.

"I got you chips and a burger." Matteo said, sliding the plate onto the counter and sitting next to me.

"I hate to break it to you, pal but I- like you-like the four of us here- is on this team. Now, as much I love food, you're going to have to go back and get me something healthy." I shoved the pate towards him.

Matteo stared at me. "You kidding me?"

"Get me something else. I should you remind you that I won." I dragged out the last word, pointing a finger to his face that eh quickly swatted away.

"Okay, okay. What's even healthy here? Take off the lettuce in the burger and say bon appetite."

"Get her a salad." Maddy suggested, looking through her phone.

"A salad? Really? You're kidding me?"

"No."

"Fine. Maddy, lettuce go get that salad." He obnoxiously winked at the end of that sentence. That was so bad. I'm mentally puking but laughing at his effort at the same time.  

Maddy and I groaned simultaneously. I rubbed my temple with my hand. "Do you ever just...I don't know why we're friends anymore."

"I've been asking myself that since we came into the New Year." Maddy mumbled.

I heard Sam clear his throat loudly, holding a cue in his hands. He pushed his fingers through his hair and I fingers tapped against the counter, kind of wishing I was running my own fingers through his hair myself. He didn't make eye contact when we gave him our attention. "So...Matteo is it?"

"Yeah." Matteo said, getting off the stool.

Sam took off his leather jacket, holding it on his arm and exposing his black shirt underneath. "How about you go get my girl a salad and then we can play a round? We can do darts after seeing that you like a challenge?"

"Um...yeah. Yeah-yeah, sure man. We'll do that." Matteo disappeared to get me my food.

"Hmm," Maddy hummed and I could see her looking at me from the corner of my eye. "My girl. He doesn't really call you that. Possessive boyfriend today."

"Sure Mads, we can go with possessive boyfriend today," Sam smirked, moving over to us and putting his leather jacket behind me. While doing that, he leaned in pressing a hard kiss to my mouth. When he pulled away I was left lightheaded and my cheeks were flushed. "I'd rather say that I'm looking out for her but potato, po-tah-to think what you want."

I cleared my throat, regaining myself. "You really think you can beat him in pool?"

Sam leaned his face in close to me