A Beat for Cherry Bomb

Ch.4 Today and Tomorrow

Sam greets them as they walk in the door, the trio still rambling about the past events. All of their eyes are lit up, each of them chatting of a different feat.

Sam's face morphs into a fond smile, and goes to offer them all water, seeing each of their foreheads coated with sweat.

"I guess it went well," he asks, a smile still present on his face.

"OH MY GOD FUCK YES! It was literally amazing!" Tommy explodes. He opens up the water bottle, downing it all in one go.

"You should have seen the moves Tommy pulled off! Ohohohoh oh- you wouldn't believe the stop he just did!" Tubbo then goes to explain the little details of their expedition, going very in depth with Tommy's stop.

Tommys face was still plastered with a smile as he walked over to the recycling bin right by Sam's office. He looked into the office for a second, eyes landing on the woman sat in the chair. Her back was facing the door but Tommy knew that hair from anywhere.

The brown and white, curly as ever, head of the school's counselor, Ms. Puffy. It also just so happens to be the woman he saw when he first met Sam at that gas station (did you really think he would just accept a random dude's job?).

The man was talking to Tommy, but all that Tommy could see were the bikes, the helmets, and Ms. Puffy.

Wait-

Ms. Puffy?

He quickly looks back at her, a slightly shocked expression on his face. She silently chuckles, amused at Tommys reaction. Her eyes land on Sam, then back to Tommy before she mouths 'you can trust him, he's cool' giving a very subtle nod and thumbs up.

With that confirmation for the adult he trusts most, he's made his decision. He zones back in onto Sam, the man rambling about pay or something, like Tommy cares.

Tommy says a quick 'yes' in confirmation, startling Sam. Puffy silently chuckles from behind him, a fond smile landing on her face.

She moves to grab her helmet, sliding it over her head. Her visor is already down, but she quickly looks back at Tommy and gives another nod of confirmation. Then she's gone, along with everyone else.

If Puffy trusts this dude then he can too.

"Puffy?" He asks, confusion lacing his tone. "What are you doing here? Don't you have like- paperwork or some shit?"

Puffy looks back to Tommy, slightly startled. Once she sees who it is, a small smile grows on her face.

"No, not today. I just wanted to see how it was going at the shop," she stood up from the chair she was sitting in. "Heard you got a bike and stuff today."

"Yea! I did! I have many questions."

She chuckles in response. "You'd have to ask Sam about that one buddy." She began making her way to the door, but stopped before she could get there. "He really likes you, you know. He's barely known you for a couple days but..."

"But what?" The blond urges.

"He already sees you as a son." She forcibly pushes out. "Just... don't tell him I said that. He's a little embarrassed."

She walked out before Tommy could even say a word, not that he was going to. He was honestly just stunned. Sam sees him as a son?

I guess he has been more of a father in the past few days than his own in the past 10 years. A small smile grows on his face, but he barely notices it there. His mind is still running with thoughts, but they're all good. No bad thoughts. None of 'I have my own dad' (he really doesn't) or 'he's just a creepy dude' (he really isn't) or even 'this is just weird' (he really didn't think it was).