Hummingbird Heartbeat, tag: Bobby/Sammie

[AMANDA JEAN LITTLE]

It wasn’t that Bobby made her nervous. She’d been around him enough by now to know that they were okay, talking and laughing. It was easy and fun, and Amy had gotten maybe a little more attached that one would have preferred to get to their so called tutor. He had been showing her how to throw a ball, how to do the whole soft- and baseball thing. Amy wasn’t very talented when it came to sports, but under his watchful eye – and what pretty eyes they were – Amy had actually gotten a grip. And she’d passed PE! Which was her greatest achievement yet, according to her. She was a bit uncoordinated normally, but somehow Bobby brought out the best in her. Maybe it was the fact that she felt motivated enough to actually put in the work, when he was around. She wasn’t sure, but she was pretty sure that meeting him in the park would be a good idea. She’d called him to tell him that she’d passed, and had changed her mind in the last second. Well, okay, not the last second, because she’d just dialled his number when another thought hit her. She wanted to see his face when he saw the passing grade she’d gotten, which mean she had the paper slip in her bag, the bag slung over her shoulder. In it she had a little sketchpad too, because she might just get an idea while she was out and about, and if nothing else, she could always stay in the park and maybe… doodle Bobby’s profile. After he’d left. Or not… She’d have to wait and see. Sitting on a park bench, she had her eyes closed in the sun. So far it had been a good day, and it wasn’t about to change. Time was getting closer to the time they’d set to meet, and it wasn’t for nothing that a slight tickle of butterflies ran through her stomach. When she’d talked to him she’d said she had something she wanted to show him, and something to ask him. The last bit, oh god, she wasn’t sure how much she could say and not say, but at least she figured she could ask. He should be able to give her advice on how to tell the boy she liked that, yes, she liked him. Maybe she should have asked Fred? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -TAG: Bobby/SammieNOTES: my hand is all cramp-y and this is bad, but it's a start? (: WORDS: 401 OUTFIT: clicky

[ROBERT GABRIEL SHERWOOD]

Although he'd gotten a job, he was a bit thrown off by the whole 'graduating' thing. It hadn't been with flying colors- although he had managed A's in both English and History despite having a spotty attendance record. And, well, everything else he'd at least passed so all was well. It was just strange to get home from his job and not really have anything he needed to do- no last minute homework or reading to catch up on... it kind of made starting college in the fall sound really unappealing. But he knew that was for the best, too. At eighteen he didn't mind being the low man on the totem pole at a convenience store in town... that wasn't going to work very well when he wasn't living with his parents anymore. But whatever- he wasn't planning to move out immediately and he was making enough that he could put a little bit aside with each paycheck- it'd balance out in the long run.

So now that school was out, he had an odd amount of free time available to him- so he was quite pleased when Amy called him. He'd liked tutoring her. It was what made him think that studying music could possibly work for him eventually teaching music in a school or something. He'd learned he liked helping people and there was something particularly rewarding about teaching something he really enjoyed and helping someone else enjoy it. Though in Amy's case it might have been tolerated. Although she didn't seem to dislike the tutoring sessions, so that was a win?

He'd agreed to meet up with her in the park, pretty happy... things were going well, other than the 'working up the nerve to tell his parents what he was studying' thing. That was sort of a big one weighing on his mind... but he had Brooke, now. And although the circumstances were less than pleasant, he was feeling oddly... close to his older brother. Which wasn't something he'd ever been able to say up until that point; he'd always just sort of assumed Jack would always tolerate him at best and once one or both of them moved away from Hollow's End, they wouldn't really communicate much more than the occasional phone call to check in and big family gatherings where they were both called back to their parents' home. That kind of bothered him now though- so it probably wouldn't happen. "Hey, Amy," he said, waving to her when he spotted her. "So, what did you want to show me?"

[AMANDA JEAN LITTLE]

Watching Bobby come towards her, Amy’s head did a million things all at the same time. And if you’d ever met Miss Amy Little before, you’d probably have guessed that to be an impossible task. But her mind running wild with her, Amy tried to keep a tight lid on all of her emotions, as they bubbled to the very surface. Most of it didn’t make sense to her, nor did half of it really have anything to do with Bobby. It was just, Amy had always somehow figured she was going to find and older guy and fall for him, maybe have it start like a summer fling or something. But that wasn’t what she wanted out of her relationship with Bobby, and as much as she really, really liked him, suddenly she wasn’t sure. Suddenly she thought about things she didn’t want to think. Like what might her mother say, or what Fred might say if she told him she had a boyfriend. Her stomach flipped over, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the idea of her mother and father being outraged at her having an older boy in her life, for anything else than tutoring, but something was up. Her body seemed to tingle with every emotion that existed, all at the same time, as she waved back at Bobby, a smile plastered on her face. Amy wasn’t very nervous, not really. She’d hugged Bobby the first time she’d been around him for more than four minutes, and that had been really nice – so nice her palms got kind of sweaty now, thinking about it again. ”Hey, Bobby,” she said, her voice somehow low, managing to sound happy and excited, but not too excited. How mature of her! Waving him over to come sit, she smiled, waiting until he was sitting next to her to turn, happy, hands at her knees and with a small playful smile. ”You are never going to guess, okay, maybe you can, but I won’t let you. So, you know I was failing gym, right, and really, there was this whole big deal about me not applying myself, which is ridiculous, because, I like totally apply myself, right?” She paused, but not for too long. ”Well, okay, I do, sometimes,” she allowed with a smile. ”Anyway, I got this and I wanted you to be one of the first people to see it, because I am so proud I might soar away on some pink, fluffly little cloud, and…” Pulling the slip of paper from her bag, she grinned as she pointed to the line with her PE grade, handing it to him. ”Apparently you performed a miracle!” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -TAG: Bobby/SammieNOTES: /palm Bubbly girl. (: WORDS: 451OUTFIT: clicky

[ROBERT GABRIEL SHERWOOD]

Any alteration in Amy's voice... went unnoticed by the boy who clearly had no idea what accidental effect he could have. Honestly, if he'd realized anything was up, he would have put a stop to it long before to keep her from getting her feelings hurt. He adjusted the brim of his hat, keeping the sun out of his eyes on the bright day- one of the many he'd collected over the years, although it was just for the college he'd be attending in the fall. As of graduating he'd switched to wearing it more often instead of the one for his school team.

He sat down next to her and nodded at her to encourage her to say what was up. He sort of guessed, seeing that she seemed pleased, but he was still pretty proud of her when she showed him the little slip of paper that showed that she'd passed. "That's great! Before you know it, the school team is going to try to get you to join up or something," he teased her. He really couldn't picture her joining any organized sports team... ever. Although he really did think she'd be good enough if she wanted to be. That was really half the battle it took to being good at that sort of thing. Of course, that was easy for him to think, being naturally given to both athleticism and music.

He laughed, but wanted to make sure she was proud of herself, too. "You were the one who put the hard work in! I couldn't have made you good if there was nothing there to work with. You were the one who earned it." He meant it- it sucked to have to work extra hard at something you didn't enjoy very much, like he knew she didn't enjoy this sport. And he really didn't want her to think it had all been due to him and not due to her own efforts. "So what are you going to do, now? Like with the rest of your summer, since you won't be spending it in summer school to repeat gym?" The thought of that sounded awful, knowing you were in school when everyone else got to go out and have fun. It was part of the reason he had been working much harder than normal for that last quarter- he didn't want to have his diploma held until he got the credit for some class he failed.

[AMANDA JEAN LITTLE]

Laughing, Amy shook her head at him. Yeah, right, like she’d even say yes if they did. She sincerely doubted the school team for anything would ask her to join. She was only really good at one thing, and there wasn’t a team for that. It wasn’t like art was a team sport or anything. Unless you played that game where you drew something and folded the paper up to let the next person continue it, but that was more of sisterly game or a friendly game than it was any kind of sport. Chuckling lightly still, she bit her bottom lip and looked at him, sun catching her eyes and making the sparkle. ”That’d really prove 2012 is the end of the world,” she said, biting back another small laugh. God, he just made her feel—happy. And not in a strained or weird way. Amy mad an effort to not roll her eyes; it hadn’t really been that hard work. Okay, it had been sports and it had been throwing a ball around, but it had also been the pretty perfect little excuse to wear tight fitting gym clothes and hang out with a really, really cute guy. So yeah, that had been really tough on her – or not. ”Okay, okay, that might be true. But still, it’s not like my teacher made any progress when trying to teach me, so you know, still say it’s a lot to do with you,” she said brightly, her hand reaching out to touch his arm. It was strange, how sometimes touching someone made all the difference. How before, you heart could be beating like normal, a slow steady beat, and then suddenly, just because you touched someone, your heart would beat a little faster, hammering out an almost uneven beat. It had happened once before, but she’d been much younger then, and she’d discarded it a long time ago. That might never happen, but Bobby… Well, he was right there, wasn’t he? ”Well, uhm, I’m actually thinking- well… That’s part why I asked you to come?” she said, feeling her forehead wrinkle and her mouth pull together, making a smiling but insecure face. ”I mean, I’m going to paint and hang out, but, I kinda of- I wanted to ask your advice on something, because I feel like maybe I can talk to you and get a good answer,” she smiled. And it was true. She loved her sisters, but this really was something she needed his opinion, since it – sort of, kind of, most certainly – involved him. ”I mean, unless you have something you have to do, because I can, it can, I mean- It could wait,” she fumbled, tripping over her own words like nothing she’d ever experienced before. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -TAG: Bobby/SammieNOTES: might have been listening to I want to know what love is about ten times when writing this - oops! :b WORDS: 446OUTFIT: clicky

[ROBERT GABRIEL SHERWOOD]

He grinned at her end of the world comment. "Well.. maybe so," he gently teased her. "But you could totally do it if you wanted to." The fact that his teasing could be considered flirting wasn't registering to him- he was honestly teasing Amy like she was a little sister or something. All he knew was that he had fun hanging out with her and they seemed to get along pretty well, which he couldn't say was true for his interactions with most people. He slowly nodded when she insisted that her success was to do with him, not just herself. "Suppose I won't argue with you, there- but I really hope my calling isn't to be like a gym teacher or something." Teaching music had some appeal... with some coaching on the side? He could picture that sort of life pretty easily. But he was pretty sure he didn't want to spend the rest of his life stuck in a gym with a bunch of teenagers, half knowing the class could basically be brushed off and the
rest split between caring way too much about winning and not caring at all. He looked down, sort of confused when she touched his arm... but didn't put that much thought into it. It might have been a touchy-feely person/talks with your hands kind of thing. Although it did ping on his radar that it was a little weird.

He wasn't expecting a heart to heart, though of course if she wanted to talk, he'd listen. He'd mostly been expecting her to tell him about a hobby she was picking up or maybe a trip that was planned and then he'd try to come up with something interesting that he had been up to... "Oh yeah? What's up?" he asked, trying to prompt her to say it, though he was a little confused. Help with another sport she thought she might like better? It didn't seem likely. Maybe she knew he was into music? That seemed a little more up her alley, at least.

He was a little surprised when she started to ramble- that was normally something that he did when he was off ease... he lightly, briefly touched her shoulder in the hope of grounding her a bit. "No, I don't have anywhere to be... can't promise I can help, but give it a go, maybe I can help," he said, waiting, a little concerned because she seemed so nervous.

[AMANDA JEAN LITTLE]

Amy actually rolled her eyes at him this time; she wasn’t going to be joining anything of the sort. If nothing else, she didn’t like sweaty dressing rooms or, you know, the whole locker room, sports thing. If she got dirty and greasy, it was going to be from paint and charcoal, not from running around on a field and getting muddy. Maybe she was every bit as much of a priss as she’d been called once or twice, but who cared? Amy sure didn’t. Anymore. It was yet another thing she owed to the game of baseball and, again, in a way, to Bobby. She’d started thinking less about being in the in-crowd and more about actually enjoying high school. Because she only had one chance at it and, well, this was it. ”Your calling is not to be a PE teacher, trust me. That would just be wrong and unfair to teenage girls everywhere,” she teased, smiling as she did. Okay, so teasing, flirting, where was that line again? Amy wasn’t really sure, and right in the moment she was so nervous she wouldn’t have cared anyway. Jittery, maybe was a better way of putting it, than calling her nervous. The fact that he was sitting there, pretty close, and that she could feel the palms of her hands turn a little clammy, well that was sign enough this wasn’t going to go great. Or maybe it was going to be perfect. That was a big maybe, because she just couldn’t wrap her head around what to say. ”Okay, I’ll, give it a go,” she repeated, letting out a small breath, and taking a deep one. ”So, uhm, there’s, there’s this guy, right? And, he’s a little bit older than me, but we get along great, and we have fun, at least I do.” Biting her bottom lip, she looked down at her hands, wringing them in her lap. ”I mean, it’s not that I haven’t dated before, but I just kind of, I dunno, I just really like him, and, I have no idea how to tell him, because, like I said, he’s a bit older than me, and I don’t want him to think I’m just some kid with a crush,” she said, looking up. Her eyebrows were knit together and she bit down over her bottom lip again. ”So I just, I don’t know how to tell him, because I think we’re friends? And I’m just a little… unsure, of how to tell him, I guess.” She felt herself blush as she shook her head. ”It’s stupid, but, well. So yeah…” Tearing her eyes from him, again, she glanced out over the park, trying to clear her heart. Amy had played out this moment in her head though, and she had been cool, confident, asking him for help to tell a boy that she liked him – she had been the epitome of collected, in her daydreams. Turned out she wasn’t as confident as she liked to think. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -TAG: Bobby/SammieNOTES: oh lord... WORDS: 506OUTFIT: clicky

[ROBERT GABRIEL SHERWOOD]

He laughed at the comment about it being unfair to girls if he ended up a PE teacher... it almost went over his head, though he could tell Amy was teasing him about his looks. He honestly didn't spend too much time thinking about his appearance, other than making sure a haircut or his shirt didn't look dumb. Sure, he'd had a few girlfriends, but his own appearance was sort of lost on him. "I guess I'll take your word for it? No worries, I don't really want to do that, anyway. If I end up teaching anything, it'd probably be music." He did sort of (finally) realize that her words could be taken as flirting, but he dismissed it. They were friends. She was teasing him. He teased her, too. It wasn't any big deal. Besides all that, he had a girlfriend. So this wasn't flirting, this was friendly teasing.

He didn't push her and just sat there quietly, giving her a chance to talk. He froze a little when he realized it was about a boy- he didn't think he was really the one to be giving anyone love advice. Besides, he knew she had sisters who would surely be better at giving advice than him. Still... maybe she just wanted a guy's perspective? He could tell her what he thought, at least. He wasn't sure to make of the fact that he was older, and he was almost too nervous to ask how much older. Someone his age wouldn't seem weird- but he had a feeling he'd be a bit compelled to beat someone up if she said she'd been talking with some twenty something, who was almost surely taking advantage of her.

He took in a breath. "Well, telling him will help, if you're sure you like him. Otherwise you'll just keep beating yourself up about it," he said, gently. He considered mentioning that he'd been in the same situation- it'd taken him weeks to work up the nerve to tell Brooke he liked her, and it'd all worked out fine. But he didn't, not wanting to rub in his own good luck when she was unsure. "And he'll probably be flattered that a girl asked him out or whatever."

When she'd finished, he quickly stepped back in- he didn't like that she seemed so nervous, but he guessed this wasn't something easy to talk about. "Hey, stop- your feelings aren't dumb. And if he turns you down because he thinks you're a kid with a crush, like you said, it's just his loss. Even if he doesn't return your feelings, you'll probably feel better if you just know, rather than waiting."

[AMANDA JEAN LITTLE]

Amy looked at Bobby blankly for a bit, while he told her maybe it was a good idea to tell the guy. Well, she knew that much, too. It was just that the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to tell Bobby how sweet and funny he was, the less her mouth actually seemed to work with her. Not for lack of talking to boys; she had plenty of guy friends. It was just… this was Bobby, and it wasn’t just like going home to tell Sara about a really pretty dress that would suit her perfectly, it was about feelings that Amy wasn’t sure she’d ever had before. Not like this. It was horribly unreasonable of her to expect anything out of telling Bobby, but the way he seemed to see it did encourage her. ”I do like him, and I don’t think I can remember feeling like this about a guy before,” she confessed, feeling a little more level. She listened to everything Bobby had to say, taking time to really hear what he was saying and not just nodding along as if she understood. It took her a little while, looking down at her hands, after he’d told her she should just say it, to make up her mind. Amy wasn’t much for keeping secrets, and she was honestly quite bad at it too. She knew there was a fine line between saying things flat out and just insinuating them. For all she knew, Bobby might have a girlfriend, or even a boyfriend – what did she know? – and that little fact discouraged her just a little bit. Amy didn’t want her first ‘hey I like you a lot’ moment to be muddled with the messy feelings of the person not liking you back. She knew she’d be able to handle it, she just wasn’t sure it was something she wanted to experience! However, she looked up at Bobby with a very small, slow smile and turned herself more towards him. She’d been watching a bit too much TV she reckoned, but she really wanted to see the look in his eyes, on his face, when she told him that she hadn’t just been talking about some random guy. Swallowing hard, Amy almost got rid of that lump in the back of her throat. Here goes nothing, she thought and… ”So, I like you. I think there’s not better way of saying it – I was trying to figure out what to say and do here, but honesty is the best policy right, and you told me to tell the guy, so I’m telling you… I. I, uhm, I like you. Simple as that. Or well, not really simple, but you know what I mean… I hope.” She smiled, tightly and nervously, looking at him, waiting for a reaction. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -TAG: Bobby/SammieNOTES: oh lord... WORDS: 477OUTFIT: clicky

[ROBERT GABRIEL SHERWOOD]

Bobby listened, and when Amy kept talking, he assumed it would be asking for more advice. He was glad to give it, even though he wasn't totally sure he was the best one to offer it. It had taken him a ridiculously long time to ask Brooke out, even when given the perfect opportunity. He was sure she probably would have preferred to be asked out to prom so they could have gone as a couple rather than him asking her out once there... but then again, what had actually happened was pretty perfect, too- at the dance, all dressed up and all (even if she was just as pretty to him dressed down, just hanging out around her house). But he could at least give Amy a guy's perspective on her feelings, in the hope that it helped?

And... that was when everything Amy had said and done all clicked together in his head. It was all really logical once you thought about it; he probably should have thought about it more. She had a crush on him. The back and forth wasn't just friendly teasing like he'd interpretted it as, she was interested in him. He was kicking himself, knowing he'd accidentally encouraged it. He'd been too friendly, even when at first he was just meant to be helping her pass her phys ed class. He had honestly just meant to be friendly and was feeling really bad about leading her on. He couldn't stop kicking himself- he should have made it clear that while he definitely considered her a friend, that was all and while he liked her, he didn't like her. At least a casual mention of his girlfriend before she'd gotten to attached to him would have helped.

"Okay, wow." He said, and he reached over and squeezed her shoulder and realized it might have been just another way to send her the wrong sort of signal: however he knew what he needed to do and was trying to do it as gently as he possibly could and thought affection might help. "That is really-" he wasn't sure how to finish the sentence. 'Sweet' might seem patronizing. |"Flattering," he tried, and realized the word choice was probably giving away the fact that this wasn't going to end wonderfully- however he was mostly attempting to not hurt her feelings. He knew he couldn't give her what she wanted, but he could be compassionate. "However I have a girlfriend. But I do not think you're some silly little girl with a crush, okay? Really." He was blanking on what to do, or say to her to make her realize she didn't need to be embarrassed or anything. He didn't want to just... dismiss her, but he also didn't want to talk so much in case she had the impulse to run off to save face- not that he thought she needed to, but he'd understand if she wanted to.

((oh lord))

[AMANDA JEAN LITTLE]

Amy swallowed hard, and somehow the fact that she’d told him didn’t overwhelm her, or crush her. Like she’d thought it would. Nope, instead she felt a little better. She actually felt good about herself. Amy didn’t really- well, of course she cared what happened now, if everything panned out the way she wanted she’d be so happy. But the fact that she had managed to tell him, to get the actual words out of her mouth and not die of embarrassment while she actually told him… She felt a little proud of herself, and somehow, even if he turned her down now, she wouldn’t be too upset with herself. Because she had been honest, and she had been brave, and that was more than she could say about herself up until that point. Unless it came to painting or sewing, Amy lacked a lot in the confidence department, even if it wasn’t apparent at first sight. Telling Bobby, she felt good about herself. Expectantly looking up at him as he said something, Amy’s eyes were a little wide, filled with a strange mix of innocence and hope that she had no idea where it came from. She hadn’t been very innocent before that, and she wasn’t the most hopeful person on the planet, but there she was, hoping, feeling for once like a fifteen year old girl asking a boy to like her back. Because wasn’t that what she was asking? That’s when it dawned on her – no, it wasn’t. She wasn’t asking for him to like her back, or for him to pity her, part of her had just wanted to tell him and get that out there. To be honest, up front with what she thought about him. As much as she liked him, and man alive, did she ever, Amy didn’t really expect him to take her in his arms, kiss her and tell her everything was going to be perfect from then on. She did kind of expect what happened though, after a second’s thought. Amy laughed a little, biting her bottom lip as she looked up at him. Flattering. All of the nervous rambling had left her with her confession, and left was an easy smile she had no idea she could conjure up like that. ”It’s okay,” she smiled, understanding perfectly that a guy like Bobby would have a girlfriend. But she hadn’t known, and if she had, she probably would have been a little less flirty, and more friendly. He was a good guy, and at the heart of it, that’s why she’d been attracted to him, his good looks helping the matter along. ”I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, but I’m… I’m glad I told you, and it’s okay.” She let out a slow, a little shaky breath. ”At least I told you, right? Maybe next time I like someone, I won’t be so nervous. Thank you… for being so nice about this,” she said, smiling at the same time she frowned. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -TAG: Bobby/SammieNOTES: this is... not very good, and I am so, so, so sorry for taking so long to get back to you! WORDS: 505OUTFIT: clicky