User blog:Metool Bard/Fanfiction: Step by Step (Part 1)

I haven't read that many SaLuna stories, but in the ones I have read, Sam is usually portrayed as calm and collected while Luna is tripping over herself trying to make the relationship work. However, since we now know a little more about Sam, I think it's possible to flip the script a little. Consider this next story a bit of an epilogue to Racing Hearts (thus making this my first episode epilogue for TLH) as we dive into:

Step by Step
“So then, after a few letters, she actually wrote a song for me and played it just outside my bedroom window. Totally cliché, I know, but it was just so sweet of her.”

Luna blushed and awkwardly looked around as she kept pace with her friends. She and Sam had just told the others that they were officially together, and of course, they wanted the juicy details. In Luna’s mind, there wasn’t much to tell. Her friends already knew she had the hots for Sam, and they firmly believed that them getting together was only a matter of time. Sam, however, didn’t seem to agree, as she had no problem going on and on about every step of Luna’s courtship.

“Yeah, I noticed you and Luna were hanging out a lot more after that,” Sam’s friend Janice remarked. Even through her thick red bangs, Sam could tell she was raising an eyebrow at her. “I guess that’s when you really started falling for her, huh, Sam?”

Sam shrugged. “I guess. That or I was falling for her the whole time and was just too dense to realize it.”

Luna gave Sam a sly smirk. “Yeah, it did take you a bit to realize those love letters were from me.”

Sam sneered playfully back at Luna. “Only because you never signed ‘em. You were really dedicated to the whole ‘secret admirer’ routine.”

“H-hey, I was nervous, okay? I-I didn’t know if you liked me. I-I mean, I always knew you liked me, but I didn’t know if you, y’know, liked me. Wait, that still sounds the same…”

Sam giggled. “You are just so cute when you get flustered, y’know that?”

Luna scoffed. “Heh. Takes one to know one. I seem to recall you getting pretty flustered yourself on our first date.”

Now it was Sam’s turn to blush. “Well, can you blame me? We had no idea what we were doing.”

“Oh. Is that why we ended up asking each other to be partners in the Astonishing Quest at the same time?”

“H-how was I supposed to know you wrote another one of your secret admirer letters asking me?!”

“How was I supposed to know you were interested in me?”

“Um, we were hanging out more after your little troubadour stunt? Hello?”  Sam scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Sheesh, and you call me dense.”

“Actually, I think you called yourself dense back there, brah.”

Although Sam and Luna kept arguing back and forth, neither of them could stop smiling. The rest of the crew just watched in amusement as they continued their playful banter. After a few minutes, Janice cleared her throat.

“Hey, I just got a really rockin’ idea, dudes,” she said. “How about we hit up the club tonight?”

“Man, I was just thinkin’ the same thing!” the lanky lead guitarist Max said. He then smirked at Luna and Sam. “I know I’d love to see these two new lovebirds on the dance floor.”

In an instant, all of the color drained from Sam’s face. Her whimsical smile was replaced with a blank stare of abject terror. Luna, on the other hand, looked just as excited as the rest of the crew.

“Aw yeah! You guys always know I’m up for a night of clubin’,” she said. Her enthusiasm became tempered as a thought struck her. “But, I dunno how Sam feels about it. Dancing’s not really—  Oof~!”

She was interrupted by Sam elbowing her in the ribs. This prompted odd looks from the others.

“Not really what?” asked Max.

“Not really a good idea,” Sam said hastily. “I-I mean, normally I’d love to join you guys and show off my killer moves. I-it’s just that, uh…  I-I just remembered that I have a chem lab to study for. Yeah, that’s it.”

Janice gave Sam a look and folded her arms. “Chem lab? Sam, tomorrow’s Saturday. We don’t have class.”

“O-oh, right! Doy~!” Sam said, smacking her forehead. “I-I’m thinking about something else. Um, what I meant to say is…  Um, uh…”

Sam continued to hem and haw, sweat dampening her brow. Luna’s face clouded over with concern.

“Hey, uh, you okay, Sam?” she asked.

“F-fine! Everything’s fine!” Sam said with an awkward laugh. “Just, uh…  Oh, yeah! That’s right. I promised my mom I’d pick my little brother Simon up from violin practice today. Sorry. B-bit of a brain fart.”

The others looked at each other for a moment before sharing a shrug.

“Uh, okay then,” said Max. “But you’re still down to join us, right, Lunes?”

Luna looked over at Sam, then back to the others. “Actually, I’ve got something to take care of first. You guys go on ahead; I might catch up with you later.”

The rest of the crew shared another shrug. “Um, alright. Catch ya later, I guess.”

Confused, they went on their way, leaving Luna and Sam alone. Once they completely disappeared from view, Luna turned to Sam and crossed her arms.

“Okay, what was that?” she asked.

“Wh-what was what?” said Sam.

Luna sighed. “Sam, c’mon. I’m not stupid. I know that excuse is a bunch of old rubbish.”

“W-well, what was I supposed to do?” Sam snapped. “I-I couldn’t let you embarrass me like that.”

Luna blinked. “Embarrass you? Dude, all I was gonna say was that dancing’s…”

“…not really my thing, yes, I know,” Sam interrupted. “But could you maybe not tell the whole world about it? Th-that’s my private biz.”

Luna rubbed her head sheepishly. “Oh, jeez. I-I’m sorry, Sam. I-I didn’t know this was such a big deal to you. I mean, lots of people can’t dance. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Sam raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Okay, now who’s lying to whom?”

Luna blinked. “Wh-what?”

“Don’t play dumb, Luna. Admit it. You think it’s weird that I can’t dance.”

Luna gasped. “Where the heck did that come from?! Sam, of course I don’t think it’s…”

“Luna, stop,” Sam sighed, cutting across Luna. “I get it. I love music, so I should be able to move to it. But I can’t, and that’s weird.”

Luna sputtered awkwardly, trying to think of something to say. She couldn’t deny that there was some truth to Sam’s claim. She did find it strange that Sam wasn’t good at dancing. But even so, the fact that Sam was so sensitive about it completely threw her for a loop. Before she could get her thoughts together, Sam raised her hand and shook her head.

“Whatever you’re gonna say, you can save your breath,” she said glumly. “It’s obvious the rest of the band wants to celebrate our relationship. You should go and enjoy yourself. D-don’t worry about me.”

Sam turned around and started walking away. She barely took three steps before Luna followed her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, c’mon. You can’t just beat yourself up like that and expect me to walk away,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing. I-it’s stupid,” Sam muttered.

“If it’s making you miserable, it ain’t stupid to me,” said Luna firmly. “C’mon.”

Sam couldn’t bring herself to protest. She just let Luna lead her over to a bench by the bus stop. Luna sat down and patted the empty seat.

“Lay down, Sammy. Rest here in my arms,” she quipped. “Don’t you think you want someone to talk to?”

Sam let out a giggle despite herself. “S-Sammy? D-did you come up with that just to fit the song lyrics?”

“Hey, whatever works,” Luna said with a shrug.

Sam let out another small laugh. “You dork.” She then lay down on the bench and rested her head in Luna’s lap.

“So, what’s all this about, Sam?” Luna asked, stroking Sam’s hair. “Why is this so personal to you?”

Sam sighed. “Well, it’s like I said. I love music, so I figure that everyone expects me to be good at dancing, too. I mean, I’m pretty sure you were completely confused when I totally botched that part of the Astonishing Quest.”

Luna shrugged sheepishly. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But seriously, who cares about that now? We agreed that we don’t have to like the same stuff to dig each other, remember?”

“Yeah, but this isn’t about that, though,” said Sam. “Once we set foot in that dance club, all of our friends are gonna be pressuring us to dance together. Then I’ll make a fool of myself, and everyone will realize that something’s wrong with me.”

“Dude, stop saying that,” Luna scolded. “Nothing’s wrong with you. Heck, have you ever seen Mick Swagger dance? Sure, he may play a wicked axe and have a killer set of pipes, but man oh man, does he ever look goofy when he tries to cut a rug.”

“Well, at least Mick can turn that kinda thing into a meme and get everyone to laugh with him,” Sam retorted. “Me? I just end up tripping over my own two feet and ruining everything for everyone else. It happens every time I take the dance floor, without fail. But you know what the worst part is?”

“What?”

Sam looked up at Luna with teary eyes. “It’s that whenever I see you dance, I-I can’t help but get jealous. You’re more than just an awesome rocker, Luna. You’re a dancing master, too! You’re so in-tune with music that you can embrace it all! Dude, I wish I could move like you do.”  She sighed. “But I can’t. And if I tried, I’d just embarrass the both of us in front of all our friends, and I’d never be able to live it down.”

Luna took a moment to take all this in. All the while, she couldn’t help but stare down at Sam struggling to hold her tears back. She always thought of Sam Sharp as a spunky, confident girl who could take anything in stride. It was that cheery attitude of hers that Luna admired so much in the first place, and it was also part of the reason she was so hesitant about courting her. So seeing her act so weak and vulnerable was something of a shock. Once she got her thoughts together, she spoke up.

“So, you feel like because you can’t dance, you’re missing out on an aspect of something you love?” she inquired.

“I-I guess that’s one way to put it,” Sam mumbled.

Luna nodded and pondered for another good while, absently stroking Sam’s hair. Finally, she cleared her throat.

“Hey, I’m just spitballing here, but what if I taught you how to dance?”

Sam scoffed. “Yeah, sure. Good luck with that.”

“No, I’m being real here, Sam,” said Luna. She then lifted Sam into an upright position and looked her in the eye. “Look, if you really don’t wanna dance, that’s fine. I won’t force you. But to be honest, I’m not really getting that vibe from you. Just because something isn’t your thing doesn’t mean you don’t like it.”

Sam cast her gaze downward. “I-I dunno, Luna. I-I don’t want you to go through all this trouble for me.”

“Well, I don’t want you to miss out on having a good time with our friends,” Luna retorted. “You heard ‘em; they wanna celebrate our relationship. I can’t really do that without you by my side. It wouldn’t feel right.”

Sam could feel her cheeks begin to burn. “Th-that’s really sweet, Luna. But still, I’ve been trying to dance for years, and I could never get it right. Maybe I’m just a lost cause.”

Luna frowned. “And maybe that right there is part of the problem. Sam, I won’t make you do anything you don’t wanna do. Just say the word, and we can forget about the whole dancing thing. But if you think I’m just gonna let you drag yourself down with all this negativity, then think again, sister.”

Sam’s breath hitched as a new batch of tears welled up in her eyes. “L-Luna…  A-are you sure you wanna do this? D-do you really think you can teach me?”

“I’m willing to try. It probably won’t be easy, but I think it’d be totally worth it,” said Luna. She then caressed Sam’s cheek. “But this is your decision to make, Sam. If you really wanna move like I do, then we can give this a shot. But if you’re really not comfortable with the idea, I won’t say any more about it. Either way, I’m not gonna rest until I see you smile again. So, what’s it gonna be?”

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Sam stared into Luna’s eyes. Hearing Luna’s kind, encouraging words truly warmed her heart, but her insecurities were still gnawing away at her mind. It was all she could do to keep herself from trembling. Eventually, she took in a deep breath and gave Luna a nod.

“I-I guess it couldn’t hurt to try,” she muttered. “For you, anyway.”

Luna shook her head. “This ain’t about me, Sam. I just want you to be happy.”  She then pulled Sam into an embrace, which she returned in kind. After a pause, the two of them released each other.

“So. How’re we gonna go about doing this?” asked Sam.

Luna furrowed her brow. “I think I might have an idea. Let’s head back to my place.”

Sam simply nodded and followed Luna back to her house. All the while, she couldn’t help but wonder what Luna had in mind.

To Be Continued...