Who: Sam & Veronica What: rooftop times 2.0 When: late January 31st/early February 1 (backdated) Where: top of the tower! Rating: PG-13?
It was funny how Sam could go from completely overwhelmed to lighthearted in very little time at all, but that was the effect Veronica had on him. He had been completely stunned by the previous night's episode of his show, which he'd ended up recording and then watching the next morning; then he'd watched it again with his father, which was even more heartbreaking than the first time. But as he'd explained it to Veronica, the conversation had slowly gotten lighter and lighter until he'd finally processed it enough to set it all aside.
It probably helped that none of it had actually been overwhelmingly bad to begin with, it was just so much to take in. But he'd managed to do what his show-self hadn't been able to do, which was tell his dad about it, and he had another piece to fit into the puzzle of the big picture that was his life, his family's life. All things considered, that was mostly positive.
And his night was looking up. As he darted up the stairs, he remembered coming up here to meet her for the first time. He'd felt awkward, concerned with the fact that she was younger and that she was actually his type, because whenever he liked a girl it seemed to mark them for disaster. It had been a month since then, and she was still alive and safe (thank god); he knew that could change at any moment, but he wasn't as worried as he had been. He hadn't made the mistake he'd made with Jess; he'd warned her about what was out there, about the kind of thing that followed him, about who he really was.
Even with that, here she was. He couldn't really help smiling when he saw her, even though her presence here meant that she'd beat him in their race. "You're quick," he said, amused. "I guess the elevator gods really do like you today."