New Life : A Second Chance

When they arrived at Sam\'s house, Kyle face-palmed himself when he saw Ali, who was already there and waiting.

He walked over to Ali, who was leaning on his car while waiting for them, and said while pointing to Ali\'s car, "What? Really? This is what you call less conspicuous?"

Ali looked at his car, a Lykan Hypersport, the first supercar from his home country.

He loved its sleek aggressive angular design with massive right-angle brake lights on the rear. He had taken out the original headlights which were made from over 200 15-carat diamonds as he felt that was a bit too much for a student. It was safe back home, which he intended to put back once he graduated. Assuming he didn\'t get a new car - even though this one was $2.6 million.

"What? It\'s not my Koenigsegg or Bugatti, and I already downgraded this model," Ali protested, referring to him changing the headlights.

"Your sense of \'downgrade\' and \'low key\' is seriously fucked up, Ali," Kyle said, shaking his head as Ali mentioned cars worth millions in the market. The Bugatti itself was the most expensive car in the world, while the Koenigsegg was in the top three.

There were already people admiring the car, though they didn\'t dare come close. Kyle sighed and patted Ali on the shoulder, saying, "Next time, get your driver to just drop you off or something. Try to be normal a bit, okay?"

Ali shrugged. This is normal. For him.

Rozita, Sam\'s mother, heard the commotion from inside and opened the door. When she saw who it was, her face broke into a huge smile, "Kyle! Kay! You\'re all here. Come in, come in."

She ushered everyone into the living room and went to the kitchen to prepare some drinks and snacks. Before leaving, she told them, "Sam\'s in his room. Go right on in. He\'ll be glad to see everyone."

Kyle led the way, knocking on the door first, "Sam? It\'s us. Can we come in?"

When he heard the affirmative, he twisted the doorknob when he suddenly stopped. He turned to face Beatrice, Betty and Sarah and said, "Wait here first."

[Kay, accompany them first. Just in case Sam\'s not ... presentable]

Kay smiled, understanding. Sam was probably not expecting \'strangers\' to also be there when he heard Kyle\'s voice, so he might not exactly be \'dressed up\' for it. Kay didn\'t count as she was an Elite Five but he would most likely be embarrassed with the others.

The guys went in first while the girls waited outside.

They saw Sam sitting on the bed, his hair all messed up with bedhead while he looked at them groggily. His eyes lighted up when he saw them enter then frowned, "Where\'s Kay?"

"She\'s outside - with the rest of the girls," Xing Han answered helpfully.

"Huh? Who else is here?" Sam asked as he looked for his hairbrush.

"Sarah, Beatrice, and Betty," Ali answered.

Sam\'s hand froze for a minute as he clenched his teeth and his eyes glazed over for a bit. Ignoring the pain that stabbed his heart, he took the hairbrush and attempted to tame his unruly hair.

"Give me a minute," he said as he trudged to the bathroom.

Once inside, he brushed his teeth and washed his face. He clenched the side of the sink and took several deep breaths. He can do this.

If only he wasn\'t sick right now, then he can be stronger. He had made the decision, so he was going to stick to it. Act normally. Be firm. Don\'t be swayed.

He was telling himself that but he was feeling so weak and so ... urgh ... that all he wanted to do was just curl up in bed and not get out until they had all gone. Actually, he wanted to curl up with a certain bunny bolster but that was ridiculous.

He hit himself on the cheeks to wake himself up out his delusions and walked out.

Sam went back to bed, propped up his pillow, pulled the blanket over and hugged his bolster hard.

"I\'m tired," he mumbled, burrowing even deeper into the blanket.

What was the point of Sam brushing his hair if he was going to mess it up all over again by doing that? The three of them looked at each other, rolled their eyes and in unison, they said, "Baby Sam."

"Am not," came his muffled response.

"Kay! You can come in now," Kyle shouted, ignoring Sam while Ali pulled the blanket away from Sam\'s head.

Sam grumbled and held on to his bolster tighter, wrapping his legs around it and putting his chin on top of it.

Just as the girls came in, Sam\'s mum was right behind them. Kyle took the tray of drinks and cookies while Xing Han pulled out a small table. They have visited Sam\'s house often enough in the past so they knew where everything was.

Rozita went over to her baby bundled up tightly, and touched Sam\'s forehead. She smiled in relief as she patting his cheeks, "Your fever has gone down. Be a good boy and drink more water, okay?"

"Okay, Mum," Sam said obediently, not looking up.

Rozita sighed, shrugged and looked at the Elite Five, then the other girls.

"They are?" she enquired.

"Oh, sorry! My bad for not introducing them earlier," Kyle said, "This is Beatrice, my Vice-President. Betty, her cousin and the person who had been helping Sam during the Valentine\'s Day event and Sarah, Kay\'s dormmate."

"Hello, Auntie," they all chorused.

"Nice to meet more of Sam\'s friends. Please, make yourself comfortable and have some snacks," Rozita said as she walked out.

Sam had burrowed his face into the bolster so no one saw his expression but Kyle could see how he tensed a bit when he heard Betty\'s name. He mentally shook his head, thinking that this was going to be a very long day indeed.

Honestly, he felt like taking Sam out by the scruff of his neck and spanking him. Kyle was deeply grateful that the sick Sam was rare for Baby Sam was slightly annoying. Though granted, Stubborn Sam would be worse.

"So, how are you feeling, Sam?" Ali asked.

"Sick. Tired. Miserable. Can you go now?" Sam said while sulking.

Beatrice and Betty\'s eyes were wide open, not believing the sort of \'image\' Sam was portraying right now. Was he like this because he was sick, or because of the blow Betty had given him? They couldn\'t tell. Whatever it was, Betty felt quite uncomfortable, nervous and scared so she stood behind Beatrice while peeking at Sam.

She was sad to see him looking so sickly, but she was sadder to see that he had not even glanced her way. Not even once. Her heart bled for him but it was all her fault, right? How can she make it up to him? How could she even possibly make things right?

Asking for forgiveness is the hardest thing to do.

When Beatrice told her that Sam was sick, she was fraught with worry. Now that she was here, she didn\'t know what to do other than hide behind Beatrice. She couldn\'t say anything with everyone around, anyway (or so she consoled herself). She didn\'t think she would be able to talk to Sam alone but she had, at least, thought she would be able to talk to him with everyone around.

Yet, how was she to do that when he didn\'t even want to look at her?

Not that she blamed him.

She tugged on her twintails, her eyes full of worry and dread as she looked at Sam. Kyle and the other Elite Five guys were hanging around Sam\'s bed, while gesturing for everyone else to sit down and eat.

"Kaaaayyyyyy ...."

Kay sighed, Kyle shrugged, Ali & Xing Han completely ignoring the voice while Sarah, Beatrice and Betty felt they couldn\'t feel anymore surprised at that whiny voice coming out from the normally serious Sam.

"You know how he\'s like when he\'s sick," Kyle said while popping a biscuit in his mouth.

Kay went over to sit on the bed and Sam immediately let go of his bolster and put it behind him. He then wrapped his arms around Kay\'s waist and put his head on her lap. Kay gently stroked his hair and he smiled as he closed his eyes.

Okay. So Sarah, Beatrice, and Betty found themselves proven wrong yet again.

Was this really Sam?!

Oblivious to what sort of image he was giving out right now, Sam felt his heart feeling warm again. Right now, he needed more comfort than ever. It was only when he\'s sick would Kay pamper him like this and Kyle not kill him.

Not that he would even want to be pampered when he wasn\'t sick. He didn\'t know why, but it felt it was okay when he snuggled up to Kay like this when he was unwell. When he\'s not sick, he never felt any such need or desire - heck, even thinking about it felt weird.

So, for now, he cherished being spoilt by Kay.