(sammi's outfit for this chapter)

Christmas is almost here and Sammi couldn't be more excited. Christmas was for sure her favorite holiday. She loved helping decorate the tree and the house with Christmas decorations, making cookies and hot cocoa, and watching Christmas movies.

She was currently in the living room, helping the Mendozas decorate. Well, Lori wasn't home yet, she's still at work and it didn't feel the same decorating without her. Normally she would be telling everyone that they aren't putting the decoration in the correct spot and would end up doing herself.

"This just doesn't feel right." Sammi commented, stopping herself from picking up an ornament from the box beside her. She stood up since she had knelt by the box and looked at Lucas when he spoke.

"Yeah," Lucas agrees. "It's weird without mom not telling us we're doing this wrong."

Alexa and Dave nods in agreement. "You know," Alexa puts her hands on her hips, a smile tugging on her lips. "I'm glad mom loves being an event planner, but it makes me sad decorating without her."

"Well, she's been getting home so late with all these holiday parties." Dave reminds his kids and Sammi. "She didn't want us to wait any longer."

"That's sweet of her, but it still feels wrong to do this without her." Sammi sighed.

Lucas went to put an ornament on the tree, but Alexa points at him, and he stopped. "Not there, Lucas."

Lucas smiles at her. "Thanks." He lowers his arms, his shoulders dropping in defeat. His smile fell and he shakes his head. "But it's not the same."

Sammi chuckles lightly and looks back at the box of ornaments in front of her to decide which one to pick. Alexa had walked over to the table behind the couch, going to put a Gingerbread house on the table. 

Alexa shakes her head, glancing at her dad. "I can't do this without mom."

Dave chuckles and walks over to her. He takes the Gingerbread house from her. "How hard could it be?" He looks at the table, trying to decide where to put the Gingerbread house. His eyes widens in realization and sighs. "So hard."

Alexa nods and begins to walk to the kitchen area. "Well, I'm gonna go find something for Katie's food drive."

Dave hands the Gingerbread house over to Sammi as he walks over to the kitchen area. "That's the spirit! Christmas is all about the giving. Go ahead! Take whatever you want."

"I seriously don't remember decorating for Christmas being this hard." Sammi remarked, walking over to the table behind the couch to try and decide where to put the Gingerbread house she now held.

"That's cause my mom was always with us and told us where to put the decorations." Lucas pointed out.

Sammi nods, setting the Gingerbread house on the table towards the left side. "Yeah, that's true." She moves back a bit to get a good look at where she placed the Gingerbread house far away. She puts her hands on her hips, tilting her head to the side. "Does that look good there?"

Lucas moves to stand beside her and stood in the same position Sammi is standing in. Sammi rolls her eyes and laughs a bit, playfully shoving him. He chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. "I honestly have no idea. I'm not good with decorating."

Sammi raises her eyebrows when she noticed Dave walking to the front door with his coat and keys. "Uh, Dave, where are you going?"

"To get more peaches." Dave responded as he left the house.

Sammi shared a confused look with Lucas before glancing over at Alexa. Alexa chuckles. "I'm taking the peaches we have left to Katie's food drive."

"Ah, okay." Sammi nods. "That makes a lot of sense."

 ****

Sammi was helping Dave with carrying some more decorations from the attic downstairs when the doorbell rang. They exchanged a confused glance, the two of them not expecting anyone. Sammi put the box she held down by the tree and went to open the door since Dave had his hands full of two boxes.

She tilts her head to the side, a look of confusion upon seeing a brunette-haired boy standing in front of her. He looked familiar, but she just couldn't put a name to his face. The boy sent her a smile. "Hi, Sammi." Upon noticing Dave, he waves at him. "Hey, Mr. Mendoza."

Sammi narrows her eyes at him. "I feel like I know you."

The boy looks at her with a 'are you serious' expression. He outstretches his arms as he speaks. "It's me, Dylan."

Sammi's eyes widens and she nods in realization. "Oh, Dylan, hi!" She remembers Dylan now. He's best friend with Lucas and used to date Alexa. She honestly thought Alexa and Dylan were a cute couple and she was kind of upset they had broken up. 

"I didn't recognize you without your glasses." Dave chuckles, looking at Dylan with shock. "And that hair." He shakes his head. "And all that other stuff you got going on."

Dylan looks completely different from the last time Sammi has seen him. He didn't wear glasses anymore and he had more stubble on his face as if he was trying to grow a beard. With the outfit he had on, Sammi would've guessed he became a surfer throughout the time he was at college. 

Sammi picks up the second box Dave held to help him out as Dylan took his coat off and hung it over the railing of the stairs. Dave sent Sammi a thankful smile and Sammi returned a smile to him while they walked over to where the tree is set up in the living room area.

"Dylan, dude!" Sammi looks over in the direction she heard Lucas' voice to see him walking down the steps over to Dylan. Dylan smiles and the two boys high-fived each other and did a 'bro' hug. "Oh, wow," Lucas puts his hands on his hips as he glances at Dylan. "You look so tan!"

While smiling, Dylan nods. "And you look so..." He narrows his eyes, looking Lucas up and down as he tries to figure out what to say. He sends Lucas a smile when he figured out what to say. "Comfortable."

"Thanks." Lucas nods. "I got a nice study-belly over finals." He chuckles and pats his stomach. "I'll take it off after New Year's."

"Well, bro, you should really try out some Ult Friz." Dylan suggested, following Lucas into the kitchen area.

As Sammi opens one of the boxes she had carried down, she furrows her eyebrows and glances at Dylan with confusion. "Okay, explain what that is please."

"Ultimate Frisbee." Dylan explains. "We do this thing at Stanford where we use abbrevs for everything."

"That's not weird at all." Sammi mumbled. Dave chuckled at her comment and sat down by the boxes that were around him, beginning to open them up.

"Check this out." Sammi glances at Dylan to see he was pretending to throw a frisbee. Lucas glances at Dylan with raised eyebrows as he opens the fridge. Dylan grins. "That was a scoob, short for a scoober."

"No idea what that means." Sammi shakes her head. She glances at Lucas, tilting her head to the side. "How about you?"

Lucas looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. "I was hoping you knew what that meant." He takes out two drinks from the fridge and then closed it. He looks at Dylan with a smile. "You guys learn a lot at Stanford. You want to see my dorm room?"

Dylan looks at him with confusion, taking the drink Lucas hands him. "Don't you live here?"

"Yeah," Lucas nods, beginning to walk to the stairs and Dylan follows him. "But I put my bed over my desk, and I wear flip-flops in the shower."

Sammi had got out some little Christmas trees from the box in front of her when she heard the side door open. "Hey!" She glances over her shoulder, smiling at Jennifer and Jack. "Thanks for agreeing to watch Jack while I go on this date."

Dave furrows his eyebrows. "I don't remember agreeing to that." He glances at Sammi. "Did you agree to that?"

Sammi shakes her head. She was just as confused as Dave is. "Nope."

"Oh, that's weird," Jennifer tilts her head to the side and shrugs. "'Cause I do, bye." She closed the door as she left, leaving Jack in the kitchen area of the Mendoza house.

Dave's shoulders drop in defeat, looking at the small tree he held with an annoyed expression and upon seeing how upset he was about this Sammi chuckles. "Looks like we're babysitting." 

Their attention is brought to Jack when he gasps. "A Christmas train set." They look over at him, seeing he had opened one of the boxes labeled 'junk'. 

Dave's eyes widen, moving over to look what's in that box. "What?" He grins, taking a train out. "Oh, my trains!" He smiles at the train that was red and had white stripes on it. "Lori said this got ruined in the flood." He shakes his head. "That happened while I was out of town." He looked at Sammi with a sad expression. She laughed a bit, sending him a sympathetic expression as she patted his shoulder.

****

Dave and Jack somehow convinced Sammi to help them set up the trainset on the dining table. Sammi was never a fan of train sets, but she had to admit it was fun and it did look really cool when it all set up nicely. "This is the coolest thing ever!" Jack exclaimed, grinning as he looked at the trainset.

Dave grins, picking out another piece of the trainset from the box. "Yeah, right?"

"Eh, it's alright." Sammi shrugs. "It was fun though."

"Thanks for helping out, Sammi." Dave puts a hand on her shoulder, sending her a smile. "I appreciate it."

Sammi returns the smile. "You're welcome. And it's not a problem."

Dave nods, glancing back at the piece of the trainset which happens to be a bridge. He looks at the living room area and Sammi could almost see the wheels turning in his head. "What do you say we build a bridge over the coffee table?"

Jack looks at him with wide eyes and a smile on his lips. "We can do that?"

Sammi cringes. "I feel like Lori wouldn't like that idea."

"It'll be fine." Dave assures her. He glances at Jack with a smile. "And Jack, we can do anything we want. It's a world of trains." He blows into the whistle that's hanging around his neck. "All aboard." He picked up the box in front of him, moving into the living room area with Jack following him.

"Are you sure you don't want to be a train conductor instead of a pilot?" Jack inquired, standing beside Dave where he sits on the couch.

Sammi tilts her head to the side, raising her eyebrows. She never thought about that, but it would make sense. Dave always had a love for trains. "Why aren't you a train conductor?" Sammi asks him, walking over to the living room area. "You would be really good at it."

Dave chuckles, putting on a train conductor hat he got from the box. He grins at her and Jack. "I am a train conductor. Now, let's get building."

"Hi." 

Sammi looks over at the side door to see Jennifer was back. She smiles and waves at the blonde-haired woman. "Hey, Jennifer. You look great." 

Jennifer smiles. "Oh, thanks." 

"So," Sammi tilts her head to the side. "How was your date?"

"I didn't go yet." Jennifer shakes her head, smiling slightly. She made her way over to the living room area after she closed the door. "I just wanted to say goodbye to Jack."

Jack furrows his eyebrows. "You never say goodbye to me."

Jennifer went over to her son and hugs on him. "Oh, Jack!" She stands up as Dave and Jack started setting the train tracks on the coffee table. Sammi went over to the left side of where Dave and Jack are sitting, beginning to help them out with the train tracks. "So I guess I should, uh, go..."

Sammi furrows her eyebrows and glances at Jennifer. "Why does it sound like you don't wanna go on this date?"

"What?" Jennifer scoffs, slowly beginning to make her way back to the side door. "No, it doesn't. I totally wanna go on this date." As if she just spots the trains a smile tugs on her lips while she went to take a seat on a chair in the living room area. "Oh, trains! That looks like fun."

Dave looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. "What about your date?"

"Oh!" Jennifer shakes her head. "I got a little time."

Sammi looks at her suspiciously.  It was obvious Jennifer wasn't looking forward to going on this date. "Uh-uh. Sure."

"And you know how much I love trains." Jennifer continues, picking up a train track from the coffee table. "Hand me that..." She gestures to the train track Dave held. "Thingamabob."

"You mean 'track'?"

"Sure." Jennifer shrugs. "Whatever." She takes the train track from Dave, attaching the two tracks she held together. She attaches another train track to them and smiles. "Hey, I made a rainbow."

Sammi looks at her with an amused expression. But by the looks on Dave's and Jack's faces they didn't seem to be amused by what Jennifer did. She looked at the stairs when she heard footsteps, smiling a bit when she saw it's Lucas and Dylan.

"The way your mini-fridge doubles as a sock drawer, very impressive." Dylan complimented and Lucas smiled.

"Ready to go to the co-ho?" Dylan asked him, going over to take his coat off the railing.

Lucas looks at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Co-ho?"

"Yeah, coffee house!" Dylan smiled.

Lucas snaps his fingers, picking up his coat from the railing. "Right, abbrevs." He looks at Dylan with furrowed eyebrows. "But it's called 'Wired', so why don't you say 'Wi'?" 

Dylan furrows his eyebrows, putting on his coat. "Why?"

Lucas smiles and nods as he put on his coat. "Exactly."

"Sammi." She raises her eyebrows at Lucas when he talks to her. He looks at her with raised eyebrows as he tilts his head to the side.  "You want anything from 'Wi'?"

Sammi chuckles at the fact he actually used that abbreviation, but she felt butterflies in her stomach because of the fact that he asked her if she wanted anything from Wired. "Yeah, um, I'll just have my usual which is a-"

"Iced coffee." Lucas interrupts her. He nods, sending her a smile when she looks at him with a bit of surprise. "That's right. I remember. I'll get you one."

Sammi smiles, glancing down at her lap shyly when she feels her face heat up. "Thanks, Lucas."

****

(sammi's outfit for this part of the chapter)

The next night Lori came home late like she always does, but everyone was still up. Any decorations they had already put up they put them back in the boxes. Sammi and the Mendozas had invited the Coopers over since they all decided to decorate together with Lori. They were all dressed in either Christmas color clothes or Christmas pjs and were gathered in the living room area.

Lori turns on the light after she closed the front door, gasping upon seeing everyone was up. "Oh!"

Dave smiles at her. "Welcome home."

"What are you guys doing?" Lori questions, walking into the living room area. "It's so late."

"Well, we felt bad decorating without you, so we waited." Alexa answered, standing up along with her dad and Lucas. 

Lori smiles widely, hugging Alexa back when her daughter hugs her. Dave and Lucas joined in on the hug. "Oh, you guys!"

"We did not wait on the eggnog." Jennifer commented, holding a glass of eggnog. 

"Hey, come on." Katie encourages, setting her mug on the coffee table. "Let's get to decorating."

"You heard the woman!" Sammi smiles, getting up from the chair she sat on. "Let's decorate!"

Everyone voiced their words of agreement and went over to the Christmas tree. "Oh, oh!" Lori picks up a train track that was on the table behind the couch as everyone starts getting out decorations. She sheepishly smiles. "Look, a train track. Must've survived the flood."

Dave points at the train track Lori held, pretending to look shocked. "Oh! I forgot all about that train set." He went over to where the ornaments are at as Lori furrowed her eyebrows and sat the train set back on the coffee table.

"No, not there, Lucas!" Lori exclaimed, stopping Lucas from putting an ornament in a specific place on the tree. 

Lucas smiles at his mom. "Now it feels like Christmas."

"Hey, Lucas, can I speak to you privately?" Sammi asked him, from her place standing by the stairs. 

Lucas looks over at her with a smile and nods. "Yeah, sure." After putting the ornament in another place on the tree, he goes over to her. "What's up?"

"I know we said we decided on not getting each other anything for Christmas, but I got you something anyway." Sammi admitted. She looked at the floor, shyly smiling as she fiddled with her hands which was something Lucas noticed she did when she was nervous. 

Lucas looks at her with a bit of surprise since he didn't expect her to get him anything for Christmas. A smile tugs on his lips, feelings butterflies swarm in his stomach. He watched curiously while she went to a nearby hallway closet. She opened the door and went inside to grab something and came out with a small gift bag.

Sammi stands in front of him again, handing him the bag, encouraging him to open it. He takes it from her and gets out whatever was inside the bag. Sammi had got him a songwriting notebook since she knew that he had been focusing more on music and figured if he ever decided to write songs he would need a notebook for that. 

Lucas smiles brightly at Sammi. "Thank you, Sammi. I love it." Sammi sighs with relief, happy he loved the gift. She was worried that he might not like it. She looks at him with furrowed eyebrows when he says, "I actually got you something as well."

Lucas put the notebook back in the gift bag, setting it down by the stairs. He got a small box from the pocket of his sweats he wore and hands it to her. Sammi couldn't help the smile that tugs on her lips as she takes the box from him and opened it. A gasp left her lips upon seeing the beautiful sun necklace that was inside the box. She glanced at Lucas when he speaks. 

He rubs his neck nervously, looking at her with a smile. "When I saw it, I thought of you," He couldn't believe he was about to say what he's about to say. Recently his feelings for Sammi has changed and he always kept that a secret since he was afraid with his feelings for her be out in the open would change their friendship. But he's starting to think maybe she could feel the same way. He feels his face heat up at what he says next. "Because you just light up every room you walk in with that smile of yours and you have a heart of gold. So, uh, I hope you like it."

"Lucas, I love it." Sammi comments, feeling a warm glow rise up onto her face which made her know she was blushing. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Lucas smiles brightly, happy she loved the gift he got her. "Merry Christmas, Samshine."

Sammi knew her face was a darker shade of red when he called her that nickname and the smile on her lips grew. "Merry Christmas, Lucas."

A/N omg i'm in love with lucas & sammi already ! they're so so cute