(sammi's outfit for this chapter)

Today Sammi had been stuck in her room half of the day doing homework or taking notes for her online classes. It was no doubt boring, but she honestly liked online school. She preferred it than to put makeup on and get dressed up to go to campus. She had to see and talk to people if she had gone to on campus classes. Even though she can sometimes be outgoing, she's not the most social person in the world and had a hard time making new friends. 

Lucas would come visit with her, try to help her with homework (key word is try but it's the thought that counts) or bring snacks for her just to be sure that she eats something since he knew that she could just so caught up in homework and studying that she would forget to eat sometimes. He did those things throughout the day which she very much appreciated. 

Sammi was working on some math homework when Lucas walked in her room. She had decided on leaving her door open, not seeing the point of closing it. Quietness wasn't a problem for her because Lori and Dave spent their time downstairs and so did Lucas when he didn't hang out with Sammi. 

"Hey, Samshine." Lucas greets, sitting on the edge of her bed. Sammi smiles slightly upon hearing that nickname. "Watcha doing?" 

Sammi chuckles. "You ask that as if you don't know I've been doing homework for most of the day."

Lucas shrugs, smiling sheepishly. "I was hoping you would be done so we could hang out."

Sammi glances at him with a small smile. "We're hanging out right now."

"Not the same." Lucas whined, laying back on her bed dramatically, earning a laugh from Sammi.

"I'm on my last math problem so after I'm done how about we play the Wii?" Sammi suggests. She smirks. "It's been awhile since I beat you at Mario Cart."

Lucas sits up immediately with a smile and points at her. "Yes, 'cause I want a rematch." He pouts and crosses his arms. "I believe you cheated."

"You're just jealous that I'm better at Mario Cart than you." Sammi teased.

Lucas rolls his eyes playfully and stands up. "Yeah, whatever. Just call me whenever you're done," He speaks the next part dramatically, looking at her with a determined expression. He points at himself when he says 'i' and then points at her when he says 'you'. "So I can beat you at Mario Cart."

"Yeah," Sammi laughs. "Okay."

****

A couple minutes later Sammi got done with the math problem she was on and she and Lucas played the Wii that was in her room, hooked up to the tv in there. Sammi won the first two games and Lucas won the last one. There was complaining and banter with each other during the game, but it was all in good fun. 

Soon it was almost time for dinner. Spencer, Alexa's new boyfriend, was joining them for dinner and this would be the first time Sammi had met him. After hearing Alexa talk so highly about him all the time to her, she knew that he was a keeper. She was happy that Alexa met someone who understood what she went through. Sammi, Alexa's family and the Coopers could always say they understand, but they will never fully understand exactly what Alexa went through when she had cancer. Spencer does fully understand since he has cancer. And Sammi had to admit Alexa and Spencer are a cute couple.

Sammi was now down stairs helping Lori and Dave with finishing up making dinner. Alexa wasn't home yet and when Sammi texted her where she was at, she was wondering if Alexa actually meant that she was at a stakeout out front of a restaurant with Katie or if she was just lying about it. But she honestly wouldn't be surprised if she and Katie was on a stakeout. 

Sammi had just got done setting the table when the front door opened, revealing Katie and Alexa following her inside and closing the door. "Hey, where have you guys been?" Lori asks them. "Dinner's almost ready."

"We were sitting outside a restaurant on a stakeout." Alexa answered, walking into the kitchen area with Katie.

Lori shrugs. "Fine, don't tell me what you did."

Sammi stares at Alexa with surprise. "Oh, so you weren't lying."

Alexa chuckles. "Why would I lie about that?" Sammi shrugged in response and walked over to the kitchen island where Lori and Dave were.

"Hi." Lori greets Jennifer and Jack when they walk inside after using the side door that led to the kitchen. Jennifer closes the door once Jack was inside. "Wow. You look nice." Lori comments to Jennifer, noticing she was dressed up. She raises an eyebrow, putting one hand on her hip. "What's the occasion?"

Jennifer smiles at her. "Thanks."

Katie stands by her. "You do look nice." She looks at her mom skeptically. "What was the occasion?"

Jennifer is hesitant to reply, shrugging her shoulders. "I-I had a thing."

Katie scoffs. "Right, right, a thing. Interesting." She glanced at her mom suspiciously and her mom looked at her nervously. Sammi raised her eyebrows, now more curious as to why Jennifer was dressed up and wouldn't say why.

"A thing?" Dave smiles at his wife. "I think they might be planning my birthday party."

Lori shakes her head and glances at the door when the doorbell rings. "Ah, it must be Spencer."

Alexa sighs and smiles but the smile didn't meet her eyes. "Must be."

Sammi looks at her with concern, noticing her nervous attitude. "You alright, Lex?"

"Of course." Alexa forces a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Katie points at the door. "You're not answering the door."

"Oh, yeah." Alexa points at the door awkwardly with a small smile. "Yes, I am." She walked over to the door as her parents walk over to the living room area and Sammi followed them to stand by them.

"Spencer!" Alexa said, opening the door. Spencer stands across from her with a smile on his face. Alexa laughs and smiles. "You're here."

Spencer nods. "I am."

Alexa acts like she doesn't know what to do with her arms at first until she decides to lean against the door. "Honey." Dave says to her after a few moments when she didn't let Spencer in. Alexa glances back at him, humming in response. "Uh, the house is actually on this side of the door." Dave reminded her.

"Oh, whoops!" Alexa takes her arm off the door, standing up straighter. "In you go!" She nervously chuckled, stepping to the side to let Spencer in. Spencer smiled slightly, walking inside while Alexa closed the door. 

"Hey, honey." Lori greeted him with a smile.

"Hey," Spencer smiles, taking the black beanie he wore off his head to reveal his bald head. "Thanks for having me over." He glances at Sammi with a smile. "You must be Sammi."

"Hi," Sammi smiles back at him, stepping forward to shake his hand. "I assume Alexa told you about me."

"Oh, of course." Spencer chuckles. "Sometimes she would just go on and on about this awesome girl who was like an older sister to her."

Sammi smiles widely, glancing at Alexa, and her heart warms because of the fact that Alexa thinks of her as an older sister. "Awe, really?" 

Alexa smiles shyly and shrugs in response. "Yeah." 

"Well, Spencer," Sammi looks back at spencer, stepping back to stand beside Lori and Dave. "It's great to finally meet the boy she talks about so much." 

Alexa chuckles nervously, glancing at the floor shyly when Spencer glances at her with a smile. He looks at Sammi and nods. "It's nice to meet you too." He took his black beanie off, revealing his bald head, and put his black beanie in the pocket of his jacket.

"Oh, that's right." Jack nods in realization, pointing at Spencer's bald head. From her place beside him on the couch, Katie scolds him. "Jack." Jack glances at her with a small smile and gives her two thumbs up. "It's okay. I didn't say anything about the chemo."

His mom scolds him from her place in the kitchen. "Jack."

Spencer just smiles and chuckles. "So that is Jack," Alexa points at the blonde-haired boy on the couch next to Katie. Footsteps could be heard walking down the stairs and Sammi glances over, sharing a smile with Lucas when she locked eyes with him. "And this is my brother, Lucas." Alexa pointed at her brother, who looked at Spencer with a smile.

"Hey, man." Spencer nods at him and smiles then looks confused when Lucas suddenly hugged him. Spencer slowly nods after Lucas pulls away and looks at him weirdly but still smiles. "Thanks."

Lucas smiles, putting a hand on Spencer's shoulder. "There's more where that came from."

"That was plenty." Alexa interjected.

Lori then bombards Spencer with questions about if he needed anything. Spencer chuckles and smiles thankfully. "I'm fine, thanks." His eyes widen. "Wait, did my mom give you her checklist?"

"Oh." Lori shares a laugh with Dave. "That's funny." Lori smiles at Spencer. "But I have my own checklist."

"Oh, uh, hey," Katie stands up. "Why don't we give Spencer a tour?"

"Yes!" Alexa immediately agrees. "Yes, a tour." She looks at Spencer with an embarrassed smile. "I'll show you all the places my family isn't." Spencer nodded and smiled at her with amusement. He waved at the others as he followed Alexa and Katie upstairs.

****

Sammi and Lucas spent some time playing basketball outside before it was time to eat. Lucas won and Sammi complained he only won because he used his height to his advantage. They went back inside Lori told them it was time to eat. Everyone took a seat at the table and Sammi found herself sitting between Lucas and Jack.

Before Spencer sits down, he raises his eyebrows as he glances at the hole in the middle of the table. "Do I see a hole in the table?"

Alexa nods. "You do."

"You sure do." Dave voiced.

Sammi chuckles. "We pretend it's not there."

"Yep." Lori agreed.

Jennifer smiles sheepishly. "I think it's nice."

"Hey, honey, if you don't like something, I made some options." Lori assures Spencer, taking the empty seat between him and Lucas. "I know your taste buds can be a little off during chemo, and I remember how important nutrition was for Alexa."

Spencer smiles at her. "Well, thank you."

"Do you have the same cancer Alexa had?" Jack asked him.

"Jack." Jennifer spoke to him in a warning tone.

"It's okay." Spencer assures him and glance at Jack with a small smile. "She had leukemia and I have Hodgkin's lymphoma. Alexa's was in her blood and mine is in my lymph nodes." 

Sammi had to admit it was nice to know what kind of cancer so she wouldn't get his cancer and the cancer Alexa had confused. She liked how he was openly okay with talking about it, not a lot of people are. And she knew that Alexa were one of those people. She had noticed Alexa's quietness during Spencer's explanation and figured memories of her having cancer were brought back to her. That made her feel bad for Alexa since she knew that she recently just got done with cancer and she knew that Alexa thought she was done with having to deal with it. So having a boyfriend who has cancer must be really hard for her. 

An awkward silence fills the air and Spencer breaks it by saying, "Yeah, I'll have some risotto." Everyone immediately agreed and started putting food on their plate.

"How are you doing?" Dave asks Alexa and Sammi glances at the brunette-haired girl, curious about how she was doing too. "Huh?" Alexa was in a bit distracted, but she realizes what her dad asks her and she shakes her head. "Oh, I'm fine." Sammi frowned slightly, not believing her.

"You know, Spencer, uh," Lucas speaks up, glancing at Spencer with a smile. "I was going to be a doctor."

"Oh." Spence nods, looking at Alexa before looking back at Lucas with a smile. "Yeah, Alexa didn't tell me about that."

"Yeah," Lucas grins. "She doesn't like to brag about me."  Spencer chuckled and nodded.

"Not much to brag about." Sammi teased, earning a playful shove from Lucas and she laughed a bit before she shoved him back.

"These carrots look amazing." Jennifer comments after she had put some on her plate. "What's your secret?" She asked Lori and her daughter looked at her with raised eyebrows. 

"Oh, yeah, yeah, what..." Katie glances at everyone with a smile. "What's everyone's secret? L-Let's go around the table," She chuckles nervously and stares at her mom with a determined expression. "Starting with you, mom."

"Oh," Jennifer looks surprised, but she nods. "Okay." She chuckles. "I don't really care about the carrots."

Katie's face falters. "No, no, your secret is Mike."

Sammi glances at Jennifer with confusion as she and everyone else continues to pass around food to each other they would want. "Who's Mike?"

"Some guy that she's dating." Katie answered her and Jennifer sighed.

"Oh," Spencer leans over to Alexa, speaking quietly to her. "Your family dinners are more interesting than mine."

Alexa nods, sheepishly smiling. "Oh, it's early."

"Y-You've been so...Smiley." Katie stutters, looking at her mom pleadingly. "Come on, just admit it."

"Wha-" Jennifer looks at her with offense. "I can be smiley." Everyone chimed in their words of disagreement. Lori made a 'maybe' hand gesture and shrugged. 

"It's very strange." Dave remarked. 

"It doesn't happen often." Sammi added.

"Really weird." Katie commented. 

"Fine." Jennifer gives in. "Uh, I wanted to wait until it was final. Mike is on the school board, and he offered me a job as a counselor at your school." Everyone congratulated her, all proud and happy for her for possibly getting a new job. 

Katie smiles widely. "That's-That's it? This...This whole time, Mike was just some guy you were meeting for a job at my school?" She chuckles and then she grimaces when she realizes something. "Wait. At my school?" Jennifer smiled at her and nodded.

"That's a relief," Dave forces a smile. "I did not want a party." His smile fell after he spoke.

Sammi chuckles, looking at him with an amused smile. "Yeah, that's very believable."

Jack looks at Spencer curiously. "Does your cancer hurt?'

Jennifer puts a hand on his arm, gently scolding him, "Jack..."

"No, it's...It's okay, honestly." Spencer reassures her again. He looks at Jack, shaking his head. "It doesn't hurt. It's all the stuff that they give you to get rid of the cancer that makes you sick."

"Is it scary?" Jack inquired.

Sammi glances at Alexa, noticing she had gotten up to refill her drink and a concerned expression forms on her face upon seeing the on her face. "Sometimes." Spencer admits. "I mean, I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do to make it go away." Sammi frowns when she sees Alexa use the back door to walk outside. "But you know, if I get a cough or when I have a scan, I get a little scared." Spencer continues. He smiles. "Is there anything else you wanna ask?"

Sammi glances at Katie, locking eyes with her. She knew that Katie saw that Alexa left and she was mouthing to her if one of them should go check on her. Katie shakes her head in response, mouthing back to her that she thinks Alexa might just need some time alone. Sammi nodded in response and glanced at the back door, still worried about Alexa.

Jack rests his chin on his hand and puts his elbow on the table as he thinks. "Oh, uh..." He grins excitedly. "Oh, do you wanna see me tap dance?"

Spencer laughs and smiles in response. "I know I do." Jennifer responded in a monotone voice, taking a sip of her wine and everyone laughed.

****

It turns out that Alexa and Spencer broke up. Sammi understood why Alexa couldn't be together with Spencer. Being together with him reminded her of the fact she had cancer and she just didn't want cancer in her life anymore. She couldn't think of Spencer of the Spencer she knew before she knew he has cancer. Even though Sammi thought that maybe she and Spencer could work things out, she was supportive of Alexa's decision and her and Katie were right by her side to get her through the break up. 

A/N it took me so long to figure out what else to write during this chapter since lucas wasn't in this episode that much but after getting help from a friend i finally figured out an idea. but anyway, i love lucas & sammi so much