1 Karaoke

A million emotions seemed to race through Sam's head as he watched Daniel chase Alex, both of them laughing. Glee shone in both of their eyes. Daniel lunged forwards and grabbed Alex, trapping her in his arms.

"Who's the gorilla? Huh?"

"This only gives me more evidence, "she giggled, trying to wiggle out of his embrace.

Daniel's voice turned husky, "But you love me for it..."

The originally lighthearted atmosphere turned into a more amorous one. Alex fidgeted and bit her lips, not knowing the effects it would have on Daniel. Daniel watched the action, entranced before Sam interrupted to avoid more PDA.

"*Cough* Break it up guys. I'm feeling a bit left out you know?"

"Left out? That means you wanna join?" Daniel smirked.

Alex slapped his chest, admonishing him.

Daniel looked back down at Alex and pouted. "Ouch that hurt."

Alex scoffed and looked away. "We both know that that did not hurt, you big oaf."

"I was talking about my fragile feelings."

"Pfft. You're so annoyingly cheerful all the time. Even when that kid insulted you for minutes straight, you just said 'Okay, if that's what you think' and went back to playing with me and Alex."

Daniel sighed. "Brings me back to the days of freedom and no homework."

"Stop talking like you're old!"

"Tsk, but you guys always call me old. Now you're saying I'm not?" Daniel cocked an eyebrow towards Alex.

"Fine, you are old, "said Alex.

Daniel pouted at her before raising his head and looking toward Sam.

"Hey Sam, let's go do karaoke. You, me and Alex. We'll have a sing-off, and the one who loses has to give the winner snacks!"

Alex beamed up at Daniel, "Snacks? Then I definitely will put in all of my effort to win. Free snacks!"

Daniel chuckled and looked down at the cheeky girl in his arms, rubbing her head with his hand, "You gluttonous girl, how are you so sure you won't lose? I'm pretty sure that last time, you were barely better than me. Of course, even if you are better than me, you'll have to beat Sam."

Alex pouted playfully, "Geez, let me at least have some confidence."

She ducked out of Daniel's arms and ran up to Sam, "Sam, let's team up against Daniel, I have no money."

Sam gave a cheery smile and playfully glared at Daniel, his phoenix eyes narrowing, "You're going down."

Daniel shivered in mock fright at Sam's threat and yelled, "Race you to the karaoke place! The last one gets five points off their score!"

He laughed merrily and took off running. Sam and Alex looked at each other and then sprinted with all their might, trying to beat the annoying figure that was running madly in front of them.

Daniel arrived at the karaoke place first. He turned around to see Sam and Alex running while panting hard. It ended up being a tie so neither of them had points taken off, but Daniel got a ten point bonus.

Daniel and Sam sat next to each other on the karaoke room's couch, watching Alex pick what song she was going to sing. She chose "Winner" by Jamie Foxx and Justin Timberlake.

When Daniel and Sam looked at her choice, they laughed. Alex pouted and the song began. Her face became solemn and she began to sing.

Sam and Daniel went silent to appreciate the melody. Although her voice couldn't reach all of the low notes, she sang along with the best of her ability, leading to a pleasing performance. When she was done, Sam leapt out of his seat to high five her. "Daniel's going down for sure."

Daniel frowned and stood up from his seat, rising to his full height of 6'2, "Yeah right, I'll go next and prove you wrong."

Sam smirked playfully at Daniel, his two dimples showing, "Yeah right, come on Alex, let's go sit down and watch Daniel fail."

Daniel laughed wildly and quickly selected his song.

He began to sing "Little Apple" in English. As he sang, he looked at Alex with a charming smile while pointing at her. She instantly started blushing, covering part of her face with her pale, slender hands, only revealing a pair of grinning olive eyes. Sam felt pangs of jealousy and sadness ran through him. He knew that he would never be the one Daniel was serenading. He fidgeted in his seat, his eyes downcast. Sam quickly recovered from the emotions running rampantly through him and put on a smile and teased Alex while laughing.

Daniel smiled and bowed after his song was over.

"Bravo!"

Sam got up and bounced on his feet excitedly, "My turn now!"

Daniel pouted and grabbed Sam's arm, stopping him from going up to the front of the room, "No compliments?"

Sam's heart beat fast in its cage as Daniel's light blue eyes looked into his.

Sam forced his emotions down and smirked at Daniel, " You were good, but I can do better."

Daniel let go of Sam's arm before sitting down and pouting, "Yeah right."

Sam glared at Daniel and ran up to the front of the room. He rapidly scrolled through the list of songs and quickly choose his song, eager to sing.

"Diamonds" by Rihanna was the song he chose. Sam closed his eyes and immersed himself in the melody, even adding a couple of his own notes here and there.

"Woah! Sam! We should have done karaoke sooner! I never knew you were this good!" Alex exclaimed.

"Nice job bro, but not as nice as mine," joked Daniel.

"Sam, you definitely win! I get second and Daniel gets last!"

Daniel's eye twitched, "Who said you got to decide the ranking?! And what happened to the point system?!"

Alex and Sam both quickly glared at Daniel. Pressured by their intense stares, Daniel surrendered.

Daniel: ". . . Fine."

"Hooray!"

The trio failed to notice the shadow lurking by the door.