Very, very old; concrit is still appreciated, but will be taken with an ever so slight pinch of salt.

This was originally a challenge given by sarah_frost: Five things Sam noticed about Mark, but didn't confront him about.

1) Word Count:193 Setting: Series two, pre-final episode

Unquestioned.

Something happened over the holidays.

Not that she’s completely up to date on what happens around here, these days. It feels… strange, no longer being so involved with Heather and Brent and him. Coming back to town and feeling like a visiting stranger.

And the odd thing is, it wasn’t until she looked at it from another perspective, when she started to hang with Kat and hear her talking about the exact same things that had always concerned her so much back in the old days. Kat would chat on the phone line about missed dates and strange phone conversations. And then one day the name “Ace” popped up one too many times and Samantha…

Well. She wondered.

And then, one day, Kat just… stopped. Oh, the calls kept coming, but the complaining had ceased. For a while Samantha thought they must have broken up, too, until Kat called her to ask what a good idea would be for a one year anniversary present.

Samantha never asked her why, or what happened, and she never asked Mark either.

Really, she’s just glad that somehow, the two of them must have worked it out.

2) Word Count: 193… whoa. Weird. O_o Setting: Series one, post Kilobyte Bites Back.

Phonecalls.

Who was that, she wants to ask, but she doesn’t, because she knows the answers going to be a lie.

It’s not a girl. She’s sure of that, the voice doesn’t sound right and she’s pretty sure he doesn’t… you know. Swing that way.

So it’s not cheating.

But it’s still lying. And she doesn’t want to deal with that anymore, especially not today when she’s finally resolved to tell him where she’s going next year and it sure as heck isn’t Conestoga hill’s high school.

She’s not going to ask. She’s not.

‘…Who was that?’

Damn it…

‘Nobody.’ Mark says, speaking with forced casualness. ‘Just… a friend.’

A friend. Of course.

‘Who’s that? Brett? Chuck?’ she knows it’s neither. If it were he would have told her.

‘No. Just… he’s having some girl troubles.’

‘Oh. It’s that friend. Sure.’ Samantha settles back in her chair and reaches back for the pizza, and then she waits twenty seconds, knowing he’ll probably be muttering some excuse and leaving by then. He’s kind of… predictable, really.

Samantha soon “forgets” what she’d been about to tell him. Mark’s not the only one who can have secrets.

3) Word Count: 158 Setting: mind series one.

Don’t ask.

‘Jeeze, man, what happened to you?’ Brett is blinking in surprise, Chuck is frowning, Heather is giving a customary roll of her eyes, though to be entirely honest even she looks a little bit disturbed. Mark is… not enjoying the extra attention.

‘It’s nothing, really.’

‘Uh. No, dude. The bruise on my shin from hitting the desk is nothing. That is not nothing.’

‘’Ow, Chuck, don’t.’

‘Oops, sorry.’

So what happened, anyway, man?’ Brett asks. ‘You get beaten on by someone… wielding an anvil, or something?’

‘Um, well something like that.’ Mark tries to frown without much success.

‘Damn it, Sam, what’re you letting your boy get himself into?’ Heather mutters, with more than a touch of irony.

Sam doesn’t answer. She knows that it’s really her who should be asking why Mark’s face looks as if he had a fight with an oncoming vehicle and lost.

But she’s kind of afraid of what the answer might be.

4) Word Count: 174 Setting: post Knights Undercover, season one.

No Idea.

‘You showed up,’ she said, eventually. It had surprised her, really. He’d been so against her taking that job, and he had such a penchant for not being on time for anything that she’d kind of assumed he wouldn’t…

‘Isn’t that the kind of thing I’m supposed to do?’ he’s smiling at her. ‘Besides, I wanted to come.’

She wishes he wouldn’t look at her like that. He’s going to break her resolve.

‘Well you were pretty sure you didn’t want me working here before,’ Sam says, and she manages to refrain from asking “why” for the millionth time. ‘You should be happy about my not going back now, at least.’

Mark doesn’t say anything, but the smile vanishes.

‘I just don’t want you to get hurt.’ He shrugs.

Hurt by what? Sam thinks without asking. Freaky birds? But she doesn’t say anything, just reaches out to grasp his fingers in hers. ‘That’s sweet. Thank you. But really, I can handle myself, Mark.’

They walk the rest of the way home in virtual silence.

5) Word Count: 175 Setting: any point during series one

Boldly Going…

Boys. Huh.

She can’t help but wonder where on earth he keeps the carpet. If she drops something in here she knows she’ll probably never see it again.

And then she drops her purse and it somehow manages to roll under the computer table. Great, Sam frowns to herself, trying to peer into the darkness and search it out. This is going to be an expedition. She can picture what Heather’s face would be like if she caught a glimpse of this room. Mark’s even worse than Brett was, and that was really saying something. Her fingers brush against DVD cases and…

Wait. Is that “Star Trek”?

She pulls the case out of the shadows and stares at the cover. No dust. Funny… she’s pretty sure she saw this on TV once or twice… there’d been something on the episode about people from a three-d fictional world coming to life and taking over the spaceship.

She’s still grinning silently to herself when Mark comes back up the stairs.

Her boyfriend watches Star Trek.

Good grief.