you are my number one baby [p] I like you lots

//ohh yes i gotcha. that sounds good!

madison chuckled and raised her eyebrows at sam as he wiggled his. a competition? "samuel, you dare challenge me in my own realm?" she mocked with a grin, crossing her arms. she giggled at emma trying to talk him out of it but he seemed adament on the competition. colby seemed to be down too. "alright, you're so on." she said, turning to face colby, her back to her friends turned competitors. she didn't even get a word out before colby was cracking bad baking puns. she laughed, pushing some hair out of her face. "alright rule one of baking club, never joke about baking club." she made a really poor fight club joke of her own, visibly wincing after she said this. "okay that was just bad, sorry you had to hear that!" she waved her hand as if to dismiss the poor reference she just made. her cheeks slightly turned red in embarrassment.

madison turned to see emma laying out all their measuring utensils. she smiled and nodded. "no foul play, agreed." she nodded, helping lay out all the ingredients. they had to share everything except the chocolate chips and of course. she hummed, thinking about which bowl to use. she bent down and pulled out two large bowls, sliding one over to sam and emma and keeping one for colby and herself. "alright colby, here's what we gotta do. i'm gonna need you to mix everything and i'll add the ingredients." she said with a smile, placing the bowl in front of him. she opened another drawer and pulled out a wooden spatula used for mixing and handed it to colby as well. she moved around like she had done this a thousand times before (which she in fact had). she grabbed a small bowl and butter from the fridge. she cut the butter to the right amount and removed the plastic wrapping, putting the now butter filled bowl in the microwave to melt it some.

"alright so i'm gonna add these two sugars and you just keep mixing while i add the butter, eggs, and vanilla extract." she instructed nicely, smiling at colby. this was fun, she was excited for these cookies. she started to pour in the two types of sugars, placing the measuring devices back in the middle of the island for sam and emma to use. "we can switch off stirring in just a second." she said, knowing it could be tiring and also she wanted to give colby a chance to do something else beside just mix. the microwave beeped and madison pulled out the now melted butter and poured it into the mixture. she put the used bowl in the sink and then grabbed an egg from the carton, and stood beside colby. she cracked the egg on the counter and opened it over the bowl. she threw away the remains and rinsed off her hands, making a face. "that's always my least favorite part." she admitted while drying her hands. "how are you two doing?" madison asked with a smirk as she glanced over at sam and em. they didn't seem to be doing too bad.

she grabbed a the circular ring housing multiple different measuring spoons. she filtered through them til she found the one labeled 1tsp. she filled it with vanilla extract and added it to their bowl. everything was mixed very well. "colby you're a very talented mixer." she said with a chuckle. putting her hands on her hips and she though about where to go from here. "hey, even though you're very good, why don't i mix for a bit and you add the last of our ingredients?" she offered.

//wow im sorry this is like a lot of info. don't mind madison being the cookie master over here phew!

sam stood by his proposition of a competition. he smiled at emma, nodding. "oh yes i do. i mean they can't be that good." he said, watching madison roll her eyes. she was quick to agree to one, though. sam knew they would probably win but hey this was all for fun. sam watched emma, laughing at her pout. "hey we so got this!" he said enthusiastically, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. after a moment of searching he found the perfect recipe. "oh emma look, this one says its the greatest cookie recipe right in the title! we gotta use this one!" he said, showing her his phone screen.

emma had laid out the measuring utensils and such and the mention of no foul play came about. sam chuckled, setting his phone down a little off to the side so they could read the instructions. "okay so first it looks like we need to mix everything..." he trailed off realizing they needed a bowl. just as he thought that madison slid one over in his direction. "oh, thanks!" he said without looking at her. her and colby were already getting started but that was because madison knew what she was doing. sam still had faith in emma and himself, however.

sam started fishing through the ingredients, grabbing the few things they needed. "okay we need to melt 8 tablespoons of butter, emma can you do that?" he asked her, knowing she'd know where the bowls were and such. while she was doing that, sam decided to have some fun. he smirked and grabbed the flour. he opened it and got a small handfull of it. "hey madison!" he said, watching as she turned towards him. he held his palm out and blew, sending flour flying towards her. he didn't really think about the consequences of his actions as suddenly madison was chasing him around the kitchen with white all over her face. sam was dying laughing, stopping behind colby, using him as a sort of human shield. "you look like a ghost!" he said, peering from behind his friends shoulder as madison stood in front of him, giggling aswell but trying to hold back. "sammm it's all in my hair!" she said, defeated, a grin still on her face.

sam smiled, still having some left over in his hand. he reached up and flattened his hand on colby's head, shaking it around before moving away, still laughing. now emma and his competition would be busy trying to clean themselves. he dusted his hands off over the sink, flashing a grin at emma. "okay emma, while they're busy let's finish our recipe and win this thing." he said nonchalantly, as if he hadn't done anything.

//okay this is an absolute mess and i apologize for it now! i was trying to move the story along and don't know how good of a job i did haha

madison giggled as colby got flour in his hair. sam was indeed, a dead man. she joined colby by the sink, wiping her face off though flour still remained in her hair. she would have to shower to get that out. she turned just in time to see colby add some flour to sam's hair. she laughed, shaking her head. "don't think that's the only thing coming your way, golbach!" madison chimed in, crossing her arms as she walked back over to their side of the island. she continued to make cookies with colby, adding the last bit of ingredients to their bowl.

"this looks awesome!" she commented with an approving nod. now they had to fill their pan with cookies! she was letting sam think their little game was over, but she had something else up her sleeve. she had already added her secret ingredient when no one else was looking. "okay colbs, we just gotta put little dallops of cookie batter even spaced out on our pan." she smiled, glancing at him as she laid the pan with parchment paper already lining it. "here, do it like this." she said, showing him an example of what she was talking about. she handed him another spoon so they could both work on placing the cookies.

seeing they had some batter left over once their sheet was lined, she got some on her spoon and gave colby a devious look. "check this out." she said softly. "sam, no you're doing it wrong!" she said, getting the boys attention. he turned to face her with a quizzical look when splat! madison flung the contents of her spoon hitting him square in the nose. what she didn't expect was some excess hitting emma on the cheek as well. she put her hand over her mouth, giggling at the sight of sam going cross eyed to try and look at the dough on his nose. "madison, what the hell?!" he laughed, grabbing a paper towel and wiping it off. she gave colby a high five.

"okay okay i've had my revenge. sorry em, didn't mean to get it on you!" she apologized to her friend. she noticed both sets of cookies were ready to be placed in the oven. she took the keto cookies and sam and emmas cookies and placed them in the oven. "an now we wait." she sighed, leaning against the counter next to colby, stifling a laugh as he still had flour in his hair. "uh, you still got some flour in your hair!" she chuckled, standing in front of him on her tip toes as she tried her best to dust it out of his hair.

sam mocked hurt as he looked to emma. "oh come on em, have some faith in me!" he laughed, hoping his recipe was alright. he honestly didn't care if they won or not, he was having fun and he at least wanted his cookies to be eatable. then he would be happy. after his little fun with madison and colby, he thought he was in the clear. he chuckled at emma, smiling like a child. "nope, you cannot." he really needed to be watched 24/7. he could be mature and he showed that when they went exploring, but he had his fun goofy side that was certainly showing tonight. he really was just trying to keep spirits high and the girls as well as his and colbys mind off the crazy "fans" from target.

suddenly, colby passed sam and put his hand on his head, causing his blonde hair to be tainted white. "cole robert brock!" sam laughed, not moving cause well,he deserved it. he moved to the sink and did as colby had done, shaking his head to try and remove the flour. he was sure some was still there. he noticed madison laughing and shook his head. "what are you laughing at, casper?" he joked, turning back to emma. "alright em, we got cookies to bake!" he mused, beginning to actually try and finish their cookies all pranks aside.

"we make a pretty good team emma." he commented as the pair finished up placing their cookies on their pan. he was finishing up the last dollop of batter when madison voice caught his attention. "im sorry, wha-" his sentence got cut off as batter smacked him right in the face. sam squinted his eyes and bit back a sneeze. he started to go cross eyed to see the damage on his nose but to no avail. "madison what the hell?!" he laughed, as he grabbed a paper towel to wipe off his nose. his only response from her was laughter. he saw some had hit emma. "aw em!" he said, grabbing another paper towel and handing it to her.

he wasn't paying attention as madison loaded their cookies in the oven. he was instead focused on getting the sticky batter off his face. he gave it a lick as some fell onto his lip. he hummed his approval. "okay the batters pretty good, but ours tasted good too." he mused, hyping his and emmas cookies up. sam threw away his trash, face batter clear. he saw madison and colby out of the corner of his eye and smiled slightly. they were very cute together. he wished colby would work up the nerve to say something. but then again the same thing could be said for himself even though he still wasn't one hundred percent sure how he was feeling.

"oh hey, I just remembered!" sam said, catching everyones attention. "the traphouse is having that party next week, but before it we are having a smaller pool party for some close friends. you guys should come!" he invited them. the boys had decided on a smaller pool party before their real smasher that night as a fun pre-party type thing. it was for their close friends so it only made sense for the girls to go.

//hey sorry it's taken me a while to respond i had a muse drop then went on vacation but now im back with tons of muse! also just a fair warning im going to be gone next week the 24-29 and won't be on at all cause i'll be at camp! also changed madison's fc again. sorry haha i won't change it anymore i promise! more pics are in her form.

madison was genuinely sorry she hit emma too, as her friend had made it clear she didn't share sam's playful intentions. emma didn't seem really upset, besides it wasn't a lot of dough so it was easily wiped off. madison chuckled at her comment about them being afraid, but she didn't comment. she was excited to see how their cookies turned out, she was sure they would be good.

madison focused her attention back on dusting the flour out of colbys hair, a small smile on her face due partly to their closeness, but also to the fact he moved down slightly to make it easier for her. once she was finished she stepped back, still smiling. "you're very welcome colby." she said. "i got as much of it as i could but sam got you pretty good." she giggled, knowing there was still some flour in her hair. turning to face sam and emma, she began to run her fingers through her hair to try and get some more of the flour out. emma was currently cleaning so madison decided to help out. she began to rinse out the few tools and bowls they used that were in the sink and move them to the dishwasher. as she was loading the dishwasher, a pool party was mentioned by sam. madison lightened up at the idea. emma was immediately on board and she was soon to follow.

"ooh a pool party" madison hummed, finishing up her task and starting the dishwasher. she stood up and wiped off her hands, turning to face the group. "i'll be there. i love swimming!" she said, leaning against the counter not to far from colby and running a hand through her hair. she turned to sam with a playful grin. "i'm honored to be considered one of you guys' close friends." she put a hand on her heart as she glanced between the two boys. even though her tone was playful deep down she really was thankful and honored. her and em had gotten super close to these two boys, more than she would've ever thought. she felt a little blessed to have them in her life. madison then straightened up and walked across the kitchen to the living room, grabbing a hair-tie that was lying on their coffee table. she left one there last night and was thankful for it. she bent over and gathered all her hair. she then stood up and twisted it all into a messy bun ontop of her head and put the hair tie in to keep in place. she already looked silly with the flour so she just decided to throw her hair up and out of the way. she joined everyone back over in the kitchen.

in the brief moment of silence her mind wandered back to the girls at target. she had forgotten about the incident but now it loomed over her like a big cloud. a frown etched its way onto her face as she was more angry than anything that they treated her best friend like that. emma didn't deserved to be treated that way, and well neither did she. sighing she moved quickly to the fridge to get a water. "does anyone want anything to drink?" she asked, forcing the negative and intrusive thoughts out of her head.

sam watched and emma began to clean the kitchen, stealing glances at madison and colby until she began to do the dishes. he smiled at colby as he chimed in about the party. emma was quick to agree and madison soon followed. he shook his head at madison's comment. he knew she was just messing around but he also knew she really did mean it. i mean, he wasn't lying it was true. he was sure colby felt the same, but he considered madison and emma to be their close friends. the group just kinda clicked. he rolled his eyes in a joking manner as he moved out of emma's way as she was still cleaning. "i'm honored you're honored mads." he said, watching her walke to the living room and proceed to put her hair up. he turned his head to emma, deciding to continue to tell them the details.

"it's gonna be next wednesday at 3:00, so mark you're calenders." he said, feeling his phone buzz in his back pocket. he pulled it out to spot a text from jake asking when they would be home and if they would bring taco bell. sam chuckled quietly, responding that they'd probably be home in an hour or two and yes they would bring taco bell. he slid the phone in his pocket looking back up at the group. he noticed madion was paused by the counter, looking a little upset. before he could say anything she was at the refrigerator asking if anyone wanted a drink. "i'll take a water please." he said, going to stand by colby and out of both the girls ways. emma was finishing up her cleaning at this point.

"hey jake wants us to pick up taco bell on our way back." sam said to colby. he was the driver so he needed to know the plan. sam leaned against the counter with his arms crossed, taking a brief moment to admire emma. he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. the moment was brief as sam looked away and back to his friend. he didn't say anything but knew they would probably talk about what happened at target later. he had a gut feeling that's what madison had a moment about a second ago. he felt terrible and wished he would've known. he was still a little hurt the girls didn't tell them but he also understood why they didn't. it was just a very weird situation. he sighed and looked down at his shoes. if this was how quote unquote fans acted like when they weren't dating he could only imagine the hell they would face if they ever did date these girls. "so what things are you doing for vidcon, em?" he stroke up conversation.

idk if maggie is latina or not, but she looks like it so for the sake of the rp and my character im going to have her be latina))

madison grabbed a premade water with cucumber in it she had for herself. she made one last night for her to drink today. then she got a glass and filled it with water for sam. she joined the others in the living room handing same his drink before sitting on the couch near emma, facing the boys. she listened to emma talk about vidcon, a small smiled on her face as she sipped her cucumber water. emma definitely had to travel more than she did, but both girls had their work cut out for them. she nodded along as emma explained. she wasn't confused as she and emma had previously talked and she had a better understanding having been at the meeting talking about this whole idea.

once emma was done, colby asked her about her own special plans. she smiled and sat her drink on the side table next to her. "actually, yeah." she started, siting up a little straighter as she paused to think about how to go about this. "I'm doing something similar to emma for vidcon, but for latinas." she said. most of her family was from brazil, and she often went to visit them. her parents actually moved to atlanta before she was born, meaning she wasn't considered 'from brazil' even though her ancestry is. there really wasn't a classification for brazilian americans so she was grouped with the latinas.

"i'm going to be with a group of others and we also have to learn choreography and have vocal training." she explained. she used her hands to talk, something she was notorious for. after mentioning the vocal training, her stomach did a flip. she doesn't sing seriously in front of others. (jamming out in the car was different because she wasn't trying). she was praying she wouldnt have to sing. "as far as I know, I won't be on any sort of reality show type thing. but not everythings finalized yet. i also won't be gone for 3 weeks, our training is happening right here in LA." she smiled softly, glancing between emma and sam before looking back at colby. she took another sip of her drink, head turning to the oven as it dinged. the cookies were ready! she hopped up and made her way over, grabbing an oven mit and pulling the two trays out one at a time. now the cookies had to cool. she placed her a colbys on the left and sam and emmas on the right. she walked back over to the group, facing everyone from the kitchen now.

"do you guys have anything going on?" she asked sharing a small smile with emma cause they made eye contact. they didn't have to being training for about 3 more weeks the their lives would be hectic until vidcon. she was excited to make the most of her time before she was booked.

"speaking"

sam stood with the others in the living room while madison got the drinks from the kitchen. colby seemed fine with going to taco bell, but knew he probably wouldn't get anything since he was doing keto. there were keto friendly options at taco bell which he was sure jake would get but since colby was eating cookies he might opt out. who knew. madison appeared next to him, offering him the water he asked for. he thanked her and took it, drinking almost half of it. he was rather thirsty.

sam sighed and turned his attention to emerson. emma seemed to ponder his question for a moment. this caused him to slightly raise an eyebrow. he nodded, encouraging her to go one. he was very curious to hear what she was up to. she began to explain everything, and sam paid attention but was still sort of confused. he looked over to colby who also seemed a little confused. it was a lot of information but sam was sure he would understand after hearing more about it and seeing the sneak peak video vidcon was sure to release to hype everything up. madison sat next to emma on the couch, joining their conversation. he kept his gaze mainly on emma until she finished talking. upon hearing the three week absence she was going to have to take he frowned ever so slightly. he ignored the look from colby he caught out of the corner of his eye. "so where will you being going during those three weeks?" he asked, knowing he was going to miss her but he couldn't let it get the better of him.

colby asked madison if she was doing anything, and sam was surprised to hear she was apart of the same thing for vidcon. but also it was to be expected. he didn't actually realize she was latina, but looking at her and knowing that it made sense. he could see it now. he wondered where she was from. he knew she lived in atlanta but like emma she might not be from there. she was also doing a performance which was cool. his head turned to the kitchen as the oven dinged. madison got on it quickly and got their cookies out to cool. she then rejoined the group, standing in between him and colby. at the mention of him and colby doing something, he shrugged.

"nothing as cool as you guys..." he began, looking past madison at his friend before continuing to talk. "we are going to be at vidcon meeting fans and doing a live q&a but that's about it." he explained. he was excited to go and even more excited now they could see the girls perform live. he was sure they were both going to kill it.

"speaking"

madison frowned slightly as he friend mentioned leaving. madison was going to be very lonely while she was gone. sam and colby better get real used to her being around. she's prob gonna invite people over for sleepovers a lot, she hates being home alone. it freaks her out. "ah don't remind me em, im dreading you being gone." she whined, pouting at her friend. the group made their way to the kitchen, the cookies cooling. madison didn't want to wait too long though, she wanted them to be soft. "oh, we should all go to seoul and then you guys should come with me to brazil to visit my family!" she suggested, grabbing some paper towels for everyone and passing them out. "have either of you ever been to brazil?" madison asked the two boys. she wasn't sure she'd seen a video about it but that doesn't mean they haven't been before.

"talent?"madison giggled at colby, shaking her head. "no i'm not that good at dancing or singing so i'm going to need all the help i can get. i really hope they don't make me sing, i hate singing in front of people." she admitted, crossing her arms over her chest. her head turned and madison laughed at emmas comment. "i dont know, ya'lls version of grind on me was very compelling during 2016." she laughed, knowing how much that video haunts those two boys. she found it hilarious and loved to tease them about it every now and then when the opportunity presents itself. such as now. she shook her head slightly, twirling a strand of loose hair by her face that had fallen out of her bun.

everyone began talking about the competition and she smirked. she had a gut feeling her and colby had it in the bag. she decided to humor emma and sam though. "hmm, let's try them and find out. we can try you guys first." she said, pointing to sam and emmas tray. she took a cookie and stepped back to give the others room. she waited til everyone had a cookie. "okay, hopefully i don't get food poisoning." she joked as she took a bite. she admitted they were good, but they were average. her's was gonna win due to her secret family recipe. "hmm...not bad." she hummed with a soft smile, finishing off the little cookie. after everyone was done and shared their opinions she motioned to her and colbys tray. "alright, time to try colby and i's cookies!" she waited for everyone else to grab some before she got her own. she took a bite and smiled. they tasted really good, even with the keto friendly chocolate. she watched everyones faces for their reactions.

"speaking"

sam was bummed she was going to be gone. but he was trying his best not to let it show. once she said seoul his eyes widened. colby beat him to a response but sam nodded along because he agreed with colby. he and his friend did share a love of traveling. "wow that's far. but really cool. like colby said, i've wanted to go to seoul too. it seems like a pretty cool place. you better send lots of pictures!" he chuckled at the end of his sentence, trying to lighten up. suddenly cookies were mentioned and he chuckled as the girls flew to the kitchen. he and colby joined them just a few seconds later. he heard madison's comment about missing emma and he felt kinda bad for her. she was going to be stuck in this apartment by herself for three weeks.

he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, finishing off his water. his usual smiled appeared back on his face. he would just have to make the most of these next two weeks before emerson left. "so the moment of truth is here, huh?" he asked the rhetorical question as madison passed out the paper towels. his and emma's cookies were up first and he was kind of grateful so if they sucked they wouldn't have followed mads and colbys amazing ones. everyone took a bite and he finished his quickly grinning. "we kinda killed it." he said, proud of he and emma as he gave her a high-five. their cookies were pretty dang solid. but now it was time to try madison and colbys. everyone got a cookie and then all took a bite simultaneously. he sighed, knowing in that moment they were defeated.

"alright spill the beans, what's your secret? these are the best chocolate chip cookies i've ever had." sam admitted with a shake of his head, grabbing another just because they were good. he didn't understand what it was. his and emmas cookies were actually good but something about madison and colbys was just better.

"speaking"

madison found a slight blush covering her cheeks from all the compliments. she was very happy to see everyone enjoyed her cookies. she already knew emma would like them, but it was nice to see sam and colby did too! she watched emma go for a water, chuckling at her reaction to the chocolate. she actually quite liked it, but moved to grab her cucumber water from the living room quickly before joining the others. she took a few sips to wash down the cookies. as she re-joined the group the topic was on her secret recipe. madison shook her head with an amused smile on her face. she would take that secret to her grave, or pass it down to her daughter to keep the family recipe tradition going.

"maybe one day em, maybe one day." she winked at her friend. madison considered emma family, so there was a possibility she might cave and let her in on the secret. it would be a long time in the future though. maybe she'd just leave it in her will for emma. who knows? the raven haired girl found herself nodding along with colby. "yeah we are gonna have to take the crown on this one. but in all seriousness you guys did good. im impressed!" she praised the blonde and brunette next to her.

-timeskip-

madison felt like she had woken up at the buttcrack of dawn everyday since the gangs cookie extravaganza. her and emma both had been working overtime to prepare for their huge parts in vidcon. she knew emma had a lot more on her plate since she was having to travel to a whole other country and madison tried her best to aid her when she found the time. she promised emma to film a simple q&a video with her before she left to help the pre-recording process. madison however, was overwhelmed too. of course her training was right here in LA but it was exhausting and the real fun hadn't even started yet. she was already a gym-goer but not everyday, maybe twice or three times a week if she found the time. but now, to prepare for vidcon she was going everyday with a personal trainer. so that had already begun plus her dancing and vocal lessons coming up in the next week or so. to say she was stressed was an understatement.

today was a great day though. today was a day madison and emma sort of had a break. it was the day of sam and colbys pool party. madison was very excited to see the boys in person. they had their group chat with the four of them they've been texting on and her and colby had been talking a lot more over face time and text. but she missed them and it had only been a little over a week since they last saw eachother. she was worried she might be getting too attached to those goofs. madison was a little tired, she had to meet her trainer early this morning but she had a coffee and was perking up now. she was in her bathroom finishin applying some waterproof mascara. she wasn't wearing any makeup other than that, and was planning on putting some on for tonights party instead. her and emma had already planned to stay at the traphouse to get ready for the after party together. mads was stoked, as the girls each had bomb outfits. she couldn't help but think colby would find her attractive in this outfit but she quickly pushed those thoughts away. and goodness emerson! she looked like a 5 course MEAL in her look, and madison was thrilled about it.

her and emma had spoken about the slight yet not so slight crushes they had on their guys. madison was kind of pushing emma to mention something or drop major hints to sam so she wouldnt freak out about it while in seoul, but understandably emma was nervous. she felt the same with colby. she clearly liked him and they had gotten really flirty recently, but something in her was telling her she's not good enough and they should just be friends. it was honestly a mix of those girls they ran into at target and all the hate comments online she'd been receiving recently. sighing madison shook her head in an attempt to clear it. she was leaving her bedroom with her small bag packed with tonights attire and necessities when emma called her name.

"yeah i'm ready em!" she responded, jogging down the spiral staircase to join her friend by the door. she looked almost the same as emma outfit wise. she wore a sage green tshirt and black running shorts. for the pool aspect of this party, she was wearing a cute yellow bikini that made her look slightly tanner which she loved.

"i'll drive!" she said, grabbing her keys from the bowl on the side table next to the door and leading the way out of the apartment. the girls went in the elevator and chatted about the party before making their way to madison's white four door jeep. she had it shipped over from atlanta cause this was her baby. she put both girls bags in the backseat before getting in the front. both girls phones were connected by bluetooth to this car. "alright emma you play some music!" she said, putting it in reverse and heading to the boys house.

they arrived in record timing (due in part to madison going 10 mph over the speedlimit). she parked her car on the street and both girls walked through the green gates and to the large wooden doors. madison leaned forward and knocked three times before stepping back and waiting to be greeted. she shared a look with emerson and a soft smile.

"speaking"

sam's eyes remained rather wide as he ate the other cookie he grabbed and listened to everyone talk. he grabbed his glass of water from the table next to him and drank almost half of it to wash the cookies down. a part of him knew milk would be perfect with these cookies but he didn't want to ask. "dang you really keep that secret under lock and key!" sam commented with a laugh, finishing off the rest of his water. he moved around the group to rinse his glass out in the sink and add it to the nearly full dishwasher the girls were about to start.

bottom line is, same knew when he was defeated. madison's cookies, well and colbys too; sam had to give his friend some credit, were better. period. however he was still very very pleased with emma and his cookies. they were very good for their lack of baking skills. "alright alright, we get it, you guys crushed us." he laughed as he held his hands up in mock defense. he did find a smile on his face from the compliments both colby AND madison gave their cookies. that was something he was proud of win or lose.

-timeskip-

this morning had been pretty hectic for sam so far. everyone in the house was up and doing things early on. well, early for them at least. sam and colby had been on store duty and got all the supplies they didn't already have. he felt kinda bad for clearing target and ralphs of their red solo cups. but hey, they did really need them for this party tonight. the boys arrived home and everyone helped unload colbys classic toyota corolla and they were all back into "set-up" mode. sam had been put in charge of ordering the pizzas and salads. he just got off the phone with the delivery guy and everything would be arriving in and hour and a half, so perfect timing.

sam felt as if he was being pulled in all sorts of directions. he had no other specific task so he was helping jake with some editing here, corey with cleaning this, and elton with setting up that. he was relieved when he finally caught a break. some people had already arrived but the girl he was waiting to see wasn't here yet. he was happy and excited to see emerson, but also a bit nervous. colby and him and shared many a talks about each of these girls and what they were going to do about their obvious feelings. sam was feeling a little overwhelmed with all his thoughts and the pressure of time was really pushing down on him. emerson was going to be leaving for two weeks to another country and in all honesty sam didn't think he could last that long without saying something. literally anything.

he sighed, running his hand through his blonde hair. her glanced behind him through the glass doors at their pool which had a few floats and eltons giant dive board with a shark on it he built for a tfil video. he really wanted to jump in as he was starting to work up a sweat with all his running around he was doing. he walked into the kitchen to get some water to cool down. he was chugging it when colby asked if they had everything. finishing the water bottle he threw the bottle in the recycle bin and walked over to survey the huge array of chips, cups, plates and utensils. "it looks like it! good job colbs." sam nodded, turning to walk towards the back door. he wanted to see what elton was up to. he was stopped by a knock on the door however. clad in his blue swim trunks and white t-shirt, sam changed his direction to head to the front door. he swung it open to reveal madison and emma.

"hey guys! welcome!" he greeted them, opening the door wider and stepping to the side so they could get in. he knew colby could hear him from the kitchen and was probably on his way to greet the girls now. sam greeted each of them with a short hug, madison first and emma second. "you guys can go put your bags upstairs if you want! some of the other girls are already up there. everyone else is kinda running around." he laughed as he shut the door behind them and lead them a little further into the foyer.

"speaking"