Title: Johnny Come Latelys

Author: Majandra

Email: flavorlesschocolate@hotmail.com

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Brooke and Sam, duh! That's, like, all I can write at the moment, and I'm not even doing that well!

Disclaimer: Not mine, blah blah woof woof.

Sam was on top of the world. Having recently come out to Carmen, Lily and Brooke, she was standing by her locker engaged in one of the first unstrained conversations she'd had in weeks.

Carmen said something doofy, and they all laughed, not for the first time, Brooke notices how pretty Sam was when she laughed. Not for the first time, Sam noticed how pretty Brooke was when SHE laughed. Then they walked up.

THEY were obviously twins, and equally obviously new. They looked identical apart from clothing and hair length, and though they didn't look classically Latin, when they opened their mouths the fact became apparent.

"Hi. We're Alex and Alex," the boy began, but the girl hit him in the shoulder. Green eyes flashing she stared him down then turned to the group.

"He always does that. Our middle names, sorry. He's AARAN," (she stressed his name) "and I'm Anya. Could you point us toward the main office?"

Aaran looked sullen. He turned to Anya and let loose with a stream of Spanish.

"No quiero hablar con estas 'Americanas,'" he snapped. The last word was almost a sneer. Though Carmen, Sam and Brooke looked mystified, Lily bristled.

"What makes you think we want to talk to you, you arrogant jerk?" she snapped. She looked ready to hit him, but on hearing that he was understood, Aaran's entire demeanor changed.

"Sorry," he said, flashing a sheepish, but perfect, smile. "We just moved here from Venezuela and I'm kind of missing it. He turned his perfect smile on Lily, who smiled back shyly.

Carmen spoke up helpfully. "Down the hall, first left."

Smiling gratefully, the twins walked towards the doorway Carmen had indicated. Lily and Carmen stared after Aaran, watching his perfect butt in his baggy jeans and his toned torso in a close fitting camouflage t-shirt.

Sam, however, couldn't take her eyes off of Anya. The blonde girl's hair was thick and past her shoulders, straight up top but settling into loose ringlets as the ends. Her butt was as nice, if not nicer, than Aaran's – and displayed nicely in her above-knee denim skirt. Her platform sandals flattered her already shapely legs and her tight baby blue tank top revealed her ample bust. Sam swallowed, and watched Anya walk away.

And Brooke watched Sam watching Anya.

~

The gang made their way slowly to Bio and were mildly surprised to see both twins there. Bio Glass, by some stroke of kindness, assigned a twin to each McSister. Brooke was named buddy to Aaran. And Sam was paired with Anya.

Brooke switched tables to sit with Aaran, never taking her eyes off of Anya, sitting beside Sam with a smile. Then she realized she was supposed to be the welcome wagon, and she should probably start acting the part.

"Brooke McQueen," she introduced herself, holding out her hand. Aaran shook it.

"Aaran Alejandro DeMarco," he announced proudly. "Until recently, of Caracas, Venezuela."

"You want I should tell you everyone's names?" Brooke offered. Aaran nodded eagerly, so she began, pointing discreetly as she talked.

"Sugar Daddy Bernadino, star of the football team. Mary Cherry, rich, undoubtedly whacked, dangerous. Lily Esposito, Latina activist, cute but fiery. Carmen Ferrara, cheerleader, genuinely friendly. Josh Ford, captain of the football team, all round golden boy. Harrison John, recently recovered from leukemia. Nicole Julian, my ex-best friend, the devil incarnate. April Tuna, lovable freak. And..." She paused.

"Who is that beside Anya?" Aaran asked.

"Samantha McPherson. Known to the masses as Sam, her mom is engaged to my dad and we have a baby sister, MacKenzie. But we're not related yet."

"She's..." Aaran began.

"Breathtaking," Brooke interrupted, not thinking.

"I was going to say, laughing at something that Anya said," he finished, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "You have a thing for her or something?"

Brooke regarded him seriously. "I never really thought about it, but I guess I do. She's gay," she added as an afterthought.

"So's Anya," Aaran informed her. Brooke's blood ran cold and she went very pale.

~

I hate to do it, but there's no way around it. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Sam and Anya were getting to know each other.

"Our mother is American, our dad Venezuelan. Aaran and I are completely bilingual. While our parents were together we lived in Caracas, Venezuela. We were born there. They just got a divorce, and Mama brought us here. Aaran was furious at first but I think he'll be okay. He has a thing for your friend, I can tell." Anya paused for breath and Sam spoke.

"My father is dead and my mother is engaged to her father," she said, pointing in the direction of Brooke and Aaran. "We have a baby sister, MacKenzie."

"Aw, sweet," Anya gushed. "Is that what the teacher meant when... it... called you the McSisters?"

"Yeah," Sam replied. "Tell me more about yourself."

"Um, Aaran is nineteen minutes older than me. My full name is Anya Alejandra DeMarco. Our first language was English, but as soon as we were old enough to understand TV we picked up Spanish. I'm a lesbian, Aaran and I have matching birthmarks in an unmentionable place, I..."

"Whoa, back the truck up. You're a lesbian?"

"Yeah," Anya confirmed quietly. "And it was part of the reason my parents split."

"Hey..." Sam began, catching Anya's eyes. "Me too," she finished lamely, with a giggle. Anya's face lit up.

"Really?" she asked, as if she could hardly dare to believe it.

"Yeah," Sam admitted.

~

The DeMarcos joined the gang for munch. At the last minute Anya switched places, sitting herself beside Sam and forcing Aaran to sit beside Lily. She leaned over and whispered to Sam.

"Rubio over there has a thing for..."

"Lily," Sam supplied.

"Right, Lily. And, by the way, your dear McSister is staring daggers at me."

"Ignore her, she's a cheerleader."

~

When Brooke parked the car in the driveway she didn't move, so Sam stayed put as well.

"What's wrong, Brooke? You can talk to me, we're friends."

Brooke didn't answer straight away but when she did, her voice was dull, devoid of emotion.

"Anya's pretty, don't you think?" she asked. Sam sighed.

"Yes, I think she's nice looking, but I also think she's a nice person, from what I've seen. I thought you were okay with my being gay, I thought you understood that there are gonna be times I check out girls."

"I know, Sammy. I'm fine with it, really," Brooke lied, getting out of the car. She hurried inside before Sam could see her cry.

~

Next day at school, Sam spent a lot of time watching Anya. Anya spent a lot of time watching Sam. And Brooke spent a LOT of time watching the two of them watch each other.

Eventually it had to come to a head, and it did. At the end of lunch Anya leaned over and brushed her lips to Sam's.

"You're very sweet," Anya murmured into the startled journalists ear. Then she walked to her next class, leaving Sam standing in the middle of the hall with a somewhat glazed look in her eyes.

And Brooke, having seen the entire thing, burst into tears.

Aaran was the first to come across the bawling blonde. He helped her to her feet and tentatively put his arms around her. He was a little surprised to feel her fall into his arms but he recovered nicely.

"¿Que pasa, chiquita?" he asked. Brooke spilled out the whole sordid story. Aaran rubbed her back gently.

"Talk to mi hermana, princesa," he advised. "She's a good person. She will help you to fix this confusión."

Brooke sniffled back the last of her tears and thanked Aaran for being so lovely. Now it was time to confront this Johnny-Come-Lately – er, Anya-Come-Lately – well, either way, competition for the love of Sam.

~

"Anya?" Brooke called. The girl turned, saw Brooke, smiled and walked over.

"You want to talk to me?" she asked. Brooke nodded, and pointed to the Novak.

~

"Look, this can be really easy or really hard, so I'm going to do my best to make it easy. I think I'm in love with Sam, and I know I'm threatened by you, so could you, so could you possibly, maybe, step back a little?"

Anya smiled sweetly. "Sammy's a big girl. She ties her own shoes and everything. I'm sure she can choose for herself. But, uh, if you want to win this little competition, you'd best be letting Sam know you're in the running." With that she turned on her heel and walked out.

Brooke paced back and forth nervously. What should she do now?

~

Anya made her way quickly to the newspaper office where she knew she'd find Sam, alone. Hurrying in, she locked the door behind her and stalked over to Sam's desk.

"Stand up," she commanded. Gently. Sam stood, a little nervously.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I have something for you," Anya told her, right before she leaned in and captured Sam's lips urgently. Blindly, Sam responded, and as her lips parted she felt Anya's tongue in her mouth. She was starting to get a little over heated but as she moved to deepen the kiss, Anya pulled away, smiling warmly at the brunette.

"If you want more, be sure and let me know," she called over her shoulder as she left Sam with the glazed look in her eyes again. Sam brought a hand to her lips and traced them dazedly. This was turning out to be a very good day...

The door crashed open and an extremely disheveled Brooke all but fell into the room.

"Sammy," she gasped. "Sammy, you can't choose her! Don't choose Anya, please. I... I love you."

With these last words Brooke burst into fresh tears and threw herself into Sam's arms. Sam was bemused, bewildered and befuddled. So Anya and Brooke both wanted her? And she was supposed to choose? To quote Hugh Grant a la Notting Hill, "Oh, shittity brickity."

~

Sam thought carefully for the remainder of the day and well into the night. By the next day, she thought she had it figured out.

Purposefully, she strode into the school and found Anya, then led her and Brooke to a secluded corner.

"First of all," she began, "this is a REALLY shitty position the two of you have put me in. the first girl ever to have shown interest in me versus the first girl I ever loved – you both know someone is gonna get hurt."

Anya had the good grace to at least look guilty but Brooke was too busy screaming internally, "I'm the first girl she ever loved!"

Sam took a deep breath. "Anya, yesterday you kissed me,and it was good. But I think I have to kiss Brooke before I can make my decision."

The two closed the distance between them quickly. Sam locked eyes with Brooke and saw what she needed to know in order to choose. Even so, she leaned in. the last thing she heard before their lips touched was Brooke whispering, "I love you, Sam."

It was electric and the effect was instantaneous. Everything around Sam went back and she didn't even notice Anya creeping out the door. All she was, all she knew was kissing Brooke McQueen. The merest touch of Brooke's tongue on Sam's bottom lip sent Sam's senses reeling and she parted her lips for Brooke's tongue. As their tongues touched Sam knew that she had made the right choice. Not that she had doubted for a second that Brooke McQueen was the one for her.

"So does that mean you choose me?" Brooke asked as they broke apart. Sam nodded.

"I choose you, Brooke."

"How very Pokémon," Brooke giggled gently. Sam smiled, but remained serious.

"It was always you, Brooke. Even before I knew I was gay, you always got to me. I think I must have loved you my whole life."

The two shared another, more gentle kiss.

~

EPILOGUE

Aaran and Anya are still at Kennedy. Anya had the good grace to step back, away from Sam. She knew she lost that day. The latest on Anya is she has started a tentative relationship with Nicole.

Aaran never stopped lusting after Lily, but when it became apparent that Carmen had a thing for him, Lily refused to break the Best Friends Code and pursue him. Eventually Carmen gave the go ahead. Aaran and Lily hooked up and have been together ever since. They are firm friends with Carmen still, and, almost unbelievably, through Aaran, Anya brought Nicole into the group. She had turned over a new leaf and is being nice... for now.

And Brooke and Sam? They recently celebrated MacKenzie's first birthday, and their own six month anniversary. As an anniversary present Brooke bought Sam a birthstone ring – not a cheap one, either. Sam gave Brooke a set of photo albums, already thoughtfully filled with meaningful photos dating back to kindergarten, when they first met. The two have tentative plans to move out of the Palace and into an apartment together after graduation.