Haunted

Chapter 16

Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still - Chinese Proverb

“Come on, Sam! Tell us why you were in that hotel room,” Finn said from behind the drum set after helping with Rachel’s performance.

I rolled my eyes, “Finn, will you just relax. Sam and I didn’t do anything!”

“Then why were you there?” Rachel asked putting her hand on her hip and staring at me.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, “Lay off, Rachel,” I heard Kurt say from beside me.

I smiled slightly and looked over at him; he just nodded back to me.

“Why don’t you just tell us, Sam, clear the air then?” Mike said looking over at Sam. He was being gentler then the rest of the group.

“Dude, each of them have boyfriends, not cool,” Puck scoffed from behind me.

I turned to give him a dirty look, “Coming from you, Puck, doesn’t mean much,” Sam spat.

“Just tell us, Sam!” Finn yelled taking a step closer to him.

“Look!” Sam shouted, standing up, “I’m not doing anything with Kurt or Ryley, or anyone. They were just helping me out.”

Uncle Will held his hand up, “What do you mean, they were helping you Sam?” he asked.

My heart stopped, was he going to tell everyone?

“Kurt was bringing me some clothes, and Ryley was helping babysit my little brother and sister,” he said quietly.

“Then why were you in that hotel?” uncle Will asked.

Sam ran a hand through his hair, “Me and my family live there, okay? My dad lost his job, and the bank took our house, and that’s where we’re living. You guys happy now?” Sam said before running from the room.

I shook my head and stood up, “Did that really just happen? You guys attacked him so much that he ran out of the room. For a group that calls themselves a family, that was a pretty low thing to do to someone who is a part of this family. You should all be so ashamed of yourselves,” I said and walked out of the room. I needed to find Sam. Not thirty seconds after I left, Kurt was running behind me.

We left the school and saw Sam walking across the parking lot, “Sam!” I yelled.

He turned to face us, he wiped his eyes, “I’m not going back in there.”

Kurt and I stopped in front of him, “We’re not going to tell you to, I swear. Not today at least,” Kurt told him.

Sam just looked so sad, and hurt, and betrayed. And I was still basically shocked about what had just happened. Most of the people in the Glee Club were...just so nosey, and they couldn’t just take mine and Kurt’s answer about what we were doing there.

And Finn...I couldn’t believe that he didn’t trust me enough to take my answer, that I wasn’t doing anything with Sam, so the truth. And I would be the first to admit that I wasn’t telling him the truth about what was up with Sam, but that wasn’t my secret to tell. And it wasn’t the Glee Club secret to force out of Sam.

We ended up over at my car, and Sam leaned against it and looked at the two of us, ”I never want to go back there; I can’t believe they would do that to me. Is it because I’m just one of the new kids or something? I didn’t want everyone to know, I didn’t even want you guys to know. I just...God! It’s fucking embarrassing. Why would I want them to know?” he sat on the ground and put his head in his hands.

I sat down beside him, “Sammy, I love you regardless of everything. You’re one of my best friends. Ever. And I can’t believe that most of them would do that to you. But, I literally, cannot have you leave the Glee Club,” Kurt sat down on his other side, “Come on, Sammy, you’re Trouty Mouth,” I said laughing and nudging him, Kurt laughed on the other side and Sam gave me a small smile and look over at me, “there can’t be a Glee Club without Sam ‘Trouty Mouth’ Evans.”

“Yeah,” Kurt said and put his arm around Sam, “we can’t have Glee without you.”

Sam smiled and look back and forth between Kurt and me, “Thank-you, guys,” he said while standing up, he pulled me up and hugged me, “Thank-you, Ryley,” he whispered, before pulling back from me.

Kurt had stood up and Sam hugged him for a moment before pulling away.

“Do you think you could drive me back?” Sam asked me.

I nodded, “Yeah, of course. I’ll text you later, Kurt.”

He smiled and nodded, “Talk to you guys later,” he said before going over to his own car.

Sam went over to the passenger side of my VW Bug in silence. Sam didn’t break the silence until we were out of the parking lot.

“I’m sorry if I messed anything up between you and Finn,” he said quietly.

I glanced over at him shocked, “First, you didn’t mess up anything if anyone did it was Finn for accusing us and not believing me. Second, you’re the last person that has to be sorry for anything. You haven’t done anything wrong. You didn’t even want Kurt and me to find out! This isn’t your fault Sam, it’s no one’s fault.”

I peeked over at him and saw him just staring out the window; I looked back in front of me and kept driving to the hotel to drop him off. I had only known Sam for a little while, but I knew he was strong and I knew that he would get through this. But I also knew this was killing him.

“How do you do it?” he asked suddenly.

My eyebrows knitted together, “Do what?” I asked turning left.

“Just have such a good outlook on life when life has dealt you the worst hand ever. Like, you’re so damn happy, and you smile and laugh and you have Finn but...life hasn’t been good to you,” he said thoughtfully.

I smiled over at him, “Honestly? I still cry and I still have my moments of feeling like I’m dying. Like I’m drowning and no one can save me, and some days when I feel like that I don’t want anyone to save me. But...Lord knows my parents and Blake would kill me if I acted like that all the time,” I said laughing lightly, “Sam, I’m not over it, by any means. My dad’s birthday is coming up and I know I’m going to be a mess. But I can’t dwell on it, and to me, if I don’t laugh sometimes I’d cry all the time.

“And Finn has helped me so much. He’s pretty much the reason I even joined the Glee Club. I care for him so much, and he’s helped me so much. And...as terrible as this might sound, this is where I’m suppose to be, I was meant to meet Finn and meet all of you because in such a short time you have all helped changed my life.”

By this time we were at the hotel, I parked and look over at him and smiled, he returned it, “you’re one of my best friends, Ry. Thank-you so much, for everything,” he said leaning over to hug me, I hugged back tightly.

We pulled apart and he opened up the door and got out of the car, he closed the door and started walking to the room his family shared, he turned and smiled one more time before going inside.

--

Finn had texted me while I was driving back to the apartment after I dropped Sam off. He asked me to pick him up at his house. After he got in we were silent. I drove to the lake we went to on our first date and parked. Neither of us got out of the car, we just sat there for a few minutes before Finn spoke.

“I’m so sorry, Ryley,” he said quietly.

I leaned back in my seat, “Why couldn’t you just believe me?” I asked turning to face him.

He looked at me, “I’ve had so many girls lie to me about stuff like that and I was just so worried that you were doing the same thing. And I mean, I saw it, you know? I was so hurt, that I felt like I couldn’t see straight,” he said never looking away from me.

I shook my head slightly, “Finn, I would never do that. I just wish that you hadn’t gone about it that way, just constant accusations, and not believing me or Kurt, and it hurt so badly.”

“But Quinn and Rachel both lied to me about this stuff, you have to understand,” he said taking my hands in his, “when they lied to me, it hurt, really, really bad. But when I thought you were lying to me, I swear it almost killed me. You’re awesome, and amazing, and just the absolute perfect girl for me. And it sounds so stupid, we’ve only been together like, three weeks, but this is the best relationship I’ve been in,” he told me. He squeezed my hands, and sounded and looked so genuine that...I don’t know, everything just felt better.

I smiled a little at him, “I forgive you, I do. And thank-you for the apology.”

He smiled at me, leaned over and kissed me; he deepened the kiss and pulled me closer. He pulled back after a minute and leaned his forehead against mine.

“I love you,” he breathed.

I smiled, and kissed him lightly, “I love you, too,” I whispered.