Double Feature.

It is apparently not that obvious that Finn and Sam are a ‘thing’. Really, thinking about it, it’s blindingly obvious. The too-long touches, the staring across the room, the clothes sharing. But apparently not. Their collective tact and intelligent (although both are sparse) appear to have created a thin veil of deceit that is enough to confuse their fellow glee members.

Kurt doesn’t suspect a thing, and so when Sam arrives at his and Finn’s house one day, he thinks nothing of it. He is only slightly annoyed that his dad lets Finn have other boys in his room and have the door shut, but he supposes it’s a small price to pay for his own room. Kurt thinks nothing of it when he knocks on his stepbrother’s door to ask if they want anything and gets no response. They’re probably too wrapped up in their stupid video games to hear him. He gets quickly annoyed, however, when they don’t answer the second or third time he knocks. He’s not above barging straight in there.

And that he does.

He does think something of it when he sees his stepbrother pinning Sam to his bed and kissing him, touching him, his hand tucked up his shirt. Kurt stares at them for a long moment, sucking in a breath before coughing loudly. At the noise, Sam quite literally leaps into the air, his eyes wide and frantic. Finn stares at his stepbrother, his expression horrified until Kurt laughs in his face. Kurt explains that he knocked a few times and no one answered. He promises he won’t tell anyone.

Sam excuses himself not too long after the incident with Kurt; he makes some excuse about how his parents want to go out and he needs to watch his siblings. Finn buys it, so Sam leaves, drives the family car a few roads away before pulling over to the side of the road and starting to cry. Finn sits alone in his room, staring numbly at the Dashboard Confessional poster opposite him and wonders what just happened. Maybe this whole thing was not exactly a wise decision. Kurt sits in his room across the hall, phone pressed to his ear as Blaine talks at him, much like he usually does. He feigns interest and considers for a moment telling Blaine what happened. He decides against it. He probably wouldn’t care anyway.

Glee club the next day is awkward. Sam and Finn sit at opposite sides of the room, even further away than usual, Kurt notes, so he deviates from his path to sit by Mercedes and Tina to take the empty seat next to the blonde. Mercedes gives him a curious look that he shrugs off, and Sam just stares at him in what appears to be horror. He catches Finn watching them from across the room, and Kurt narrows his eyes at his stepbrother. He makes a mental note to ask him what the hell is going on when they get home tonight.

And that he does.

His father walks in on them having one of their very loud, very snappy, shouting matches. He tries to mediate things for a moment until he realizes that it’s Kurt who started this. He can’t quite work out what they’re arguing about, but he hears a few mentions of Sam and Blaine and a few other names that he recognizes. He backs off and decides that they’ll probably work it out themselves, and if they don’t, he’s willing to step in to make sure that they do.

In the end, Finn swears he’ll talk to Sam about it –Kurt actually makes him promise, because he saw how antsy the blonde was getting earlier. Kurt threatens him a little, since Sam is his friend too and if Finn upsets him he will have his balls for a necklace. Finn isn’t sure he’s entirely joking, so he just nods feverishly and promises he’ll talk everything out with Sam tomorrow after football practice.

Kurt has to give Finn credit, he must’ve said something to Sam, otherwise why would he be able to hear them screaming at each other through two closed doors and a hallway? It doesn’t seem to go too well, since Sam’s voice is getting shakier and shakier by the word, and it sounds as if Finn isn’t even listening to him. Kurt kind of wants to go out there and give him a hug, but that would mean they’d know he was listening to them. And that would be really awkward. So he settles with sitting in his room pretending to write an essay until their shouting escalates to a point that Kurt can’t even hear himself think. He stands, moves over to his door to lean out and shout at the two of them, but stops himself when he hears that Sam is sobbing. He swallows, hesitates for a moment, and he kind of really just wants to pull Sam into the tightest hug he can manage with his tiny arms and never let his stupid brother hurt him again.

And that’s what he does.

He throws the door wide open, and both Finn and Sam turn and stare at him with expressions of shock. Sam tries to sober up and stop himself from crying, but he keeps sniffing and whimpering, so Kurt just shoots Finn a glare before moving over to Sam. Kurt doesn’t say a word, but gestures at Finn’s groin, then waggles the chain that hangs around his neck. Finn swallows nervously. Sam just looks confused. Kurt pulls him into a tight hug and drags him into his room, slamming the door after them. Finn just stares at his brother’s closed door for a moment until he retreats into his own room to realize how much of a mess he’s just made.

Kurt sits Sam down on his bed, leans against his desk and watches as the blonde tries to calm himself down. Kurt asks him what happened, even though he’s almost positive he heard it all. Sam just shakes his head and when he tries to say something, he can only sputter out a few broken sounds before he collapses against himself again. Kurt watches him from a distance, his eyes sad, remembering Finn’s words about staying away from the new kid and laughs somewhat bitterly. Sam stares at him for a long moment, and his eyes are both heartbreakingly sad and just confused. Kurt explains, and Sam’s shoulders drop again and he buries his face in his hands. Kurt can’t quite work out if it’s because he’s crying or because he’s embarrassed. Kurt hesitates for a moment before deciding that it’s probably best that he at least tries to comfort the other boy.

Kurt moves quickly and quietly over to the other boy, and Sam doesn’t notice the bed dip beside him as Kurt takes a seat next to him. He only acknowledges the brunette boy when he curls an arm around his shoulders and rests his head against him. Sam hesitates for a moment until he sinks into Kurt’s touch. Kurt stays silent and holds him as he cries. Sam buries his face in Kurt’s shoulder, and Kurt strokes the blonde boy’s back absently. For once in his life, he doesn’t care that his expensive designer shirt is being soiled with tears. Kurt wants to punch Finn right now.

He cards his fingers through Sam’s messy, dirty blonde hair and sighs softly. The other boy’s breathing starts to calm down a little, so Kurt counts that as a victory. He can hear Finn shouting at someone from across the hall, and Sam tenses against him so Kurt hugs him impossibly tighter. Kurt assumes he’s arguing with Quinn or Rachel (either way, he appears to be losing terribly) so he pulls Sam to his feet and takes him downstairs and seats him at the breakfast bar. He offers him practically every food and drink substance they possess until he finally accepts a smoothie –made with only the freshest fruits, Kurt insists.

In Sam’s head (and Kurt’s too, he likes think) the fruit that Kurt is blending to a fine paste and mixing with yogurt is Finn’s junk, and judging from the screaming that’s coming from upstairs, his mind voodoo is working. Kurt catches him smiling and gives him a bemused look before setting a glass down in front of him. Kurt takes a seat next to him and clinks their glasses together. Sam offers him a small smile.

When Burt and Carole come home from their date, they find Sam and Kurt sitting together on the living room floor, their legs tangled together in a way that can only be accidental. For a moment, Burt thinks they’re asleep. He coughs quietly, and Carole shushes him, leaning around into the room to find that Kurt is idly running his fingers through the blonde’s hair. Sam is asleep against his shoulder, breathing softly. Carole smiles gently at the two boys before retreating from the room where she relays the scene to Burt. For a moment, he becomes the overprotective father that Carole has learnt he is recently, until she explains that it seemed thoroughly innocent and he relents. They head upstairs to check on Finn.

Sam wakes up around an hour later because his phone is vibrating harshly against his upper thigh and a second passes before the Avatar theme song starts blasting through the room. Kurt throws him a faraway smile as the blonde blushes furiously as he answers his phone. Kurt can hear Mrs Evans berating her son even from a distance through a phone speaker. Sam fumbles around, getting his shoes and his letterman on and moving towards the door. She’s hung up by the time he’s ready to leave, and Kurt makes an almost snide comment about his ringtone that has Sam blushing again. Kurt can understand what Finn saw in him. He squashes the blonde into the best hug he can manage with his skinny arms and makes him promise to call him if he needs to talk or wants advice or whatever. Sam agrees to that pretty easily, and Kurt waves him off from the porch before he goes up to his room. He pauses to knock on his stepbrother’s door; when he answers he calls him an ass and slaps him square across the face before carrying on with a spring in his step. He texts Mercedes something about a ‘case of the Finn’ in the last moment before he falls asleep.

He walks into the main school building the next morning with Finn to find a very annoyed Sam and Mercedes waiting for them. Mercedes drags Kurt off in one direction to bark at him about his text last night, while Sam stands his ground and argues with Finn right in the middle of the math hallway. It’s Finn that throws the first punch. It’s Sam that throws the first punch that reaches its target –in this case, Finn’s nose. Sam feels an odd satisfaction at the cracking noise that follows the impact, so he dusts his hands off and calls Finn a prick before flouncing off in the other direction. Kurt is suddenly torn between helping his brother and chasing Sam, who has been stopped by an appalled Quinn about ten feet down the hall.

Mercedes goes to see to Finn almost immediately, so Kurt takes it as an opportunity to go and question Sam about what the hell he just witnessed. Quinn is apparently two steps ahead of him (as ever) and is already interrogating the other blonde when he catches up with them. Quinn asks him what he was thinking. Sam just shrugs at her. After a few minutes of questioning and getting nothing but shrugs, Quinn groans exasperatedly and turns her back on the two of them, rushing off to catch up with Santana and Brittany. Sam looks at Kurt for a long moment. The brunette shrugs and says that Finn probably deserved it. Sam laughs openly with him.

By the time of glee club that day, the entire school knows that Sam Evans punched Finn Hudson in the face. Everyone has heard a different variant from a different person over the course of the day, but Kurt sits smugly beside the blonde and revels in the fact that he witnessed some of the biggest gossip to hit this school in recent weeks. Sam deflects everyone’s questions fairly easily, but no one misses the glare that he and Finn exchange when the taller teen arrives in the room. Rachel immediately begins fawning over the frankenteen, and Kurt swears he hears Puck make a noise like he’s throwing up. Sam appears suddenly self conscious as he watches Finn and Rachel from the corner of his eye. Kurt notices his unease and throws an arm around his shoulders. Sam relaxes and offers Kurt his trademark dopey smile. Kurt is most pleased with himself.

Finn, however, is much less pleased to walk into his home after basketball practice to find his stepbrother and someone he considers an ex curled up together on the sitting room couch. Finn stares at them both for a long moment; notes the way Sam is pressed back against Kurt’s chest (he always said he hated that; he was claustrophobic, he said), the way Kurt’s fingers are absent-mindedly twisting strands of his hair (he never let him do that either; said his hair was already messy enough without his help, thank you very much) and, perhaps most importantly, the way they look so together (Sam had always said that he hated romantic gestures; they never held hands). Finn’s hands ball into fists, but instead of punching the blonde like he really wants to, he storms off upstairs and sulks. Sam opens his eyes and considers for a moment following him, but Kurt shushes him and they go back to watching a rerun of Battlestar Galactica.

Sam leaves a few hours later, after Kurt has helped him both correct and improve his English essay on George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four. Kurt still insists that it’s a classic. Sam just insists that it’s a terrible book with too many long words. Kurt laughs at him but helps him finish up with page numbers and his name at the bottom. Kurt notices the pride on the blonde’s face when he’s done typing ‘Samuel Evans – English II’ in the footer box. Sam gives him an expectant smile and Kurt grins at him, hugging him around the shoulders from behind. Kurt waves the blonde off from the porch again. When he shuts the door, he finds Finn waiting behind him. He asks what the hell he’s doing. Finn stares at him. Kurt stares right back. Finn reminds him of the fact that he’s dating Blaine and threatens to tell him about Sam. Kurt scoffs and asks what on earth Blaine would be able to do. Finn attempts to articulate that he’ll be jealous in some way, and Kurt laughs right in his stepbrother’s face. He calls him ridiculous and stalks off to his room. He texts Mercedes about a ‘case of the Finn’ again.

The next day is a Saturday, and Kurt cancels his prearranged date with Blaine to go over to Sam’s apartment (his parents had both finally found jobs and they’d been able to move out of the motel) and help babysit his younger siblings. The door is opened to reveal Sam and his younger sister Stacy. She’s apparently halfway through having her hair dried after a bath of some kind; Kurt can only assume from her wet, pale brown curls. Sam says hey and invites him inside; Stacy hides behind his leg while Stevie immediately introduces himself. Kurt sits with him and watches some god awful kids TV show on the tiny television set in one corner of the room and absently reminisces about what TV was like when he was a kid. Sam returns with a freshly dry Stacy a few moments later and makes a brash comment that voices exactly what Kurt was just thinking. Kurt sits and plaits Stacy’s hair while they watch the stupid animated show, and when he’s done, he settles himself between Sam’s legs and they curl up together against the couch with Stacy and Stevie a few feet away playing with some old toys. Kurt realizes about twenty minutes later that Sam is lazily playing with his hair, and Kurt is both shocked and somewhat terrified when he realizes that he’s the only person he’s ever let get away with that. Not even Blaine has that privilege. Kurt swallows nervously when he thinks back to the conversation he had with Finn the night before about Blaine. He realizes that, for once in their lives, his stepbrother actually noticed something before he did.

As it turns out, Blaine is not best pleased with the fact that his boyfriend keeps skipping out on all of their dates, and Kurt is not best pleased with the fact that Blaine is sticking his nose into places and situations where it isn’t wanted. When he arrives home that night after helping Sam put his siblings to bed, he finds a very annoyed Blaine with his arms folded waiting for him on their porch. He’s tapping his foot in a thoroughly obnoxious way. Kurt has barely left his car before Blaine is approaching him and demanding answers. Kurt just sights as he relays the speech he’s been rehearsing all night in his head; Sam is just a friend (a best friend at that) and nothing more, he’s been helping him look after his siblings lately and he’s had some tough emotional times that Kurt was helping him get over. Blaine surveys his torn expression and smiles almost sadly at the other boy. He suggests going out tomorrow instead. Kurt hesitates for a moment then shakes his head. He notices the glower on Blaine’s face as he explains he and Sam are taking Stacy and Stevie to the park. Blaine asks whether it can wait. Kurt says that it can’t. Blaine just gets irate and demands that Kurt makes a choice; him or Sam. Kurt tells him he’s being ridiculous.

Blaine starts to yell first. He goes on and on about how he barely sees Kurt as it is without him spending so much time with Sam. Kurt zones out within a minute of his seemingly endless rage. He looks at Blaine expectantly when he finally stops talking. He asks if he’s quite finished. Blaine nods. Kurt then begins a barrage of snappy, sarcastic responses to everything Blaine just said to him. The warbler is taken aback, and he asks Kurt what’s wrong. Kurt tells him that he chooses his friends, pushes past him and slams the door in his face. Blaine stares at the door for a good five minutes until Burt appears and tells him to beat it before he gets the shotgun. Blaine scuttles away like a terrified insect. Burt counts it as a success to have at least one of Kurt’s friends completely frightened of him.

Kurt calls Sam on the Sunday after and tells him everything. Sam is sympathetic, and offers to go for a walk around downtown Lima and talk. Kurt agrees, and he finds himself standing outside the Evans’ apartment door waiting for a certain blonde boy. He can hear Sam yelling a goodbye to the rest of his family through the cheap door, and he doesn’t even pretend to be surprised when the blonde comes falling ungracefully through. Sam straightens his jacket and gives Kurt a sheepish grin. Kurt smiles at him and realizes that Sam was exactly what he needed this morning. They’re waiting for the elevator when Sam asks if he’s okay with everything, if the breakup was particularly difficult. Kurt shakes his head, although thanks him for the offer of support. Sam reminds him that he still totally owes him for everything that happened with Finn. The elevator signals its arrival and they step inside before Kurt asks what exactly happened with Finn, anyway. Sam goes quiet and swallows harshly. Kurt rests a hand on his shoulder as the elevator doors slide shut with a clunk and it jerks into life. Sam forces his bangs out of his eyes with his fingers as he prepares himself with what he hopes is enough nerve.

They’re stepping out of the elevator on the ground floor by the time Sam finally starts to talk. It must be hard for him, Kurt notes, as he fumbles with his words as he explains everything; how Finn just wanted to experiment and it ended up meaning more than that to both of them, but not enough to Finn that he’d actually admit it to people and come out. Kurt reminds Sam that he isn’t out either. Sam tells him the reason why he transferred; homophobic bullying not unlike that Kurt went through, that ultimately lead to the death of one of his gay classmates –the only other out kid in the whole school. Kurt slides his hand down Sam’s arm until his fingers draw tight around the blonde’s wrist. He squeezes gently. Sam looks at him with a subtle tilt of the head. Kurt smiles sadly for a moment and asks if that’s why he wouldn’t come out at McKinley. Sam nods. Kurt can see the outright fear in his eyes. Kurt promises he won’t tell anyone, because he knows what it’s like to live in fear. It really sucks.

They’re just wandering aimlessly in downtown Lima when Kurt notices that the one dollar theatre is showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show. From the moment Sam sees the utter joy present on the brunette’s face, he knows he’s going to have mental images of Tim Curry in a corset for the next six weeks. It’s unfortunate, then, that Kurt has one of those faces that Sam just can’t say ‘no’ to –not that he’d ever tell anyone that. The next conscious thought he has is ‘Kurt would make an awesome Dr. Frank-N-Furter.’ If he could, he’d slap himself in the face for that thought. Kurt pulls him into the seats in the middle of the theatre as the opening notes of Science Fiction Double Feature start up. Sam catches Kurt mouthing along to the words and knocks their shoulders together. Kurt smiles at the gesture and leans in to Sam as he sings the line ‘in the back row, at the late night, double feature, picture show.’ Sam leans his head against Kurt’s and finds himself wondering how even Finn noticed before he did. For some reason, during the dinner scene when Frank-N-Furter rips off the tablecloth, he feels compelled to hold the brunette’s hand –just in case he’s freaked out at all, you know? So he does. Kurt stares at him for a long moment, cocks his head to a side and takes in Sam’s facial expression. Sam considers letting go for a fleeting moment until Kurt rearranges his hands so that their fingers link together. Sam wonders if he’s reiterating his gesture out of pity.

It’s a shock for Kurt when he discovers Sam singing along to Brad’s part of Super Heroes at the end of the movie. Kurt regards him with a curious expression for a second before he joins in with Janet’s part. It’s intimate in a weird way, Kurt decides, when they’re done singing and he realizes that they’re the only two still in the theatre. Sam stands first, shepherds Kurt out of the row of seats they’re sitting in and into the bright light of the street. Kurt does the Time Warp all the way down the street (singing and all) and Sam has to chase him fifteen feet to the end of the sidewalk. Kurt comments how they should sing Super Heroes in glee club (Sam senses it’s to show Rachel and Finn how it’s done right) when Sam catches up and both of them have caught their breath. Sam hesitates for a moment, but he agrees after a moment. Kurt grins at him and something tells the blonde he’s wanted to do this for years now.

When Sam comes home that night with a spring in his step and a bright grin on his face, his parents are instantly suspicious. His father puts it down to hormones of some kind and just rolls his eyes at his oldest son and goes back to yesterday’s newspaper. It’s his mother that narrows it down to some kind of romantic event, and she eventually deduces that it’s Kurt. She coos and mocks him playfully before sitting him down at their white plastic excuse for a dining table and demanding answers. His father rolls his eyes affectionately at the two of them from behind his broadsheet as they start to gossip and giggle like schoolgirls. His mother tells him that she’s glad to see he’s having fun with someone who isn’t afraid to be seen with him (she knew all about the Finn business, but only because she’d walked in on them kissing one time) and how she hopes Kurt feels the same. Sam just blushes and pushes at her shoulder, muttering about how she shouldn’t jinx him. She smiles. She’s glad to see her oldest son happy considering everything that’s gone on.

Kurt and Sam have their duet of Super Heroes ready by glee club on Wednesday, and when Kurt comments that it’s some kind of poetic justice, Sam is confused. Kurt explains that he means they’re finally doing a duet after everything that happened with their first attempt. Sam’s mouth forms a perfectly pink ‘O’ shape and he nods almost dumbly. Kurt grins at him. When they announce what song they’re singing, Rachel appears horrified and asks them what they think they’re doing. Kurt replies that they’re simply showing her the correct way to perform a classic and Sam smirks at him. He knew he was right. The glee club sit and stare in shock when they’re done singing. Kurt takes that as a good thing and stands to bow with a proud grin sitting pretty on his lips. Sam rolls his eyes affectionately at him and stands too, pulling him back towards their seats with the rest of the choir. He doesn’t miss the harsh glare Finn shoots at them. Kurt knocks their shoulders together and smiles.

Kurt’s over at Sam’s apartment that night to help him with his last Biology assignment of the year –some essay about neurons and synapses in the brain that Kurt had already handed in when it was actually due but Sam was apparently worried by the confusing words and was worrying himself over it, so Kurt agreed to help since he actually got a pretty good grade on it, for once. Kurt quickly discovers that Sam does actually understand what he’s supposed to be writing about, but the words are unnerving him a little. After an hour of essay writing and editing, Sam decides that it’s good enough for him, so they leave it where it is and disappear into Sam’s room. He still doesn’t understand how he managed to nag his way into getting his own room –Stacy and Stevie are sharing, but he’s pretty sure that they prefer it that way anyway. He notes the way that Kurt is examining his room with almost scrutiny before he nods and flops down onto Sam’s bed. Kurt explains that he likes what he’s done with the space when he sees the blank look on the blonde’s face. Sam nods, although Kurt knows he’s still not totally sure what he meant in the first place. After all, it’s just a couple of nerdy sci-fi posters, a bed and a desk, isn’t it? It’s nothing special, Sam thinks. Kurt suggests they watch a movie or something, since Sam is obviously really tense about something (although Kurt can’t quite work out what) and the blonde nods dumbly and flicks through his DVD collection absently. Kurt is shocked to discover that the Evans’ possess a copy of Marley & Me, even though Mrs Evans is totally someone who strikes him as loving this kind of thing. But it’s a happy medium, so they watch it.

Kurt swears that he isn’t crying at the end of the stupid movie because he wants a hug. That would be ridiculous. Especially since he and Sam are already pressed close and snuggling on his bed anyway. But that’s beside the point. Sam doesn’t realize that Kurt’s crying until he hears the gentle sniffling tumbling from the brunette’s mouth. He only recognizes the sound because it’s exactly the same as it was on that Sunday morning when Kurt had called him to talk about his and Blaine’s breakup. It scares Sam a little. He doesn’t say anything, though, but he wonders if Kurt noticed that his grip around his waist got tighter. He probably didn’t. In this instance, Sam really, really hates that he’s utterly useless with words. Kurt shuffles back against him and sighs softly –Sam worries for a second until Kurt relaxes a little against him. Sam is almost tempted to roll Kurt over so that they’re facing each other, but something tells him Kurt probably wouldn’t appreciate it. The movie ends up restarting itself since neither of them can be bothered to get up and take the disc out. As it turns out, both of them are pretty content where they are, so they watch it again.

Mrs Evans finds them asleep in the same position about an hour and a half later and she contemplates for a second waking them up, before deciding that they seem pretty pleased with themselves right now (if the sleepy grins on both of their faces are anything to go by) and just turns the TV off and leaves them to sleep. When they wake up about three hours later, it’s about ten at night and Kurt is maybe totally past his curfew. Sam is instantly alarmed (he has met Burt Hummel on several occasions, and he is terrifying) and offers to give Kurt a ride home when he remembers the brunette doesn’t have his car. Kurt just shrugs it off and calls his dad to ask if it’s okay if he stays the night at Sam’s. Sam is confused that Kurt would sacrifice his precious skin routine for the sake of not having to move until he hears him negotiating with his father that he’ll be home tomorrow morning before school to collect everything he needs and spruce himself up. His father seems okay with this, so Kurt hangs up the phone and settles himself back into his original position. Sam stares at him for a moment before leaning forwards, tightening his grip around Kurt’s waist and resting his nose against the short hairs at the back of Kurt’s head. Kurt pretends not to notice the way his breath hits the back of his neck.

They barely wake up in time to get to Kurt’s before school the next morning. Sam changes quickly while Kurt is in the bathroom before he goes and attempts to make himself look at least kind of presentable. He and Kurt arrive at the Hummel-Hudson household about ten minutes later, and Sam waits in the hallway while Kurt changes and gets everything he needs for class that day. He reappears from his room to the sound of Finn and Sam arguing again. He sighs and notes that it’s all they seem to do lately. He hears Finn shouting about how Sam was using him to get to someone else. Sam calls him out and yells that it’s utter bullshit, and that Finn was just experimenting with him with a total disregard for feelings. Kurt knows it’s wrong, but he stays where he is at the bottom of the stairs and listens to his stepbrother and his best friend shouting and screaming at each other –purely for research purposes, he tells himself. When he hears that Sam seems to be getting pretty distressed –both with himself and Finn, if his tone of voice is anything to go by- he decides now is probably a good time to step in and head to school. When he steps into the hallway, both the blonde and the brunette turn to stare at him. Kurt tells Sam to come on otherwise they’ll be late to class again. Sam nods and lets the petite brunette lead him out of his home. Finn narrows his eyes at the other two boys as they leave. Sam pretends not to notice. He also pretends that it doesn’t hurt at all. He’s getting pretty good at lying to himself, he decides.

Kurt notices that something is probably seriously wrong with Sam during lunch break. He is even more reserved than usual, and he distances himself from everyone until Quinn arrives and takes one of the empty seats next to him. Kurt tries to listen in to their hushed conversation, and he’s failing miserably until Mercedes whacks him on the arm and scorns him for being so damn obvious. She calls him ridiculous and goes back to her bowl of tater tots with a small smile of victory on her face. Kurt looks away from the two blondes at the end of the table, who are leaning in close and muttering to each other between bites of the grilled chicken salad that sits between them. Kurt finds himself oddly jealous of her –there’s something about the intimacy of salad sharing that surpasses sofa cuddling in the early hours of the morning. It’s unfortunate that Kurt is caught staring –Quinn looks up to see him looking at her and she raises a perfectly pruned eyebrow at him. Kurt looks away quickly and pretends to pay attention to the conversation Mercedes is having with Tina and Mike. Quinn elbows Sam in the side and recounts what just happened. Sam blushes pink and looks down at his feet under the table. The blonde girl rolls her eyes and knocks their shoulders together, leaning her head against his shoulder after a moment. Finn glares at them from the opposite end of the table, his eyes hard and furtive until Rachel elbows him and reminds him that it’s not polite to glare.

Sam is not in the least bit surprised by the interrogation he receives from Kurt following lunch break. He sighs as he slams his locker closed with the hand holding his Astronomy books and says that he’ll explain later. Kurt narrows his eyes at the taller blonde and Sam hesitates for a long moment before promising that he’ll explain everything soon. It seems to appease the tiny brunette, as he nods and turns on his heel, disappearing down the corridor faster than Sam can say goodbye. He enters his Astronomy class to find that Quinn is already in her seat, so he takes his beside her and she frowns when she sees his uncomfortable expression. She asks him what happened while she flicks through her notes to find the most recent ones. Sam explains everything and when she looks back at the boy she discovers he’s close to tears. She hugs him sideways and he smiles a little at her, thanks her for everything just as their teacher walks through the door and scolds them for physical contact in a classroom.

Kurt surprises Sam that night when he knocks on the apartment door as the blonde is attempting to cook dinner for him, Stacy and Stevie since his parents have taken a well deserved night off, so they’re out somewhere. He hears Stacy yell something about Kurt but he ignores her and carries on trying not to overcook pasta. However, when the seven year old appears in the kitchen with a certain countertenor in tow, Sam is left in shock and very nearly throws boiling water all over himself. He scolds Stacy for opening the door without him and she skulks off to go back to playing with Stevie. Sam rolls his eyes at his sister’s petulance. Kurt regards him with a soft smile and takes the pan full of pasta out of his hands. Sam watches him with curious green eyes as the skinny brunette manages to cook the pasta neatly, efficiently and without causing either of them an injury. Kurt regards the blonde with an amused expression and takes in the bewilderment that’s etched onto the taller blonde’s face. He tells him to go and get Stacy and Stevie to the table, so Sam nods dumbly and disappears to shepherd his siblings to their dining table. Kurt laughs softly at him as he leaves and moves to serve the pasta and sauce into three bowls. Sam makes a move to come back into the kitchen but Kurt shoos him away and makes sure he sits at the table with his brother and sister. He finds the blonde boy talking quietly with his brother and sister, and all three of them look up at him when he sets the bowls down on the table with a soft thunk. Kurt makes some comment about how dinner is served and Sam laughs at him affectionately from behind his bangs. Kurt smiles and takes an empty seat opposite them. Stacy elbows her older brother and hisses something under her breath that Kurt can’t quite catch. Sam rolls his eyes at the little girl and Stevie pokes the both of them in the side. Kurt finds himself wishing that he and Finn had at least a small amount of trust.

Blaine reappears in Kurt’s life that night when he arrives home after he and Sam have put Stacy and Stevie to bed. He realizes as he pulls up into his driveway that he completely forgot to ask how soon Sam’s idea of ‘soon’ was. He curses under his breath, but the volume escalates as he notices a certain greasy warbler standing on his porch again. Kurt asks him what the hell he thinks he’s doing. Blaine explains what he calls a ‘genius plan’ to win Kurt back from the (and he quotes this to Sam when he calls him later) ‘evil clutches’ of Samuel Evans. While Kurt is not necessarily a genius, it doesn’t take him any longer than a minute to work out that Finn put him up to this. Blaine forces a bouquet of cheap flowers into his hands and Kurt just laughs at him. Blaine looks confused until Kurt reminds him of his hayfever, and the warbler is crushed. Kurt makes a snippy remark and demands to know if Finn put him up to it and Blaine just nods. Kurt smirks and rolls his eyes at the smaller boy before he throws the flowers back at him and slams the door in his face again. He calls Sam immediately. The blonde thinks the whole situation is hilarious. They snicker and giggle for another hour until Sam falls asleep on the phone. The only reasons Kurt can tell are the way his breathing has evened out and the fact that he stopped laughing. It’s sweet, Kurt thinks, as he says goodnight to Sam (even though he won’t hear), hangs up the phone and curls up to go to sleep.

Sam arrives in the crappy old family car the next morning to pick Kurt up for school. Kurt gives him a quizzical, confused look when he climbs in the passenger seat and says that his dad had told him a boy was waiting to pick him up. Sam explains that he’d just dropped Stacy and Stevie off at their school and Kurt’s house was on his way to McKinley. Kurt doesn’t need to know that it’s a total lie, Sam decides as he pulls away from the Hummel-Hudson household. Kurt narrows his eyes at him as if he can see through Sam’s pathetic excuse for a lie but seems to accept it anyway. Sam also mentions that he kind of owes him a few rides since he’s been so helpful in the past few weeks with everything that happened. Kurt seems to accept this and just nods, offering the blonde boy a smile as they arrive at the school parking lot. Mercedes gives them both a curious look as she tags onto the end of the line they begin to form as they all head towards their lockers. Quinn arrives not long after Mercedes, and she gives Sam a look that seems to tell him to explain, because the blonde boy hisses something about ‘not now’ to her and she rolls her eyes at him. Sam and Quinn disappear down the History and Geography corridor to their lockers and Mercedes pulls Kurt over to their lockers on the opposite side of the hallway. She demands details (rather loudly, at that) as they both rummage through their lockers and dump the books they don’t need for now in there. Kurt says that he doesn’t really know what’s going on, and Sam said he’d explain soon but he still hasn’t. Mercedes frowns and says that he’s probably getting around to it; he’s a stupid white boy after all. Kurt laughs with her and she smiles, pleased with herself, as they turn and head towards American History. They see Sam and Quinn talking furtively near their lockers and Kurt frowns a little, almost insulted that Sam is speaking to Quinn and not him. Mercedes squeezes his shoulder and says that he’s probably building his nerve by talking to a lesser being first. Kurt rolls his eyes and he takes his seat next to Finn in the classroom. He and his stepbrother bicker quietly for the whole lesson when their teacher isn’t paying enough attention to them.

Sam and Quinn are waiting for them after class, and Kurt decides that this is an odd occurrence. Quinn drags Mercedes off to their Home Economics class almost immediately, leaving the two boys alone in the middle of the corridor. Sam smiles sideways and the skinny brunette and Kurt gives him a curious look. Sam sighs softly for a second, looking away from the other boy for a moment and biting at his full lower lip. Kurt raises an eyebrow at him. Sam tugs at the bottom hem of his old hoodie. He looks back at Kurt again after what feels like forever and holds out his hand to the petite brunette. Kurt looks from the blonde’s face to his hand a few times and Sam looks a little lost and almost rejected when Kurt asks him what on earth he’s doing. Sam pauses for a moment; his tongue darts out to wet his lips for another moment before he swallows his nerves and says that it was an offer to hold his hand. Kurt’s pruned eyebrows knit together for a fraction of a second before he turns away to scan the corridor to check there’s no hockey team morons around. He looks at Sam again, and for the first time notices the fear in his eyes. Kurt wonders what he’s scared about. His hand is still outstretched. He seems surprised when Kurt reaches over and takes hold, squeezing his hand gently and giving the blonde a small, yet reassuring smile. They don’t notice Mercedes and Quinn leaning out of a nearby classroom to watch them walk hand in hand down the hall. Mercedes giggles. Quinn holds out her hand for a high five that Mercedes gives her before drawing her into a victorious hug.

Sam knows Kurt has a study period right now. He also knows that Kurt thinks the idea of a study period is ridiculous and he never bothers to attend them. Kurt is well aware that Sam has Social Studies this period and he is also very aware of the fact that Sam has never been to a Social Studies lesson in his life. Apparently, that is not about to change, since Kurt looks up to see that’s they’re near the bleachers on the football field. Football season is long over, mercifully, and he and Sam take a seat on the lowest level of bleachers. Kurt asks the blonde why they’re there. Sam admits that he doesn’t really know. Kurt squints against the sun to give the blonde a somewhat snarky comment until he sees what the blonde boy is doing. Their hands are still together, resting on the blonde’s knee. Kurt hadn’t realized that the taller boy had been absently playing with his fingers while they were sitting in silence, but when he does he thinks it’s quite sweet. He coughs, makes a small noise to start speaking, and Sam jolts and stares at him with wide eyes. He apologizes. Kurt calls him ridiculous. Sam smiles shyly and hesitates for a moment before continuing to play with Kurt’s almost skeletal fingers. Kurt finally asks Sam when ‘soon’ is. Sam laughs at his impatience, stops playing with Kurt’s hands for long enough to turn and face the brunette. Sam looks up at him through his bangs and Kurt watches him, confused. He’s blinking harshly against the light when he realizes that Sam has moved a hand to cup his face. Sam looks away from him when Kurt tries to look him in the eye. Kurt sighs at a volume only he can hear. He looks away from the blonde again, his eyes fixed on the bleachers at the opposite end of the field. He doesn’t notice Sam deliberate with himself for a long, tense moment before leaning in and kissing him.

Kissing Sam is nothing like kissing Blaine, or Brittany, even (although the less said about that incident, the better) Kurt realizes after a long moment of Sam’s lips being pressed to his. Sam is nervous -shy, even, and it’s only once Kurt reciprocates and kisses back that he calms down. Kissing Kurt, Sam decides, is like all the good things from kissing Quinn, and Santana, and that one time he kissed Brittany in one package. He discounts Finn simply because he can’t remember any good things about someone who kisses like a happy puppy. Kurt smiles against his mouth. The school bell for the start of second period rings loudly from the building behind them. They ignore it, as they have grown accustomed to, and keep their mouths pressed together. Sam’s nerves are starting to dissipate. He even catches himself smiling. Kurt pulls away and asks him what that was all about. Sam tells him that his idea of ‘soon’ is now, if he hadn’t guessed. For the first time in what feels like years, Kurt can honestly say he’s confused. Sam smiles softly at the brunette’s confusion (he somehow manages to look cuter than usual) and absently strokes his cheek as he tries to formulate an eloquent explanation. Kurt reaches up to touch Sam’s hand and the blonde looks up at the brunette and meets his eyes for a fraction of a second. He hesitates, licks his lips again and looks away at the field for a moment before looking back. Kurt can feel his hand starting to shake against his cheek. Kurt looks at him for a long moment, smiles and tells him that his gay is showing. Sam laughs and says that he doesn’t know the half of it. Kurt shrugs and asks if now is a good time to explain ‘the half of it’, as Sam seems to call it. The blonde laughs a little at him, draws away from Kurt and takes hold of his hand. He says yes.

Sam rests Kurt’s hand on his knee and looks out almost wistfully onto the field. Kurt follows his gaze for a moment until he realizes that Sam isn’t really looking at anything in particular. Kurt laughs quietly to himself when he notices this. Sam smiles at him as he notices him out of the corner of his eye. He swallows nervously before he starts talking. Sam tugs at the bottom hem of his tee and looks across at Kurt again. He says that he’s been telling everyone he’s straight because at his old school he was completely terrorized for it, and he didn’t want to go through it again. Quinn was perfectly fine with being a beard, he says, and that’s why they’re still such good friends. He also mentions something about how Santana was in need of one too, but Kurt doesn’t really hear him. Sam swallows his nerves again. He explains that everything had been going so well until Kurt asked him to duet for the first time, when suddenly it was harder to hide. He says that Finn only found out because he overheard him and Quinn talking between themselves one day and asked him about it. Apparently he didn’t realize he was talking about his stepbrother. Kurt asks what went on with Finn while he was away at Dalton with that godforsaken slime ball Blaine. Sam blushes a little and ruffles his own hair somewhat awkwardly. He waits a moment before he continues and says that he never meant it to happen, it was Finn that came onto him one day after football practice. He only went with it because he was kind of desperate for any kind of male attention, he says. Kurt frowns a little, but if Sam notices he doesn’t acknowledge it. Sam continues to say that he only carried on what Quinn called a ‘torrid affair’ with Finn because he kept hoping he’d see Kurt around at least once. Sam covers his face with his free hand when he realizes how desperate he probably sounds.

Kurt squeezes his hand and says that it’s sweet. Sam sighs to himself before he admits that finding out Kurt had gotten himself a boyfriend while he was away kind of broke him. Kurt gives him a pitying look. Sam admits that he heard Kurt knocking on the day he and Finn were discovered. Kurt is shocked and almost appalled that Sam never told him before now. Sam says that he just wanted someone other than Finn to notice him. Kurt’s eyes are sad again. Kurt traces the veins on the back of Sam’s hand with his finger. Sam bites his lower lip. Kurt tells him that it’s okay, they’re best friends and nothing will change that. Sam sighs to himself and asks what would happen if he wanted to change that. Kurt stammers over his words and says that he’d have to think about it. Sam’s eyes are suddenly sad and rejected and he looks at his lap, pulling his hand away from Kurt’s and standing up. The brunette follows him, his eyes confused. Sam tucks his hands into his pockets and tells Kurt he’s sorry. He presses a kiss to the brunette’s forehead and disappears into the school building. Kurt stares after him for a long moment until Mercedes comes bustling out through the doors and informs Kurt that Sam is crying on Quinn. Kurt doesn’t understand.

Kurt arrives unceremoniously at the Evans’ door that night after school is long over with. Sam’s mother answers the door and eyes him up and down for a second before nodding and letting him inside. She tells him that Sam is in his room, and has been since he got home. Apparently he won’t even eat the ice cream she’s tried to give him. Kurt laughs gently and says that he’s probably getting stupidly paranoid about his weight again. Mrs Evans laughs with him for a moment and agrees that yes, that’s probably it. She directs Kurt to his room (even though he knows well enough where it is) and the brunette knocks on Sam’s door, leaning against it while he waits for an answer. After a long moment, Sam shouts back something about how he doesn’t want any ice cream, thank you very much. Kurt rolls his eyes affectionately and says that he’s definitely not his mother. He pushes open the door and regards the blonde boy with a look of disbelief. He’s curled up in his duvet, the quilt pulled up his underneath his arms. The only light in the room is coming from the crappy TV that’s paused on a somewhat flickering image of Avatar. There’s an empty packet of Doritos on the floor with the two remotes. Sam stares at him for a minute or two before he asks what he wants and shrinks back under his quilts. Kurt apologizes for earlier and he hears Sam make a comment of some kind that’s muffled almost completely by the blankets that surround him. Kurt sighs to himself and moves over to sit on the edge of Sam’s bed. The blonde tugs down his sheets suddenly. Kurt throws him a sad smile. He says that he’s thought about it; thought about what Sam said earlier and about everything that happened between him and Blaine, and Sam and Finn. Sam asks him where exactly he’s going with this. Kurt smiles and tells him not to be so impatient. Sam grumbles under his breath at the brunette. Kurt hesitates for a moment and Sam doesn’t notice that he shuffles closer. Sam takes advantage of Kurt’s prolonged silence to ramble on about how he’s sorry and he should’ve talked it out with Kurt first before he kissed him on a whim in the hope it’d work. Kurt watches the blonde with a soft smirk on his face and he thinks for a moment that Sam would talk and apologize forever if someone doesn’t stop him soon. So Kurt kisses him.

While Sam’s been talking and talking and talking, he hasn’t noticed Kurt moving ever closer on top of his sheets. He makes a muffled noise when Kurt’s lips press against his. It takes him a moment to understand what just happened, but when he does he blinks in disbelief, wondering how on earth Kurt came to this decision. Kurt is about to pull away and check that Sam hasn’t completely rejected him when the blonde cups his face and starts to kiss back. Finally, Kurt thinks to himself. Sam pulls back and smiles at the brunette. Kurt moves in to kiss him again. Sam stops him, rests a finger against his lips to stop him from talking. Kurt pouts and Sam laughs fondly at him as he asks him to be his boyfriend. Kurt gasps and nods furiously. Sam laughs at him and pulls him in for the kiss that starts their relationship –properly this time.

It’s at a glee club reunion ten years after they graduate that Kurt and Sam see the rest of the club again. Mercedes had called Kurt earlier in the week to tell him that Rachel and Finn were organizing a reunion at their home. They still live in Lima. Kurt hasn’t seen his stepbrother or his niece and nephews in years. He accepts immediately. Kurt and Sam drive down from their home in the suburbs of New York in Sam’s crappy old car with their son Alex in the back seat. Kurt drives, since Sam is too busy gossiping about how excited he is to see Quinn and Puck’s new baby and a million other things. Kurt just smiles at his husband (Kurt doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to calling Sam exclusively his) and pulls into his stepbrother’s driveway. Finn and Rachel’s three children –Ethan, Bradley and Carole- come flying down the porch stairs to pull their cousin out of the back seat of the sedan. Sam and Kurt just laugh at them and climb out of the car as Finn, Rachel, Mike and Puck all come leaning out of their front door. Finn bounds over to the two of them and hugs Kurt, giving Sam a firm nod. They’ve evolved enough to be civil with each other now, at least. Rachel comes bustling past her husband to embrace them both in a tight hug, and she explains that everyone else is inside with Tina and Quinn and their new babies. Sam disappears inside immediately in search of Quinn, and Finn follows him quickly. Rachel and Kurt stand outside and watch their children playing together. Rachel asks him how everything’s going up in New York. Kurt tells her it’s excellent, really excellent. Rachel grins at him and hugs him tight, and Kurt knows that it’s her way of telling him she’s happy for him.

Kurt finds his husband in the Hudson sitting room with Quinn’s baby daughter in his arms. Puck informs him that her name is Corrie as he passes him to go and sit with Tina and Mercedes. Mike is holding one of his and Tina’s twins, Naomi, and Mercedes is busy fussing over the boy, Liam. Brittany and Santana are sitting in the far corner of the room with two cups of coffee, apparently catching up with each other. Artie watches Brittany wistfully from his place beside Sam, his eyes almost sad for a moment until the blonde elbows him and hands him Quinn’s baby. Apparently it’s impossible to be sad around the Puckermans, because Artie starts laughing almost immediately. Alex, Ethan and Bradley come dashing into the room then, Carole around a minute or two behind. They’re all giggling in a childish way that makes all the former glee members warm inside –not that any of them would ever admit it. Sam scoops up his five year old and sits him on his knee. Quinn tells Sam that they look alike, although she knows they adopted Alex when he was a little older than one.

Quinn and Sam are sitting in the Hudson’s back garden (field would probably be a more appropriate description, if they’re being honest) later that night, having left their children with their husbands. They’re looking up at the stars from one of the log swings Finn had built for the kids over the years. Quinn asks Sam if he misses Lima sometimes. He shrugs, trying to find a constellation in the night sky like he always could when he was younger. She asks him what it’s like living in New York, and he laughs and says that it’s kind of surreal. He still remembers going there as part of New Directions, he tells her, and she smiles fondly at the memory. She tells him that Nationals that year was one the best memories she has of her time at McKinley. Sam agrees. She hesitates for a moment before asking him whether he and Kurt would like to be her daughter’s godparents. Sam agrees immediately without even having to think about it –he knows that Kurt would kill him if he even considered saying no, anyway. Quinn smiles brightly at him, and she stops herself for a moment before asking him why he and Kurt didn’t have a proper wedding ceremony. He shrugs, pausing for a moment before explaining to the other blonde that neither of them really saw the point –they had their parents, Sam’s siblings and Finn, and that was it. No party, no reception, no nothing. Quinn explains that they were all surprised, it seemed as if everyone expected Kurt to have thrown a huge celebration when in fact it was a half hour ceremony in a tiny church in central New York City. Sam tells Quinn that Kurt only thought it necessary to have those closest to him there –it’d be too much of a journey for everyone else and their young children, anyway.

Quinn frowns and tells him that she doesn’t really understand Kurt’s logic. Sam laughs and says that he doesn’t either. Puck and Kurt come sneaking out of the back door of Finn and Rachel’s house and spot their partners sitting and talking together like they always used to when they were younger. Kurt smiles fondly as Alex comes barging past the two of them and runs at his father, who laughs at him and scoops him up into his arms and squashes him into a hug. The three blondes turn and look at the two men standing in the half light of the back porch and wave them over. Puck and Kurt look at each other and shrug, laughing as they walk over to Quinn, Sam and Alex. They look for constellations together through the overgrown plants nearby.

Puck looks away from the sky for a moment to tap Sam on the shoulder. The blonde looks away from his husband and son to regard the other man with a curious look. Puck asks him if he ever misses Lima. Sam smiles, laughs softly as he looks back at Kurt and Alex, before he looks back at Puck and shakes his head.

“They say home is where the heart is, right? Well, my heart isn’t in Lima anymore. My heart’s right over there.”

He nods at Kurt and Alex, who are sitting on the grass with Quinn a few feet away. Puck nods in understanding, and he smiles.

Sam grins back.