"Hey, buddy." Sam said, opening the door to the motel room. Stevie was lying on the couch, his attention on the TV screen, taking no kind of notice that Sam had just walked in. Sam shook his letterman jacket off and tossed it onto the couch next to his little brother. It was practically mid-June at the moment, but that jacket was currently one of his most prize possessions. He hardly went anywhere without it.
The sudden thud of the jacket startled the tiny blond, and he looked up just in time as Sam reached out a hand to ruffle his hair.
"Hey!" Stevie protested, pushing Sam's hand away gently. Sam chuckled and pointed at the screen.
"Spongebob, huh? Which episode is that?"
"The one where Patrick had that secret box and Spongebob wanted to figure out what was inside." Stevie said, eyes pressed towards the screen again.
"Oh, that's a good one." He reached out his hand again to rest it on Stevie's head, but the boy darted away from his touch and ran to the bed.
Sam grinned and shook a finger in his direction. "You're fast."
"Too fast for you!" Stevie smiled. He stuck his tongue out playfully and threw a pillow in Sam's direction.
Sam quickly dodged the pillow and crossed over to the kitchen area, hoping to find something to eat, when he noticed his father sitting at their small table. He had his hands folded on the table and was talking quietly to Mrs. Evans before Sam appeared.
"Dad," he said, surprised. "I didn't know you'd be home. I thought you were out looking for more work today." Sam turned to the fridge to search for anything edible and was about to turn towards the cupboards, until his dad spoke again.
"I was looking." He said. "And I did find something."
Upon hearing this, Sam gave up his search and closed the fridge. He turned to his parents slowly.
"Really? You did?" his face brightened. Did his father finally have some luck? Were they going to be able to afford a bigger place? Suddenly a light bulb in his head switched on. He would be able to buy Mercedes something special to show how much he cared for her.
"Yes, I did. And I want to talk to you about it." His dad said.
A bracelet maybe? A necklace? Maybe he should take her with him to pick something out? His thoughts shifted through numerous options. Maybe he was getting a little ahead of himself, but hey. His father finally found a job. It was a cause for celebration, right?
"Well, your mother and I think its best that we go over this with you before we make a decision."
And it's not that he thought their relationship could be represented by a piece of jewelry or anything, but still. It just made things all the more romantic. And Sam was all for romance.
"We know you've made so many friends at your school." His mother faintly added. He was barely listening. He was going over images of what would look best on Mercedes, his thoughts crashing into each other with effortless speed.
He didn't notice the silence in the room until his father cleared his throat.
"Sam?" he said. "Sam, are you listening to us?"
Sam blinked, coming out of his daydream. He smiled over at them.
"No. Uh- yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking about something. What were you saying?" His father looked over at his mother, took a deep breath, and spoke.
Sam made to move towards the table, was about to pull out the chair across from his father and sit down. But he suddenly couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to move. He stood, feet rooted to the spot, hand outstretched towards the chair.
"W…what?" he asked. His voice came out just barely above a whisper.
His father's eyes were sad. And when he spoke again, you could hear the apology in his voice. "I got a job, yes. But it's out of state. We would have to leave Ohio."
We would have to leave Ohio.
We would have to leave Ohio.
Those words repeated in Sam's mind, over and over again before he could finally admit that they were real.
He shook his head.
"Sam, we understand that-"
"No." he dropped his hand to his side and backed away from them.
"Sam." His mother walked towards him. "Honey, we won't be leaving right away. You still have a few days-"
"A few days? How many days, exactly?"
"A week." His father's tone had gotten a little bit colder as the conversation went on, but Sam paid no attention to it.
"No. We're not moving." He said simply. "Not again."
His father hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked so tired. So worn out. That was the norm for Mr. Evans these days.
But at the moment, Sam didn't care. He knew it was selfish of him. He knew he had to think of his brother. Of his sister. About how hard his parents had been searching for something over the past few months. And how much it must have meant to them to finally get a yes after being constantly turned down. He knew all of this, but still…how could they do this to him? After everything. After he made his friends. After he found his place in the school. After he finally had Mercedes.
Mercedes.
He couldn't do this to her. He wouldn't do this to her. It wasn't fair of them to expect him to just get up and leave her.
"Honey, listen to us," his mother pleaded. She sounded tired too. Her voice was scratchy and quiet, but just as kind as always. It made him angry how kind she was sometimes. It made it harder for him to be anything but loving around her. Though this time proved to be different. "We know how you feel, really, we do. But think about our lives. Look at how we're living." She gestured around her.
Sam turned away from her and waved his hand angrily. "We're fine!" he shouted. "We have food! Don't we?"
"Just barely, Sam."
"We have shelter. We're getting by without all the fancy crap we used to have!"
"Sweetie we can't even pay the small fees the motel is giving us half of the time."
"So I'll pick up another job!" Sam yelled. He walked back over to the table. "I don't care, I'll deliver pizzas again, I'll work longer hours, whatever it takes."
"Sam-" his mother started. "If you just-"
"Dammit mom, we're not moving!"
"Sam, watch your language." His father said calmly.
"I don't care!" he shouted, slamming a fist down on the table. "You can find a job closer in the area! Why does it have to be out of state?" His voice felt like it was near breaking point. He hadn't yelled at anyone, much less his own parents, in a long time.
"It was the only available-"
"Bullshit!"
"Sam!" His father's eyes widened and his mother bit her lip. Sam avoided her eyes, knowing very well she might have fresh tears in them. She hated when they argued, regardless of who was right and who was wrong.
He ran his hands through his hair.
"Sam, your brother and sister are both in the other room. Watch your language, please." His father said.
Sam didn't respond to that.
"No, you know what," He waved them away and crossed over towards the living room. He grabbed his jacket and pulled open the door. Little Stevie was sitting up in bed, his blue eyes wide and focused on Sam. "I'm going out. Don't wait up."
And without so much as a glance back, he slammed the door behind him.
In a rage, Sam wandered into town, determined to find something to distract himself. He couldn't focus on what his parents had just told him. He wouldn't. If he did, he would- well, he didn't know what he would do. But he could bet that it was not something that would help their situation.
He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and walked briskly passed store after store. He paid no attention to large groups of chattering teenagers or women pushing small children in strollers. Apparently, upon seeing him speeding down the sidewalk, they moved out of his way quickly without any effort on his part.
He would have kept on walking, just as fast and for who knows how long, if it hadn't been for the voices calling out his name.
"Sam?"
He stopped walking instantly to turn and see Kurt and Blaine hurrying towards him, both of them smiling.
"Hey, guys." Sam said quietly with a small wave.
"Everything ok?" Kurt asked, narrowing his eyebrows.
"Yeah, you seemed like you were deep in thought about something." Blaine added.
"We had to call your name about three times before you finally turned around." Kurt finished.
"Sorry, I…uh-yeah. I mean, it's nothing."
Blaine stared at him for a few seconds, but seemed to shrug it off. Instead of pressing the issue, Blaine gave him a caring smile. Sam hoped that they understood that whatever it was that was bothering him, he didn't want to talk about it.
But, of course, it was Kurt he was talking to. And Kurt wasn't about to just let it go.
He still had his eyes narrowed, but before he spoke, he walked up closer to Sam and folded his arms, staring him directly in the eyes. "Is everything ok with you and Mercedes?" He raised an eyebrow, probably for dramatic effect.
"What?" Sam sputtered, caught off guard with the question. "Yes. Of course. Why- why wouldn't everything be ok? We're fine."
Kurt didn't seem to believe him.
"I was just wondering." He shrugged. "Still…your answer didn't entirely convince me. I might have to call Mercedes later on and see what she's up to."
"Kurt, no." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Kurt couldn't tell Mercedes that something was bothering Sam. She would get worried and ask him about it and he just wasn't really to tell her yet. "This…this isn't about us."
"You and Mercedes?"
"No…well, it effects us, but-"
"So it is about you and Mercedes."
"No, Kurt-"
"Sam, you just said-"
"Kurt." Blaine reached out a hand and placed it gently on Kurt's shoulder. At his touch, Kurt let out a soft sigh and looked quickly from his boyfriend and then back to Sam.
"Ok, fine." He said. He dropped his hands to his side in frustration. "I just like knowing that she's ok. I'm not trying to get on your case, Sam, but Mercedes is important to me and if she's hurting, I'm taking her side no matter what."
Sam smiled. It made him slightly happy knowing that when he had to leave, Mercedes would be around people that loved and cared for her.
'No.' His smile quickly turned into a frown as he the thought of leaving sprung up in his mind. He had promised himself he wasn't going to think of that. He shook his head, as if shaking it would literally help relieve his mind of the thought.
Kurt raised an eyebrow again, but said nothing.
"I know that. But really, Mercedes and I are ok. Nothing's wrong, it's just…"
"What?" Kurt pried. Blaine closed his eyes.
"Just family stuff."
Kurt was silent after that. He said nothing for a few seconds, then he gave Sam another one of his genuine smiles.
If it was anyone other than his one of his fellow Glee club members, he wouldn't have stood there any longer. He didn't want anyone's pity. His situation with his family was just something they had to deal with, nothing more, nothing less. They were a strong bunch, the Evans family. They would get through it.
We could get through it without having to leave Ohio. Sam thought, but he pushed it away along with all the other things he didn't want to think about.
But yes, he was used to Kurt, and everyone else in the New Directions. They were his friends and knowing that he could count on them to be there for him meant more to him than being disgustingly, filthy rich. They never looked at him with pity. They loved and cared for him and treated him just the same.
"If you need anything, you know where I live." Kurt said.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Hey, if I can help in any way too, just let me know." Blaine added.
Instinctively, Sam looked down at Blaine's pants, the hem of the legs resting just a few inches above his ankles. He wasn't wearing any socks at the moment, and Sam tried his hardest to hold back a smirk. He pictured himself in Blaine's clothes, bow-ties and all.
"Thanks, dude." He said, shooting Blaine a smile as well. It's definitely the thought that counts.
"We'll see you soon, though. We should probably get home. Dad and Carole have a date night tonight and I'm not sure if either of them knows that you can wear something other than jeans or flannel to a fancy dinner. Clearly I need to get there early to supervise their choices." Kurt rolled his eyes and Blaine laughed as they walked away together.
"See ya." Sam said, before continuing his walk in the direction he was originally headed.
It didn't take long before he was lost in thought about Mercedes, his family, glee club, and everything else under the sun. Trying to keep his problems out of his mind was easier said than done.
Maybe I should tell her.
His conversation with Kurt brought up a whole string of bad scenarios. He understood that the longer it took him to tell her, the harder she would most likely take it. They would argue and he would have to leave on a bitter note. He didn't want that.
Sam stopped walking and he leaned up against a big window of a store he didn't really care for. People continued to walk by, oblivious to what was going on in his life.
He played through scene after scene in his head, running through each of them. It made his heart ache as he thought about breaking the news to Mercedes. She was the best thing to come out of this entire move to Ohio, and the thought of leaving her…it crushed him.
She had single-handedly turned what could have been a slow, boring night at prom into a memorable one. They had helped each other get over their loss at Nationals, tried to focus on the experience and memories of being in New York, more than anything else. They spent a lot of their time together at the beginning of summer vacation. It was a few weeks of romance that Sam would have to try hard to forget. Not that he would want to, ever.
But to let that all go, when he finally found what he honestly thought was the girl of his dreams, to be told that he had to leave her. Now?
Sam let out a heavy sigh and dropped his head forward, forcing himself not to cry. He hadn't cried since the glee club bought back his guitar that he had pawned off for money for his family, and so he was determined not to do it here in public, of all places.
He even thought back to his parents, who were probably sitting at home, wondering where he was. They had no way to reach him. None of them had cell phones anymore.
He suddenly felt bad for the way he reacted. They didn't deserve that sort of reaction, not at all. It wasn't their fault, and he knew that. It all just came on so fast, the reality that they would, indeed, have to move.
He pushed away from the window and started walking in the opposite direction, towards the way he had come. It was time he went home. Maybe even apologize.
Sam still had no idea how he was going to tell Mercedes. There was just no easy way to go about it. It was obvious that whenever and however he decides to tell to her, it would end in heartbreak for the both of them.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of it, since it's my first post. It sort of came to me as a spur of the moment kind of thing. I have some ideas about how I might be able to continue this, but I'm not 100% sure if I will.
