"Yeah, I think you'd better man up! Or you're gonna have a new enemy- MY RIGHT FIST!"

The boys in jerseys scattered about the locker room kept their heads down and their mouths quiet as they cleaned up after the game. The losing game. For the past few weeks, Karofsky had been unbearably angry. However, there was a collective, silent agreement to remain silent amongst the upperclassmen of the team. The freshmen where getting the rap. Everyone tried to tune out David gruff screams, all too used to it. And everyone felt fine.

Everyone except Sam Evans.

Every word out of Karofsky's mouth made Sam sick to his stomach. He was racist, homophobic, and incredibly self-resilient. Sam often found himself the only person to ever get involved when Karofsky went on one of his tirades.

"Hey!" He yelped, raising his shaggy blonde head. Karofsky went momentarily quiet, and Sam felt calmer.

"Shut up."

The team laughed. Sam smiled a little, glad to have melted the tension.

"'cuse me?"

Karofsky left the freshmen for a more formidable opponent.

"You heard me. Relax."

"HEY!" He shoved Sam's shoulders with a grunt. Sam tripped a little, but remained upright.

"Just give it a rest man. Check out a therapist or something."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Sam sighed, deciding maybe it would be best to just ignore him. He grabbed his bags.

"Let's jet, Sam." Finn gestured for the door, not wanting things to get out of hand.

"Not so fast, blondie."

Sam rolled his eyes. Karofsky never stopped.

"You. Me. After school. Tomorrow. Five o'clock."

"What is this, Kids in the Hall?"

Karofsky didn't get the reference, but Mike chuckled to himself. He stood in the corner next to Artie's old locker. Artie quit the team a month ago, due less to stress and more to getting Tina back.

"Watch it, chink!" Karofsky rose a deafening fist his way before meeting eyes with Sam again.

Sam suddenly found the words escape his lips. "Make it five-thirty."

The locker room went silent.

"I need time for a protein shake."

"Fine." Something incredibly evil lurked behind Karofsky's smile. Sam felt like an old time movie super hero.

Karofsky turned to face the team.

"And not one of you wussys better show up, or angel face here gets it even worse."

He stormed out, shaking the lockers as he left.

"Someone's seen Fight Club way too many times."

"Sam…" Mike stood next to him. "You don't have to do this."

"Yeah man." Finn interjected. "Just.. he's dangerous, you know?"

"Whatever. He needs to learn that he can't just go around spouting all that shit. We're losing because of him"

"We know that, Sam. But you're the quarter back. We can't have you limping through the next game." Puck muttered, trying to be helpful. Puck had Quinn now, after all, so he didn't have much against Sam.

"Me limping?" Sam grinned a little sideways grin. "Trust me. Not gonna happen."

Sam's cool confidence made everyone more comfortable.

Finn nodded. "Alright, man." They boys started to trickle out.

"Stairway to heaven was defiantly led zeppelin four."

Sam, Finn, Mike, and Puck were crowded into Puck's Volvo like clowns in a punch buggy as they rode to school. They behaved characteristically, but the tension from last night's events remained. Even more so when they met in the choir room for Glee club practice, and apparently, word had gotten around about Sam and Dave's scuttle. It had become a public debate.

"I have faith in Sam, though! A punch here, a kick there- his muscles got way more tone-" Artie was throwing fisticuffs to support his argument. Santana's arguments were involved as well. "Please, as if baby face will even show up."

"Angel face." Sam corrected. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. You'll probably cop out."

Sam ignored her, finding a plastic chair on the other side of the room. She still hadn't forgotten when they 'almost' got together, without much success.

"Why is my personal life up for discussion, might I ask?" Sam rose his eyebrows.

"Welcome to Glee Club?" Kurt took the seat next to him, smiling softly. Kurt had returned from Dalton a few weeks ago, after his parent's savings ran out and his family lost hope for a winning lotto ticket. Since then, the Glee club had acted as a force wall, like a secret service protecting him against Karofsky, just as Puck had suggested. But Kurt was still a little unsteady at McKinley, always a little worried. He'd changed, and Sam knew it. Over French and English tutoring sessions, they'd become pretty good friends.

"I don't think finding Karofsky's going to help anything, just so you know. Our football team is destined to lose anyway."

Sam grinned, fluffing Kurt's hair. "Hey. I'm going to teach him a lesson, don't worry."

Mercedes and Quinn had perched themselves next to the boys.

"We're just worried about you." Mercedes mentioned, with a motherly tone.

"Yeah." Quinn grinned. She always looked so remarkably relaxed and pretty, no matter how she felt inside. Sam always worried about that. His tore his eyes away from her as he felt a little nervous for the first time.

"Hey," Kurt was whispering in his ear. Sam turned to him. He had become accustomed to Kurt's flirting, but his energy felt different today.

"Don't do it."

Sam shook his head, preparing to listen to whatever rant Rachel was going on about to Glee Club today.

"Listen. You don't know what he can do-"

"Great idea Rachel!" Sam burst out clapping.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine. Kill yourself."

The rehearsal continued, but there was only one thing on everyone's mind.