"Blaine!"

Sam called after his best friend, still wearing his robe. Blaine had completely broken down and darted from the calendar photo shoot, resulting in Sam chasing him down the hallway and into an abandoned classroom. Blaine stood on the far end of the classroom in complete silence, making a mental note to keep his back to Sam. "Blaine. Come on. Talk to me. What the hell was that?"

Blaine remained unmoved. His back was rigid and his breathing was shallow. "Nothing. It's…nothing."

"Okay. I may not be the smartest, but that was definitely not nothing. You completely freaked out in there, man. We were just having fun." Sam reached out and placed his hand on Blaine's shoulder; Blaine winced at the unexpected contact. "You know, you've been acting distant all week, and I'm getting worried about you. Is everything okay?"

Blaine mumbled something inaudible, and Sam took a cautious step towards him before asking, "Blaine, can you at least look at me?"

Blaine pivoted towards Sam but still refused to look him in the eye. He ground his toes into the classroom carpet while trying to find the right words to say. "I haven't been avoiding you on purpose," is what he came up with.

"I don't understand," Sam said, jerking his head in an attempt to get Blaine to look him in the eyes. "What is it?"

"It's nothing. Nothing," Blaine repeated, concentrating solely on his feet.

"Blaine, I'm your friend. If something's bothering you, I want to know what it is." Sam sounded genuinely concerned, and Blaine almost wanted to smile at his sincerity.

Blaine finally tilted his head upwards, looking right at Sam, as he said, "I don't think I can tell you what's bothering me."

"Why not?" Sam asked, utterly confused.

Blaine hesitated, taking in every aspect of Sam's disconcerted expression. He spoke quietly, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "I'm afraid that if I told you the truth, you'd hate me."

"What?" Sam scoffed. "That's ridiculous. Nothing you ever do or say could make me hate you."

The right side of Blaine's mouth twitched upwards into what could have been a smile, but he stopped himself and turned his head to the side looking somber once more.

Sam, however, wasn't done coaxing. He playfully nudged Blaine's sides, saying, "Come on. Tell me. Come on."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh at Sam's actions. "All right. All right," he choked out through giggles. When Sam pulled his hands away, Blaine eyed his friend seriously, before admitting, "I like you, okay."

Sam's expression was unreadable, and Blaine was sure that he was going to storm out right then and there. Instead, he laughed. "Well, I like you too. You're my bro. Blam, remember?"

Blaine heaves a heavy sigh and speaks again slowly, focusing on each syllable individually. "No. I mean I like you. Like, uh, I'm… attracted to you." He immediately looks down, not wanting to see Sam's reaction.

He could, however, sense the shock and disappointment in Sam's response of "oh." Instantly regretting revealing the truth, Blaine started attempting to lighten the situation by breathlessly spewing out justifications of his actions. "I'm sorry. I am so embarrassed. I probably shouldn't have even told you at all. I—I know you're straight and nothing is ever going to happen, which is why I didn't want to say anything. Our friendship is too important to me; I didn't want to ruin it. I…"

"Blaine, Blaine, stop!" Sam interrupts. Blaine comes to an embarrassed halt, anticipating the blow that he is most likely going to receive from Sam, when he hears him chuckle instead. "Dude, it's okay." Blaine was completely taken aback; this was the last response he had expected.

"Maybe I am a little shocked, but I'm not disgusted or anything. I totally get it," Sam continued. "I'm a total catch. My lips are 100% kissable, and I know you've seen my abs. I caught you sneaking a peek once or twice. Don't worry about it."

Blaine ducked his head to hide the fact that his cheeks were turning bright red. Sam shrugged. "If I wasn't me, I would totally have a crush on me too."

Completely shocked and amazed, Blaine allowed himself to look back up at Sam. "How can you be so cool about this?" he asked.

Sam slapped Blaine on the shoulder. "You're only human. I check out the girls in glee club all the time. Don't tell Brittany." Blaine smiled. "You know, I feel like you're one of the only people that gets me, like really gets me, and I love the fact that we're friends and we can hang out and have sleepovers and stuff without it being weird."

"You still want to have sleepovers with me now that you know I have a crush on you?" Blaine joked, still blushing a little bit.

Sam smiled. "Of course. You're still my best friend in glee club, Blaine. Maybe I'll just make a note to sleep with my shirt on so you don't get any, like, feelings." The two friends laughed.

"So…we're okay?" Blaine asked carefully.

"Yes. We're okay." Sam replied. After a moment's pause he added, "So, is it cool if I give you a hug? It's not gonna make you, like, excited in the pants or anything?"

Blaine laughed at Sam's ridiculousness and said, "No. It's fine," before wrapping his arms around Sam. He was just relieved and glad that they could still have a relationship he could be proud of.