Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the warped mind from which this comes.
A/N: Sorry if this shows up on anyone's updates. I just had a semi-major typo pointed out to me, and I had to fix it.

Not Alone

A sudden shove catches Rory off guard and sends him stumbling backwards into the lockers before falling to the hall floor.

"Go back to Mexico," someone says as Rory falls. The group of jocks walks away triumphantly.

Rory sighs deeply, looking around himself to locate the things that flew out of his bag upon impact.

"Hey."

The voice startles Rory, making him flinch. He looks up to see Finn standing above him offering an outstretched hand. Rory quickly rearranges his features into a friendly smile. He's miserable, but he figures there's no sense in taking it out on Finn. Especially considering that, since Brittany wasn't speaking to him, Finn was his only friend.

"Thank you, Finn Hudson," Rory said pleasantly, taking Finn's hand and standing up.

"You're taking to being thrown into the lockers much better than any of us did. It took me months before I got used to it."

Rory looked up, confused. He couldn't imagine anyone shoving Finn into any lockers. He was wearing a football jacket like the jocks were, so Rory had always assumed he was popular.

"I suppose I'm used to it. I've not made many friends here," He felt his smile turn sad and sighed. "But, what are ya gonna do?" Rory shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Finn said suddenly, his face hopeful. "Can you sing?"

"I sing at mass every Sunday," Rory replied proudly.

"Cool! Come with me."

-xXxXx-

Joining the glee club had changed Rory's whole outlook. They treated him like family. He was still getting pushed around, but now there was always someone there to help him up. He still couldn't help but feel alone when he heard everyone talk about what their families did over the weekends or holidays.

It was still really hard to be away from his family, and today was probably the hardest so far. Today is his mother's birthday. He'd called her to wish her a happy birthday. By the end of the conversation she'd been crying saying how much she missed him and wished he was there.

Rory felt terrible for making his mother cry on her birthday and felt worse because he missed home so much. It was just starting to sink in that he was actually going to spend Christmas without his family.

The final bell had just rung and Rory was looking forward to being able to just go back to the Pierce house and just be alone in his room.

He trudged down the nearly empty hallway, adjusting his backpack strap so it sat squarely on his shoulder. And, again, without warning, a shove sent him into the lockers, hitting his head against the metal and creating a cacophonous crash.

Rory didn't even bother trying to catch himself before hitting the lockers. He let himself slide lifelessly to the floor, his head falling back against the metal with a thud.

He felt the tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He'd reached his breaking point and a brisk shove was just enough to send him over the edge. He leaned forward and put his forehead against his knees and the tears started to roll down his face. He pulled his knees in tighter hoping maybe that, if he folded himself into a small enough ball, he'd disappear.

"Rory?" The voice sounded concerned. "Hey, dude, are you alright?" The voice was closer this time.

Rory looked up to see Sam knelt down beside him. He couldn't find the words to answer him and just slowly shook his head and began to sob, his blue eyes tortured with pain.

"Okay," Sam said with quiet authority, taking Rory's hand to pull him to his feet. "Follow me."

Sam put a hand on Rory's shoulder and led him into the bathroom.

"Let's get you cleaned up, then you can tell me what's wrong," Sam said as he wet a paper towel and gently pressed it against Rory's cheek. The cool water felt good against his heated skin and he felt himself beginning to calm down. His breathing was still a little disjointed, but the rhythm was returning.

Rory managed to catch his reflection in the mirror; he looked pitiful. He watched Sam blot his cheeks with the towel and felt ashamed that he'd let himself be seen like this.

"I'm sorry, Sam."

"Dude, why are you apologizing? You were crying. It's hardly a capital offense."

Rory just looked down at his shoes as Sam turned around to toss out the towel.

"You could tell me why you were so upset though," Sam said as he leaned against a nearby sink and folded his arms across his chest. "You miss home, don't you?"

Rory nodded and swallowed thickly. "It's just been a really bad day, and then somebody shoved me, and I hit my head. It didn't really hurt, but I just lost it." Rory shrugged sadly and looked back toward the floor.

Sam was deeply bothered that someone had upset Rory like this, but he understood the deeper reason that had Rory this upset. Sam had noticed all day that Rory had been distant. He wasn't his usual cheery self. Sam wanted to cheer Rory up but couldn't think how. He just decided to wing it.

"You are a really cool person, Rory, and you don't deserve to be pushed like this," Sam adopted his Sean Connery impression, "Because, you are the awesomest, Rory Flanagan."

Rory looked up at Sam and his face lit up with his blinding smile.

"You're good, Sam," Rory laughed.

"Thanks. Sean Connery's Irish, right?"

Rory snorted lightly. "No, but good try." Another blinding smile.

"Damn." Sam flushed lightly.

Rory stepped forward and pulled Sam into a hug.

"Thank you for being my friend, Sam. I really appreciate it," Rory said into Sam's shoulder.

He stepped back and looked into Sam's eyes, surprised to find them burning with emotion. Rory was mesmerized.

Sam had seen the familiar gleam return to Rory's eyes and felt accomplished that he was the one who put it there.

Sam could relate to Rory and his struggle with being homesick. He knew how it felt to feel as though there was nowhere that he really fit in; not even having a real home to go to. Sam felt connected to Rory, and knowing that he was able to ease some of Rory's sadness made Sam feel a sense of calm. But Sam knew that the loneliness would return for Rory.

As Rory hugged him, the calmness that Sam felt transformed into something more. It turned into a desire to prove to Rory that he was alone; that there was someone else who understood the pain of being alone.

He wracked his brain for the perfect thing to say, but he couldn't even begin to find the words, and as Rory slowly stepped back and met his eyes, Sam knew that words were useless.

Staring into Rory's sky blue eyes, Sam leaned forward and kissed him softly and passionately on the lips.

Rory made a quiet shocked sound in his throat in the back of his throat, totally caught off guard. Sam broke the kiss and rocked back on his heels to see Rory, frozen solid with shock.

The Irish boy's mind raced, his thoughts indecipherable with surprise and awe. Sam brought his hand to Rory's cheek and slid his thumb across the soft, pale skin.

"I know how it is to feel alone, Rory. I just wanted you to know that you're not."

Rory let out a gust of air, a desperate sound. "Sam," his voice no louder than a whisper. "Thank you."

Rory was touched. No one had ever gone out of their way to make him feel included.

"Thank you," he breathed again, a tear escaping his eye only to be wiped away by Sam's finger.

The warmth of Rory's cool blue eyes captured Sam again, so he leaned in, slower this time, to press his lips to Rory's.

Rory brought his arms from his sides and wrapped them around the back of Sam's neck and kissed him back with as much passion as he could manage.

For the first time since arriving in America, Rory didn't feel alone, and for the first time since arriving in Ohio, neither did Sam.