Santana rounds the corners of McKinley, towards the set of lockers she's known all her life. She flinches when she catches a glimpse of shiny foil and ribbon swaying in the air.
"Sorry. Mercedes made me promise to take them down before school was over cause the balloons were making her weave all frizzy."
A hand pulls the balloons away from Santana's face to reveal Sam's dopey grin. He's still smiling at his own incredibly sweet gesture.
She chuckles, "Yeah. Rule #1 about being around Mercedes, don't mess with her weave if you know what's good for you."
He laughs as he works at untying the balloons from each other. "It's gonna be weird in Glee club next year. Y'know without you guys around to liven it up."
Santana moves to lean her back against the lockers, the cool metal hitting her shoulders. She looks at her feet before smirking, "Yeah. You know you're gonna miss all my awesome snark."
She says it almost sarcastically but Sam just looks at her with a sad expression.
"Oh, crap. You're not gonna cry are you? Because I can't handle having to hand out more tissues to another blubbering hot mess."
He scoffs, picking at the knot of the balloon ribbons, "You're really not sad? About leaving?"
Here it comes. She takes a deep breathe and holds it before letting it out slowly. She didn't have this talk with any of the other juniors.
Or Brittany.
"Maybe I am," she finally says. He glances up at her to find her staring down the empty hall, her thoughts occupied with something or someone else.
He gives up trying to untie the ribbons and just uses a pair of scissors to cut them off from the little sandbag. Sam gathers the balloons into one hand before they have the chance to float away.
"You're sad about leaving Brittany, aren't you?"
He watches her form her answer in her mind. She doesn't look at him, not yet. She looks down at her feet and waits. Finally she looks up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. Sam's gaze flickers to the ground, almost shocked at how much emotion Santana holds in her eyes alone.
Tentatively, he tugs at her shoulder with his free hand, pulling her into a hug. She lets herself be pulled into his embrace, burying her face into his chest with her hands gripping the back of his shirt. Sometimes Sam forgets how small Santana really is.
She lets out a shaky breath, tears already staining the front of his shirt. He swings his other arm around to envelop her completely. The balloons jerk downward at the sudden movement and bounce off of her high pony.
Santana lets out a laugh, "Way to ruin the moment, Trouty Mouth." She doesn't let go, though. He squeezes her harder before letting the balloons float freely to the ceiling.
"Sorry." He laughs, his low chuckle echoing in his heart against Santana's ear. He rubs soothing strokes up and down her shoulders as they sway lightly on the spot, locked in a calming embrace.
"Promise me you'll take care of her? For me?"
He nods, "I promise. You have my word." Her hands squeeze at his shoulder blades as he rests his head on top of hers.
"I'm gonna miss you, Sam."
He looks up at the balloons, blinking away tears to no avail.
"I'm gonna miss you too, Santana."