Title: Broken Together

By: blaineandsamevanderson (SageK on , kaitlia777 on LJ and AO3)

Paring: Blaine/Sam

Rating: PG-13 (TW: talks about assault)

Summary: Prompt by lauraperfectinsanity! ~ Season 2 AU (disregarding Dalton, cause Blaine is attending a public school where he gets beat up, no Fabrevans and no Klaine, of course!). Sam ends up in the hospital after his fight with Karofsky, where he's in the same room with a kid who was beaten after a Sadie Hawkins Dance. The two boys bond and fall in love

Authors Note: For Blam Day! So, there's some timeline wiggle here…like, Blaine gets beat up after a Sadie Hawkins Dance in his sophomore year instead of his freshman year…but enjoy!

Concussion. Multiple contusions and lacerations, some requiring stitches. Kidney contusions. Fractured left radius and ulna. Bruised ribs. Sprained knee. Black eyes. Fractured zygomatic arch….

Blaine had listened with half an ear to the litany of injuries the doctor counted off, but he was to medicated to care at that point. The next day, still drugged, but in a lot more pain, he figured he was basically going to hurt all over for a long, long time.

All because some violent, cruel jerks were offended by the fact that Blaine had attended a school dance with another boy. Somehow, they felt such an offense justified cornering the two smaller boys and beating them after the dance, as they waited for Tommy's dad to pick them up.

At least Tommy hadn't been hurt so badly. Though they weren't more than friends, Blaine didn't want to see him hurt. His reaction to the attack had been to flail and scramble and run while Blaine had tucked into a ball, trying to protect his head and internal organs after the first blow knocked him to the ground.

The attack had happened on Saturday night and by early Monday evening, Blaine was pretty sure his attackers were going to get away with it. The police officer who had spoken with Blaine on Sunday said multiple students and even a few teachers provided alibis for the three boys, saying they were still in the gym.

They were lying.

Tommy couldn't deal with it. He stopped by yesterday to tell Blaine he was going to live with his aunt in Seattle. Everyone seemed to believe being a gay teenager simply meant life was going to be hell and no one wanted to try to make it better. This time, they were actively making it worse.

So, he thought it was understandable that he just wanted to be left alone in his hospital room to brood. Most of the nurses seemed to respect that…until they wheeled another patient into the room.

Eventually, they left, one of them patting the new boy on the arm and saying, "Your parents will be up soon."

The boy, tall, blond and sporting a fresh black eye, turned sedation bleary eyes toward Blaine and gave him a slow, "Hey."

"Hi," Blaine replied, thinking the boy looked like the jock type, the sort who had put Blaine here. Still, ignoring him would be rude.

After a long moment, the blond said, "Dude, you look worse than I feel."

That almost made Blaine smile. "Yeah, I don't feel so great either. What happened to you?"

"There was a fight…I think I probably lost, seeing as I'm the one in the hospital. Broken ribs stuck into my spleen. They had to cut me open to fix it," the blond said. "I'm Sam, by the way."

"Blaine," Blaine replied, not to thrilled that his roommate was the type to get into fights. "Why were you fighting?"

Sam blinked at him and said, "Oh…there's this guy at school. He's been harassing a friend of mine who's gay, so Mike and Artie told him to stop and Karofsky threw Mike onto Artie and knocked him out of his chair and then I was fighting with Karofsky…it happened real fast. Were you in a car accident or something?"

Blaine's breath caught and he chastised himself for his assumptions. This boy had gotten in a fight defending a friend from harassment, not because he was a bully. "Some older boys beat me up after a dance. I'm gay and I went with another boy and…here I am."

"That's…wow, that sucks," Sam said, then grimaced. "Sorry, I can't think of a better way to say it, but I'm sorry that happened."

Blaine nodded slightly. "Thanks," he replied, as a group of blond people, two adults and two small children, poured in and rushed to Sam's bedside.

"So, when are you going home?" Sam asked, looking over to Blaine as he sat gingerly on the edge of his bed.

"My mom should be back in a couple of days," Blaine replied with a sigh. "Not that I'm in any hurry to go home…I'm not going back to that school."

Sam blinked. "What are you going to do?" he asked, curious. He was pretty sure you had to go to school.

"Find somewhere to transfer," Blaine said and Sam brightened.

"Dude! You should transfer to McKinley! I mean, yeah, we've got bullies, but you'd have me and I know my friends would think you're as great as I do!" Sam said, giving Blaine a grin.

"Really?" Blaine asked and Sam was sure he saw a pinkish blush on Blaine's cheeks. It was nice to see his eyes brighter. That first night, even in his drugged, post-op state, Sam had noted how sad and dull Blaine's pretty amber eyes had been, but some of that had faded over the past couple of days as they talked and discovered a lot of shared interests.

Nodding, Sam said, "Yes, totally! I mean, you said you sing and play piano and other instruments. You'd fit in great with Glee club. And if anyone messes with you, we'll be there. I'll be there." He paused and swallowed, chewing his lip for a moment before asking, "Can I tell you something? Something I've never told anyone other than my family."

Blaine shifted carefully to look at Sam more directly and nodded earnestly. "Of course, Sam."

For a moment, Sam just breathed, then he said, "I like girls and boys. Like like. I'm not gay, but I'm not straight either. I never said anything because, well…even with the abs and the hair and the football, I talk and people tend to get this glazed look in their eyes and it just never mattered. But I want you to know."

There was a soft, sweet smile on Blaine's face and he said, "Thanks for telling me, Sam. I'm really glad you did."

"Me too," Sam replied. "I'll come back and see you tomorrow, okay?"

"You should be resting," Blaine protested, but Sam shook his head.

"I'm not going to leave my friend alone in a hospital, dude," he said and from the look on Blaine's face that was totally the right thing to say.

Two weeks later, Blaine slid out of the car his mother had arranged to have drop him off and pick him up at McKinley high. He smiled to see Sam waiting for him, just as he promised he would be. They had visited each other often since they'd both left the hospital and yesterday, as they were discussing Blaine's first day, Sam had reached over and taken Blaine's hand in his own.

Neither had been inclined to let go for a long time.

"Ready for this?" Sam asked, nodding toward the school and Blaine smiled, flushing as Sam took his school bag and held out his hand to him.

"As I'll ever be," Blaine replied, slipping his palm into Sam's and beginning the walk into his new school…holding the hand of a cute boy who liked him.

(I may continue this later…)