Title: The Smell of Fresh Cut Grass on Sun Soaked Skin

Paring: Blaine/Sam

Rating: G

Warnings/Tags: Season 2 Blam AU

Summary: Prompt: S2 AU ~ Summer before S2, Sam's family has just moved to Lima and he's making extra cash by doing yard work. Gets hired by Mrs. Anderson and he and Blaine meet.

Notes: Sorry for any typos. My transcription software doesn't always understand what I say and I don't always catch the mistakes. I have trouble typing things by hand since I suffered an injury last year to my right hand and it seizes up if I try to do too much.

Yeah, I know, I give my fics strange names.

All in all, doing yard work wasn't a bad way to earn money during the summer. About a week after his family had settled into their house in Lima Ohio, Sam had gotten of the lawnmower, loaded up his old red wagon with a couple of containers of gas, a spade, work gloves and hedge clippers and had begun wandering the neighborhood.

A lot of people are willing to pay $20 to avoid getting dirty and sweaty, but Sam considered it good exercise. Do three or four houses a day and he wasn't making bad money, though some of the ladies did give him the willies.

He really didn't want to know what the Pool Boy Special was.

So yeah, he'd been a bit wary when the shiny black Audi rolled to a stop beside him as he was walking home on a Thursday afternoon, determinedly pulling his equipment behind him.

"Young man," the woman, a pretty Asian lady, called out. "Excuse me."

Well, since she was in the car, Sam was pretty sure she wasn't going to try to touch him. "Yes, ma'am, how can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you tended lawns on Beachwood Circle?" she asked and Sam relaxed slightly.

Trying to recall what he learned of the local streets, he drew a blank and replied, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I don't know where that is. I'm new in town."

She pointed straight ahead of her car. "A mile down the road on the left. Our gardener moved suddenly. It's a big property. I'd be willing to pay hundred dollars a week for you to come by on Fridays and make everything look nice. You look like you're a hard worker."

He was covered in dirt, sweat and grass clippings, but suddenly he didn't care. He could totally walk a mile to get to Beachwood Circle.

"I'm Sam Evans, ma'am. I'll be there tomorrow morning. Is 8 AM to early?"

She smiled, clearly pleased. "One Beachwood Circle. Eight will be fine. Our name is Anderson. I won't be home, but I'll leave your money with my son."

"Thank you,ma'am," he said, waving as she drove off.

Hundred dollars for one home! Sure, she said it was big, but that was a pretty awesome. Resuming his trek home, he decided the Anderson's would be his only Friday customers if things worked out well.

The next morning Sam got up extra early and pulled his equipment the mile to the Anderson's house. Mrs. Anderson wasn't lying, the lawn was huge, easily three times the size of most lawns he'd been tending. Still, nothing he couldn't handle.

First, he trimmed the hedges, then we did the flower beds. After stripping out of his T-shirt, he began the long process of actually mowing the lawn.

It was just after noon when he finished. Exhausted but triumphant…but there were grass clippings on the walkways and around the pool.

When Sam Evans did a job, he did it right. Leaving a mess behind wasn't what he did.

Striding toward the house, he decided to ask Mrs. Anderson's mysterious son if maybe there was a push broom in the shed that he could use to clean up.

For the first time ever, Blaine found himself loathing the months of summer vacation. Not that he hadn't gotten used to his parents being gone for weeks at a time over the last several years, but he'd had friends before. Former friends who had abandoned him last fall when he came out. Former friends who hadn't visited him after he'd been beaten and hospitalized. Former friends he hadn't seen since that horrible night.

Though his father wasn't overly fond of the fact that Blaine was gay, he refused to allow his son to be put in a dangerous environment and immediately transferred him to a private school in another town. Then Blaine's parents themselves moved so Blaine wouldn't have to spend summers near his former tormenters. It was a gesture that warmed Blaine's heart, but also isolated him.

Dalton, the private school he attended and truly loved, was located in Westerville, nearly two hours from Lima and none of his friends lived anywhere near the small town.

So, Blaine found himself alone in a strange town, no friends and absentee parents. The first few weeks of the summer had been spent lolling around the house, bored out of his mind, every day the same as the last….

Frankly, having someone messing around with the lawn outside didn't seem likely to make any difference to Blaine. All he had to do was pay the man when he finished, not exactly an interesting job.

A knock on the door urged him up off the couch and Blaine assumed the gardener had finished his job. The money his mother has left was sitting on the table beside the door, so Blaine simply pulled it open and said, "Hi, are you…."

Holy shit.

The gardener was a teenage boy, tall, blonde and sun bronzed. His jeans hung low on slim hips and his beautifully sculpted bare torso glistened with sweat, bits of lawn stuck to his skin here and there. He was smiling, bright and friendly and Blaine tried not to stare at his pretty, pretty lips.

"Hey," the boy greeted him in a friendly tone. "I'm Sam. Your mom hired me to do some yard work and I was wondering if I could check the shed for a broom? I don't want to leave clippings on the walkways."

Blaine stared, then blinked. "Oh…yeah, sure," he agreed, then scrambled mentally for something else to say. "Your little young to be a gardener, aren't you?"

All of his parents past groundskeepers had been adults.

With a shrug, Sam said, "No. I can push lawnmower and trim hedges as well as an adult so I'm good."

"I wasn't being condescending," Blaine was quick to assure him. "It's just that you're…like, my age!"

That got another smile. "I'm 15… Do you go to McKinley High? I'm new in town, so I'll be starting there in the fall."

"My name's Blaine. We're the same age, but I go to a different school," Blaine replied, leading the way to the shed. "Dalton, the boys school over in Westerville."

"Oh, I went to an all boys school back in Tennessee," Sam told him affably. "Public-school is gonna be a change. Girls!"

Blaine made a noncommittal noise. He liked girls, but he didn't like girls, so they weren't plus or minus…but he wasn't quite ready to share that fact with a strange boy. Pulling open the shed, he grabbed a broom and held it out. "Would you like some lemonade?"

Then he tried not to cringe. Could he sounds more like a caricature, flirting with the hunky guy doing manual labor?

Fortunately, Sam didn't seem put off as he took the broom. "That would be awesome. Thanks!"

As Sam went about cleaning up the walkway, Blaine went back into the house and poured two tall glasses of lemonade. He sat on the steps with the sweating drinks until Sam joined him, dropping onto a stair with a sigh, close enough for Blaine to feel the heat rolling off of his skin, to smell the tang of his sweat and fresh cut grass….

Again, Blaine forced his eyes away from the blonde, who took two deep gulps of his drink and then held the glass to his neck with a sigh. "That's great," he murmured and smiled at Blaine. "Tastes fresh!"

"I made it this morning," Blaine admitted, sipping from his own glass. "I really don't like the concentrated stuff that comes out of cans."

Sam nodded in agreement. "I hear you. Fresh and organic is best. Already found an awesome cafe in town with a great selection of natural teas and coffees."

Coffee?" Blaine asked, interest peaked. He'd gotten addicted to coffee at Dalton's campus café.

"The Lima Bean," Sam told him, then glanced at Blaine out of the corner of his eye and bit his lip. "I know I'm like…the help or something, but you're the only person around my age I've met…You wouldn't want to hang out sometime, would you?"

Blaine smiled. "I'd really like that! I don't know anyone in town either, so that would be awesome."

"This is the only place I had booked today," Sam said eagerly. "I've got to bring my equiptment home and take a shower. We could meet at the Bean or you could walk home with me and we could head to Main St. from there."

Taking Sam's glass, Blaine remembered to hand over the cash his mother had left for the lawn and said, "I'll go with you, just give me a minute."

He dumped the glasses in the sink and did a quick check in the mirror. Hair was still tamed and his red polo and navy linen shorts were fine.

Not that Sam would care, but Blaine liked to look good.

The walk to Sam's house, nearly 2 miles from Blaine's, was very pleasant. A little warm, but that barely seemed to matter as they chatted, discovering a variety of common interests. Music, sci-fi, comics, football…it had been almost startling to discover they liked so many of the same things.

As Sam showered, Blaine found himself sitting on the living room floor with Sam's little brother and sister, watching Beauty and the Beast. Mrs. Evans had greeted him with a smile and handed him a couple of cookies before tuning back to whatever she was doing.

Clean from the shower, Sam joined them for the end of the film and Blaine's heart might have skipped a beat when the blonde sang Tale as Old as Time to his enraptured little sister. Unable to help himself, he joined in, earning smiles from all the Evans'.

Neither Stevie nor Stacy wanted them to go, but Mrs. Evans distracted them long enough for Sam and Blaine to sneak out of the house and they wandered down the street toward the center of town.

Personally, Blaine thought Sam looked adorable in his slightly faded Captain America shield T-shirt (the fabric stretched tautly over his muscular chest and shoulders) and tan cargo shorts. He was glass his sunglasses hid his wandering eyes.

"So," Sam asked in a cheery tone, "Why boarding school? I went last year because I got offered a sports scholarship, but I hated being away from home."

Well, it had to come out sooner or later, Blaine thought. He refused to lie about a part of himself. "I started freshman year at public school over in Carver," he told Sam, then looked away. "But then I came out and there was an…incident. Three guys beat the hell out of me and a friend, put us in the hospital. My parents enrolled me in Dalton because of its Zero Tolerance policy toward bullies."

For a moment, Sam was quiet, then he blurted, "Dude, you got beat up 'cuz you're gay? God, people can be such jerks."

Blaine felt a relieved smile stretch across his face. "Yeah," he agreed, then quietly added, "Thanks for not being one of them."

Sam clapped him on the back. "You don't have to thank me for being a decent human being," he told him very seriously. "My folks raised me to know love is love. You like who you like. Boys, girls, both, it's all good."

"That's a wonderfully enlightened view," Blaine complimented as Sam pulled open the door and led the way into the Lima Bean.

Sam was right, the coffee was amazing. Blaine ordered a Medium Drip while Sam chose Orange Blossom and Youthberry tea. They sat together, chatting about random things, including a lively debate about DC vs. Marvel (in the end they couldn't decide which was best, though they both adored The Avengers).

Before Blaine knew it, hours had passed and though neither felt the desire to leave, Sam knew he had to be home for dinner.

As they headed back toward Sam's house, he said, "You should stay for supper! It'll be fun and Mom or Dad can give you a ride home later."

"Okay," Blaine agreed happily. Most nights he ate take out alone, so the prospect of dinner with Sam's family was very appealing.

As they approached the house, the taller boy paused and said, "Can I ask you something before we head inside?"

"Sure," Blaine replied, wondering what was on Sam's mind.

"I'm really glad I met you," Sam told him quickly, causing Blaine to smile. "So, if you're not interested, totally cool, you're an awesome bro, but…Would you maybe want to go out sometime? On a date? With me?"

Blaine blinked. "You're asking me out?"

"Yeah," Sam said, flushing. "I've never done this before…."

"You're gay too?" Blaine asked, trying to process this information and Sam shrugged.

"Bi…and you're fun and cute, so I just wanted to ask…."

"I'd love to!" Blaine interrupted, knowing he was probably smiling like an idiot, but that was okay because Sam was too.

Sam, who had just asked him out on a date.

"Okay!" Sam breathed, cheeks very pink. "Okay, Awesome!"

They were both still grinning happily as they entered Sam's house and Blaine made a quick mental note to thank his mother for bringing Sam into his world.

All of a sudden, the long stretch of summer ahead of him seemed a whole lot brighter.