Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 31st cycle. Now cycle 32!

Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!

"It's a Two-Way Matter"
Sam & Nell, Sam/Rachel
Sequel to "Just Maybe"

[stay tuned at the bottom for a quick Name Poll! ;)]

Sam had been having this feeling all day like Rachel wanted to ask him something, but she hadn't managed to do it yet. They saw each other in class a couple of times that day, even had lunch together – she'd joined him, wanting to go over some things for a test they had that afternoon – and then they had Glee Club… Not once did she mention a thing, but he knew it was there, under the surface. Finally, when they left Glee Club, she showed up at his locker, all smiles.

"Hey, can I ask a favor?"

"For you? Anything," he nodded. Her smile grew.

"Are you any good at fixing things?"

"Define 'things,'" he turned to face her.

"A couple of the spotlights in my basement have been acting up," she explained.

"You have spotlights in your basement?" he asked, and she nodded. "Right, makes sense," he smiled, then, "Well I can try," he finally answered. "Is tomorrow afternoon okay? That way my mom can watch Nell. Don't want to risk her getting hurt, playing with electricity and all…"

"Yeah, no, that's perfect," she promised.

"Okay, well I'll be there after lunch."

The next day, as promised, Sam arrived, and Rachel led him to the basement. When they got down the stairs and he saw the setup he was both surprised and pleasantly unsurprised… Of course Rachel Berry would have a stage in her house.

"Do you ever put on shows?" he asked.

"Oh, all the time," she confirmed, making him laugh. "It's… these two here," Rachel indicated the two spotlights before moving to flip the switches. Sam watched, quiet.

"Right, okay… Not making any promises, but I'll try," he told her, finding something to climb on to get up close with the spotlights. Rachel stood nearby, bracing like she was afraid he'd fall, so she could possibly catch him. The only time she'd move away would be to retrieve some tool or another as he requested them, and even then she kept looking back to make sure he was okay, never drifting far.

"Watch… Watch your head!" she warned.

"I got it," he promised, squinting. "I think I can do this…"

"You can?" she asked, startled into a smile.

"Hey, I'm full of surprises," he told her. "So what kind of shows do you do?" he asked her, figuring if he could just keep her focused on something else, then maybe she wouldn't be so freaked out over his chances of falling.

"It depends," she started, immediately sounding better off. "Sometimes I'll practice for Glee Club in front of my dads, or for the neighbors…"

"Do you do, like… birthday parties?"

"I… No, I haven't…" she spoke, and even with his back to her he could tell her face was lit with inspiration right then.

"Maybe I'll hire you for Nell's first birthday," he smiled, though thinking of his daughter getting to be a year old was briefly making him anxious.

"I'd be happy to do it. Consider it a present," she smiled up at him.

"You can educate her on all things Broadway."

"It's never too early," she nodded firmly. He couldn't help smiling to himself. The sentiment was not quite at the point where he had the words for it, but if he had to pick anyone in his life he would be happy to have Nell take after, it was the tiny girl fretting over his well-being right now. She could be a lot to handle, but it came hand in hand with who Rachel was at her core – she knew what she wanted in life, she had goals, and she went after them… He really admired that about her, and he wanted Nell to go far in life, too.

"I've never been to New York," he revealed, continuing his distraction talk.

"Yeah, neither have I," she admitted.

"Seriously?" he was actually surprised. "The way you talk sometimes I thought you'd been a hundred times…"

"Only in my dreams," she replied. "But I'll be there, one day…"

"Yeah, I know you will," he hopped off his stool and moved to the switches. "Until then," he flipped the switches, and the spotlights went on, bright and – most importantly – working perfectly. "This should do," he looked to her, proud.

"You did it!" she bounced happily, going up and hugging him. He hugged back, taken into it before he knew what was happening. Then once they had pulled back, it could only show as bordering on awkward. "Thanks," she still smiled.

"Happy to do it," he nodded.

"I have something for you," she moved to grab an item from the staircase.

"Oh, you don't have to…" he insisted.

"Okay, well, it's not actually for you, exactly," she clarified, handing him…

"Lullabies," he read off the cover.

"Volume two… Thought she might like something new to listen to. I put it together last night."

"Thank you," he was thrilled, smiling at her; she returned it.

Rachel saw Sam off once he left, thanking him again for his help with the lights. Once he was gone, she went back down to the basement, stepping up on her stage, staring up at the lights… Being there now, everything working as it should, she felt that usual spark that she felt when she was on stage… What could she do… What couldn't she do…

"Rachel, are you down there?" she was startled after a while – it was Pop.

"Yes!" she called back. He came walking down the stairs, finding his daughter sitting at the edge of the stage.

"Dad's got the menus out, what do you feel like… eating…" He finally noticed… "The lights are working again."

"Oh, yeah," she looked up. "Fixed."

"I thought you wanted me to fix those," he wasn't sure how this had happened. She hesitated, shrugging.

"I asked a friend." He looked back at her, quietly, then smiled, and then laughed. "What?" she asked, blinking.

"That's my girl," he bowed his head, moving back up the stairs.

"I… I'm shocked!" she called after him, reprimanding his 'compliment'… All she got back was laughter. She frowned, but then she looked back at the lights.

So he'd seen through her… She didn't know if Sam had realized any of this… But all she'd wanted was to spend her Saturday with him… Having a reason for him to come, that was bonus.

THE END

PICK A NAME!
New character currently in development, and I'm being indecisive, so I'm putting it to all of you lovely people!
Please send via message if you can, the name you like best... [If you've already voted you can't vote again]

Brendan
Duncan
Ewan
Keegan
Neal
Rory
Sean

Thank you! :)

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!