Title: Your New Friend
By: blaineandsamevanderson (SageK here, kaitlia777 on LJ and AO3)
Paring: Blaine/Sam
Rating: G
Summary: for blackwjohn, who wanted Dalton!Blam
Blaine sat in the library, fiddling nervously with his copy of Canterbury Tales. He'd been at Dalton for three weeks now and had so far tried to keep to himself, ignoring the looks that his healing bruises casted arm drew.
But the guidance counselor had it in his head that interaction was key and insisted Blaine sign up for some student activity. Tutoring had seemed the least awful of his choices… Well, no, he would have loved to try out for the show choir, but he wasn't ready to draw that much attention to himself.
At least whomever he wound up tutoring would probably prefer to focus on academics instead of socializing….
"Hey! You're Blaine, right?"
Looking up, Blaine's eyes widened. Of course he'd wind up tutoring Sam, the cute blond boy from his English class. Blaine had noticed him right away, those big, green eyes and pouty, pink lips made his heart flutter.
Sam was also on the soccer team, a jock, and, zero tolerance bullying policy or not, Blaine felt a little uneasy. It had been bigoted jocks who'd jumped him after the dance, who had broken his arm and put him in the hospital and sent him running to Dalton….
"Hi. Yes… Sam, is it? You're here for tutoring?"
Nodding, Sam took a seat and sighed. "Dude, just to warn you, I'm dyslexic and English is so not my fort."
After a moment, Blaine asked, "Not your forte?"
"Yeah, that," Sam agreed, shaking his head. "I mean, I'll try, but…."
Dyslexia had to make Dalton's rigorous classes tough. "We'll get you there," Blaine told him, something about the boy's easy manner putting him at ease. Reaching for soda, he scowled and fumbled, trying to open it one-handed… Until Sam reached over and opened the can for him.
"Thanks," Blaine said. He couldn't wait to get the damn cast off. It was so troublesome.
Sam smiled. "What happened to your wrist? You were pretty banged up when you got here."
For a moment, Blaine hesitated, then made the decision that he wasn't going to hide any part of who he was. "Some guys from my old school beat me up because I'm gay."
Sam stared for a second, then his face crumbled into a frown. "Jerks," he muttered. "I don't understand people like that. Gay, straight, bisexual or whatever…it don't matter as long as you're a good person."
It was clear Sam believed every word he said and Blaine felt lighter than he had a very long time. "I agree," he told Sam, smiling, "it's just…it's really nice to hear another boy my age say that, you know? My friends - or rather the people I thought were my friends, they just stopped liking me when I came out. They seem to think of the bullying I got was just normal."
"Well, you'll make new friends here. Real friends…Starting with me," Sam said, pulling a sharpie out of his bag and holding out his hand. "Can I sign your cast?"
Even after more than a month, the fiberglass cast was still undecorated white, but Blaine stretched out his arm to allow Sam to write.
When he finished, Blaine grinned. Sam had drawn the Superman logo and signed below it, simply: Your new friend Sam 615-555-1701.
He looked over at Sam and smiled, thinking maybe it wouldn't be so bad to make friends at Dalton.