Sami could remember receiving the news like it was yesterday – or last week, which it was. Some clerical error had meant that her old high school had told her she had more credit than she actually did. She could remember the last day of the year, her first year at college, being told that she was a year's worth of one class short of graduating high school, and she had to go back.
Back to high school? The notion was almost humorous – Sami was nineteen, nearly twenty, she wasn't supposed to go back to high school, especially not the high school she had gone to. It was a place of bullies, where the popular kids picked on everyone else for any reason they could think of. And she had to go back?
As it turned out, she didn't. The university offered her a place at several New York high schools to repeat senior year, and Sami almost took them up on the offer, but a thought struck her mind – she could go home. Back to Ohio, back to her brother and best friend who she'd left behind a year ago. But, that would require going back to her old high school... although, there were plenty more high schools in and around Lima. And if NYU could bribe New York high schools into letting her repeat senior year there, surely they could bribe a high school in Lima?
With this in mind but no decision made, Sami found herself on her way back to Ohio, for the first time in a year. She'd left in such a hurry, and had been scared to go back for Christmas – her father angry wasn't something you wanted to encounter on a cold dark winter's night. And he could hold a grudge for a really long time. It had pained her, to leave – not to leave her father, but to leave her brother. Blaine was her best friend as well as a brother, and they were closer than most siblings would be. When Blaine had gone through some hard times at high school, with the worst bullies imaginable, Sami had been the one who stood up for him, and who comforted him when he was in pain.
For a whole year, Sami had been at NYU, with no communication with her brother or her father. She had missed him – Blaine, that is, not her father. And now she was coming back for the year, and he had no idea. She was planning to turn up on the doorstep and surprise him – of course their father knew, but Sami had asked him not to tell Blaine. She wanted it to be a surprise.
It was about 3 in the afternoon when Sami arrived at her home, bags in hand. She knew her father would still be at work, so only Blaine would be in. She paid the taxi driver and made her way to the familiar old front door, and knocked. There was no answer. But she knew Blaine was in, she could hear Mamma Mia coming from his bedroom upstairs. She knocked again, more violently this time. The music stopped, and Sami heard the familiar rhythm of Blaine's footsteps coming down the stairs. No matter the situation, he always ran, but never missed a step. Unless he was moving with urgency, when his footsteps became heavier. This time, his footsteps were rather light. Blaine opened the door, rather reluctantly, no doubt expecting his father home early. He froze when he saw that it was his sister, not his father, standing on the doorstep.
"Hey, B," she smiled. "I'm home."
Blaine stood there, flabbergasted, staring at Sami with his mouth hanging open, hardly able to comprehend what he was seeing.
"Oh, Blaine, you always did have a way with words," Sami said as she pushed past him, dragging her bags behind her. Looking around, she said, "place hasn't changed a bit."
"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked, speaking at last.
Sami turned around and cocked an eyebrow at her brother. "This is my home, isn't it? I think I'm allowed to turn up whenever I want."
"But, you went to New York-" Blaine stammered as he helped Sami with her bags up the stairs.
"Yeah, for college. But it's summer now, and I thought, what's the use in staying there when I can come home?"
"Maybe because it's New York! Why the hell would you wanna come back to Lima?"
"Oh, B," Sami sighed, depositing her stuff in her old room. "You really do underestimate how much I love you. Did you think I wouldn't miss you?"
"Well, you certainly seemed to wanna stay there at Christmas. It was lonely without you."
"Aww," she smiled. "That's sweet. But you know how long Dad can stay mad, I had to keep my distance."
"For a whole year?"
"Yes, Blaine, for a whole year. Now shut up and give me a hug, I missed you!"
Blaine smiled, and embraced his older sister. Truth be told, he had missed her. "I'm glad you're back, Sam," he said.
Sami stood back suddenly, frowning. "Why do you smell like gay cologne?" Gay cologne was Sami's term for cologne often worn by gay men, and Blaine was adamant that he would never, ever wear it. So, naturally, on many occasions, she had run after him in shops, squirting tester samples at him.
Blaine suddenly looked very guilty. "Uh..."
Sami's question was answered when Blaine's bedroom door opened, and a boy Sami had never seen before stood in the doorway. "Blaine, what's going on?" The boy asked in a voice too high for the average male. Oh, this guy was gay. This guy was very gay.
Sami looked back and forth between her brother and this boy. For the first time, she noticed Blaine's messy hair. The boy had similarly messy hair. "Woah," she said. "Woah, woah, woah. Woah! What the devil is going on here?"
"Uh, Kurt, this is Sami, my sister. Sami, this is Kurt, my..." he looked at Kurt, as if asking for permission.
"Boyfriend," Kurt said confidently, finishing his sentence for him. "I'm Blaine's boyfriend."
Sami looked at Blaine. "You have a boyfriend, B? That's totally awesome! But," she added, looking at Kurt seriously, "you should know, I am essentially Blaine's parent figure. So I will be grilling you just like our dad would if he cared." She looked back at her brother, grinning. "Well! I'm gonna go make some coffee. Want any?"
"No," Blaine refused, "thanks."
"Cool. See ya later!" She bounced to the stairs, and spun back to face Kurt and Blaine before leaving. "Oh, and no sex, okay? You're still my awkward virgin li'l bro."
Kurt watched Sami bounce off down the stairs, before turning to Blaine. "Okay, what was that?"
"That... that was Sami."
"Since when is there a Sami?"
"She's my older sister," Blaine explained, sitting on the edge of the bed they had previously been making out on. "She was supposed to go to college here, but... she went to New York instead."
"Wait, New York?" Kurt's interest was piqued. He and his best friend Rachel were planning on going to college in New York after senior year.
"Yeah, she..." Blaine paused, trying to find the words to explain. "She's my best friend. I know brothers and sisters, especially so close in age, are supposed to hate each other, but me and Sami are different. When I was having a tough time at school, she was always there for me. She was the first person I came out to, 'cos I knew she'd love me no matter what. For a long time, she was the only one who knew I was gay. She's everything I'm supposed to have, she's my whole support system – you, you have Rachel, you have Finn, you have Burt, you even have Carole. But I never had anyone. You know what my dad's like... Sami, she's everything to me. My best friend, my sibling, my mom, my dad. The only thing she never was was a boyfriend. So when she left, I felt the hole even more... I realised, y'know, that I was alone. And then you came in," Blaine smiled. "And it was like the hole had been filled. I got along just fine without her once I met you. But now she's back... I don't know what I'm gonna do now you're both here."
Kurt was listening to Blaine intently, needing to know about this part of his life, this girl who was obviously so important to him, so important that he couldn't bring himself to talk about with him. As interested as he was, a minor detail was niggling at his brain. "If she was gonna go to college here," he asked, "why did she change her mind?"
"She got offers for loads of colleges," Blaine replied. "She's real good at what she does. Some really great universities offered her a place. But she wanted to stay in Ohio, to stay with me." A look of guilt flashed across Blaine's face. "I was selfish back then, I didn't think I could get along without her, so I begged her to stay. But then Dad got the bill for Dalton... he was mad. He didn't see why he should pay so much for me to go to a private school just because I 'choose' to be gay. Reckoned I was doing it just to get to him. I said, why would I wanna get beaten up and abused just to annoy my dad? He agreed eventually, obviously, but we had a huge fight. And Sami, ever the knight in shining armour, got involved. Things got real bad between her and my dad. They said some pretty nasty things, and she got real emotional. She makes rash decisions when she gets emotional, and she withdrew her place at Ohio. We have some relatives in New York, so she moved in with them and went to NYU." Blaine sighed, his throat sore from talking so much. "That was just over a year ago. We haven't talked since, she pretty much disappeared off the radar, except for a few Christmas presents she sent in the mail."
"And then she just turns up out of the blue, just like that?"
"That's Sami," Blaine shrugged. "Probably wanted to surprise me. And don't get me wrong, Kurt, I'm glad to see her again. I just don't know if things are gonna be the same again between us now I have you."
"Oi, Blainers!" Sami arrived in the doorway. "Where the hell's my karaoke machine? The one I sent you for Christmas?"
"Here." Blaine reached under the bed and pulled out a large, unopened box. "Dad refused to let me keep it, probably thought it was too gay."
"But you did keep it?" Sami smiled.
"Of course," Blaine scoffed. "I'm not gonna throw out a karaoke machine! I just told Dad I'd given it to one of the Warblers as a late Christmas present."
"Oh my God, we have to set this up!" Kurt squealed with excitement.
"You bet we do!" Sami agreed, lifting the heavy box and beginning to heave it out of the room. "I'll tell Dad you told me you'd had to give it away, so I bought you a new one. C'mon, help me get this downstairs."
"This is gonna be so amazing!" Kurt was dancing around behind Blaine, swinging off the banister as the two Andersons lugged the karaoke machine down the stairs. "You just wait 'til you hear me sing, Sami!"
"He is pretty awesome," Blaine agreed. "But you haven't heard Sami sing, Kurt. We used to sing together all the time growing up."
"Aw, man, remember our song?" Sami said to Blaine as they brought the machine into the living room and began to set it up.
"High Flying Adored? Or The Fast Food Song?"
Sami gave Blaine a look. "High Flying Adored. C'mon, I bet it's on here."
Sure enough, it was. Kurt jumped onto the armchair, ready to be the audience. He was still bouncing when he was seated, but slowed when the music started.
Blaine began:
High flying adored
So young, the instant queen
Oh, rich beautiful thing
Of all the talents, a cross between
A fantasy of the bedroom and a saint
And you were just a backstreet girl
Hustling and fighting, scratching and biting
As Blaine sang, Sami glanced at Kurt, who was looking at her brother as if he were an angel sent from Heaven... who was singing on a karaoke machine.
Sami could remember when she and Blaine had first heard the song. They must have been about eight and five respectively, and their mother had come home with a CD compilation of songs from musicals, and High Flying Adored had been the first track on the disc. Blaine loved the song, so much so that he had never listened further than that first track.
High flying adored
I hope you come to terms with boredom
So famous so easily
So soon is not the wisest thing to be
You won't care if they love you; it's been done before
You'll despair if they hate you; you'll be drained of all energy
All the young who've made it will agree
Then it was Sami's turn:
High flying adored
I've been called names, but they're the strangest
My story's quite usual
Local girl, makes good weds famous man
I was slap in the right place at the perfect time
Fill the gap, I was lucky
One thing I'll say for me
No one else can fill it like I can
Kurt applauded, still staring at Blaine as if he were an angel, as Sami and Blaine hugged.
"One day I'll have the longer part," Sami said. "You sing for like, three minutes, and I only sing for one."
Blaine laughed. "No, it's my part." Sami kicked him in the shins.
AN: Please tell me what you think! =) Sami's been many months in the works so I'm excited to see what y'all will make of her =D
Featured songs:
High Flying Adored from Evita