A/N: This story is canon up to "Night of Neglect". Obviously, from the start of the story and onwards it will not be canon. Pairings are Samtana, Klaine, and eventually Hevans. There will be bits of Sam/OC

The way it should be

Chapter One:

Kurt smiled happily as he walked through the doors of McKinley high on the sunny Monday morning. And why wouldn't he? Everything was perfect. He was wearing an incredible outfit that he looked more than amazing in, he was back at the school he belonged in, with a Glee club that didn't try and smother him. He had his friends offering to watch his back against the bullies, who seemed to have quieted down since he'd been gone. Most importantly, he had Blaine with him.

Two weeks after he'd left Dalton, Blaine had followed suite, and Kurt couldn't have been happier. They could spend as much time as they wanted together now and Blaine could see him in his own, much more flattering clothing every day. Things were great.

This was the way it should be.

"Oh, god.." Sam moaned, as Santana kissed her way down his chest. He leaned his head back against the car window, hoping no one came and looked in. He breathed heavily as Santana grinned up at him while she undid his pants. He looked away, hating the grin she had on her face. It was so superior, so…"I know just how to control you, don't I?"

And she really did. Every time he thought he was going to break up with her, she pulled him right back in. How could anyone say "no" to a surprise blow job in the car before school? He had to admit, sex with her wasn't what he'd thought it would be...but this she had down in spades.

Sam moaned and arched his back as she moved around him, and he tangled his fingers in her hair. He and Santana may have their problems, but he was pretty sure this made it worth it. It wasn't a perfect relationship, but it was certainly better than being alone. Besides, being with Santana meant everyone knew he was getting some, which seemed to work towards boosting his popularity. He told himself that was important.

He told himself that even though Santana was rude, and insulting and even though he hated her sometimes….this was the way things were supposed to be.

This was the way it should be.

"Um, Mr. Schue?" Rachel said, standing up during glee. "I have a duet suggestion for nationals. For me." Sam rolled his eyes. He didn't really know what to think of Rachel. Most of the time she seemed like a self involved brat, but every now and then she really seemed to make an effort to change...right before she went back to being a self involved brat.

"You and Finn?" Mr. Schue asked, and Finn looked nervous. If he'd been planning a duet with Rachel, Sam knew Quinn was going to murder him.

Rachel shook her head. "No, this would be for myself and Blaine." She said, and Blaine grinned and stood up. Sam looked up in surprise, and saw that Kurt's jaw had also fallen open. Apparently, this was a surprise for him as well.

"Blaine sang almost every song the Warbler's performed, and he was great." Rachel said, and Blaine beamed at her. "And we've already performed a duet together, once before, so we know our voices our compatible."

"Um, excuse me?" Kurt piped in. "You were both hammered."

"And we were still great." Blaine said. "So think how awesome we'll be sober."

"Alright, well...go ahead." Mr. Schuester said, and the two stepped to the front of the classroom.

Blaine signaled to the band, who obligingly picked up their instruments and began playing Avril Lavigne's "What the Hell" while Rachel and Blaine began to sing together.

Sam had to admit, they were very good. He didn't like either of them, not really...but they were good. Actually, it was probably because they were so good that Sam disliked them. Charisma and talent came so naturally to them both, it was unfair. It didn't seem like either of them ever had to work at anything.

Mr. Schuester disagreed. "Wow, that was amazing you guys!" He cheered. "We will definitely consider that for Nationals." He beamed at them. "You guys, with Blaine here I feel really good about our chances of winning." He said, oblivious to how much that insulted the rest of them. Out of the corner of his eye, Sam thought he saw Kurt's face fall. Now that Blaine was here, he really could kiss any chance at a solo, or any recognition, goodbye.

"What the hell?" Kurt asked, pulling Blaine into an empty bathroom. Blaine looked hurt. "When did you have time to practice that?"

"Friday night, when you were at dinner." Blaine said. "Rachel invited me over."

"You spent Friday night at Rachel's house?" Kurt asked, his face turning red.

"Yeah, I don't see what the big deal is. I'm allowed to have friends, am I not?" Blaine said, furrowing his brow.

"Yeah, but do you have to be friends with the girl who you almost turned bi for?" Kurt asked. "And do you have to swoop in and immediately make the rest of us your back up singers again?"

"Oh, so that's what this is really about." Blaine said, crossing his arms. "You know, I knew you had some jealously issues when I was singing with the Warbler's, but I really thought it would be different here."

"No, it's not what this is abou-" Kurt began, but Blaine cut him off.

"Yes, it is. Look Kurt, show business is cut throat. No one's going to hand you the spot light. You have to take it. I'm not going to down play my own talent, and you can't expect Rachel to do that either. It's not fair." He said, and then turned around and exited the washroom, leaving Kurt gaping after him.

Sam rolled off Santana and sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly. They'd just finished having sex, and somehow she was already filing her nails. He didn't try and kiss her, or hold her. He knew by now that wasn't her style.

"I'm going to order a pizza." He said, pulling his pants back on.

"Whatever." She said, examining her nails. "No anchovies though. I get all the fish I need from your lips."

Sam ground his teeth together, and walked over to the phone. He called the pizza place and ordered extra anchovies on the whole thing, trying not to imagine strangling Santana with the phone cord while he did so.

Afterwards he sat back down on the bed, where Santana was now reading a magazine, and fruitlessly tried to engage her in conversation. "So, what did you think of Rachel and Blaine's duet?"

"It sucked harder than your mouth." She said, not taking her eyes off the article she was examining.

"I thought it was pretty good." He said, choosing to ignore the mouth comment. He would get his revenge later, when she saw the pizza. "Kurt looked pissed though. I think he's just realizing how shoved in the back he's going to be now that we've got the Rachel Berry of the Warbler's on our side."

Santana smirked. "I bet Kurt doesn't mind getting shoved in the back."

Sam frowned. "I think he would. I mean, he's really talented but no one seems to appreciate him. He did the duets competition by himself, and he was still amazing."

Now she put her magazine down and glared at him. "I was using 'shoved in the back' as euphemism for taking it up the ass, you dimwitted trout mouth." She snapped. "And from the sounds of it, it seems like you're the one who wants to be doing the shoving."

Sam's face turned red. He hated it when she said things like that, things that made him feel even stupider than he already thought he was. "Not everyone's thoughts all revolve around sex, Santana. Sorry if I didn't get your little 'euphemism'. He said, making air quotes with his fingers.

Santana rolled her eyes. "I bet you think euphemism is spelt with an 'f'." She muttered, going back to her magazine.

Sam felt a pit rise in his stomach. What other letter would euphemism be spelt with? He decided not to say anything. With Santana, that was usually better.

"Blaine, I'm sorry." Kurt said, taking a seat at his lunch table. He placed a hand over Blaine's, and gave him an apologetic look. "You're right...I was just jealous." He muttered.

Blaine smiled, and leaned forward to kiss him. "It's ok, Kurt. I understand." He said.

Kurt smiled, relieved. "Good." He said, kissing him back happily. "I'm sorry I get like that, I just feel so overlooked all the time..."

Blaine gripped his shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, you'll get your turn in the spot light, one day." He said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Kurt asked. "I just sat down."

"Oh, I have to go meet Rachel, to practice another duet." He said, adjusting the strap on his book bag. Kurt's heart sank. Another duet?

"What for?" Kurt asked meekly, trying not to sound as upset as he was.

"Oh, just for fun." Blaine said simply. He gave him a peck on the cheek, before running off. Kurt sank down in his chair, staring at his food. He knew Blaine was oblivious but this was too much.

Sam wandered in the cafeteria, looking for a place to sit. He spotted Santana and Brittany sitting together with Artie and he considered going over there, but hesitated. His eyes roamed around some more, looking for any other possibilities. Across the room, he saw Kurt pickeing dejectedly at a salad.

He remembered Santana's comment the day before, about how he'd like to be shoving it in Kurt, and smiled as he walked over. Hopefully sitting with him would the annoy the fuck out of her.

"Can I sit here?" Sam asked, and Kurt sighed.

"Yeah, I'll move..." He muttered, standing up.

"What?" Sam asked, shocked. "No, I mean can I sit with you."

"Oh." Kurt said, freezing for a moment, before awkwardly resuming his seat. "Whoops."

"You would seriously just get up and leave?" Sam asked, taking the seat next to him. "That doesn't seem like you."

"Because you know me so well?" Kurt snapped. Sam smiled. That was more like it.

"No, but what I do know about you has never struck me as easily pushed over." Sam said, shrugging.

"Well, sometimes you have to make changes. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride, and let people walk all over you." He muttered, resuming picking at his salad.

Sam glanced at Santana. "I know what you mean."

"You do?" Kurt asked, looking up and making eye contact with him for the first time. His eyes were wide and oddly hopeful.

"Yeah. Like, sometimes you have to weigh the benefit of having a back bone versus the cost of getting into a fight." Sam said.

Kurt nodded. "Exactly. I love Blaine, right? So I should pick my battles carefully. I don't want to mess things up."

Sam blinked. They were talking about Blaine? When had that started? "I guess..."

Kurt bit his lip, and abruptly changed the subject. "So what are you up to this weekend?"

Sam shrugged. He'd probably spend most of it with Santana, fooling around, and then being ignored, and then fighting, and then fooling around, and then going home and watching Gilmore Girls with his mother. "Nothing, really."

Kurt gave him his usual tight lipped smile. "Blaine's taking me to see Billy Elliot."

"Oh yeah?" Sam asked. "I've never seen the play...it's a musical right? But I love the movie."

Kurt nodded. "Yes, it's a musical now. It's great too, you should see it."

"Maybe. Maybe I'll go see it with...Santana." He said slowly, knowing that the only person who would go see it with him was his mother. But he didn't mind that.

Kurt snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure that's something Santana would love to do. Maybe if you sat in the far back of the theatre." He said, rolling his eyes.

Sam opened his mouth to protest, feeling like he should defend his girlfriend in some way. However, it was harder than he'd expected. "Santana's...not that bad." He said pathetically, and Kurt rolled his eyes. "She's very..." He began, searching for something positive. "Quick witted." He said finally. She might use her quick wit to try and make him cry, but Kurt didn't need to know that. And he didn't need to know how often she succeeded, either.

Kurt shrugged. "I guess. She defended Blaine and I against Karofsky one time, and that was pretty cool, I guess."

"Yeah..." Sam said slowly, casting his eyes over to her. She was smiling at Brittany, and tossing her hair around. "Pretty cool."

Sensing his unhappiness, Kurt quickly changed the subject again.

"Any recent musical obsessions?" Kurt asked.

"Huh?" Sam asked, furrowing his brow.

"Musical obsessions. Like bands or artists you haven't been able to stop listening to, lately?" Kurt prompted. Sam shrugged. The last artist he'd obsessed over was Tom Petty, but he wasn't sure if that was lame or not, so he decided not to volunteer it. "Well, like much of the world, I have basically been listening to Adele on repeat for the last little while." Kurt said, fluttering his eye lashes and gazing off into the distance.

Sam smiled at Kurt's "Oh So Obsessed" facial expression. "Whose Adele?" He asked, taking a sandwich out of his back pack. Kurt stared at him like he had three heads.

"You don't know Adele?" He asked, shocked. Sam shook his head, feeling a bit self conscious. "Well, she's a singer, and a fabulous one." Kurt informed him. "I'm sure you've heard at least one of her songs on the radio."

Sam nodded. "And you like her?"

"I worship her." Kurt said, clutching his chest. "The sheer power of her voice...I get shivers."

"Well, I will look her up, then." Sam said, smiling. He bit his lip and looked away. "I've been listening to a lot of Tom Petty recently..." He mumbled, wishing he'd kept that to himself.

"Like, 'And the Heartbreakers'?" Kurt asked, tilting his head to the side a little.

Sam shrugged. "Sometimes. But his solo stuff is great too."

Kurt thought for a moment. "I don't know if I've ever heard any of his solo things." He admitted, looking embarrassed.

"Oh you should!" Sam gushed, forgetting himself for a moment. "He's friggin fantastic."

Kurt smiled at him. "I will look him up then."

After lunch, they made their way to glee club together. The moment they got through the choir room doors, Blaine ambushed Kurt.

"Kurt!" He said excitedly, grabbing Kurt's arm. "Rachel and I want your opinion on our duet, come listen to what we've got before glee starts." He said, tugging on Kurt's arm. Kurt smiled apologetically at Sam, before allowing Blaine to drag him over to where Rachel was having a heated discussion with the band. Sam smiled, a little sad to see Kurt go. He took a deep breath and went to go sit by Santana, reminding himself that this was the way things should be.

Right?

A/N: This story will be mostly from Sam's perspective. This chapter was an introduction to the type of things the story will be dealing with.