Title: I See You
Paring: Blaine/Sam
Rating: R
Warnings/Tags: Some vague spoilers for 4x12 Naked, but just the public spoilers that are bouncing around Tumblr. Angst and Boys having feelings abound
Summary: Because I told theopengrave I would write a fic inspired by the Blam Spoiler pic!
The anxiety in the pit of his stomach had been building since Tina and Brittany had proposed the calendar. At first, he told himself that everything would be fine, that the club needed to make a bit of money for regionals and this was the quickest way to do so, but as time went on, Blaine felt worse and worse.
Finally, standing on the set, wrapped in a terry cloth robe while his friends horse around in various, half naked states, he snapped and blurted, "I can't do this!"
Then he fled to the locker room and collapsed onto a bench, trying to control his breathing.
"Blaine?"
Of course Sam had followed him. Sam was his friend and was probably looking at him with those confused green eyes, openly concerned even though he had no idea what was happening.
"Are you okay?"
Blaine let out a bark of half hysterical laughter and looked up just in time to see Sam, still clad in his tight, red shorts and lifeguard whistle (even less of concealing than the baggy, red trousers Blaine wore under his robe), settle on the bench across from him. "No, Sam. No, I'm not."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sam asked, voice gentle and inviting. As always (since they had gotten to know each other), there was something about him that set Blaine at ease.
Blaine shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."
"Because I'm too dumb?"
"What?! No," Blaine protested immediately, the Sam hadn't spoken like he was offended. It had been a simple statement, which was far worse. "No, Sam. I'm just not comfortable…being exposed like this in front of everyone."
"Because we're selling the calendar? And you're not for sale."
Flinching, Blaine remembered throwing those words at Sam the day he'd come back to McKinley. To be honest, it really hadn't been about Sam, but he had wound up as a focus for Blaine's anger. "Sam…I had voice lessons from the time I was little, you know. And my teachers always told me I had to practice harder than anyone else even though I was good. I didn't understand why they pushed me like that, but when I was six one of them told me I had to be better because I was small and funny looking and my talent would have to eclipse my looks or I'd never make it. That sort of thing…. Sticks with you."
He hadn't actually meant to admit to that, but somehow it had all come spilling out. There was no way Sam, 6 feet tall, gorgeous and built like some kind of marble statue come to life could ever understand how it felt to be uncomfortable in his own skin….
"I was a chubby kid. Wore thick glasses and got picked on like you wouldn't believe," Sam spoke quietly, but his voice was very sincere. "Before I came here, I decided to change it all. I lost weight, worked out, lighten my hair, got contacts….and do you know what I see in the mirror? I still see chubby little Sammy. I hate my body even though I know I'm in good shape. I hate people staring at me, but I let them because I'm facing my body image issues."
Blaine looked at him then, gazing at the blonde boy, who was fiddling with his lifeguard whistle, looking down as though he was embarrassed to have said what he did. "Sam, you're basically Captain America. The peak of human perfection! People have literally paid just to look at you! How can you think…."
"It actually made me feel worse," Sam grumbled. "The calendar, it's not so bad, because no one can touch me. I hated that the most, getting groped during lap dances, feeling dirty and puking at the end of the night because I was just so disgusted…but I went back every night because my family needed me to do it. I can do this because I control it."
Hearing Sam talk about working at the strip club made Blaine's heart ached for him. Sam could get over his issues, Blaine didn't know how he could justify clinging to his own.
Without warning, Sam slid off of his bench, landing on his knees and shuffling over to look Blaine in the eye. He stopped when he was very close, hips bracketed by Blaine's red, velour clad knees and raised his hands to grasp the lapels of Blaine's robe. "Can I?"
Not really sure where this was going but trusting Sam, Blaine nodded, mouth too dry to form a verbal response.
Slowly, with care, Sam pushed the robe back off of Blaine shoulders, baring pale skin that was rarely seen. Blaine felt his face flushing with embarrassment, feeling particularly small and puny in such close proximity with big, broad shouldered Sam.
"You know how I like to draw," Sam mused, two fingers landing at the point where Blaine's shoulder met his neck and stroking over the smooth skin. "Between art classes and all the time I spend at the gym, I know how the body is supposed to look, I know what is beautiful, even if I don't see it in myself."
Confused and fighting not to respond inappropriately to the gentle caress, Blaine let out a shaky breath. "What are you…?"
"I got an A in anatomy because of those art classes too," Sam interrupted, fingers pressing lightly into the muscle they rested on. "Trapezius, you got a lot of tension there."
His hand ran down to clasp Blaine's shoulder, thumb brushing over a curve of muscle. "Deltoid, firm, well-developed." Fingers stroked along the muscle of Blaine's arm. "Biceps, triceps, toned and strong from boxing."
Blaine knew he should say something, but just tried to breathe steadily when Sam touched his chest. "Pectoralis Major, tight with no sagging." The hand ran down his side. "Obliques, so taut." A palm smoothing flat over his abs. "Rectus Abdominis, flat and hard and you've got a perfect iliac crest."
His thumbs caressed the V of muscle that led down into Blaine's trousers before sliding around his waist, a movement that caused Sam to lean closer as he continued to palm muscle groups. "Lattisimus Dorsi." His hands moved higher, one hand seeking out muscle and the other simply smoothing over skin. "Rhomboidius. All perfect."
It was kind of surreal. Blaine's nerves had completely vanished, replaced by arousal and confusion (because he still wasn't exactly sure what Sam was thinking with this hands-on anatomy lesson). At some point, Blaine had grabbed Sam's shoulders and Sam did not seem to be in any hurry to release the loose hold he had on Blaine.
One of them really should move, Blaine knew, but it was like they were stuck in molasses, faces bowed close and chests just barely brushing with each increasingly quick breath. Eyes ticking down, Blaine saw that his Santa pants weren't particularly good at hiding certain reactions…and neither were Sam's swim trunks.
That was interesting….
"What the hell are you ladies doing?"
Blaine cringed. Hockey players. Great.
"Unless you want to watch, get out!" Sam snapped.
In all his time at McKinley, Blaine had never seen a group of belligerent hockey players flee in such a panic.
It was absurd enough to make him snicker. Sam grinned, then laughed, obviously unable to believe he'd said that allowed and he let his face fall forward against Blaine's shoulder.
They clung together, laughter building and Blaine managed to snort, "Finally! A way to get rid of those jerks! Threaten them with having to witness a little boy on boy action and they run like scared little bunnies!"
Eventually, they calmed and Sam pulled away, sitting back on his heels and looking Blaine over once again. "But seriously dude. Those nasty voice teachers of yours were assholes. You look incredible. Really sexy. I always assumed you knew, because you are."
"And I assumed you liked running around half naked," Blaine pointed out and Sam shrugged.
"Only in front of people I like," he quipped, then grinned with his eyes twinkling. "Fair warning, Brittany is working on a PowerPoint presentation to try and convince you that you should totally have a threesome with us. If she asks you to come over to help her talk Lord Tubbington out of trying to rob a bank or something, there's a 50-50 chance she'll pull out the slides."
More and more surreal…but at least the strangeness had knocked him out of his panicking headspace.
Standing, Blaine nodded. "I think I can do this."
Sam grinned and they made their way back out to the room where Brittany was just finishing up with Jake, who looked only mildly disgruntled in his pumpkin costume.
Sam's hand remained on Blaine's back, warm and comforting, until he stepped forward to pose for his own photos.
After snapping a bunch of pictures, Brittany looked up with a smile. "These are really good, Blaine! Hey, after we're done, do you want to come over to my house to help me and Sam stage an intervention for Lord Tubbington? I think he's doing drugs again."
Blaine glanced over to where Sam stood and the blonde just smiled.
Wetting his lips, Blaine replied, "Okay. I'm in."
