Author's Note: A tag to 4.12 "Naked" because I have all the Blam feels! So, spoilers obviously. Story title comes from the fitting Rembrandts song of the same name.
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
I'll Be There for You
Sam still looked skeptical when Blaine followed him out of Miss Pillsbury's office, and that left Blaine with a sinking feeling in his gut. He hated that Sam couldn't see all the amazing things about himself, but Blaine knew firsthand just how hard it could be to see the good in yourself. He'd been in a pretty dark headspace after the Sadie Hawkins dance at his old school, and it hadn't been until he'd joined the Warblers that he'd started seeing himself as worthwhile.
And, if he were being honest, he'd fallen into a similar pattern after that night in the parking garage when it seemed that he'd irrevocably lost the Warblers. The very people who'd help him see the good in himself had turned their backs on him, and it had broken something inside of him—something that had only started mending in the last month or so. Blaine was finally getting comfortable in his skin for the first time in… God, he had no idea if he'd ever been as comfortable as he was now.
Now Blaine had it for himself, he was determined to help Sam, who'd helped him heal, see his own worth as well.
He'd already tried giving Sam a pep talk in the locker room, but Sam had brushed him off. Blaine doubted Sam would listen to round two, though Blaine had a lot he could say about what Sam meant to him as a friend. He didn't know if Sam would be receptive to hearing that he'd been the only one able to reach Blaine to pull him back from the ledge after the breakup or that the evenings they spent in Blaine's room reading comic books or watching movies were some of the best times Blaine'd had in a long time. And he doubted Sam would believe that he'd helped Blaine finally feel like he belonged at McKinley, a sense of fitting in that he hadn't had since Dalton.
But if Sam wouldn't listen to Blaine, then Blaine'd just find someone he would listen to. Blaine nodded to himself as he and Sam walked down the hall; he knew what he had to do. What had Sam said to him that had helped him turn the corner? "You're one of the good guys and I've got a whole glee club that agrees with me."
That afternoon, Blaine backed out of getting coffee with Sam after the student council meeting, promising to help him work on his essay the next day after school. Then he grabbed Tina, and together they came up with the idea to create a video to cheer Sam up. It was perfect.
Tina was the obvious first choice to record. She, Blaine, and Sam had gotten close over the last month or so, forming a trio that spent lunches and free periods together, not to mention the student council they made three-quarters of. Blaine ended up using his phone to record her talking about how Sam saved Sectionals the last two years, and he felt satisfied now that he had a plan in motion.
As they were packing up their bags, Tina put a hand on Blaine's arm and smiled warmly at him. "I think this is really sweet what you're doing for him."
Blaine shrugged. "He deserves it, you know?"
Tina gave him a knowing look, but Blaine rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "It's not about a crush, okay? He's my friend. And he helped me when no one else could," or would, he added silently, "so I'm returning the favor."
Tina slipped her arm through Blaine's as they left the classroom and laughed. "How are you even real?"
Blaine's breath caught for a moment. They were the same words Kurt had whispered in his ear more than once, at night when they were tangled in each other's arms or after sex before falling asleep, but for the first time in months, the reminder of Kurt didn't feel like a stab wound. It was just a pleasant memory, and Blaine smiled fondly as they walked.
Blaine wanted Brittany to be in the video—she was dating Sam after all—but she'd gone home already since there was no glee or Cheerios practice. He'd catch her tomorrow. But there was someone else that should still be at school that Blaine wanted to involve. Tina followed Blaine to the music wing to find Artie just getting out of jazz band rehearsal. He gave them a curious look when he saw them leaning against the wall across from the door.
"What is it?" he demanded immediately when they greeted him.
"Do you have a minute?" Blaine asked.
"Is this about the calendar?" Artie pressed suspiciously.
Blaine blinked but Tina shook her head. "No. I promise this is not Men of McKinley business."
Artie visibly relaxed. "Then what's up?"
Blaine quickly outlined what he was up to. "I just want to give him a sense that he has a lot he can write in one of those essays, you know?" he finished.
Artie's eyes had lit up as Blaine spoke. "I think that's a great idea. Were you looking for my directorial expertise?"
Blaine's lip quirked but he shook his head. "I was hoping you'd actually say something in the video? I want to be able to show it to him after school tomorrow."
Artie nodded. "My genius does take time, it's true. Okay."
They ducked into the band room once it had cleared out, and Blaine pulled his phone out to record Artie gushing over Sam saving their Nationals trophy. Once Blaine got what he needed, they headed out. On their way to the parking lot, Artie shared his genius plan to direct a movie based on their superhero alter egos. Tina demanded it be Nightbird and the Blond Chameleon versus Asian Persuasion, and by the time they reached Blaine's car, Artie was mostly sold.
"I'll be in touch, y'all," Artie said with a wave before heading off. Tina laughed, winked at Blaine, and followed him.
By the time Blaine got home, his mind was spinning with ideas for Operation Cheer Sam Up. When he walked into the kitchen, he saw that his parents had left money for dinner. Typical. He grabbed a menu from the well-used selection of takeout menus and called for Chinese before heading up to his room. He dropped his bag in his chair and flopped down on his bed. He pulled his laptop out and hooked up his phone to transfer Tina's and Artie's videos. The food arrived just as Artie's video finished. As he paid for the food and brought it back upstairs, he mentally went through his phonebook, considering.
Mercedes was the obvious first choice, but Blaine was a bit wary of calling her, considering her relationship with Kurt. She hadn't tried to murder him during the play, though, so he figured he was probably safe by now. Besides, this was for Sam, not Blaine, and he knew Mercedes cared a lot for Sam.
He finished off his pork lo mien before working up the courage to dial Mercedes' number.
"Blaine?" Mercedes answered on the third ring. "This is a surprise."
"Hi Mercedes," Blaine replied, taking a breath to calm his nerves. Though they'd never been close, they were still friends, he reminded himself. There was no reason to be worried. "How are you?"
Mercedes snorted and muttered something under her breath about his manners, but they quickly fell into a surprisingly comfortable rhythm of small talk. Finally Mercedes said, "As nice as this is, I know it's not why you called. So what's up?"
"I need a favor," Blaine said. "It's for Sam," he added quickly before Mercedes could turn him down for being the guy who broke Kurt's heart. Small talk was one thing, but favors were something else.
"I'm listening."
So Blaine launched into his explanation, adding in the relevant bits about Sam's SAT scores while skirting the calendar as much as possible; he didn't doubt that she'd find out eventually, but he didn't have to be the one to tell her.
When Blaine finally asked her to record a short message, Mercedes immediately replied, "Anything for that sweet boy."
Blaine grinned, picturing Mercedes looking determined on the other end of the line. "Can you get it to me tonight? I want to show it to him tomorrow."
"You got it."
They exchanged a few more pleasantries and then Mercedes hung up, promising once more to get him the video that night. Satisfied, he turned to his sweet and sour pork for a few bites before grabbing his phone again.
He called Mike next; they'd stayed in touch after Mike had left for school, and Mike had been the only graduated member of New Directions to keep in regular contact with him after the breakup. And Mike had also been friends with Sam, forging a bro bond in the gym. Unfortunately, the call went right to Mike's voicemail, and it wasn't until he'd hung up that Blaine remembered that Mike was in the middle of rehearsals for a new production so wouldn't have free time for weeks.
After that failure, he considered calling Kurt but dismissed the idea immediately as he ate. Though Kurt had known Sam first and had lived with him for a year, they'd never been close; they liked each other well enough, but their relationship didn't go much beyond that. If Blaine called Kurt, it would be more for his own benefit than Sam's, and that wasn't the point of this.
He also ruled out Rachel; she'd never had much of a relationship with Sam either and had even suspected him of cheating with both Quinn and Kurt at one point. (Kurt telling him about that had been hilarious; he'd immediately texted Sam to give him his whole-hearted approval, just as long as he could watch. The next time they'd seen each other, Sam had burst out laughing with Blaine joining him moments later, much to Kurt's confusion.)
He thought about Quinn since he knew she and Sam had dated before Blaine's time at McKinley. However, he also knew that relationship had ended poorly, the way most New Directions relationships tended to, so he put her on the list to call if he ran out of other options. Blaine slumped back against the pillows on his bed. He knew Puck was in town, but as much as Blaine liked the guy, he was a bit wary of the kind of video he might get from him, so he mentally added Puck to the backup list as well.
He knew he wanted to involve Finn, but figured he'd catch him at school the next day. And that just left Santana. Like with Quinn, there was a weird romantic entanglement between her and Sam, but Blaine remembered Santana the day Sam came back to McKinley—the New Directions and Troubletones had been like two enemy camps, but Santana had crossed No Man's Land to welcome him back in her own uniquely Santana way—so was pretty sure there was affection there.
He finished the last bits of his dinner and dialed Santana's number, hoping she was out of cheerleading practice.
She picked up after four rings. "Hey hobbit," she greeted. "We were just talking about you."
Blaine raised an eyebrow. "We?"
"Oh yeah. Me, Quinn, and Rachel. We're having a total girls' night."
Blaine blinked. Quinn and Rachel? Did that mean…? "Wait, are you in New York?"
"Ding, ding, ding! Got it in one. Sorry to say Hummel's at the library, though. Studying or whatever."
"Boring!" he heard another voice in the background. Rachel? And she probably had a drink or two in her, Blaine thought. Rachel could get very excitable (more so than usual) when she was drunk.
Blaine rolled his eyes. "And how much have you had to drink, Santana?"
Santana scoffed. "Please. You know I'm a weepy drunk. Do I sound like I'm weeping, short stuff?"
Which, okay, fair point. He'd seen Santana drunk on more than one occasion and yes, the more alcohol she had, the more her mascara smeared from tears. Apparently she was just enjoying spending time with friends rather than… being in school. Interesting.
"And why were you talking about me?" he asked, remembering what she'd said before the tangent.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Santana teased.
Blaine laughed. For as abrasive as Santana could be, he liked her a lot. "I'm going to guess not, actually."
"Wise choice. Now what can I do for you, Blainers?"
"I need a favor," he replied. "For Sam."
"For Trouty Mouth? I'm intrigued," Santana said, and Blaine could practically picture one perfectly manicured eyebrow lifting.
"What about Sam?" asked another voice. Quinn.
So Blaine repeated the explanation he'd given Mercedes, even more careful to skirt the calendar with Santana because he knew he'd never hear the end of it from her once she found out. And he had something more important in mind tonight than getting blasted with Santana Lopez's biting wit.
When Blaine finished speaking, the line on the other end was silent. Blaine was about to make sure the call hadn't dropped when Santana finally spoke. "That's a really good idea, Blaine." Her voice was soft, and there was something gentle behind the words; and that was when Blaine knew he'd made the right choice in calling her.
"So will you do it?"
"Of course. When do you want it by?"
"Tomorrow morning at the latest. I'm helping him with his essay after school."
"Okay." A pause. "And Blaine? Thanks for asking me."
Blaine was so startled by the reply that he didn't have a chance to say anything before the call ended. He pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it. Huh. That was Santana Lopez for you, he supposed. Never doing what you expect.
After plugging his phone in to charge, he checked his email and saw that a video had come in from Mercedes while he'd been talking to Santana. He clicked it and smiled at the message. Eventually he grudgingly turned to his calculus homework until Santana's video came in a couple hours later. When he opened it, he couldn't help laughing; yeah, Sam was going to love it.
With a satisfied grin, he texted Brittany and Finn, asking them to meet him before school the next morning.
Blaine got to school in the morning an hour earlier than usual and found Brittany and Finn in the choir room. They perked up when Blaine walked in.
"So, what's up?" Finn asked.
"I'm trying to cheer Sam up," he replied, setting his bag on the floor and sitting down next to his friends. "He's been pretty down since he heard about his SAT score and is hyper-focused on the calendar."
Brittany nodded sadly. "I tried telling him that he's awesome and that I obviously know because I'm magical and a genius, but I don't think he believed me."
Blaine inclined his head at Brittany. "And that's why I want your help. I'm working on something, but it's not done yet."
"What do you need us to do?" Finn asked, brow furrowing.
It was quick work explaining the video and what he wanted from each of them, and they readily agreed. They filmed Brittany first; she decided to stand by the trophy case because the shine always made her happy, and thankfully it was still early enough that the halls were mostly empty.
Once Brittany finished, she skipped off, leaving Blaine and Finn. They decided to try the teacher's lounge since Finn was in desperate need of coffee and more students were starting to arrive.
"Mornings," Finn groaned as they walked down the hallway. "I thought I was done with mornings after high school."
"I don't think that's how it works," Blaine replied with a laugh as they walked into the mostly empty teacher's lounge. He looked around curiously as Finn headed for the coffee pot and poured himself a mug. So this was where the teachers went for lunch and between classes… Blaine turned just in time to see Finn take a gulp of coffee and grimace. He stifled a laugh.
"Ugh," Finn groaned as he swallowed. "I don't know how you drink this stuff all the time."
"Caffeine," Blaine replied simply.
Finn nodded and took another gulp. "I hear you." He sighed and looked around. "Where should we do this?"
Blaine glanced around again before pointing to a chair by the window. "There? It's got good lighting."
"Okay." Finn sat down in the appointed chair while Blaine set up his phone to record. After a few minutes, Finn figured out what he wanted to say. And by the time he clicked the off button, Blaine was tearing up.
"We done?"
Blaine nodded, surreptitiously wiping at his eyes. "Yeah, I just need to put it all together. I'll do it during my free period."
Finn threw an arm around Blaine's shoulders as they walked out of the room. "It's really cool that you're doing this, man."
Blaine shrugged. He didn't think Finn would quite understand the depth of what he'd mean if he said, He saved my life or He kept me sane. So instead he just shrugged and replied, "He's my best friend."
Blaine ended up spending both his free period and his lunch splicing the footage together. But it was totally worth it; he couldn't have imagined a better response than Sam getting up from his chair and pulling him into a tight hug. Blaine shut his eyes and sank into the embrace.
This is friendship, he thought.
That night, Blaine was home alone again, and he was nibbling on a slice of pizza as he skimmed over his history textbook when his phone rang. He grabbed it from his nightstand without checking the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Hey Blaine."
Blaine's eyes widened when he recognized the voice. "Kurt. Hi."
"I, uh, I heard about what you did for Sam."
Blaine put down his pizza. "Santana told you."
Kurt laughed, and Blaine couldn't help but smile. "I helped her shoot her video. So yeah, she told me."
"Oh." Blaine wasn't really sure what to say to that.
"Yeah." He paused. "So did you show it to him?"
"I did," Blaine replied with a grin, the memory of Sam's arms around him still very present. "I think it worked. He got a first draft of his scholarship essay written after watching it."
"That's great. That was a really sweet idea, Blaine." There was something wistful in Kurt's voice that Blaine tried not to think too hard about.
"He deserves it," he replied instead.
They fell into a silence after that, but it wasn't entirely uncomfortable. They were still careful when talking to each other, unwilling to break the fragile peace that had settled between them at Christmas, but Blaine was finding a measure of peace in their distance. He'd finally created a life of his own at McKinley, made friends outside of Kurt's, and was doing things just for himself.
"You sound really good, Blaine," Kurt said quietly after several quiet moments. "Happier."
Blaine blinked, but he considered it. "I guess I am," he said at last. "Happier." Blaine was a lot of things now, so much more than he had been the last time Kurt had seen him, but happy was a big one.
"I'm glad." And he sounded like he meant it.
"And how are you, now that you're living your dream?" Blaine asked. He'd been so proud when Kurt had called to tell him that he'd gotten into NYADA this time around; he knew the other boy—man, really—was destined for great things and this was just the first step.
"I think I'm happy too. Mostly."
"Good. You deserve to be, Kurt."
"I—Thanks. Anyway, I should probably go. Rachel and Brody will be back any minute and I don't want to subject you to whatever noises that might entail."
Blaine laughed but Kurt made a disgruntled sound.
"You think I'm joking, but I'm really not. I ordered earplugs yesterday and they can't come soon enough." He sighed. "I thought Rachel was joking when she said she invited him to move in. But apparently not."
Blaine frowned. "Wait, he moved in?"
"She invited him and didn't think to ask me. And he said yes." Kurt groaned in frustration. "Mostly he's just brought over some extra changes of clothes so far."
"She didn't ask you?" Blaine echoed in indignation. He knew Rachel had self-absorbed tendencies, but that was ridiculous even by her standards.
"Nope. She's driving me up the wall, Blaine. I swear. I—" He cut himself off. "They're home. I better go."
"Okay," Blaine replied, slightly disappointed.
"Oh, and ask Tina when I can expect my Men of McKinley calendar, would you?" Kurt added lightly before hanging up.
Blaine's jaw dropped. He didn't…
Once he gathered himself, he dialed Tina's number, not giving her a chance to speak when she picked up. "So I talked to Kurt and he just said the most interesting thing…"
- Fin -