From his corner of the locker room, Sam could just see David Karofsky changing out of his football uniform. He wasn't really sure when he first started noticing the other boy's muscular build or the confident, sexy, way he carried himself, but what he DID know was that for some reason he couldn't keep his eyes off of him.
Slowly the other boys began filtering out of the room, ready to get home after a long day of practice. Sam prayed that he wouldn't be left alone with Karofsky, not only because of these new feeling but also for fear of retaliation. He never knew when Karofsky would strike back after their most recent argument.
"Hey Sam, you ready to go? I have some Glee stuff I wanna talk about." Finn was waiting at the door to the locker room, obviously trying to give Sam a chance to escape.
"Nah, man. I have to talk to Coach Beiste about missing a few practices. I'll catch you later." The obvious lie escaped his lips before he even knew what he was saying. He furrowed his brow and turned back to his locker, stuffing his bag with equipment. Why would he turn down the opportunity to get away from Dave?
Finn just shrugged and exited the room, leaving Sam and Karofsky alone, except for the thick stench of sweat.
Karofsky cleared his throat. "Hey man…"
Sam looked up, startled at the softness in the usually-harsh voice.
"I just wanted to clear the air, y'know." Karofsky took a step towards Sam, who was wearing only blue basketball shorts. Sam seemed to notice that Karofsy's eyes lingered on his chest for a second too long, but he dismissed it as his over-active imagination.
"Oh, no problem," Sam said cordially. "It was really our fault...we started the fight, I guess. We all knew that you get angry when people call you gay."
"That's only because I'm not." Karofsky's eyes seemed to grow a little dimmer, like he was weighted down with something.
"Me either." Sam said with a laugh. "I know how it feels to have those rumors spread about you… I don't know why I took part in that stuff."
"Yeah, I think I'm going to kill the next person that spreads that stupid rumor about me."
"Oh, Rä'ä si tsakem!" Sam said jokingly.
Karofsky looked puzzled. "What?"
"It means 'don't do that'." Sam explained with a boyish grin. "It's Na'vi. You know, from Avatar."
His face fell a little when Karofsky just stood, staring at him with a blank expression.
"Sorry… I can be kind of a geek sometimes." He grabbed his T-shirt and pulled it on over his head. "I'm gonna head out, man. See you at practice tomorrow, I guess."
Sam rushed out of the building and practically ran to his car. Jumping into the driver's seat, he slammed the door behind him. 'What the hell, Sam? Were you flirting with Dave Karofsky?' His hands began to shake and he rested his head on the steering wheel. 'What is happening to me?' He reached o for his pocket, searching for his phone so he could call Kurt. He was really the only person Sam knew that could help him dig through all of this confusion.
Seeing that his phone wasn't in his pocket or around his seat, he began rifling through the gym back that he'd slung into the passenger seat when getting into the car. After searching the bag and finding nothing, he searched every nook and cranny of the vehicle to no avail.
"Shit!" The sudden realization of what had happened hit him harder than a sudden slushie to the face.
He'd left the phone on one of the benches in the locker room.
He let out a muffled sigh and looked back at the school. For a moment he seriously considered just leaving the phone until tomorrow, but he didn't want to face the wrath of his mother when he couldn't call to check in. Finally he got out of his car ant trudged to the school, hoping Karofsky had left for the night.
Karofsky sat with his head buried in his hands, trying to make sense of what was happening. He'd thought that with Kurt gone that these feelings would disappear, but now Sam had made them multiply. For some reason he couldn't resist Sam's heart of gold and nerdy jokes. He'd almost melted when he spoke Na'vi, a practice that would get any other boy at McKinley a black eye.
Angrily, he wiped a tear that had managed to escape down the side of his face. It wasn't fair that he was stuck with this unnatural attraction to people of the same sex, and honestly it was scaring him. He saw what happened to gay people in this town. Hell, he'd been the one that caused Kurt to leave. Every day he was forced to be somebody he's not, and it was beginning to piss him off.
"I just want it to go away," he whispered into the empty locker room.
"Want what to go away?" Sam's voice suddenly rang in his ears, and Karofsky turned to see the tall blonde boy standing anxiously at the end of the bench. "I came back to get my phone… What's wrong?"
He considered lying to him, that would be the easiest thing to do, but he was getting so tired of hiding. There was a long pause before Karofsky finally broke down. "Sam... I'm gay."
Without looking at Sam's face he whipped back around on the bench and hid is face. He attempted to hold back his tears in front of the other boy, but it was a wasted effort, his red cotton tee-shirt already becoming stained.
He felt a presence in front of him and looked up to see a very pale Sam Evans standing in front of him. Sam reached out and wiped a tear from Karofsky's face before lowering himself to Dave's eye level.
"Its okay, Dave." Sam cooed, his voice hoarse. Karofsky was almost startled at the use of his first name. No one besides his dad had called him "Dave" in years.
Sam took one of Dave's hands in his, squeezing it tightly. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, Dave. Love is love. I mean look at the two main characters in Avatar. Those two weren't even of the same species! They were from two completely different planets, Dave, but they loved each other. That's all that matters."
All of a sudden, something happened that Karofsky could have never foreseen. Sam Evans raised his head and pressed his lips against Dave's. He did so tentatively, almost as if he was afraid that Dave would lash out. Dave felt his hands lift and his fingers managed to curl into the back of Sam's silky smooth hair, pulling him closer so that their bodies were pressed against on another and they were forced to stand. He let his mouth open slightly and his tongue began to dance around Sam's in a passionate tango of lust and need. Sam turned them around and forced Karofsky against a row of lockers, never once breaking their kiss.
He wasn't sure who had pulled away first, but before long both were sitting red faced and panting on the red metal bench.
"Dave?" Sam asked between gulps of breath.
"Yeah?" Karofsky replied, chest heaving.
"I know you're not ready to be completely "out" yet." Sam paused, unsure of what to say.
"And?" Karofsky prompted.
"But I think it would be nice if we could..." Sam swallowed hard. "I want- I want to be with you Dave. I've known for a while now, and it's driving me crazy. I-I don't want to hide anymore. I'm so tired of being afraid. I want to face this; I want to go into the world as I am. I want to do it with you, Dave."
Karofsky sat in silence. With all of his heart he wanted to say yes. He wanted to be with Sam, he wanted to have courage (or whatever that hobbit Kurt was always with had said). But he just couldn't do it.
"Please…" Sam pleaded, his voice cracking and eyes beginning to water.
"Look Sam.." Karofsky got up off of the floor and turned his back to him, trying to hide the anguish on his face. "This was a mistake. I'm sorry… I have to go."
And with that he fled the locker room, leaving Sam alone with the cold sting of hurt and rejection.