Notes: When I wrote in the possibility of Blam doing a reality show, I had not decided whether they were going to go through with it as at the end of the story, they still hadn't decided yet. However, almost anyone that suggested a one-shot from me pushed for the reality show so here it is. So while I certainly don't own Glee or these characters, I do own 'The Best Laid Plans' which this is a continuation of. That being said, you probably have to read The Best Laid Plans first.
This was also a struggle to write. Since it's a reality show, I tried to mimic the format. That means awkward cut a ways, no internal thought processes, and present tense. Hopefully, this works.
The Model Boyfriend
Season 1. Episode 4: Sacrifices
Confessional:
Sam Evans clears his throat. "We don't get called in a lot because the contestants are usually posing by themselves or with each other. But we all like this job. It's a good pay check and it provides loads of entertainment because, hello, reality show. But I guess my life is a reality show now, huh? I wonder if that automatically makes me more entertaining. I guess you can't answer that," Sam looks past the camera but gets no answer. "Anyway. It's a change of pace from the go sees and contract negotiations and the meetings with your agents. Plus, you might run into someone famous. We haven't decided if that's a good thing yet. It's like look but don't touch. Not that I'd be touching the famous people. At least famous people other than Blaine. I meant they're not there for us. We have to keep being professional when all the girls get to squeal and stuff. Sometimes it kind of sucks."
Show:
"What do you think they're making a fuss about now?" Brandon asks. Sam, who is busy doing something on his phone, looks up confused. Brandon rolls his eyes. "Never mind. Keep texting your boyfriend."
"I'm not texting Blaine. He's filming all day," Sam tells him. "It's Rachel."
Brandon raises his eyebrows. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Sam rolls his eyes. "You make it sound bad. She's shooting another episode of 'Stardom' and wants to know if she can stay with us. Blaine told her it's not a problem, but Kurt made a joke about how the tabloids are going to make it sound like we're in a threesome or something and now she's convinced that's going to happen. Blaine says it's my turn to 'curb the melodrama', whatever that means." He glances in the general direction of the camera a little nervously.
Confessional:
"Rachel, you're not melodramatic," Sam pauses. "Okay, I lied. You totally are. But Blaine felt bad about telling me that in front of cameras so...yeah."
Show:
Sam snorts as he reads the next text. He glances at Brandon. "Do I look like a child?"
Brandon makes a show of studying him. Or at least he does after tearing his eyes from where the contestants are gathered around someone. "No, definitely not a child," Brandon confirms. "Just sexy man model." Sam looks for a moment like he is going to question that statement but apparently decides against it. "Okay, I'll bite," Brandon sighed. "Why?"
"Apparently Blaine's being dramatic about leaving me alone for a few weeks—"
Confessional:
Sam looks at the camera seriously. "Blaine, you were not being dramatic. You're right. That was just Rachel being dramatic over your bordering on dramatic worry that I was going to be lonely."
Show:
"And he told Rachel," Sam informs Brandon. "Who told Kitty. And now Kitty, Marley, and Unique are going to take turns staying in our guest room until he comes back."
Brandon tried to hold back his laughter but Sam glares. "I'm sorry. It's just that you've been complaining about being alone for weeks and now your friends fixed that and you're still complaining. Though I have to say that your friends are particularly skillful in addressing other people's problems behind their backs."
"Plenty of practice," Sam states. "And I wasn't complaining about being alone. I was complaining that after the two of us being so busy for the last month, Blaine's not even going to be home for a few weeks. I'm allowed to complain before my friends draw out a schedule of babysitting duties. And I know it's my friends, not Blaine, because Blaine would actually draw out a schedule and post it on the fridge in our house and theirs."
"I'm not sure if that's endearing or a little scary," Brandon tilts his head.
"Endearing," one of the other models vote.
"No definitely scary," his friend inserts.
Brandon shrugged a bit as if saying 'well, there you go.'
Confessional:
Brandon sits there contemplating something. "Honestly, Blaine's scheduling and planning abilities are a little scary sometimes. They only pop up when he's stressed and that just stresses Sam out because he always forgets the schedules. But it could be a good thing. I think if it was up to Sam, sometimes he would just pick a modeling job at random. That's not to say that Blaine picks Sam's jobs, but he sits there and makes him talk through all the pros and cons. I don't think I've ever met a couple so involved in each other's jobs. Because Sam's been there since 'Stardom' began. He's one of the reasons Blaine did the show. And I think Blaine's on record saying that, otherwise, I'm a terrible friend telling secrets on camera." Brandon quickly pulls out his phone. He takes a moment to search for something. He sighs. "Yep, on record."
Show:
Brandon is distracted again as the girls clear away from whomever it is that was their special visitor this week. He glances at Sam. "You're kind of famous. You can go see who it is and have them come talk to us lowly background models."
"I'm only tangentially famous," Sam informs him helpfully though he is distracted by his phone again.
Brandon peers at him. "Who taught you that one?"
"A friend from high school," Sam shrugs. "I'm only famous in connection to Blaine. Which makes sense because I'm only recognized when I'm with him, too."
Confessional:
"It's total relief, too," Sam tells the camera. "It's a weird line being known as Blaine Anderson's boyfriend at the same time I'm trying to make a modelling career for myself. Not everyone recognizes me so it lets me feel like I'm earning it on my own. I'm not blind enough to think that my relationship with Blaine doesn't give me a leg up. I figure I just have to be good enough that I deserve that leg up. I'll never be good enough that everyone will see it that way but…" Sam shrugs as he trails off.
Show:
The models are called to set and the camera follows them. Sam is paired up with one of the other models to do background work for the competitors. Sam and the other models ignore the multiple cameras running, even the ones running for America's Next Top Model and focus on posing for the photographer. The photographer yells out instructions to the competitors while mostly ignoring the work of the background models. With ten contestants still left the day is long and the camera shifts to the clock to show the passing hours. Sam uses his break to down some water. He watches closely as the other models work. When Brandon does join him, they don't speak as they did at make-up. It seems as if they left their personal lives behind once they were called up to work.
Finally, it's the end of the shoot. Sam quickly changes into his street clothes. He is clearly tired. Brandon and he only wave at each other as they go their separate ways. Sam pulls out his phone and checks his messages. He sighs, turning to the camera. "And the day's not done," he tells the cameramen. "My agent calls."
Sam greets Ms. Shannon as she beckons him into the office. The cameras follow behind him and one waits for him in the office. "I have excellent news," Ms. Shannon informs him, not bothering with a hello. Sam takes a seat and waits for her to continue. "I may have just scored you an ad campaign."
Sam freezes. "Seriously? Wait, like my own campaign or…"
"Your own campaign," she tells him proudly. "Of course, it's not in the bag. It's down to you and two other models. The rest is up to you. You go to their offices, show them your portfolio, a couple of poses, the usual and earn yourself that campaign."
Sam wipes his palms on his jeans. "Just like that? Do you really think that—"
Ms. Shannon rolls her eyes before cutting him off. "Again, the aw-sucks Midwestern boy thing is adorable and all but a little confidence will do wonders."
"I'm from Tennessee," Sam seemingly reminds her. "I'm a southern boy."
"Aren't you from Ohio?" Ms. Shannon pauses.
"Blaine's from Ohio," Sam says. "I moved there when I was fifteen."
Ms. Shannon waves him off. "It doesn't matter. Midwestern, Southern charm. Some place that is not LA or New York. The point is that this campaign can be yours if you don't get nervous. Don't make me remind you about what happened last month."
Confessional:
Sam winces. "I may have put my foot in my mouth last month. I got nervous so I just started rambling. I can't even remember what I said but they didn't even want me to try on any of the clothes. That doesn't usually happen to me anymore but every once in a while it's like I'm eighteen again and I have no idea what I'm doing."
Show:
"I'll try my best not to embarrass you," Sam promises her.
"I have so many models I have stopped being embarrassed by them a long time ago," Ms. Shannon levels him with her gaze. "It's not me you should be worried about embarrassing. Worry about yourself."
Sam nods very quickly. "So when's my appointment? Do I have one?"
"Tomorrow morning," Ms. Shannon glances down at her tablet. "Ten a.m. I'll send you the details."
"Tomorrow at ten?" Sam asked hesitantly.
Ms. Shannon checks the time. "It's not even eleven p.m. This is plenty of notice."
"It's not that," Sam tells her, leaning forward. "It's just that Blaine has a flight to New York tomorrow morning. And he's going to be gone for a few weeks. I haven't seen much of him besides sleeping for the past week. I was going to take him to the airport tomorrow."
Ms. Shannon doesn't seem impressed. "If you really want to make it, you have to make sacrifices. I'm sure Anderson can tell you that."
Sam scoffs. "You really don't know Blaine. He thinks you make sacrifices in your business life for your personal life, not the other way around."
Ms. Shannon stares. "Is that agent I recommended to him even doing her job? Anyone can tell him that's naïve."
Sam shrugs, shifting awkwardly in his seat. "The point is I can't make the appointment."
"This is an ad campaign, Sam," Ms. Shannon tells him firmly. "It's not just a one off deal. This can be huge for you. I'm not letting you cancel. So I suggest you go home, kiss your boyfriend good-bye, and get some sleep for the morning."
There appears to be nothing left to say. Sam sighs, thanking her before leaving the office.
When Sam pulls up to the house, the clock on the car radio reads just past midnight. The cameras follow Sam as he gets out of the car, punches in the security code, and enters the house. He places his keys on the conveniently hung key rack just inside the door and kicks off his shoes. He doesn't bother to place them on the shoe rack where a pair of loafers is neatly placed.
Sam makes his way to the living room and pauses in the doorway, a slight smile appearing on his face. Blaine is curled up on the couch in a deep sleep. It appears as if he fell asleep watching tv, fully dressed. Sam heads over to the couch and squats next to Blaine. He runs a hand along Blaine's hair, using his thumb to brush back a curl that's escaped the gel's hold. Blaine squirms.
"Blaine, wake up," Sam says gently. "You fell asleep in the living room." Blaine squirms again before rolling onto his back. His eyes open slowly and blink up at the ceiling. He turns his face to look at Sam and a small, lazy smile appears on his face.
"Hmmm," Blaine says, turning the rest of his body to face Sam. "I fell asleep waiting for you."
"It's been a long few days," Sam responds as he stands. "They're working you too hard."
Yawning, Blaine sits up on the couch. He glances at the cable box. "Says the one who just got home past midnight."
"Come on, let's get you to bed," Sam suggests.
Blaine groans, turning his face into the couch cushion. "Too tired. And too comfortable."
"Lazy," Sam teases. "Besides, wouldn't it be better to spend the night in a nice big comfortable bed with me? You're going away tomorrow."
"Come with me to New York?" Blaine asks, still only about half-awake.
"You know I have jobs lined up," Sam tells him, pulling him up and to his feet. "I'm already skipping an appointment tomorrow to bring you to the airport. Ms. Shannon is going to kill me."
Blaine doesn't seem to hear him. He doesn't even seem quite aware of his surroundings. Sam leads him to the bedroom. Blaine dives into the bed and hugs a pillow to him. Sam laughs but pauses at the doorway. He looks into the camera.
"Closed door guys," he says. The camera catches as the door swings shut.
The next morning, Blaine wanders out of the bedroom almost as blearily as the night before though he has at some point changed into a t-shirt a couple of sizes too big on him and a pair of pajama pants. He leaves the bedroom slightly cracked and the camera catches Sam sprawled out on the bed, still fast asleep. Blaine doesn't acknowledge the camera, heading straight to the kitchen and the coffee machine. As he waits for his coffee, he begins to flip through his e-mails on his phone. One seems to catch his attention.
Confessional:
Blaine looks into the camera. "When Sam told me he was going to skip a meeting I was kind of too out of it to register it. I'm completely useless when I first wake up. That's probably why I developed a ridiculous coffee addiction," Blaine laughs. "But Ms. Shannon has my e-mail from back when she was recommending agents to me and she kind of took it upon herself to let me know what was going on."
Show:
Blaine returns to the bedroom. The camera follows him in and he sits himself cross-legged on the bed. "Sam," he calls gently.
Sam shoots up suddenly. "Your flight!"
Blaine offers him a little smile. "We're fine." Sam sighs, settling himself back into bed. "Ms. Shannon e-mailed me. She says she has a meeting set up for you. Something about an ad campaign?"
"I can't. I'm bringing you to the airport," Sam says, eying Blaine.
"We can say goodbye here," Blaine tells him. "I'll call a cab and you can go to your meeting."
"You're going to be gone for weeks," Sam points out. "I want to say goodbye the right way."
Blaine sits there for a moment. "Remember when I wasn't going to even try with 'Stardom'? I wasn't going to risk my relationship and you basically told me I was being an idiot."
"I didn't say that," Sam denies. "Not exactly."
"Well, I got the message," Blaine informs him. "Anyway, would I like for my boyfriend to bring me to the airport? Of course I would. But I'm going to see you in three weeks. And I'll skype you every night. Don't let this opportunity pass you by."
Sam looks at him. "So as my best friend you're telling me that my boyfriend will understand."
Blaine rolls his eyes. "As your boyfriend, I'm telling you that you better make that meeting. Unless you don't want the job."
"Of course I want an ad campaign, Blaine," Sam says as if that's obvious.
"Great. Then get ready."
Confessional:
"Blaine's acting like he's not disappointed that I won't be going with him," Sam says. "Blaine's a romantic. He wants that goodbye even if it's only a few weeks. But he's right. Ms. Shannon's right. At some point you have to sacrifice something somewhere. Blaine and I have a long history together as teammates, then friends, and now boyfriends. I still remember a Blaine with a huge drive to succeed but who would put his relationship above everything else. I guess we grew up. Or we both realized that if you're both on the same page it's not much of a sacrifice in the long run." Sam thinks for a moment. "I want to model. I want to keep doing art. But Blaine is the one thing I'm not willing to lose. Maybe that means I don't have the drive. Sometimes I think Ms. Shannon thinks that."
The camera switches to Blaine. "Sam doesn't have to choose between me and his career. I've been in that position. I would not do the same to him. When two people in a relationship have the kinds of career goals Sam and I have, you have to make it so that your partner's life outside of the relationship is as important as yours. At least that's the way I see it. Or what I've learned." Someone off camera seems to say something to Blaine. "Of course I wish he could kiss me at the gate or something. I'm going to miss him. But I'll just kiss him at the cab." He stands. "I guess I'll see you all in a few weeks, too."
Sam enters the living room to find Marley and Kitty eating popcorn on the couch. "Wait. Why do I have both of you? Now I need two babysitters?"
"You have a better tv than we do," Kitty informs him. "Plus it's Marley's turn to babysit but I hear I'm the better cuddler so I'm here for you until I head home to see my own boyfriend."
Marley looks at her. "Who said you're the better cuddler? Who would even know that?"
"Blaine," Kitty pops a kernel in her mouth as Sam throws his stuff off to the side of the living room. He throws himself onto the armchair. Kitty raises an eyebrow.
"I've never cuddled with Blaine," Marley says in confusion. "How would he know that?"
Sam rolls his eyes. "Blaine said Kitty's an awesome cuddler. Nothing about you. She's just starting trouble."
Kitty peers at Marley. "You've seriously never cuddled with Blaine? Even when he's drunk? Because he cuddles with anyone then."
Marley shrugs. "Usually at that point he pouts and goes looking for Sam." She turns to Sam. "How did the meeting go?"
"Good, I think," Sam states. "I mean obviously they thought I'm attractive but isn't everyone in this business? But they recognized my name so that might mean I'm either going to get special consideration for being a famous person's boyfriend or be looked over. They didn't want these guys around, though," Sam gestures back towards the cameras.
"I'm sure they thought you were amazing," Marley says brightly.
Kitty rolls her eyes. "Okay. No more shop talk. Movie time."
Sam groans when he sees what's playing. "Not another chick flick!"
Kitty glares. "This is why I like Blaine better than you. He's nice enough not to call me a chick. And smart enough, too."
"You don't want to be my bro and you don't want to be a chick. What do you want to be?" Sam asks.
Kitty just shakes her head. "Just watch the movie. If you don't say something like that again, maybe we'll watch something with explosions next."
Confessional:
Sam looks at the camera very seriously. "I hate to admit it, but Kitty is awesome. She's kind of scary too which is probably why it's best to be on her good side. Still, though. The girls always bring us down to earth. They take us out of the shoots, and the filming, and Hollywood and we get to still be those guys we were in high school. Sometimes you need that."
Show:
Sam makes a show of rolling his eyes over the movie but he settles in.
"Buck up, Sam," Kitty eyes him as the movie begins to play. "Consider it research. You know Blaine loves corny and cliché romance."
"I think I'll pass. I still have brownie points for when I called him my muse and made him sit still so I can draw him," Sam made a reach for some of the popcorn the girls were eating.
"You got lucky with that one," Kitty tells him though she and Marley exchange fond glances.
"He's not wrong though," Marley points out. "Blaine was gushing for days. I had to make him sad so that he could write an angsty Ben Farris song."
Sam looks rather pleased with himself as Kitty asks if Marley even knew how to upset anyone. His phone buzzes and he excuses himself. The cameras follow him into the hall.
"Hi, Ms. Shannon," he greets. He freezes. "Seriously? They want me? Are you sure? Did they say that?" He suddenly stops talking as if scolded but a smile soon breaks onto his face. "I understand. Yes. Next Monday. Yeah, thanks. Seriously thanks."
He hangs up and rushes into the other room. He slides to a stop in front of the girls. "I got the campaign," Sam tells them loudly. Marley and Kitty jump up, ignoring the movie and throwing themselves at him.
The camera cuts out and a voice over begins: "Next time on 'The Model Boyfriend'".
Brandon, Artie, and Kitty sit in front of a tv. "Sam!" Brandon calls. "Blaine's about to be on."
Next scene:
"I don't fit the clothes," Sam tells Marley miserably. "I need to lose a few pounds if I want to keep this job."
Next scene:
Blaine appears frustrated and angry. "That is so dumb, Sam! Why would you do something like that?" His hands find his way to his hair and he walks away from Sam. "I can't talk to you right now."
Sam watches him leave before the screen switches to the closing credits.
