I've never written a Glee fanfiction before so I hope you like this :)

Just a Little Understanding

Sam Evans knew that all the girls in New Directions were on a different level of crazy to all other girls that existed in the universe. Something about singing and dancing just made their personalities more intense than they should be. Rachel Berry definitely had an intense personality, she wanted everything too much, and she wouldn't be satisfied until she was on Broadway, with the perfect guy, and the perfect life. Sam admired Rachel for her unbeatable amount of enthusiasm in everything that she did, more recently though he'd been starting to get certain feelings for Rachel. Not major feelings, but feelings all the same.

Things that used to irritate him about her now made his stomach tighten at the mere thought of them. The way she never shut up when they were giving out solos or the way she smiled unabashedly at him when he walked by her in the corridor, not even her random outbursts of song annoyed him anymore. In fact he longed for that moment in their Biology lessons when she'd burst into West Side Story or Wicked for no particular reason.

Sam tapped his fingers on his jean clad knee as he sat in the rehearsal room, he knew any second now that Rachel would come bouncing in with Finn by her side, looking at the lanky quarterback as if nothing more perfect had ever existed. It wasn't that Sam disliked Finn, he was harmless enough and he was a good friend most of the time, apart from when he kissed Quinn behind his back. That was actually the main reason that Sam didn't feel too guilty about his sudden liking for Rachel. Finn had stolen his girlfriend first.

Just as this though occurred to him 'Finchel' came in through the doors hand in hand smiling at each other. Sam felt his stomach clench as he forced a grin at them.

"You're early Sam" Rachel commented grinning at him, her brown eyes staring at him underneath her fringe.

He shrugged, attempting nonchalance "I finished class early" he told her. He had finished class early in order to arrive in the rehearsal room before anybody else, he'd hoped that Rachel might come in alone and they'd share just a few seconds with one another without anyone else being there.

Rachel nodded "Oh okay, me and Finn were just talking about what song we were going to sing today" she informed him as Finn gave an awkward smile in his direction.

Sam made a face "Oh cool" he replied quietly, he had tried to forget that today they were singing duets, he had been partnered with Tina, who was a great singer, but she wasn't Rachel.

It wasn't long before the rest of the club had arrived, their voices loud with excitement over their performances today. Tina sat down next to him "You ready?" she whispered smiling sweetly at him. Sam wondered why he and Tina had never been friends before; she had been really nice to him.

Sam nodded "Of course" he replied grinning at her.

Tina smiled back "Good, you looked like you were somewhere else just then" she told him looking at him curiously.

Sam shook his head "I was just thinking that's all" he told her, about Rachel obviously.

"Okay guys its time for our first couple of the day to perform, which is Quinn and Rory" the pair stood up and sang their song choice which was, oddly, a song from High School Musical. Apparently the pair were closet fans of the Disney Franchise.

Next to sing were Rachel and Finn, Sam had a sick feeling in his stomach as the pair sang to each other, looking at each other in that way that they did. The look that explained exactly how they felt about one another and that no one else would ever be good enough for either of them.

Sam sighed as he watched them singing and tried to focus on his thumbnail which suddenly became a lot more interesting to him. Tina nudged him "Come on Sam, it's our turn" she told him.

Sam stood up and took his place on the stage and stared at the rest of the group trying hard not to linger on Rachel's face for too long.

Tina had chosen the song that they were going to sing, she'd chosen one from what she described as 'the most romantic movie scene' she'd ever seen. Sam had never heard it before, but he kind of liked it.

Who knows what tomorrow brings
In a world, few hearts survive
All I know, is the way I feel
When its real, I keep my pray alive

The road is long
There are mountains in our way
But we climb steps every day

As the piano faded out the rest of the club clapped and cheered and Sam and Tina took a jokey bow before sitting back down. Tina returned to her usual seat beside Mike and Sam found himself sitting next to Rachel. He was very aware of his arm nearly touching hers from where it rested on the seat. Rachel leant towards him "That was really great Sam, it's so good to have you back in New Directions" she whispered giving his forearm a gentle squeeze. Sam stared at her an evident flush appearing on his cheeks.

"Thanks Rachel" he replied smiling at her, he really wished that he could tell her how he felt, but as she turned back to look at Finn he already knew that she didn't feel the same way that he did.

Rachel had been thinking a lot about her future recently, it wasn't long before her application for college needed to be in and soon one essay would be deciding whether she was a Broadway star or performing at Bowling Alleys for the rest of her life. She had been freaking out about it a lot recently and Finn had not been what you could call understanding. He had come to conclusion that he wasn't getting into college and now had no interest whether Rachel got in either. It was becoming quite irritating since it was all she wanted to talk about.

She turned on her computer and re read her essay again, it seemed amazing to her, but then so did most things that she did and usually they didn't turn out how she expected. Rachel had the best intentions of anyone that she knew but somehow her good deeds always seemed to backfire on her, just look at the recent ballot fixing plot, she had been trying to help her friend and in the end lost him the role of student president and got her self suspended. Not exactly what you'd call a success.

Rachel's latest good deed had actually worked quite well, since she hadn't been able to perform at sectionals she had helped the glee club out by getting Sam to come back and they did win at sectionals. Everyone had been happy about that, apart from the Troubletones obviously. Rachel had thought that glee club being happy would make her happy, but it wasn't working out like that. This year was supposed to great for her, she was in the school musical, had the perfect boyfriend, and was on track to get into the school she wanted. All of which was basically all she had ever wanted and now that she had it, it felt like something was missing.

At school the next day Rachel found herself eating lunch alone, Finn was busy with some football thing and the rest of glee club were already doing something else for lunch. She chewed delicately on her sandwich feeling miserable.

"Can I sit with you?" a familiar voice asked.

Rachel looked up to see Sam standing in front of her tray in hand he was smiling hopefully at her "Of course" she replied cheerfully, thankful for the company.

"You look a bit down" he commented eating about six fries at once. His mouth was pretty huge.

Rachel shrugged "I just have a lot of things on my mind" she admitted biting her lip.

Sam nodded understandingly "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently.

"I'm just worried about school; it's the only thing I can think about at the moment. Finn just doesn't understand" she told him, frowning slightly at the thought of Finn and his recent attitude.

Sam stared at her quizzically "Maybe he just feels a bit of a failure, you've got so many things going for you Rachel. You were the lead in the play, you have more ambition than anyone else I know, and you are going to go to a great school, you're going to have a great life, and Finn just has to stay in Lima" Sam said "You used to think he was awesome because he was popular, the quarterback, whatever, but once high school is over, its you that's going to be popular and a success and Finn feels like he won't be" Sam finished giving her a small smile.

Rachel stared at him, when had Sam become so wise? He was probably right about Finn feeling like he wasn't going anywhere, Rachel had told herself that Finn was over all that, that he was going to be okay, but maybe he wasn't. Sam had also reassured Rachel about all of her doubts about herself, she didn't realise that Sam thought that she was so amazing; in fact she didn't realize Sam thought about her at all. For a guy with blonde hair, Sam wasn't so stupid.

Sam was immediately regretting that massive speech about Finn being insecure, why was he trying to fix a relationship that he wanted to fail? He wanted Rachel to be with him not Finn. But he knew how much Rachel loved Finn and the simple fact was as much as Sam wanted Rachel to be with, he wanted her to be happy more. Why did relationships have to be so complicated?

Thanks for reading and leave a review if you have time!