AU: Sam Evans backstory. Samcedes eventually + extended beyond the finale(not gonna say AU because they ARE endgame). Starting from the first episode of Season 2, up until Saccades endgame.

Scenes included in this chapter: Sam using lemon juice to lighten his hair, his first day at McKinley, discovering the Glee club when they performed Empire State of Mind in the courtyard, thoughts of Mercedes, singing Every Rose has its Thorn in the shower, introducing himself to Finn, Mike, Puck and Artie, duet with Quinn.


Prologue

He really couldn't believe what had happened. His whole life seemingly planned out. Graduate from an all boys boarding school, give himself mad props for doing so and avoiding all of the drama of high school girlfriends in the process, maybe pick up a few along the way for fun. Simple. He knew he owed it to his parents for being such hard workers. They deserved to have a kid who, despite his dyslexia, would gain a scholarship for some prestigious school and get the hell out of Tennessee. The only thing he wanted to do, was make something for himself. He wanted to make them proud.

Despite his best efforts in his boarding school, he never really grew attached to guys. I mean lets face it— he was into girls. Who seemingly never ever were around his all boys school (who knew). To his pleasant surprise, his father was offered an even higher paying job in this little town called Lima. He didn't know where Ohio was, or why it offered more money… but he was eager for the change. Packing everything they have and moving into that big house his mom had always dreamed of, his first day at McKinley high school was quickly approaching. He was excited—no, determined to make something for himself at this place.


Two Weeks

He had two weeks until school started. He looked into the mirror shaking the lemon juice bottle he snagged from the corner store on the road-trip to Ohio. He swore he wasn't going to use it, but he bought it "just in case." He eyed himself, emeralds glistening in the intense afternoon sun shining through his bathroom window, and noticed the dullness of his once bright blond hair. There's no way he would stand out with this mop. Careful consideration thrown out the window, he did three large sprays of lemon juice onto his head with no regrets. Running his fingers through the damp mess he just created, he smiled into the mirror and clicked his tongue pointing guns at the mirror and fake shooting. It looked… like nothing had changed besides his hair was wet and sticky. He read that it might need to be activated by the sun, so despite better judgement, again, he decided to lounge outside while the sun was at its brightest.

Finding a large beach towel, he made his way down the stairs and out the back door, grabbing two books on the summer reading list he received in the mail from McKinley earlier that day. He decided to choose the easiest two, considering he was still struggling to read a single sentence without messing it up. He found a promising plot of untouched grass that was directly in the sun, spreading his towel out and sprawling on his stomach to get started on one of the books.

Two pages in and he stifled a large yawn, "Wow, good job Evans. Two whole pages." he thought to himself. All of the sleep he had thought he would catch up on in this small town quickly evaporated into thin air when he was called to babysitting duties almost every night while his parents were busy at work. They never knew just how much more work it would be to keep up with this big house, but they didn't mind. Now that Stevie and Stacey began attending a 2 week long summer camp leading up to their first day of school, he had so much free time to himself. He thought that it'd be best trying to read these books, but he quickly gave up on that idea not 10 minutes after beginning. "Who really needs this crap anyways?" He looked sideways at the title, but it seemed like.. gibberish. (A Midsummers Night Dream by Shakespeare). "Pretty sure that guys dead anyways. There's not even any mention of the beach or ice-cream like usual summers are full of." He muffled into the book.

He dramatically flipped to the end of the book, trying to see if skipping ahead would do him better so he could see how it all ended. Again, he stifled a yawn and tossed the book to the side before even finishing the long release of air from his lungs. Shaking his head, he flipped over and tossed onto his back. "No way in hell am I going to read that." He sighed while closing his eyes.

If anything, the sun was bright enough to wrap him up like a large blanket, engulfing all his thoughts and melting his worries. He could at least enjoy this until he had to pick up Stevie and Stacey. He reached for his phone and set an alarm to thirty minutes before the time their camp is dismissed. "Just in case." he mumbled fighting the urge to just pass out on the soft blanket. He was bad at fighting, and decided to give into sleep.


He woke up to the pitch black night sky, gasping and flailing for his phone at the sudden realization the sun was gone and the moon was now staring him in the face—taunting him. He jumped to his feet, not caring about the blanket or the books and ran into the house, begging and pleading this was just some huge daylight savings leap forward and he really hadn't missed his alarm to pick up his siblings.

He pried the back door open and shuffled inside, hurrying to grab his keys to his truck and a pair of shoes he could slip on easily as he ran out the door. Flying past the kitchen he heard laughter erupting and the smell of food cooking on the stove-top. He skidded to a halt and slowly walked backwards to see that his siblings were home— Stacey seated on the lap of his mother and his dad cooking dinner with the help of Stevie. "Hey sleepyhead, woah…." his mother abruptly stopped in the middle of her sentence. Her mouth agape, no words or sound coming out. She motioned for her head, pointing towards her hair a few times until Sam took the hint and reached up for his and felt a stiff crunch. Mother-fucking shit. He ran to the nearest mirror in his hallway, and noticed his hair was no longer dull. He let out a long groan, feeling his stiff, sun-damaged hair barely move to his touch. It was so crisp. He definitely was not going to have a problem standing out, for he was now a bright shining lemon head with noticeably treated hair. "This was already looking to be a very, very promising sophomore year"… he thought sarcastically.


Day One

He set about three alarms before going to sleep the night before his first day at McKinley. No way in hell was he repeating what had happened a few weeks ago. The lemon incident. He had managed to smooth out the damage and seemingly "neutralize" the bright yellow the sun had turned his hair into. It almost looked natural. Almost. Surely no one would notice.

He gazed at his mirror, settling for a navy sweatshirt with yellow stripes on the arms, jeans with some old retro Nikes. A classic look, and way better than a uniform he was forced to wear at his old school. He had hoped that he would be able to someday pair his ensemble with a letterman jacket—some day soon. He didn't want to freak himself out, but his entire plan for a scholarship rode on the wings of the title "Quarterback". He would get it, he had to.

Giving his hair another comb through, he sighed and grabbed his book bag, ignoring the books he was supposed to read over the summer. "Books schmooks," he mumbled trying to hide the nervousness that was now riding in his stomach like a hurricane. This was his chance, this one day, to make an impression great enough for his entire future. He nearly tripped running down the stairs, and shouting out a "Bye!" to his family sitting down for breakfast. He couldn't even look at the food or wait for a response, but glided out the door instead. He would eat after the storm inside of him decided it wasn't going to make him puke.

Climbing into his pickup he thought of two things he wanted to achieve today. Set up a time to talk to the football coach about joining the team, and possibly scope out some of the eye-candy McKinley had to offer. He wasn't picky about his women, considering he never had women, but he did know that he liked a good smile and brown eyes. He looked down at his hands on the wheel, not noticing he hadn't even started his car yet. This was going to be his year— he repeated to himself on the drive to McKinley just a few short minutes from his house. He was insanely early, but he wanted to scope out the already formed football team during their early morning practice.

Despite it being freaking August, the McKinley campus seemed as cold as a Tennessee October. He had no idea when or why this had happened, but he was visibly shaking sitting in his truck that was seemingly fine a few minutes before rolling into the parking lot. With barely two cars in sight, he had his choice of parking at the main entrance of the building. Probably a choice spot, but he opted for a spot near the back trying not to draw too much attention to his beat up old pickup. He loved his car, it kept him humble, but damn was it ugly. Not the first thing a new kid wants to be noticed for.

Cranking the heat up in his cab, he counted down the minutes until the practice was supposed to start on the large football field that was now staring him in the face. He saw a few cars draw into the lot, and every single one of them had on a jersey or a letterman jacket. They all parked the closest to the field, which was a far way from am just as he had planned. He eyed out the competition before decidedly turning off the heat in his car now that the temperature was normalizing. The crisp morning air he pulled into to was now fading into an almost humid, but nice, average temperature. He took one last look at himself in his rear-view mirror and smiled a large toothy smile with his huge lips. "You can do this Evans. It's show-time."


Sam's first day at McKinley could not have gone better so far. He talked to the new coach, named Coach Beiste (apparently this wasn't a joke but just a huge coincidence considering she was way taller than him and had more bulk than the entire team) and was all set to begin for the McKinley Titans this year. No try out was even necessary, since they were short team-mates for this season. He was beyond excited, and there was absolutely nothing that could bring him down. He decided to sit with a new guy at lunch that he had met earlier that day. He didn't know his name or care, but he wasn't friends enough with his new team-mates that he'd risk trying to sit with them on the first day. He sat with only a soda, still too worked up on nerves— no, more like excitement now, to keep anything down. He was enjoying the mild day the sun turned the afternoon into, and prayed his hair didn't try any funny business. He opted for the shaded side of the table.

It was a weird feeling. He suddenly felt the ground shake a little, along with the table he sat next to, and the bench he sat on. He suddenly scanned every fact of Ohio he had (tried) to jam into his head before moving here. Did this damn place have earthquakes? He couldn't remember, but he tried to keep his cool since no one else even seemed to notice. He felt stupid when he suddenly heard a bass line kick in and turned to see a boombox a few tables over was the culprit. He exasperated and thanked God, because he wasn't ready for earthquakes to be a thing in his life.

The familiar beat ran through him, and he suddenly felt a tinge of jealousy for the kids dancing along all in matching outfits. "Who are those people?" he asked himself, and was pulled into a state of panic when a voice besides him answered, "That's the Glee club. They're totally gay." He stifled a quick chuckle to hide the embarrassment for his thought coming out. Shit, I have to not let my thoughts slip like that. He tried to keep himself preoccupied with his hands and to stop the tapping of his foot, but it wasn't long before he was trying to steal peaks at the kids who were now jumping up on tables. This was something he definitely wasn't used to at his old school.

A chorus of girls sang in harmony, along with some of the guys, a familiar song that hadn't come out too long ago.

Bah, bah bah bah, bah, bah, bah bah bah

Bum bum bum

Bah, bah bah bah, bah, bah, bah bah bah

Bum bum Bum!

A shorter guy, stunted by a wheelchair began the first few lines of Empire State of Mind, "Surprisingly a great rapper for a white dude" Sam thought to himself, resting the urge to bob his head with it.

Yeah,

Yeah I'm up in Brooklyn, now I'm down in Tribeca

Right next to DeNiro, but I'll be hood forever

I'm the new Sinatra and since I made it here

I can make it anywhere, yeah, they love me everywhere

Shocked, he tried to keep his mouth closed as he noticed the big, burly Quarterback of the football team was now starting the next lines… and he was totally awesome.

I used to cop in Harlem, all of my Dominicanos

Right there up on Broadway, brought me back to that McDonald's

Took it to my stash spot: 560 State Street

Catch me in the kitchen like the Simmons whippin' pastry

Yet another member of the football team came descending down a flight of stairs behind Sam, who quickly whipped around to see he was joined by a short, beautiful girl wearing a snapback who was hitting the most amazing harmonies as the mohawked punk carried on with the song

8 million stories, out there in the naked

City it's a pity, half of y'all won't make it

Me, I got a plug Special Ed "I Got It Made"

If Jeezy's payin' LeBron, I'm payin' Dwyane Wade

Three dice Cee-lo, three Card Molly

Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley

(J)igga, I be spiked out, I could trip a referee

Tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely from….

Sam tried desperately to hide his amazement at the bridge, where all of the kids then harmonized together in a synchronized dance in the center of the courtyard. He looked around, trying not to be obvious, but wondering why the hell no one was paying attention but him and another girl he didn't know.

As a group of the girls made their way up on the concrete stairs, the beautiful one began to sing the next few lines, immediately nailing the notes with riffs on the end that were so flawless he couldn't help but grin as wide as his mouth would allow (which was far!).

One hand in the air for the big city

Street lights, big dreams, all lookin' pretty

No place in the world that could compare

Put your lighters in the air

Everybody say "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"

Then they magically joined together again, somehow nailing each note while dancing. It was the most incredible thing he had ever seen. Suddenly looking around, for once this entire day just letting himself go and relaxing even the tiniest bit, let his foot tap to it's fullest (even though he wanted to get up and join them). His mouth suddenly formed the biggest grin when the tall Quarterback met his eye line, even through sunglasses he could tell, and smiled back at him without missing a beat.

Sam's chest tightened immediately, coming to the realization this was the first time he had noticed how kind his smile was. He really did seem like a genuine guy, and really well rounded too considering he was the start of football and the lead in such an awesome club.

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

The lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York, New York,

New York

Bah, bah bah bah, bah, bah bah bah

bum bum bum

bah bah bah, bah, bah, bah bah bah

They finished off as amazing as they started, all coming back together and sitting proudly in the middle of the stairs. He wanted to get up and scream Encore! Knowing that might harm his reputation, he settled for silently nodding and looking each and every Glee club member in the face with a smile and excited eyes, although they didn't notice his silent praise.

He was suddenly disheartened to notice with the ring of the school bell, lunch was suddenly over and the glee kids were alone with no cheers or claps. That whole performance they were just ignored, and the look of disappointment on their face showed. He wanted to badly to say something, but the courtyard was clearing quickly and he didn't want to be stuck around long enough to be associated with the glee kids.

They were amazingly talented, but it seemed they had no reputation at this school— not even one enough to cause a reaction after a performance like that. He wasn't sure exactly why they weren't greeted with the same reaction he had for them, he only knew that it wasn't in his best interest to be involved.

The remainder of his first day, Sam Evans was running off of the buzz that performance at lunch gave him. At fourth period, he ran into a sweet girl, Quinn, who was also a member of the Glee club and in the Cheerios. She seemed very popular, and had kind eyes when she welcomed him to McKinley. It wasn't long before Sam was wondering if there could be something between them, although he was hoping to run into others from Glee club before making such a huge decision. She was obviously pretty, but seemed to have a serious history.

He was filled in via McKinley's semi-famous Jewish reporter who posted web blogs and videos on the McKinley gossip that circulates. He wasn't sure how, but Quinn had a baby not too long ago by the mohawked team member of his who was also in Glee club. She was thin and way too young, but he wasn't one to judge. That just wasn't for him.

On the way to fifth period, he walked past a short Asian girl with pretty hair and stand-out clothing wheeling the white rapper down the hallway. He pushed his thin glasses up on his nose and gave Sam a slight nod. Maybe he did notice Sam's praise at the end of their lunchtime performance. He half-smiled and nodded his way to be polite, doing the same to the girl pushing him who didn't seem to notice Sam. She seemed to have a lot going on in her mind, but she did have nice dance moves. Sam noted that he was sure the kid in the wheelchair does too along with his rapping skills. Sam thought about this to himself as he maneuvered through the crowded hallway. He wasn't too sure where he was going, but he surely wasn't going to be focused on his next two classes.


The clock struck 1:30 marking the free period he has between classes. He took the remainder of time before his next class to shower, considering it had been a long day and he didn't want to stink too bad during his first practice after school. He pulled out a map of McKinley halls, seemingly ancient and unchanged according to the signs in the halls. Finally making his way to the locker room, he was alone, thankfully.

He could not get the Glee club out of his mind. He was a huge music fan, but not of the performance kind. He sure as hell could rock an acoustic guitar and karaoke nights at his house— but never the way those kids could own a song. He looked in the long mirror at his reflection, his hair still looking okay as he left it that morning, but his noticeably flustered face was another question. Did he want to join the Glee club?

He sat on a bench in his towel patiently waiting for the hot water to kick in. He liked the soothing sound of it after this muddled up mess of a day. He had a goal: to make it on the football team and he did just that. He wasn't too sure about why he wasn't giddy— but he knew it had to do with the Glee club. He knew he wanted to be a part of it so bad it burned, but was he good enough? Would they seriously consider him to be good enough, while he can't even read sheet music? He shook his head in frustration trying to think of something else. He looked through his iPod to find a good shower song to jam to. Alternative? Pop? Country? He smirked at the thought of shouting out Garth Brooks in a locker room in Ohio. He quickly skipped past it and settled for a classic. He sat his iPod up on the dock, turning the volume down low enough so that the instruments were audible but not so much the singing. Testing the waters to his shower, the water seemed fine enough. He dropped his towel and grabbed his soap prepared to give the tiles a performance they'd never forget.

It started off with that beat he could never forget. Smirking and blowing a kiss to his imaginary crowd, he suddenly whipped his hair and grabbed the soap bar like a microphone and gave it his all.

We both lie silently still

In the dead of the night

Although we both lie close together

We feel miles apart inside

Was it something I said or something I did

Did my words not come out right

Though I tried not to hurt you

Though I tried

But I guess that's why they say

{He flips his hair our of his face, a Bieber move he's not too proud to admit to anyone else that he's obsessed with. }

Every rose has its thorn!

Just like every night has it's dawn!

Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song

Every rose has its thorn

Belting out those lines made him feel like a badass. Almost as badass as those Glee club kids. "…But they do that in front of real people Sam!" He reminded himself in his head. "No way I could do that." He grimaced at his soggy hands and quickly turned off the water. "It's nice to pretend, sometimes, that my name could be in lights. Maybe." He snickered and grabbed his towel, walking past the sign up sheet for Glee club he hadn't noticed before he got into the shower, and shook his head again at the idea of him singing in front of a crowd of people.


He slumped from the locker room, his hair already dry from the moderate day that had started off so cold. He sighed and looked around, completely forgetting how to navigate to his locker from that point. He shuffled past the library, into the bathrooms to check his hair again, past the trophy case where he admired all of the school's athletics trophies—finally stumbling across his locker. He opened it up unknowingly, considering he didn't need anything from it. He just stood there trying to keep track of which classes he would have next, considering he wasn't very good at reading his schedule he taped to the front of the door. He heard the familiar squeak of a wheelchairs tires, and looked up to see the Quarterback wheeling the wheelchair kid from Glee club. His face was calm on the surface but he was in full panic mode on the inside. Trying hard to remain cool, his big team mate shouted "Hey Sam!", plucking the last nerve from his body and sending him into ultimate freak out internally. The wheel-chair kid must have told him about their glances in the hallways and they took it the wrong way. There was no way in hell Sam Evans was joining their club.

Before Sam could react on the outside, Finn grabbed his limp hand and gave it a sturdy shake. "My names' Finn, and this here is Artie." Artie silently waved with a kind smile looking up at Sam, obviously put off by Finn's sudden introduction to him.

Sam stammered, trying not to break the cool facade he had going. "I-I know who you are." Sam smiled trying not to tip Finn off to his obvious lie. "You're the-the Quarterback." He smiled again, hoping to God his face wasn't completely flushed.

Finn ignored his obvious stammering and moved onto the point he was obviously there to make, "Exactly." He said matter-of-factly. "Which makes me very cool. We'd like to talk to you about Glee club." He said with no pause whatsoever. Yup. Okay Evans. It is officially time to panic. Sam's fake smile grew wider and suddenly all of his suspicions came whirling around in his stomach. Thank the Lord he hadn't eaten lunch. He was so conflicted— for one, he had Finn on his side and the other cool mohawk guy, and Artie seemed nice too. Sure it probably wouldn't be good for his image, but Finn was right in from of him! Was he going to say no?

Finn did not wait for a response but instead settled for a "follow me" hand gesture. Sam wasn't sure where they were going, but he was honestly excited. Without pause, they were off to some new location Sam had probably never been to. He tried to take note of the route in which Finn was taking him, because every hallway honestly looked the same. He cursed himself for putting his map back in his locker. "No turning back now, Evans" Sam muttered so low only he could hear it. He couldn't wipe the smile off of his face if he tried.

Finn led him for a good two minutes until they reached the most well lit room Sam had seen thus far. There were stairs stacked with chairs, large glitter crusted amps and a whole band set along with a grand piano. This was one of the most awesome classrooms he had seen, and wondered what went on in here. On two other chairs set up front and center, sat the mohawk football team mate who he had seen briefly before that day. Sat next to him was another football player who he saw once, but didn't know the name of. Finn sat down next to the unknown football player and Artie rode beside him to form a row of four eyes all on him. He gulped loudly and suddenly grew flustered he forgot his chapstick at a time like this.

Once they were all settled, Finn turned to Sam to ask a simple but daunting question: "So Sam, tell us about yourself." He said, a look of kindness on his face as usual.

Sam swallowed and did not let off a feeling of nerve, but was relaxed even. He didn't feel pressured suddenly, because Finn was just that nice of a person. Sam smiled slightly before speaking, "My names' Sam Evans. I like comic books," the unknown footballer nodded his head "sports, I'm dyslexic so my grades aren't that good buuut—, Sam stammered because the mohawked guy was looking at him like he was speaking a foreign language. He tried to look past that and continued, "I'm working on it." He said with a sudden nod, suddenly self conscious as to what he was doing wrong to be gawked at. There was a brief pause until suddenly a gruff voice arose and it came from the punk mohawked figure. "Dude, your mouth is huge. How many tennis balls can you fit in there?"

Sam was taken aback by the sly remark, yes, his mouth was big. He wasn't so much made fun of it as reminded of it. He decided to be snarky back as a knee-jerk reaction. His brows suddenly furrowed and his green eyes got darker as they narrowed in on the character. "I don't—know—-I've never had any balls in my mouth…. Have you?" He said it suddenly and quickly, but didn't regret it for once. The character did not respond but just went back to staring into space as if Sam was from another planet.

After a few seconds the character gave him a smile, not knowing if it was sarcastic or not, Sam chose to ignore it. Finn suddenly leaned over to Artie to whisper something, but miserably failed with his loud voice. A look of wonder bemused his face, saying "I like this kid." Artie leaned over no longer trying to keep the secret Finn failed to start. He looked at Sam and nodded in agreement, "I like his confidence." Sam stood proudly looking at Artie, feeling accomplished. Up until he added "…But the Bieber cut has gotta go". Sam tried to hold back the eye-roll he felt festering within him. Instead he just stood awkwardly trying to process what exactly they had brought him here for.

The mohawk spoke again, loudly, trying to break the tension. "So can you sing with that big mouth?"

Sam stifled and tried to remain calm with his response. Before he could object, Finn was at his side handing him a guitar and Artie was rolling to his other side. Same quickly tried to get out, "Uhhh I don't really sing in front of other people." Finn didn't buy it for a second, just like Sam knew he wouldn't. "Come on, we can help you out. What songs do you know?"

Sam paused for a quick second before stifling out a response, "Uhhhhh… Billionaire?" He asked as a question more than an answer. Finn smirked at him and made his way to the drum-set in the corner.

"Well, it's worth a shot," Sam said silently to himself while smirking at the ground, then placing his fingers for his first live performance in front of these four strangers. He felt oddly calm.

He started to play as he sang,

I wanna be a billionaire so freakin' bad

Buy all of the things I never had

I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine

Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen

Oh every time I close my eyes

I see my name in shining lights

Yeah, a different city every night oh right

I swear the world better prepare

For when I'm a billionaire

As Sam and the mohawk played on guitar, Finn suddenly starting pounding out a spot on drum beat. The other unknown football player was dancing with moves so smooth, it was like he was a professional. Before Sam could skip over it, Artie began to rap in his signature way.

Yeah I would have a show like Oprah

I would be the host of, everyday Christmas

Give Artie a wish list

I'd probably pull an Angelina and Brad Pitt

And adopt a bunch of babies that ain't never had—it

Give away a few Mercedes like here lady have this

And last but not least grant somebody their last wish

It's been a couple months that I've been single so

You can call me Artie Claus minus the Ho Ho

Get it, hehe, I'd probably visit where Katrina hit

And damn sure do a lot more than FEMA did

Yeah can't forget about me stupid

Everywhere I go Im'ma have my own theme music

Sam started up suddenly again, not even resisting his huge smile

Oh every time I close my eyes

I see my name in shining lights

A different city every night oh right

I swear the world better prepare

For when I'm a billionaire

The entire group harmonized on the last verses

Oh ooh oh ooh for when I'm a billionaire

Oh ooh oh ooh for when I'm a billionaire

Finn looked as if he had stars in his eyes when they finished their own jam session, and Sam had never felt more alive. His title as Quarterback surely wasn't holding Finn back from being in Glee club. Why should it stop him? Finn then quickly asked when he can come back to audition for their leader, who was named Mr. Will Schuester. Sam quickly agreed to whenever they would allow him, with a big smile.


First fic ever, and looking for feedback. I really wanted to go into detail about what Sam was feeling at McKinley when he first joined. There is much more to come!

**Keep in mind, this will become a Samcedes fic in later chapters. Be warned it isn't friendly if you ship Sam/Mercedes with anyone else but each other.**