I do not own the characters of Glee. They rightfully belong to Ryan Murphy. I only own this idea.
"Sam! There are two people here to see you!", called out Annie, who was the owner of the boarding house that he was currently in. "I'm coming, Mrs. Annie!", called back Sam as he finished putting his books back into his backpack after he finished his homework. He walked down the stairs and across the main floor of the house where many cots were layed out for other kids. When he reached Annie's side he saw a couple standing near the doorway, which meant only one thing for him: New placement. "Who are they, Mrs. Annie?", asked Sam as he glanced at the couple, taking in the way they reacted when they saw him in person. "This is Clair and Johnny Richers. You're being placed in their temporary custody now. All the forms have been signed by them and Mr. Tanner.", explained Annie as she saw the confused and scared look on the teen's face. "I don't want to leave, Mrs. Annie. Nobody even told me about this or talked to me about this before. I thought I was finally in my right placement?", asked Sam as he looked over at the couple before be looked to Annie.
"I know, baby boy. I know. We love having you here, but this family could be your real placement. It could be your final placement. But you'll never know unless you take the risk of living with them for now. We'll stay in contact and you know you can call me if anything is wrong.", reassured Annie as he wrapped the boy into a hug when she noticed that he was close to tears. Mrs. Annie is the only person Sam allowed to touch him at all, he never let anybody else connect to him in that way. "I guess I'd better go and get packed.", whispered Sam as he was released from the hug, he walked back up the stairs and slid out his two empty suitcases. As he started to pack he saw Ray walk into the room and flop down on his bed. "What are you doing, blondie?", asked Ray as he took in the expression on the boy's face. "I'm being replaced again.", explained Sam as he finished packing and zipped the suitcases shut. "There putting you in a different placement again? Damn, Sammy. I'm going to miss you. Who else am I supposed to play soccer with now?", asked Ray as he put on a pout.
"Try playing soccer with Jackson. He'll kick your butt in an instant.", said Sam with a small smile on his face. "No. Jackson complains too much for me. To him it's all about winning and winning. But with you, you just want to have fun.", said Ray as he slid dramatically off of the side of the bed and landed with a thump on the floor. "Come on you big baby.", said Sam as he nudged the boy with his foot, smiling when he jumped up and smoothed out his shirt. "You better call us, Sam.", said Ray as he poked the boy in the chest. Sam gave him a gentle shove with a smile on his face in return, knowing how Ray loved to rough house. "I'll call. I promise. I better get back down there before they come up here.", said Sam as he picked up his suitcases and carried them downstairs, where he saw the couple waiting for them. "Shall we?", asked Clair as she gestured towards the door with her hand. "Bye, Ray. Bye, Mrs. Annie.", said Sam before he followed the couple outside and to their car, where he loaded the suitcases into the truck, shutting it with a click.
The car ride to the house was silent and full of tension, Sam was relieved and nervous when they reached the house. He would have to deal with a new family, a new set of rules, and whole bunch of new people to meet who knew nothing about him. "Come on in, Samuel. There's no need to be shy. We're not going to hurt you.", coaxed Clair as he gathered his suitcases and slowly followed them into the house. "I'll take those upstairs for you and have Brandon come down to meet you.", said Johnny as he took the suitcases from the boy and carried them upstairs to his bedroom. Clair must have seen the confusion on his face at the mention of the other boy's name. "Brandon is our biological son. He's 17. you should get along well with him.", she explained as her son walked down the stairs soon followed by Johnny. "Is this the new kid you're taking in?", asked Brandon as he looked Sam over with questioning eyes.
"Yes, son. Samuel meet Brandon. Brandon meet Samuel. He'll be staying with us for a while to see how this placement works out.", explained Johnny as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. Brandon nodded in his direction before he crossed the distance and wrapped Sam up in a hug tight enough to hurt. Sam's breath caught in his throat and his entire body tensed, with a small burst of strength he shoved the older boy off and away from him. The older boy made a move to hug him again and it was as if he were testing the blonde. Sam once again shoved him away as his heart beat picked up, he drew his arm pack and clenched his hand into a fist, determined to make his point clear. Before Sam had the chance to swing be felt two hands grasp his arms and pull them behind his back, which only was fuel to the fire. He struggled as hard as he could and used the leverage of the grip he had on the floor to roughly slam Johnny into the wall behind him, freeing his arms instantly.
"Calm down, Samuel. None of us are going to hurt you.", said Clair as she stepped towards the boy, only to stop when she saw both of his fists clench and unclench many times. Sam looked over his shoulder to see Johnny slowly moving away from his to Brandon's side. "Looks like you brought home another damaged one.", said Brandon as he regained his composure from the second shove. "You knew not to touch him, Brandon. We warned you about that before we signed the papers.", chastised Johnny as he turned to look at his son. "Just trying to see how much of a struggle he'll put up if he's touched, to see if you'll need help during his Rebirth Therapy.", explained Brandon as he held up his hands in surrender. "It seems we'll be starting his therapy earlier than we planned. We can't have him getting into fights with you or Johnny.", explained Clair as she cast a fierce look over at Sam. Therapy? Rebirth?
