A/N: OOH I love writing a Famous!Sam...it's so fun. By the way, the song in this chapter is "Easy." For those of you who've read "Beauty Devine" that's the song Finn and Sam sang in my version of "Duets."
Bigger: Yeah, I agree. I really like writing this new Sam!
Rain: I love Kurt, too C: I hope you like Sam more
Ever since we met, I only shoot up with your perfume
It's the only thing that makes me feel as good as you do
Ever since we met, I have just one regret to live through
And that one regret is you
How does a heart love if no one has noticed its presence?
And where does love go?
Trembling hands play my heart like a drum
But the beat's gone and lost in the show
You have set your heart on haunting me forever
From the start, it's never silent
Panic! At the Disco — Nearly Witches
Seeing Sam threw Finn for one hell of a loop. He'd heard her song multiple times and heard almost every single opinion about her. Some said that her voice was awesome, some said she was awful, some just thought she was hot, and some thought she desperately needed cosmetic surgery.
Her raven hair was longer and more shaggy than before, that one lock of hair he was constantly brushing out of her pale face flopped into her pale blue eyes. Her skin was tanner now, obviously paying homage to her Spanish/Irish heritage.
"Hi," was all he could say once everyone left. Even her style seemed different. It was more laid-back than the edgy, almost punk style she'd donned in high school. She wore a pair of purple skinny jeans, a cropped heather gray T-shirt with a wolf face, and a pair of black studded cowboy ankle boots. He recognized his old aviators perched on top of her head.
"Hey there, stranger," she said, hopping down from the piano. The last he'd heard, her song had gone into the top hundred on the charts and burned through the others like wildfire. He hadn't seen her since the day she left for LA with Puck. Surprisingly, it felt natural to pull her into an embrace. She stood tiptoe to wrap her arms around his muscular frame. "How have you been?"
"Busy, I've been really busy," he replied. He gestured her to follow him and she fell in step by his side. During boot camp, he'd thought about calling her. If anyone had any idea about what life in the Army was like, it was Samantha Devine. She was still beautiful, but those expressive blue eyes had their guard up. He supposed he deserved that.
"Last I heard, you were in basic at Bennie in Georgia," she commented. He gave her a confused look until she laughed. "Fort Benning. Some brats like to shorten the name of the bases. Feels a lot less formal that way," she explained.
"Yeah, until I shot myself," he replied. Sam stopped in her tracks, her mouth forming a perfect 'O.' "I was cleaning my rifle and I shot myself through the thigh. I got released on a semi-honorable discharge."
Her eyelashes fluttered in surprise until she snorted and she bit her lip in trying to smother her giggles. It hurt that she did that and the hurt surprised him.
"Don't laugh at me," Finn scolded her. She grinned at him, jogging to catch up.
"Sorry, it just took me off guard," she said. "I wasn't laughing at you, I promise."
They stood on the stage at the auditorium, staring out at the red velvet chairs of the audience.
"This stage has a lot of memories," she commented, pacing on the scuffed hardwood. For Finn with Rachel, but if he was getting Sam in a civilized conversation, he wasn't bringing that up and reopening that can of worms.
"You did such an amazing version of 'Titanium'," he said instead. She smiled shyly and stared at her boots. "Come on, you've gotta be getting more compliments than that."
"I get 'voice of an angel' quite a bit and other purple-prosy stuff, but I don't really get called amazing," she replied. She sighed and shrugged. "I guess deep down, I'm just the girl who went to sing at the right club at the right time. I love doing what I do because it's me doing it. I'm not in anyone's shadow in LA."
He knew she'd felt second-best to Rachel during senior year. It was hard for her to stand in the background and be quiet. It hurt her even worse when Finn had gotten back together with Rachel.
"If anyone can make it, it's you, Sam," he told her. "I meant what I said. You're probably the most talented and the most creative person I know. You take things and you make them into your anthem."
"Then why am I so stuck with this new song?" she lamented, smacking her palm to her forehead. "It's like, I had all of this inspiration, but suddenly...I don't know, it just...kinda left."
Finn smirked and looked around. "Maybe you just need to go back to the basics for a bit," he suggested. Sam planted her hands on her hips, giving him a 'duh' look.
"Great idea, Finn! I think I'll just go back to Lima so I can find the old me. I already did that, that's why I'm here now!" she said. She clenched her fists for a second, then shook her hands. "Why the hell can't I think clearly?"
"Because you're over thinking," he replied. "The Sam I know didn't like to think. She just...did."
"Well, this Sam's career is depending on me thinking all the time," she complained. She was on the verge of a breakdown. Her eyes were filling with tears and she stamped her foot. The sound of the heel of her boot colliding with the hardwood echoed in the still air. "What if this is it for me? What if I can't produce another hit?"
"Then you'll just chalk it up to something you tried and didn't work out for you. Kinda like I did with the Army. I tried it and it didn't work out for me," he answered. Her glassy blue eyes lifted to meet his and she wiped her eyes. "But this is something you've worked so hard for. Would you really let yourself crash and burn without giving it one hundred and ten percent?"
She shook her head.
"How about we do the song that kind of started it all?" he proposed. He reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone, turning the volume all the way up. After singing it with her, he'd fallen in love with the song. As well as her, though he didn't know it until later. The instrumental played through the speakers and he pulled out a couple of stools and she pulled herself on one of them.
We broke up, yeah, it's tough
Most guys would've been crushed
Wasting their time wondering where they went wrong
No way, not me, hey, I'm doing just fine
I'm not afraid of moving on
It's easy, going out on Friday night
It's easy every time I see her out
I can smile, live it up
The way a single guy does
But what she, what she don't know
Is how hard it is to make it look so easy
Finn wasn't sure if Sam would sing back. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't. What he did to her was stupid and awful. He'd gotten scared that she'd end up like Quinn and Rachel and cheat on him in Barcelona, but she didn't. And he'd broken her heart before she'd gotten the chance to do the same, only to hurt himself in the process.
Then she sang.
The truth is, I miss lying in those arms of his
But I don't ever let it show
I laugh and I act like I'm having the time of my life
As far as he knows, it's easy, going out on Friday night
Easy every time I see him out
I can smile, live it up, the way a single girl does
But what he, what he don't know
Is how hard it is to make it look so easy, oh, it's easy
Oh, it's easy, going out on Friday night
Oh, it's easy, every time I see him out
I can smile, live it up, forget about the way it was
But what she, oh what he don't know
Is how hard it is to make it look so easy
She looked over at him and hopped down from the stool.
"Look, Finn, I..." she trailed off. She played with her hair, patting the top of her head to find her sunglasses. She was panicking now. "I...just..."
"I understand," he told her. Sam exhaled forcefully, her gaze lifting. Finn felt like he'd been punched in the heart by the pain he saw there. Pain he caused because he'd been too damn insecure. And then the pain Rachel caused him came back tenfold. "Look, if I stepped over the line at all..."
"Don't worry about it," she brushed it off. She smoothed the front of her cropped shirt and she turned around. "I just...I think I'm gonna go."
Sam turned on her heel to walk away and Finn grabbed her arm without thinking.
"Can I pick you up later so we can...talk?" he said. She looked around and sighed.
"Pick me up at eight. I'm staying at my dad's," she told him. He remembered Donald saying that Sam was paying the rent in their old house so he could stay there.
"Blue raspberry slush and flaming hot Cheetos?" he remarked. There was that old sparkle in her pretty blue eyes and she giggled that musical laugh.
"You know me too well," she snickered, squeezing his hand.
