As always...
Lilyvandersteen: I know, poor boys, but they have a lot of thinking to do... Thank you so much!
Me-me157: Yeah, Blaine has a lot of decisions to make! I don't think it's a case of pride, though, he just feels that Sam should have done something sooner and now his ship might have sailed. Now let me tell you that something in your review made me change this chapter a lot from how it was originally planned, but I can't say it now so as not to ruin the new chapter ;) Thank you so much, sweetie!
Musicjunky81: I know, it was a difficult chapter to write, it got me really sad! Blaine surely has to make a lot of decisions. Hopefully the time away from everyone will help him do that. Thank you so much! :)
Dosqueen67: hahahaha, I know, but I'm very much of a drama queen! I hope chapters two and three were interesting for you too. Thank you so much!
Lovefordare: Hahaha, you'll have to read this one to know if I've granted you your wish ;) Thank you so much!
A/N: Well, so here's the resolution. As some of you may know, I'm not happy at all with how this finally turned. I thought it was going to be a good story, I was pretty proud of the first chapter, but well... These things happen, I guess. I wrote and rewrote this chapter three times, and still I'm not happy with it. But well, I was not going to leave the story unfinished, so here it is. I hope you can enjoy it to some extent! And thank you all for your support!
CHAPTER 3
Sam's back was starting to hurt with all the moving things around to put them into boxes. He would have never thought he had so many things –at least he knew he didn't have so many when he first moved in with Blaine–. But he guessed that sometime during that wonderful year together, he had stop caring about collecting too much stuff because it felt as if they were going to be there forever. As if they were so happy and comfortable together that they would never take separate ways. How wrong had he been, hadn't he?
He wasn't even taking the time to label each box, so it probably would be a nightmare to unpack once he was in Kentucky. But he couldn't bring himself to care in that moment. He only knew he had to get out of there, and he needed to do it as soon as possible.
Two days had come and gone since his trip to Columbus and he hadn't heard from Blaine ever since. And he was supposed to marry Kurt that afternoon, if he decided to go through with it. God, what if he did? In any case, Sam didn't want to be there to see it. Cooper could take his place as Blaine's best man, it didn't have to be such a problem. And by then he would already be halfway to Kentucky.
He was packing in a good time, he thought, even if he had to stop every now and then to furiously remove some tears that suddenly appeared in his cheeks, uninvited. Just the thought of how he had lost Blaine because of his own stupidity… How he had hurt him to the point he didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore…
And on top of everything, he felt bad and like a coward for leaving like that, without telling Blaine face to face, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt him even further… But to stay there without Blaine… There was nothing tying him up to Lima anymore; it was as simple as that. Absolutely nothing. At least in Kentucky he had his family. And he didn't have to live in an empty apartment that once had been filled with Blaine's laughter and music and warmth. Even if Blaine forgave him, which he doubted, he would probably be heading back to New York sooner or later. His place was there, Sam knew that much. Blaine had been born to do something big, and Lima was not the right place for him. So, one way or another, Sam was losing him. And he didn't want to be there to see it.
He was so abstracted into his own misery that he failed to hear the door of the apartment opening and closing behind him. It wasn't until he turned around to pick something up that he noticed a familiar figure standing there.
"Blaine!" Sam exclaimed in utter surprise when he turned around to find his best friend standing awkwardly next to the door.
"Hey" Blaine said with half a smile, trying not to show how uncomfortable he felt at being in the same room than Sam after two whole days of zero communication between them –something that had never happened before.
"Hey" Sam answered, just as clumsily, as he stopped all his actions to give his friend his whole attention.
"I… was going to knock, but I thought it felt weird" Blaine explained, shyly smiling and pointing at the door behind him just to have something to do with his hands.
"Of course. Come on in, make yourself at home" Sam joked, trying to break the slight tension between them.
As Sam started walking towards his friend, he took a minute to get a closer look at him, trying to asset how he was. Sam could see Blaine was still pretty far away from his usual self: pale skin, ungelled hair, noticeable stubble, borrowed clothing that looked way too big on him and very far away from his usual style, dark bags under his eyes… But he didn't look as lost or devastated as he did the last time Sam saw him. He still looked nervous and obviously tired, but… there was no sign of the inner struggle and sorrow from the other day. In fact… he looked almost liberated. And more beautiful than ever to Sam's eyes that had missed seeing him so much.
"Can I…?" Sam tentatively asked, motioning with his open arms how much he had missed having his smaller friend between them.
"Please" Blaine answered with the smallest smile, meeting Sam halfway.
Sam reciprocated the smile, a relieved warmth spreading all along his chest, and he carefully put his arms around his friend to embrace him as if he hadn't seen him in a year. When he felt Blaine putting his own arms around him willingly, Sam strengthened his grip and held the smaller boy to his chest, one of his hands moving to cup the back of his head, his fingers getting lost in the softness of his curly hair. Sam inhaled deeply, wanting to fill his senses with Blaine's unique scent, and he felt as if a part of him had been missing for two days and now, finally, he was full again.
He tried not to get to hopeful when he noticed Blaine seemed to be clinging to him too much too, not in any hurry of moving out of the circle of love and protection his arms offered. But Blaine had also had a couple of rough days –even more than Sam– and he probably only needed the comfort Sam's physical strength could offer. As his best friend.
"I've missed you" Sam whispered in Blaine's ear just before letting go of him, and he was glad when he looked at Blaine's face and it was decorated with a wide smile.
"Me too" he answered honestly, nodding at him. But it was then when Blaine noticed the boxes and the clothes scattered all around the living room. "Sam, what are you doing?"
"Mmm… I was… packing my stuff" Sam confessed, blushing with embarrassment because he hadn't trusted Blaine to come back and he had clearly been wrong in his assumptions.
"Where are you going?" Blaine asked, and Sam could see so much fear in his eyes that he wished he could just hold him in his arms forever.
"Kentucky" he admitted, looking anywhere but at Blaine's eyes to not see the disappointment in them.
"Without even saying goodbye?" Blaine gently reproached him, as if afraid that saying the wrong words would send Sam away.
"I… didn't think you'd be back. I… couldn't stay here without you"
"And… now?"
"I'll stay if you stay" Sam offered with a small smile.
"If you thought you were going to get rid of me so easily, maybe you don't know me as much as you think" Blaine answered, obviously relieved that Sam would not be going anywhere now that he was back, and picked up Sam's hand to hold it in his.
"But… I hurt you so much" Sam lamented, daring to entwine their fingers together, glad when Blaine let him.
"I think it's safe to say we hurt each other" Blaine answered. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was blaming you for everything"
"Still, I'm… I'm so sorry"
"You already said that. And you shouldn't be"
"Shouldn't I?" Sam asked in surprise.
"No. You opened my eyes" Blaine answered, sounding almost grateful.
"So… you're not going through with the wedding" Sam said, not really asking as much as just affirming.
"No" Blaine answered while lowering his head to look at the floor, showing that way how much of an issue the damned wedding still was. "I'm… going to the Hummels right away. Talking to Kurt face to face is the least I can do, I guess. I… just needed to see you first"
Sam couldn't help but to smile given how his heart seemed to be about to explode. True, he still didn't know how deeply Blaine felt for him or if he wanted for them to be together, but he had returned, it felt as if they were as close as they always were and he was putting his welfare above Kurt's. That was still a lot to process, and he held Blaine's hand in both of his as he tried not to be too overwhelmed.
"Do you… want me to go with you?" he immediately offered, because his heart ached at the idea of Blaine having to face such a difficult conversation on his own. "After all, all of this is my fault…"
"Thank you, Sam, you're the most amazing human ever but… I think it's up to me" Blaine answered, smiling fondly and gratefully at him as his free hand moved to Sam's face to grace its knuckles against the soft skin of Sam's cheek. "I'm breaking up with him. I think it's bad enough, we don't need to make him feel as if we're ganging up on him"
"So apart from cancelling the wedding… you're breaking up with him?" Sam asked, not daring to hope about what the implications of that could be.
"I don't think he'd want to still be with me anyway but… you were right: I don't love him that way. So what's the point in being together?"
"I was right?" Sam asked, totally surprised.
"You're always right, Sammy" Blaine asked with an affectionate chuckle.
"So… we're alright?" Sam felt the need to ask, even if Blaine had been nothing but close and sweet since he arrived, just to be sure.
"Yeah, of course, Sam" Blaine answered, squeezing Sam's fingers, which were still entwined with his own. "I'm so sorry I kept you away, I just…"
"Hey, it's okay, I get it" Sam interrupted him, comprehensively. "You needed some space to think"
"Yeah… I surely thought a lot, whenever Cooper would shut up for a few minutes" Blaine joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
"I was so afraid I had lost you" Sam confessed with a sigh.
"Never" Blaine promised in all honesty.
"Let me hug you again so I believe you're real" Sam pleaded with an embarrassed grin as his arms moved to envelop Blaine again.
"Ok" Blaine laughed as he put his own arms around his friend's torso and rested his chin on Sam's shoulder.
An immediate sense of peace –after three days of almost struggling to breathe– filled Blaine's chest and warmed his heart as Sam's arms kept him strongly in place, as he could feel Sam's beating against his own chest, as he knew Sam was the happiest man alive in that moment only because he had returned to him. That thought only made him feel loved as he had never felt before, and if he hadn't been sure that Kurt was not the right one for him until that moment, he surely was now.
"Aren't you going to ask me anything else?" Blaine asked, not daring to break the embrace so he didn't have to look at Sam's face and lose the courage to say what he so needed to say.
"What should I ask you?" Sam said, disentangling himself from Blaine's arms –only slightly, though, as he kept his hands firmly placed on Blaine's shoulders– to try and decipher what was in Blaine's mind through his eyes.
"We talked about a lot of things the other day" Blaine explained, trying not to stutter too much because of his nervousness. "You said some things that really hit me, you know?"
"Did I?"
"Yes, Sam, you did!" Blaine laughed, playfully punching Sam's chest. "Stop being surprised about your wisdom!"
Sam laughed stupidly as he looked in awe at his best friend. Amongst all the things he loved about Blaine, that one was probably one of the most important: how highly he always seemed to think of him and how he never had any trouble in letting him know, making Sam feel special and important, and putting an immediate ending to whoever issues he might have with his self-steem. Especially when he treated Sam as if he was the most intelligent person in the world, instead of the stupid most people believed him to be.
"You said something about how I should be with someone whose main purpose in life was to make me happy" Blaine continued resolutely, even if his voice seemed to tremble slightly every now and then.
"Yeah. That's what you deserve" Sam answered confidently.
"What if…?" Blaine started, breathing deeply as he tried to gather the courage to ask what he needed to ask.
"Yeah?" Sam tried to encourage him, picking both his hands in his to give him strength, his own heart about to burst with anticipation at what he hoped Blaine was about to say.
"What if I…?" Blaine tried to speak again, only to be interrupted by a loud knocking on the apartment's door.
"Damn it" Sam murmured as Blaine suddenly lost all his courage at the interruption and let go of Sam's hands.
"I'll get it. That's probably Cooper, I'm sure I left something in his car and he wants to make sure I have it so I don't suddenly appear at his apartment again to cry on his shoulder for two days" Blaine joked as he walked the rest of the way to the door to open it and was hugely surprised at who he found there. "Kurt! What are you doing here?"
"I could be asking you that myself" Kurt answered in his usual sassy manner, and Sam sighed in frustration at his mere presence. "You texted me to tell me you were coming back to talk, so I came here to make sure I caught you before you disappeared again"
"I was… coming to see you right away" Blaine explained while looking at the floor, clearly embarrassed and intimidated by Kurt's presence –something that deeply irritated Sam–. "I think I owe you some explanation"
"Oh, you think?" Kurt answered with a tone full of sarcasm. "Yet you came to Sam before you came to me"
"I… just wanted to change my clothes first" Blaine answered, only half honest.
"Though apparently you didn't" Kurt answered, looking and pointing at Blaine's obvious borrowed clothes.
"I just arrived" Blaine tried to justify himself.
"Where were you, by the way?"
"At Cooper's"
"Well, how nice of him to lie to me, then, considering I texted him and he told me he had no idea where you were" Kurt explained, and Sam turned around slightly so they wouldn't see the triumphal smile he couldn't stop from breaking into his lips: Cooper had lied to Kurt about Blaine's whereabouts while giving him the address to find him. It was obvious in which side Blaine's brother was, right?
"I asked him to" Blaine answered in his brother's defense, even if it was not true, as Cooper hadn't even told him about Kurt's text.
"So do we need to have an audience for this?" Kurt asked, pointing at Sam with his head, who just looked back defiantly at him.
"Mmm… Sam… do you mind?" Blaine asked, terribly sorry to ask his friend to go away, but knowing Kurt deserved some sort of intimacy for such an important conversation.
"No, of course not, B" Sam's gaze immediately softened when directed at his best friend, wanting to put his mind at ease, letting him know he completely understood. "I'll… be in my room if you need me. Seriously"
"Thank, Sam" Blaine answered with a smile, knowing Sam was very serious about his offer to help if there was any need. Sam reciprocated the smile, rubbed Blaine's shoulder comfortingly and finally left to shut himself up in his bedroom.
Although that didn't mean he couldn't spy on the conversation, he thought with a mischievous smile as he lent against the door and glued his ear to it. He was not trying to eavesdrop, he tried to convince himself: he just wanted to make sure that Blaine was alright and he didn't need to intervene. He was just being a good friend. A good friend that was dying to know what Blaine had to say to his soon-to-be ex-fiancé.
"What the hell happened, Blaine?" Kurt asked once they were alone. "I thought we were happy"
"Were we?" Blaine responded with a sigh. This was not going to be easy, but for once in his relationship with Kurt he was not going to relent one bit. He finally was very aware about what he felt and what he wanted, and he was not willing to let Kurt change any of it.
"You tell me, 'cause I think you've got your mind pretty set up" Kurt answered.
"I just… realized we were rushing too much into things" Blaine answered, starting from the beginning even if it wasn't, by any means, his only reason to cancel the wedding. "Even if we loved each other the right way, we're so damn young! I'm 20, for God's sake!"
"What do you mean if we loved each other?"
"Kurt, it's about time we start being completely honest with each other, isn't it? We are not in love anymore"
"You speak for yourself, I do love you" Kurt answered, and even while telling Blaine he loved him, he still sounded reproachful.
"I don't really think you do, Kurt. Otherwise you wouldn't have broken up with me with no apparent reason" Blaine explained, for once having the courage to reproach Kurt too. "I suffocated you, didn't I? How can we be together when you can't even share your home with me for more than a few months before you start feeling as you can't breathe?"
"That is not true, it's just…" Kurt tried to defend himself, but now that Blaine felt brave enough to talk he didn't even let him finish before he continued himself.
"Kurt, it's true. It's happened twice, remember? I'm not supposed to make you feel like that, you should want to spend every minute of every day with me" Blaine explained, repeating the exact same words Sam had told him only two days ago, making Sam smile proudly at it from his place behind the door. "I couldn't possibly survive that you threw me out of your apartment for a third time. It was hard enough the last time, I was so messed up I had to leave New York, remember? If you really loved me, you would have never let me go like that"
"I may have made a mistake, I'll give you that, but… I came back for you, didn't I?" Kurt asked, as if he was astounded that Blaine could think that was not enough.
"Yeah, you did… Only you waited until I had a life again here. I guess… you were feeling too lonely, by then?" Blaine said, and Sam felt so proud that his friend was confronting Kurt like that for once that he was having trouble to stop himself from giving him an applause. "And I'm the only one expected to leave everything behind, to go back to New York if we marry?"
"Well, I have my life there" Kurt answered with an implicit duuuh in his voice because really, that wasn't so hard to understand, was it?
"And I have mine here!" Blaine protested, understanding by the surprised look on Kurt's face he hadn't even thought about that. "I have a job, I have my friends, I have my own home with Sam…"
"And all of that is more important than me?" Kurt asked, playing the role of the victim as only he knew how to do.
"It's not a question of importance, Kurt" Blaine explained, although in his heart he knew he was right, and Kurt was not his priority anymore. Just the thought of leaving everything to go back to New York with him… "It's just that… I don't want to be with you anymore"
Sam loudly sighed in relief, before covering his own mouth with his hand afraid he would be heard. Blaine had been brave and honest, and finally broken up with Kurt. He still didn't know what that meant to him –well, besides the fact that Blaine wouldn't be leaving to New York anymore and he would remain at his side–, but to get Kurt out of the picture at last… Felt too good to be true.
"Maybe…" Kurt tried desperately to look for arguments to keep Blaine at his side, and Sam wondered how different everything would have been if Kurt had come down from his pedestal before to do that. "Maybe we can find some kind of… arrangement that works for both of us so you don't feel like you have to leave everything…"
"No" Blaine denied with no hesitation, even if his eyes were starting to fill with tears at Kurt's insistence, 'cause even after everything he had put him through, he still didn't want to hurt him. "You should have suggested that before. You should have cared about that before. I've made my decision now"
"But Blaine" Kurt insisted, playing the guilt card as he picked Blaine's hands in his and looked at him straight in the eye. "We could…"
Sam was appalled to hear some kind of sob that he instantly recognized as coming from Blaine. He should have known, Blaine was feeling guilty and emotional enough about breaking up with Kurt, the last thing he needed was for Kurt to insist they could make it. Sam wished he could just go to him and embrace him until there were no more tears in him. Or cello tape Kurt's mouth so he couldn't keep hurting him. That would be a good option too. He just prayed Blaine wouldn't let himself be convinced that their high school romance could survive now they were adults.
"Kurt, please" Blaine begged for him to stop as he disentangled his hands from the other boy's grip. "I don't want this anymore, it can't possibly work"
"Come on, honey, you wouldn't be crying if this didn't hurt you" Kurt said with the sweetest tone he could muster –which made Sam want to throw up–. "You still love me"
"Of course I love you, Kurt, I always will" Blaine answered with a sob. "But I'm not in love with you anymore"
"It can't be as simple as that, you don't wake up one day and realize you don't love someone anymore" Kurt asked, completely insensitive to Blaine's tears –as he usually was–. "What changed?"
"You're right" Blaine confessed, and Sam held his breath for what was about to come. "Something happened that helped me open my eyes. Or at least to be honest with myself"
"And what's that?"
"The other day at my bachelor's party… I drunk way too much and… I lost control of myself" Blaine explained, so soft that Sam almost couldn't hear him, but he was still marveled that his friend would want to protect him even in a situation like that. He couldn't remain silent about the fact that he had cheated on Kurt or he would never forgive himself, but he could keep Sam out of any of that, even if he had been the one to start the whole debacle.
"I swear to you, Blaine, if you say what I think you're going to say…" Kurt threatened.
"I hooked up with someone" Blaine confessed in the guiltiest whisper.
"You what?" Kurt spat at him, not wanting to believe it even if he had already imagined what Blaine was going to say.
"And… I wouldn't have done it if I really loved you, right?" Blaine tried to reason with him, even if the last thing he wanted was to hurt the person he had loved –or tried to– for so long.
"I can't believe this. You cheated on me again" Kurt said, and he didn't need to raise his voice even a bit to sound terrifying.
"I'm so sorry, Kurt" Blaine apologized, his voice shaking with tears. "I know it doesn't change anything, but… I never wanted to hurt you"
"Didn't you? How can you say that when you cheated on me for the second time?"
"I'm sorry" Blaine repeated with a sob, and Sam's heart went to him and to how ashamed he sounded.
"And you come to me and say that you're breaking up with me?" Kurt asked, his astonishment leaving room now to his usual pride –that Sam detested so much–. "Who do you think you are? I'm the one who should be leaving you! You don't deserve for me to even look at your face"
"Kurt, please" Blaine whispered, trying to appease him.
"Please, what? I can't believe this" Kurt repeated, finally yelling and making a scene like he always loved to do. "You're such a whore!"
Sam couldn't help it anymore: no one, not even Kurt, came to his home to insult the person he loved the most in the world like that and got away with it. Fuming, he opened his door in one brusque movement and he was in front of Kurt in only a couple of strides.
"Ok, that's enough" Sam said in a threatening voice that didn't seem to impress Kurt that much.
"You get the hell out of here, Sam" Kurt ordered him, as he was too used to do with most people –Blaine included.
"This is my home, and I won't have you here just insulting him like that, you hear me?" Sam responded, looking menacingly at Kurt, and only backed out slightly when he felt Blaine's loving hands close around his biceps from behind.
"Sam, stay out of this, please" Blaine pleaded, and Sam could almost feel how what he really wished was for him to stay, so he only moved to turn around to him.
"No, Blaine, I'm not going to remain quiet as this… person keeps treating you like that. You were not to blame for any of this" Sam answered, his voice softening immediately when directed to his best friend.
"What the hell do you mean, Sam?" Kurt interfered.
"It was me, okay?" Sam confessed, turning again to Kurt and grabbing one of Blaine's hands to hold it behind his back, so Kurt wouldn't see but Blaine would know he was not alone. "I'm the one Blaine cheated on you with, he was just trying to keep me out of this, I guess. But we didn't exactly hook up, it was me the one who lost control and kissed him"
"You make it sound like you took advantage of him. Is that why you fled, Blaine?" Kurt asked, and neither Blaine or Sam could determine if he was genuinely worried about him or was just trying to piss Sam off.
"What the hell, Kurt?" Blaine yelled, angrier than the other boys had ever heard him as he pointed his index finger at Kurt's face, and even Sam felt a little scared by his outburst even if it was not directed at him; quite the opposite: Blaine was just fiercely defending him. Against the man he was supposed to marry that same day. "Never say something like that about Sam again, you hear me? He kissed me, yeah, but I let him"
"You're so proud of it, aren't you?" Kurt asked, deeply offended at Blaine's menacing tone.
"No, I'm not, but I already apologized and I'm not going to do it again, Kurt" Blaine answered, as if the mere presence of Sam at his side gave him the courage and strength he needed to confront him.
"Do you even regret it?"
"Yes, of course I regret it, Kurt!" Blaine answered, and Sam wanted to burst into tears with his words; apparently, Blaine hadn't changed his opinion about it being too late for them. "I regret doing it before ending my relationship with you. That was wrong"
Sam's heart missed a beat as he looked at his friend. Was this real? Had Blaine just implied he only regretted the timing? That he wanted to end his relationship with Kurt before kissing him again? That he still had a chance?
Blaine hadn't meant to say something like that, he didn't want to sound as if he just wanted to touch a raw nerve and hurt Kurt with whatever was happening between Sam and him, but he didn't regret it. Especially when he looked at Sam and saw so much love and hope in his eyes. He dared to smile at him before he was able to stop it, but it was enough for Kurt to understand what was really happening.
"So I was right from the beginning" Kurt said, signaling alternatively at the two boys.
"Yeah, you were right, I have feelings for him" Sam replied sarcastically, once he recovered from the shock. "You want a medal or something?"
"And you have feelings for him too" Kurt observed, turning to his ex-fiancé.
"I'm not going to talk to you about that before I talk to Sam, I'm sorry" Blaine politely refused to talk. He and Sam needed to clear a lot of things between them, and Kurt would have nothing to say in them.
"You think you're so special, right?" Kurt said, his voice full of venom towards whom he had always considered the weaker part of their relationship, now suddenly so strong. "So irresistible, that you can have any guy you want, that you can even get straight boys out of the closet?"
"No, of course not" Blaine tried to defend himself, but Kurt was having none of it.
"Well, I've cheated on you too, you know?" Kurt surprised everyone with his affirmation, feeling so proud of himself that it made Sam nauseous. How could someone be so devious? "More than once, for your information. With Elliott. And Adam"
"What?" Blaine asked in utter surprise.
"You son of a bitch!" Sam couldn't help himself from shouting. How he dared to treat Blaine –his Blaine, if he had something to say about it– like that?
"Sam, please" Blaine asked him, this time being him the one to grab Sam's hand in his –and not caring to hide it.
"Are you listening to him?" Sam asked in disbelief that Blaine wouldn't get angry at something like that. But it was okay: he would angry for both of them. "He is reproaching you, insulting you, and he's cheated on you at least twice!"
"It's okay, Sam. It's the same I did" Blaine answered, shrugging his shoulders in resignation.
"No, it's not! You didn't go all the way, you weren't looking for it, and you immediately regretted and confessed. Who knows if he would have ever told you about it if you hadn't confessed first? Or even stop doing it? And he is proud of it!"
"Look, Sam" Blaine tried to make his friend understand, though his words were also directed towards Kurt. "It's okay. It just proves all the more how much Kurt and I are not supposed to be together. I'm only glad we realized it before it was too late"
Sam breathed deeply a couple of times to control his anger, and then nodded at his friend. Blaine had always been so wise and able to keep a cool head in difficult situations like those… And in the end, it was his relationship with Kurt which was at stake, and Sam shouldn't have a say in that, in spite of the feelings he had for him. In the end, he could only respect his friend's decision.
"So that's it?" Kurt interjected. "You're leaving me for him"
"No" Blaine answered honestly because, as much as Sam had played a very important part in everything, the fact was that Blaine didn't want to be with Kurt anymore, in spite of what would happen with his friend. "I'm just putting an end to… all this nonsense"
"He's going to play with you, you hear me?" Kurt bitterly warned him, looking at Sam contemptuously, mentally blaming him for Blaine's change of heart. "Mark my words, once he gets over this experimental phase he will get rid of you"
"I love him with all my heart, you fucking bastard, which is more than you can say" Sam said before he could stop himself, and he immediately felt Blaine's hand on his shoulder, his touch comforting and calming –never reproachful.
"Kurt, whatever I do with Sam… is none of your fucking business anymore" Blaine said, and the other two boys looked surprised at him, as he hardly ever swore or treated anybody in less than a polite way. "But if you want to know… I trust Sam more than I've ever trusted you. And now if you don't mind…" he added, signaling at the door with a movement of his head. Even if he was not crying anymore, he felt emotionally exhausted, and the only thing he wanted was to lose sight of Kurt so he could stay in Sam's arms forever, where he knew he belonged.
"You're making a mistake letting me go like that" Kurt replied, but Sam was already walking towards him, pushing him to the door without even touching him.
"I think he asked you to leave" Sam said, surprisingly calm all of a sudden.
"He's never going to love you like I do" Kurt insisted even when he was already outside, as Sam had politely opened the door for him.
"I really hope so" Blaine answered and, to Kurt's surprise, he turned his back on him, putting a definitive ending to anything going between them.
"Guess I'm not going to be as alone as you thought after all, right, Kurt?" he said before slamming the door on the other's face before he could even give an answer. And just like that Kurt was gone from their lives… forever, he hoped. "I swear to God, if he had stayed only one more second…"
Sam stopped talking when he noticed the lack of reaction on Blaine's part. His back was still to him and, even though his upper body wasn't shaking so he knew he wasn't sobbing, all his muscles were tense and his shoulders were hunched impossibly low. Sam worried for a second that Blaine was having second thoughts about breaking up with Kurt, but instantly understood that he was just feeling upset about how it ended. After all, Blaine had the biggest heart and Sam knew he felt incredibly guilty about cheating and hurting Kurt –even if he had been equally hurt–. And he guessed it was kind of difficult to accept your first love, the one you had fought for so strongly, made no sense anymore…
"Hey" Sam said as he walked in front of Blaine and gently cupped his cheeks to lift his face as his thumbs got rid of the offending tears there. "You alright?"
The only answer he got was a shrug of shoulders, just as he had only two days ago, and Sam wished Blaine would sometimes just admit he was hurting so he could try and make it better.
"You always do that" Sam said with a fond smile, tenderly pinching Blaine's cheek until he elicited a shy smile out of him.
"What?" Blaine asked in confusion.
"Shrug your shoulders instead of saying you're hurting"
"Do I?"
"Yes, you do" Sam answered with a chuckle before throwing his arms around Blaine's torso and bringing him to his chest so he could engulf him with his warmth and love. "You know, you only have to say it. I will always try to make it better"
"You're amazing, Sam" Blaine answered, his voice muffled from where his face was buried in Sam's neck, and the blond felt very real butterflies flying in his stomach at how highly Blaine always thought of him.
"Oh, you want to talk" Sam answered with a chuckle, and he dared to rest a chaste kiss on the side of Blaine's neck, grateful when Blaine seemed to melt into it instead of rejecting it, as he had feared. "But let me ask you again, B: are you alright?"
"It's just… I know I don't love him anymore but…" Blaine said, and Sam was almost having trouble to keep up with the conversation when Blaine's breathing kept deliciously tickling his neck with every word he said. "I wish we could have ended our relationship in some other way. I wish we could still be friends"
"I know" Sam acknowledged his regrets, lovingly caressing the back of Blaine's neck and the soft curls that fell there. "I'm sorry if I made it all the more difficult, and I'm sorry I lost it with him… It's just… the thought of him treating you in less than a perfect way…"
"No, Sam. In fact… I wanted to thank you" Blaine honestly said as he broke the embrace and looked at his friend's face while squeezing his biceps, still not ready to break the contact between them.
"You're thanking me?" Sam asked in disbelief. "Why?"
"For standing up for me" Blaine explained. "No one has ever done that like you just did"
"I will always stand up for you, Blaine" Sam answered, and the expression on his face showed how stupid just the thought of not doing it seemed to him.
"I know. That's the most amazing part" Blaine added, and something in the smile he was giving his friend gave Sam hopes that things may be taking a turn for the better.
"So… you wanted to ask me something before we were so rudely interrupted" Sam said, picking Blaine's hands in his to encourage him to say whatever he needed to say. He felt bad about rushing the smaller boy when he was so obviously overwhelmed with everything, but he couldn't wait any longer: he needed to know what Blaine really felt for him.
"Oh yeah" Blaine said, blushing remarkably at whatever was on his mind or at the thought of having to voice it. And Sam couldn't help to find it incredibly adorable. "I was telling you how you said I should be with someone whose main purpose in life was to make me happy"
"Yeah"
"So what if…"
"What?" Sam couldn't help himself when Blaine hesitated, only to elicit a groan from the other boy.
"Sam, please, give me a second, this is not easy" Blaine admonished him, blushing so furiously that for a moment Sam worried he was going to permanently turn into that color. Not that he wasn't looking terribly endearing and sweet in it, mind you.
"I'm sorry" Sam answered with a chuckle, squeezing Blaine's hands again to give him some strength. "Please, go on"
"I'll say it in a rush" Blaine warned him.
"However suits you better"
"What if I want you to be that someone?" Blaine said as quickly as he could, not even daring to look at Sam's eyes in case he only found rejection in them after how he ran from him the night of his bachelor party and the way he had ignored him for two days after that.
When Sam suddenly let go of his hands, Blaine felt as if his heart and his whole world was breaking, as Sam didn't want to have anything to do with him. But when the pressure of Sam's index finger under his chin made him lift his face and he saw Sam's eyes, his heart stopped beating for a second and he held his breath so he wouldn't miss even one word coming from Sam's mouth.
"Then your wishes will come true" Sam said with the happiest smile Blaine had ever seen in his best friend –or whatever they were now–.
Sam let go of his chin, only to cup both his cheeks again, and brought Blaine's face closer to his until their lips met. Having no regrets this time, Blaine's arms immediately closed around Sam's neck and he melted against him while he dared to deepen the kiss. When one of Sam's hands moved to the small of his back, he felt a jolt of electricity travelling all along his body. It was not the first time they kissed, but it was the first time Blaine's mind wasn't filled with regret and doubts and sorrow.
Almost too overwhelmed with emotion to speak when the kiss finally broke, they joined their foreheads together as they tried to regain their breaths. Blaine smiled shyly at his friend, and it was all the encouragement Sam needed to put both his arms around Blaine's waist and bring him impossibly close to him.
"What changed?" Sam said, still panting due to lack of breath and desire.
"Well… I guess as soon as I realized there was no excuse to hide my true feelings anymore, I knew I could only go along with them" Blaine answered, idly playing with the hair behind Sam's ear.
"I thought it was too late"
"Well, someone very wise told me that it's never too late to go for what you really want" Blaine answered, giving Sam's lips a quick peck for good measure –or because he couldn't stop tasting them, he wasn't sure.
"Sounds like a very smart person" Sam joked, his hands tracing lazy patterns along Blaine's back, as if they were unable to stop feeling him now they were allowed.
"He is" Blaine answered with a proud smile, and Sam marveled once again how good Blaine always made him feel about himself.
"He also sounds like he loves you very much" Sam reminded him, this time being him the one to capture the other's lips in a kiss that lingered more than originally planned.
"Well, I really hope so 'cause… I love him too" Blaine confessed against Sam's lips, unable to move away from them and making his words even more intense for Sam to process.
"You really do?" Sam asked, tilting his head slightly backwards so he could get a good look at Blaine's eyes when he answered.
"Sometimes I wonder if I've ever not" Blaine answered with a wide and honest smile that instantly brought tears to Sam's eyes. Too moved to say anything else, he embraced his best friend-turned-lover strongly to him and bowed to himself to never let go of him again.
"Am I dreaming?" Sam asked as he held Blaine's head to his shoulder, still incapable of letting go of him. "Just an hour ago I was packing my things because I thought you would never come back, let alone tell me you love me"
"You're not dreaming, Sammy. It's because I love you that I came back, and I'm only sorry I made you suffer while you waited"
"You're now here and that's all that matters" Sam said as he broke the embrace only to be able to kiss those perfect and sweet lips more strongly, almost possessively, as if he was afraid Blaine would be gone once the kiss ended.
But he wasn't. When the kiss ended, Blaine was still there, with the widest smile on his face and all the love of the world in his eyes.
"I love you" Sam whispered, his heart about to burst with happiness.
"I love you too" Blaine answered as he rested his head on Sam's shoulder and closed his eyes in contentment.
"And I'm going to make you happy" Sam promised, sealing his words with a kiss to Blaine's forehead.
"I have no doubt about it"
A/N: Ok, so the story is mainly this. I will write a little epilogue for that, so it's not entirely complete yet. I just thought it would be nice to know what happens afterwards... ;)
