Title: Better an ignis fatuus than no ilume at all
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Dickinson
Warnings: spoilers for Rumours; future!fic
Pairings: pre-Sam/Kurt, Blaine/Kurt
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 450
Point of view: third
Prompt: serenity
Dad goes back to his old job over the summer. Mom goes with him, taking Stacey and Stevie, too. Sam returns to his old school, and it's so much easier than McKinley. Less drama, people he knew pretty well before he left. He joins the Drama Club and doesn't miss football, and pretends he's happy in Tennessee.
Kurt is the only one who emails him, keeping him informed about senior year. Sam's replies are always brief and the jacket he wears the most is the one Kurt gave him. Sometimes he wishes he'd made his move during the duet competition. How much of Kurt's pain could've been avoided if Sam hadn't been afraid?
Doesn't matter, he knows. Sam still would've had to leave, and this way, Kurt still has a boyfriend. Kurt gushed about that, Blaine staying close till Kurt graduates, too.
Blaine's better than Sam for Kurt, anyway.
Senior year passes slowly. Sam manages solid Bs in everything and gets into a good college close to home. He expects Kurt's emails to taper off, but they don't.
Kurt and Blaine go to NYU, and they have a tiny apartment, and then somehow, Kurt does have a bit part in an off-Broadway show, but then he's on Broadway as an understudy, and then Kurt calls Sam as he's leaving his very last final of his first semester at grad-school, and he screams into the phone, "Mitch broke his leg! Actually broke his leg!"
"Kurt?" Sam asks. He can hear Kurt hyperventilating.
Kurt takes a deep breath. "Mitch," he says. "Fell down the stairs this morning. Broke his leg." Another deep breath. "I'm his understudy, Sam. Which means I go on tonight. On Broadway."
"Dude, that's awesome!" Sam says, wishing he was able to hug Kurt through the phone.
"I'm sending Dad and Carol tickets," Kurt tells him. "Or rather, I'm holding tickets for them and hoping Dad, at least, can come. Do you—"
"Of course," Sam interrupts. "I'll be there tomorrow. If you have any free time, you can show me all those places you've gushed about over the years."
Kurt hasn't mentioned Blaine in his emails, the past few months. Last thing he'd said had been a fight about one of Blaine's coworkers flirting, and Blaine flirting back. Sam didn't ask, and he won't, but one of his greatest regrets is letting Kurt sing alone their junior year.
He flies to New York, takes a cab to Kurt's apartment, and won't wait anymore. Kurt can tell him to back off, and he'll stay Kurt's friend, but he hopes—
And Kurt hugs him tight, and kisses him back after the show, and Sam has never felt so optimistic about the future.