Lunch time was an odd experience for Sam. Any other part of the school day he would normally kill to be spending time with people, but thanks to his father, breakfast and dinner were horrible, so he more than welcomed being alone at lunch. He had gotten used to eating alone at school; not for the food, because it was disgusting most of the time, but because he could have a half-hour where he could just exist. He didn't have to worry about disappointing anyone, or mope about how no one paid attention to him.

It was easily one of the parts of the day that Sam looked forward to the most, especially today. Sure, most kids looked at lunch on Wednesday as being the halfway point to the weekend, but Sam didn't care about that. Most of the time it was easier to be at school than home anyway. No, Wednesday was important to him for a much different reason – new comic book day. And since it was lunch time that meant only three more classes before he could go to the mall. He didn't even care that his father would yell at him about it when he got home because, after dinner, Sam always ended up locking himself in his room and staying up far too late reading his new books.

The plan was simple. Just sit outside and build a pyramid out of tots on his tray until lunch was over, try not to make a fool out of himself in English, and get through his other two classes then hightail it to the mall the second that school was out.

"Aren't you a little old to be playing with your food?"

Sam recognized the voice instantly. There was something about Blaine's voice that apparently caused Sam to be thrust back into the real world. It made him wish that the two of them actually had classes together. Hearing the other boy speak in class might make it easier for him to pay attention to what was going on more often, which would make his father happier.

"I've got to get you a bell or something man," Sam said as he watched Blaine sit down next to him. "Seriously, are you like part assassin or something? You're like silent but deadly."

Sam regretted the words instantly. For a moment he closed his eyes tightly. He was hoping that if he squeezed them shut hard enough, when he opened them the entire conversation never would have happened. Based off of the expression on Blaine's face, Sam was positive that he had really just compared the guy to a not-so-pleasant bodily function.

"It's Dalton's fault. Museums are louder than that place. You learn to walk quietly so no one can hear you sneaking into the cafeteria after hours. If you want the really good food, you need to sneak in and grab it before anyone knows it's there."

Sam couldn't help but smile. He didn't know why Blaine wasn't making fun of him for what he said, or making a point of letting Sam know he was offended by it, but he wasn't going to press his luck. "See, I hear that and I think midnight laser tag."

"That would have been pretty cool," Blaine nodded. "Hey, I know this is kind of random, but I just wanted to thank you for the vote yesterday. Wow, okay, I feel like all I do is thank you for things. Forget me being an assassin - you, my friend, are clearly a superhero."

"Dude, you're an amazing singer - it wouldn't make sense to say no." Sam knew he must look like an idiot with the big grin that was plastered across his face, but he didn't care because Blaine had called him "my friend." The fact that Blaine still wanted to get to know him, even after all the dorky things he'd said over the past three days, amazed Sam, especially since everyone else had apparently written him off almost immediately after he moved to Ohio.

"How'd the shopping go?" Sam asked.

"Honestly, it was horrible," Blaine chuckled. "Shopping isn't really my thing, plus I had to buy a bunch of clothes before I transferred, so I am beyond over it. Actually that's why I wanted to talk to you. I need a favor."

Sam felt his heart sink. So that was the real reason Blaine was being nice to him. He didn't want to spend time with him or be friends - Blaine was tolerating him because he needed something. Sam couldn't believe he was stupid enough to think that he could actually have more than one friend. He should have known better and just been happy with Brittany and leave it at that.

"See, the girls and Kurt want to hit the mall again after school and I could really use your help. Kurt doesn't fully grasp the idea that there's a gay guy that isn't obsessed with shopping. Don't get me wrong; it was fun hanging out, but I just can't do it two days in a row. Please say you'll come with us and help me keep my sanity."

Sam couldn't believe his ears at first. Blaine wasn't using him, but wanted his help – he was asking for it instead of just using him. That type of thing just didn't happen to Sam. "I've kind of got plans," Sam could feel the regret in his own voice as he spoke. He wanted to say yes, but he knew if he agreed to go, somehow he'd end up making a fool out of himself and once Blaine had seen how big of a dork he was, Blaine would never want to spend time with him again.

"Come on," Blaine pleaded. "If I see Rachel try on one more sweater with a unicorn on it, I'll go insane. I need you there. Please be my superhero and save the day just one more time."

Sam didn't want to go clothes shopping any more than Blaine did, but he couldn't leave his friend hanging like that. "His friend," Sam really liked the sound of those words together. If he went with them, maybe he would have a chance to talk more with Blaine – now, that would be worth going back to the mall later to pick up his comics.

"Fine, but you have to stop calling me a superhero. It's called a secret identity for a reason. If people find out I used my superpowers to help you carry shopping bags, I'd never live it down."

"Your secret's safe with me," Blaine said, elbowing Sam in the arm.


The ride to the mall was awkward, but it really wasn't that bad. Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes spent the entire time talking about one thing or another, but Sam didn't feel too out of place because Blaine wasn't talking either. However, that changed once the group arrived at the mall. The trio became a foursome and Sam found himself, for the most part, following them wherever they went and just taking up space. He might as well have been invisible.

"You're not having fun, are you?" Blaine asked.

"This is great, really," Sam lied.

"You have a horrible poker face," Blaine leaned in and lowered his voice. "Follow my lead. I think I can turn this around."

"Um, okay." Sam really didn't want the other three people focusing on him, but part of him really wanted to see what Blaine was going to come up with.

"You're right," Blaine began, his voice getting progressively louder with each word. "Everybody knows that the stores put out their best stuff tomorrow night. Why risk running out of stock before the Friday sales?"

Sam wasn't too sure about Blaine's logic; after all, the one store he wanted to go to only put things out on Wednesdays. Clearly it was one of those concepts that went right over his head, but it didn't matter because what Blaine said got Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes to stop dead in their tracks.

"He has a point. The salespeople will try to make as much room for the new stuff as possible so they'll try to pawn off all the stuff no one wants today," Sam added.

Kurt discretely gave Rachel's outfit a look up and down. "And clearly we all have moments of weakness."

"We could see a movie," Sam suggested.

"Oh hell no," Mercedes shouted. "I came here to shop. If we're not doing that, we need to at least hide all the good stuff for when we come back."

"Well, why don't you three do that, and Sam and I will just hang out? If there's nothing for us to carry, we don't really need to be there."

"Fine," Kurt sighed. "At least now we'll get to try things on. I guess we can meet up at the food court in like two hours."

Sam watched as the girls and Kurt went off in the direction of one of the more trendy clothing stores. He could tell that Kurt wasn't happy that Blaine didn't go with them, and he felt bad about it. He was glad that he had been included in their hanging out, and the last thing Sam wanted to do was upset anyone.

"You can go with them if you want or, you know, if there's somewhere else you want to go, it's cool," Sam said once he was sure no one but Blaine could hear him. "I don't mind being alone."

"Okay," Blaine said, turning to face Sam. "You're starting to offend me with that. Do I have bad breath or something? What's wrong with hanging out with me?"

"I-I just meant that you would probably have more fun if you went with them."

"You know, I keep waiting for this boring, evil, troll-like, jackass version of you that everyone hates and doesn't deserve human contact that you keep talking about to show up. The entire time I've known you, all I've seen is this really selfless and sweet guy that went out of his way to help me on more than one occasion."

Sam had no idea how to react to what Blaine had said. It was quite possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever said about him. "Well, you stuck up for me with Santana."

"Yeah, but if we're going to keep score, I've still got catching up to do."

"You don't owe me anything."

"Fine, but only if you stop acting like me wanting to be your friend is a fate worse than death."

Sam just stood there and smiled; he really didn't know what else to do. Maybe Blaine was right, and he was trying a little too hard to push Blaine away. Sam just wished he knew why. Pretty much everything that he knew about Blaine, which wasn't much at all, left him confused. He wanted to get to know the other boy and be his friend, but that was when things tended to go wrong. Every time he got to know someone they either used or hurt him in the end. Sam didn't want to add Blaine's name to the list of people who did that to him.

It sucked, and Sam felt like he had no one to blame but himself. There had to be something wrong with him. Sure, it was difficult to make new friends in school, especially after your family up and moves to a different state just before the start of the school year, but junior year was half over and Sam had only really made one friend, and that happened yesterday. But Blaine had transferred in the middle of the year and he already had people fighting over spending time with him.

"So what were those plans you mentioned at lunch?"

"You'll think it's stupid," Sam shrugged.

"Yesterday Rachel bought 13carousel horse sweaters. Trust me, whatever your plans were, it can't be worse than watching that."


"I don't understand why you insist on Blaine spending time with us," Rachel said, as she flipped through a rack of clothing, not really paying attention to anything she found. "He had you the entire time you were at Dalton."

"Kurt's not a puppy, Rachel."

"Mercedes," Kurt began. "I don't think she meant that literally. I just want Blaine to feel like he belongs."

"It is pretty romantic that he switched schools. I give it two weeks tops before you guys are together again," Mercedes said, looking around, making sure that no one was watching her shove a top into the back of the clothing rack she had been looking through.

"That would be great except Blaine's spending all of his time around Sam. Speaking of Sam," Rachel continued without bothering to see if anyone was actually paying attention to her. "Why is he even here? He's never wanted to hang out with us before. He's probably spying on us so he can get back together with Quinn."

"So apparently Rachel has gotten even more insane since I left?" Kurt asked.

"Kurt's right, Rachel," Mercedes chimed in. "First off – you think everyone is a spy, it's some weird thing with you."

"And yet, I'm always right, and no matter how many times I say 'I told you so,' I remain ignored," Rachel said, effectively cutting her friend off.

"Sam is obviously straight, unfortunately," Kurt made sure to say the last part softer than the rest. "So, even if we were in some alternate reality where Sam was this evil little spy who ran around hurting people to get what he wanted, wouldn't it be a good thing for you if he got back together with Quinn?"

"No one deserves Quinn, not even Sam. And that's saying a lot considering he didn't even make an effort to comfort me when Quinn cheated on him with Finn."

"Rachel," Kurt sighed. "You know I love you and that I'll talk you off of that ledge any day of the week, but even you cannot spin it that Sam should have been comforting you when he found out that his girlfriend was cheating on him with your ex-boyfriend."

"Are you saying that as my friend, Finn's stepbrother, or the guy who can't decide on if he has a crush on Blaine or Sam?"

"Will you two just stop it?" Mercedes asked.

"But-" Before Rachel could say anything else, Mercedes covered her and Kurt's mouth with her hands.

"You two are actually fighting over which person you like more. Rachel, we all know you and Finn will get back together, and everyone gave up on that after like the fifth time the two you guys hooked up. Kurt, I'm sure Blaine is a great guy, and I'm happy that you have might have someone if the two of you can ever figure out the timing thing… But really, did either of you consider that I don't want to hear about how 'bad' the two of you have it?"

Mercedes took her hands away and turned, unable to face her friends. "I would kill to have even half of what the two of you do."

"I'm sorry," Kurt and Rachel said in unison.

"Maybe that's why Sam's here – he just wants a place to belong. But even he has it better than me because at least he's been in a relationship. And, in case you haven't noticed, none of us are exactly popular and no one dates outside of Glee Club. Sam seems like a really good guy, and we should be nicer to him."

"He dated Santana. That makes him evil by default," Rachel said, folding her arms across her chest.

"He was also one of the few people who defended me before I left for Dalton."

"Exactly," Rachel threw her hands up in the air. "You're the only one out of the four of us that Sam has had an actual conversation with, so why is he spending all of his time with Blaine? I'm telling you… spies."

"God, I've missed your insanity," Kurt laughed.


Sam was glad when Blaine went to the second floor with him. He didn't tell him about the comic book store, but it was near the food court, so at the very least if Blaine hated it, they could always sit there and wait for everyone else. Deep down, he knew that he wouldn't be judged by the other boy, but Sam still felt nervous. Finn, Quinn and Santana all seemed nice and trustworthy at first, but they each pulled one over on him, so it wasn't that big of a stretch to worry that it would happen a fourth time.

Still, all Sam thought about on the escalator ride up to the second floor was the fact that the two of them actually had a conversation about superhero comic book movies. It had to be something that Blaine was open to, especially if he sat through "The Incredible Hulk." Sam felt like he had to take Blaine to the comic store if for nothing more than to show him that there was more to the comic book fandom than a horrible movie with bad CGI.

"All right," Sam said once they were standing in front of the store, "so my big plan for the day was to geek out reading comic books. Go on, laugh at me… even Finn did."

"This place is…"

"See, I told you that you'd be better off hanging out with everyone else." There was a tone of sadness in Sam's voice as he spoke.

"Actually, I was going to say this place is kind of cool. It reminds me of when I was younger and going into a store and seeing everything there was like the best experience ever."

"Exactly," Sam brightened up instantly. "Nothing mattered. There weren't any real life problems, or worrying about fitting in or anything. It was just – you walk in and there's this whole world full of awesome right in front of you, and you never want to leave."

"Next time Finn gives you a hard time, let me know, and I'll remind him that I know his dirty little secret." Blaine leaned in and spoke softly, like he was trying to avoid being over heard or something. "I went to Kurt's house one weekend, and he was sitting around in his underwear eating cereal with chocolate milk watching Powerpuff Girls."

Instantly the image flooded Sam's mind and he burst out laughing. "Horrible cartoon choice aside, that doesn't sound too bad. I usually end up working out all weekend. But seriously, I don't think I'll be able to look at Finn the same way again."

"See," Blaine smiled. "This is the Sam Evans I want to get to know. This is what you wanted to do, so show me part of your world."

"'The Little Mermaid' really? Like out of all of the possible animated movies you could quote you pull a song from that?"

"You've seen 'The Little Mermaid?'"

"Cartoon musicals didn't go over well with my dad," Sam shrugged. "I wasn't really allowed to watch Disney movies growing up, but my dad let that one slide for a while. Well, that and Aladdin, but I was like five and had a crush on Ariel so I watched that one more."

"Funny. When I watched 'The Little Mermaid,' it was because I had a crush on Eric. Aladdin was cool though - giant blue genies, flying carpets, magic… and you know he was rocking the shirtless vest."

Sam just laughed and shook his head. He honestly couldn't believe he was having this conversation – that didn't mean he wasn't enjoying it though. "Well, at least you watched it for the right reasons."

"Hey" - if the tone of Blaine's voice was any indication, it was clear that he could tell they were just joking around - "I am proud of having a crush on a street thief who had a monkey and a carpet for best friends. You, you're the one who had a crush on a half fish-woman."

"Mermaids have a reputation of luring men in though. Plus, she was a genuine princess. Aladdin married into money and then you find out two movies later that he was really a prince, too."

"Fine, you win this one. So what can you teach me about comic books in two hours?"

That was all Sam needed to hear. There was a small part of Sam's brain that kept telling him that Blaine was only being nice and humoring him, but at this point he didn't care. He would have had fun at the comic book store alone, but being able to share it with someone and just geek out in the moment and not think about anything else made it that much better.

"Okay, well, you've got your basic eight different categories: super powered heroes, vigilante anti-heroes, zombie books, magic and horror, army stuff, crime, giant robots and finally you've got 'the plot doesn't matter because the star of the title looks like a supermodel and runs around half naked' books."

"Yeah, I think we can skip those when it comes to me."

"Some of them do have a plot though, but you should work your way up to them." Sam didn't want to push the topic and risk Blaine feeling uncomfortable, so he decided to drop it.

"Hey, can I ask you a serious question?" Blaine asked. "I'd totally understand if you didn't want to answer. It's kind of hard to picture you being into comic books… I'm sorry. Can we just pretend I didn't bring it up?"

"The dyslexia right?" Sam didn't need to wait for an answer; it was really the only thing that Blaine could have been talking about that would cause the other teen to word what he had said that way. He didn't mind talking about it with Blaine. In fact, given that Blaine had tried not to offend him or hurt his feelings, it made it that much easier.

"It helps that I'm interested in comics and I re-read them anyway. My dyslexia isn't too bad. If I get frustrated, I can always just walk away from it for a bit. It's really bad if someone makes me read out loud though. I get so nervous that I'll mess up that I usually just make a fool out of myself anyway."

"Thank you for sharing that," Blaine said softly. "For the record, I still think you're too hard on yourself. You found something you enjoy, who cares what people say."

Sam met Blaine's gaze and he couldn't help but smile. "Thanks for not making me feel stupid. I mean, I know I treat it like it's nothing, but that's because I don't want people to act like I'm the village idiot. I always liked comic books; I never grew out of it, and I really do like to read even if it's kind of hard sometimes… so it just fits."

After that conversation, everything felt different. Sam knew he wouldn't feel as comfortable as he did having this conversation with anyone else. There was something about it being Blaine that made him feel safe, like he could trust the other boy with anything. Time flew by as Sam found himself taking Blaine from one section of the store to another, explaining the differences between graphic novels and trade paperbacks and everything in between. It was a nice change of pace, feeling secure in having a conversation with someone else. This was Sam's world, and he knew it backwards and forwards, and Blaine needed him to explain it to him because, for whatever reason Blaine wanted to be there with him. Sure, Sam spent most of the time focusing on trying to make sure Blaine was having a good time than he did actually picking out things for himself, but that didn't matter. It's not like this was the last time he'd ever be in the store.

"Okay," Blaine pointed at the clock on the wall as he spoke, "I feel really bad now."

"D-did I do something wrong?" Sam asked.

"Yeah."

Sam felt his heart sink. He didn't know why, but the thought of letting Blaine down truly upset him. "I'm sorry."

"Calm down," Blaine smiled. "You spent the entire time picking out stuff for me. It's almost been two hours and you've got nothing for yourself, and you're the one who wanted to come here in the first place."

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about that. I always get distracted here, so I had them set up a file for me and they just pull the books I know I want to buy. That way I can spend my time finding new stuff. It's pretty neat - I get the things I know I'll want, and I can test out new stuff and, if I like the book, I just add the title to my file."

After the little misunderstanding was cleared up Sam had the clerk bring him the books from his file and he checked out. He was having fun hanging out with Blaine, but he couldn't wait to get home and read the new books. "You know you don't actually have to get any of those," Sam said when Blaine began checking out with a stack of books himself.

"I kind of do. You spent all this time picking out what you think I'd like, so it would be rude if I didn't get a few of them. Plus, can you imagine how awkward it's going to be if we get dragged back here on Friday and you're telling me all about the books you read and I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about?"

"I just figured you guys wouldn't want me to tag along again."

"Are you kidding?" Blaine said after placing his free hand on Sam's shoulder. "Having you along today was the one thing that made it enjoyable for me. If I have to, I'll bribe you with graphic novels if it means you'll come with us next time and I won't have to watch Rachel and Kurt go postal on a sales clerk if they're out of something."


Sam couldn't explain it, but he was extremely happy after yesterday. He never would have imagined that he would end up actually having a good time with everyone. It didn't matter that he spent most of the time with Blaine. Well, it did - in fact, it made the day better. Sam knew there wasn't anyone else in Glee that would have even gone into the comic book store with him, let alone have fun there.

It had been a little awkward meeting up with Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes at the food court; it made Sam feel like he was being put back in the spot light. He had tried not to space out like he always did, but it was hard. He had such a good time with Blaine and, on top of that, the comic book store was like a natural high for him. If anyone asked he wouldn't be able to say what conversations were had in the food court. All he knew was that he spent the afternoon with someone he really wanted to consider a good friend.

The sound of the warning bell made Sam jump, but not anywhere near as much as he did when he turned around to find Blaine standing silently behind him. "Seriously dude…we need to consider the whole bell thing."

"But you're so fun to scare," Blaine chuckled. "I don't think I have anything that would go with a bell. Maybe I could look into some tap shoes. Oh, hey, I finished 'Kingdom Come' last night."

Sam was a little surprised that Blaine actually read the graphic novel. "What did you think?"

"Honestly, it was a lot deeper than I was expecting. The whole plot astounded me. I totally get why this would be something that you would want to read again. I installed this app that lets you download graphic novels, so anytime you want to recommend something, I'm all ears."

Sam gave Blaine a look like he had just seen someone kick a box of newborn puppies. "You can't do that. Going to the comic book store is like the best part of the entire experience. All the books, the stuff you find that you hadn't even been looking for – just being able to pick the books up and hold them. You can't miss out on that, dude."

"Um, okay. Well, I liked what you picked out for me yesterday; maybe we should just go together again next week?"

Sam was so happy he felt like he was going to start jumping around like a goofball. He couldn't believe that someone had seen his dorky side and still wanted to hang out with him. To top it off, it was because Sam was acting like himself instead of holding himself back. "Cool! So we'll go next Wednesday after school."