The Best Laid Plans

Chapter Summary: Blaine gets something off his chest, and Sam's feelings become even more confusing as a friend from NYC visits.

Disclaimer: As this is a fanfiction story, obviously I don't own Glee. Or to cover more widely, if you recognize it, I probably don't own it.

Notes: For the most part, I don't think about the songs Blaine is writing as I'm not a song-writer, but when it becomes relevant I'll appropriate Matchbox Twenty's songs (because I love them and I think Rob Thomas is a brilliant song-writer). This chapter this is their song "These Hard Times."

Finally, check out the graphic leaf-falling made for this story! It's on my tumblr (closetedsupernerd) tagged under Best Laid Plans.

Warning: Discussion of Finn's death.

Chapter 6:

Brandon and Sam sat in their agency's waiting room, not talking about much. They looked at the other two models sitting with them. Both were in their agency but they almost never had shoots with them.

"What do you think this is about?" Sam sighed, checking his cell phone for the time. Brandon shrugged as he flipped through his magazine.

They sat there in silence again until Sam heard snickering coming from Brandon's direction. He looked up to see Brandon still focused on his magazine, but this time with a smile. "What?" Sam asked.

Brandon got up to take the seat next to him, passing the magazine to share with him. Sam looked down, seeing a picture of Blaine and Jesse having coffee together. Jesse was smirking at Blaine over his coffee, dressed in dark colors. Blaine, meanwhile, was in a tight white t-shirt and his usual skin tight colored jeans, this time green. His ray-bans sat on his face, his hair gelled into place without being cemented down. The thing that got Sam, though, was the huge smile on his face as he leaned in towards Jesse. Apparently, that's what got the magazine's attention too.

"Real life love blooming on set?" Sam read out loud. He pulled the magazine closer. "Blaine Anderson and Jesse St. James having coffee together. It looks like we are interrupting a private moment between the two men whose characters are rumored to be future love interests. Are Anderson and James getting ahead of the game?"

"Got to say," Brandon smiled, "looking at these magazines became a whole lot interesting once I got to know a real life celebrity."

Sam scoffed, still not quite able to think of Blaine as a celebrity, giving the magazine back to Brandon. "Jesse and Blaine? I mean, Jesse's growing on him, but he reminds Blaine of his brother."

Brandon made a non-committal noise. "They would be hot together."

Sam couldn't help the smile on his face. "Yeah, well, you'll have to deal with just seeing it on 'Stardom.' Besides I know Jesse's straight. He doesn't shut up about how amazing everyone should think he is because he plays a character interested in other guys. He says it shows how tolerant he is, or something." Sam rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, he seems like a douche," Brandon agreed.

"Eh, he's likeable enough," Sam informed him. "At least now."

Brandon re-thought the rest of his statement before leaning in more closely. "Wait, so when are we getting the Ben and Robbie action?"

"I've said enough," Sam fake zipped his mouth shut.

Brandon opened his mouth to speak when they were interrupted as the secretary ushered them into the main office.


"Blaine! Blaine!" Sam called out, rushing into the house, barely managing to shut the door. He didn't even bother with his shoes, not caring that Blaine would probably yell at him. "Artie!"

Sam skidded to a halt in the living room. "Guys, guys," he said insistently as he spotted Blaine and Artie. But someone else was there too. "Rachel?" he asked, confused.

"Hey, Sam," she smiled, but seeming a bit subdued.

"What's going on?" he looked at Blaine and Artie. Artie shook his head frantically, making cutting motions across his neck.

Blaine was more subtle. Kind of. "Rachel's visiting. She took a few days off and surprised us," he said, raising his eyebrows pointedly.

"Oh," Sam said, coming further into the room and wondering if it would be rude to just breeze back into what he was so excited about.

Rachel gave him an out, waving him over. "Now," she said bracingly. "What is it that you were going to tell the boys here?" She shielded her mouth as if telling him a secret, but clearly stage whispered the rest. "We can pretend for the next few days I'm one of the guys."

"With how awesome you look in that dress? Never," Blaine told her, throwing an arm around her shoulder. She sent him the first real smile of the night and Sam couldn't help but notice that Blaine was right about the dress. Unlike Blaine though, Sam could appreciate it for other reasons.

"Such a charmer," Rachel pinched Blaine's cheek lightly. Blaine blushed as he pulled away. Or possibly Rachel's pinch was a little harder than it had looked.

"Anyway, my news?" Sam announced pointedly. All three of his friends gave him their attention, only Artie behaving like he was humoring him. "I got signed to do America's Next Top Model. I mean not as a competitor but you know those guys that model in the background? I'm going to be one of them. I'm going to be making like, twice as much as I usually do. And Brandon thinks this is going to like boost our careers." Sam bounced on the balls of his feet, huge grin taking over his face.

"That's great," Blaine said, grinning excitedly and throwing himself at Sam. He pulled him into a tight hug. When he pulled away, Rachel was quick to replace him.

"Oh my God, Sam. That is so great," she said, honestly happy for him. And that made Sam feel even better. Rachel had gotten better but she was so often a little self-centered that it made you feel amazing when she was excited for you. Artie, meanwhile, offered him a fist bump, but Sam figured that was excited for him.

Rachel stayed tucked into his side as she addressed everyone. "We should go out and celebrate," she announced. "I'm here in LA for a few days and Sam booked this job." She pulled away, clapping excited. "You should call Jesse," she told Blaine. Artie shook his head seriously behind her. She turned very quickly to Sam. "And you should invite your new friends. This is so exciting."

In the end, they didn't call Jesse. But Sam called Brandon and the girls. Brandon was immediately in but Mel and Jordan were on a shoot in San Francisco for a few days. So Brandon guided them to an awesome club with a live band and met up with them.

The drinks went around quickly with Sam and Brandon drinking a bit too quickly in their excitement. Rachel almost matched them, but it was clear she was having her own less happy moments. She latched onto Blaine immediately, insisting that he get a new drink every time she did. Artie was the only one moderating himself.

"One of us has to keep our sanity," Artie had explained.

They eventually reached the point in the night where Sam was laughing at almost anything everyone said. And Brandon had some stories about…well Sam couldn't remember at this point. Rachel and Blaine, meanwhile, were dancing away on the dance floor. Sam watched as Blaine twirled her. Laughing, Rachel spun back into his arms and they danced closely together. Even flushed from dancing, maybe especially because of it, they both looked stunning under the colored lights.

"Dude," Sam said suddenly, interrupting whatever story Brandon was telling. At this point, he was having serious issues following any conversation. He looked between Artie and Brandon, not sure who he was talking to. "That's…God, those two together? Confusing," Sam wiped at his eyes as if that was going to clear up his train of thought.

Brandon looked rather confused himself but Artie only looked towards the dance floor before rolling his eyes. "Are you revisiting the whole Rachel thing?" Artie asked. Sam nodded sadly, opening his mouth to add something else.

"Wait. Don't you have a massive crush on…" Brandon trailed off, he too looking at the dance floor where Rachel and Blaine had started dirty dancing. Until they apparently found it too funny to continue and started moshing instead. "Oh."

Sam nodded miserably.

"Well, Rachel's single," Artie offered.

"Wait, I thought she was dating her co-star," Sam said very quickly. Then it hit him. Why Rachel would take a few days off and visit them. "Ah, I get it now. They broke up, didn't they?"

Artie nodded. "He was too old for her anyway. Not that it would have been an issue if you just dated when you two were dancing around each other."

"Not that soon after Finn," Sam wrinkled his nose, hit with the usual sadness when he thought about Finn. He looked over at Blaine and Rachel dancing again. They looked like they were having a good time. If you didn't know Blaine was gay, anyone would think they were a couple on a night out. But Blaine always kept his hands respectful.

Soon, Blaine was dragging Rachel back to the table. He threw himself down next to Sam, still holding Rachel hand, and she tumbled down after him. She ended up over both their laps before righting herself.

"Whoops," she announced in delight, reseating herself so she could lean against Blaine.

"Hi, Sammy!" Blaine said happily.

"Yeah! Hi, Sammy!" Rachel mimicked him. She batted her eyes at Sam.

Sam swallowed. "Hey, guys." He turned very quickly, jostling Blaine as he did so, and eyed Artie and Brandon in panic. They were no help, though, as they just snickered.

The band finished playing, but instead of moving on to the next song they called for the audience's attention. "Hey, hold up everyone," the lead singer called. "Whispers have it that we have a celebrity in our midst. Apparently he sings a little. Yo, Blaine Anderson, come up to the stage, man. Your fans want to hear from you."

Rachel gasped dramatically. "Go," she insisted, shoving him. Blaine somehow managed to get up, with no help from Rachel who seemed to think she was helping though it looked more like she was tugging him down.

Blaine weaved through the crowd. "Yo, man, where are you?" the lead singer asked again. Some people started to shout his progress. Finally, Blaine climbed up the stairs, if maybe a little more slowly than normal. He and the singer exchanged some words, Blaine gesturing towards the keyboard. More words were exchanged before Blaine took a seat beyond the keyboard, fiddling with the microphone.

Rachel shifted closer to Sam. "He's going to sing," she squealed. She looked at the others. "Someone film this!" Artie quickly pulled out his phone and aimed it at the stage.

Blaine cleared his throat on the stage. "Hello everyone," he said with a grin. "Um, so I could play something from 'Stardom' but there's this song that I've kind of been working on lately, well maybe not kind of. I've definitely been working on it. Well, anyway, I'm going to play it." He shifted in his seat, pausing for a moment as if catching his balance. Though he wasn't slurring, Sam wondered how he would manage to sing with how drunk he was. "So I'm bearing my heart to all of you. This is all Blaine Anderson right now."

With that he started to play a short introduction before beginning to sing. Sam watched as Blaine sung his heart out, eyes meeting people's in the audience:

"Morning falls like rain into the city life
There goes another night
Losing my breath in waves
Knowing that every crash is bleeding the hourglass
And taking the strife from all our lives

Everyone keeps talking
They promise you everything
But they don't mean anything

We may lose our focus
There's just too many words
We're never meant to learn
And we don't feel so alive

So goodbye, these days are gone
And we can't keep holding on
When all we need is some relief
Through these hard times
Through these hard times

Move your hands in circles
Keeping me hypnotized
The power behind your eyes
Move around your bedroom cursing the naked sky
You should be here tonight
But you stay alone and cry

Say goodbye, these days are gone
And we can't keep holding on
When all we need is some relief
Through these hard times
(whoa) There's something missing
(Oh whoa) You'll never feel it but you
(Oh whoa) You're gonna feel it when it's gone
When it's gone

Say goodbye, these days are gone
And we can't keep holding on
When all we need is some relief
Through these hard times

(hey) these Hard times
(oh no now) Hard times
Hard times

Say goodbye, these days are gone
Say goodbye, these days are gone
These days are gone"

Blaine finished playing to applause, Sam and the rest of the group gladly joining. Sam always loved watching Blaine perform and it had been a while. Lately, it was all for multiple takes in front of a camera. Blaine took a bow before looking to leave the stage, but he was delayed as soon as he left the stairs by fans. It looked like Blaine would be stuck signing autographs for a little while.

Sam looked around at his friends, as he finally tore his eyes away from Blaine. Artie was tucking his phone back into his pocket while Brandon sent him pointed looks. For the life of him, Sam couldn't figure out what he was trying to tell him.

As for Rachel, she sniffed sadly. "That was beautiful," she told them. "It's like he was speaking to me." She got up very quickly. "I need to go tell him." And with that, she ran over to Blaine and his crowd of fans.

"That was a break-up song," Brandon said very quickly elbowing Sam.

Artie scoffed. "The man sung 'It's Not Right, But It's Okay' when his boyfriend was texting someone else. I wouldn't read too far into it."

"But he wrote that," Sam stated hopefully.

Brandon nodded insistently. "Don't encourage him," Artie practically scolded Brandon. "Blaine is sad. He feels like the world is ending. Maybe they'll break up, but let it play out."

"I don't get why you're so negative about this," Sam whined, grabbing Rachel's abandoned drink and downing it.

"Do you want to make Blaine a cheater? Do you want him to always think of you as the person who helped break Kurt's heart?" Artie asked, clearly losing his patience. "I love you guys. You know I love me some Blam. But you get between Kurt and Blaine, and there's a chance you lose him. Or you get to be the rebound and things are awkward between you forever." He let out a frustrated noise. "You get it now?"

Sam didn't want any of that. No, he wouldn't risk it. Who was to say Blaine would ever go for someone like him anyway? Sure, Sam was pretty confident that Blaine would sleep with him if Kurt wasn't in the picture, but did he want that? No, he wanted all of Blaine or nothing. And Sam just wasn't good enough to have all of Blaine.

Eventually, both Rachel and Blaine made their way back to them. Rachel settled herself where she had been sitting next to Sam during Blaine's song. Blaine, meanwhile, sat off to the side looking sad. Sam wanted to go to him, but he was starting to get tired of being the good friend. How long could he counsel Blaine in his relationship issues? He just couldn't do it anymore. Sam downed another drink. The more he drank, the more easily he could forget about Blaine. As the night went on, Sam vaguely recalled Brandon heading out, then Artie and Blaine, with Artie glancing at Blaine worriedly.

Rachel, meanwhile, insisted on a drunken tour of LA. She clung to his arm as they practically stumbled over a few blocks. It didn't last. Giggling, they both agreed that maybe they were a little too drunk for a walking tour of LA.

They managed to get a cab, but it was a bit of a project to actually get into it. Sam couldn't remember the last time he was so drunk. He was at the point where physically everything felt numb and anything anyone said was funny. Even the cab driver telling them not to puke in his car. Perhaps it was because the feeling had floated away from most of his body that he was so surprised to see Rachel leaning against him when he looked down.

"I think I like LA," Rachel told him. "Good company," she poked him in the shoulder with a laugh. "Maybe Artie will give me a job when my run on Funny Girl ends in February."

"I'm sorry about what's his name," Sam said very seriously.

Rachel looked up at him, no longer laughing but a small smile still on her face. "Thank you," she responded sincerely. "So far you and Blaine are the only ones to tell me that. Santana tried to be helpful. She really did. But my break-up process does not require trash-talking my ex or the men of the world."

Yeah, that sounded familiar. That certainly was Santana's process. The things she said about her exes were kind of terrible. At least by half-way through Sam's first year in New York, she stopped saying those things about Brittany. It was awkward considering she was Sam's ex, too.

Sam shook himself from his thoughts. Though he probably shouldn't have done it so physically because the world was now spinning a bit too much. "How about Kurt?" he managed to get out.

"Psh," she waved her arm kind of sloppily. "It was all 'I told you so', and 'Now, you can just focus on your dreams.' Well, guess what Kurt Hummel, my dreams involve not being alone for the rest of my life."

"You're not going to be alone," Sam insisted.

"Then I fought with Kurt," Rachel announced as if she hadn't heard him. "I know beside the 'I told you so', he was trying to be helpful. Get over your ex by living your life. I get it." She nodded her head very seriously against Sam's shoulder. It hit Sam, though, from her fully formed sentences, that maybe she wasn't as drunk as he was. "But I just didn't need to hear that right then, you know?" Sam nodded as if he did know. "So I was mean and threw the whole thing with Blaine in his face, like a terrible friend. I was there for that fight. It was awful. I mean I was there back when Blaine confessed to cheating, too, but that was nothing compared to this. Even Blaine got nasty."

"Maybe Blaine's learning to fight back," Sam said protectively, not liking where she was going.

Rachel eyed him. "If Blaine didn't run away from confrontation and keep things he thinks will hurt Kurt from him, maybe things wouldn't get that nasty when it blows up. He lets things fester and fester, expecting Kurt to just know. Then he explodes. Scary explodes, you know? Because normally he's such a sweetheart." Then she shook her head, losing her balance for a moment. She righted herself. "I don't think he's wrong. Kurt is…Kurt is making a choice to stick to his guns about his dream being New York. And he's scared because Blaine's changing the plan. He thinks Blaine's just going to become this big thing and suddenly Blaine won't think him good enough. Or that he's just going to overshadow him like he did in high school."

Sam scrunched up his face, wondering where he was in high school when that was happening. Sure, it definitely did when the two were with the Warblers. And, yes, Blaine sang a lot in Glee club but everyone did. Except the competitions. The competitions were Finn and Rachel. And the Troubletones.

"When did—" he started to ask.

As if anticipating the question, Rachel quickly answered. "The play. Some lines in the competitions. NYADA on the first try. Just things that Kurt feels Blaine barely had to work for."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Okay, he sang more. He also centered his whole life on Kurt. You should've seen him senior year. He had no idea what he was doing without Kurt. He tried to leave the school. I don't—" He rubbed at his eyes, not wanting to get into an argument.

But surprisingly Rachel was nodding along with him. "But that's Blaine. He can't expect the same thing from Kurt. Kurt fights for every little thing he gets. Blaine won't ever understand that. That's why Kurt can't leave New York. It's like giving up. That's why I couldn't have stayed in Lima with Finn. Not without making something of myself."

Sam was starting to wonder if Blaine and Kurt even got each other at all. It looked like they both wanted something the other had: success or someone's unconditional love.

They finally arrived back to the house. The two tiptoed across the living room. "I was going to stay in Blaine's room but I don't want to wake him up," Rachel whispered to him.

Sam just grabbed her hand. "Come on, we'll share mine," he told her. And it was nice as they settled into his bed. She was so much tinier that any girl he had ever shared a bad with. She tucked into his side, her hair covering his face. It took some fiddling but finally everyone's hair and elbows were out of the way.

"I think they both deserve better," Rachel whispered to him after they had been settled for a few minutes. "I thought they were the cutest thing in high school, but this isn't high school anymore. It used to make me sad to look at them after, because I thought that could have been me and Finn if we did things differently. But now, I think Finn and I had the right idea. We knew we had to follow our own paths before we could really be together."

And with that Sam really got why Rachel was here. Sure, she was sad about her current break up. But she feared being alone because she was still mourning, even after all this time. And she hadn't found that person yet that could make her feel like Finn had. Sam felt incredibly, and admittedly irrationally, guilty for thinking his problems with Blaine were so bad. Blaine and he were still Blam. He still had him.

"That's why I had to leave, you know?" Rachel continued. "I couldn't be in New York right now because I just…I can't talk to Kurt about Finn. It's not fair, not when he's moving on. And Santana still feels guilty about things that happened back in high school. And I thought: they're not my only friends. I have Blaine, Artie, and you."

And that's why, despite his attraction to Rachel, and the way he had been thinking about her earlier, it was much more comfortable to sleep with her that night than it had been with Blaine. This was just friendly. Rachel was his friend. And she was sexy as hell, but in his head there would always be Finn. She wasn't his. And though he had to share Blaine, at least in a way he kind of was Sam's.

The next morning, by the time he woke up, Rachel was already out of bed. He went about his morning, using the bathroom and brushing his teeth, before stumbling into the living room. He paused in the hallway, eyebrows raised as he spotted Rachel sitting against the wall near the kitchen. Artie, who was doing work near the couch, spotted Sam.

"Don't ask," Artie told him. But Sam kind of wanted to know, which was why he quickly rushed over to Rachel as she waved him over. She pulled him down beside her, sending him a shushing motion and nodding towards the kitchen. Now that he was sitting there, he could hear Blaine on the phone.

"—just a song, Kurt," Blaine was saying. Sam looked at Rachel, surprised. As far as he knew, Blaine and Kurt hadn't spoken in almost a month beyond a few random texts here and there since their fight. "Yes, it's how I was feeling."

A pause. "I don't know."

Another. "I am being honest, Kurt. I don't know. You know I love you. So much."

Sam's stomach felt a little sick at those words, but he didn't know what it expected coming from Blaine.

"I think that's a good idea. We need…we need to sort things out," Blaine sounded resigned. "Sure, Christmas. But…Kurt, I don't know about your family this year. It doesn't feel right."

There was long break. "Did he really say that?" Blaine asked, sounding stunned. "No, no, of course, I don't want to disappoint your father. I'll be there." A few breaths. "Yeah, see you then."

Both Sam and Rachel were surprised to hear his voice sounding closer with those final words. They scrambled to get up and over to the couch but stumbled over each other. They ended up sprawled across the floor, looking up into Blaine's unimpressed face.

"Good morning," he said, a little bit of a bite to his tone.

"We weren't—" Rachel and Sam began to say very quickly, only to be interrupted by Artie.

"They were totally eaves dropping," Artie informed Blaine helpfully. Rachel and Sam sent matching glares over at Artie.

"I got that, thanks," Blaine answered sarcastically, crossing his arms across his chest and not helping as Rachel and Sam finally got to their feet.

"So are you going to tell us what happened?" Rachel asked eagerly. "I mean, not that I don't have excellent eaves-dropping skills but that conversation wasn't the easiest thing to interpret. And I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "As usual, pictures and even videos are up from last night."

"Oh, no," Rachel said very dramatically. "Do we look like a couple again? Is Kurt upset?" Her eyes grew comically wide. "Is he even more upset with me?" Honestly, Sam felt she had to work on her priorities.

Or maybe not. Her words caused a bit of a smile on Blaine's face, though he clearly tried to hide it. "No, he's not mad. He heard my song," he told both of them. "He thinks we need to talk. I agree."

"So he's guilt tripping you to the Hummel's for Christmas?" Sam asked, thinking over the conversation. Rachel elbowed him in the stomach.

"No," Blaine told him, looking at Sam as if he thought he was insane. "Burt knows we're having troubles, but he wanted Kurt to tell me he wanted me there. No matter how things play out."

"And how are things going to play out?" The question came from Artie this time.

Blaine only shrugged, looking very sad. "I don't know." He sat down, looking at all three of them. "I'm going to be honest with you because you three are both of our friends. Kurt said some things I don't know if I can forgive. And I lashed out pretty badly, too. But there are underlying issues here. Things that we have to see if we can work out. I love him. I want it to work out." Blaine sighed. "I have to go book a flight now." And with that he headed off to his room.

Sam looked at the others. "Why did that feel like a speech my parents would make to me if they were getting a divorce?"

Artie snickered, while Rachel smiled. "It kind of did," she said as she glanced down the hallway before looking back at Sam. "Though, honestly, it also kind of felt like I had been caught eaves-dropping by my dads, not a friend a year younger than me."

She had a point, but Sam was a little distracted now looking down the hallway. Should he go talk to Blaine? Maybe he needed his best friend now. But the thoughts from last night were still there, that he couldn't keep doing this for Blaine. "Do you think I should go check on him?" Sam asked unsurely.

Artie stared at him. "I really don't."

Rachel looked between them, clearly confused. "I'll go," she informed them.

"Uh…" Sam and Artie exchanged looks. "Are you sure? You're like, Kurt's best friend."

Rachel straightened her shirt, raising her head proudly (for what Sam had no idea). "I think it's time we all accept we have to be Kurt's friends and Blaine's friends. If they break up, this time I'm too close to Blaine to let that relationship go." She sent them pointed looks. "And I think you two should remember that about Kurt, too."

With that, she wandered down the hall, knocking gently on Blaine's door and letting herself in.

Sam finally sat down, wondering if he could do what she said. If Blaine and Kurt broke up, could he stay friends with Kurt? Or maybe it would be easier. With Kurt no longer playing the role of Blaine's fiancé, maybe Sam could start thinking about him without getting angry. It looked like Rachel was preparing herself for a break-up. Sam, on the other hand, thought she was overestimating Blaine's ability to let anything go. Maybe love wasn't enough, but Blaine was an idealist. Sam didn't see him giving up.