Author's Note:
Just to let you all know ... you can thank those who reviewed for the early post. I polled them and they ASKED that the post come early! Actually, to quote one of them, they wanted it, "Tonight, Tonight"... Though, seeing that in print ... it started out in my head as Westside Story and ended up with a "party on the rooftop top of the world" so before I start "dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign" here you go. :P
Enough from me ... on with the show!
Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.
11 - Labels
"Hey, Blaine," Dan said as Blaine came through to the kitchen to grab himself a drink.
"Hey, Dan," Blaine said smiling before going in and opening the fridge.
"Oh, hey, you got a sec?" Dan said from the sofa.
"Yeah, sure," Blaine said as he closed the fridge and walked back toward him with his drink. "What's up?" he asked as he sat down in the nearest overstuffed chair.
"Is something going on with Sam?" Dan asked.
"Something ... as in something good or something bad?" Blaine asked a suspicious look on his face.
"I'm not sure," Dan said. "He just seems a little out of sorts I guess, almost like he's uncomfortable around me or something. Is something going on?"
"Oh, something bad, no I wouldn't know anything about that," Blaine said.
"Something bad?" Dan said now a bit suspicious himself now. "So is there something good you know about?"
"Um ... no," Blaine said quickly before occupying himself with his drink.
"Blaine..." Dan said eyeing him even more suspiciously.
Blaine rubbed at his eye. "Well..."
"Blaine," Dan said a little impatiently.
"It's nothing," Blaine said. "Nothing bad."
Dan nodded. "Okay, as long as it's nothing to worry about."
"No, nothing to worry about," Blaine said. "Um ... we might want to ... um ... go over the ... uh ... code word thing with him..."
"Excuse me?" Dan said laughing.
Blaine coughed. "I was ... well I ... I took his trash out on trash day, and ... well he used the entire box of tissues I gave him."
"So?" Dan said shrugging.
"It was a new box," Blaine said. Dan shrugged again. Blaine sighed. "It was new, he hasn't been sick and I didn't even use that many that fast while I lived in Westerville."
"Wha..." Dan started and then he lifted his eyebrows. "And Dave was over while we were both out the other day?"
Blaine nodded. "I guess they either didn't remember how Derrick said condoms helped with clean up, or they haven't discovered the fun of..." He suddenly stopped as he flushed and closed his eyes. "Uh ... nevermind."
Dan covered his mouth trying not to laugh. "I get it," he said nodding.
"Sorry," Blaine said. "It's just a little confusing talking to you."
"Why?" Dan said losing the bout with his laughter.
"It's just so comfortable talking to you most of the time," Blaine said. "Then that little thing in the back of my head kicks in and screams ... hell I'm never sure if it says teacher or parent or what, but then it just flips the switch and it feels funny."
Dan smiled at him. "It's okay; sometimes I get the same feeling with you. For the record, I'm fine with pretty much anything you can throw at me. For the most part it's like talking to Derrick, and then that little voice you mentioned kicks in and goes you shouldn't be talking to him about that... So yeah, I get it. Of course, since this is about Sam, I guess it's a double whammy."
"Tell me about it!" Blaine said.
"So, he and Dave, huh?" Dan said grinning.
"Well did you figure it would be long?" Blaine said. "Hell they lasted longer than Kurt and I did."
"I seem to remember," Dan, said smiling. "So, should I have a talk with him?"
"Uhm ... actually, why don't I?" Blaine said. "I mean, it's hard enough for the two of us, and we've lived together for months now; he just moved in."
"True," Dan said. "It might be easier that way. Just let me know if you have any problems and make sure to let me know if something's wrong that I may need to worry about."
"Trust me, I know when I'm out of my element," Blaine said.
Dan gave him a look, arching his eyebrow.
"I've improved thank you very much!" Blaine said before sticking his tongue out at him then walking toward his room.
"Um hmm," Dan said smiling and going back to his book.
Later that evening, after Sam had returned and Dan had gone for one of his runs, Blaine knocked at Sam's door. "Hey, Sam, got a minute?" Blaine asked.
"Sure," Sam said. He put his computer to sleep and closed it then turned toward Blaine indicating the end of the bed.
Blaine crossed the room and sat on the end of the bed. "There was something that I wanted to talk to you about. Actually it's two things."
"Okay, what's going on?" Sam said.
"It's kind of about you and Dave," Blaine said shifting on the bed. "Well, when I moved in Dan and I kind of ... well we have a code word for when Kurt and I want to ... uh ... when we want some privacy."
Sam looked surprised. "Oh ... I ... uh ... well... W...why would you mention that?"
"I ... grabbed your trash can on trash day and I ... well I saw that you'd used pretty much all of the tissues," Blaine managed.
"Oh, I ... uh ... I guess I should have taken care of that," Sam said blushing.
Blaine shook his head then sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry," said Blaine. "This is coming out all wrong. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. That's the last thing I want to do. I just ... I'm glad you and Dave got some time alone. I just want to make sure you have it. Like I said, we have a code word so that we can get that privacy and the other makes himself scarce."
"Okay," Sam said. "Well I guess we can come up with something. I'm just not sure how I would feel telling Mr. D that we wanna get busy. Hell I'm not sure how I'd feel if he knew we already had."
Blaine's mouth dropped. "I ... uh ... well he already knows about this time."
Sam eyes grew wide. "You already told him?"
"Well ... it came up."
"Oh my God!" Sam said. "I just..."
"Sam, it's fine," Blaine said. "Dan's cool."
"It might be cool for you, but ... God!"
"Sam he is cool with it," Blaine said. "He knows it's going to happen. Hell it's not like he doesn't too. As long you're safe, he's not going to have any problem with it, and doing it here as opposed to in Dave's truck has to be safer and judging by the amount of tissues you guys used you're not doing anything that might be dangerous."
Sam was shaking his head and then stopped to stare directly at Blaine, tipping his head slightly. "Wait ... what?"
"Which part?" Blaine asked confused.
"I'm not sure if it was the part about the number of tissues or the he does it too," Sam said. "Do you mean he's actually asked you to get lost for a while?"
It was Blaine's turn to stare. "OH! No!" Blaine said laughing. "He just didn't come home one night; he'd stayed at a friend's place. I just mean that he's not above having sex just like the rest of us."
"That's just weird," Sam said. "Not sure if it's because he's a teacher or because he's an adult."
"It shouldn't be, I mean Mrs. Palmer was pregnant last year and had the baby over the summer," Blaine said. "I mean how else do you get pregnant?"
"I guess you're right, it just seems strange," Sam said. "Uh, what about the tissues, though."
"Well I just figured that with that amount you guys were still just ... um ... in the hand job stage," Blaine said.
"Yeah, I guess we are," Sam said with a concerned look. "Is that bad?"
"No of course not!" Blaine said.
"I just," Sam started. "I guess I just never really gave much thought to the mechanics of it all with two guys."
"I ... uh..." Blaine said shaking his head. "Well there isn't any right or wrong about it. I guess as long as you're both comfortable with it and happy in the end, pretty much anything goes."
Sam shrugged. "I mean, I never really gave Dave much thought, especially with the way he was treating Kurt," Sam said. "Then that day he apologized to Kurt it sort of changed."
"That's funny," Blaine, said, "I thought Kurt said you got a black eye that day."
Sam laughed. "Yeah, I saw you guys running and thought he'd done something to you again. I tried to jump him and got slammed by a locker ... it came out of nowhere."
They both laughed.
"After that I gained a lot of respect for him," Sam said. "Then that day when he came out..." Sam shook his head. "I was just in awe. He not only stood up for the guy he'd been attacking, he just came out in front of everybody. I definitely knew that anyone with that kind of character was a man that I'd want as a friend. I mean we'd already been hanging out. I figured if he and Kurt were really alright, there had to be a reason."
Blaine simply looked at him and smiled.
"I'm not sure when I was sure," Sam said. "But I kissed him that first time and I was definitely sure then that it felt right."
"I know how that one feels," Blaine said smiling broadly.
"You know New York was our first time," Sam said with a kind of far off look.
"Ours too," Blaine said.
"It still wasn't about the mechanics though," Sam, said looking more through Blaine than at him. "It was more making out that went on... We never really even touched one another directly, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I get you," Blaine said. "You know, now that you mention it, I wish ours was more like that."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Well with us," Blaine, said, "we spent so much time worried about the mechanics that it almost didn't happen." Sam gave him a confused look. "Well, I'm a little more adventurous. I'd looked stuff up and practiced a little..."
"Kurt wasn't your first?" Sam asked surprised.
"No, he was," Blaine said. "There was an almost at Dalton, but deep down I knew that I didn't want a meaningless blow in the men's room to be my first experience with someone else."
Sam nodded. "Then how'd you practice?" Sam said still confused.
"I ... uh ... well there may have been a carrot or brat involved in there somewhere ... but that's all you're getting," Blaine said blushing and looking away. "Anyway... Kurt hadn't tried before; there were teeth, some pain, and some embarrassment. Kurt was almost too upset to continue. It just ... it shouldn't be as much about the mechanics as it is about you both being happy with the outcome, however you do it."
"I definitely get that on one level," Sam said. "Sometimes I wonder though ... I wonder if it's because I'm bi and not gay, I mean a blow job doesn't come up first on my list of things to do together. Getting one sounds great ... was great." He laughed. "Is that right, though? I mean it sounds like that's right where you and Kurt jumped in."
"I told you, there isn't a right or wrong as long as you're both comfortable and you both end up satisfied with what you did," Blaine said. "You sound like you were happy with how it went, was Dave happy even if you weren't ready to try it on him?"
"Yeah," Sam said shrugging.
"Then why worry about it," Blaine said. "I mean gay and bi are just general labels. You and Dave are together, whether you guys are gay, straight, bi, or purple, it's all about making sure that you make each other happy, right?"
"Yeah," Sam said again nodding.
"Then don't worry about the labels, just be happy."
Sam laughed. "It feels funny talking about all this."
"Well, if we don't talk about it together, who else are we going to talk to it about?" Blaine said. "I guess we could call Derrick or Bryce if we wanted it to be over the phone and not face to face, but it's still the same subject matter."
"You've got a point I guess," Sam said. "So you guys started with BJ's?" Blaine nodded. "Get much further?"
Blaine nodded.
"Well ... I guess does that mean that you guys kinda started at third base?" Sam asked. Blaine tipped his head and shrugged. "So have you made it to home then?"
"You know, now that you mention it, that does beg the question," Blaine said. "Well I guess we've both made it to home, so does that mean we've not only made it home, but hit a grand slam?"
Sam looked surprised. "Is it really that good? I mean I've never really thought about trying it."
Blaine nodded. "There is something to it," Blaine said. "It was definitely worth it, thought I'm not sure if it was the act itself or if it was that it was with the guy I loved. I guess I would just suggest that you make sure it's with the person you love too, so you don't have to worry about it."
"Good idea," Sam said smiling.
"Oh, we got so distracted, I never got around to that second question," Blaine said.
"Sorry," Sam said.
"Dan had just noticed that you seemed to be distant," Blaine said. "Like you were uncomfortable around him or something."
"No, no problems with him or anything," Sam said. "It's been pretty cool here."
"Is anything bothering you at all?" Blaine said. "I mean, he is pretty good at catching on to stuff."
"Well I have been feeling kind of funny, especially with Christmas coming up," Sam said. "I mean I'm not down there with them to help out with the kids. I'm not helping to bring in any money for the family, I can't even work part time like you because that's mainly weekend shifts and I can't work and go down on the weekend. Not to mention that I'm staying here free, that one hit me hard when you handed Mr. D your rent check. I feel like a freeloader and a good for nothing."
Blaine smiled broadly and nodded. "I know exactly what you mean. That's why he lets me pay him rent. I felt the exact same way when he let me move in."
"I'm glad somebody does," Sam said.
"It'll be a load off him to know that it's nothing big," Blaine said. "Just give it some thought and give me your code word for privacy time and don't forget that you can talk to me anytime about anything. And like they've both said, if we get stuck on anything, we can always call and ask Derrick or Bryce. Remember we're not in this alone."
Sam nodded.
Several days later, the gang was wrapping up practice and Dan came to the door. Schuester nodded at him and turned to the group. "Hey guys, before we break, Mr. Deen has something that he'd like to say." He gestured Dan toward his stool and music stand at the front of the room.
"If we could just wait a few, there are a few more people coming," Dan said. A few moments later Lauren, Josh and a few others from their GSA came to the door.
"Told you this was the place," Lauren told them all as they walked in, Josh turning to nod at her. Puck rushed over to hug her. "Un, un," she told him holding up a hand. "You been told."
"Come on mama, it's been a whole damn month," Puck said frowning.
"You'll be lucky if you get any of this by new years," Lauren said. "You and Blondie can go discuss."
"Ouch," Finn said as Puck returned to the seat beside him. They both watched as Lauren walked across the room to take a seat beside Kurt. "You really pissed her off this time."
"We didn't do anything!" Puck said.
"You skipped a date with her to spend the time with ... well maybe not your ex, but the mother of you baby," Finn said. "She was bound to get pissed off."
"Yeah, dumbass," Santana said from the row behind them. "You're lucky to still have both nipple rings."
"Okay guys," Dan said getting their attention. "I'm talking to you as members of the GSA now; I figured that most of you are in the New Directions so I'd bring the rest of us to you instead of dragging you all to our usual spot."
Everyone nodded in agreement and thanked him.
"Well I've been working on a few things with some friends of mine," Dan said. "As most of you know my brother and his husband are both models and they know several photographers." The others nodded. "They also know several people in the business who are also sympathetic to the cause of our group, so I've made arrangements for a few of them to come and see us."
He received a chorus of "wow's" and "awesome's" and then continued. "One of those photographers and her significant other have agree to come and talk to our combined GSA and PFLAG groups and tell us what it's been like living and working together as a couple."
"Cool Mr. D," Finn said.
"She's also told me that she has an upcoming project that we can help her with," Dan said. "She has a holiday spread for an online publisher that she was just about to start casting, but she says she can use you guys if you're up to it."
"What? You mean she wants pictures of us?" Santana said shocked.
Dan nodded. "Yup and the company has also offered her a set rate for anyone she employs as a model."
A general murmur started when they heard about the possible payment, until...
"But Mr. Schue won't we get in trouble if we accept money," Rachel pointed out. "Like with the mattress store or the car commercial Coach Sylvester tried to trick us into doing..."
"You are such a killjoy Berry!" Santana said.
"I just don't want to get us excluded from competition," Rachel said defending herself.
"Ladies," Dan said. "Mr. Schue and I already checked it out for you."
Schuester nodded. "As long as you aren't being paid to sing, as long as it's just for your pictures it's fine."
"It'll be just like Finn works at the garage, Blaine works at the record store and Noah does the pool cleaning, it's just another job," Dan said.
"Plus," Schuester said, "If it all goes into a separate savings account, as long as it's not the glee clubs, you can treat it as a fundraiser."
"You mean we don't get it?" Quinn asked.
"It's up to you," Dan said. "It is a good way to start saving up for things you need though."
"Then how does it benefit the glee club?" Puck asked.
"Well the science and computer departments have helped you guys with audio, light and laser shows and stuff like that," Dan said. "Technically the glee club doesn't have to pay for that, even though they've been allowed to use them."
"So you're kinda playing fast and loose with the rules," Finn said grinning.
"I have been known to do that a time or two," Dan said nodding. "You guys can't get penalized for accepting payments, and we can still make sure that you guys get the stuff you need. I mean face it, the science club and computer club don't take trips, but you guys still have Regionals and Nationals. I'll take care of the GSA speaker's honorariums myself."
"Turning over your portion will be voluntary," Schuester said. "So those of you who are not in New Directions are under no obligation and the rest of you really aren't either. We'll make the money to get us there just like we did last year."
"I'll get back with you with more information within the week," Dan said. "We'll also have permission slips, releases and all the other paperwork to go along with it within the week. Until then, think it over, I'll have more details on who the shoot is for, who will be getting and seeing the pictures, etcetera later this week with the forms."
"Thanks guys," Schuester said.
Every one began to make their way to the doors as they disbursed, but Dan caught Sam causing Dave, Blaine and Kurt to hold up as well. "I just wanted to let you guys know that you know the photographer," Dan said. "It's Chelle."
"Really?" Dave said.
Dan nodded. "She said this shoot is a lot like the one you guys did in the park, only with holiday outfits." They all laughed. "This one is for an online thing though so the process is a lot faster."
"Well the one we did in the park was fun," Dave said, "and this time we'll even know everybody."
"One more thing, Sam," Dan said. "She said she still wants to shoot you. So if you're up for it she'll stick around and do a portfolio shoot with you just like she did when you were there with Derrick, only this one will be all you. And any money you get from that will be just for you."
Sam looked at him strangely as the others three looked on with shock. "Is this because I said I was feeling bad about not working or paying you anything?"
Blaine smiled.
"A little bit," Dan said smiling.
"I don't know," Sam said.
"Nobody is going to force you," Dan said. "The offer is there, so just think about it."
He turned and walked off with Schuester as the boys all turned to Sam.
"It was fun in New York," Dave said.
"You did say you wanted to be able to do something for money," Blaine said.
"Don't look at me," Kurt said. "I'm Switzerland, but I'm behind you whatever your decision."
Sam nodded. "I'll think about it."
End note:
There we go ... more to come!