A/N: So much thanks to my beta Alice aka darlingwendy!
"This dress needs to seal the deal, make a grown man kneel-"
"But it can't come right out and say bride!"
"Can't look like a desperate whore-"
"Tina, that's not the words!"
"I'm sorry, it's just what I heard the first time I listened and I keep forgetting it's wrong!"
Sam pushed the slightly cracked door to open slowly, revealing Blaine and Tina in Blaine's bedroom. He leaned against the doorframe as they continued to laugh and banter, Tina shoving clothes into a suitcase, Blaine carefully arranging picture frames in cardboard boxes. Teddy, who had been chewing on a bone in the corner, ran to greet Sam with a smile and wagging tail.
"Omigod you guys!" Sam shrieked in time with the music, voice just as high pitched as Elle Woods'. Without missing a beat, Blaine and Tina squealed 'omigod!' right back at him as Sam leaned down to give Teddy a good belly scratching.
Tina hopped over to give Sam a hug as Blaine jumped up on the bed, continuing to belt out Elle's lyrics on his own.
"Love is like, forever, this is no time to economize," Tina sang to Blaine in response, looking up at Sam through the corner of her eye and giving him a nudge with her hip. Sam waggled his eyebrows. Blaine, paying no attention to their silent plotting, continued to jump on the bed in time with the music.
Unsurprisingly, he was caught completely off guard when Sam and Tina tackled him down onto the bed.
"Guys!" Blaine gasped through laughter, twitching away from Sam's tickling fingers though he was pinned down by Tina's hold. "Guys, okay! Uncle, uncle!"
Sam flopped down on Blaine's left side, chest heaving with exertion, as Tina did the same on Blaine's right. They laid in silence as the song shuffled to a perky upbeat dance number from the same musical, before Blaine stretched his arms around both Sam and Tina's shoulders and tugged them close.
"I love you guys," he said, squeezing them together. Sam shifted his arms around until they were comfortable, one arm draped around Tina's back, the other behind Blaine's head. He leaned in close, comforted by the smell of Blaine's cologne.
"We love you, too, Blainey," Tina murmured. Blaine gave her an extra squeeze before they all pulled back, ending the moment before it could get too serious, though there was still some tension in Blaine's face that had nothing to do with messing around earlier.
Sam fell flat back onto the bed, apparently farther than the first time since his shoulder and arm hit the open suitcase, almost knocking it off. Sitting up, Sam noticed that not only was the suitcase almost packed to the brim with clothing, but the walls had been completely stripped and there was already a stack of full cardboard boxes by the door.
"Abandoning me already?" he asked. "Dude, the wedding isn't even for two weeks and half your room is already packed. Can't you wait till after? It's not like you're going to ship all of this off to Paris with you."
"That's what I said, but Blaine likes to be so organized," Tina teased, also sitting up. They both laughed, Sam thinking about the alphabetical state of the sheet music in the living room and the perfectly compartmentalized fruits, vegetables, and milk cartons in the fridge. He looked back to Blaine, smiling, but found him completely sober, eyes focused on nothing.
"Hey, what's up?" Sam asked, nudging Blaine's knee. Blaine looked up, suddenly alert, and shook his head.
"Oh, I was just…thinking."
"Don't hurt yourself."
"Ha ha, very funny." Blaine paused. He cleared his throat nervously. "Um. The wedding's not in Paris."
Sam's heart jumped. Tina actually let out a cheer, exciting Teddy so much that he raced over from his spot in the corner to jump on the bed and curl up next to Blaine.
But Blaine still wasn't smiling.
"Dude, aren't you happy? This is what you wanted!"
"I mean, yeah. Yeah, I'm happy," Blaine assured, but Sam wasn't convinced.
"Is there something else?" Tina asked.
"I'm…I'm not moving this stuff into Kurt's apartment. I mean, I'm not moving into Kurt's apartment."
Tina opened her mouth, but Sam shook his head at her before she could make an inappropriate joke about the wedding being off. Blaine's face clearly said it wasn't the time.
"So what are you doing?" he asked.
"We're moving into a place together," Blaine began to explain, but stopped.
"Okay," Sam said. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"
Blaine didn't respond. Sam and Tina looked to each other, both wearing confused expressions, but said nothing, hoping Blaine would elaborate. Even Teddy's ears perked up, waiting to see if Blaine would speak.
"We're moving to Paris."
"What?"
"Tina-"
"He can't just make you do that, he-"
"Tina, please-"
"Blaine, it's not fair for you to-"
"Tina. Please."
Tina fell silent at Blaine's resigned tone.
"It's happening. I'm moving."
He reached over and squeezed her hand, trying to coax her to understand. She nodded, then looked back and forth between Blaine and Sam.
"I think I'm going to go." She stood, then leaned forward, kissing Blaine on the cheek. "Just…be careful?"
Blaine nodded. Tina gave Sam a wave, Teddy a scratch on the head, then closed the door behind her.
Sam focused on his hands in his lap, Blaine shifting beside him to tuck his legs up under himself. In the background, the music changed to the first chimes of the musical's ballad.
"So. The wedding's not in Paris."
"No. I asked Kurt… he's doing this for me. Because…" But he said nothing more.
Sam sniffed, rubbing his hands together tightly, intertwining the fingers and gripping the palms and doing whatever he could to keep himself grounded. Paris.
"Are you mad?"
"No." Sam shook his head. "I'm not mad. I'm just…" He closed his eyes, which were becoming wet. "Sad. I'm really sad." He looked up at Blaine, who looked equally as upset. "I know you don't really want me to ask this, but…is this really what you want?"
Blaine took in a deep breath, already nodding, and Sam could tell that what was about to come out of his mouth wouldn't be an honest answer. "Yes, I mean, it's a beautiful city, and it'll be nice to build a new life with Kurt, and…"
"Are you just telling yourself that?" Sam asked bluntly. Blaine hesitated, then let his shoulders collapse.
"Sam, I can't take this away from him. And what I want most is to be with him."
'Wow, that didn't hurt at all,' Sam thought as he looked up to the ceiling light, trying to hold back the tears filling his eyes.
"Sammy…"
"I'm sorry, it just…" Sam blinked, wiping at his cheeks, "it really sucks to feel like I'm losing you." Teddy whined, nuzzling his nose into Sam's thigh.
Blaine shook his head, his voice thick. "You're not losing me. You're never going to lose you."
Sam laughed, a cold and empty sound coming out. "Blaine, we had a hard enough time keeping in touch when you were over there for three weeks. This is…" He could not say forever.
Blaine reached across Teddy, gripping Sam's shoulders tightly and forcing him to look at him. "This is not goodbye. I won't let this be goodbye. I'll travel back here as often as I can, I'll call you every day, I swear, I…" He faltered, a tear falling down his cheek. "Sam…it's going to be okay. We'll be okay," he said, choking on a sob.
"And what about you?" Sam asked, reaching up to hold Blaine's arm. Blaine shrugged, dropping his hands so that they rested at Sam's elbows.
"I mean, I'm just trying to look at it this way. I changed my life for Kurt before, and it brought me one of the best things in my life. It brought me you. Maybe it'll happen again."
"So are you just going to replace me?" Sam asked, only partially joking.
"I could never replace you," Blaine said seriously. He tugged Sam closer, puling him into a hug, pressing their chests as close together as they could get. Sam honestly didn't know how he would ever let go.
As he buried his face in Blaine's shoulder, he distantly heard the male lead of the musical sing, 'I need you to stay…'
"I love you," he whispered, only barely uncovering his lips and wondering if Blaine could even hear.
Blaine squeezed him together. "I love you, too, Sammy."
Sam's heart clenched. He regretted saying anything; he would rather have let his feelings go unsaid than have to face hearing how Blaine loved him just as a friend.
Blaine pulled back, letting out a sniff. "We should get dinner, yeah? From that Thai place we like?"
Sam nodded, happy to let Blaine make the decision. Blaine got off the bed slowly, hand trailing down Sam's arm until it linked with Sam's hand. He held it until he couldn't hold it any more.
When Blaine was gone, Teddy whined at Sam again, licking his hand a few times before circling himself and laying down right in the center of the bed.
"I don't want him to leave either, buddy," Sam said, petting Teddy's back. Two weeks. Two weeks to win Blaine over, or not only would he lose his chance, but he would lose his best friend.
At any given time, the "Blam apartment," as Sam had dubbed it when they moved in, had some sort of noise filling it. Sometimes it was the two of them playing fetch or tug of war with Teddy; sometimes it was Blaine cheering as he defeated Sam at Mario Kart and won a bet between them; sometimes it was Sam grabbing his guitar and Blaine pulling out his keyboard in an impromptu jam session where neither of them really knew the instrumentals of the songs they were playing, but they sang along anyway and the songs just seemed to come together perfectly. They would laugh when Teddy joined along, finishing off their trio - or, the way it felt to Blaine, though he was too scared to admit it, their family.
But as Blaine sat on the couch that night, the sun beginning to fall behind the skyline, the apartment was completely silent.
After Blaine had ordered dinner for them both, Sam had come out of Blaine's bedroom and shut the door, pretending to lock it. He declared that, for that night, neither of them needed to think of moving, or Paris, or even the wedding. It would be a night of dinner and a movie until they crashed on the couch from a food coma, and that was it. Because hell, it might be one of their last Sundays together. Blaine had laughed, but inside, he was grateful. He needed a night of normalcy before he got thrust back into everything else.
They'd spent half an hour on the couch together, opting to sit close with Sam's bare feet tucked up under Blaine's thighs. They didn't talk much, since Sam had immersed himself in his sketchbook and Blaine spent some quality time with Teddy in his lap, Sam smiling at them when he looked up from time to time, but it was thirty minutes of mostly silent comfort that Blaine rarely got from anywhere else. Almost no one else that he knew understood.
Eventually Teddy had barked, backside wiggling the way it did when he realized he had to pee. It was Sam's turn to take him outside, but he was hunched over his sketchbook so intently that Blaine had offered to take him instead so Sam could finish his drawing. Sam had looked up, realizing what was happening, and insisted on taking his turn, plopping down his sketchbook on the couch before Blaine had a chance to argue.
Which meant Blaine was alone, even just for a few minutes. In a quiet apartment. With Sam's sketchbook right next to him.
Blaine looked around the apartment for something, anything to distract him, but his eyes kept pulling back to the book. Sam had been working on his drawing right in front of Blaine, and he'd left without asking Blaine not to look like last time, so…it would be okay if Blaine glanced at his drawings, right? Sam usually let him, no matter how far he'd gotten in the drawing. And maybe whatever he'd been drawing last time was now complete so Blaine could see it in its full glory.
Blaine pulled the book onto his lap and flipped open to the last page that had been drawn on.
The sketch actually wasn't complete, but it also wasn't the same sketch Blaine had seen before. Sam hadn't gotten into the intricate facial details yet, but he'd outlined two men in his comic-like style, one blonde whose hair was slightly messy and the other brunette whose hair was gelled down, clearly meant to resemble himself and Blaine. At the bottom center of the picture was a figure that was supposed to be Teddy, a furry sketch holding his place until Sam filled in his nose and eyes. Blaine smiled to himself, cherishing the picture. Once Sam finished, Blaine thought he might ask for the picture, or at least a copy, to take with him.
His fingers hesitated, gripping the previous page between his left thumb and forefinger. He just wanted to see how far the other drawing had come along. Sam hadn't said anything about him not looking, and he'd already seen it before, so there couldn't be that much harm done if he stole a peek.
He flipped the page.
Instead of a messy scribble of two figures vaguely on a couch as it had been before, some lines had been erased and others made bolder to show that one of the figures was on the other's lap, arms around his neck. What made Blaine pause was the fact that the drawing was clearly of two men. Two men that resembled the two figures in the first drawing that Blaine saw.
Blaine closed the book with a snap. There was no way… it was probably just something of Sam's imagination. Just a coincidence. Or maybe it was supposed to be a fan thing, Blaine had seen him drawing Teddy and Billy from Young Avengers before, usually as a gift for Blaine.
Whatever it was, Blaine was adding that picture to the list of things he wasn't thinking about that night.
The front door open, Teddy bounding in with a stick in his mouth.
"What is that?" Blaine asked, trying to clear the nerves in his chest.
"He wouldn't come in without it," Sam shrugged, coiling up Teddy's leash. Blaine noticed that he had a white sack on his arm.
"Dinner?"
"Yeah, the dude came while Teddy was peeing, so I just went ahead and got it." Sam plopped the food down on the coffee table, reaching for his sketchbook. "Did you peek?"
"W-what?" Blaine asked, jumping, before realizing by Sam's smile that he was probably talking about the first picture Blaine had seen, the one that was definitely of him and Sam. "Oh, oh yeah. Sorry."
"Nah, you're fine! Do you like it?"
Blaine nodded. "I want a copy when you're done."
"Will do," Sam said, giving Blaine a grin that made his heart skip a beat. Sam reached forward, grabbing the containers of food before Teddy realized how easily he could steal them, and handing one to Blaine. "Dig in."
Blaine opened his box of food, pushing all thoughts of the more intimate drawing out of his head. Tonight would be completely normal. That was exactly what he needed, and nothing would get in the way of that.
From: Puck
dude, i heard about paris. from mike, not finn, kinda offended. but rough luck, man, do we need to come up with a new strategy? like a sonic the hedgehog fast method? txt me
From: Tina
I'm having shots. Come over.
From: Santana
Votre vie doit aspirer. (That means your life must suck. Google translate.) But for real, Two Directions, I pity you but I'm also laughing. Just thought you should know.
From: Tina
Okay, Mike hid the tequila somewhere. But seriously, if you need a shoulder to cry on, or to bitch to, you know I'm your girl. And I may need you to be my guy, who knows. Oh, and I need your advice on a dress to wear to that stupid party. Or Blaine's advice, but don't tell him I said the party was stupid. Text me to let me know if you're alive and haven't drowned yourself in alcohol without me, because if you have I'll never forgive you.
Sam flipped through the messages, but wound up placing his phone face down on the table next to him instead of responding to any of them. They could wait until morning. Right now, he was stretched out on the couch, stomach full and takeout boxes strewn messily across the coffee table while Avengers 2 played on the TV screen with the volume turned down low. Mostly importantly, Blaine was curled up next to Sam, head on his shoulder as he napped.
He would figure out what to do tomorrow. Tonight, he was going to savor what was normal, because if things went wrong, in two weeks it wouldn't be normal any more, it would just be gone.
"Sam? What time is it?" Blaine murmured, blinking his eyes open. Sam's hand had been stroking his hair, which had barely been gelled that morning, and with it he gently coaxed Blaine to lay back down on his shoulder.
"Shhh, doesn't matter. Just go back to sleep."
Blaine complied, draping an arm comfortably across Sam's lap. Sam reached awkwardly to the other end of the couch, grabbing the blanket strewn across the back and pulling it over Blaine and himself. The movie was only about halfway over, and Sam was content to watch the rest just like this.
"Sammy?" Blaine said, voice still half-asleep and almost childlike.
"Mmm?"
"I don't want to go." Blaine nuzzled into Sam's shoulder, chest rising evenly. He was already asleep.
Sam tucked an arm around his waist, stroking his side with his thumb.
"I don't want you to go, either."
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are welcome and loved, and if you came here from Tumblr, please go like and reblog the post for this chapter if you liked it!