On crisp, beautiful days like these (that were becoming exceedingly rare nowadays thanks to Adamo) Sam would wake up early, tread out of his room without waking up Puck or Finn, put on a very comfortable set of clothes, his aviator goggles (that had been a present from his father who shared his Power), his black combat boots and a pair of fingerless gloves that kept him warm when he was flying. He stepped out onto the courtyard this morning, unfurling his wings proudly, and giving them two experimental flaps before crouching down on his knees and lifting off, soaring up and stopping short of the clouds, looking down over the campus, and giving a great big whoop before he began his circuits of the school.
He didn't see the shadow flit beneath him as it found shelter in the trees. He didn't hear the fire starting to crackle in the boy's palms, and he certainly didn't see it coming towards him.
But one minute into his daily circuit he was yelling out in pain as a ball of fire flew through his wings, tearing them apart. They started coming at him, pelting him relentlessly. He dodged as best as he could, trying to keep his balance with one intact wing. The other was searing, and he was in blind agony, until he felt more pain build up in the next wing.
Panicking, he used the last of his strength to fly faster, and realized too late that he was flying upward.
Before he knew it, the ground was gaining on him, and he had nothing to prevent the fall.
The whole school that morning was woken up by a shrill shriek from the grounds. The girls in Rachel's room scrambled to the window, pushing and jolting each other to look outside.
The first person to react was Rachel herself.
Lying in a pool of his own blood was Sam, his wings charred and black, and his limbs at angles that didn't seem natural at all. When the realization that he was dead hit her, Rachel's eyes suddenly watered.
"But…yesterday…he said he was going to become a Hero…" she said to her roommates, who looked at her with puzzled expressions. Santana snorted once before walking to her dresser and grabbing her outfit for the day, starting to change.
"You're not upset?" Tina asked her, already wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "He was our friend, Santana!"
It was the first time somebody had uttered that name in the room in weeks.
Santana froze, half way to putting on a black t-shirt, her back to the other three girls. Brittany was staring at her, her eyes burning holes into the Latina's shoulders. After a few painful seconds of silence, Santana shrugged.
"I am sad. But I'm not gonna dwell on it. Sam wasn't the kind of guy who would want that from us."
And with that she left the room, never once glancing back.
Every single Fire Monger in that school was taken to the largest classroom in the building, and soon, so was every single Mind Controller, including Quinn. One of the Fire Mongers confessed to waking up in the courtyard in his pajamas, with no idea of what had happened, and a boy hurtling to the ground a few feet away from him. A Mind Controller was suspended that day, on the pretext of being the one who had forced the Fire Monger to do so.
It was at about four in the afternoon that the Evans family arrived at the school. Sam's father and mother were both blondes, both distraught beyond Quinn's understanding as she watched them cross the courtyard. She ran after them, hoping to catch up to them and talk to them. She noticed that they were entering the Office and walked away, deciding to wait in the courtyard until she saw them leave.
She spent thirty minutes sitting on the grass, watching the breeze flit through the grass and move the flowers. She ran her hand over the grass, smelling the dewy air and formulating plans in her mind. Everything lately was going so horribly wrong. She never dealt with a relationship with a girl like this. She always went slow, kissed them after the fifth encounter, cornered them and had sex with them when she was sure they were ready.
With Rachel, it was so much harder. She just couldn't resist. She felt the carnal lust eating away at her mind, making her want to jump Rachel every time, and yet…
She couldn't' do it, not with everyone in such a bad position. And she actually liked Rachel, really liked her. She couldn't destroy their relationship if she just cornered her now, and she didn't want to look at Rachel and think of a bad mess of a past. She wanted to look at her and think of beautiful memories, and hope to make so many more.
Look at her. She was falling in love.
And she had never even used her power on Rachel to begin with…
She heard people talking in low soft voices nearby and looked up, realizing that they were the Evans. She walked up to them and was about to shout out to stop them, when she saw Santana walking towards them from her right. She froze, watching the Latina rush up to them and prod Mr Evans in the shoulder. He turned, surprised, and she put her hand out. She saw her lips move, but couldn't hear anything. Mr and Mrs Evans nodded at her, smiling warmly, and shook her hand. She hung her head, still speaking, and then turned around and walked away, wiping furiously at her eyes.
As soon as she was out of sight, Quinn went up to them herself.
"Mister and Missus Evans?"
"Yes?" Mrs Evans asked, smiling at her through red puffy eyes.
"I'm Quinn Fabray, I was a friend of Sam's. I'm…I'm so sorry. We loved him, we all did. He was the best friend anybody could ever ask for and…we'll miss him. If you could please tell us when the funeral is going to be…we'd like it if you would let us attend…"
Mrs Evans engulfed her in a hug, and Quinn realized how much like Sam she smelt.
"We'll be cremating him and spreading his ashes in the field behind our house. He always wanted that. But thank you, so much. You're all very sweet, both you and that Latina girl. Is she one of your friends too?"
Quinn shrugged and started to walk away. "She's getting there."
It was a solemn circle that sat on the hill, each of them staring at the spot where Sam had fallen, right in their midst. Rachel had convinced Artie to bring his guitar with him, and as he strummed the chords she had told him to, she had launched into her own, softer rendition of Helen by My Chemical Romance. Quinn soon joined in, leaning against Finn, shoulder to shoulder. Tina and Mike held hands in the light of the setting sun, adding their shaking voices to the song. Kurt and Blaine hummed in the background, and soon, the whole group was crying their eyes out, the song distressing them further.
In the shadows of the tree nearby, Santana and Puck stood, the large boy crying openly, Santana mouthing the lyrics to the song herself.
"Can you hear me? Are you near me? Can we pretend to leave and then we'll meet again when both our cars collide!" Rachel belted out, casting her eyes up to the sky and feeling the breeze burn her eyes.
"What's the worst that I could say? Things are better if I say so long and goodnight! So long and goodnight!" the whole group suddenly shuddered out collectively, bringing the song to a close together. As soon as it was done, Rachel rose and clapped her hands together once, twice, gaining everyone's attention.
"We're here to honour Samuel Evans, who was a brave boy, a good heart, a gentle soul. He will be…sorely missed…" she choked, her breath hitching on the last two words. Quinn looked down at the grass, unable to contain the emotion hurtling through her.
"Before he died, Sam told me that he wanted to be a Hero. He told me that he was going to make it one day, and that he would be forever known and loved…" Tina interjected. Everyone turned their eyes to the usually quiet Asian, and she stood shakily, looking at the ground as she continued to speak. "To us, he'll always be a Hero. He was an innocent victim, who went down doing what he loved. To me, that is a true Hero. Sam will always be remembered…"
"Always…" Puck whispered to Santana in the shadows, and she nodded.
"Always," she repeated, grabbing his hand in her own. They turned away and walked quickly, hoping no one would notice them.
Back in the circle, they all looked up at the sky and watched the sun set, Quinn breathily counting down the seconds as she always did whenever she joined them. As soon as she reached 0, and the sky turned into a deep purple, everybody got up to walk away.
"Isn't it pointless to continue a tradition Sam started?" Blaine murmured as they walked, hoping that nobody would hear him thinking out loud.
"We should continue it, in his memory…" Finn answered, looking back and smiling sadly. "It's the right thing to do…"
When Brittany entered the room that evening, she found a very ruffled Santana sitting on the edge of her bed, wearing a pair of grey trousers and a white t-shirt. She looked up when the blonde walked in, and soon looked away again.
"Hi."
It was the first word that had been uttered between them for weeks.
Santana didn't look up.
"Look, Sam's death has made me think and, I don't want to spend my life away from you, San. You're everything to me. And I know I'm everything to you. Please, San…please let's get back together. Life's too short for us to be apart!"
Brittany watched Santana's face contort and the emotions flitting over her face, before the Latina turned her back to the blonde and made to look out the window.
Brittany sighed and started to change into her pajamas.
She had tried.
"Rachel?" she stopped her.
"Yes Quinn?" she answered.
"I…You have a beautiful voice," she complimented.
"Thank you, Quinn," she blushed
"I'll…see you," she grinned, walking away.
"Yeah…" she agreed, rubbing the back of her neck subconsciously.