Sam woke up the next morning to find his mother smiling at him.

He shifted slightly, and he smiled tiredly up at her. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey sweetheart. How are you feeling?" Mary Evans squeezed her son's hand with obvious relief.

"I'm good. I'm sore but I'm okay. When did you get here?"

"Late last night. I took your brother and sister to the Hummels first and I stopped by here. They let me peek in on you, but I didn't want to wake you up. I also had some papers to sign for them."

"I'm sorry," Sam realized his mother looked exhausted.

"Why are you sorry?"

"You look tired. You must have had a hard night," Sam reasoned.

"Stop worrying about everybody else, Samuel," Mary narrowed her eyes at him in that mother glare that was even more powerful than Kurt's.

"Can't help it," he tried to shrug but stopped when a twinge of pain came.

"Sit still. You're worse than your father sometimes," she complained.

"You sound like Kurt," Sam grinned at her, but damn his mouth hurt. How was he going to kiss Kurt properly now? Fucking football players.

"Good. I'll discuss with him the proper way of dealing with an Evans man who is recovering from something. That way when I get back home, I'll know someone's taking good care of you," she smiled.

"When can I go home? I mean to the Berrys?"

"Actually, you're moving in with the Hummels and Hudsons right now. I can stay for a few days, but Stevie and Stacy can't stay out of school for long. Leroy, Hiram and Burt have already talked about it. With Carole working different hours than Burt, there are more people there to take care of you."

"But, Kurt?"

He couldn't imagine living under the same roof with Kurt and them not getting into enormous amounts of trouble doing something that goes-down-in-the-tent.

Sam had loved that expression from the moment Kurt had told him about Burt saying it. He'd thought about slipping it into conversation just to see Burt's reaction, but then his sanity took over and he remembered that it would most likely result in Sam's untimely death.

"I trust that you two can be responsible under the same roof," Mary laughed. "I knew it would just take some time, and you two would be back together."

"We weren't really together back then, Mom."

She didn't need to know that he and Kurt had made love in the motel room his family had shared the previous school year. Neither did Burt for that matter. In fact, the fewer people who knew about that the longer Sam's life expectancy would be.

Sam was positive that it didn't matter to Burt Hummel that Kurt was already eighteen years old. He'd find a way to make them pay. Especially since Sam wouldn't actually be eighteen for a few more weeks.

"Please. Everybody could see how you two felt about each other last year. I was kind of surprised that he didn't come over more often."

"He had a boyfriend then." Sam replied weakly.

"And he has you now. The way it should have been to begin with, if you ask me," Mary adjusted his pillows and smirked at him. "It's about time you figured it out with him."

"I love him, Mom. I loved him last year too, but nothing worked out then."

He knew both his parents loved Kurt too. They'd gotten close to him last year, when Kurt had been helping the Evans family out when they'd lost their home. And Stevie and Stacy thought Kurt hung the moon.

"Is he the real reason you wanted to come back here to finish school? The choir competition was just an excuse, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Sam whispered. "I haven't even told him that, though."

"You should. Kurt's coming in later. He is going to school for a little while. He said he needed to talk to some people, but then he's checking out."

"He's on a mission. I think he's going to kill somebody," Sam smiled wryly.

"I'll help him."

"Mom," Sam warned.

"I mean it. Santana and I are all the back-up that boy needs. Although I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take much to convince Puck either."

"Mom, stop."

"The police contacted me, and the four guys that did this have been arrested. Puck and his boyfriend, which kind of shocked me by the way, why didn't you tell me Puck had come out? Nevermind. They identified them, and they were brought in this morning. Burt's stepson has to be questioned too. I never did find out why, but I'm sure we will. It's supposed to be cut and dried because there were witnesses. But we'll see how it goes."

"Did Kurt tell you the details?" Sam asked quietly.

"Yes, I can't believe they'd beat you up for such an inane reason. But I guess, if people would also beat someone up for just being gay, then anything can happen. Crazy is crazy."

"How's Kurt? He was worried about me last night."

"Still worried. And very angry. Your young man seems very intimidating when he's angry."

"Yes, he is." Sexy too.

They were questioning Finn.

He'd purposely left Finn out when he'd told Kurt what had happened. He didn't want to see the look of pain on his face when he realized that Finn had left Sam hanging. Sam had seen him, just once, right before he'd hit the ground. Finn, standing there, slack-jawed. With no apparent concern for Sam.

He thought that maybe Finn would join in, as Puck and Blaine had. Even Blaine, who deserved to hate Sam for taking Kurt away from him. Blaine, who couldn't fight worth a damn and had probably been kicked out of his fight club for not being able to deck Kurt. Even the hobbit had helped Sam.

Finn Hudson hadn't. Someone who'd traveled all the way to Kentucky to get him to come back to Lima. He'd just stood there. If Sam hadn't seen it happen, he'd deny that it ever could have.

It would kill Kurt to know that. He just hoped that Puck wouldn't tell him. Finn had done enough to Kurt already. Kurt didn't need to deal with anger over this too.

His stomach growled, and his mother smiled at him.

"They said they'd bring you breakfast when you got back from your ultrasound. They should be here in a little bit to take you down there."

"Okay." Sam was hungry but he wasn't in the mood to argue about it. He'd eat when they said he could eat.

They sat, talking quietly, about everything that had been going on since their last skype session. He'd told his parents about dating Kurt the same week that he and Kurt had gotten back together. He'd managed to keep her pretty informed, leaving out obvious things, such as their weekend in the motel. His mom seemed really happy for him.

She told him about what Stevie and Stacy had been up to in the past few weeks. Since it was a Friday, they'd missed school to come see Sam, and they'd be here later during regular visiting hours. She said Kurt was bringing his siblings with him when he arrived later. She'd wanted time to talk to Sam by herself and make sure he was going to be alright.

They talked about Burt's offer to pay tuition for him, and he began tearing up again. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that Burt would do that for him. He knew he shouldn't be that shocked, because Burt was one of the most supportive people he'd ever met, his few slip-ups with Kurt notwithstanding.

They'd taken him down and finished his ultrasound in less than an hour, which was apparently fairly quickly for hospital timing.

And then he was back in his room, trying to eat what the hospital considered food. His mother was chattering away beside him while he chewed slowly and attempted to identify the congealed mass in front of him. Kurt would have a conniption about what they were making him eat, he thought with a smile.

The police came and informed him that the four players who'd assaulted him were charged. Nothing would come of it for weeks, of course, but then there would be court, and all the stressors that involved. But at least they'd pay for what they'd done.

Except for Shane of course. He hadn't actively participated even though Sam knew he'd been the ringleader. So he would get away with it. It seemed unfair, but hell, that was how the world worked sometimes.

He tried sleeping, but the bed was so uncomfortable, and the pain would wake him up regularly. Plus there were nurses in and out of the room constantly, checking on him, taking his vital signs. He was very tired, and the pain medication seemed to make him sleep more than it helped with the aching.

He woke to find his mother had dozed off in the chair next to him. She should really go back to the Hummels house and sleep. She must have worried herself into exhaustion.

Sam grabbed the call remote and punched the button to turn on the television. He scrolled down the volume so it wouldn't wake his mother, and he searched until he found something halfway decent to watch. What he wouldn't give to have Avatar on right now. He was so fucking bored. And tired. And sore. And angry.

The door opened slowly, and Kurt came in, Stevie and Stacy in tow. His brother and sister squealed, which woke his mother up of course, and they scrambled towards the bed. Kurt scooped Stacy up in one arm and body blocked Stevie.

"Guys, you can't climb on him right now. He's really sore, okay," Kurt's voice was firm but full of affection for his siblings.

"Hey Sammy," Stacy came to the head of the bed and smiled at him. "We missed you."

"I missed you too, Frog." He reached out his hand to hold his sister's fingers. "Hey Bug," Sam said to his younger brother who was squirming beside her.

"Hey Sammy. You okay? Kurt said you were gonna be okay." Stevie reasoned.

"Well, I am always right, so that means you will be," Kurt smiled at him and shrugged.

"Kurt is always right Sammy," Stacy piped up and nodded her head seriously.

"See these two," Kurt smirked as he pointed back and forth between the younger Evans children. "These two I'm keeping."

"You aren't keeping me?" Sam broke out the Trouty pout. It worked every time.

"Oh, geez. With the pout. Of course I'm keeping you." Kurt sighed.

"Good. Cause apparently that's literal. I'm staying with you guys when I get released."

Kurt's eyebrow rose with interest, and Sam saw a glint of promise in his eyes. He smirked again, and Sam just knew what he was thinking about. It was the same thought Sam had when he found out. The thought of getting to do something that would so get them both in trouble with all the parents involved.

"Don't think I didn't see that Kurt," Mary Evans smirked at him.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Kurt laughed and ruffled Stevie's hair.

"You were thinking it," Mary argued back.

"Was not," Kurt blushed and turned away from Sam's mother.

"Busted," Sam grinned at him.

"You hush."

"What did you do today?" Sam asked, sure that Kurt had been up to something at school.

"I'll tell you later," Kurt replied and nodded his head towards Stevie and Stacy.

"Okay," Sam settled into the pillows behind him and groaned a little when the aches started up again. Kurt leaned over to adjust them for him.

"Do you need anything?" Kurt asked quietly.

"You," Sam whispered low, so that only Kurt could hear him.

"Stop that," Kurt whispered from the side of his mouth, his eyes trained on Sam's mother.

"You scared?" Sam smirked at him.

"You wish," Kurt replied. "We did not just quote from Harry Potter." Kurt shook his head in resignation.

"You know you're a closet dork, just like me," Sam mocked him.

"Sweetie, I'm the closet dork. You are the out and proud dork."

Mary Evans snorted from her chair, and Sam turned to find her grinning at both of them.

One of the doctors treating Sam came in to give him an update. The ultrasound had gone well, but they would not release him until Saturday. This was fucking annoying. He needed to be up and moving around, so the soreness wouldn't set in too bad. All this laying around was just going to make it harder on him to be active when they released him.

Sam listened as he watched his brother and sister play in the floor on the other side of the room. He'd missed those two so much. He hoped he'd feel in good enough shape to hang out and play with them before they left to go back to Kentucky. Frog, who had gained her nickname due to her love of jumping, and Bug, who gained his by literally bugging Sam to death most of the time, were special to him. He felt sometimes like he was just as involved with raising them as his parents were.

At least, he had been, until he'd come back to Lima. It had been a decision he still would never regret. He knew that he deserved a chance to be a teenager, but it didn't mean that he loved his siblings any less that he'd wanted to do that in Lima instead of Kentucky. Kurt meant that much to him.

Sam shifted in the bed, and he moaned in pain.

"Sam, be careful," Kurt warned.

"I am."

Mary got up from the chair and gestured for Kurt to take it. "I'm going to take these two downstairs and raid the cafeteria. You two talk." Then she shuffled Stevie and Stacy out of the room.

"Kurt, what did you do today?"

"Nothing big. And it's nothing you need to worry about. I heard that those four assholes got arrested."

"Yeah, the police were pretty good about it. But Shane will get off. Even though he pretty much arranged it, he wasn't involved in actually doing it."

"Well, I'll handle Shane," Kurt's eyes darkened in fury.

"No, you won't. You stay out of it," Sam replied. "You have enough stuff going on right now. And Shane could hurt you." Would hurt him. And Sam wouldn't be able to do a fucking thing about it. He felt so damn helpless in this bed.

All he could think when it was happening was Kurt. And when Santana had told him they couldn't get a hold of Kurt, Sam's heart had plummeted. He had been sure that someone had gotten to him. He could not go through that again. That feeling had been worse than the beating.

"I know about Finn," Kurt interrupted his thoughts. "I know why you didn't tell me."

"Shit," Sam leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "I was hoping you wouldn't find out about that."

"Well, I did. Puck was angrier than I've ever seen him. Hell, I think I was angrier than I've ever been at him, and I've been plenty angry at that asshole before."

"Does Burt know?"

"Yes, Puck told him last night. Carole doesn't know yet. Dad doesn't quite know how to tell her."

How do you tell her that her son stood by and let one of his supposed friends get nearly beaten to death?

Where was the explanation?

The reason that would make that okay?

Sam couldn't find that. And he couldn't imagine that Kurt could either. Not after everything Finn had put him through.

"Did you talk to Finn yet?"

"No. He didn't come home last night."