Sam was quickly discovering that recovering was even harder then he had expected. Many times it felt like every bite he ate was torture and even though he knew it was dangerous for him to keep going the way he had been, there were still times where all he wanted to do was lock himself away somewhere and work out enough to make up for the food he had eaten. He had sometimes spent hours having to mentally repeat to himself that there was no way everyone around him was crazy and if they all said he really was underweight and what he had been doing really was dangerous, then they were the ones who were right. There was no doubt in his mind that without his friends and foster family he would not have been able to keep going.
The increased visits with his therapist sometimes felt like another form of torture. He really didn't want to talk about the things she wanted him to talk about, but once he had let his guard down upon realizing that he had no more secrets, she was very good at getting him to talk about them anyway. Conversations with her had already been turned several times to the time he spent with the Mason's, which had nearly always resulted in the return of his nightmares. Luckily, he had still been able to wake himself up before he alerted anyone else in the house to what was going on. He just wished that he understood why he was also back to being much more jumpy then he would like.
He was still very grateful for his overprotective, hovering friends, but he was also beginning to feel a little smothered. He was rarely ever left alone and they panicked if he looked remotely upset or tired. If he found himself flinching or jumping at a touch or a sound, he found himself also having to deal with a friend who seemed to be on the verge of a heart attack. Quinn and oddly enough, Kurt and Finn were the only ones who had yet to make him feel like he was going to lose his mind. They had informed him that it was because they had all also been on the receiving end of the overprotective hovering that their friends were so talented at.
When he was with his foster family, Jessica and Phil had gotten much better at avoiding hovering, but Ellie hadn't. He hated how much he had clearly scared the younger girl. Her worried staring as he ate only served to make him more nervous however, a fact that Jessica had quickly picked up on. Within a few days, she had begun to get up a little earlier with Sam and allow him to eat before the children got up. Ellie hadn't yet failed to pull Jessica aside shortly after she woke and he didn't have to hear the conversation to know that she was asking her mother if he had eaten. He had so far managed to save his meltdowns for when he was in private - and once when he was with Quinn. He didn't want to give his foster sister another reason to worry.
Whenever the focus managed to get off of Sam's anorexia, all that seemed to be on anyone's minds was Nationals. Now that they had the money raised everyone seemed to be several times more excited then they had been before. The rest of the chaperones had signed up, Mike's mother, Finn and Kurt's parents and Mercedes parents would be helping to keep track of all of them along with Mr. Schue and Jessica. After much discussion they had decided that it would be best to go back to their original solo, duet and group number routine. They had chosen the group song they would be performing just the day before and all of them were excited about the chosen arraignment of the number. They had yet to decided on the duet and the solo numbers, but they had been informed that they would talk about the solo in Glee that afternoon. As such, it was no surprise that the current topic of conversation between Sam and Quinn was about the upcoming trip.
"You need to make a list of a few things you want to try and see while we're there." Quinn told her boyfriend.
"We only have three days, we won't have time for much." he replied.
"No, but if you put them in order of what you want to do, we can just go down the list as we have time. If you've never been out of state before, we've got to make this special!" she insisted.
"I'll be in New York to compete in a national competition with you. Special's already covered." he said.
Quinn blushed at his comment, "You know what I mean! I really want to make sure you have fun!" she told him.
"I know, and I will. No matter what we do, I'll have fun. But I'll make that list if you want me too." Sam conceded.
"Good." she declared with a smile.
"I'm excited about the group number, I'm glad we're gonna do it like that." he told her, changing the subject.
"I am too. I wonder how we're going to pick the solo and the duet though." she commented.
"I don't know, but we'll find out this afternoon. After the group number though, hopefully there won't be too much fighting about it." he said.
"Oh, I think the chances of there being no fighting are close to zero. There's always arguing over that." Quinn responded with a laugh.
"Well, true." he admitted, "But at least there should be less fighting."
They had quickly settled into a lunch routine. They kept the conversation up non stop as much as was possible to keep Sam's mind off of eating. Quinn would simply nod at his plate if he needed to eat more and without any need to call more attention to it, he would make himself take a few more bites. The pair seemed to have nearly mastered silent communication, a fact that was beginning to greatly amuse their friends. Mercedes had joked that they could tape their mouths shut and Sam and Quinn would still be able to communicate just as well. Brittany had to quickly be assured that Mercedes had only been joking. As such, they made it through the rest of the lunch hour without anyone realizing what was going on, while still making sure that Sam ate enough.
The group met up in the choir room for practice, all of them excited to find out who would be getting the solo at Nationals. Performance solo's were always a big deal, but Nationals was a whole new level. The chosen group number had taken some of the pressure off, but Sam could tell that many people were still hoping for the chance to perform a song on their own. No matter what happened, he knew that everyone would be happy just to perform as one of the top fifty show choirs in the country. They were all still thrilled just to have that chance.
"So," Mr. Schue began with a clap of his hands as soon as he walked into the room, "Who's ready to find out who will get the solo for Nationals?" he asked as he shut the choir room door.
The room erupted into playful cheers and the teacher grinned as he pulled out multiple strips of paper and several pens and began passing them out to the group, "I want each of you to write down who you think should take the solo - and you can't vote for yourself. Come put them in the hat when you're done and I'll count the votes! The winner will choose their song." he announced after placing a hat upside down on a stool in the middle of the room.
Sam stared at his blank paper as he tried to decide who to vote for. The simple fact that he was dating Quinn made him want to vote or her, but he knew that they had taken the duet at Sectionals. He thought it would be good to let someone who hadn't had a major solo in a performance yet have the solo. He knew that everyone in the club was very talented and nearly all of them would do a wonderful job, so he was having a hard time deciding. He had thought about Kurt, as from what he had heard, Kurt hadn't had a major performance solo with New Directions, but he remembered that Kurt had gotten a solo with the Warblers at Regionals.
After a lot of thought, he finally decided to vote for Tina. She had done a wonderful job with her solo at the assembly and he thought she deserved the Nationals solo. He was one of the last people to take their paper up to the hat. As he sat back down, he looked around the room and watched the rest of his friends write down their votes before bringing them up. Mr. Schue took the hat and headed for his office to tally up the votes and the members of New Directions waited nervously for the results. He could feel the excitement in the room when their teacher walked back in.
"Okay. After I counted the votes, we have a very clear winner." Mr. Schue began, drawing out the announcement, "The solo for Nationals goes to ... Sam!"
Author's Note: I hope you guys liked this chapter! We're really getting close to the end of 'Perfect' now! If anyone hasn't voted in the poll on my profile, please go do that! This is the last chance for me to make any major changes to my plans for the sequel! So far I think I'll need to work in a little more for one character, but I want to make sure everyone's had their chance to have a say!
BlackKeys96: Oh, I'm so glad you liked the songs! And it won't really be ending, don't forget about the sequel! Thank you for reviewing!
Tessie: I'm so happy you liked it! Thanks for the review!
