A/N: This chapter is perhaps a bit heavier on the grief than before and then the next chapter is the talent show, which is the last of what I have pre written so either an opportunity to explore the rest of the school year with these characters or wrap this fanfic up. Thanks everyone for reading, I would as always appreciate any feedback.

Two Feet to the Right

Previously in More than just a footnote…Quinn, Mercedes and Kurt got rather overexcited to meet Blaine's ex, Santana was introduced to the L word, Rory put his foot in it spectacularly at his first glee club meeting and Blaine caught sight of yet another unexpected face…

Term at Mckinley high school was now three weeks old and Sam was starting to get used to being back at school, after everything, but this Friday after school was a strange one, both Blaine and Tina were heading away to visit their boyfriends for the weekend and so he was at home, trying to work. After he had been home for a few hours his Aunt came back from work. Ann Evans was a petite lady with light brown hair unlike the rest of her family who were all blond, she wore it long and today it was in a bun, though often it would be plaited. As she came into the living room Sam looked up from the book he was trying to concentrate on for English and smiled in greeting. 'Hi,' she said before going into the kitchen to make tea, Sam's aunt had what could perhaps be called a serious tea addiction, she said that she had picked it up from her British roommate at college, 'How was school?' she asked as Sam came to lean on the doorframe.

'Alright,' he said, 'I'm back on the football team.'

'Well done,' she told him.

'Thanks,' he muttered, 'This guy Liam got quarterback.'

He didn't sound pleased, 'Is he not very good?'

'No, he's great, Coach Beiste isn't stupid she only selects good guys.'

'And yet, you got picked,' she teased, Sam smiled, he liked his Aunt's brand of humour, his mother would never speak to him like that.

'It's just that that was Finn's position and obviously it would never have been his position this year but it,' his voice trailed off and his gaze shifted to the distance.

'It makes you sad?' she suggested helpfully, bringing her nephew back to the conversation.

'Yeah,' he said quietly.

She poured her tea and let Sam busy himself making a drink before she spoke again, 'There was a guy in my high school who died, not exactly like Finn, he died in the middle of our senior year, he was captain of our football team,' she paused for a breath.

'You never told me that,' Sam said, in his usual not very helpful way.

'I guess I was waiting until it would help,' she said, 'Anyway, what I was going to suggest is that they retired his number and framed his shirt and hung it in the sports' gym.'

'So?' Sam asked, looking blank.

'I was just thinking that maybe you could suggest doing that for Finn,' she explained, 'it might be important for the guys that feel like they're more connected to him by football.'

'Oh, that's a good idea,' Sam let his gaze shift to the distance for a second again before asking, 'What was his name? The guy in your year.'

'Eliot,' she said, 'Do you want to see his page in our year book?' she asked.

He nodded and so she put down her tea and went upstairs to find the book. While he was waiting the blonde teenager picked up his English book and tried to concentrate again.

When Ann opened the book she didn't turn straight to the memorial page but they turned the pages together, Ann pointing out old friends, some of whom Sam had even met. 'I haven't looked at this in years,' she sighed. A few pages later she turned to a double page spread with In memory of Eliot Thomson written at the top. There were photos of Eliot with his football team and photos of him with his friends, there were quotes from his coach and other members of staff, there was a photo of the framed shirt.

Sam's eyes travelled to another photo, a photo that must have been from their junior prom since his Aunt had said that he had died in their Senior year, 'Is that you Aunty?' he asked pointing to a young girl in a full length baby pink dress.

'Yes it is,' she smiled, 'That was our prom in junior year.'

'Were you dating him?' he asked unnecessarily.

'Yes, I was,' she said quietly.

'Is that why you said to Mom that I should stay here this year?' he asked.

'A bit,' she nodded, 'because you can get through this Sam, you can, but you need to do it here, do it with your friends, together, rebuild together and make a good year, a year you can be proud of,' she squeezed his shoulder.

'Thanks,' he said thickly, he leaned his head on his aunt's shoulder for a minute, 'Is that why you never got married Aunty?'

She couldn't help but smile, Sam would ask a question like that, it hardly ever occurred to him that a question might be awkward, 'I don't know, I mean I loved him in a high school way and I miss him, but who knows if we would have got married, we were young,' she sighed, 'As for getting married, it never happened and you get used to being on your own, also it'd have to be someone very special to give up my messy bedroom.' Sam thought she was partly joking but he wasn't sure.

'Dad said that about you once,' Sam smiled. 'Is it still there? The shirt I mean.'

'As far as I know,' she said, absently rubbing an eye, she hadn't talked this much about Eliot in years.

'We should go and see it,' Sam said.

She smiled in surprise, underneath it all sometimes Sam could be incredibly smart, 'I'd like that, if you'd like to?'

'I would,' he said before tucking himself into her arm like a little boy even though he was taller than her and didn't really fit there.

Kurt opened his door and was thrilled beyond words to see Blaine in front of it, 'Oh my word I missed you so much,' he embraced his boyfriend tightly and kissed him, right there on the doorstep.

Blaine laughed when they broke apart, 'Don't I get to come in?'

Kurt nodded enthusiastically and led Blaine to put his bag in his room, his boyfriend admired the photo displays – even though he had already seen them over skype. They lay down on the bed together and talked for a while, about NYADA and Mckinley, so much they had already spoken about, but in person it felt so different and after a while Blaine looked at Kurt, more deeply than he had been so far, 'Are you happy?' he asked him, putting his arms around his neck.

'Sometimes, it feels weird when I am though.'

'I know, but it's ok, he'd want you to be happy.'

'I know Finn would, but it's just weird, everything's how we planned, except it isn't, no one here knows, it's like coming out of the closet when people ask you how many siblings you have.' Blaine couldn't help but smile at the comparison, but he supposed it must be quite like that really.

'I know, Mckinley is like that, everything's the same, but it isn't, like everything has moved two feet to right.'

Later that day they walked in Central Park and Kurt took Blaine to NYADA, they held hands as they walked down the streets and Blaine was ashamed to discover that he was happy, deliriously happy. He had missed Kurt so much, maybe he hadn't even realised how much, and just to be near him again was amazing, exciting, he needed it. But he felt ashamed, there was still so much more in Kurt's life than their relationship, and Blaine loved him and he felt that too, he felt Kurt's grief in a way he could not explain to anyone else. At the same time though it was Kurt's grief that he felt, not his own, to begin with it had been his own as well, he and Finn had been friends, but not such close friends, not such that he felt the loss keenly for himself now.

Later on the couch Kurt was sitting up and Blaine was lying with his head in his lap, Kurt was absently touching his curls which were not as tightly gelled as usual that day, 'I like your hair like this,' he muttered.

'So you've said,' Blaine smiled, 'It's not fair, you always yell at me when I play with yours.'

'It's because I'm a horrible boyfriend,' Kurt said, 'Tell me about Glee, you've hardly talked about it since you got here.'

Blaine nodded, 'It's fine, I told you Rory came back, which is better so we have nine members, but that's still not enough, but no one's even really talking about sectionals yet, everyone wants to make our talent show performances the best they could be.'

'As Finn would say, the show must go all over the place or something,' Kurt smiled.

'That's just the kind of thing he would have said.'

'He did once, before that stupid Night of Neglect concert thing, you should get Mr Schue to put that on his plaque, it kind of captures him.'

'Yeah it does,' Blaine laughed a little.

'How's Sam?' Kurt asked, 'He doesn't really say much when I try to talk to him.'

'I reckon he feels it more than anyone else at Mckinley, that's hard, but Tina and I are gonna look out for him, he'll be ok.'

'That's good,' Kurt said, he paused for a few moments, lost in memories of his step brother.

But then Mercedes came in and greeted them, she waved at Blaine when he started to get up to hug her, 'Stay there silly, I have to go call Quinn anyway.'

'What about?' Kurt asked, but Mercedes tapped the side of her nose in a way that told him it was none of their business and Blaine laughed again and whispered that he could always find out from Toni if Kurt really wanted to know.

'Is Rachel in?' she asked.

'Haven't seen her,' Blaine said, which now Kurt came to think about it was kind of odd, it wasn't a school day so Rachel ought to have been in the apartment, so far she had only really gone out when one of the other two had taken her.

Mercedes nodded and headed into their room, only to find Rachel lying on her bed looking at photos of Finn and crying, 'Rachel, what's wrong?' she asked, she knew already in general, but the specifics and getting Rachel to talk was tough, Kurt was better at it, but she didn't think it was fair to bring Kurt in when Blaine was here.

'They were talking about him,' she sobbed, 'and they were laughing.'

'I don't think they knew you were here,' her friend said, going to put an arm round her, 'What were they laughing about?'

'Before that horrible benefit concert in junior year when he said 'The show's gotta go all over the place or something.'

Mercedes couldn't help it, she grinned, 'That was pretty funny, Finn was a funny guy Rachel, not that he exactly meant to be, but I liked that about him.'

'I guess it was kind of endearing, it's just I don't know, it feels kind of disrespectful to laugh at him.'

Her friend thought for a moment, 'I'm not sure it is, they're remembering him, every part of him, isn't that sort of the most respectful thing they could do?'

'I suppose he was funny, once he told me people were personifying me.' Mercedes looked confused, 'He meant objectifying.'

'Obviously,' she said, 'You see it's ok to remember the happy times, and not be sad every time you think about him, and remember him as the whole, mostly cool person he was, because you could almost say it's disrespectful to do anything else.'

'I was engaged to him, I thought he was more than mostly cool,' Rachel pointed out.

'I know, let's see that picture,' Rachel held up the photo, it was a picture from their first Nationals, the first time they'd been to New York.

'That's when I knew I had to come here,' she smiled, 'But it was supposed to be with him.'

'He'd be proud of you though,' she reassured her, 'Do you remember what else happened that weekend?'

'We got back together?' Rachel proposed.

'Well, yes, you did, you didn't do it in the best way possible though, you made out on stage, now that was funny.'

'We were in love,' she objected loudly and suddenly both girls were laughing and talking about how the clip had gone on youtube and how the whole club had somehow blamed their Nationals placing on that. Rachel wiped tears away from her eyes at the end of the conversation, but somehow they were a different sort of tears from the ones she had been crying so far.

Two days later, Lima Ohio

Blaine and Melanie were sitting in the Lima Bean, laughing over their cups of coffee, since Toni had come to visit he had backed off on the whole you must join Glee club thing, even though he still knew they would be very lucky to add Melanie's voice to their club. Instead he had been making an effort to try and see her just the two of them, he had tried to introduce her to the Glee members in her own year but she hadn't said anything so it had fallen a little flat. But when it was just him and Melanie he had been surprised to discover he liked spending time with her, she reminded him of Toni. He just wished she wasn't so silent the rest of the time, it was driving him crazy. But he had a new idea, he didn't know exactly how to pitch it well though, 'Mel, listen,' he said quietly.

'Hmm,' she said, fiddling with the cake he'd insisted on buying her.

'We need some people to paint a backdrop for this talent show…' he suggested.

'Yes?' she asked, perking up a little at the suggestion of painting.

'Well I was wondering if you would help, I mean you're really good,' he wasn't too sure of himself, but his instincts told him Mel would be less opposed to painting than singing.

'Are you meant to be asking that?' she asked.

'I can,' he said, 'New Directions are basically running that talent show,' he shrugged.

'Ok then, so long as you don't think it'll be weird because I didn't know Finn,' she said quietly.

'I don't think so,' she nodded, but he carried on, 'you can talk to the other girls, and-'

'Blaine!' she interrupted him smiling, 'I said ok!'

'Oh, sorry,' he muttered. They laughed together but then Mel was instantly silent because someone else had come over to their table.

'Hi,' Joe smiled in greeting to both of them.

'Hi,' Blaine said to the taller guy, they were friends because of Glee, but it was kind of unusual for Joe to come and randomly greet him in a coffee shop, 'how are you?'

'Good, just waiting for Rory, he's late as usual, what about you guys?'

'Fine,' Blaine said, knowing that he would never get Melanie to participate in this conversation, 'Mel says she's going to help with the talent show painting.'

'Awesome, are you in art club then?'

She shook her head and Blaine spoke for her, 'She's the best artist I know.'

'Nice,' Joe smiled at Melanie.

'Shut up Blaine,' she muttered at him.

'You are,' he whispered, 'no need to be embarrassed about it,' but she only glared at him so he decided not to risk using this moment to tell Joe that she could sing as well.