Chapter 46

Rachel was walking, smiling, down the corridor of McKinley towards the choir room; intending to spend her free period working on their sectionals performance. James was having what was hopefully one of his last meetings with Miss Pillsbury before she would stop insisting they were vital to his integration into the school. Rachel knew that her boyfriend was happy, he'd made a few friends with some of the guys on the football team that didn't slushy either him, her or any of the New Directions and he was planning on playing basketball in the New Year. He was enjoying life in Ohio and Rachel was glad that while she was a large part of it; he had found other things that made him love his new life here.

Once she was there, along with a few of the members of the band, Rachel did some vocal warm ups and sung through her solo once.

"That was great, maybe we can work from the second-"

"Rach!" She was interrupted by the sound of the choir door opening. Turning, with a slight frown on her face, Rachel saw Finn walking quickly towards her.

"Hi Finn" She replied warmly, watching as he flashed her his trade-mark smile.

"Hey, are you busy?" Finn asked, biting his lip nervously.

"I was just going to practise in the choir room…" She replied, giving him a worried look. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, or well it will be" He said nodding. "I need your help with an idea I was talking to Mr Schu about"

"Okay" Rachel replied giving him a smile "How can I help?"

"I need you to come with me to Kentucky" He said, Rachel felt her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "I know this sounds a little weird but I was talking to Mr Schu about our performer problem and I think if we go to find Sam we can convince him to come back to Lima with us"

"That's…" Rachel paused, grinning "That's an amazing idea! Why didn't I think of that, of course; Sam is much better of a singer and performer than the band guys….no offence"

"Exactly and it'll give us an edge against the Troubletones having him back" Finn agreed, smiling widely "Will you help me?"

"Of course, lets go; If we go now we can be there in only a few hours"

The car journey to Kentucky takes a few hours, just the two of them sat in Finn's truck as he drives them to the town where Sam's Facebook says that his family was living and they had spent the first hour of the journey planning what they'd say to him to convince him that coming to Ohio was something he simply had to do.

"The thing is Finn, even if we can convince him to come back to Lima with us and be part of New Directions for sectionals next week; where would he stay, I doubt his entire family is going to up and move again after what happened to them" Rachel said softly, chewing her bottom lip.

"Yeah…well I was thinking that maybe he could stay with me and Kurt you know?" Finn replied, glancing at her "We don't have much room, but there's a small spare room across the hall and I'm sure Burt and my mom would be happy to let him"

"Maybe" Rachel said nodding her head. "I could always ask my Dads if he could stay with us…or maybe James, he has a spare room as well"

"Lets just focus on talking to Sam first" Finn replied, smiling at her before he turned his attention to the road again. "So…how are you? Kurt's really happy that you two are friends again"

"I am as well" She says, beaming. "It's been so nice the last few days to have my best friend back, I've missed him. Not that spending all my time with James wasn't lovely but Kurt just is my best friend you know?"

"Yea" Finn nods, a slight smile on his face. "You know we haven't spent much time together recently"

Rachel glances at him and smiles sadly, nodding her head. "No we haven't, I suppose we don't make much time for each other anymore"

"Not since we broke up, no" Finn adds softly. Rachel moves and looks straight into her lap, a small smile on her face. There are a few minutes of silence between before Finn speaks up again; "Do you ever wonder what things would be like…if we didn't?"

Rachel bites her lip, considering his question. If she's honest with herself, in the last couple of months since she and James told each other that they were in love; she had barely thought about anything else than their relationship. Gulping, Rachel shook her head and murmured softly. "Honestly, No"

"Really?"

"Yeah…I mean, we had some good times together but, with James everything is just perfect and I can't imagine not having him in my life" Rachel says quietly, watching Finn's face as a small smile appears on his lips. "Do you?"

"Maybe sometimes when I see you laughing and smiling" He replies, glancing at her quickly. "All I ever wanted to do was make you happy and I'm glad you are; even if it is with someone else"

"It means a lot to me that you two have tried to get along" Rachel says, giving him a wide smile. "More than I can explain…I'm glad you're my friend Finn"

"Me too" He grins at her. "So, tell me about NYADA…."

….

They arrive in Kentucky just after three in the afternoon, after tracking down the place where apparently Sam would be that day they drive across town and arrive at a place called; "Academy" the two of them climb out of Finn's truck and head towards the entrance. Rachel frowns slightly as she sees a couple of ladies walking out of the building, one of them holding a feather cap in her hand.

"Wait this can't be the right place, Sam works in a bar?"

"Well there just aren't a lot of theatres in northern Kentucky, so theatre groups just have to perform in whatever space that they can find" Rachel replies, glancing around the room. Even though she said it confidently, she isn't so sure that what she told Finn is true. This definitely didn't look like the sort of place that a high school glee club would perform.

"There's a lot of ladies here…older ladies"

"Finn, its not secret that dinner theatre appeals to elderly woman" She says, leading him further into the bar. Spotting a barman, Rachel walks over and speaks up.

"Excuse me, we're looking for Sam Evans?"

"The performers are about to go on" The man replies, winking at her. Rachel smiles politely, trying to hide her disgust at the way he looked at her.

Good Afternoon ladies, are you ready to meet the men of stallions?

"See, they're about to come on" Rachel says, nudging Finn who smiles slightly and nods.

Then please welcome to the stage, Cobra!

"Huh, I didn't know back draft was a musical"

Rachel hears Finn, glances at him to see his smile as he watches the man in a fire man outfit come out onto the stage; her mouth opening as she realises that this isn't a place where a theatre group would perform…it was a strip club.

Here comes, Mr Package.

"Oh god no" she mutters horrified as a man in a police outfit walks through the curtain. "Finn, I don't think this is…"

The two of them share a shocked look before glancing back at the stage as the announcer speaks up again, Rachel gulping in anticipation of what they'll see and hear.

Come on Ladies, lets give a warm welcome to White Chocolate!

They watch as the final man walks out onto the stage, Rachel grimacing as she spots Sam's face and his blonde hair peaking from underneath the construction helmet he's wearing. His Facebook had said that his family was back on their feet but here he was working in a strip club? It was horrible and Rachel knew that they had to convince him to come back to Ohio with them.

"I can't believe Sam is a stripper" Finn murmurs and Rachel can't find her voice as the music gets louder and after a few seconds all three of the men on stage pull their pants off revealing very, very small briefs that leave nothing to the imagination.

"That's not an image I can ever get out of my mind"

"Give me a dollar" She murmurs, turning to Finn as he frowns at her confused.

"What?"

"Give me a dollar, I'm going to go talk to him" She replies and Finn looks like he is going to question her before he roots in his pocket, pulling out his wallet and handing her a dollar.

"Be careful Rach"

Smiling at him, Rachel turns and walks towards the stage; pushing her way past a few lines of woman until she reaches the front, stretching her hand out as her eyes meet his before realising that her friend is scantily dressed and she feels her cheeks heat up, looking down to hide her blushes.

"Rachel…." He murmurs and she looks back up at him to see his eyes wide. "Rachel!"

"Hi Sam" She replies, giving him a small smile and he returns it nervously.

"What are you doing here?" He asks

"Looking for you!" She replies and he gestures to his right, Rachel following his gaze and seeing a doorway with an "employees only" sign above it.

"GO back there and wait for me!" He murmurs with a flick of his and she nods her head, backing away as he starts dancing again.

"Come on Finn" She says, grasping his hand and pulling him with her towards the doorway.

Heading into the back, they see a room with a sign sprawled across it "White Chocolate" and they look at each other before walking through the door into a very small, square room; seating themselves down on the old brown couch in there. They sit there, in silence, digesting what they'd just seen for around about fifteen minutes before they hear footsteps in the doorway, following by Sam's face appearing in the room with a plate of food in his hand.

"Hey guys" He murmurs, putting the plate down on the table before he grabs a t shirt and pulls it over his exposed chest, followed by him putting his jeans on. "It's umm, good to see you both"

"I tried getting a real job, DQ is great and I got two free blizzards a day; but it paid just over minimum wage" He says, biting his lip nervously.

Rachel looks at him and smiles sadly before speaking up "But, at least its not something like this"

"Do you know how much I got paid this afternoon? Sixty bucks, sixty-one in fifteen minutes" He replies, shrugging his shoulders as he puts the dollar she gave him down on the table. "Am I ashamed I work here? Yeah I am; my dad got a job working construction to pay the rent, but when my brother needs a new pair of sneakers or the TV busts, these abs pay for it"

"Your parents don't know that you work here?" Finn asks quietly in surprise, Rachel smiles and glances at him; she doesn't blame him for being subdued, it's quite a surprise and Rachel feels horrible for Sam that he has to go to these lengths to make money.

"No, they just think that DQ pays really well" He says, "I will do whatever I need to look after my family and I'm good at this"

"You're good at this because you have that boy next door innocence that makes you approachable" She murmurs, "You're good at this for all the reasons you shouldn't be doing it"

Sam looks away from them and shrugs before talking again in a quiet voice "What do you want me from? To give up working here?"

"We want you to come back to McKinley, Sam" Finn says, smiling at them "We need you for sectionals, tell me you don't want it. Dude, you have so much potential and working here is like throwing your life away"

"Yeah I want to go back to Ohio; I miss everyone there" Sam replies, sighing "But my family lives here, my parents would never let me go back alone with nowhere to stay"

"Well, we have a couple of options to solve that" Rachel murmurs, grinning at him. "Come on, we'll tell you on the way to your house"

Sam's house is a half hour drive away from where he works at the strip club, something that isn't surprising to Rachel considering that he definitely doesn't want his parents to find out where he has been getting money from these last few months. Along the way they fill him in on their options that they have for him to live; Finn's, Rachel's or James'. Sam seems a little sceptical about living with someone that he's never met, but Rachel assures him that her boyfriend is amazing and the two of them would get on. It's a little bit awkward when Sam asks why the two of them aren't dating, and they both glance at each other before Rachel supplies and answer saying that she met someone else and they've both moved on.

Sam's parents seem nice, and she can definitely tell that Sam gets his looks from his Dad even though the big lips aren't to be found on either his mom or his dad. They let Sam explain to his parents what they're proposing and they only time that they speak up is when his father asks her if she has any siblings. Apparently the idea of their son living with a teenage girl isn't something they are letting happen, nor does Finn sell the idea of his tiny spare room. They're asked to leave the room and the two of them sit in the lounge for around half an hour as they sit quietly wondering what his parents are talking to him in private about.

"Do you think they'll let him?" Finn asks quietly and Rachel looks up and shrugs.

"I don't know…they don't seem very happy with him staying with me and my Dads…" She replies, biting her lip.

"But James' mom wouldn't mind right?"

"I don't know…I'd have to ask if and when we get back to Lima with Sam" She says, chewing on her lip between her teeth.

Sam comes and finds them about five minutes after that, a huge grin on his face as he announces that his mom and Dad are letting him go back to Lima with them. Rachel squeals and hugs him tightly as Finn pulls them both into a group hug. They spend the next hour helping Sam pack some things, apparently he wants to leave straight away and his parents assure him they'll get his transfer papers signed and emailed to McKinley the following day. After a private goodbye, Sam joins them in Finn's truck slinging his suitcase into the back before they set off on the three hour drive back to Lima.

"So…tell me about this new boyfriend of yours" Sam speaks up about ten minutes after they leave.

"Well, he's called James and he's so sweet" Rachel replies, smiling widely as she launches into a description about him lasting several minutes "And you know, he likes sports too so, you'll have something to talk about"

"If you don't like it at his, you can always come and stay at mine" Finn adds, glancing at them before returning his gaze to the road.

"Yeah, I appreciate that Dude" Sam replies, nodding his head. "You know, it's just the idea of a small room kinda depresses me after living in that motel last year"

"I understand man" Finn says.

"Oh and Andrea, his mom, is just the nicest woman you'll ever meet and she's a chef so you'll get to enjoy some delicious food" Rachel adds grinning at Sam who laughs at her.

"Alright, I think you've sold me on staying at your boyfriends" He chuckles "How about the rest of the gang? How's Artie and Puck…how's Mercedes?"

"Artie and Puck are good; pretty much the same, two badasses against the world" Finn says and all three of them burst out laughing.

"Mercedes ummm, has a new boyfriend Sam" Rachel says softly, watching as Sam smiles sadly.

"I figured she might do"

"I'm sure you can win her back Dude, true love always prevails" Finn replies.

The three of them arrive back in Lima at around eight that night, Finn drops the two of them off at school so that Rachel can get her car from the school parking lot and drive it to James' house with Sam. After a warm embrace, Sam climbs in the car next to her; giving her a smile.

"You ready?" She asks

"Let's go" He replies, winking at her as she pulls out of the parking lot and drives towards James' house. "You and Finn seem friendly"

"We are yeah" She replies

"It's a bit surprising, all last year you were either in love, or chasing after the other" He says,

"This year I have James, and I love him" She says shrugging her shoulders. "It took us a few months but me and Finn are good friends again"

"Yeah, I can see that" Sam responds, giving her a smile. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course, you can trust me" She says nodding her head.

"I'm really happy that you came to find me" He murmurs, "I hated working there and, sure I made friends but they weren't as good to me as you guys were here in Lima. I didn't want to say how much it meant to me in front of Finn; you know we're still in competition from last year sort of thing but, Thanks Rachel"

"Hey don't worry about it" Rachel replies, giving him a warm smile. "We all missed you and everyone is going to love having you back"

Sam nods at her and faces forward again, a few minutes of silence before he speaks up and asks how everything is going for her at McKinley and the two of them chat like it was their junior year all over again, as if they were sat in Glee club with all their friends.

They arrive around a quarter hour later at James house, Rachel pulling her car into the driveway behind James' and his mom's cars. Climbing out of her car, she walks with Sam towards the front door up the gravel pathway and after ringing the bell they stand and wait a couple of minutes before they hear footsteps behind it.

The door opens and James is stood there wearing an aero-smith t-shirt and a pair of sweats; Rachel smiles at him as she opens her mouth.

"Hey, this is-"

"Where the hell have you been?" He asks and Rachel see's worry on his face before he steps forward and pulls her into a tight embrace.

"What's wrong baby?" She asks softly in his ear as he holds her close for a few long moments before pulling back and cupping her face in his hands. "James?"

"I've tried to call you about a hundred times" He replied, "I was out of my mind with worry"

"I went with Finn to Kentucky" She murmurs, stepping closer to him and pressing her lips against his. "It's okay, I'm fine"

"I called your Dads, but they're working late and they said you might have gone to a dance class or something" He said quietly, "I thought you were going come over for dinner tonight…"

"Crap" She says, realises that they were supposed to be having a romantic dinner at his house that night; his mom was in Oregon until the Saturday evening and with her Dads, she was staying with him. "I'm so sorry"

"it's okay, I'm just glad you're safe" He murmured, flashing her a smile. His eyes flicked away from her and his brow furrowed as he pulled away. "Ummm, hey…"

"Hey man" Sam's voice came from behind her and Rachel spun her head around and smiled as she looked back at her boyfriend.

"James, this is Sam" She says happily. "Sam, this is my boyfriend; James"

"Nice to meet you" Sam says, stepping forward and offering his hand.

"Yeah, you too dude" James replies with a small smile as he clasps Sam's hand and the two boys hake. "Not to be rude, but what's he doing here"

"I was hoping you could do me a huge favour" Rachel says, giving him an "puppy dog" face that she knows he finds adorably cute and incredibly hard to resist.

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like this"

"It's nothing bad, I promise...Sam just needs a place to stay" Rachel said giving him a wide smile.

"Let's get a drink huh"

…

"So let me get this straight" James says putting his cup on the table. "You went to Kentucky, skipping a couple of classes to find someone to compete at sectionals with us?"

"Essentially" Rachel replies, smiling warmly at him. They'd been sat in his kitchen for around a quarter hour as she explained to James, with Sam's helping, exactly what they wanted. "And I thought he could stay here with you and your mom in one of the guest rooms"

James nods his head, biting his lip as he observes her for a few minutes before he speaks again. "My Mom's in Oregon until Saturday"

"I know but I thought you could ring her and ask" She says, squinting slightly as he laughs at her.

"Alright" He murmurs, shrugging his shoulders "Why not"

"For real, you'd just let me stay here like that?" Sam asks, one of his eyebrows risen in surprise.

"You're Rachel's friend, so hey. I don't mind and I'm sure my mom won't either" James replies, smiling slightly. "Just like, buy her some flowers or something when she gets here on Saturday"

"Yeah, of course; Yeah I will" Sam says, standing up and offering his hand to James. Rachel grins as she watches James smirk, standing up and clasping Sam's hand; the two boys embracing for a few seconds. "Thanks a lot man, I really appreciate it"

"Don't worry about it; you can help me with the chores my mom gives me or something" James smirks and Sam laughs. "You want to go see the guest room?"

"Yeah, Dude that'd be awesome" Sam replies nodding; Rachel watches the two of them leave the room and head upstairs, sitting by herself with a huge smile; proud of herself for getting Sam back to Lima and proud of her boyfriend for being so amazing.

Pulling out her phone, she rings Finn and tells him briefly that Sam is going to stay with James, at least until Andrea comes home from Oregon and that the three of them would see him at school the next day before hanging up.

"You know my mom isn't going to refuse" She hears at the sound of James' voice, seeing him walking into the kitchen scratching his head.

"Sam is settled in?"

"I showed him the guest room that's painted for a guy" He smirks. "Well, it's white not…maroon and orange"

"Thank you for letting him stay" She says as he sits next to her.

"It's no big deal, It'll be nice having someone around I guess; you know a guy. Matt practically lived at my house so" James replies, shrugging as he sits there chewing his lip.

"What's wrong?" She asks, moving her hands forward and taking his in hers. "Baby?"

"Finn asked you to go with him, right?"

"Yeah, he found me in the choir room this morning" She replies, frowning slightly.

"He knew that I wanted to take you for dinner this evening" He said softly.

"What?"

"I was in the gym, this morning; second period" James replied, looking at her. "I was telling Puck about how I was going to take you to this nice vegan place an hour away or so and Finn was in there"

"Wait…you're saying Finn asked me to come to stop me from going on a date with you?" She murmurs, a confused expression on her face.

Finn wouldn't do something like that, would he? He wouldn't try to come between her and James? He'd been nothing but a good friend since James had moved to Ohio. Sure they'd had a disagreement about the band they should use for the mash up that week, but it didn't mean anything right? It was just two guys who were competitive, Finn wouldn't actively seek to damage her relationship, right? It was confusing but then again, Finn had asked her about her relationship during the journey to Kentucky.

"I don't know, maybe; maybe it's just bad timing" He voice brought her back into the room as she watched him shrug his shoulders. "I'm being stupid"

"No, it's okay; you don't have to apologize" Rachel says, smiling at him. "I'm sure Finn didn't mean to stop our date, he seemed excited about finding Sam when he came to get me"

"Yeah" James replied, nodding his head. "We can go another time"

"I'd love that" Rachel says, leaning forward to kiss him; grinning as she feels him relax into the kiss.

"I love you" James murmured, as they separated a small distance; gazing into his eyes as he grinned at her before leaning forward and kissing her again. Rachel moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him as close as possible, happy to be there with him; showing how grateful she was for what he'd done for Sam.

…...

A/N : A bit of drama between Finn and James!

For this story, Sam is going to be a senior. I have plans for him and makes it more fun for me to explore James and Sam's friendship with them both being the same age.