Sam
Sectionals. McKinley. Thanksgiving. Sam couldn't wait.
He would be staying at Artie's, in order to be in Lima to see his friends. But then, as an added bonus, he and his whole family were invited to join Artie's family for their Thanksgiving dinner. His family was driving in from northern Kentucky as soon as they could get away on Thursday afternoon, and Mrs. Abrams had even invited his parents and his little brother and sister, Stevie and Stacey, to stay the night afterward.
Sam's family seemed to be caught in a love affair between Kentucky and Ohio. He'd been born and raised in a small town in Kentucky, just outside Louisville. Then, sophomore year, his father's job moved the family to Lima. That was where he met the whole Glee club. Glee made him fall in love with performing, though more importantly, it also gave him a sense of belonging like nothing he'd ever experienced before. So he'd been heartbroken when his father's job took them back to Kentucky. When his friends found out he'd turned to working a nightclub for extra cash, they rescued him from the mess he'd gotten himself into and brought him home to Lima. He'd lived with Artie's family for the better part of junior year. His father finally landed a job in Lima, just for the sake of seeing Sam through his senior year. Sam had suspected his family might want to return to Kentucky after his graduation. Sure enough, his father found an even better paying job there, and for once, it seemed like they might actually be on track to buy a home and put down roots, once and for all.
Since Artie's mother was already well-acquainted with the fact that Sam was, well, poor, she started putting stuff for him in the random college care packages Artie would sometimes receive. Usually, it was stuff like school supplies and snacks. Mrs. Abrams even went to the trouble to figure out Sam's favorite candy and included that for him, writing "NOT FOR YOU, ARTIE" in Sharpie on the boxes of Reese's Pieces, making them both laugh. Sam missed the time he'd spent living at Artie's during high school. He'd enjoyed being spoiled by Artie's mom.
As they set out for the Abrams' residence on that Friday night before their holiday weekend, Sam was also keenly aware that Amy Abrams would be there. As it turned out, Artie didn't have to worry about his mother being alone while his father traveled for work and he went off to college. Amy, after graduating with her degree in education, moved back home and began taking substitute teaching jobs in and around Lima. She claimed that she wasn't really sure she had chosen the right field for herself, that she wasn't really convinced she'd like being a teacher. Amy figured the only way to find out was to take a lot of sub jobs, to see if anything felt like it could be a good fit someday. Amy Abrams was free-spirited and non-committal about nearly everything she did, the polar opposite of her brother.
But, in many ways, Amy was the perfect match for a guy like Sam, who also didn't know what he really wanted to do with his life, other than, at the moment, swim-dancing with a bunch of cute girls and going out for small-time modeling gigs.
"She's twenty-three and you're eighteen," Artie was nagging him again, after he'd casually bought up Amy right before they crossed into Lima city limits. Artie was driving them, for Sam had left his vehicle in a parking garage at the college. The fewer trips his old, broken-down Honda had to make, the better.
"Well, Kitty is sixteen and you're nineteen."
"Exactly why it didn't work out," Artie said, coolly. Sam bit his enormous lower lip, regretting he'd brought that up. "Look, Sam, all I'm saying is... and I'm sorry, but this is true and you know it... is that I've never seen you stay with one girl for longer than a couple of months. That's not what Amy's looking for, and anyway, she's in a totally different place in her life than you are right now."
"Geez, okay," Sam said, holding up his hands. "You have my word, dude, I won't try and start anything with your sister."
Artie exhaled. "Mom didn't count on you being obsessed with her when she arranged for you to take your old bedroom back this week." He side-eyed Sam as he drove. "And being right next to hers. I should reinstate the old rule about you not staying with us when she's home..."
"Relax, dude," Sam sighed. "No need to do that. I know better, okay? Nothing will happen."
It was getting late when they pulled up to Artie's. Earlier in the day, Artie and Sam had both been busy trying to tie up a lot of loose ends before leaving. Artie still had to read one more time for the blind student, his college job since they'd started school, and Sam didn't want to miss out on one more go-see that his agent had encouraged him to do before leaving town.
Amy wasn't even home yet when they arrived, which bummed Sam out, to think that she'd found something better to do than greet her little brother and the guy who currently had it pretty bad for her. He hoped whatever she was doing wasn't a date. And if it was a date, well, then Sam hoped it sucked. Given how much he thought of the girl Abrams, it was going to be difficult to keep his promise to Artie.
It was Artie's dad who came out to the car to greet them, as Sam was setting up Artie's chair. No sooner had Artie gotten in than his father came over to hug him tightly, lifting him up for a few seconds before depositing him back down, saying, "Either you're getting bigger or I'm getting older, sport."
Sam looked at Artie, who over the past few months, had become almost unrecognizable, save for the chair. Thanks to Sam's efforts in instructing Artie on how to properly work out with weights, he'd added quite a bit of bulk up top, in his chest, arms, and shoulders. Probably the fact that he swam each day and wheeled himself a lot further now, on a daily basis, didn't hurt either. And Sam couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen Artie in something that buttoned with khakis and a belt. As a finishing touch, he hardly ever wore glasses now, having swapped to contacts. It was no wonder that girls like Julie were giving him attention.
"And Sam," Mr. Abrams, who had told Sam once to call him John, reached out to shake his hand. "We're really glad to have you joining us. Come on it. Nancy's reheating the pork chops for you guys."
As they headed through the front door, through the living room, and into the kitchen, Nancy stopped what she was doing to greet them, saying, "My boys are home!"
"Hi, Mom," Sam and Artie said, in unison. Artie rolled up to his usual place at the kitchen table and Sam took a seat next to him.
Nancy breezed over to kiss them both on the cheek, then brought them heaping plates of pork chops and sides, baked beans and squash. They both ate like they hadn't eaten properly in months, which was mostly true. There was only so much you could cook in the dorms' kitchen. Nancy even had a pie for dessert, claiming it was something she was trying out before Thanksgiving.
As they were finishing dinner, a car pulled up outside. After a few moments, the door from the garage to the kitchen swung open to reveal Amy, who locked eyes with Sam for a few seconds before she remembered her brother, who was rolling up to greet her. She quickly covered her momentary distraction and went to praising Artie, whom she hadn't seen since September, on his new muscles. Artie looked pleased, until she commented that it must have been Sam's influence. Sam didn't miss the look Artie cast his way, over his shoulder.
What could he say? Sam was cougar bait.
Artie, as it turned out, wasn't content to just take Sam at his word, that he wouldn't try to start anything with Amy. As Sam was unpacking his things into Artie's old room (which was still admittedly uncomfortable enough in and of itself), he heard the sound of someone coming upstairs, very slowly. Sure enough, he poked his head out to see Artie dragging his way up there. Since he'd seen Artie do this plenty of times before, he didn't even give it a second thought. Other than wondering if Artie had come upstairs just for the purpose of ensuring Sam wouldn't be flirting with his sister, whose bedroom was right next to Sam's.
Artie scooted to the middle of the floor of the game room , stopping at the foot of the couch for just a moment before hauling himself all the way up, then fixing his legs to stretch out. He casually leaned back against the pillows, as though he was planning to stay put as long as needed to ensure that Sam was going to be leaving his sister alone.
"Oh, hey," Amy did a double take when she emerged from her bedroom, dressed in comfy sweats. She'd grown out her usual pixie cut a little that fall, so that it was now touching the tops of her shoulders. Her freshly-washed face revealed nice skin that looked no different than any other day, given that she was one of those girls who wore very little makeup on a regular basis. Sam noticed all of these things and more. He could definitely fall for this girl, if she wasn't off limits.
"I hear you guys have big plans this weekend," Amy said, towel-drying her wet hair as she took a seat at Artie's feet. " Sectionals are on Saturday, right?"
"How'd you hear?" Artie looked confused. "I didn't mention it."
"I still read show choir blogs, too," she said, shrugging, as she pushed his feet over to give herself more room. "I was in Mr. Ryerson's glee club, remember? I wish I could have been lucky enough to still be in school when Mr. Schuester took it over."
Sam had mixed feelings when he thought about going to Sectionals. It would be the first time he watched a competition from the audience, instead of being onstage. And yet he was proud that he'd been a part of the first-place win at Nationals last year, which had guaranteed that the glee club had at least one more year. He and Artie wouldn't be the only ones making it back for the competition. Rachel, Quinn, Mercedes, Blaine, Tina, Mike, and Kurt all planned to be there on Saturday, according to the group text that had been circulating. The new New Directions would have a huge cheering section.
"Wish I was still gonna be on that stage," Sam confessed.
"Exactly how I felt when I was sitting in the audience, watching you guys at your first Sectionals," Amy sighed. "Hey, at least you went to Nationals... three times! We didn't do anything. Not a thing. All I did for four years was watch creepy Mr. Ryerson give solos to all the Hank Saunders types for our lame school assembly performances."
"Total waste of her talent," Artie added.
Something occurred to Sam just then. Jumping up, he went to the room he was staying in and grabbed his trusty acoustic guitar. The same guitar that Rachel and Finn and the others had bought back for him, that one time when he'd sold it, trying to help the family make ends meet. Slinging it over his shoulder, he returned to the game room and grinned down at Amy and Artie.
"It occurs to me that I've never heard you two sing together," he said. "And I assume you do it all the time. So? What's in your wheelhouse?"
The two siblings exchanged looks, as though they didn't even really have to discuss this. "Our parents raised us on nineties pop and alternative rock songs," Artie explained. "I'm pretty sure I was never rocked to sleep with a normal lullaby as a baby."
"And I sang something from Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill album for my sixth grade talent show," Amy added. "Pretty sure my parents didn't like explaining that one at the parent-teacher conference."
Artie grinned. "Since you have an acoustic... do you know All For You by Sister Hazel?" Sam was already nodding, before he'd finished naming the artist, and Artie gave a satisfied smirk. "I figured. You can't play acoustic guitar without knowing that song."
Without missing a beat, Sam launched right into the opening chords. Artie started off with the verse:
Finally I figured out / But it took a long long time...
When he got to the chorus, Amy chimed in with the perfect harmony to compliment her brother's voice. Sam couldn't believe what a shame it was that these two never overlapped for a single year of high school, so that they might have been in glee club together. When they got to the next verse, Amy took the lead, with Artie chiming in at the chorus. It was obvious that they'd been singing this song for nearly as many years as its release.
They did a few more favorites after this, with Sam eventually joining in, until finally, Artie announced that he'd better go get ready for bed in order to get up for Sectionals in the morning. When he'd finally climbed back into his chair, at the bottom of the stairs, and turned the corner, Amy locked eyes with Sam and grinned.
"Alone at last?" she teased, in a whispered voice, in case Artie was still lingering around the corner. Sam, however, was taken aback. They'd been texting a lot lately, casual flirting at times, but Sam hadn't thought much of it. She was, as Artie had so accurately pointed out, in a much different place in life than Sam. But that didn't change the fact that they were both here, right now, alone upstairs together.
"Amy..." Sam licked his lips nervously, as she closed in on him. "I told your brother I wouldn't try and start anything with you."
"Oh, really?" Amy's eyebrows went up. "Well... I made no such promise." And, before he realized what was happening, she closed the space between them entirely, rising up on her toes to kiss him. As she drew back, he touched his lips, in shock. With a playful expression on her face, she turned quickly and hurried back into her room. "Goodnight!"
Sam stood there, touching his lips. He quickly checked the bottom of the stairs again, but Artie was long gone.