through the eyes of a trouty mouth (that's tired of all the bullshit like the rest of us)
Song used in the fic(let) is If I Could Tell Her from the awesome musical Dear Evan Hansen, with the lyrics changed a bit
x.X.x
Okay, Sam Fabray-Evans has a pretty good life, all things considered.
He's been the Fabray's adopted step-son since like, forever, which means that he's been pampered and given everything he could've ever wanted for as long as he can remember, and his high school life isn't bad at all either; he's first-string on the football team, not just popular but well-liked at school, and his totally badass Queen-Bee-of-the-school sister is awesome at tutoring him even with his dyslexia, so his grades aren't all that bad either.
So yeah, Sam has a pretty good life, he'd admit that any day.
Now, if only either Quinn or Rachel would get their head out of their ass and ask the other out already.
x.X.x
"Rach."
"…"
"Rachel."
"…"
"Rachel."
"…"
"…"
"…Rachel, I love you and all, but the way that you're looking at my sister is kind of reminding me of how that dude the other day was staring at my Millennium Falcon model, with the weird glowing heart eyes – not that I blame him, that model is epic – and I would kind of like to have my best friend back please."
Brown doe eyes snap towards him immediately, and he inwardly half-grimaces half-chuckles at what those eyes mean; he's seen them enough by now to know that he's in for a treat.
"But- But she's just so pretty," Rachel practically cries out with a wistful sigh, voice almost unbelieving and reverent even after all this time. (Sam thinks it's what, the fourth-hundred time? He lost count after seventy-two.) "Why is she so pretty? It's almost a crime!"
In response, Sam shrugs, because really, he's been asking himself that since he met Quinn almost ten years ago, six years old and wearing a primp pink dress and a soft but genuine smile as she welcomed him into the family.
"God decided to give her all the good genes?" he guesses, and it seems to set something off in Rachel; the next thing he knows, his best friend is letting out a dramatic and over-the-top wail of aguish, throwing her hands into the air before collapsing onto the lunch table limply.
"She's- She's just so perfect, Sam!" Her lower lips trembles as she exclaims the words, and- oh wow, are her eyes really starting to tear up? "Just- She's so smart, and sweet, and nice, and Captain of the Cheerios, and her hazel eyes are just so encaptivating when she walks down the halls all cool and disinterested-like, and her smile- oh god, Sam, her smile, it's-"
"It's like all the happiness in the world reincarnated and it could make withered flowers come back to life just like her heavenly singing voice can, and when she talks it's husky and low and you feel all sorts of things that make me cringe thinking about them and about a million other things, I know, I've practically memorized the list at this point," Sam teases, only the slightest bit creeped out because, duh, this is his sister they're talking about, and that's just ew on so many levels.
Rachel flushes a deep red immediately, and smiling amusedly at his best friend's antics, he asks, "Honestly, why don't you just go and ask her out already anyway?"
"Sam, don't be ridiculous," Rachel waves off easily with a roll of her eyes, as if she's offended that he would even think to suggest that mere notion, and Sam sighs; he was a fool to believe that this time would be any different from the basically centillion times before.
Not wanting to hear another (weepy) rant about how Quinn would never reciprocate, thrown in along with a lot of other big words, he simply shakes his head and says that he's going to get more food, walking over to where Quinn is in the cafeteria line.
"She's been staring at me," Quinn says as soon as he steps next to her, and he doesn't even need to look at her to know that she's frantically trying to subtly check for imperfections in her Cheerios uniform, eyes wide and darting around as her cheeks heat.
When he doesn't answer in the next fraction of a fraction of a millisecond, a strong hold grips on his arm, and he lets out a yelp at the sudden pain as his sister demands, "Why is she staring at me?"
Her voice is hard and panicky in that way of hers when she's trying to stay in control, with her posture falsely relaxed but muscles tensed and coiled, and Sam does his very best to keep in his groan, because like, he's supposed to be a supportive brother and best friend or something.
Even though he's basically been suffering through this for the past five months, and it's getting really, really, old by now.
"Gee, maybe it's because she's heads over heels for you?" he mutters, and when she shoots him a look, he sighs and recites, "but that would never be true, because even though Rachel is my best friend, it's not like I know-know her, and I'm sorry for being insensitive by getting your hopes up."
At that, she just shoots him another look™, and this time he can't stop his eye-roll as he drones, "And no, I won't have the gall to bring up the fact that she'd probably say yes to you in a heartbeat because you're Quinn Fabray and you get everything you want when you set your mind to it, not to mention that she's bi so the door would be wide open for you if it wasn't already."
Purposely ignoring his sarcasm, Quinn hums in satisfaction, and resigning himself to an eternity of torture, Sam's about to go back to listening to Rachel pine over his sister, but then-
"Sam, she's looking at me again!" Quinn hisses, but Sam doesn't really notice, because he's pretty sure that his arm is dislocated at this point.
How did this mess start again?
Oh right, he knows exactly how it all started.
The first day of sophomore year, Sam had sat down next to a newly transferred Rachel Berry in first period English, saying hi to her with a dorky smile only to be hit with a blinding beam in response, and they had become quick friends after that: Rachel spoke with big words and could be overwhelming, but she couldn't care less about his dyslexia, even helping him during class – Quinn was in all of the AP classes so he didn't share many with her – and her cheery attitude was just all-around infectious; she even laughed along to his impersonations, which was like, totally awesome.
He had been showing her around school later that day when the students in the halls all rushed to part way, and his sister had marched through with her signature HBIC strut, looking every bit like the Head Cheerio ruling over the school.
He had shaken his head fondly and prepared to move on – Rachel seemed to be wholly enthusiastic about joining Glee club and he was starting to consider it too – but Rachel had tugged on his arm and in an almost-shy tone, asked, "Who was- Who was that girl? The one with the Cheerleading uniform that had everyone scrambling like the red sea?"
It had taken a second for it to register in his brain, and when it did, he had nonchalantly replied, "Huh? Oh, yeah, that's my sister, Quinn. Or step-sister I guess, since their family adopted me when I was like six. She's pretty cool, captain of the Cheerios and all."
"Quinn Fabray," Rachel had said then, as if she was testing the words as they rolled off her tongue, and Sam really should've known that he was in for a wild ride then.
He's shaken out of his thoughts by Quinn pretty much yanking his arm out of his arm socket, and he winces. "Geez, ease up will you, I have football practice later!"
"Sorry," Quinn mumbles under her breath as she finally lets go of his arm (maybe he'll actually get back some feeling there before the day ends). "I just- You know-"
"You've had a crush on her ever since I introduced you to her during health ed that second week of school," Sam sighs. "Yeah, I know. You practically interrogated me nonstop for a week on her afterwards, and it's only gotten worse after all these months."
"Shh, someone could hear!" Quinn hisses immediately, and Sam feels his foot tap against the tiled floors impatiently, because really Rachel had done the same thing as well, even having him watch a PowerPoint to make sure she got everything down right.
"So?" he questions. "Dad and Mom won't care that you're gay, we learnt that from- from that time when they thought I was instead-"
"You still sure you're not?" Quinn cuts in to ask with her brow raised, and when he huffs in indignance, she rolls her eyes. "Sam, face it, you're even more of a girl than I am."
"I am not!" he protests, and it only seems to reinforce that belief of hers as she snorts.
"You so are," she says with a grin, but before she can successfully change the topic – Sam's known her long enough to recognize her tricks by now – he continues on with his previous sentiment.
"And you know that the student body won't care either, Santana and Brittany are always making out everywhere nowadays and their reputation is still fine, I don't understand why-"
A dark look from Quinn shuts him up without another word, because this one is much different from the others, and he knows it; this one means business, and really, Sam's seen it enough times to know what it means.
She's scared, just like Rachel is, and since he's sworn to both of them to never reveal their feelings to the other, they're stuck in this endless loop of being useless lesbians.
Dammit, he's not sure how much more of this he can take.
x.X.x
"Rachel, I have a solution!" he says brightly to the brunette as she's practicing in the choir room, after a few days of deliberation of what to do.
(The process may or may not have been sped up a couple – or a lot – of notches when he had caught Quinn religiously on a Rachel's MySpace binge while doodling hearts on a notebook full of sketches of the girl, because like- he knows his sister, and Quinn Fabray does not swoop that low unless she's almost to her breaking point. Also, it's just kind of plain sad at this point, really.)
"Oh, hello there Sam, a good day to you too," Rachel greets with a smile. "I do hope you have a reasonable excuse for interrupting my precious practice time; an artist must always be well-prepared, as you might know."
Casting a quick glance over to the music sheets she's left on the chair, he recognizes them as the stack of songs that she daydreams about serenading Quinn with – very easily distinguishable by all the hearts and Rachel Fabray-s all lying around – and it's with that that pushes him into action.
"I'm going to help you ask Quinn out by singing a song to her in Glee."
Rachel blinks rapidly, but before the first syllable of a very sure-to-be rant can come out of her mouth, evident through the copious amount of air she sucks in, he's storming on and continuing, "And you're going to go along with it, because I know Quinn like I know Avatar, and I know that she's going to say yes even if you stutter and go off-key or-"
"Sam Fabray-Evans you dare to insinuate that I would go off-key?" Rachel cries in indignance, and Sam lets out a deep breath, hating himself for that tidbit of carelessness.
He already has enough hurdles to climb already – he really should've printed out the trigger-words list and made sure not to say any of them.
x.X.x
It takes two weeks of planning and many, many gruesome and tiring rehearsals – "Because this needs to be more than perfect, Sam!" – but finally, the day comes, and he nearly has to hide in the toilet from Rachel's frantic and very much explosive worrying.
They make it through though (not without a nice collection of bruises from Rachel throwing things at him for 'oh my goodness Sam why did you ever convince me this was a good idea!') and just like that, they're walking into the choir room, where everyone's already gathered.
Seeing Quinn in the front row with two spots reserved for them, Sam thinks back to how Quinn had joined Glee and convinced Santana and Brittany to do so as well, just because Rachel wanted her to and was worried there wouldn't be enough people to qualify for competitions, and it makes him crack a smile, knowing that his sister and best friend will treat each other well.
When Rachel can't seem to muster up a word, a hesitance to her that's a far cry from her usual self-assured demeanor, Sam speaks up first. "Mr. Schue, we have something to sing, if that's okay."
"Oh, have at it then," their teacher acquiesces with an easy smile, and Sam drags a stool over to the middle-right of the room for him to sit on while Rachel takes center-stage standing, his guitar at the ready.
"So um, Rachel has a special someone she wants to dedicate this to, and since she has a bit of trouble finding the words, I'm going to help her," he starts, watching as Quinn bites her lip in a mix of contemplation and concern and- and jealousy, if he's reading her correctly.
Rachel doesn't seem to notice though, as her eyes stay trained on everywhere that's not Quinn, and he sends a supportive look towards her way, mouthing You got this.
It's clear that the sentiment is appreciated, and Rachel exhales, giving him a nod for him to begin.
Strumming against the guitar strings, he begins to play the opening notes, opening his mouth to sing.
"She said, there's nothing like your smile, sort of subtle and perfect and real," he sings, letting the music envelope him. "She said, you never knew how wonderful that smile could make someone feel."
Taking a breath, he definitely notices how Quinn's face is a conflicting mess of emotions, most likely desperate to figure out who exactly the song is targeted at, and he suppresses his smile as he sings the next few lines, knowing how much of a dead giveaway it is.
"And she knew, whenever you'd get bored you'd scribble stars on the cuffs on your jeans," – because it reminds her of Rachel, and stars are her metaphor apparently – "and she noticed, that you still fill out those quizzes that they put in those teen magazines."
Quizzes on if you might like someone or not that you keep on retaking because you still don't want to admit it, he internally grumbles, but keeps on singing anyway, keeping an eye on how Rachel's seemed to grow more rigid with those telling lines, especially at Quinn's now-widened eyes and slightly gaped open jaw.
It's not daily that he gets to see his sister so put off like this, so it's with a certain amount of glee that he continues, "If I could tell her-"
"Tell her everything I see," Rachel surprises him by jumping in on the next line to harmonize, since he had thought that she would come in later, "if I could tell her how she's everything to me."
"But we're a million miles apart," the brunette takes the lines alone, crooning them out in a soft voice that just tells Sam that his best friend is smitten. "And I don't know how I could even start."
"If I could tell her," they sing together, and Sam can't hide his grin now, because they sound damn good together, the flush on Quinn's checks telling him that they're doing a good job. "If I could tell her."
During the next few seconds of the interlude carrying them over to the next verse, there's this awkward and still cute little moment where Quinn's and Rachel's eyes meet as they send bashful grins to the other, the entire Glee club either gawping at them or wearing a 'finally' look.
"I think, you look really pretty no matter what you do or wear," Rachel starts to sing again, picking up the second verse as the genuine truth shines through in her voice. "And I wonder how you learned to dance like all the rest of the world isn't there."
"But I kept it all inside my head," they sing together, with Sam swapping out the 'I' with 'she', "all the things I saw I left unsaid, and though I wanted to, I couldn't talk to you, I couldn't find the way…"
They finish it off with the chorus a final time, but it seems like Rachel's gone off-script a bit as she changes the 'her's to 'you's instead, too worked up into the song, and also Sam's pretty sure that Rachel might just drown in Quinn's eyes at this point, both of them staring at each other like everyone else is nonexistent.
"If I could tell you," Rachel finally trails off the outro on her own, the song coming to a close as she softly sings out the final words. "If I could tell you."
Even after she finishes the song, it seems like both her and Quinn are stuck in each other's gaze, unmoving and unwilling to acknowledge anything else, and it takes a gentle nudge from him to snap her bad to reality, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
Casting a look at Quinn, it seems like hazel eyes are thinking up a storm as well, and he has the good sense to start clearing out the Glee club members, ushering them out of the choir room to let his sister and his best friend finally have their moment.
Before he leaves, he shoots a smile at Rachel, leaning in to whisper, "Now, go ask her out Rach. You'll be totally fine, I believe in you."
It seems to instill some confidence in her, her posture straightening in that way it does when she has her mind set on something, and she lets out a shaky breath, nodding determinedly.
With his work done, he simply grins at Quinn all 'I-told-you-so' like as he leaves the room, and the last thing he hears before he closes the door to grant them some privacy is Quinn blurting out "Will you go out with me?", sounding breathless and- and happy.
It makes him chuckle as he clicks the door shut though; leave it to Quinn to always have the last laugh.
(When he sees them blissfully happy and kissing at their lockers the following Monday, he just smiles fondly and shakes his head.
Those two idiots better let him have their wedding speech in Na'vi for all he's done.)