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Kurt had gotten over his momentary hatred of Sam. In fact, they were pretty good friends now. Kurt tried to keep his feelings friendly, but he could hardly deny an attraction to the latest addition to New Directions. It was tough; he knew Sam would never feel that way, and didn't want a repeat of the whole Finn incident. Believe it or not, none of that had been fun for him.

So, it hurt to see Sam kissing Quinn at lunch, or to see them leaving school together, or to hear from Quinn about how sweet he was, but he took it in stride, tried not to let it get to him. If his heart got broken again like last time, it would be all his own fault for falling for another straight quarterback. Why, oh why did he have such certain distinguished tastes in men?

And through all this, Sam was very nice to Kurt. He seemed ignorant of Kurt's feelings. After those first few weeks, he seemed to worry a lot less about what people thought of him. He wasn't afraid to be seen talking with Kurt at his locker - or any of the other Glee members, for that matter. He took to pushing Artie around, he liked the kid's conversation and they found common ground in the realm of video games and indie music, though Artie did not share Sam's love for country, and Sam couldn't enjoy rap like Artie could.

"Hey, Sam," said Kurt one day, leaning up against the locker next to Sam's.

"Hey, Kurt." Sam smiled, and closed his locker.

"So," Kurt said, "I looked up The Hush Sound. They're pretty alright." He smiled, too. "Not exactly my style, but I like some of their songs. Most of the ones where the girl is singing, her voice is gorgeous."

Sam shouldered his backpack and leaned against his locker. "Yeah? Well I'm glad you like them."

"So I was thinking we should exchange mixes," Kurt said. He knew Sam wasn't exactly into showtunes, but he might change his mind. Anyway, that wouldn't be all that would be on there. Some Imogen Heap, some Florence + The Machine, and he was excited to see what Sam would think he liked.

"Alright." Sam ran his tongue over his teeth and went to meet up with Quinn.

Meanwhile, Sam's relationship with Finn was strained. He guessed it was natural, seeing as he'd basically stolen his position on the football team. Not to mention dating his ex-girlfriend and making friends with all of his friends. He felt sorry for it, but at least he and Finn had so far managed to maintain a friendly tone of voice when they spoke to one another. He and Puck got along famously, though they were very different, they, too, shared a passion for music, and Sam loved Puck's sense of humor.

Then there was Rachel. Sam wasn't exactly the president of the Rachel Berry fan club. She was barely tolerable, always trying to upstage everyone and hog the spotlight. Apparently she was the whole reason a girl named Sunshine had changed schools. He didn't hate her, but he didn't much like being around her, in a way he felt like she sucked energy out of a room. But he couldn't deny her voice was incredible, so he respected her for that at least.

Kurt had been acting a little strange, lately. Right now he was sitting a couple seats away, next to Mercedes, and he seemed to be doing his best not to look at Sam, while Mercedes stared straight at him. They were talking in hushed tones, and Kurt blushed, and Sam looked away. He shouldn't care so much, anyway. He was with Quinn and...well, Kurt was always getting worked up over something.

Then there was the day Kurt ran into him in the hall. I mean, literally ran into him. He dropped his Spanish book and a stack of papers, which flew everywhere. Kurt was obviously already upset. He swore under his breath and bent down to pick up his belongings.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, also bending down to fetch the loose papers. "You've been acting a little..." He trailed off when he saw the paper in his hand. He tried to seem like he wasn't looking, but pretty much failed at that. At a glance, it looked like a conversation, one of those notes you pass back and forth in class, with Kurt's small neat handwriting, and Mercedes' big curvy lettering.

Is it Sam?

I like him, okay. I don't know what to do.

Sam's heart seemed to drop, and then the paper was snatched from his hand and Kurt stood up, forgetting about the other papers. "Just...just leave me alone, okay?" he said, eyes glistening. He started walking away, but Sam heard him mutter, "I can't do this again..."

Sam stood dumbstruck in the hall looking after him, and finally blinked himself out of his thoughts and began to gather the other papers Kurt had dropped.