As always,
Myan: Not sure what that means but thank you anyway! ;)
Angellovercriss: Well, I'm really sorry to hear that :( Hope I don't disappoint you again with this one! Thank you!
THEMoDePo:Really? Awww, how sweet! I'm glad you like the blam moments 'cause well... there are going to be tones of them! :) So happy you like the choice of characters! Thank you so much!
Darrinia: OMG, you've put so much pressure on me now, 'cause you might have hit too close to home with some of the characters you said... I'm afraid you're going to have to kill me at some point ;) Thank you so much!
Dosqueen67: I'm glad you're already caught up in this! :) Your comment made me really happy because I was worried it was starting to be boring... Hahahaha, I also loooooove Sam touching Blaine's hair (so you got a little more of that in the next chapter). I'm glad you liked the cliffhanger reprieve... 'cause here we go again! XD Thank you so much!
A/N: Sorry, not so much action in this one either, because there were some things to handle before that but... wait until the next one! And please, enjoy this one too!
CHAPTER 6
Sam's eyelids felt like they weighted a tone the next time he woke up. He didn't remember falling asleep, but it obviously had happened at some point, considering how high he could see the sun through the window. He probably had been more exhausted than he had thought, because last thing he remembered has holding Blaine against his chest as his friend bitterly cried for the more than probable loss of his parents.
When Sam finally dared to open his eyes and look at his friend, still in his arms –and yes, they must have been really exhausted if they hadn't even moved from their position all night– and deeply asleep, he couldn't help but notice the still perceptible paths the tears had traced on the dirty skin of his face, and Sam's heart went to him all over again. How could he go on after something like that? Sam himself had no reason to believe his own parents wouldn't be alright, and he was dying with worry. He couldn't imagine the grieve Blaine was experiencing. If only there was a way to know how his brother Cooper was… But he was supposed to be in Los Angeles, so it was probably for the best that he was nowhere near the hell they were living.
A sudden thought rushed to Sam's mind as he looked at his friend: he was not shivering anymore. Unable to breathe with fear, his heart racing like crazy, Sam feared the worst as he brought two fingers under Blaine's jaw to try and find a pulse, like he had done the night before. Was it possible that while they slept…? But no, there it was, Sam realized. He could have cried with relief as he found the strong and rhythmic beat of Blaine's heart, nothing compared to the faint and terrifyingly slow pulse from the night before. He simply wasn't shivering because he was not hypothermic anymore. Come on, Sam could even feel Blaine's breathing tickling him in the sensitive skin of his neck, how had he not realized before? He was turning into a mother hen, he thought with a still shaky chuckle.
Now that he knew Blaine was safe and sound, Sam noticed how nice it was to feel him so close, to feel part of his weight and his warmth on his chest, the tickling of his breathing on his neck. He knew they had only cuddled like that for medical reasons –the need to share their body warmth– and comforting reasons –they had practically died the night before–, and it was bound not to happen again, but… for a second Sam wished he could find a reason every night to have Blaine like that: so relaxed and comfortable that even the lines of worry in his face were completely gone. And knowing it was thanks to him. And… Sam couldn't deny he also liked the proximity.
Feeling suddenly awkward in their embrace and not wanting to give it too much thought, he carefully extricated himself from Blaine's arms –there was no need to wake him up yet, if he could get some more much-needed rest – and stood up to leave the room. He had to stop himself a moment, though, to look at his friend, as if he needed to verify once again that he was indeed still alive. So when Blaine moved to curl around himself in an adorable way and almost disappeared under the blankets, Sam smiled fondly at him, took the blankets out of his face so he wouldn't suffocate and even ruffled Blaine's curls for a second in a sudden rush of affection.
As he left the room, he wondered where everybody could be. It was not that he was dying to see them, but he imagined he needed to make an effort to be around them if they wanted to make it.
He had entered the school in such a hurry the night before to have Blaine looked after that he hadn't paid attention to the details, such as how many people were living there now or where they were staying. So he peeked through the windows in each classroom, finding some people in some of them, on his way, though he couldn't find any of the other glee members.
"Hey, Evans!" Someone said a little too loudly as a hand slapped his back with force. "Did you have a good sleep?"
"Morning, Puck" Sam answered, even managing a small smile. After all, Puck was not to blame for what the others had done, and it was not his fault if Sam was not in the mood for socializing. "Yeah, in fact I did"
"How's Blaine?" Puck asked, more seriously, and Sam's heart warmed up at the way Puck worried about his friend.
"He's still asleep. He looked so much better, though" Sam explained, his smile more genuine this time.
"That's great news" Puck answered as he threw an arm around Sam's shoulders and started guiding him. "You must be hungry, right? Care for some breakfast?"
"Oh, I wouldn't mind" Sam joked, blushing slightly as his stomach took that precise moment to rumble in protest for being neglected for so long.
"We basically hang around here" Puck explained as they reached what had been the choir room, who was filled with people and activity. "We sleep in different classrooms, but in the day we spend most of our time here"
"Morning, Sam" Ryder immediately said with an awkward smile.
"Morning" Sam reluctantly answered as he sat to the table on a vacant chair.
"Have some breakfast" Tina offered, nearing a plate with some sandwiches to him.
"Thank you" he answered, though his gaze remained stubbornly down as he ate, as he refused to look at any of them in the eye.
"How's Blaine?" Mike asked, and this time Sam lifted his face to look at the person speaking, as he was not one of the people he didn't want to talk to –and he had helped taking care of Blaine the night before.
"Much better" Sam answered with a grateful nod.
"So what happened to him?" Marley asked him. "Puck told us about it, but…"
"Then you already know" Sam rudely cut her off. Why the hell couldn't they just stop trying to engage him in a conversation and leave them alone? "Maybe you could explain how you all managed to end up here. You've been hiding here the whole time?"
"Well…" Joe, always the peacemaker, tried to find the right words under Sam's scrutiny. "It all started pretty fast, you know? The city started being evacuated by force and then… There was no one left to evacuate the rest of us anymore"
"We couldn't find our families, so we decided to stay here all together" Jake finished for him.
"It's so nice that at least you could all have someone to lean on, right?" Sam sarcastically added, and he noticed some of the guys around the table shifting uncomfortably in their seats.
"What is wrong with you, Sam?" Artie practically yelled out of the blue. "Why are you so angry at us?"
"Are you really asking me that, Artie?" Sam asked in disbelief. "You really think I don't have the right to be angry? I wouldn't stay here with you if I had the chance. If there was another way to survive, I'd take Blaine and get out of here without even looking back"
"Why?" Artie patiently asked. He had a good idea about what was going on in Sam's head, but he thought maybe it would be easier to bury the hatchet in the long run if he let it all out.
"Because he almost died last night" Sam answered with such intensity in his voice that everyone was left speechless. "He was this close to dying. And he wouldn't have been out there if it hadn't been for you"
"But how are we to blame for that?" Brittany asked, and she seemed so sad about Sam's anger that he was close to let it go. But no, they needed to know. And he was going to tell them.
"You left Blaine alone" Sam answered, as if that explained everything else. "In that hospital, when everybody escaped, you just left him there. I can understand you leaving me, I was a burden in my condition, especially if no one knew if I was ever going to wake up again, but Blaine…"
"We tried to take him with us but he wouldn't come" Brittany tried to defend herself. "He wanted to stay with you"
"And you left him there, on his own, and forgot about it" Sam continued, shaking his head in a judgmental gesture. "Just like that"
"And what were we supposed to do, Sam?" Artie interrupted when he noticed the tears in Brittany's eyes.
"Get him out of there! Convince him I was a lost cause!" Sam yelled at him. Seriously, was it so hard to understand?
"You have no idea how he fought for you, Sam!" Artie replied in an equally loud voice. "He would have never left you there!"
"Then you should have forced him! Or stayed there with him! He would have stayed for any of you!"
"You didn't see him, Sam. He was out of his mind when we tried to get him away from you. Even if we had taken him by force, he would have found the way to come back to you"
"You didn't even try" Sam answered, more softly this time, though that didn't make his words hurt any less to the repentant youngsters.
"And what would you have done? We didn't know what the hell was happening! Our lives were at stake too, and everything was so confusing!" Artie tried to reason with him.
"Not that much if you all had stayed together. You only cared about your own asses"
"No, Sam" a voice behind him interrupted him, and he immediately turned around to see Blaine standing at the door of the room. "You shouldn't blame them"
"Blaine, you shouldn't be walking on that leg" Sam said as he went to him and put his arms around him to help him towards the chair next to him to sit.
"I was… alone" Blaine answered, making Sam realize he had probably been afraid when he woke up and had no idea where Sam was –or how he was, as he knew that Blaine couldn't stop worrying about him those days.
"I'm sorry I left you alone, I thought you were asleep and… I needed to talk to them" he answered, totally ignoring the others as he focused his attention on his friend. "How are you feeling?"
"It's not their fault" Blaine said, ignoring Sam's question.
"Isn't it?" Sam asked with a humorless chuckle as he purred some milk in a clean glass for Blaine to drink. "You could have died in that hospital room and no one would have ever known about it"
"It was my decision to stay. Artie is right, I didn't let them get me out of there" Blaine explained, sending a knowing look at Artie that made the other boy lower his head in shame at the fact that Blaine was able to forgive them so easily even if Sam was probably right and they didn't deserve it. "I threatened them with my knife if somebody tried to force me to go with them"
Sam looked astounded at his friend. Every new piece of information about what had happened while he was in a coma just made him admire him all the more. He knew how Blaine felt about violence, and how much he appreciated his friends, and yet it turns out that he had willingly threatened them just so they wouldn't try to take him away from him.
"Even then, they should have tried harder" Sam finally said when he found his voice, as he was not yet ready to forgive them. "They should have known you would have never hurt them"
"Sam, I… I don't know if that's true. Maybe I would have, I don't know" Blaine answered, this time he being the one to lower his face in shame. "You and I both know nothing could have made me leave you there on your own, under any circumstances"
"But…" Sam wanted to insist, but Blaine rested his hand on Sam's to stop him.
"No. Don't blame them. It's them who should be angry at me, and not the other way around"
"Well…" Artie intervened, knowing it was the opportune moment to put an end to that episode and put it behind them, which he was sure was what everybody wanted. "Sam is partly right. We should have tried harder to get you out of there. We should have known you would never hurt us"
"Artie, I…" Blaine tried to explain himself, but what could he say to justify what he had done?
"Blaine, you would have never hurt us, in any circumstances, you were just too… afraid, as we all were" Artie continued, trying to erase all the guilt and shame he could see in his friend. After all, they all had been in the wrong, right? "And we turned our backs on you at the first sign of trouble, that is true. And for that we're really sorry"
"I'm sorry too" Blaine offered with the smallest smile.
"We all did things we regret" Tina intervened, walking behind Blaine's chair to put her arms around his neck. "Why don't we try and put them behind us and start from scratch again? I've missed my boo"
"I've missed you too, guys" Blaine answered, even chuckling when Tina kissed his cheek.
"Sam?" Artie asked, fearing Sam would not be as forgiving as Blaine had been.
"You had to go and be all you, right?" Sam turned to Blaine in reproach, but the brunet smiled again when he realized he was only joking. "You had to forgive them and leave me to be the bad guy"
"I'm sorry" Blaine apologized with a chuckle, leaning the side of his face on Sam's biceps, looking up at him with huge puppy eyes that he knew Sam was never able to resist.
"Well, I refuse to be the bad guy, so I'll forgive them too" he conceded while rolling his eyes, and as he saw the smiles breaking all around the room he knew he was doing the right thing.
"We're glad you're here, boys" Marley said with one of her sweet smiles, looking at the unstoppable duo she had always admired so much.
"This was not the same without you" Ryder added.
"I pretty much doubt nothing is ever going to be the same even with us here, but ok" Sam admitted with a sad smile, before turning to his best friend again. "And you, have some breakfast, young man. You need to get your strength back"
"Yes, sir" Blaine answered with a mocking grin as he moved to avoid Sam's punch coming to his arm while everybody laughed at their silliness. It was probably not going to be easy, but at least they had taken the first step.
After breakfast, Sam offered to help with anything that was needed and, since he had always been very skillful with his hands, they easily found him some tasks, as furniture repairing and things like that. Blaine, obviously, was freed from any duties because of his injured leg, so he decided to take a walk around the school –without Sam knowing, of course, or he would never let him–, trying to find things that could be useful or failures in the security of the place that needed be looked after. He loved his friends, he really did, but they didn't seem to be doing that good of a job protecting themselves; they probably just had been lucky until then. And luck never lasted forever.
When his leg started hurting because of all the movement, he stopped a second to rest next to a window on the first floor. From there he could see the main entrance, and he was terrified to see it was infested with dozens of walkers, only kept outside because of the fence. He didn't like that one bit: it would be very difficult for anyone to go out if they needed to. Or it could turn into a real tragedy if they somehow managed to enter.
He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't even hear someone approaching him from behind, and he jumped out of his skin when said someone gently patted his back.
"Hey, Killer"
"Sebastian" Blaine said, with a relieved sigh. "You scared me"
"I'm sorry" Sebastian replied with an apologetic smile. "I should be more careful, we are all very jumpy nowadays, right?"
"I guess" Blaine agreed with a nod. "But you shouldn't apologize. Apparently I have you to thank for being alive"
"Oh, no, please, anyone would…" Sebastian tried to dismiss the appraisal, obviously embarrassed by the slight blush covering his cheeks, but Blaine was having none of it.
"Thank you, Sebastian" Blaine sincerely said, not letting the other finish.
"You're welcome" Sebastian finally relented with a smile, while he decided to use some light joking as a defense mechanism . "See, I told you I could be a good person"
"I never thought you couldn't, Seb, you were the only one who ever doubted it" Blaine answered without a trace of joking in his voice.
"You were always the one to see some good in me in those dark times" Sebastian honestly answered, seeing as he was not going to be able to defuse the situation with his stubborn friend.
"Maybe I was the only one you were showing it to" Blaine answered with a kind smile. "I never found it that difficult to be your friend, you know"
"I was wondering…" Sebastian asked, turning shy all of a sudden. "If maybe we could be friends again"
"We've never stopped being friends, Seb" Blaine answered so matter-of-factly that Sebastian knew he really meant it.
"Even that time I sent you to the hospital?" Sebastian asked because, even if it was something he was deeply ashamed of, he wanted to get it out of the way.
"Did you? I don't remember" Blaine answered with a smile.
"Don't be like that, I was horrible and…" Sebastian insisted, but once again Blaine wouldn't let them.
"And you saved my life last night" Blaine finished for him. "That makes up for everything, don't you think?"
"Thank you, Killer" Sebastian said, squeezing Blaine's shoulder gratefully.
"You're more than welcome" Blaine answered, his smile widening.
"What are you doing here?" A reproachful Sam appeared behind them out of the blue. "I thought I told you to stay off from that leg. And shame on you, Sebastian, for letting him"
"Did I just get scolded because of you?" Sebastian asked Blaine, mockingly offended.
"Looks like so" Blaine answered with a chuckle before turning to his worrier of a best friend. "I was just looking at that"
"At what?" Sam asked, looking through the window at what Blaine seemed to be pointing.
"Look at all those walkers out there" Blaine gravely answered as he pointed again towards the fence. "There seems to be dozens of them"
"I know" Sam answered with a sad nod of his head. "They've been gathering there since we arrived last night"
"I'm worried about that fence" Blaine continued, as he had noticed how all the walkers were pushing into it with their impatience. "How long do you think it can hold?"
"I noticed that too when we arrived, but Puck said they hadn't had any problems with it"
"That doesn't mean we can't have them now"
"You think we're not safe here?" Sebastian asked, looking worriedly at his friend.
"I don't know" Blaine answered honestly. "It's not like I want to criticize these guys or anything but… maybe they haven't had to fight like we have. Maybe they're not really aware of how dangerous our situation really is"
"Do you think we should talk to them?" Sam answered, placing all his trust in his friend once again. After all, he had seen how much Blaine knew about walkers and how much he had learnt about keeping themselves safe from them.
"Probably" Blaine answered with a sigh. "I don't want to offend them but… I think we should take far more precautions than what they have been taking. They don't seem to worry much about anything, as if just staying here was enough to survive"
"Yeah, I thought that too when we arrived"
"Will you guys back me up if I suggest some changes?"
"Of course we will" Sam answered immediately, almost offended at the question. "You've done a great job keeping us alive until now, I trust your judgment 100%"
"Thanks, Sam" Blaine said with a grateful smile as he rested his hand on Sam's forearm. "Seb?"
"I trust you too, Killer" Sebastian answered with a nod that elicited a wide smile on Blaine at feeling so supported.
"Alright, then I think I'll tell them over dinner"
"Ok, so what about a nap now?" Sam suggested, even if it sounded more like an order. "You still need to get your strength back, and I'm sure your leg could do with some rest"
"But…" Blaine tried to protest.
"No buts, you're going to have a nap and that's final" Sam answered, not even letting him finish.
"Seb, save me!" Blaine mockingly yelled as Sam took his arm and threw it around his own shoulders so he wouldn't put any weight on his injured leg.
"Oh no, I already got scolded once for you today, don't get me involved in this again" Sebastian answered, smiling fondly at the pair and how they constantly looked after each other. Yeah, he and Blaine still had some talking to do, he thought with a mischievous grin.
After their nap and a bit of just lazing around, Sam helped Blaine back to the choir room, where some of the students were finishing setting the table. There were all of the glee club members there this time, plus Mike, Puck and Santana and some other students they only knew by sight. Apparently Puck and Santana were engaged in some kind of argument and nobody noticed about them for a while.
"So you're telling me that you and Kitty didn't bring anything last night?" Santana reproached the boy, who sighed as if he was just trying to keep himself calm.
"No, we found them before we had the chance to find anything" Puck patiently replied, and Sam and Blaine exchanged a worried glance when they realized they were talking about them.
"And why did you have to come back if you hadn't found anything?" Santana went on.
"Blaine needed urgent caring. What were we supposed to do, just leave him there to die?" Puck asked with a loud angry smack at the table that made Blaine flinch. "He's had enough of that lately, you know"
"Please, don't start with that you too" Santana reproached him with an angry glare as Sam squeezed Blaine's shoulder comfortingly and pretended to clear his throat so everyone would notice they were there and stop arguing.
"Have a seat, boys" Unique offered with a forced smile while serving food to her friends along with Sugar, Joe and Ryder, as apparently they were in charge of the food –at least that night.
"Thank you" Blaine answered with a polite smile before Sam helped him to his chair and sat next to him. "I'm sorry if I caused you any inconvenience last night"
"You've got nothing to be sorry for, don't worry" Puck immediately reassured him, sending Santana a look that seemed to dare her to contradict him.
"No, of course not" Santana finally relented, even if she didn't sound all that honest.
"So those spaghettis are really awesome!" Sam exclaimed after a few seconds, trying to lower the obvious level of tension in the atmosphere. "Did you cook them, Unique?"
"Oh, I got some help" she answered, even if her modesty was pretty false. "We take turns for the tasks, but I like taking charge of the kitchen department"
"So what other tasks you guys do?" Sebastian asked before sending a pointed look at Blaine to let him know he was helping him bring up the safety issue, to which Blaine reciprocated with a grateful smile.
"Not much. Just cleaning, cooking… those kinds of things" Jake answered, completely unaware of the turn the conversation was taking.
"Is anyone in charge of the safety of the place?" Blaine asked, trying to sound casual so no one would feel attacked.
"What do you mean?" Mike asked, and Blaine could see he was really interested –he would probably be a good ally in that.
"I mean… what do you do to make sure you're safe?"
"Well, we make sure to stay inside and… keep the fence closed" Brittany answered, eliciting some nods around the table.
"Why? You think we are not being careful enough?" Mike insisted, and Blaine was glad to see he was asking out of interest, and not because he felt he was reproaching them of anything.
"Well…" Blaine tried to find the right words to explain, but Sam nodded encouragingly at him before trying to help.
"Weren't we talking precisely about that fence, B?" Sam said, giving Blaine the perfect opportunity to start exposing his worries.
"Yeah, about that. I don't know if you've noticed, but there are lot of walkers just standing outside" Blaine mentioned.
"As long as they remain outside it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Tina asked, starting to get worried about what Blaine seemed to be implying: that they were not safe.
"But is the fence going to hold them for long? There are dozens of them pushing onto it, how do we know they're not going to bring it down?" Blaine tried to reason with them.
"It's stood until now, hasn't it?" Santana retorted, and by her tone Blaine could see she was not going to be as receptive as some of her classmates.
"Yes, and let's hope it stays that way, but I think we should reinforce it somehow, find any kind of long surfaces that help it stand"
"Like what?" Mike asked.
"I was thinking maybe the stands of the pitch would do" Blaine answered.
"Seems like you have it all figured out" Santana sarcastically added, but Blaine decided to ignore her remark before continuing, encouraged by the fact that they all seemed to be listening.
"I also think all the entrances to the building should be watched" he continued, knowing that would be a tough issue as it required a lot of effort from anyone. "There are enough of us so that we can take turns keeping watch. The fact those walkers haven't found a way in yet doesn't mean they will never do and we should be prepared"
"Do you really think that's necessary?" Kitty asked, for once trying not to sound too judgmental. "I mean… nothing has happened so far, and that would take a lot of work and organization"
"I know that" Blaine answered in an understanding tone. "But our survival depends solely on us"
"We can't be cautious enough" Sam said in support of his best friend's idea, repeating those words Blaine had said the day he woke up from his coma.
"I don't know, Blaine…" Puck intervened, not sounding too convinced at Blaine's ideas. "Those walkers, as you call them, are really stupid"
"They're also very dangerous. Especially in closed spaces" Blaine reminded them, although by their skeptical expressions he could tell they hadn't needed to fight them that much –unlike him–. "If they were to enter the building and we were not prepared, we'd be in serious trouble"
"But that's the thing, right?" Puck insisted. "They're outside, and the fence is going to keep them that way"
"But can we be sure?" Blaine insisted. "When I was in that hospital…"
"Oh please, stop it already with that damned hospital!" Santana rudely interrupted him, creating an awkward silence once again, as no one wanted to be the recipient of Santana's trademark wrath. "We know the story!"
"Santana, I was only trying to share my experience with…" Blaine tried, but again he was stopped before he could finish.
"Your experience? Who do you think you are, some kind of Indiana Jones? You think we need for you to rescue us or something?"
"I'm not trying to rescue you or anything, but if there is a way to take advantage of what I've learnt in the past two weeks…"
"Who do you think you are? The almighty Blaine Anderson who always have the right answer, right? It's always been like that, even in the Glee club, you've always thought you are better than anyone. You hide a lot of arrogance under all that cloying and well mannered appearance, mister" Santana spat at him, her voice getting louder with each word.
"Santana, that's enough" Sam tried to intervene in his best friend's favor, but she was not finished by all means.
"No, it's not" she continued, standing up to make more of an impression. "You just arrived here and treat us like we are all stupid, like you know better than anyone else. Well, we've managed fine until you showed up, right? You should be grateful we took you in instead of wanting to take over the whole group. And now yeah, go and reproach them again for leaving you in that hospital, we can't wait to hear it again"
"I haven't said a word about that, Santana" Blaine replied, trying to keep his voice at a normal tone because the last thing he had intended was to get into a fight.
"That's true. On the contrary, he defended us" Artie reminded her.
"Yeah, isn't he the picture of perfection?" Santana replied, her voice full of venom and sarcasm.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Santana?" Sam loudly protested, not being able to remain as level-tempered as his friend. "Blaine is only trying to keep all of you alive!"
"We don't need him for that!" she yelled back at Sam, before turning to the others hoping to find some allegiances amongst them –though she didn't seem to find them, which just angered even more–. "I'm not going to just stand and let him take control of everything just because you all feel guilty about what happened at the hospital!"
"Is that it? Is this your vengeance for the conversation they had this morning?" Sebastian asked in astonishment. And those were the friends Blaine had chosen over the warblers when he had decided to stay at McKinley?
"Nobody asked for your opinion, meerkat-face" Santana retorted, and Sebastian was about to jump on her when Blaine grabbed his arm to stop him: nobody was going to fight for him.
"You know what? Forget it" Blaine said, rising up on his feet himself to leave, as suddenly he felt as if he couldn't breathe in that room and he didn't want anybody else involved in that war on his behalf. "You're right, I don't know more than any of you, and you have taken good care of yourselves until now. I'm sorry if I offended you"
"Blaine, don't go" Sebastian said, feeling sorry for the boy and for the fact that his intervention had been the last straw.
"Come and have some dinner, you are still recovering" Sam pleaded, his heart breaking at the defeat he could see in his best friend's face.
"I'm not hungry, Sam, thank you" he answered, trying to smile for Sam's benefit, though it was quite obvious that he was not feeling it. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Good night"
"What the hell was that about, you bitch?" Tina yelled at Santana, as Blaine leaving the room seemed to get her out of her stupor.
"Tina, please" Mike tried to stop her.
"No! Blaine was only trying to help!" she protested.
"I know, but we don't need any more fighting tonight"
"Thank you, Santana" Sam intervened without raising his voice this time, only that made him sound even more threatening. "Aren't you the greatest of friends?"
"Shit, I had forgotten how much of a bitch you are" Sebastian added, as he and Santana had never seen each other eye to eye.
"I'm going to see if he's alright" Sam announced, intending only for Sebastian to hear, but the snort Santana made told him she had heard him too.
"Yes, please, go see if the little prince is crying his eyes out" she sarcastically added, and Brittany rolled her eyes at her, wishing she would just let go.
"If I didn't know how important food is nowadays, believe me when I tell you I'd throw these spaghettis all over your head, Santana" Sam said, and he turned to go before he lost control of himself and did something he could regret.
He didn't know where Blaine was, but he imagined he would hide away in the infirmary, the place that had quickly become their room. He hoped he had been wise enough to not go outside or be wandering around the corridors with that injured leg of his.
And he was not wrong. When he arrived he was both relieved and sad to indeed find him in the room. At least he knew where he was, but his posture, lying on the mat unmoving, just looking at the ceiling, gave away a lot of his current state of mind. Damn, couldn't he get a break?
"Hey" Sam said to make his presence known, but by the way Blaine still didn't even bat an eyelid, he guessed he had already been aware of it.
"Hey" he answered, and his voice sounded so neutral that it was difficult to know how he was feeling –that is, for anyone who wasn't Sam, who knew the shorter guy like the back of his hand.
"You okay?" Sam asked more directly that he had intended as he slowly lied down on his side, next to his friend.
"Yeah" Blaine lied.
"Don't listen to Santana, she's just being her usual bitchy self" Sam advised him, playfully punching his arm if only because he didn't know what else to do. "Probably because I made Brittany cry in the morning, and you know how protective she is of her. Once she realizes how wrong she is, she will apologize, I'm sure. Besides, no one sided up with her"
"No one stood up to her either" Blaine contradicted him, and at least Sam was glad he was talking, instead of keeping it all inside like he sometimes did. "Well, apart from you, of course"
"Well, I was not going to just stand there and see her attacking my hero like that, right?" he replied, although he was only half joking.
"Your hero?" Blaine asked with a smile, turning his head around to look at his friend.
"Yes, my hero" Sam repeated, reciprocating his smile, wishing he knew what to do or say to make his friend feel better. "The one who's kept me alive for so long"
"Yeah, right" Blaine answered sarcastically, resuming his apparent fascination with the ceiling.
"And they did stand up to her when you left" Sam explained, knowing Blaine desperately needed to know some of the guys supported him. "I thought I was going to have to tie Tina to her chair so she wouldn't kill Santana!"
Blaine chuckled at that, but it sounded sadder than a sob would have.
"You know none of those things Santana said are true, right?" Sam reminded him, resting a hand on Blaine's arm for good measure.
"I only wanted to help" Blaine answered in the softest voice.
"I know, B" Sam reassured him, squeezing his bicep again. "Everybody knows. And hey, even Santana knows. We're just under a lot of pressure, and I bet she was feeling quite stupid she hadn't thought about those things herself"
"This is not working" Blaine suddenly said after a couple of minutes of silence, and the way he shook his head told Sam he was not going to like what he was going to hear.
"What is not working?"
"I thought being around other people was the most important thing. But all I've done since we arrived is make everyone angry, or guilty or feel stupid"
"That's not true. You're just seeing things the wrong way because you're upset, but…"
"Maybe I should just go" Blaine announced, just like that, just as if those words weren't going to break Sam's heart.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam tried not to yell as he sat up.
"I could go and try to find my parents" Blaine explained, sitting up himself to have that conversation face to face with his friend –it was the least he could do, after all.
"You don't know where they are!" Sam protested energetically. "And we are finally surrounded by people, are you going to throw that away because of a silly fight?"
"Cohabitation and mutual trust is the essence now, Sam" Blaine answered, keeping calm for Sam even if the latter was practically yelling at him. "And if I'm being an obstacle for that…"
"You can't just go, Blaine. It's too dangerous!" Sam said, taking his hand in his to make more of an impression in a desperate move. "You said it yourself, we need people to survive!"
"Maybe I was wrong" Blaine answered with a sad shrug of his shoulders. "But hey, don't worry, I know how to defend myself, you know that. Nothing is going to happen to me"
"Blaine, I know you're the most qualified person around to fight those walkers, but even you wouldn't last a day out there on your own! It's too dangerous!" Sam tried to reason with him, terrified at how confident Blaine seemed to be about his decision.
"It's not!" Blaine tried to convince him as he caressed Sam's cheek with his knuckles, understanding how it was not going to be easy for the taller boy to see him go. "I know I can make it. I've done it before"
"You know that if you go, I go, right?" Sam whispered as he joined their foreheads together, desperate to feel Blaine's skin against his as if that would mean he was not going anywhere.
"What?" Blaine exclaimed, bending over backwards so he could look into Sam's eyes. "No, Sam, you don't have…"
"I thought we established we are a team" Sam interrupted him.
"I know but I want you to stay here, where I know you're safe"
"So you admit that going out there is dangerous, right?"
"Well…" Blaine tried to refute Sam's arguments, but he stopped himself with a sigh when he realized he couldn't.
"Either we make it together or we fail together" Sam insisted, squeezing the hand of the other boy he still had wrapped in his. "But I'm not going to try without you"
Blaine was too moved to say anything else, so he just threw his arms around his friend and hugged him with all his forces, trying not to think how wonderful it felt when Sam wrapped him up with his own arms to close the embrace.
"We're in this together until the end" Sam reminded him again, and he smiled when he felt Blaine's head coming to rest on his shoulder trustingly, as he knew he had convinced him to stay.
"Thank you, Sammy" Blaine answered in a shaky voice as he reinforced his grip on the taller boy and sighed when Sam's fingers found their way through the curls on the back of his head.
Sam was about to reply when a loud noise coming from outside made them jump and separate as they tried to figure out what could have possibly happened.
"What was that?" Sam asked, looking at his friend, desperate for answers.
"Shit, Sam, it's the fence!" Blaine suddenly yelled, eyes huge with terror, as he understood what was happening. "It's falling!"
A/N: Hahaha, so cliffhangers are back! :) The next chapter is going to be a bit more difficult to write and, on top of that, I haven't completely figured it out yet, so it may take a little more time. Be patient, please!