As always,
THEMoDePo: Well, if you thought that chapter was cute wait until you read this one ;) Thank you so much!
Angellovercriss: pues en castellano, ningún problema! :) jajaja, lo comentas en twitter y todo? me alegro much que lo disfrutes tanto, de verdad, es muy importante para mí, especialmente teniendo en cuenta lo que me está costando escribirlo. Me gusta tu idea de como su relación pudiera fluir tan naturalmente hacia algo más, pero precisamente esta parte está definida y escrita desde antes de que empezara la historia. En cierto modo será así como dices, de manera natural, pero a la vez... no será tan fácil, y habrá algunos obstáculos que superar. pero no quiero hacerte spoilers! Espero que también te gustará de ese modo! Y tranquilo, que ya prometí que Blam no moriría ;) Muchísimas gracias!
Me-me157: I always wait for your reviews so expectantly, they're always so nice and reassuring! You think Blaine is really clueless about what's happening? Well, he might be about Sam's feelings, but he is very very aware of his own :) But yes, I love that everyone else treats them already like they're a couple, even if they don't see it! Hahaha, don't yell at your computer, it's not its fault ;) Thank you so much, sweetie!
CHAPTER 10
"Don't be so quick, Puck" Sam warned him. "There must be a reason why it was left here, right?"
"Well, we won't know until we have a look, right?" Puck answered as he started approaching the vehicle.
"Maybe we should just forget about it and continue our way" Jake suggested.
"No, we need it" Puck answered, sending a quick look at Blaine before he could stop himself. "We are all pretty tired, and there is still a good way to go"
"Ok, but let's be careful" Mike compromised, always the voice of reason.
They slowly went all the way around the bus to the other side, where the doors were. And just one quick look at them told them the bus was not as empty as they had thought, as there were some walkers piling up just outside the closed doors, obviously trying to get outside.
"How did those walkers get trapped inside?" Marley asked.
"I don't think walkers got inside the bus" Blaine gravely explained after taking a better look at the biters banging on the doors and recognizing some of them. "Those are the McKinley students that took the bus"
"Oh my God" Brittany exclaimed, her voice full of horror.
"Still…" Marley insisted.
"I guess one of them was already infected when they escaped and…" Blaine stopped himself, knowing there were no more words needed.
"Well, it doesn't matter" Puck intervened, not wanting to sound insensitive but neither wanting for them to get lost in thoughts that wouldn't get them anywhere. "Whatever happened we can do nothing about it now. We've got to think about ourselves now and what we need right now is that bus"
"How are we going to get it?" Santana asked. "Maybe you didn't notice it's full of those monsters"
"Well, we just need to get them out, right?" Puck answered, his voice full or sarcasm. "Ok, I need some of those of you who've got guns. Mike, Santana, Kitty, Trent, come here"
"What are you planning to do?" Mike asked.
"Well, I'm obviously going to open that door and you guys will shoot at them as soon as they get out. There are not so many of them, it shouldn't be difficult"
"Seems like a plan" Blaine answered with a proud smile towards Puck, though it killed him not to be able to help due to the fact he was injured and being carried around by Sam.
"Ok, so we'll take care of that door and then we'll move to the other one" Puck suggested as he readied himself for the mission.
"Wait" Blaine stopped them, suddenly thinking of something. "If there are any walkers around those shots will surely attract them"
"You're right" Puck admitted with a frustrated sigh. "We'll have to be quick, then. Come on, guys, ready?" Puck asked to the four people he had designated for the job, who were already aiming their guns at the door. "Go!"
Puck had to wrestle with the door for a bit, as the walkers were pushing it from the other side, but in the end he managed to open it and one of the monsters grabbed him before he was able to move out of the way. Fortunately Santana had a good aim, and one shot at his attacker was enough to free him.
It didn't take them too long to finish them off, as shooting from such a short range made it easier to hit their target, while the others looked intently at them, ready to help if necessary, though they did seem to have it all under control.
When all of the walkers had been successfully killed, the five youngsters moved to the other door to repeat the procedure, though this time Puck was more careful and he got out of the way before they could reach him.
As the group shot their weapons without hesitation, the others were so concentrated on their task in case they would need any help that they forgot to watch their backs. And, as Blaine had predicted, some walkers that had been wandering on the sides of the road started approaching them, the uproar of the guns hiding the gurgling noise that was so characteristic of them.
It wasn't until a walker was almost reaching Ryder that he noticed a presence behind him and he turned around, expecting it to be one of the other guys. But when he saw it was in fact a walker about to bite his shoulder he shrieked and jumped backwards, falling to the floor in a clumsy move.
"Watch out!" he yelled to his classmates, and it was then when they turned around and found themselves facing at least ten walkers that had come out of nowhere.
Seeing that one of them was almost touching Sam, Blaine reached to the front part of the blond's waistband of his pants and took the gun that had been kept there until then in one swift movement and aimed it to the walker's head, not a moment too soon, as it was so close to them that its blood spilt both their faces.
"Hot damn" Sam exclaimed as he gulped, strengthening the grip he kept on Blaine's legs more strongly after the fright. "Well done"
"Well, I knew you were not going to put me down, so…" Blaine explained as he fired once again towards a walker that was coming threateningly close to Sugar.
"I thought you didn't know how to shoot" Sam joked for the sake of it, as all hell broke loose around them and everyone that had a gun around them starting using it.
"Well, don't ask me to do it again, just in case" Blaine answered, firing again while Sam held him, this time missing his target.
"Everybody get on the bus now!" Puck shouted to be heard over all the ruckus, and one look at the bus' door told them that all the walkers inside the bus had been taken care of.
Mike was the first one to jump inside through the door on the back, wanting to make sure there were no more walkers inside that could mean trouble. And as he ran down the aisle towards the steering wheel, he tripped over something and ended up on the floor, facing a biter that had been trapped under a seat only a few inches from his face. But before he could even get his knife out of his pocket, he saw Tina strongly stabbing the walker in the head.
"Are you alright?" she worriedly asked as he helped him on his feet again.
"I'm fine, thanks to you" he answered as he took only a second to embrace the girl. "Tina, do you think you can drive this thing?"
"Well, I'm surely willing to try" she confidently answered as she ran to take the driver's seat and she happily bounced for a second when she realized the keys were still there.
"I will watch this door to make sure no more walkers come in" he said, putting himself at the last step so he could easily shot outside if any walkers tried to go in through that door. "Everybody inside, now!" he yelled with all his forces, hoping the others would hear him from outside and start walking in through the other door.
And they did. One by one they started running inside the bus while the others kept shooting at the approaching walkers, but they were not as fast as they would have liked and more monsters kept coming closer and closer to them. The people already inside took position in the windows to keep shooting at the biters and keep the remaining ones safe as they all got into the bus.
Not surprisingly, Sam and Blaine were the last ones left, as they would never run to safety without making sure everybody else was safe first. Blaine had kept shooting at the walkers –who were practically on them by then– while Sam held strongly onto him and hurried everyone else inside until it was only them left.
Sam knew he couldn't possibly go into the bus with Blaine on his back, as the door was too narrow, so in a swift movement, he lowered him to the floor and moved him in front of him so he could grab him around the waist and lift him into the bus. Fortunately Sebastian was waiting to help in the inside and he grabbed Blaine's hands to help Sam in getting Blaine inside as soon as possible.
Blaine, of course, was very conscious of how important it was to be quick if they wanted for Sam to safely make it into the bus too, so he didn't even bother in making all the way up, as that would take too much time with his injured leg, and contented himself with getting out of the way, sitting on the top of the stairs, so the first steps would be free for Sam to jump onto them.
"Go, Tina!" Sebastian yelled as soon as Sam put his second foot on the bus.
Tina didn't lose a second to start the bus and with a brusque movement it started moving. But they hadn't gathered much speed yet when one of the walkers outside grabbed Sam's leg and made him lose his balance, so with hardly a grunt of surprise he ended falling on the stairs with the upper part of his body as his legs were left hanging off from the bus door.
"Sam!" Blaine yelled desperately, as he quickly grabbed one of Sam's arms to keep him from falling out of the bus completely. "Somebody help me!"
Thankfully Sebastian was still right next to them and could grab Sam's other arm to keep him inside. But the walker was still clinging to Sam's leg, not minding about being dragged along the road with the movement of the bus, and was making it very difficult for the boys to keep Sam inside, as the latter fought with his free leg both to keep himself aboard and to get rid of the damned walker.
Puck ran to the boys and leant onto Blaine so he could also have a grab of Sam, worried that they would lose him before he could get rid of the walker.
Blaine watched, his heart in his throat, as Sam fought with all his forces to knock the biter and get it to let go, and wished he could do something else than just holding him. He still had the gun he had taken from Sam's waistband, but shooting from his position was too risky, as he could very well hit Sam instead of the walker. Plus he couldn't risk letting go of him to grab the gun or he could fall completely out of the bus and on the walkers' reach.
Stopping the bus was not an option either, as there were a lot more walkers trying to get it, and they would get Sam before they had the time to get him out of danger.
"Come on, Sam" Blaine begged him, his voice sounding so desperate it was painful to hear. "Kick its head, come on!"
Maybe it was the pain in Blaine's voice; maybe he was just lucky, he didn't know. But the next kick Sam threw in the walker's direction hit its target on the head with great force to the point it made him let go of Sam's leg, so it fell on the road and the bus' wheel stepped over it.
Blaine, Puck and Sebastian immediately took advantage of the fact that nothing was pulling Sam out of the bus anymore and quickly pulled him inside until he fell on his knees on the steps, right in front of where Blaine was sitting.
"Close the doors now!" Puck yelled as he stood up, satisfied when he saw Mike hurrying to find the right button to obey.
Sam was still trying to regain his breath when he found himself engulfed in a suffocating embrace, and he didn't even need to look up to know it was Blaine, channeling his panic through a hug as the door closed behind them. Sam immediately put his own arms around the smaller boy, wanting both to give and get comfort from him, as he buried his face in the crook of Blaine's neck and inhaled deeply, Blaine's unique essence filling his nostrils in the most reassuring way, diminishing his shaking almost instantly.
"I'm alright, B" Sam said when he was finally able to find his voice, his hand tracing comforting patterns on Blaine's back. "It didn't get me"
But Blaine didn't answer, only held onto him more strongly as if he was afraid Sam would disappear if he let go of him. He was shaking, and not even Sam's gentle rocking or the hand that Sebastian comfortingly laid on his back weren't helping.
"Hey" Sam said as he broke the embrace and cupped Blaine's face into his hands, trying to get him to react. "I'm okay"
"You sure?" Blaine finally managed to ask, incredibly relieved when Sam's answer was to smile at him.
"I'm sure" Sam answered as he took Blaine's hands in his and squeezed them for a second. "Only a bit shaken"
"Me too" Blaine confessed, and Sam had to chuckle at that, as if it hadn't been obvious enough how shaken Blaine was.
"Let's get you to a seat, shall we?" Sam suggested, and gave Blaine's hands a last squeeze before getting up.
Between Sam and Sebastian, who had remained at their side in case they needed any help, they got Blaine on his feet and had him sit on the nearest seat. And even if there were not so many people and the bus was not even half full, Sam didn't even hesitate to sit next to him instead of having another seat just for him, knowing both of them needed the closeness right then. As soon as he accommodated himself next to his friend, Sam carefully lifted Blaine's legs on his lap, making sure to keep the injured one straight and secure in a light grip.
"Better keep it elevated" he explained when he noticed Blaine's puzzled gaze.
Blaine's answer was to smile gratefully at his thoughtful friend and taking his hand in his again with the intention of giving it a quick squeeze and let go of it. But Sam entwined their fingers together instead as he reciprocated his smile, and rested their joined hands on top of Blaine's legs. And they didn't let go of each other during the entire trip left to the prison.
All of them started getting excited, being unable to stop smiling and sighing with relief, when the bus covered the final yards towards the prison they had been looking for. Having a safe place to live in, a roof above their heads where they could stay together while not having to worry constantly, seemed almost too much.
"We can't go any further with the bus" Tina announced to her classmates. "All the fences are closed"
"How are we going to get in then?" Joe asked, unconsciously turning to Blaine for answers.
"Did any of you get any wire cutters from the school?" Blaine asked to no one in particular.
"I did" Marley answered, proud to be able to help.
"But if we cut the fence won't that make it possible for the walkers to go in too?" Unique answered.
"Not if we only do a small hole to pass and then we close it again with some wire or cable or anything like that" Blaine explained.
"I've got tones of that" Brittany intervened.
"And as it's only the outside fence, and we will hopefully be able to close the other one from inside if we find the keys, it wouldn't be a problem even if they managed to undo it with time, right?" Sam finished for his friend, smiling proudly at him, a gesture that was immediately reciprocated.
"Exactly" Blaine answered. "We just need to reach one of the blocks, seal it up as best we can, and we'll explore everything else tomorrow"
"There are a lot of walkers in the way, though" Jake lamented, as some of the prisoners of the jail had obviously got caught inside when the attack started and had turned into walkers, wandering aimlessly in their prison clothes around the open space between the fence and the building.
"There are not so many of them" Puck answered, trying to be optimistic for the sake of everyone else. "We've dealt with worse"
"Ok, so everybody get ready, then" Mike suggested as he took the wire cutter Marley was offering to him and prepared his gun. "We have to be quick"
Mike and Puck were the firsts to leave the bus and they ran to the fence to start working on making a whole big enough to get everyone at the other side of the fence as everybody else starting leaving the bus. Santana ran after them with the cable she had gotten from Brittany's back to protect the other two in case any walker came close enough before they had finished getting everybody inside.
As soon as they managed to cut enough of the fence to go in, the three of them came inside and Puck and Mike held the edges open for everybody else to make their way through it. And as soon as each of them got inside, they immediately closed around the others to take care of any walkers that approached, although they were still not too close. Blaine and Artie needed help to get inside, but soon everybody had found their way through the fence and Mike and Puck hurried to close the gap with the cable Santana was offering to them.
"Alright, jump on my back" Sam hurriedly ordered Blaine, standing in front of him so he would obey.
"No, Sam, you can't fight with me on your back" Blaine immediately protested.
"Blaine, we don't have time for this, I assure you I'll be much safer if I've got you on my back and you shoot for the both of us than if I have to be constantly checking out if you're alright as you struggle to move" Sam tried to reason with him.
Blaine sighed, knowing Sam was probably right in everything he had said, so for once he complied and jumped on Sam's back the best he could, holding onto him with one hand and onto the gun with the other, intent of protecting both of them as Sam made their way through the walkers.
"Everyone make a circle!" Sebastian suggested, knowing there was less chance of them being hurt if they protected each other.
Everyone could see that, even if some of the walkers weren't even that near yet, the most intelligent thing to do would be to kill as many of them as they could, so they wouldn't have to worry about them later, so everybody made a good job of fighting them, some of them from a distance with their guns, others fighting them more directly with their knives. The ones who were less used or skillful to fighting were left to run in the middle of the group as the others moved around them and defended them.
When they reached the interior fence, they were relieved to find the door open, so they all made their way inside and Puck and Mike again closed it behind them with the cable as a temporary solution until they found the keys to properly lock it. Now they only had a small distance to cover to the nearest cell block, and there weren't that many walkers on that area, so they could relax a little.
"I'll carry Blaine for a while now, Sam" Puck offered with a gentle hand to his shoulder, as he noticed how the blond was slightly panting with the effort after running all that way while carrying Blaine's weight.
"No" Sam gratefully but confidently refused as he reinforced his grip on the smaller boy. Blaine had stayed with Sam in that damned hospital to keep him alive, so it was his responsibility now that he was injured to make sure Blaine would be alright too. "I can do it"
"Sam, Puck can carry me, I won't even complain, I promise" Blaine tried to convince him too, willing to compromise to anything to make it easier for Sam, though it was to no avail.
"I can do it" Sam stubbornly repeated as he started moving again and encouraged the others too before they could try to convince him again. "Let's make a circle again!"
The fight continued until they could reach the building. Sebastian and Trent opened the door very carefully, perfectly aware they were going to find more walkers trapped inside. Everybody continued moving in a circle even once inside and killing every one of the walkers they could find, even those who were not a real thread as they had been trapped inside of the cells.
When they reached the control area, they found the body of one of the prison officers that seemed to have committed suicide as the only wound in him was the shot he had received to his head. Not wanting to dwell on how desperate he must have been to do something like that, Kitty walked around the body and picked the set of keys hanging from his belt.
It wasn't long until they were positively sure they had ended up every possible walker in the block, going cell by cell, opening them and making sure there would be no surprises. Then Kitty and Sebastian went outside to properly lock the interior fence for further protection and the rest of them –the ones that were able– started taking the bodies outside to get rid of them and make the place a bit more habitable. Sugar suggested making a pyre with all the bodies so they wouldn't have to see them all the time, and Joe quickly agreed to it and took charge of that task.
It was starting to get dark when they considered they had worked enough for the day and everybody started assembling on what had been the dining room, in the circle that was quickly becoming so characteristic of them. They were tired and kind of battered after so much walking and fighting that day, but there was a sense of optimism and peace amongst them as they felt safer than they had since the whole debacle started. And knowing that all of them had survived such a dangerous day and could still sit together was way more comforting than they would have ever thought.
"Guys, we made it" Blaine said with a wide smile.
"Yeah, we did" Santana answered, reciprocating his smile as he threw an arm around Brittany and drew her close to her side.
"We still have some work to do, though" Mike seriously reminded them. "Tomorrow we need to go find the kitchen, the storeroom, the infirmary… Any place that could prove useful"
"You're right" Sam quickly agreed. One of the reasons they had come to the prison were the supplies they were sure they would find, so they would have to look for them and take inventory of everything they had.
"And I think we should keep watch at the door constantly" Blaine suggested, hoping the others would be more receptive to his suggestions that the first time around. "I know it feels much more secure here but…"
"But we never know" Ryder finished for him, with an understanding nod.
"We need to establish some turns if we want to be efficient" Blaine continued, encouraged by the fact that everyone seemed to agree with him. "Starting today. I can take the first one"
"Oh my God, Sam, get him into a cell and out of our sight once and for all!" Puck exclaimed, feigning to be really annoyed and eliciting a few laughs around him –except from Blaine, of course.
"What?" he asked with a furrowed brow.
"Do you really think any of us is going to let you stand guard tonight?" Mike intervened. "You go, have some very much needed and deserved rest and you will keep watch when your leg is feeling better, alright?"
"Alright" Blaine agreed with a grateful smile, much more easily than any of them would have expected, so they knew how much he must be really hurting.
"Sam, make sure he does as he's told" Mike suggested, making it sound as if he was giving him a task instead of giving them some time together to relax –which they had undoubtedly earned themselves–, which was what he really was doing. "We'll establish the turns to keep watch"
"Alright" Sam easily agreed, grateful for the chance to finally have Blaine get some rest, as he stood up and hung his backpack that Tina had been carrying for him until then on the front part of his torso from his shoulders so it would rest on his chest. "You won't hear from us again until tomorrow"
"I really hope so" Puck answered, as usual hiding his concern for his friends under some light joking.
"Come on, dude" Sam said as he offered a hand for Blaine to help him stand and then crouched in front of him for Blaine to climb onto his back again, which for once he did without complaint.
With his precious burden on his back, Sam left the dining room, which they had already established as their common room, and found their way to the cells again, with the intention of taking possession of one of them and having Blaine take that rest he so desperately needed. He passed a whole lot of open doors and looked curiously at the stairs that would lead them to the first floor.
"You want to take a cell upstairs?" Blaine asked as he seemed to read his mind, more curious than anything, as whatever Sam decided would be good enough for him.
"Why not?" Sam asked in a mischievous tone. "That way we can get to have more privacy, don't you think?"
"Sure" Blaine answered tentatively –because what was Sam up to, that suddenly he needed so much privacy?–. "But you can't take the stairs while carrying me"
"Please" Sam answered, easily starting with the first steps as if it was not a big deal.
"When did you get so strong, Sam?" Blaine asked in complete awe as Sam went up the stairs as normally as he would if Blaine wasn't hanging from his back. "You've been carrying me for a good while and you're not even sweating"
"Well, I've always been strong, I'm offended you never noticed before" Sam joked, feeling quite proud of himself with Blaine noticing his strength. "And let me tell you, you don't weight half of what you think you weight…"
"Will you stop calling me small?" Blaine complained good-naturedly, to which Sam couldn't help but chuckle.
"Well, then… grow" he answered the first thing that came to his mind, but he was happy when Blaine burst out laughing, so he joined him and both ended up with tears in their eyes before Sam picked up the perfect cell for them –as neither one of them had even doubted they were going to share. "What do you think?"
Even though it was the coldest and emptiest place they had probably ever been, with only two bunk beds, a desk and a chair, given the circumstances it looked comfortable and secure enough, so Blaine didn't think he could ask for much more.
"I think it's great" he answered honestly.
"You should have the bottom bunk" Sam immediately offered as he carefully let Blaine slip from his back onto the floor and forced him to sit on the bunk bed even before his injured leg made contact with the floor. "You can't climb with that leg"
"You just want the top one, admit it" Blaine lightly joked, knowing he would let Sam have the bed he wanted anyway, as a thank you for carrying him half of the way –and who was he trying to kid, because he couldn't say no to Sam.
"Ok, then I'm calling it" Sam joked back, throwing his backpack on the top bed as a way of marking his territory.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Blaine protested, trying to sound outraged.
"You're always so slow with these things, it's so easy to get you!" Sam laughed, playfully punching Blaine's arm for good measure.
"That's 'cause you take advantage of my trust in you" Blaine pouted, trying not to smile at his friend's antics as he carefully lifted both his legs until they were resting on the bed and winced in pain with the movement before he could stop himself.
"How's your leg?" Sam asked, as he had obviously not missed the painful expression on his friend's leg.
"It's hurting like the devil" Blaine admitted with a sad smile, knowing there was no point in denying it any longer.
"Why didn't you tell me how bad your leg really hurt?" Sam asked, not wanting to make Blaine feel guilty or to start a fight, but needing to know.
"Because I didn't want you to worry" Blaine answered in all honesty.
"It… hurt that you weren't honest with me" Sam confessed, biting his bottom lip in a nervous gesture that Blaine made sigh.
"I'm sorry" Blaine apologized, and there was so much sorrow and sincerity in his voice that Sam didn't even doubt for a second that he indeed was. "I didn't want to hurt you. But it was not because I didn't trust you, you know. I trust you with my life"
"Yet you should have been honest with me" Sam insisted, trying to make a point for future situations. "I've always been honest with you"
"You're right. I'm really sorry" Blaine repeated, in an obvious need to be forgiven so Sam took pity of him.
"It's okay. I know you didn't want to hurt me" he said, trying not to notice the grimace that appeared on Blaine's face as he again tried to make himself comfortable on the narrow bed.
Sam sighed in frustration, wishing there was something he could do to alleviate his best friend's pain. But with no doctors, medicines, or even ice to help the swelling down, there was hardly anything that could help his leg heal, except rest and patience. And waiting had never been a strong point of Sam, so he guessed that, if he couldn't take Blaine's pain away, at least he could make him forget about it.
"Hey" he said to get Blaine's attention as he rummaged through his back and took something out. "Look what I found"
"Where the hell did you find this?" Blaine asked in awe as Sam handed him a brand new bottle of vodka, still untouched. It felt so out of place that it didn't even seem real, Blaine thought as he couldn't help a big smile.
"I had it in my locker, so I put it in my bag before we left when I remembered about it" Sam explained as he sat on the bottom bed next to Blaine and took the bottle from him.
"That was what was so important that you had to get?" Blaine asked as he remembered Sam going back to the main building of the school to get something only that same morning. "And what the hell were you doing with a bottle of vodka in your locker?"
"You never know when you're going to need it, right?" Sam asked with a mischievous smirk as he opened the bottle.
"You're unbelievable" Blaine exclaimed, making Sam's heart flutter at the admiration he could see in the other's eyes. So that's why he had wanted some privacy, right?
"I took it out to have a quiet drink with everyone, but I think my best friend needs it more" Sam explained with a warm smile before passing the now open bottle to his friend again. "Nobody needs to know, right?"
With a full bottle for just the two of them, it didn't take them that long to get a bit tipsier than expected. Even if they had only meant to relax a bit, the conversation and easy joking had soon started flowing and they had drunk more than they had initially planned, to the point they were not completely drunk but were more than a little tipsy. Not that it was a problem, though, as they were having the time of their lives as they sat side by side on Blaine's bed, resting their backs on the wall with the bottle going continually from hand to hand as they took long sips and laughed about the most stupid things.
"Oh my God, no!" Blaine protested between laughs, trying to stop Sam's hands that were trying to tickle him on his middle. "Stop, I'm not doing a belching contest with you!"
"You're no fun to be around!" Sam complained with an exaggerated sigh, as he stopped the tickling and let his head fall on Blaine's shoulder. "You're such a stiff!"
"And you're such a pig!" Blaine replied as he unceremoniously pushed Sam away from him.
"Well, I'm just trying to find a game to play! It's not like we can play spin the bottle, right?" Sam protested, stopping Blaine's laughter in an instant.
"Why not?" Blaine asked once he found his voice again, after imagining what it would be like to be kissed by the boy next to him. He was a bit offended that Sam so easily assumed they couldn't play it, would that be so gross for him to kiss him?
"Because we only have this one bottle, and we're not done with it yet, you know" Sam tried to reason with him, completely oblivious to what had been going through Blaine's mind even if the latter sighed in relief.
"Oh, that's a good reason" Blaine added, feeling happy again now that he knew Sam didn't think kissing him was completely out of question –not that he had said the contrary or anything, but it seemed pretty coherent in Blaine's slightly fuzzed mind.
"Besides the room is already spinning enough, we don't need a bottle for that" Sam replied as he confusedly looked towards the ceiling and tried to stop the room from spinning any longer.
"I think you've had enough for today" Blaine said with a chuckle as he stole the bottle from Sam's hand and held it out of his reach.
"Don't be such a spoilsport, man!" Sam protested as he tried to reach it, not seeming to notice he was practically lying down on Blaine's lap.
"I'm not! I'm just looking out for you" Blaine explained as he effectively hid the bottle between the bed and the wall, really meaning it about not letting Sam drink any more.
"Aww, aren't you a sweetheart?" Sam exclaimed, apparently forgetting he had been deprived from his vodka thanks to Blaine's sweet words, so he stopped trying to find the bottle and rested a noisy and sloppy kiss on Blaine's cheek instead.
"Get off me!" Blaine said with a laugh as he removed Sam's spittle from his cheek and tried to push him away from his chest to no avail. "And move, I want to lie down"
"No, I'm too comfy, you move" Sam answered, nestling more comfortably on Blaine's chest.
"This is my bed!" Blaine protested.
"Who said so?"
"You did! You called the top one!"
"Oh, right! I won!"
"Well, congratulations!" Blaine sarcastically answered as he effectively removed Sam from his chest this time. "Now move"
"Ok" Sam answered with a sigh as he let himself be pushed away from Blaine's chest and moved to completely lie down on the narrow bed, careful not to fall from the edge as he watched Blaine making a mockingly annoyed face at him. "What? You said I had to move, you didn't say where to. There's enough room for you to lie here next to me, just come to Sammy" he said, patting the space next to him and making Blaine laugh wholeheartedly again.
"Oh my God, Sam, I wish I could put you on tape" Blaine answered as he finally let himself convinced and lay down next to him.
Silence fell upon them for a minute, too tired and comfortable to break the moment. They just lay there, facing each other, not minding the proximity imposed by the very narrow bunk bed, as they looked into each other's eyes, feeling grateful once again for the person they had ended sharing the apocalypse with.
"You look happy" Sam whispered after a couple of minutes, gently grabbing Blaine's chin between his fingers as if he didn't want Blaine to move, as if he just wanted to capture the moment like that.
"Do I?" Blaine asked, shyly smiling at his friend.
"Yeah. Or at least you don't look as sad as the last days. I don't like seeing you sad" Sam clumsily explained, sweetly running his knuckles across Blaine's cheek before removing his hand from the other's face.
"That's because you're a good friend" Blaine said with a playful punch to Sam's shoulder.
"Don't you mean your best friend?" Sam corrected him with a noticeable frown.
"Well, of course"
"Because we have a lot of friends here. I'd hate to think I'm just another one of them to you"
"Sammy, you would never be just another one, and you know it" Blaine said, more seriously that he had intended, as he rested his hand on Sam's shoulder and gently squeezed it.
"Great, because you're my bestie too, man" Sam answered with a relieved smile.
"That's great, Sammy"
"It's still nice to be surrounded by other friends too, though. We're lucky people"
"I know" Blaine answered, smiling at Sam's unbreakable optimism.
"I wish all of our friends were here. Even the ones we know nothing about" Sam continued, and Blaine wondered for a minute if he was just babbling out every thought that came to his head or he was clumsily trying to get somewhere.
"Yeah, I wish that too" he answered in confusion.
"Do you ever think about what they might be doing?"
"Sometimes"
"Do you ever wonder about Kurt?" Sam asked, trying to sound casual, but Blaine felt like Sam had been beating about the bush just to make that question, and he wondered if he had wanted to ask him about Kurt for days and only the alcohol had given him the courage to do it.
"Yes" he honestly answered, not feeling the need to lie to his best friend –and besides, he had also had more than his share of vodka and had lost his ability to be subtle.
"You must be worried sick about him" Sam continued, turning to lie on his back, and if Blaine didn't know any better, he would have thought Sam sounded almost jealous at the notion.
"Of course" he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "The same as with Rachel, Finn or Mercedes. But I like to think this hasn't reach New York and they're alright, you know"
"The same as them?" Sam asked, clearly surprised –and pleased– at the answer.
"Kurt and I… we haven't been an issue for so long now, Sam" Blaine explained, and he was surprised himself when he realized admitting that didn't make his heart hurt anymore.
"But I thought you wanted to get back together with him" Sam insisted.
"I did at first but… not anymore. I'm over him" Blaine said, grabbing Sam's chin to make his head turn so he could look into his eyes and convince him about how serious he was. "And so is he. We are friends now. Well… you know what I mean, at least we were… in our other life"
"I'm glad you made your peace with that, then" Sam honestly said, as he had been the most direct witness of Blaine's pain after the breakup.
"What about you and Mercedes?" Blaine asked, now he being the one to anxiously wait for an answer.
"No" Sam answered while turning to look at the ceiling and confidently shaking his head. "No chance of that happening again"
"Good" Blaine answered before he could stop himself, blushing immediately when he realized what he had done.
"Good?" Sam asked, more surprised than angry when he turned his head to look at him again.
"Sorry" Blaine apologized, looking down so as not to meet Sam's gaze. "I didn't mean to be rude or anything but…"
"But what?"
"She never appreciated you for who you are, you know? She took you for granted. She should have been grateful every day for having you by her side and she wasn't. You deserved something better"
"You really think so?" Sam asked, his voice full of hope and something else Blaine couldn't identify.
"Of course" Blaine was quick to reassure him, raising his eyes again to meet Sam's. "You're special, Sammy. And the person whom you decide to share your live with should remind you that every day" he added, his voice shaking slightly at the end at the longing and the hope he could be that someone.
"You already do that, you know?" Sam said with the sweetest smile.
"What?"
"Make me feel special"
"That's because you are" Blaine answered with the sweetest smile he could muster, a smile that made Sam's heart flutter like it had never done before.
"Not as much as you" Sam replied as he turned on his side again and fondly booped Blaine's nose with his index finger before turning serious again. "Can I be totally honest with you?"
"Of course"
"I didn't like Kurt for you either"
"Why?" Blaine asked in surprise; it was true that he and Sam hadn't been that close before Kurt broke up with him, but he had always thought he was supportive of their relationship.
"Pretty much the same reasons. He never valued you as you deserved" Sam explained, picking Blaine' hand in between them and starting a game of entwining and untwining their fingers as he opened his heart to him. "He always expected you to make all the sacrifices and in the end he neglected you when you needed him the most. And he didn't make you happy. And if you're not happy you don't smile. And your smile lights up the whole room, I can't believe he never noticed that"
"Really?" Blaine asked, his voice shaking with emotion at Sam's sweet words.
"Of course really" Sam answered, looking at the other boy as if he was the most precious thing in the world, his tongue obviously looser than usual because of the vodka. "There is only one thing prettier than your smile, and that's your eyes"
"Ok, I'm never letting you near that bottle again" Blaine joked, needing a distraction from Sam's intensity if he didn't want to start crying like a baby.
"What? Your eyes are gorgeous, Blaine, with or without vodka" Sam protested in all seriousness.
"Ok, then tell me again sometime when you're not drunk" Blaine joked, disentangling his hand from Sam's grip to lightly punch him on the shoulder again.
"I will, because it's true" Sam promised, catching Blaine's hand in his again before he could remove it from him and holding it to his chest, apparently unable to not be in direct physical contact with him today. "Because you and your eyes are very pretty, fact. Can't you take a compliment?"
"I guess I'm not that used to them. There was a lot of truth in what you said about Kurt" Blaine said with a sigh before he could stop himself.
"Why did we end up with people who never really got to know us or appreciate us?" Sam complained, even if a small smile was still decorating his lips.
"I don't know" Blaine answered with a chuckle.
"I think no one has ever known me as you do" Sam added, getting all intense again –and gosh, could he stop it before it really made Blaine burst into tears?
"Of course I know you, Sam. I care about you a lot"
"Same here. You know that, don't you? You're the most important person in my life, Blaine. And not just now that there are so few of us… you've already been for some time"
"Sam, I…" Blaine tried to speak, though he stopped himself when he realized he didn't know what to say.
"Blaine, I don't know how much you are aware of about the night you got trapped under that car, but… you said…" Sam said, and Blaine wanted to die when he vividly remembered he had told Sam he loved him when he thought he was going to die.
"Forget it, Sam" Blaine answered, lowering his face when he felt it burning from embarrassment –because it was impossible that Sam felt the same way, right?– "You don't need to carry that burden over your shoulders. We've got enough as it is"
"No, Blaine, I…" Sam interrupted him, carefully lifting his face again with a finger under his chin. "I just wanted to tell you… that I love you too, buddy"
"Sure, Sam" Blaine answered while trying to smile at Sam, thankful that he hadn't really seen the truth behind his words but disappointed at the same time. "Thanks, bro"
"I really mean it" Sam insisted as he looked intently at his friend, distractedly gracing the tip of his fingers along Blaine's bottom lip. "You have amazing lips too, you know"
"Oh, you want to talk" Blaine answered, laughing nervously, not really knowing what to do or think about Sam's actions and words.
Sam then gave him the sweetest smile Blaine had ever seen, apparently very satisfied of himself about making Blaine laugh. After all, hadn't he just said that Blaine's smile could light a whole room? Then he moved his hand to Blaine's cheek to gently cup it and very slowly leant towards him until his lips covered Blaine's for a second in a chaste kiss, more like an innocent brush of skins, but enough to spread a very real warmth all across Blaine's chest that drove his heart to full speed. Because having Sam's lips against his own was everything Blaine had ever dreamt, and it was happening.
When they separated, there was no trace of a smile in Sam's lips anymore, but his gaze was still deeply set on Blaine's, almost as if he was trying to read his mind. His thumb, still on Blaine's cheek, traced small patterns on the sensitive skin, sending shivers all the way to Blaine's spine. But when Sam's hand moved to cup the back of his head and he lifted his head from the pillow to kiss him again, more deeply this time, Blaine reluctantly lifted his hand to Sam's chest and gently stopped him before their lips made contact again.
"You're drunk, Sam" Blaine said with an apologetic smile, hoping it was explanation enough. Because yes, that was what Blaine wanted the most in the world, but not like that, not under the effects of alcohol as he feared was happening. He wanted it to mean something.
"Yeah, I think I am" Sam admitted as he lay back down at Blaine's side, and the latter wasn't sure if it was disappointment what he could see in Sam's face.
"We should get some sleep" Blaine said, lost in a limbo of excitement about what had just happened and sadness about what he had stopped, so he turned his back on Sam and faced the wall, so the latter couldn't possibly read anything in his eyes that gave any of his inner turmoil away.
Not even a minute had passed when Blaine felt strong arms going around his waist and a warm body gluing to his back, impossibly close, and he had to smile in spite of him. No matter what Sam really wanted with him, which he honestly couldn't figure out anymore, he knew he would always have him at his side. And that was already a big deal, even if nothing else came to happen.
"These beds are ridiculously narrow" Sam complained as he pressed even closer to the other boy, afraid of falling from the edge of the bunk bed.
"Go to your own then" Blaine answered with a chuckle, hoping against hope that the blond wouldn't obey.
"But it's so far away and I'm so tired!" Sam whined, nuzzling the back of Blaine's head as if he was looking for the most comfortable spot for his face there, making it very clear that he didn't have any intention of going anywhere.
"Ok then stop complaining"
"And I like sleeping with you"
"Oh" Blaine exclaimed, being taken aback with Sam's raw honesty, but when he recovered he put his own hand on Sam's forearm and gently caressed it. "I like it too"
They fell into a comfortable silence after that, the only motion in the room being Blaine's hand gentle caressing Sam's arm. The curly-haired boy was convinced the other was already asleep, so he jumped out of his skin when he suddenly broke the silence.
"I don't know how you do it, but your hair still smells so good" Sam said, his voice slurred with alcohol and sleep and he inhaled deeply and let Blaine's essence intoxicate him.
"Goodnight, Sammy" Blaine said as he lightly laughed at his friend's crazy words, though it got him wondering when had Sam ever smelled his hair before.
"Night, B. I love you" Sam said, before placing a gentle kiss behind Blaine's ear and effectively falling asleep.
"I love you too" Blaine whispered, breathing deeply more than a couple of times as he tried to will his heart to go back to its normal pace.
A while later Sebastian made his way to the cell the inseparable duo had picked for themselves –on the first floor, by the way, away from everyone else– with a tray in his hands filled with two plates full of the dinner they had all had in the common room. But just the silence that came from inside the cell was enough to alert Sebastian that its occupants might very well be asleep.
The image he found when he entered still managed to surprise him: the two boys were fast asleep, both of them laying on the same bed, with Sam being all wrapped around Blaine's smaller frame while the latter lovingly held into his arms.
With a smile at the sweetness of the scene, and an inner voice saying I knew it inside of his head, Sebastian silently left the tray on the desk, in case they got hungry later, and promised himself he was definitely going to have a serious talk with his friend Blaine in the morning –and maybe, only maybe, he would keep what he had seen a secret until then.