As always,

THEMoDePo: Oh, sorry to make you cry ;) Yes, I thought Ryder deserved dome kind of farewell. And oops, you want for blam to stablish what they are so badly I'm afraid you're going to be a bit disappointed... but don't want to spoil anything! Thank you so much for all your support, it means so much!

Me-me157: OMG, what I'd do without you! Thank you so much for your very kind words, I really needed them. Yes, I think Jake would probably react like that, but fortunately Blaine understood and nothing else happened. And yes, I also think Blaine is like that, to put everyone's feeling above his own, especially in a moment like this. Let's see how blam goes on then! :) Again, thank you so much, dear, your support means the world to me!

Midlifecrissis: I can't help it, I'm not fishing for compliments or anything, but sometimes the chapters just don't feel good! That one, and the one I'm posting now, seemed shallow and lazy to me... I'm hoping it will get better again when I reach the part I'm so wishing to arrive! But as you said (and thank you so much for it), somehow they are needed for the depth of the story. I'm so happy you like all the blam, but it's about to become quite complicated ;) Oh, it's very easy to follow blam's week on tumblr! There is this blog that will reblog everything (blamweek15 . tumblr . com , without the spaces) as it was especially made for the ocasion, so you just need to follow it! By the way, do I know you from tumblr? I'd love to know! Thank you so much for everything, dear, every word you write makes me feel so much better!

Gleeville: Thank you so much, you don't know how much I needed to hear that! :)

CHAPTER 14

Blaine smiled before even opening his eyes, as he realized it was Sam's lips on his skin what had woken him up. He was lying on his stomach, his face pillowed in his bended arms, and apparently Sam had uncovered the upper part of his body just to deliver butterfly kisses all along the area, tickling his skin and warming his heart in equal parts.

"Don't pretend to be asleep so I continue with this, I saw you smile" Sam whispered against his skin in a joking tone, even though he didn't seem to have any intention of stopping his ministrations.

"I'm smiling in my dreams" Blaine jokingly lied, eliciting a chuckle from the other boy while he reached the sensitive skin on the back of his neck.

"Oh really? And what are you dreaming about?" Sam asked, teasingly breathing on Blaine's neck until he was proud to give him goosebumps.

"Your lips on my skin" Blaine answered, and his request was granted as Sam's lips resumed their kissing task on the side of his inviting neck.

"Looks like a really realistic dream" Sam joked as he placed a final kiss on Blaine's cheek and lay down next to him, on his side, looking at him with an almost invisible smile on his face.

"Yet you woke me up and ruined it" Blaine protested, mockingly pouting at him at the loss.

"Good morning, by the way" Sam said, stretching his neck so he could kiss Blaine's lips and make himself forgiven.

"Good morning" Blaine relented, giving Sam one of those smiles of his that never failed to warm his heart.

Blaine lazily stretched out his limps, trying to get rid of the remains of sleep in his body, as he looked tenderly at his lover, who always seemed to be at his most handsome when he had just woken up and his eyes were still puffy with sleep and his long hair was all rumbled so adoringly. Blaine was grateful for the extra space their recent idea provided: after the first three nights falling asleep in each other's arms on Blaine's narrow bunk bed after having sex –or making love, as Blaine liked to call it in his mind–, they stopped pretending it was something that just had happened and, even if they didn't really talk about it, they assumed it was something that was going to happen again. So Sam suggested they should put both mattresses together on the floor –the bed bases were ridiculously pathetic anyway– and be more comfortable at nights. To sleep and… to whatever they did. Which they did. Often.

And that's the arrangement still working for them almost two weeks later. And since both of them seemed to be quite happy with it, that's how they woke up every morning, more content and more in sync than ever, especially considering their actual shitty situation.

"Did you sleep well?" Sam tenderly asked as his hand replaced his lips on Blaine's skin and he started brushing the tip of his fingers up and down his naked spine, making the latter sigh in contentment.

"Uh-huh" Blaine murmured, Sam's caresses making him go sleepy again.

"I was no kidding, you really smile when you sleep sometimes" Sam said as he shifted closer to the other boy and placed a kiss on his shoulder.

"Do you watch me when I sleep?" Blaine asked with an amused smile on his face.

"Sometimes" Sam answered with a shrug of shoulders, slightly blushing as if he had been caught red-handed.

"Aren't you sweet?" Blaine whispered as this time it was him who finally moved, if only to capture Sam's tempting lips in a long kiss. "Well, ready for a new day?"

"Not really" Sam complained, and when he noticed Blaine was starting to move he hurried to put his arms and legs around him to keep him in place. "No, don't go yet, it's so cold and you're so warm…"

"Do we need to have the same conversation every day?" Blaine chuckled as he extricated from Sam's octopus embrace and stood up, hurrying up to throw some clothes on him as it was indeed pretty cold out of bed –and Sam's arms.

"Do you have to leave me cold and lonely every day?" Sam asked from his place in the bed, not even trying to feign he wasn't looking at Blaine's body as the latter got dressed.

"What a whiner you are…" Blaine joked, turning around so Sam wouldn't see he was blushing from the shameless checkout he knew he was receiving from him.

"Then don't leave me" Sam answered with a pout that only made Blaine fall for him even more deeply.

"Well, you shouldn't wake me up if you didn't want me to leave!" Blaine answered with a laugh as he looked tenderly at him.

"Good point" Sam admitted as he started getting up himself, not minding at all about being stark naked as he crossed the room to get to his clothes, which had been scattered all around the place in a fit of passion the night before. And if Blaine wanted to look… well, he was more than welcome to do it, Sam thought with a smirk.

"Oh my God, look at that!" Blaine exclaimed as he looked at his reflection on the little mirror hanging from the wall as he tried to tame his wild curls.

"What?" Sam asked, slightly worried that something was wrong with the other boy, as he turned around and looked at the area on Blaine's neck that he was pointing. "Hey, nice hickey. Wonder who gave it to you?" he joked after closer inspection, relieved that everything was fine, as he moved to kiss the bruise before Blaine got away from his reach.

"By the size of it, I don't think it leaves much room for a lot of options" Blaine answered as he playfully pushed Sam away from him, making the other laugh. "Will you stop giving me marks every day?"

"I'm sorry!" Sam faked apologized as he continued dressing. "You're just too delicious"

"And you're a vampire" Blaine answered, willing himself not to blush at Sam's appreciating words. "One inch higher and I wouldn't even be able to hide it with my sweater" he added as he turned to his bed for something to cover his upper body, which thanks to Sam's curious mouth would have to be his turtleneck sweater –again.

"Oh, I made sure of that, don't worry" Sam answered while buttoning his undershirt, oblivious to the surprised gaze Blaine was sending his way.

"You were thinking about that when you were sucking on my neck like an animal?" Blaine asked, a little more seriously than just a moment ago.

"Well, I can be animalistic and careful at the same time, you know" Sam answered with a smirk, even if he was starting to notice the change in the atmosphere.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you feel such a need to be careful?" Blaine asked, the smile completely gone from his face by then.

"Because otherwise the others would see it, as you said" Sam answered, as if it was obvious, as he continued moving around the room to grab things, as if he was trying to avoid Blaine's eyes.

"And what if they did?" Blaine insisted, not willing to back down for once. Sam had been avoiding that conversation for some days now, and Blaine was starting to get really frustrated about it.

"Did what?"

"Find out about us"

"I don't see how this could be anybody's business but ours" Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders, and Blaine pretended not to notice how Sam said this instead of us, because that would probably hurt too much.

"I'm not saying we have to give a press conference to inform them, but would it be so terrible if they knew?" Blaine insisted again, and he was starting to sound so defeated that Sam felt forced to stop and give him his whole attention.

"Why are you asking me this?" Sam asked as he stopped in front of him, looking at him intently.

"I don't know, all of a sudden you sounded as if you were ashamed of this or something" Blaine answered, trying not to sound as sarcastic or reproachful as he was feeling.

"Don't be ridiculous, why would I be ashamed?" Sam asked with a reassuring smile as he lowered his face to capture Blaine's lips in a quick kiss, his hands finding their way onto Blaine's hips. "It's just… this only concerns you and me, and nobody has a say in it"

"Alright" Blaine relented with a sigh, although by the expression on his face Sam could see he was not really convinced.

"Come on, don't give me that" Sam begged him in a playful tone, trying to erase the frown on Blaine's brow with a longer kiss this time. "I'll race you downstairs!" he said as he slapped Blaine's rear and started running towards the stairs.

Blaine sighed again as he followed his friend more slowly. This was not going as he would have liked, at all. Sure, in the security of their room every night they acted like a couple, they had sex practically every night and Sam would be the sweetest thing ever, taking care of him and making him feel loved and cared for. They had a very real connection and intimacy under the blankets, and even when they were not having sexual intercourses, they were always entwining their fingers, exchanging long and lazy kisses, cuddling impossibly close, opening their hearts to each other until the late hours, telling each other their most inner secrets while talking in whispers so as not to disturb the romantic atmosphere they had created… It was so perfect it didn't even feel real…

And then morning came and it didn't feel real either. They would flirt and kiss and joke while they got dressed, but as soon as they left the room they were back to being friends. The best of friends, but that was it. They hadn't even discussed it, but apparently some time it had been decided nobody was to know about what was going on between them. Heck, even he didn't know what was happening between them, as every time he tried talking to Sam about it, the latter would avoid him, or start joking or pretending he was falling asleep. And it hurt so much that Blaine had stopped trying. He was starting to wish he was strong enough to put an end to whatever their relationship was. But he wasn't. The moments he got to spend with Sam like that, when both of them let themselves be vulnerable and authentic for each other, made him so happy and made him feel so alive he couldn't possibly say no to them. Even if every morning they killed him all over again.

"I won!" Sam joked with a wide smile as he arrived to the common room, and even in his troubled state of mind, Blaine couldn't help but reciprocate, because damned Sam and his incredible smile had that effect on him.

"Well, congrats, you're the best" he joked before sending a smile to everyone else in the common room as a greeting.

"Had a good sleep?" Sebastian asked Blaine with a wide smile as the latter sat next to him. During the last few days, his friendship with Sebastian had been going stronger and Blaine was glad because of the respite it provided him from his other complicated relationships. At least with Sebastian he didn't need to pretend, and everything was easy.

"Yeah, I guess" Blaine answered with a matching smile as he started having breakfast, not wanting to look at Sam in fear of blushing at the reminder of everything that had been going in their room apart from sleep just a few hours ago.

Of course the fact he wasn't looking at Sam prevented him from noticing the dark glance the blond was sending his way. Or more accurately, at Sebastian. As Blaine's friendship with Sebastian grew, an upsetting feeling of something very similar to jealousy had been growing on Sam's stomach simultaneously. Which was kind of stupid, he knew, because he was very aware it was him Blaine had feelings for –if what they did every night was any prove of that– and not for Sebastian. But even if he didn't want to admit it to himself, he also suspected Blaine was not entirely happy with their current situation. Sam thought –knew– that maybe Blaine wanted something more, wanted to put a label on whatever was going on between them, wanted for them to stop pretending nothing had changed between them to the eyes of the others. Sometimes, as they lay spent and sated on each other's arms, Sam could feel a sadness emanating from the smaller boy that immediately made him feel guilty for being too much of a coward to give Blaine what he needed.

But what if Sebastian would give him that? He didn't know if the tall boy was interested in Blaine in that way, but his constant flirting and the way he was always all over him made Sam worry more than he dared to admit. He knew Sebastian was just like that, and his friendship with Blaine had always been based on constant flirtatious remarks and flattering that usually didn't mean anything. But they seemed to be getting closer, more than ever, and Sam was afraid that closeness would develop into something else. Because yes, Blaine could have a crush on him alright, but maybe if Sebastian tried long enough… And he didn't seem to be a coward like he was, Sam had to give him that.

"Sam, either you sit down or you get out of the way, but you need to let me through" Artie complained good-naturedly as he waited for Sam to come out of his reverie so he could get his chair between the two tables and have some breakfast too.

"Sorry, Artie" Sam apologized as he complied and sat down, noticing he had been left further away from Blaine than he would have liked, as he couldn't even hear what he and Sebastian were talking about.

"You okay, Sam?" Artie asked, looking more intently at the other boy, apparently noticing some of the turmoil inside of him.

"Yeah, yeah" Sam rushed to answer, even offering a small and grateful smile. "I just didn't get that much sleep, that's all"

"Oh, and why would that be, may I ask?" Puck answered in his usual mocking tone, appearing at their side in just the right moment.

"These things happen, you know" Sam answered in an unperturbed tone, because he was very aware of what Puck was implying and he was not going to give him the satisfaction on corroborating it with his attitude. He knew Puck was not even serious about them, but he liked to joke about how they looked like a couple. He had done that even before anything had happened between them anyway, so Sam knew he didn't seriously think there was something going on.

"Blaine, wearing the turtleneck again?" Puck said, raising his tone so it would reach the shorter boy at the other end of the table. "Could maybe be a reason for that?"

"Yeah, the fact that it's cold" Sam answered for him, knowing Blaine was the worst of liars and fearing he would just end up giving himself away without even meaning to.

"Hey, last time I checked Blaine was able to speak for himself" Puck answered, and his voice didn't sound as merry as a second before because he seemed to be feeling some of the tension going on in the place.

"There is nothing more to say, Puck, as Sam said it's cold and I'm very sensible to it, so…" Blaine explained, more seriously than expected, and Sam pretended not to notice the hurt and the reproach in his eyes as he looked at him.

"I could lend you one of my jackets, Killer" Sebastian immediately offered, gently resting his hand on the back of Blaine's neck. "I know you don't have a lot of clothes with you, and I've got a whole suitcase of them. After all, we don't want you to get sick, do we?"

"There will be no need for that, he knows he can use any of my clothes whenever he needs to" Sam intervened before he was able to stop himself. But come on, could Sebastian stop acting as if he was the person closer to Blaine at that table, when he was clearly not?

"You have as many clothes as he does" Sebastian answered with a chuckle, and even if Sam could see he was not trying to provoke him or anything, he couldn't help but get more and more annoyed at the other boy by the second.

"Even then, we will share what we have, like we always do" Sam answered, looking knowingly at Blaine, as if trying to send him a silent message to remind him that, in spite of any complications between them, he was still his person and he still cared about him above everything else.

"Samuel, I never thought you to be the jealous kind" Sebastian joked, making everyone around them laugh –except for Blaine, whose efforts to smile ended more on a grimace–, but Sam felt as if Sebastian knew more than he was letting on and was throwing some kind of hint. That or… was that his way of fighting for Blaine?

He realized he was taking too long to answer, and everybody was looking at him as if expecting him to send a funny retort at Sebastian, but gosh, he felt completely incapable of joking that morning.

"Why would I be jealous?" he finally asked, trying to sound casual, but the look Sebastian gave him made it clear he was not fooling him.

"Oh, no reason" Sebastian nonchalantly replied as he stood, having just finished his breakfast. "I think I'm taking a walk outside. Anyone wants to join me?"

"I will" Much to Sam's dismay, Blaine immediately jumped from his chair, probably too anxious to keep still, especially now that the wound on his leg was only a scar and there were so many things going on in his head.

Sam thought about forgetting about breakfast and going with them too, but he had to refrain himself from doing it for two reasons: one, because after the conversation they had just had, it would look too suspicious for him to want to accompany the other two before even before finishing his breakfast, as if he didn't want them alone. And two… well, he had no right. If he didn't have the guts to claim Blaine as something more than his friend, he didn't have any right to stop him from enjoying his friendship with Sebastian, whether or not Sebastian was looking for something more –which he frankly didn't know.

"Me too" Tina decided to join them in the last second, and Sam tried to hold his triumphal smile at the annoyance so evident in Sebastian's eyes.

"Great, Tey Tey, let's get going" Blaine kindly encouraged his dear friend, and Sam was a bit reassured by the fact that Blaine didn't mind about Tina interrupting his alone time with Sebastian –after all, Sam knew how much Blaine loved the girl, and he had to admit that, all in all, he had been monopolizing Blaine quite much since the whole apocalypse started, so maybe the smaller guy was just trying to reconnect with his old friends as he gave Sam the space he seemed to need, even if he hadn't told him that. But Blaine was great like that, wasn't he? Even if he didn't understand or like the situation, he still tried to give Sam everything he needed.

He was taken out of his reverie by the angry shriek and a stream of swearwords coming from Tina's mouth when Sebastian accidentally hit the coffee Tina had in front of her and it fell all over her clothes.

"I'm so sorry, Tina" Sebastian apologized as he offered some napkins to the girl, but by the expression on his face Sam would have sworn he had done it on purpose.

"It's okay, I'm sorry for my words" she said once the initial shock passed. "Get going, guys, I'll go get changed and catch you in a second"

"Ok" Sebastian immediately agreed, confirming Sam's suspicions that way. "Here, Killer, take my jacket, it's pretty cold outside today and I'm wearing a lot of layers anyway" Sebastian offered to his shorter friend, grabbing the thick jacket he had been keeping on the backrest of his chair.

"But Seb…" Blaine tried to protest, but of course Sebastian was having none of that.

"Don't worry, I never get cold anyway" he immediately dismissed him, forcing the jacket on Blaine before the latter could protest, until the only thing left for Blaine to do was to smile in gratitude.

Sam sighed deeply as he watched them go, the fear gripping his heart that he could end up losing Blaine if he didn't get his shit together very real and intense. Almost as much as the guilt he felt every time he looked into Blaine's eyes and saw the pain he knew he was causing. But he couldn't bring himself to take another step and give his heart to him completely, as Blaine wanted. Not when he knew he could lose Blaine any day in the world they lived now. Because he could never survive that.

Sebastian and Blaine walked slowly around the cell block, calm and comfortable in the safety the strong fence gave them. It was pretty cold indeed, as Sebastian had said, but he didn't seem to be cold so Blaine relaxed in his jacket, grateful of breathing some fresh air that maybe would help him forget about everything even if just for a few minutes.

"You ok?" Sebastian asked after a couple minutes of silence. Of course Blaine wasn't going to be so lucky.

"Of course" Blaine answered with a shrug of his shoulders, pretending to be surprised at the question.

"You seem a little… I don't know, out"

"No, I'm alright"

"I feel like we haven't talked in weeks!" Sebastian exclaimed with a chuckle, that Blaine reciprocated in the form of a smile.

"Haven't we?"

"Well, it's not that easy to catch you without Sam tagging along, you know?"

"You think?" Blaine asked in surprise, amazed that in spite of everything happening between them, the others still saw them as always –they were really good at pretending, weren't they?

"Are you going to answer me with questions all the time?" Sebastian asked with a sarcastic tone that immediately made Blaine laugh in spite of himself. "Because that could elicit a very difficult conversation"

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was doing it" Blaine apologized, comfortable leaning against Sebastian as the latter put his arm around him.

"I've been meaning to ask you for days: so… did you talk to him?" Sebastian asked, sounding more directly than he had intended.

"Yeah, kinda" Blaine answered, lowering his gaze so Sebastian wouldn't see he was lying.

"And…?" Sebastian tried to encourage him to talk, but Blaine was very difficult and stubborn when he wanted to be.

"And nothing, everything is just the same" Blaine answered, his heart breaking at the huge lie he was telling his friend, but he knew Sam didn't want anyone to know and Blaine couldn't just betray him like that, in spite of how much he needed to share his worries with someone.

"But that kiss you told me about…" Sebastian insisted, feeling there was more to it than what Blaine was saying.

"It was a drunken mistake, that's all" Blaine replied, only half lying this time because two weeks later he still wondered if he should have put an end to everything that had come after that when he was still able to do it. Maybe it had really been a mistake, after all.

"It wasn't for you" Sebastian seriously contradicted him, stopping their walk so he could put himself in front of his friend and force him to look at him in the eye.

"Of course it was" Blaine answered, not sounding convincing even to himself.

"But Blaine, you said…"

"I was confused, it had just happened when I told you about it and I… I guess I read too much into it"

"Are you being honest with me or you don't want to talk to me about it?" Sebastian asked, once again being more direct than what Blaine was able to deal with in the moment.

Fortunately, he was saved by the bell when Tina came running to them, after having changed her clothes.

"Guys, I'm here!" she said, happily hooking her arm with Blaine's. "So what were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, nothing really" Sebastian was quick to answer for Blaine, being as attentive as he had been all those days before and wanting to spare him from the need to lie.

And of course Blaine was grateful for that: he knew Sebastian only worried about him and wanted to see him happy, but constantly wanting him to talk was not helping.

"I was going to tell Sebastian how I am a bit worried about the hole we made in the exterior fence when we arrived" Blaine lied, although the fact that he had been thinking about it was true.

"Really? Why?" Tina asked as she let herself be pushed towards the area.

Sebastian and Tina were surprised when Blaine took a set of keys from his pocket and opened the door of the interior fence so they could go and watch the other one from more closely. After all, none of them ever went beyond the first fence, as they had everything they need there and didn't feel the need to explore any further. But they knew they were still safe, and if Blaine was guiding them there they knew they were not taking any risks. After all, Blaine was the most cautious and prudent of them all, he wouldn't take any unnecessary risks, especially if there were other people with him.

"It just remains closed because we tied it with that cable" Blaine explained, checking with his hands the strength on the knot they had made.

"Yes, but it is still holding on, right?" Sebastian said. "I mean, if those walkers were able to open it, they would have already done it, don't you think?"

"Maybe they haven't tried hard enough" Blaine explained, all the sadness and turmoil in his eyes from a moment before gone as his brain worked as the survivor he was, planning on how to make their lives even safer. "I think we should find a way to cover the hole more permanently. Maybe if we…"

"Excuse me, younguns" an unknown voice coming from the other side of the fence caught their attention and made them jump out of their skins with the unexpectedness of it.

"Hey" Blaine answered, not really knowing what to say, as it was the first person aside from his friends he had seen after leaving the hospital and he was totally dumbfounded.

"You live here?" the man, who seemed to be in his forties, asked.

"Yes" Blaine answered as he started moving closer to the man and making gestures for the others to follow, though what he really wanted was to move away from the hole in the fence, wishing the man hadn't realized about it.

"Maybe you could let me in… before any of those lurkers appear" the man kindly asked.

Blaine immediately brought his hand to his pocket, in search of the set of keys with the intention of opening the gate for him and letting him in. After all, he was in danger, and if there was any way to help him… But before he could take the hand out of his pocket again, he felt Sebastian's fingers curling around his wrist, and the look he sent him, silently asking him to wait, made Blaine stop. Was he being too trusting? Maybe Sebastian only wanted to check that man was as inoffensive as he looked before letting him in. And yes, it seemed reasonable to do that, so Blaine quietly obeyed and made no further attempts at grabbing the keys.

"This looks like a nice place to live, given the circumstances" the man commented, trying to look nice so as to convince them to let him in.

"It is" Tina answered, still very confused about the man's sudden apparition.

"You are so lucky to have found something like that" the man continued. "It keeps you safe, right?"

"Yes, we are safe here, we just need to go out every now and then to get supplies, but apart from that we have everything we need" Tina answered too naively.

"Tina…" Blaine warned her with a whisper to her ear to stop talking until they were sure about the man's intentions, and the girl blushed and immediately shut up when he understood Blaine's requests.

"What are you doing here?" Sebastian asked, trying not to sound too harsh even if Blaine could feel he was already in the defensive –just in case. "Are you alone?"

"Yes, I lost my family to those monsters only a couple of days ago as we tried to escape" the man explained, his voice shaking with anguish. "Come on, guys, I just need a place to rest for a while, I'm exhausted. And I'm unarmed"

The three youngsters hesitated, not knowing what to do. The man seemed honest, and if what he said was true… then the poor man deserved some sympathy. But what if they were letting their hearts guide them? What if they were putting everyone in danger just because they had been unable to read into that man's lies?

"Please, guys, I'm begging you" the man continued as he opened his jacket and took a couple of apples and a clasp knife of it. "Look, this is everything I have, it's yours, but please, you need to help me"

Blaine stood rooted to the floor, trying not to show in his face the discovery he had just made, but only one look at Sebastian's gaze told him the other boy had seen the same: even if that man had told them he was unarmed, the movement of his jacket had let them see the handle of the gun he was hiding on the back of his waistband. But they needed to be careful, Blaine realized: in the security of their "home" no one had thought to take any of their guns with them, and their knives would be of no use in front of a man with a gun.

"Tina, why don't you go get the keys?" Blaine suddenly said, just before turning to the girl to whisper in her ear without being noticed. "Get everyone out here"

"What?" she asked in confusion. How could she bring the keys if he had them in his pocket? And why did he need the others? She was about to ask when he noticed the pointed look he was giving her, and she understood that something was happening, and Blaine was asking for her help. "Oh, okay"

"Thank you, boys" the man continued with his farce as he saw the girl obeying her friend and going inside to get the keys to open the door for him. "You are saving my life"

"How have you managed to survive all the way here with just a pocket knife?" Sebastian asked, not being able to stop himself.

"I had a gun, but after I used all the ammunition I had, there was no sense in keeping it so I got rid of it" the man answered, but he didn't miss the skeptical look that the two boys exchanged. "I guess I've been lucky since then, I haven't run into any more of those lurkers"

"That's… indeed a lot of luck" Sebastian replied, sarcastically. "Considering this fields are completely swarming with them"

"What do you know? You are safe and warm and comfortable in here, you don't know how it is out there" the man retorted in annoyance.

"Oh, and how do you think we got here?" Sebastian contradicted him, his quick temper starting to appear. "We perfectly know how's out there, mister"

"Seb, we better go see if Tina has found the keys" Blaine said, grabbing Sebastian's arm to get him moving, seeing as he was starting to make the man angry –and he had a gun the fence wouldn't protect them from.

Sebastian let himself be pulled away by his friend, knowing he had probably spoken too much and had let himself be controlled by his temper, but the click of a safety catch being removed made them stop dead on their tracks.

"Stop right where you are, kids" the man ordered, his tone of voice completely different than the one he had been using until then. "Raise your hands where I can see them and turn around slowly"

Knowing the man was pointing their gun at them, they had no choice but to obey. His heart beating like crazy, Blaine mentally willed Tina to hurry and get everyone outside. Otherwise, Sebastian and he were clearly in trouble.

"You're going to open this door right now" the man ordered them.

"You said you were unarmed" Sebastian reproached him, though in reality he was just trying to gain some time for the others to come to their rescue.

"And you believed it?" the man answered with a laugh.

"No, we saw your gun from the beginning" Sebastian explained. "That's why we didn't let you in. We would have if you had been honest with us"

"I told you to open the door right now. I'm going to use this gun if you don't" the man threatened them, pointing the weapon more firmly at them.

"We don't have the keys" Blaine intervened, hoping his lie wouldn't be too obvious.

"Well, turns out I also saw you looking for them in your pocket. So come on, let's all stop pretending and open that damned door right now"

Blaine hesitated for a second, looking at Sebastian as if searching for an answer about what he should do. But the man was losing his patience, and he suddenly shot his gun at Blaine's feet –though with no intention of hitting him for the moment– to make him react.

"Blaine!" Sebastian shouted in terror, before he was able to see that his friend was alright.

"Open that fucking door!"

"Alright, alright!" Blaine shouted in surrender as he decidedly took the keys from his pocket and moved to open the door of the fence, as he knew he had no choice. But before he could get the key into the lock, he heard some running steps behind them and sighed in relief that his friends had finally come to their rescue.

"What's happening here?" Sam shouted, his voice shaking both with determination and fear, as he had undoubtedly heard the shot and feared the worst.

Both Sebastian and Blaine turned to look at them, and smiled when they noticed every one of their friends were there, pointing their weapons at the intruder.

"We just had a misunderstanding" Sebastian finally answered, giving free reign to his anger now that he felt empowered by the situation again. "This guy was just leaving"

"I'm not going anywhere" the man threatened again, even if he knew it was already a lost battle. "I can still kill those two before any of you can bat an eye"

"You really are going to risk fourteen guns pointing at you?" Santana asked, lifting her rifle enough to look through the scope, making it quite clear that she was intending to use it if it was necessary.

"I would put that down if I was you, Mister" Sam shouted from his place, and Blaine marveled at the firmness of his voice, even if he could see his hands were trembling.

The intruder could see there was no way out of the situation and he obeyed, lowering his gun with an angry sigh.

"Leave your gun on the floor" Blaine ordered, as there was no way he was going to let that man leave while still being a danger to them –he could very well wait until they turned around and shot them at their backs–. "I said leave it on the floor!" Blaine shouted angrily at him when he failed to obey.

"This place is too fucking good for some stupid kids like you" the man angrily retorted as he let his gun on the floor, still looking menacingly at Sebastian and Blaine.

"You better get going now" Puck's voice sounded behind them. "Unless you want to check if we are stupid enough to fire our guns"

The man threw a last glance at Blaine that made his blood run cold with the silent threat it contained, and then he turned around and disappeared towards the adjacent woods. His disappearance got everyone out of their trance, and they ran towards where the two boys were standing, trying to regain his breath after the very real fear they had just experienced.

"Guys, you okay?" Trent asked as he worriedly patted Sebastian's arm.

"You alright?" Sam said in a frenzy of worry, cupping Blaine's face in his hands to see for himself that he was safe and sound, before throwing his arms around him in a strong embrace.

"Yeah, yeah, just a little shaken" Blaine answered, although he let himself be comforted by Sam's strong arms, even if only for a second.

"A little?" Sebastian repeated with a humorless chuckle. "Blaine, that guy shot at you!"

"He shot at you?" Sam asked even more terrified than before, as he broke the embrace to look at the other boy, still grabbing his arms in an almost painful grip, begging him to tell him it was not true, his eyes wandering around Blaine's body to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Not exactly, he didn't want to hit me, he was just trying to get me moving" Blaine tried to calm everyone down, motioning for Sam to let go of his arms before he left any bruises and holding his hands in his instead.

"You sure you're alright?" Sam asked again, more calmly this time as he squeezed Blaine's hands.

"I'm sure" Blaine reassured him with a smile, moved by the more than evident worry in Sam's eyes.

"Ok, then let's get you boys inside" Sam said as he put his arm around Blaine and gently pushed him inside, as he saw Trent doing the same with Sebastian.

"Here" Sam said as he placed a lime flower tea in front of Sebastian and another one in front of Blaine, once they were back inside.

Sam was quite obviously the most affected by the whole incident, and he had immediately gotten everyone into action, asking someone to prepare the beverages, someone else to get some blankets… He had once seen in Sherlock that they always gave blankets to people who had been under stressful situations because of the shock, so it wouldn't hurt to wrap the boys into a couple of them.

"Thank you" Blaine answered with a grateful smile as Sam sat down next to him and put his arm around his shoulders again to attract him to his side. Blaine knew Sam was probably more frightened than he was himself, and taking care of him like that probably helped him feel better, so he didn't complain when Sam rearranged the blanket more securely around him and brought their chairs closer so Blaine could lean into his chest.

"Guys, we're okay" Sebastian interrupted his thoughts, apparently not so patient about all the fussing they were given them. "It was just a fright but we didn't get hurt or anything"

"But you could have" Sam tried to reason with him, shivering at the mere thought that they could have been shot right under their noses. "If Tina hadn't come to get us…"

"I didn't understand what was happening, I just did what Blaine asked me" she confessed, slightly ashamed about her lack of intuition.

"And you did very well" Blaine hurried to reassure her, making her feel guilty the last thing he wanted. "Fortunately you got everyone in time and no one was hurt"

"Son of a bitch…" Puck added while shaking his head, apparently quite shaken about it too, as everybody was. "At least we got his gun"

"Shit!" Sebastian exclaimed. "We left it there, he might come back to get it!"

"Don't worry, dude, we took it" Puck answered, showing it to him with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Everything ok, B?" Sam asked when he noticed his friend's silence, and he squeezed him more strongly to him to let him know he was not alone and that he could share his worries with them.

"Yeah, it's just… I'm not that sure we've seen the last of that man" he confessed, hating to make everyone worry but knowing he really didn't have another option. The last glance he had thrown at him…

"You think he'll be back?" Mike asked, as always being the first one to listen to what Blaine had to say.

"I don't think he would dare" Puck answered for him. "There are so many more of us, and he knows it now"

"And what if he doesn't come alone?" Blaine intervened, more harshly than intended, but he needed to make everyone understand the danger they could be in. "What if this guy was just testing the waters in behalf of a bigger group? Like an explorer or something"

A very uncomfortable silence fell upon the group as they tried to come to terms with what Blaine had said. Because, unfortunately, it made sense.

"So you think…" Joe tentatively asked "that we are in danger?"

"I don't know" Blaine answered in complete honesty. "But I know we need to be more careful than ever. We need to keep watch all the time, and never go outside unarmed, as we so stupidly did today"

"Hey" Sam said as he reassuringly rubbed Blaine's arm. "How were you to know?"

"Well, we can't let it happen again" Blaine insisted.

"Sounds sensible" Mike agreed.

"And we should repair the exterior fence somehow" Sebastian added, remembering about the fear Blaine already had expressed even before that man appeared.

"Yes, but…" Blaine agreed, not sounding too convinced.

"What's wrong?" Tina encouraged him to continue.

"I'm sure that man already heard us discussing about the hole in the fence" Blaine explained. "If he didn't have the idea already to just cut the fence like we did, we surely gave it to him"

"The interior fence is much stronger, though, they won't be able to cut it with some simple wire cutters" Sam intervened in a reassuring tone, wanting to erase that offending frown on Blaine's brow that he hated so much.

"Let's hope so" Blaine answered with a tired sigh, as he let his guard down for a second and let his head fall on Sam's shoulder, who just closed the embrace more strongly around him in a protective manner.

"We should have killed him" Puck lamented, slamming the door with his hand in frustration.

"Were you going to shoot a living man? Because he was not a walker, you know?" Mike tried to reason with him, even though he knew Puck didn't really mean it.

"I know" Puck admitted, pacing around the room to try and get rid of the anger in him. "Shit, I know"

"Everybody calm down now" Santana, who had remained silent until then, stood up to make herself heard. "We don't know if he's going to be back, or if he's going to bring an army with him or whatever, so we're just not going to freak out. We'll just do as the hobbit said, we'll just be more careful, and we will be safe. Even if they come, we're still the ones in the best position, we're the ones still inside this fortress, right?"

"Right" Puck agreed reluctantly, willing himself to believe in Santana's words. "You're right. So who's supposed to be on guard duty now?"

"We are!" Sugar happily replied, signaling at Unique and herself.

"Ok, so then get going" Mike said with a grateful smile as the two girls complied and ran to do their duty.

Everybody else started relaxing and spreading around the place, finally feeling good enough for their daily activities. Everyone except Blaine and Sam, who were still sitting there as if they had been frozen in time, with Sam's arms around Blaine's smaller frame as the latter's head rested on the blond's shoulder.

"You can let go of him now, Sam, he is not going to disappear" Puck joked as he looked at the pair, and he smiled amusedly at them as his voice seemed to get Sam out of a trance.

"What, is there something wrong in trying to make your best friend feel better?" Sam answered all-too-casually as he let go of his friend, surprised himself he had gotten so lost in their embrace.

"No, of course not" Puck answered, shaking his head fondly at his friends as he left the room.

"You okay now?" Sam asked Blaine in a caring voice.

"Yeah" he assured him while trying not to show how much he was missing the contact already –and how much Sam's intentional remark about them being friends to Puck had hurt him.

"Then I should go and help Jake with the cleaning of the kitchen. It's my turn after all" Sam announced, trying to ignore the disappointment in Blaine's eyes –once again– as he smiled shyly at him.

"Sure" Blaine answered as he watched the boy he loved moving further and further away from him without him being able to do anything about it.

When Blaine woke up startled the next day, it was not even dawn yet. He wondered what had woken him up, but a sudden noise of thunder immediately gave him the answer. God, he hated storms. He hated rainy days in general, but storms were one of the few things he could really not stand. He remembered when he was little and he would get scared with the thunder. If it was the middle of the night, he never hesitated in throwing his little feet to the floor and run into his brother's room to climb on his bed and under his arm, because he knew Cooper would take care of him. Sometimes Cooper would even come to his room first and lay down next to him, whispering stories and silly songs in his ear so he would concentrate in his voice and forget about the storms. Because Cooper was that kind of a hero.

Just thinking about his brother made Blaine want to burst into tears. Very carefully so as not to wake his lover, Blaine lifted the arm Sam was keeping around his waist and escaped from his grip to sit up, suddenly unable to lie still. The next thunder, that sounded even closer than the last one, made him jump out of his skin, and he closed his eyes, rested his head on his knees and tried to remember Cooper's voice, telling him that it was okay to be afraid of storms but that he would make sure nothing would happen to him. Not for the first time, Blaine wished with all his heart that Cooper was there. At least that way he would know he was alright… And he would be able to tell him about Sam and what he made him feel, and ask him for some advice, and even cry on his shoulder when he needed to… And Cooper would listen to him and then he would embrace him with all his forces and somehow he would manage to make everything okay again.

"B?" a slurred voice said behind him, getting him out of his reverie.

"I'm here" Blaine whispered when he heard Sam's arm blindly looking for him across the mattress.

"What are you doing up?" Sam asked as he sat up too to kiss Blaine's cheek tenderly.

"I… couldn't sleep" Blaine answered, not lying but not being too specific about it either.

"You okay?" Sam asked as he took Blaine's hand in his own, and his voice was so full of caring and tenderness, like it usually was in the safety of their room, that it only made Blaine's heart hurt even further.

"Yeah" he lied, a bit too quickly.

"You look…" Sam started to say, though he stopped himself before finishing.

"What?"

"Sad"

"It's just… you know I don't like storms" Blaine simply answered, even if that was just the tip of the iceberg and they both were very aware of that.

"Would some cuddles maybe help?" Sam immediately offered with a tender smile as he tuck some stray curl behind Blaine's ear, just before laying back down and opening his arms for his friend. "Come back here and let me make it all better. It's still dark anyway"

Blaine didn't have the energy nor the strength to fight it and, once again, he let himself be comforted by the warmth of Sam's embrace. As soon as he rested his head on Sam's shoulder, both his arms closed around him, and the blond's lips gently kissed the top of his head. And when the next thunder resounded all around the room and Sam only held onto him more strongly to protect him while humming some familiar melody, Blaine didn't hate it so much.

And even if Blaine knew he was going to feel even worse in the morning, for once he couldn't bring himself to care. For once he decided to pretend that all the love that he felt for the other boy was reciprocated. And it made him feel really warm inside.