A/N: I don't think I've ever came out and said it (and if I have, please tell me!), but this is set in late junior year (a.k.a. season two). Think after Regionals, but before Nationals.

"What do you mean, Ohio doesn't allow minor emancipations?" Sam fumed, glaring at the lady behind the desk.

"Exactly as I said, sir," she replied, not even flinching under his gaze. "If you wish to become separate from your parents, you have two options: Join the Armed Forces-"

"Hell no," Puck interrupted.

"or get married. However, should you be discharged from the service or the marriage be dissolved, custody automatically goes back to your parents." She looked at him over the rim of her glasses. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Sam sighed, pissed but resolved to the fact that he wouldn't be able to become emancipated. "No, thanks anyways," he muttered, turning and walking out with Puck beside him.

"So what are you going to do?" Puck asked once they were back in his truck.

Sam's nose wrinkled. "Short of joining the Army or marrying you and Rachel, I just don't know." He was looking at the dashboard as he spoke so he missed the way his companion's eyes bugged at the word "marriage." Sam sighed and continued, "I just don't know."

It took Puck a moment to compose himself. "We'll figure out some way to get that money for you," he finally said, rubbing his boyfriend's arm soothingly. Sam just snorted in disbelief and he just smiled. "Come on, you know Rachel has, like, thirty different back-up plans for everything."

888

"What do you mean there is no emancipation laws in Ohio?" Rachel said, gaping at them.

"That's what I said," Sam told her, fiddling with his untouched lunch. Though they had gotten back before second period, this was the first time they had been able to get their girlfriend alone. Though sitting in the outside courtyard during their shared lunch period was hardly alone, at least on the nice days like today. Apparently something had happened to Tina and Rachel spent most of the morning with the Asian girl, trying to calm her down.

"But that's ludicrous, I did some research on the subject after my cousin in Texas mentioned that one of his friends filed for it a couple of years ago," Rachel gripped.

"Did you look up the laws in general or just for the state of Texas?" Puck asked, hiding his smile.

Rachel's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she huffed, irritated. "Well, as preposterous as it seems, I didn't prepare for this possibility when I brought up the suggestion."

"The woman at the courthouse said the only way to be free of my parents was to join the Armed Forces or get married, though if either of those fell through, custody would go back to my parents," Sam added, though this time he saw Puck flinch slightly at the 'm' word. He ignored it, figuring that he would ask him about it in private instead of possibly upsetting Rachel more.

"I can't believe you don't have at least three different back-up plans," Puck said, chuckling a bit.

"I've been a bit preoccupied lately," she replied, giving them both pointed looks. This only caused Puck to laugh harder and Sam to grin at her. They had bombarded her cell with increasingly dirty sexts the night before, until she finally told them to 'eff off' and turned off her phone.

(It was funny and hot.)

(Too bad Puck's mom was a light sleeper and neither boy was able to sneak out.)

"Well, you shouldn't be so sexy, babe," Sam said, kissing her cheek.

"Must be my superior gene's," she joked. Puck leaned back, gazing at her bare legs.

"Babe, they're so superior, they aren't even around."

"LA-me," Santana said, pushing Puck out of the way. "Hey, B, didja get Goth girl all fixed up?" She smirked.

Rachel scowled at the Latina. "No. Every time I got her a little calm, she would find something else wrong and freak out all over again." She leveled her with her best Rachel Berry diva glare. "You wouldn't happen to know who's been messing with her, would you?"

Santana looked at her, her eyes comically wide. "Who, me? Of course not!" She placed a dramatic hand over her heart. "I just can't imagine who would do that to poor Tina!"

"Shut up," Rachel growled, throwing a grape at the darker girl.

"So what's the deali-o?" she asked, trying to change the subject so Rachel would quit glaring at her.

"No-go on the you-know-what," Sam told her.

"What?"

"Yeah, there are no laws for it in Ohio."

"That's a load of shite."

"Yup."

The four of them sat in silence for a moment before Santana looked at Rachel again. "So what's Plan B, for Berry," she added the last part in a whisper, winking.

Rachel's scowl deepened. "I don't have a Plan B," she groused.

"Wha-"

"Stop talking; I don't want to hear about it." Rachel bit into her sandwich almost viciously as the other three exchanged looks over her head.

"Okay…" Puck drew out the last half of the word, his eyes crinkling with held in laughter.

"So I take it Puck's mum took your news good?" Santana said, grasping at something, anything, to avoid bursting into laughter like she wanted.

"Well," Rachel corrected.

"What?"

"She took the news well, not good."

"Whatever. So she's all right with it?"

"Yeah, she's even letting Sam stay with us," Puck told her, grinning. "Which means time to start plotting some hijinks." He rubbed his hands together delightedly.

"I certainly hope you're not planning anything that would cause your poor mother any more stress, Noah," Rachel said, leveling her gaze at him.

"How do you not know what happened last night?" Sam asked, looking at his ex-girlfriend. "I figured Rach would have filled you in first thing this morning."

Santana opened her mouth to answer but Rachel beat her to it. "Santana has been conspicuously absent from my presence all morning."

Puck glanced at the former Cheerio! and she winked before saying, "Aw, did you miss me, midget?"

"No, I simply noted the fact and reiterated it for my boyfriends."

"Mm-hm, whatevs, chick. So I'm having a party on Friday, gleeks and friends of gleeks only, so tell little mister diva to come and he can bring some of his birdy buddies if he wants." She smirked. "Since we kicked their collective arses at Regionals, I'm more than happy to invite them over for some ritualistic hazing on behalf of the New Directions."

"Santana!" Rachel admonished.

"Oh, come on, I was jay kaying, B. But, seriously, tell Kurt he can bring some of his friends with him, including his little hottie of a boyfriend."

"San, you do realize that Blaine is very much gay, right?"

"Yeah, I remember you telling me what happened in the coffee shop; doesn't mean I can't enjoy the view."

"What, are you into guys this week?" Sam joked.

"Ha, ha, ha, so funny, I had to laugh sarcastically." Santana rolled her eyes and stood. "Anyway, talk to you later, B." She flounced away.

"Goodbye, Santana." Rachel turned to Sam. "Did you call the storage place, Sam?" He looked at her, his brow furrowed. "Well, if you're going to take your bed from your parents' house, it won't really fit in the guest bedroom, since there is already a bed in there." She watched as sadness flitted across his face, her heart aching for him. Today was the last day he had to get his belongings.

"Oh, uh, no, I didn't call them."

"Here, let me have the card, I'll get it all settled for you." Rachel held out her hand, waiting as he dug the little white piece of paper out of his wallet. She leaned in as he pressed it to her palm and kissed him hard on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Cut that nauseating crap out!" Coach Sylvester yelled, storming past them. Puck just snorted, all three trying to repress the urge to laugh as she whirled around, glaring at them hatefully.

"Yes, ma'am," Rachel said, drawing on all of her skills as an actress to pull together a straight face. Sue looked like she wanted to say more, but there was a Cheerio! who needed yelling at, so she turned and continued her streak of terror across the courtyard.

As soon as she had entered the building and disappeared, they started laughing, unable to catch their breath as the bell rang, signaling for them to get to class.

The rest of the day went smoothly, except for the fact that the guys hardly saw Rachel, since she had to keep consoling Tina. Santana was absent as well, which was never a good thing. The highlight was that Quinn was still as blue as she had been for the past two days and was looking more and more pissed all the time.

Rachel bounded into their last class, smiling brightly and kissing each of their cheeks.

"Someone is in a good mood, considering she's been stuck with Hysterical Asian all day," Puck noted as she sat between them.

Rachel stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Sam. "I called the storage place and all you have to do is go up there. Unfortunately, you have to have an adult sign the papers, since you're still a minor and therefore have no credit, but I spoke with Mr. Shue and if you can't find another adult who's willing, he said he would rent one for you, provided you keep up with the payments. I assured him that would not be an issue."

Sam couldn't understand why she still looked so pleased because, while he was thankful, it still wasn't a very big deal. "Oh, okay, uh, thanks babe. You think we could get some people to help me move?" he asked Puck, who looked thoughtful.

"Well, we can get Mike and I'm sure a couple of the girls could help with boxing things up. I think it could work. Satan and Brittany are pretty strong, so if nothing else, they could help."

"You gonna organize them all?" Sam asked Rachel, winking. She smiled secretively.

"I can't, I have something to do after school."

Now it was the guys turn to frown, Puck's brow wrinkled. "What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"Something," she replied vaguely. The bell rang then, effectively cutting off any further question as Rachel sat up straight, her eyes trained on their teacher, and that was the end of that.

As soon as the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, Rachel was up out of her seat and gathering her things. She kissed each boy quickly and told them she would talk to them later, leaving them staring at her proverbial dust.

Sam barked a laugh. "Well, that was…"

"Weird," Puck finished, shaking his head. "Let's find our peeps and get this show on the road. I bet we could borrow Fi-" He stopped himself, remembering the way his former best friend had acted. "Burt's truck. And Kurt's got his Escalade, I bet we could call him down if Burt says no."

Before Sam could reply, Mike, Brittany and Artie walked in. Well, Artie rolled in. "Hey, Rachel said you needed our help?" Mike asked.

Puck grinned. "Shoosh yeah. Sam needs help moving his stuff, if you guys wouldn't mind helping."

"Cool, no problem. Let me call Tina."

"I'll call Santana."

"I gots some peeps who could help."

"Artie, what are the A.V. kids going to do?"

"Who said they're A.V. kids?"

888

If they were A.V. kids, they were definitely the biggest ones Puck had ever seen. After everyone had made a few calls, twelve people gathered in the school parking lot and they were trying to get organized.

"This is why we need Rachel," Sam grumbled.

"All right, here's what we're going to do," a voice behind him said, capturing the attention of everyone.

Smurfette Quinn stepped forward. "Tina, Mercedes, Jeannie, Santana, Brittany and I will pack the boxes. Puck, go pick up Sarah and she can help us. Mike, if you'll stop by the grocery store and pick up some boxes for us to use, it would be much appreciated; I called and they'll have some waiting for you." She faltered as she looked at the three other people standing there. "Um, I'm not sure who you guys are."

"They're my band mates," Artie said, rolling forward. "Sean," the big black guy nodded, "has a truck and he said we could use it. The short, skinny guy is Derek and the other guy is Sal. They're going to help with the big things." He was looking pretty pleased with himself and his band. "Plus, we have my handicap van. My dad is willing to let someone drive that.

"I didn't know you were in a band; kick ass, Wheels," Puck said, walking over for a fist bump.

"Yo, you know how I roll."

The group broke apart, working out who was riding with whom and piling into the different vehicles. Puck arranged for Sam to drive Artie's van and Quinn to ride with him to pick up his sister. Neither one said anything for a long time.

"Finn-"

"I know, Puck. I've decided he's not worth it."

Puck glanced at her sideways, still unsure of her motives. As far as he knew, Quinn still hated Rachel and only barely tolerated him. Maybe she felt bad about cheating on Sam?

They pulled in front of the middle school and Sarah hopped in, excited to see Quinn again.

"Where are we going, Noah?"

"We're going to help Sam move his things into storage, squirt."

"Don't me squirt," Sarah scowled at him.

"Don't ask questions."

"Puck."

"Quinn."

"Quit being mean to your sister."

Puck just laughed. "It never ends…"

They pulled in front of Sam's house with Mike, Tina (who had apparently recovered enough from her horrible day to help them) and Jeannie pulling in behind him. Artie's van was parked in the driveway with Sean's truck. Brittany, Santana and Mercedes were waiting outside and as soon as he parked, the girls converged on Mike's car, quickly gathering all the boxes and leading Tina and Jeannie inside.

"With all these people, packing shouldn't take long," Quinn said thoughtfully as she helped Sarah down from the cab.

"Yeah, and with all these vehicles, it should only take one trip," Puck added, walking up the short path to the front door. Adele was standing just inside the living room, twisting her hands nervously, her eyes sad.

"Oh, hello Puck; Sam is upstairs. Hello, Quinn." Adele smiled at the blonde girl, tactfully ignoring her blue skin, before looking at Sarah. "And who are you, sweetheart?"

"I'm Sarah, I'm Noah's sister." She said it proudly, her little fist tight on her waist; Puck was instantly proud. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sam's mother."

"Oh." Sarah just stared her down for a moment until the older woman shifted uncomfortably.

"Would you care for a snack?" Adele chanced a look at Noah. "I already set up some snacks in Sam- upstairs, but I could watch her while you're packing." She looked so sad and hopeful that he just glanced at Sarah, who shrugged.

"Okay, thanks, Mrs. Evans." He jerked his head towards her, indicating Sarah stay with Sam's mum and followed Quinn. In Sam's old room, people were already busy. Sean and Sal were breaking down the bed frame while Sam and Derek were discussing the best way to get everything to fit in the back of Sean's truck. The girls were taking Sam's clothes out of his closet and dresser and were folding them into boxes. Quinn pulled out a big black marker and winked before heading over to start marking boxes. Artie (who had been carried up by Sean, Puck was later informed) was emptying out Sam's desk, slowly filling the box next to him. Puck surveyed the room, trying to decide where to start. Spotting the boxed up action figures along the wall, he grabbed a box and began carefully packing them.

Within two hours, they had everything pack up and were arranging thing in the various vehicles when Sam remembered something.

"Bugger, I never arranged for an adult to sign the rent agreement for me," he groaned, smacking himself in the forehead.

"I'll do it," Quinn said, coming up behind him.

Sam turned around. "Do what?"

"I'll sign the paperwork for you." She gave him a small smile. "I figure it's the least I could do, after everything I've put you through and I turned eighteen last month." (He remembered her telling him that her parents had held her back a year when she first started school for some weird reason.)

Sam just looked at her. Like his boyfriend, he was curious as to why Quinn was helping him and, like his boyfriend, he couldn't come up with a good reason. "Are you sure? You're not going to screw me over, are you?" He held up his hand, not letting her speak. "I just want to make sure, since it wouldn't be the first time you lied to me."

Quinn had the decency to look down. "I'm so sorry, Sam, really. I just thought-" She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "Finn has this ability to draw you to him and I thought he was worth taking the chance on again. He wasn't," she added, shrugging helplessly.

Though he was still unsure, Sam nodded. "Thanks." He arranged for everyone to meet up at the storage place and promised them pizza afterwards before going inside once more to look over his room. It was completely bare, reminding him of when they first moved in all those months ago. A gentle hand rested on his shoulder and he stiffened automatically.

"I'm so, so sorry, Sammy," Adele whispered. "I never wanted this for you."

He laid his hand over hers, staring out the window. "I know, mum. I wish you would leave him too."

She sighed and slid her hand from under his. "You know I can't, Sammy. Your Aunt Becky sent this for you and said she's sorry she can't help, but if you're willing to move back to Tennessee, you can live with her." She handed him an envelope, his name written in his favourite aunts' loopy scrawl. Inside was a letter (that he planned on reading later) and a credit card looking thing.

"I can't leave Puck and Rachel, mum."

"I know." Adele forced him to face her. "I love you, Sammy, with all my heart. Please, don't shut me out of your life. I can't do anything about your father, but I still want to know that you're alive. I know he cut off your phone, but if you get it cut back on, please let me know the new number."

Sam pulled her to him, hugging her tightly. "I will. I love you so much, mum. Just… Be safe, okay?"

"I will." They stood there for a moment before she pulled away, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "You should get going, your father will be here soon," she whispered.

"Okay. Love you."

"I love you, too."

Sam turned and walked out, unable to handle it any longer. Outside, everyone was piling into cars and he headed towards Puck's truck, where Sarah and Quinn were already buckling in. He leaned against the passenger door. "So, everyone ready?"

"Yes, just need to head to the storage place," Puck said, shoving the key into the ignition. "You're going first, then Mike, Sean and me bringing up the back. Everything has been strapped down to the best of our ability and everyone has loaded up in the cars. Just waiting on you."

Sam smiled at him. "Let's do this." He patted the roof of the truck twice before heading for Artie's van. Mercedes sat in the front seat, messing with the radio station as he pulled himself into the driver's seat. "Everyone ready?"

"Just get going, white boy," Mercedes said, grinning at him. He laughed and carefully pulled out of the driveway.

The trip to the storage unit took about ten minutes, since they had to drive carefully. Once there, it was only a matter of Sam flashing cash and Quinn signing a few papers before they were unloading most of Sam's belongings into the small storage unit. The only thing he was keeping with him was his clothes and his comic books, since he didn't trust the storage unit to keep them in their mint condition.

Where are you?

From: Sweetness*

Puck looked up from his phone; they were almost done putting Sam's things in the unit.

To: Sweetness*

About 2 leave storage place, going 2 get pizza. Y?

"All right, I think we're done," Sam said, locking the unit and looking everyone. "Let's get some pizza!" There were whoops and laughter to that statement and everyone started heading back in their various vehicles. Puck whistled Sam over as his phone beeped again.

I'll meet you there, I have news!

From: Sweetness*

"What's up?" Sam asked, wiping sweat from his brow. Puck was distracted for a second as he watched a bead of sweat trek down the blonds face.

"Uh, Rach said she's going to meet us at the pizza place."

"Okay, cool." Sam grinned and swatted Puck's arse as he walked past. He just winked and climbed into his truck. They stuck with their previous convoy assignments as they drove to the towns' only pizza parlour. As they were helping Artie down, Puck glanced around, hoping to see Rachel's car but giving up once Wheels was on the ground and instead pushing him up and into the building. They had just gotten to their seats when Sam's pocket buzzed. It freaked him out for a moment, until he realized that it was his phone, which he still carried out of habit and because some of the apps still worked.

Pulling it out, he saw he had a text message.

"What the-"

Look up.

From: My Star*

His head shot up, blond hair flying, and there was Rachel, standing beside him and beaming.

"My dads put you on their plan and just ask that you pay your part of the bill," she told him. Sam grabbed her, pulling her onto his lap and kissing her sweetly.

"Your dads are awesome," he whispered, their foreheads pressed together. "I love you."

"I love you too."

And then a breadstick hit her cheek. She looked up to see Santana smirking. "Get a room!"

Rachel just laughed and moved to her own seat as Sam glared at the Latina. Introductions were made for Rachel's benefit and then their pizzas arrived and food became the priority.

A/N: This is a little longer than usual to make up for not updating the week before last and for last weeks' being slightly less than what I normally post. Also, next chapter of Revenge Shuffle is up!

It was pointed out that it's a little confusing about what happened to Tina, but if you go read the next chapter of Revenge Shuffle, it explains everything! Since this chapter was so long, I decided not to go into what the prank was. Sorry! :/