I just wanted to thank you for all your lovely reviews! Thank you very much! I'm very happy that you enjoy my story and I hope that you like this chapter as well (I guess it's actually my best so far...) :D
When Rory woke up he had to smile. Of course he had dreamed of Sam, just like the days before. He couldn't remember any more details though, but there was a huge grin on his face anyway. His heart remembered him of what was going to happen this day by beating unusually fast.
"So? Are you excited yet?" Brittany asked as she saw Rory coming down the stairs.
"Why should I be?"
"Well, it's your second date, so I thought-"
"Brittany, please. Neither yesterday was a date nor will it be one today!"
"Yeah, you can keep on denying it, I don't care!" Brittany bended down and gave Lord Tubbington a peck on his head. With a satisfied smile, she opened the front door and went outside.
Rory followed her to the door, pressing his lips together. Admittedly, he actually was excited, even more than the day before. But there was absolutely no way that he would admit it. If anything at all, it would just strengthen Brittany's opinion that it was and would be a date. So the only way was to stay calm and act like it was a normal day – even though it wasn't. In fact, Rory couldn't remember any other day he was nearly as excited as this day.
His racing thoughts were interrupted by Brittany. "Leprechaun, you have to move your magical legs faster to go to school, unless you can fly, then you just need to lift your arms and-"
Rory hadn't even noticed that he nearly stopped walking. "Yeah, sorry," he answered as he closed the door and ran to catch up with her.
A few minutes later, they finally arrived at school. For Rory, everything seemed to look more beautiful than the days before. Light, colorful, happy. The sun started to warm everything up and also left a warm feeling in his own chest. Whenever he saw someone smile or heard someone laugh, he thought they knew what a beautiful day this was. He couldn't help but grin broadly when he entered the school.
"You know what? I think that Sam's the right one for you."
"Why do you think so?" Rory frowned at Brittany's words and turned around in confusion as they walked down the hallways.
"You're beaming with joy like never before! And it's very cute actually, because your eyes are like sparkling and seem to spread joy and happiness!" Saying this, Brittany nodded wildly and had opened her eyes wide to show that she meant what she said.
"Well, it's nice to hear that!" Rory answered and felt his cheeks warming up. "Always glad to make someony happy by simply smiling!"
"I'm very happy for you, Leprechaun, and I hope that you have a great afternoon with Sam! Tell me everything when you come home later!" Brittany smiled at Rory and winked at him before she went over to Santana who was waiting in front of a classroom.
Oh god, in six hours he's going to stand right over there!, Rory thought as he looked at his locker at the end of the now overcrowded hallway. A sigh left his mouth, he was dying to spend more time with Sam. But he couldn't make the time move faster, so he had to endure all of his classes. Still with a huge grin on his face, he turned around and barged against someone.
"Woops! Watch out, Rory" Kurt said and laughed at Rory's clumsiness. He then cocked his head as he wrinkled his forehead because the Irish boy smiled at him in a way that made him suspicious. "Why are looking at me like that?"
"Oh well, I'm just very happy today!" Saying this, Rory slightly jumped and swayed with his arms which made Kurt even more suspicious.
"I'm afraid that the smile on your face will never disappear."
"But that's not bad, is it?" Rory asked and smiled even wider.
"Not at all! So, is there any particular reason you-" Kurt didn't even have to finish his question, Rory's reddening cheeks were enough of an answer. "Who is the lucky one?"
Rory was once again in a situation he wished the ground would open and just swallow him up - at least it was for the first following seconds! But then he saw how interested and sincere Kurt smiled at him, and there was something in his eyes that made Rory forget about every reason he shouldn't tell Kurt the truth.
"Well, I kind of have a date later." He wasn't prepared for the loud squeal Kurt made, so he was surprised and laughed when Kurt put his hands on his heart.
"Aww, that's great! But who is your date?"
A part of Rory wanted to stop the conversation here, but a bigger part of him knew that Kurt would understand him. Of course Rory knew that Kurt was Blaine's boyfriend, so he could be certainly sure that Kurt would be fine with it.
"Sam," he whispered therefore low-voiced and looked around to make sure that no one else had heard him.
"Our Sam?" Rory nodded. "Oh Rory, you have a great taste then!"
Out of all answers, Rory didn't expect this one. "What do you mean?"
"Don't tell Blaine, but there was a time before I knew him when Sam joined glee club and I soon had a crush on him." Kurt raised his eyebrows and cocked his head. "It's the hair, right?"
Rory had to laugh. "Well, yeah, maybe, I don't really know. His smile is pretty contagious."
"And so is yours!" Kurt reached his hand out to pat Rory's back and gently pushed him forward to make him go next to him to their first class. "So what have you two planned for your date?"
"To be honest, it's not officially a date," Rory had to admit. "We're just going to spend the afternoon together and he wants to show me some tunes on his guitar at his place."
"That sounds good!" Kurt said as they both made their way through the other students.
"Yeah, I'm pretty excited. I can't help but smile whenever he looks at me, so I'm afraid that I'm just going to sit there and blush or something like that, but-"
"You don't have to be afraid, Rory, you're an amazing person!" Kurt interrupted him and stopped him in front of their classroom to say one last thing to him. "I can tell from your smile that you're really happy and you just have to be yourself when you're talking to Sam. He is a nice guy, you know." Saying this, Kurt winked at Rory and smiled when he turned around and entered the room.
Rory nodded and followed him, his heart beating faster when he spotted Sam sitting on a table in front of the room. He was chatting with Finn, Puck and Mike, but Rory was too shy to join them, so he just sat down on a chair in front of the window and put his bag on the table. He then noticed that he had started to smile again.
Seconds later, the teacher entered the room and walked to the front, tossing some books on the desk. "Good morning, class," he said annoyed. "Please sit down."
The loud chattering stopped imediately and was followed by the squeaking noise of chairs. A hand touched Rory's shoulder and made him jump at the sudden contact. "Good morning, Rory," Sam whispered and smiled at Rory as he sat down behind him. Unable to say anything, Rory just turned around and smiled back at Sam. When he turned back to his normal position, his eyes stopped at Kurt who was smirking at him. He sat next to Blaine and smiled when he saw that Rory was looking at him. Then he pointed with his head behind Rory and mouthed something.
Rory had to laugh when he saw what Kurt was saying to him. Tell me everything tomorrow! Maybe Rory should just start writing a blog about his life, so everyone could read it and he wouldn't have to tell everything over and over again. But the fact that his new friends were so interested in his life made him happy, and he actually would love to tell everyone about Sam. With a nod at Kurt, he looked back at the front and spotted the clock on the wall.
Just like the day before, the next hours were a change from checking the time every five minutes to grinning broadly when another hour had passed. The date was coming closer and Rory thought he would die of anticipation.
What do I normally do with my hands? Fold them, put them in my pockets or hold something? Oh God, I probably look like I'm drunk, the way I'm shaking and breathing. ...This is awkward, I want to go home and crawl into my bed.
Right after the bell rang after the last class, Rory went out of the room and straight to his locker. When he walked down the hallways, he tried to act as normal as always, but he just couldn't do it. He felt like a boxer who was making his way to the boxing ring, trying to steady his breath and get ready for what was to come. To get rid of the tension, he shook his arms and exhaled sharply.
But Rory was happy, very happy. His heart immediately beated faster whenever he thought of Sam.
"Ready to go?" The voice came from behind and sounded like heaven to Rory.
"Of course," was Rory's answer he tried to sound very confident with. He flashed a smile and turned completely around to face Sam.
"Let's go then!" Sam turned to the left and started walking, Rory walking next to him. "Are you hungry?"
"Not really," Rory replied. He definitely couldn't eat anything right now, his stomach felt strange already.
"So you don't want anything? Because our fridge is currently nearly empty and I don't want you to starve." Sam laughed and sent shivers down Rory's spine with the sweet noise.
"That's fine, I'm really not hungry!" Rory knew what Brittany would've said at this: That's because your stomach is full of butterflies! Yes, obviously. More and more, Rory felt that the tension disappeared and made way for pure happiness and joy.
"Good." Sam opened the door and held it open for Rory. They went outside and followed some other students to the parking lot. An old, light blue Chevy came in Rory's sight, and Sam unlocked the door and opened it.
"That's yours?" Rory's jaw dropped open and he opened the door on the passenger side.
"No, my dad lend it from one of his friends for a few months, I just get to drive to school with it!" Sam laughed and closed the door after he had sat down.
"I love cars like this," Rory said as he sat down as well and closed the door.
"Yeah, me too!" They both fastened their seat belt and then Sam started the engine.
A few minutes later, Sam drove into the driveway and stopped the car. "So, here I live," he said and got out of the car. For a moment, Rory just sat there and looked at the house. He had expected another one, but he couldn't pick a finger on whether it was the color, the size or the garden.
"You are free to sit there in the car, but maybe you want to come with me!" Sam laughed as he noticed that Rory was still in the car and didn't move. Rory then smiled at him and got out of the car, walking slower than usual. As he followed Sam to the front door, he looked up at the house and tried to look through the windows, but he couldn't see anything.
It was then when Rory realized that he, in fact, knew nothing about Sam. Of course he knew the visible things: athletic, obviously into music, very friendly and also a bit weird because of the strange voices he sometimes makes when he impersonates someone. But what does he do when he is out of school? What are his talents? Does he have siblings? And pets?
Sam opened the door and wiped his feet before he went inside. A little slower and hesitantly, Rory followed him. He looked around to get a first impression of what the Evans household looked like – and he really liked it, he instantly felt like he could live there.
"Mom? Dad?" Sam shouted as he took off his shoes and went into the next room, but he returned soon. "Guess they're still out then, probably picking up Stevie and Stacy."
"So you've got a brother and a sister?" Rory asked as casually as possible when he put his shoes next to Sam's shoes and followed him upstairs.
"Yes, Stevie and Stacy, you're going to love them, everybody does," Sam explained and turned to the door on the left side at the end of the stairs. Stevie and Stacy, Rory thought and tried to think of what they might look like. He immediately pictured Stevie with the same hair like Sam, a young boy with a cute smile across his face. And Stacy sounded like a little princess, and Rory could almost see her introducing herself with a shy smile on her lips, "Hey, I'm Stacy!" There was no doubt that they both were younger than Sam, making Sam the older protective and caring brother.
"So here we are!" Rory's thoughts were interrupted just when he started thinking of Sam reading bedtime stories to his sibling. Sam held the door open for Rory to go into his room. And Rory did so with a light blush he hoped Sam didn't notice.
The room was very different from what Rory had imagined. He now knew that Sam was into comic books which were piled up almost in every corner and on his desk. On his walls were several movie posters - the largest ones from Avatar and Star Wars – and posters of football players Rory didn't know the names of. He also spotted a guitar that was lying on the bed right next to the window, and there was no chance that Rory's heart would pick up a normal beat ever again.
"Don't mind the mess," Sam said as he put his bag next to his desk. "You can sit down on the couch if you want!"
Rory turned around and went to the couch that was standing on the opposite side of the room in front of a small television. When he sat down, he had an overview of Sam's room and slowly started to pay attention to the few little things that were either standing in a shelf or on the windowsill. And of course there was a small picture frame. "Are this Stevie and Stacy?" Rory asked as he reached out to grab it.
"Yes."
"They look like you!" The girl on the photo smiled into the camera and had her arm wrapped around the boy who was also smiling but a little bit more shyly. Stacy truly looked like a small princess with her gold shimmering hair, and Stevie just had these big blue eyes that were looking right into your soul and he melted your heart with his cuteness. Just like Sam - except for the princess part!, Rory thought and put the frame back on the shelf.
"Alright, I'm ready to listen to a song!" He then said and pointed at the guitar.
"Okay, I've already thought of one!" Sam answered, took the guitar from his bed and sat down on a blue stool. The way he moved and grabbed the guitar left no doubt that he did this probably every day. Carefully, he put the guitar on his leg and suddenly had a guitar pick in his hand. As if he had never seen someone playing guitar before, Rory bended forward on the couch and kept his eyes glued on Sam.
"It's actually one of my favourites," Sam admitted before starting to pluck single strings. Rory was impressed by the fast way he moved his fingers so coordinately. He instantly wished that he could do the same.
"We both lie silently still in the dead of the night. Although we both lie close together, we feel miles apart inside."
The seconds Sam's voice filled the room, Rory's heart picked up speed and he had to drop his gaze. Sam's voice just did something to him, and he couldn't avoid blushing.
"Was it something I said or something I did, did my words not come out right? Though I tried not to hurt you, though I tried, but I guess that's why they say every rose has its thorn."
Wow. This one word resounded in Rory's head for the next minutes as he had to look up again and watched Sam playing guitar and singing passionately. Sam was so focused on the chords and the strumming that Rory thought he had forgotten that he was in the room, too. That's why he coughed slightly when Sam finished the song and played the last chord. "That was brilliant, Sam! Makes me want to be able to play the guitar too!"
Sam averted his eyes from his guitar and looked at Rory instead. He smiled when he saw how impressed Rory looked, wide-eyed. "I can teach you!" He said almost immediately and raised his eyebrows. "There are a lot of chords and I can promise you that your fingertips will hurt for the first weeks, but that's totally worth it! There's nothing better and more relaxing and entertaining than playing the guitar! ...we can start right now if you want!"
Rory had to laugh at his enthusiasm when it comes to guitars, but he found it quite adorable. "Okay?"
"Then you have to stand up and sit down here," Sam said as he stood up from the stool so Rory could sit down. A little bit taken aback, Rory went over to him and sat down. Sam handed him his guitar, but he just held it in his hands, incapable to hold it properly. Of course Sam noticed that.
"Just put the underside on your leg and lay your arm on top of it so that your hand is over the strings. Yes, like that, that looks good." Rory had managed to hold the guitar properly and he had to smile at Sam's words. In his voice was already a hint of pride. "The easiest chord is G major, you just put your pinky on the last string on the third fret. That way you just have to strum the four bottom strings."
Rory frowned but did what Sam told him and strummed the four strings after he had placed his finger. The sound the guitar made sounded actually very good, and Sam nodded in agreement. "Yes, that sounds like a G major! Well done, that was your first chord!" Rory removed his finger and smiled happily at Sam.
"Show me another!" Rory demanded, beaming with joy.
"Sure! The next one I learned was D major, you have to use three fingers." Sam raised the respective fingers as he listed them. "Forefinger, middle finger and ring finger, and you put them like this." He moved forward to put his fingers on the last three strings.
"Got it," Rory mumbled and bit on his lip when he twisted his fingers to place them correctly. When he hit the strings, the sound the guitar made was horrible.
"There must be something wrong," Sam said and looked at Rory's fingers. "These two are wrong, they each belong one string lower." But Rory couldn't manage it, so Sam laughed and helped him by putting them to the respective strings.
And Rory blushed again, feeling an unbearable heat in his chest. He couldn't even look at Sam when he strummed and made a neat sound.
"That's better!" Sam nodded and smiled at Rory. "These are the first chords I've learned and I just started alterning from playing G major to D major."
Rory nodded understandingly and handed Sam the guitar. "Guess I'll have to learn that then, but I don't own a guitar, so that's difficult."
"We could just ask Mr. Schuester if he could lend us one from school, they have dozens there!" Sam suggested and put the guitar on his bed again. At the same moment, they heard someone running up the stairs and loudly asking, "Sammy?" Rory could say that it was a girl's voice and he immediately knew who this girl was, also by the way Sam's eyes lit up.
As you see, the date's not over yet :D But I felt like I should cut it there...