Sam groaned as he was woken by his phone. He rolled over and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He checked his phone, and sighed at the time. It was 12:47pm. There was a text from Mercedes. He rolled back over, intending to fall back asleep since he had been up all night first delivering pizzas then being unable to sleep, perusing tumblr with nothing to do. Then he remembered Mercedes had told him she was going to sleep over at Kurt's last night and he quickly grabbed his phone again to see what she had to say.

Omg Sam what r u doing today, I have news.

Of course she would not just text him the important news. Sam texted her back, and they agreed to meet up in a few minutes. Putting his phone down, Sam yawned and stretched before heading to the bathroom to get ready for his and Mercedes' meeting. He thought to himself that he should really stop sleeping in so late, but it was the summer after all, and he did not work in the morning anyway. His parents had insisted Sam did not need to work so hard after they found people who would hire them and after they had found a cheap apartment to move into, but he felt obligated to support his family. He gave every one of his paychecks to his parents. They were only just getting by, and until his family was back on its feet, Sam would not feel comfortable doing any less than what he already was.

"Ouch, goddammit." Sam was pulled from his reverie about the source of his sleep deprivation as he stubbed his toe getting into the shower. He could not stop another groan escape him, and he rubbed his eyes again and mumbled "This better be good, Mercedes…"

He let his head fall back as he turned on the water and it ran down his body. Sometimes he felt like showering was the most peaceful moment he got in the day. He wondered about Mercedes' text, though. What could it be about? Well, it had to be about Kurt. She had stayed the night at his place, and she had gotten Sam's hopes up that she might learn something more about the conversation the two of them had overheard at The Lima Bean. Sam let out a sigh as Kurt floated to the forefront of his thoughts. He could not help resenting Blaine for having Kurt. For telling him he loved him.

Sam remembered months ago when he first began to identify how he felt about Kurt. He remembered his first encounter with Kurt, back when he had just transferred to McKinley and no one really knew who he was. Sam had thought Kurt was so cute, but it was not until months later that he would analyze himself enough to come to terms with what his feelings for Kurt really were. Sam still could not call himself gay, but he knew he cared about Kurt and had always admired him, usually from afar. It did not help Sam's perception that all his feelings were was unrequited attraction that Kurt was always so friendly to him. Only weeks ago Kurt had been so supportive and comforting when he realized Sam's family was going through a tough time. And at the beginning of the school year when Sam felt alone, Kurt had been so eager to sing a duet with Sam. Well, Kurt had seemed eager for a lot of things. Sam smiled when he remembered their conversation in the showers at school and Kurt's wandering eyes. Sam bit his lip to try stopping a grin and looked down at himself in the shower, wishing Kurt could see him now.

"Sam!" Mercedes huffed, "Damn boy, you took a while!"

"I know, sorry! I had to shower and everything." Sam came and sat down at Mercedes' table.

"I don't understand your sleep schedule. But anyway, Sam, this is so exciting! Last night I was at Kurt's, right?"

"Yeah, is this what that's about? I wondered."

"Yeah, I had to report back to you what I found out in person."

"In The Lima Bean?" Sam did not know why he had been dragged out of bed to come all the way here.

"Well, wherever. I was already out when I texted you and this place was nearby. It doesn't really matter, although I guess it's appropriate considering what I found out."

"Okay, fine, so what did you find out?" Sam was getting impatient.

"Right. Kurt wanted to talk to me about him and Blaine's conversation that we overheard."

"—that he doesn't know we overheard, right?" Sam was attentive now, but nervous.

"Yeah, of course, do you think I'd blow our cover so easily? Anyway, so Kurt told me what Blaine said, and you shoulda seen him, Sam, you woulda melted, he was so unsure of himself, he couldn't even look me in the eye!" Sam could not suppress a smile when he thought about Kurt, but Mercedes did not let him interrupt her, "I played the role of surprised, excited, concerned friend like the star I am, if I do say so myself, and lemme tell you, he couldn't tell I had already heard the conversation."

Sam was relieved to hear that, but pressed Mercedes for more details, "As if I should be surprised. But then what did he say? C'mon, this can't be it."

"No, of course not. Basically Kurt told me about these negative thoughts he's been having about Blaine and their relationship, and this is the first I've ever heard of this, I promise you, and he told me that he couldn't really mean it even though he told Blaine he loved him too."

Sam was elated. He felt like jumping up in the air and whooping, but he settled on actual speech, "So…okay, so what I'm getting from this is that Klaine is on the rocks."

"Yes."

Sam should have known this would be good. He felt like running through the streets with a megaphone, announcing his elation to the whole of Lima, Ohio.

"But, Sam, that doesn't mean he's about to break up with him or anything. We both know Kurt can feel so lonely. I don't think he could break up with Blaine just because he thinks there's trouble in paradise."

That brought Sam back down to earth. Mercedes saw his face fall and hurried on, "Okay, I know, that's not what you wanna hear. I don't think that means hope is lost, though! Kurt finally has tons of free time now that glee and school are over, and the two of us agreed we need to hang out more. I also mentioned you, by the way," she added with a wink, delighted to see Sam start suddenly, "I made sure to let Kurt know you and me are just friends. Meaning you're single. And I also mighta mentioned you're a great guy. I mighta just slipped that in there. No biggie."

Sam tried hiding his embarrassed grin, "Come on, Mercedes, don't you think that's a little obvious?"

"Hell naw, Kurt hardly noticed, to be honest. I'm sure he heard me, but he didn't address. But my point is, lover boy, I think I can make plans with Kurt and have you tag along. Kurt knows you and me are friends now. I'd be hella surprised if he had a problem with you showing up sometime. We have the whole summer ahead of us. Let's do this."

Later Sam felt like everything was looking up again on his way home from his powwow with Mercedes. Kurt did not love Blaine, in fact had misgivings about their relationship, and chances were Sam and Kurt would be able to spend time together in the coming weeks. Sam could not stop himself from being hopeful.