Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Losing My Religion.
Note: So glad you guys are enjoying this. Don't expect any mutual feelings for a while, though. I'd like a slow buildup for this one.
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think, I thought, I saw you try
"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy!"
Sam's eyes fluttered open. "What is it?"
His twin siblings landed on his bed. "It's Christmas! Santa came!"
"Oh, right," Sam rubbed his eyes. "Merry Christmas, guys."
"Come on," Stevie bounced on the bed. "Let's go!"
Sam looked at the alarm clock. "Steve, it's 7:30 in the morning. Go back to bed, get some sleep." Or let me get some, he thought wearily.
"We have the whole week to sleep. Christmas only comes once a year," Stacy reasoned.
"Oh, all right," Sam stretched out. "Why don't we go wake up Rory?"
"Okay," they leapt to the floor. The twins padded down the hall to the guest room. "Rory, Rory, wake up! It's Christmas!"
Sam chuckled to himself. He joined his siblings in Rory's room. "I swear I didn't tell them to do that," he joked.
"Yes you did," Stacy said bluntly.
"It's okay," Rory ruffled her hair affectionately. "I'm used to it."
"Santa came!" Stevie trilled. "He came and left presents and ate all the cookies!"
"All of them? Really?" Rory played along. "That's fantastic!"
"Come on," Stacy tugged on his arm. "Let's go open presents!"
"Yeah, Rory, let's go open presents from Santa," Sam smirked.
"Okay, okay," Rory sat up. "Who wants a piggyback ride downstairs?"
"Me, me!" The twins raised their hands.
"Can I go with you?" Stacy asked shyly.
"Of course," Rory said. "Hop on!" Stacy climbed on his back and put her arms around his neck. Sam laughed and pulled Stevie up on his back.
"You're so cool, Rory," Stacy giggled.
"I think someone has a crush," Sam teased. She turned red. I should speak for myself.
"Well, good morning to you," Mrs. Evans smiled pleasantly from where she had been reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee in the living room.
Rory bent down so Stacy could slide off his back. "Merry Christmas, Mommy!"
"Happy Christmas, Mrs. Evans," Rory said.
"Merry Christmas, dear," she said kindly. "I see Stacy's taken well to you."
"She's a sweetheart," Rory said honestly.
Sam and Stevie came tromping down the stairs. "Mama, it's Christmas!" He jumped down and ran off to jump on his mother's lap.
"Merry Christmas, Ma," Sam kissed her cheek.
"Merry Christmas, darling," she returned the kiss.
"Where's Daddy?" Stacy asked.
"In here," he called from the kitchen. "Getting the pancakes ready for later!"
"Oh, yum," Sam rubbed his stomach. "I'm hungry!"
"You're always hungry," Mrs. Evans teased. "Well, shall we distribute the presents?"
"I have to admit," Rory said, sitting cross-legged on the floor, "I don't expect you to have gotten me anything. After all, you just met me two days ago, and I'm just a relatively new friend of your son's."
"Any friend of our children's is a friend of ours," Mrs. Evans said. "And you're our guest for the holidays. Of course we got a few small things for you."
Rory blushed. "Thanks," he mumbled appreciatively as Stacy plopped down next to him.
"Here," she handed him a messily-wrapped gift. "It's from Sammy," she whispered.
"Oh, is it now?" He chuckled.
Sam flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry it's so messy."
"It's fine," Rory flashed him that brilliant smile. "I wonder what it could be?"
Sam's heart fluttered in anticipation as he watched Rory try to figure out what was in the package he'd wrapped late last night and slipped under the tree with some of his other family presents. "Here, Stace," he handed her a brightly colored package. "From your favorite brother," he winked.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, cool, an arts and crafts kit! Thanks, Sammy!" Sam knew his little sister loved to color and paint, so this was the ideal present for her.
"You're welcome. And one for you, Stevie," he handed him a similarly wrapped box.
"Cool. Oh wow, Megatron! Thanks, Sammy, you're the best brother ever!" Stevie excitedly held up the Transformer to show everyone.
"Rory, you should open Sammy's present now," Stacy said shyly.
"He does seem to give good presents," he smiled at her. "Well, let's see what this is, shall we?" He unwrapped it—slowly, Sam thought, much too slowly—and pulled out a blue knit scarf that matched Rory's eyes and a sweater that went with the scarf.
"Oh, that's lovely," Mrs. Evans murmured. "It complements your eyes so well."
"Thank you, Sam," Rory breathed. "I love it. I'll wear it tonight," he set the sweater aside, but put the scarf around his neck.
"It looks…it looks amazing on you," Sam could hardly process his thoughts with Rory sitting in front of him looking more beautiful than he ever had before. He couldn't do anything but to stare at the boy and wonder how in the world he was still single.
"Here," Rory gave him a flat box. Their fingers brushed against each other in the hand-off, and Sam shivered. He wanted the touch to last longer. "It's not much, but…"
"I'm sure I'll love it," Sam managed to say. He couldn't imagine what Rory could've possibly gotten for him, but was dying to know. "Oh, wow a…wait, is this an Avatar watch?" He asked incredulously. He'd mentioned exactly one time that Avatar was his favorite movie to Rory, and the fact that Rory had remembered was awesome.
"You mentioned you liked that film. I've never seen it, but you have that poster in your room and all, so I figured you'd like it. You do like it, don't you?"
"Yes!" Sam exclaimed, putting it on his wrist. "This is like, the coolest present I've ever gotten! Thanks, Rory! Hey, maybe we can watch the movie later."
"That would be fun," Rory smiled. They continued to open presents, and while Sam loved all that his parents and siblings got for him, he loved Rory's present the most of all. He and Rory clomped up the stairs afterwards to put their presents away. "Mind if I call my mum and dad?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, sure," Sam nodded. He waited for Rory to retreat into the guest room. Curiosity got the best of him, and he wondered what Rory's home life was. He pressed an ear to the door and listened. Rory began speaking in a language Sam didn't understand, but he did pick out his own name and 'Kentucky', so he knew Rory was talking about him. He only wished he understood what the blue-eyed boy was saying. He couldn't help but to notice how light and happy Rory's voice was when he was talking to his family. He waited a good ten minutes before he could stand it no longer and knocked on the door lightly.
"Come in," Rory called in English. Sam took a deep breath and poked his head in the room. Rory switched back to the unfamiliar language, grinning as he hung up the phone.
"How…how many languages do you speak?" Sam asked.
"Two; English and Gaelic," Rory answered. "Why, do you speak any others?"
"Just Na'vi," Sam mumbled. "And that's not even a real language."
"I can teach you a little Gaelic," Rory said. "That is, if you want."
Sam's heart fluttered rapidly. "I'd lo…I'd like that, a lot." Why was his throat so dry all of a sudden? Why had he been about to say "love"? He didn't want Rory to get the wrong idea…they were just friends, right? It's not like Rory would ever have feelings for Sam. Heck, Sam didn't even know if Rory was straight or not! A burning inside him demanded to know. "Rory, do you…have a girlfriend back home?"
Rory winced visibly. "No. I do not."
"I'm sorry. That was a personal question. I…I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"I'm an outcast back home," Rory said softly. "I don't have many friends. I've never been asked to a dance. I've never really been on a date. I'm kind of a loser."
"You're not a loser," Sam shook his head. "You're awesome. Lots of kids speak Spanish or French or whatever, but you're the only kid at McKinley who can speak Gaelic." Rory gave him a tiny smile. "You have a brother who adores you. Heck, even my own siblings, who have known you for two days, adore you! You're kind and sweet. You're…you're unique, Rory. Don't ever change that, okay?"
Rory bit his lip. "I don't get it," he mumbled.
"What?"
"Why are you so nice to me?" Those blue eyes flashed a dark, haunting blue, akin to something you'd find at the bottom of the ocean.
"Us losers gotta stick together," Sam joked.
"I'd like to be alone, please," Rory said quietly.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked concernedly.
"I…I just want to be alone," Rory whispered. "Please leave."
"Leaving," Sam quickly slipped out of the room.
A soft knock came on his bedroom door hours later. "Yeah?"
Rory opened the door a crack. "May I come in?"
"Of course," Sam gripped his guitar harder. The blue-eyed boy came into the room and closed the door behind him. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you." Rory was always so polite, always knew the right thing to say. "I wanted to apologize, Sam. I should not have been so…I should not have said that to you. This is your home, and it was not my place to tell you to leave the room. I am sorry."
"It's okay," Sam shrugged.
There was a moment of awkward silence. "I wish I could play the guitar."
"Can you play anything?" Sam asked.
"My Pa taught me to play the piano, but I'm afraid I'm not as good at it as he is."
Sam licked his lips. "Make you a deal. I'll teach you to play guitar, if you teach me how to speak Gaelic."
Rory's eyes lit up. "You mean that, Sam?"
"Sure," Sam said. "Here, why don't we have our first lesson now? Come sit by me." Rory hesitantly sat on the edge of Sam's bed. "Don't be shy," Sam blushed a little. Rory scooted closer to the blonde, until their knees were nearly touching. Sam turned even redder; he had never been this physically close to the Irish boy, and he hoped Rory couldn't hear how hard his heart was beating. "Here," Sam slipped the guitar strap around Rory. "Put this hand here, and this one over here." His fingers tingled as they touched Rory's, electricity that could not be matched anywhere else or with anyone else.
"Like this?" Rory's eyes begged for Sam's approval.
"Not so much like you're strangling the neck of the guitar," Sam said gently.
"Oh," Rory looked embarrassed. "How's this?" He loosed his grip a little.
"Perfect," Sam murmured. He taught Rory to play a few simple chords, and the boy took like a duck to water. He was a natural, Sam had to admit, and Sam couldn't take his eyes off of the younger boy.
"Now, I will teach you a few simple Gaelic phrases," Rory said, carefully putting the guitar on the floor. "Dia duit," that means "hello".
"Dia…duit," Sam repeated, knowing he was probably butchering the pronunciation.
"Not bad," Rory winced. "Maybe something a little easier. Is é mo ainm Rory."
"I'm guessing that means 'my name is Rory'," Sam chuckled.
"Yes," Rory smiled. "Why don't you try it?"
"Is é mo ainm Sam. Did I do it right?"
"Very nice, Sam. Sásta bualadh leat."
"…what the heck did you just say?" Sam blinked in surprise.
Rory giggled. "I said 'pleased to meet you.' I'm sorry; my accent must make it all the more foreign to you."
"So…you're fluent in Gaelic?"
"They teach it to us in grammar school. It's a dying language, unfortunately, but I think it is one of the most beautiful languages in the world. There are many wonderful songs in Gaelic, but hardly anyone knows them anymore. It's such a shame."
"Can…can you sing in Gaelic?" Sam couldn't bring himself to look at the other boy.
"Yes," Rory again looked a little embarrassed.
"I think that's awesome," Sam put a hand over Rory's. "I think that's really special."
Rory pulled his hand away as if it were on fire. "I'm nothing special."
"But Rory-"
"You don't even know the first thing about me, Sam Evans. You don't know about my past, or my family, or even my middle name."
"Mine's Paul," Sam said quietly. "Samuel Paul Evans."
Rory looked at him in surprise. "Rory Alexander Flanagan."
"Now I know one thing about you," Sam smiled. "And I'd like to know more."
"I…I don't know," Rory said cautiously. "I've never really had a best friend before. No one knows my secrets. Not that I…have a lot of secrets…"
"Everyone has secrets," said Sam. "I'm good at keeping secrets."
"Is it true?" Rory whispered.
"Is what true?"
"I heard that Quinn cheated on you with Finn. Is it true?"
"Oh, that," Sam breathed a quick sigh of relief. "Yes, she did."
"And it's true that you lost your virginity to Santana?"
Sam flinched. "That would also be true."
"I see," Rory said tightly. "I think I shall go see if your mum wants help setting up for supper. Goodbye, Sam."
"Bye," Sam mumbled. Ugh, shouldn't have admitted that I had sex with Santana. But it's better than lying to him, and there's no way in the world that I could ever hurt that boy.
To be continued…