Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Glee.
Beta Credit: jlbassmaster

The Plan That Actually Worked
Chapter Ten: Trouble

"Rory, wait," Sam called as he spotted the boy walking quickly toward the double doors leading to the parking lot.

Rory spun on his heel to face Sam.

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life!" Rory shouted at Sam, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides.

Sam stopped, dead in his tracks. "Rory, what Santana said-" Sam started.

"I thought you trusted me!" Rory said, his voice angry and edging toward hysterics.

"I do trust-"

Rory cut him off. "Then why did I have to hear that from her?" He gestured sharply in the direction of the choir room. "If you trust me then why didn't I hear it from you?"

"Because I'm not exactly proud of what I did, Rory," Sam said, frustrated, throwing his arms up grandly.

"I've told you everything about myself, Sam. Everything. And you clearly don't trust me very much if you thought that I was going to break up with you over something that you had to do to support your family. I'm really hurt, Sam. Is that honestly what you think of me?"

Sam was frozen, wracking his brain for a way to respond to Rory's question.

"Your silence speaks volumes, Sam," Rory said sadly as he turned to walk away.

Something about Rory walking away triggered Sam's defensive side. It wasn't Rory's fault. Santana had publicly embarrassed him by telling him something that Sam should have told him a long time ago. He had no right, none of this was Rory's fault, but before Sam could stop himself, he snapped out, "Yeah, if we tell each other everything, then why haven't you bothered to tell me what you plan to do when it's time for you to go home? Where the hell are you going to stay? Your father will kill you if you go back to your house."

Rory froze, his shoulders falling sharply as the breath rushed out of his lungs. Sam couldn't believe what he had just said. Though the thought of Rory leaving had plagued him every day, it had been an unspoken rule not to discuss it. He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. He realized immediately that he'd just hurt his boyfriend in the worst possible way.

Rory turned his head to look over his shoulder at Sam, his eyes filled with tears. There was no anger anywhere on his face, replaced entirely by sadness.

"Rory, I'm-" Sam tried.

The brunette just shook his head, tears beginning to fall, and threw open the door. He let the door close behind him before he started running. He just wanted to be as far away from the school as possible.

Sam stood frozen in the hallway. His hands flew up to grab fistfuls of his hair. Anger quickly overwhelmed him. He had never been more pissed off at himself in his life.

"Fuck," he yelled loudly, lunging forward and punching the face of the locker. The crashing, metallic sound reverberated through the empty hallway.

His knuckles protested when he tangled the hand back into his hair. He realized somewhere in the back of his mind that he'd probably just broken his hand, but he didn't care. He had to get to Rory. He'd screwed up, bad, and now he had to fix it.

-xXxXx-

Rory knew that Sam would be looking for him soon, so he locked the door behind him as he ran inside Brittany's house. He threw his bag down in the living room and bolted for his bedroom. He threw himself down on his bed and buried his face in the pillow, letting his emotions pull him under.

He had never known that Sam was capable of hurting him in that way. He had done his best not to think about having to go home, and Sam had thrown it in his face that he didn't even have a home to go to. And, to top it all off, Sam hadn't even trusted him enough to tell him about his past. Did he think Rory was so fickle that he'd leave over something that he had to do to support his family? Another wave of hysterics washed over him.

Somewhere in his mind, Rory recognized the sound of Sam's truck idling briefly in the driveway before being shut off. He covered his head with his pillow and willed him to go away. The sudden pounding of a fist on the Pierce's front door only made Rory sob harder. He heard his name being called through the door. Sam's voice sounded urgent and pleading.

A war raged in Rory's mind. He begged internally for Sam to just leave, but a part of him wanted to curl up in Sam's strong arms and cry himself out.

The pounding stopped and Rory breathed a sad sigh of relief. He curled into himself and let misery take him. A clattering sound too close was enough to make him look up. Sam had slid open his window and was climbing inside. Rory didn't have the strength to protest as a fresh wave of tears flooded his eyes when he saw Sam, their conversation flashing back into his mind.

"Thank God you're here! I looked everywhere!" Sam said, sad relief coloring his tone. "I was getting worried, I looked all over-"

"S-Sam, get out," Rory pleaded weakly. Sam ignored him and crossed the small room to kneel next to the bed.

"No. Rory, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I shouldn't have said anything about you going home. I wasn't thinking. I hurt you, and that kills me. I'm sorry. I should have told you everything about my past, but I didn't, because I was ashamed," Sam said in a rush. He steadied himself and continued, slower. "But, I already feel like I'm not good enough for you, like you deserve better. I just couldn't bear to tell you about that and have you realize that you could do so much better than me." Tears began to fall from Sam's eyes as the lull turned into an agonizing silence. "Please, say something, Rory."

Rory looked up toward Sam, and the blonde's breath hitched in his throat as he saw Rory's tortured face. "I'm so sorry," Sam said again automatically, struck again by his own stupidity. Rory would never know how badly it hurt Sam to see him this way, especially knowing that he was the cause. It was all his fault. He reached up to touch Rory's cheek, but he flinched away from the touch. Sam's heart shattered. "I love you, Rory. I hate this. Please, just talk to me."

"I-I don't know what to say, Sam," he said sadly, pulling himself up into a sitting position and wiping his eyes. He couldn't handle the tension anymore. Rory looked into Sam's eyes and felt himself soften. He couldn't bear the pained expression on Sam's face.

"Just say anything. Say you don't hate me. Say you still love me. Just, please, say something."

Rory wanted to be mad. He wanted to yell at Sam, tell him how much his words had hurt, and how mortified he was to have heard that secret from Santana, but the broken expression on Sam's face took all the fire out of him. He sighed and straightened up, looking into his green eyes.

"Of course I still love you, Sam." Rory reached for Sam's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The blonde sighed deeply, letting out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. "I'm just...hurt. Think about how it made me feel to have to hear about something like that from someone who doesn't even like me," he said, his voice soft and quiet.

Finally, Sam had something to work with. "I'm so sorry for not telling you, Rory."

After hearing Sam's explanation, he couldn't find it inside himself to be upset anymore. "It's okay. I understand. I just really wish I would have heard it from you instead of Santana."

"I'll never keep anything else from you, ever. I swear," Sam said with fervent honesty, squeezing Rory's hand. He sighed again and continued with his apology. "Rory, what I said you leaving...I shouldn't have said that. I was angry, and I-"

"Sam, it's okay. You were right. We need to talk about these things, no matter how painful they are."

"But I shouldn't have-"

"You're right. You shouldn't have brought it up like that. It was very hurtful," Rory said plainly. Sam dropped his head, shamed. "But, it is something we need to discuss."

"We don't have to talk about it now, Rory. I only said that because I was angry," Sam muttered, looking at his feet.

"But, I do want to talk about it, now that it's come up." Rory slid over and patted the space next to him. "Sit?"

Sam nodded woodenly and sat down next to Rory. Even though he had been the one to bring it up, he hadn't wanted to have this conversation.

"Sam," he started, taking both of the blonde's hands into his own and looking pointedly into his eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to do when it's time for me to leave. I have nowhere to go. I just feel..." he trailed off, thinking. "Lost." Rory's voice was colored with sadness.

"I can't imagine how hard this is for you," Sam sympathized. "But, I'm here for you, Rory. Always."

"I know you are, Sammy," Rory said quietly, some of the pain evaporated from voice at Sam's reassurance. "I want to talk to you about this, but I honestly don't know what I'm going to do yet."

"I'll be here when you figure it out, baby," Sam promised. "Whatever it is, we can handle it. I'll support you. No matter what."

A small smile touched Rory's face. "I love you, Sam."

"I love you, too, Rory. I don't ever want to fight again. I'm so sorry."

"I know. I hated that fight," Rory said quickly, his tone softening and losing its pained edge. He leaned forward to capture Sam's lips and tangle his arms around the blonde's neck, kissing him with a passionate sweetness that emanated from deep inside.

After a moment, Sam unwound his boyfriend's arms and gently pushed him onto his back, positioning himself above him and reconnecting their lips. When Sam pulled away slightly, Rory lifted a hand to brush the shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes. Sam's heart clenched at the beaming smile on Rory's face. Sam ducked his head down so that his lips were brushing against his boyfriend's ear. "God, you're so beautiful, Rory," Sam whispered roughly, breath ghosting out hotly against Rory's sensitive skin. He shuddered delicately at the warmth, a quiet moan escaping his lips. He wrapped his arms back around Sam's neck, connecting their lips urgently.

The front door of the house slammed shut and voices began to drift through the closed door of Rory's bedroom. The Irish boy stiffened abruptly at the sound.

"What's the matter, babe?" Sam asked, confused, as Rory pushed him away.

"No, I have to check on Rory. He was really upset, Santana," Brittany's voice was concerned and growing closer to Rory's bedroom. Rory growled quietly, taking Sam aback. He'd never seen Rory angry before, but fury was radiating off him. A soft knock on the door was followed by Brittany's tentative voice. "Rory?"

Sam grabbed Rory's wrist as his boyfriend threw his legs over the edge of the bed. "Don't, Rory." He wrenched his arm free and went to pull open the door. Brittany's hand was still raised to knock again. She faltered back a step as she took in Rory's furious expression.

"Rory, are you-"

"I'm fine, Brittany. Thank you," he said as cordially as he could manage before spinning on Santana. She stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, smug.

"So," she said, peering through the open door and seeing Sam on the bed. "I see you made up with Mr. Chippendale."

"Santana..." Brittany chided softly.

"No, Brittany. Let me handle this." His voice was low and furious. "You listen to me, Santana, I love Sam, and I don't know what you have against him or against us, but if you ever try to come between us again, you will be very, very sorry." The smugness fell from Santana's face as Rory took a step toward her, raising a finger to her face. "It's one thing to insult me. God knows you do it all the time, but if you think for one second that I'm going to sit by while you put Sam down, you've got another thing coming, ma'am," Rory bit out.

Sam quickly threw himself off the bed to come to Rory's side, putting a hand on his shoulder. Sam could feel Rory trembling with his anger beneath his hand.

"Calm down, Irish," Santana said, condescension in her voice. "If you're okay gettin' it on with a man-whore then more power to you, but I-"

"Stop right there, Santana," Rory said, shaking his finger in her face. "I admire the fact that Sam did whatever he had to do to support his family. Do you think he enjoyed doing that? No! He did it because he loves his little brother and sister. It's called sacrifice, and it comes with being selfless. Maybe if you weren't so fucking self-absorbed, you might see that."

Shock flitted across Santana's face as she stood frozen, unable to think of a witty, biting remark. Rory continued, raising his voice slightly.

"I am proud of Sam for everything he's done to make sure that his siblings had the best childhood they could possibly have. And, from what I've seen, he's done a damn good job of it. So, you can just move on and be a bitch to someone else, because Sam doesn't deserve your abuse, so I won't allow it."

Santana stared, wide-eyed as Rory called her out. He was done with the conversation and wanted Santana out of his sight. Brittany stood with a look of sad shock on her face. He leaned forward to kiss her quickly on the cheek, giving her arm a light squeeze to reassure her that none of his anger was directed at her before he slammed the door in Santana's stunned face, locked it, and spun around to face Sam.

The expression on Sam's face was enough to drain the anger from Rory and replace it with a new kind of fire.

"Sam, what's-"

He was cut off abruptly by Sam's lips surging forward to meet his own. He dropped his hands to Rory's hips to lift him off his feet. Rory wrapped his legs around Sam's waist, deepening the kiss. Sam walked them backward toward the bed. They collapsed onto the mattress together and Sam began grinding his hips roughly into Rory's, eliciting shuddering moans from the younger boy.

"Somebody's excited," Rory said shakily as Sam's lips left his own to trail down his neck.

"Oh my God, Rory," Sam mumbled against his skin. "Seeing you stand up to Santana like that was so hot!"

"I meant every word of what I said."

"I know." Sam kissed his way along Rory's jaw. "The way you stood up for me..." Another kiss. "I love you so much!"

Rory had been about to return Sam's I love you, but he was quickly interrupted by Sam bringing their mouths back together. The blonde slid his hand under Rory's shirt, caressing the skin of his chest and stomach, before pulling it off over his head. Rory removed Sam's in turn. The two quickly parted ways with the remainder of their clothes.

Sam's full lips moved insistently against Rory's smaller ones as he took the younger boy's erection into his hand and began pumping it slowly. Rory squirmed underneath him, reaching down to take Sam into his hand, causing him to whine needily against Rory's lips.

"So good, baby," he moaned brokenly. "D-Don't stop."

Sam dropped his head to the crook of Rory's neck, kissing frantically at any skin within his reach. Knowing Sam was close, Rory increased his rhythm and Sam began to fall apart. The sight of Sam coming undone at his hands was almost enough to throw Rory over the edge. Sam's hand still worked urgently, fisting Rory's length quickly. His thumb swiped over the slit, collecting the slick liquid pooled there. Rory whimpered as he watched Sam's hands working him over.

"Oh God, Rory," Sam moaned, his breath hitching. "I'm so close. Please...Please don't stop." He arched his hips closer to Rory's body, pressing their bodies impossibly closer.

Rory felt the heat inside him threatening to spill over at any moment. Sam quickened his stroke and Rory moaned Sam's name loudly as he felt his release crash over him.

As he came down from his high, he turned his head to whisper roughly into Sam's ear, "Let go, Sam. Come for me." Sam gasped and whined brokenly as hips began thrusting into Rory's fist desperately, his seed starting to spill across Rory's hand. "That's it, baby," Rory urged as he felt his fingers become coated. Sam moaned, a weak breathless sound, and kissed Rory's shoulder appreciatively.

"That was..." Sam scrambled for words, pressing another soft kiss to his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Incredible," Rory finished, reaching down to the floor and grabbing his shirt to clean them up, before tossing it toward the direction of the dirty clothes hamper.

"You have no idea how sexy you are sometimes, Rory," Sam laughed quietly.

Rory beamed in response, kissing Sam on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Sam said, smiling widely, pulling a blanket over himself and Rory. "Do you think we have time for a quick nap before Brittany's parents get home?"

"Definitely," Rory said happily, snuggling into Sam's side and resting his head against Sam's heated chest.

Sam wrapped his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders and buried his nose in his hair, humming quietly until he felt Rory's breathing slip into the peaceful, even rhythm of sleep. He lay in bed just watching Rory sleep, thanking the powers that be for bringing such a beautiful person into his life.

A/N: Remember, the sound of reading without reviewing makes the angels cry. :)