When he saw her tearing around the corner directly at him, he should have run. Rachel Berry coming towards you with a look of determination that had put fear into the hearts of mere men for years was never a good thing. For the life of him, Matt couldn't figure out why he didn't just run away. It was the smart thing to do. The sensible thing.
But apparently doing the stupid thing was becoming a recurrent pattern in his life. The smart thing would have been to stay away from Kurt after Rachel discovered his secret. Instead he had agreed to go shopping with him. An all day shopping trip with Kurt. Matt wasn't exactly sure where they were going, only that Kurt promised it was further than anyone in Lima would ever dream of going just to shop.
"Matt." Rachel slid into a stop right next to his locker. "Is it true?"
There was any number of ways to answer the question. The easiest options were to go for a joke or play dumb. And since there was any number of things Rachel could actually be referring to, he wouldn't actually be playing dumb. "Yes Jacob Ben Israel gave New Directions a good review on his latest blog." Matt smiled brightly. "Great right?"
"Yes but his acceptance of us is ultimately a non-issue." Rachel brushed off an imaginary piece of lint off her plaid skirt. "No. Are you going shopping with Kurt this weekend?"
"You talk to Mercedes?"
"Not exactly but I heard enough of her and Tina's discussion to get the point." Rachel shook her head and linked her arm into his. "While I normally approve of any plan that gets one near the object of one's affection, I must advise you this has disaster written all over it."
Great, now Rachel was stating the obvious. Matt rolled his eyes. He knew this was a bad idea. He didn't need Rachel to point out exactly how ridiculous this whole thing actually was. "I know it's stupid. But I couldn't exactly tell him no."
"I know it's hard but…"
"Have you ever been able to tell Finn no? Back when he was with Quinn?" Matt cut her off. "I saw you two. If he had asked you to serve as his daughter's godmother you would have done it in a heartbeat."
Chewing her bottom lip the way she always did when someone made a point, Rachel looked off down the hall. "Ok fine. But do you really want to spend the whole day hearing exactly what Kurt thinks is wrong with you? Or what if Sam comes along too? Being the third wheel is no fun, especially if the other two are clueless as to how you feel."
"Well Sam is apparently spending the day with his aunt so he won't be there. Trust me, if he was the word no would have been very easy to say. As for Kurt criticizing my clothes, it's not like we actually need to go anywhere for Kurt to do that. Every day is Fashion Court for him."
He took her sideways nod as all the confirmation he was going to get out of her. "And yeah it will be awkward as all hell" Matt admitted to her. "But not anymore awkward as it is riding to competitions in the bus or being in class together."
"Really? I have to disagree. At least here in school there is the presence of other students. Uneducated in the arts as they may be, they at least are buffers in case you have nothing to talk about. There is nothing Kurt likes more than mocking those he finds inferior to and it would drive conversation at least."
"Rachel. Hey Rachel. Matt. Wait up." Sam's voice carried over the din of student conversation as he wove through the crowd to catch up with them. As they watched the other boy, Matt tried to look at him objectively, instead of through the veil of blind jealousy he had from the second they first met.
It was certainly easy to see why Kurt was attracted to Sam. His soft wavy brown hair had a way of looking casual even though Matt was positive it was probably styled within an inch of its life into behaving exactly like that. He had bright blue eyes and a swimmer's build. Which was fortunate since Sam was apparently the bright shining hope of the Titians swim team. It was well known on the school gossip chain that Sam also trained with the elite swim team the Cincinnati Marlins before he moved to Lima and was in the process of joining the Columbus team. He had even heard rumors of the Olympics looking at inviting Sam to the Indianapolis training facility. And even though his clothes didn't scream designer the way Kurt's did, it was clear they weren't just some JC Penny knock offs his parents had picked up on sale.
Hell, if Matt's type wasn't small, flamboyant, male contra tenors who insisted on being called sopranos, he'd date Sam in a heartbeat. It was if he had been custom ordered from central casting for the role of "perfect teenage gay boyfriend."
And of course he was perfect. He got along famously with the other glee club members. He fit in so well with Mercedes, Tina and Artie it was almost impossible to remember he had just transferred schools. Not that he had ever asked Kurt, but from what Finn said it didn't seem Sam had met Burt Hummel yet but he wasn't actually pushing Kurt on that issue. He had even volunteered to help set up for the Invitational, something the AV club only did because Artie was basically their rock star.
So add supportive to the ever growing list of attributes Sam possessed. Was it really too much to hope for that he could have a huge zit that just refused to pop on the tip of his nose or something? A stray eyebrow hair? Anything? Why did he have to be in competition with Mr. Perfect Teen Gay?
Not that he was actually in competition, Matt reminded himself. He was a project for Kurt. A straight project at that. Kurt probably didn't think of him once he left his immediate eye sight. If it wasn't for Kurt's self-confessed addiction to makeovers, it wouldn't have surprised Matt in the least to find out Kurt needed to cancel their plans to hang out with his very real, very perfect in every way boyfriend.
After all it was what he would have done if the situation had somehow reversed itself.
"Thanks for waiting." Sam smiled as he finally reached the pair of them. "You guys move fast. Must be a Slushie facial defense right?"
"Can I help you with something Sam?" Rachel asked perkily, her death grip on Matt's arm tightening. If she didn't ease up he was going to have to cancel Saturday because of a broken bone.
"Actually yeah. I know you all have glee this afternoon and normally I would catch Kurt on his way there but I just got a message from my mom about this doctor's appointment." Sam smiled at Matt, his every single perfect teeth gleaming at him under the harsh florescent glare. Had he even noticed the perfect shade of white Sam's teeth were before? Damn it why couldn't he have a snaggletooth! "Sports physical. I'm sure you understand."
Matt didn't trust himself to actually respond with words. At least not words that wouldn't come out unnecessarily hostile to someone who had literally done nothing to him. Nothing except make a move on a guy Matt was too chicken to even talk to but even still…He decided a nod would suffice. After all it wasn't like Sam would actually expect to carry on a conversation with someone as quiet as him.
"So anyways, could you just tell Kurt not to wait for me? We were supposed to check out this coffee shop after glee but who knows how long you actually wait at the doctor's office right?"
"Sure. We can pass along that message." Rachel smiled brightly, the wheels in her head turning clearly to anyone who knew her well enough to fear the way her mind worked.
"Great. You're life savers. Thanks. I guess I'll see you tomorrow right?" Sam called out as he started to disappear into the swarm of students.
"Tomorrow. Great." Rachel waved. She turned to Matt, the light of a plan clearly visible in her brown eyes. "Matt…."
"No." Matt started to pull her away and towards the choir room. "I know that look and no."
"But you haven't even heard my idea!"
"Does it involve me somehow inviting myself along with Kurt today to this coffee shop that Sam can't make it to?" Seeing her quick intake of breath, Matt rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Rachel. No. I'm not that type of guy."
"What type of guy?"
"The type of guy who takes advantage of a scheduling mix up to steal someone else's boyfriend away." Matt shook his head. "No. Not me. I'm not that guy."
"Matt there is nothing wrong with taking advantage of opportunities given to you. If I had to wait for Sandy Ryerson to recognize my natural place at center stage under the spotlight, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"There is a world of difference between getting the lead solo in glee and stealing a guy's boyfriend." Matt argued under his breath. Rachel never could figure out the difference between projecting to the back of an auditorium and talking in a normal tone. At the rate she was going, the entire school would know his secret by the end of homeroom tomorrow.
"I fail to see why you can't just use this scheduling snafu to your advantage and spend some time with Kurt. It might make Saturday just a little bit easier on you."
Pulling her into the empty choir room, Matt sighed as he shut the door behind them. "Rachel you already said that me spending time with Kurt is the buzz of the group. Me spending more time with him outside of this makeover project Kurt's assigned himself with is going to cause more talk."
"But it might encourage Kurt to see you as you see him. How is that bad?"
"And it might cause a fight between Kurt and a guy he really likes. Remember Sam? The perfect boyfriend we just talked to in the hallway? "
"Sam…."
"How would you feel if some random Cheerio suddenly started hanging around Finn out of nowhere?" Matt cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Sure you might write off a time or two if there was a shared interest or project. But time away from that? Rachel you wouldn't let that stand and we both know it."
His shoulders sagged in relief as he could see his point finally penetrate her. "Like I told you before, Sam is who makes Kurt happy. Not me. Sam is who Kurt wants. Even if he knew I was gay and like him that way, I'm not his type. "
"How do you know his type? Sam's his first boyfriend!"
"At any rate Sam makes Kurt happy. And I'm good with that. Honest. Made my peace with that a long time ago. I will suck it up and just be a supportive teammate. I can do that. I am not going to be some scheming Coach Sylvester type out to destroy someone who's done nothing to me."
He walked over to his usual seat and tossed his book bag down, causing the canvas filled bag to skid across the polished linoleums floor. "That's not me. "
Rachel approached him tentatively and placing her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry Matt. It's just you should be happy too."
"It's a crush Rachel." He said simply. "Just a crush that is never going to happen. I need to face it and move on. Spending time with Kurt talking all about Sam on Saturday is probably the best way to do that. So just let me handle this my way ok?"
"Alright." The small girl whispered. "But I personally think you are being self-sacrificing for no reason. The more I think about the two of you, the more sense I think you make."
"You're the only one."
"No. I think you think the same thing too."
He opened his mouth to answer her and promptly shut it as the rest of the club filtered in. It didn't matter though. He knew Rachel could read his thought in his eyes as he watched Kurt come into the room, talking animatedly while hanging on Mercedes's arm.
She was one hundred percent right and Saturday was going to be the longest day of his short life.