There are two people who I'd like to sincerely thank. The first, of course, is my beta Tuuzmorado, who was incredibly helpful, as always. The second is Loki Firefox, who helped me brainstorm ideas, and came up with awesome suggestions that I never would have thought of on my own. Thanks for being amazing. :) And if there's anyone who hasn't read Loki's stories, I highly recommend that you go do that immediately.
"This would probably be the best place to look," Blaine said, glancing around. He and Sam had departed on their adventure only a few minutes earlier, and were still trying to decide where to search. Blaine pointed to a group of men standing on the side of the road, pounding on drums and singing in a musical style that Blaine had never heard before. Clearly, Sam and his friends weren't the only street performers out today. "She grew up in the forest, so she should like the nature in this area, and I'm hoping that she'll be attracted to the music."
Sam shrugged. "Sounds like as good a plan as any," he said. "So, we're going to just wander around the park until we see something?"
"Unless you have a better plan, yes," Blaine said. "Would you rather do something else?"
"No, that sounds cool," Sam said.
Blaine frowned, not recognizing the word that Sam had just used, but shrugged it off as irrelevant. "You may lead the way, since this is your homeland, so you'll know the best places to search."
"I don't know if there are any best places. I mean, we're better off just searching the entire park," Sam said. "But sure, I can lead. I'm up for anything."
"That's good to hear, since I'm not entirely sure what this quest will entail," Blaine said with a smile. "It's very kind of you to agree to help me like this. You don't need to, I assure you."
"Yeah, but I want to," Sam said, as if that settled all arguments. Blaine's smile widened.
They walked in silence for a minute before Blaine decided to break it. After all, it was only right that he should get to know the person who was giving him so much help. But more than that, Blaine was incredibly curious about what kind of person Sam could be. Blaine already knew that he was kind, but he wanted to know what other traits he might possess. "What brings you to this land? What made you and your friends sing that gladly?"
Sam shrugged. "I moved here to go to college," he said. "I didn't really plan on it, but Pratt Institute has a really good art program, and Kurt's my best friend, so I wanted to live near him. And anyway, I'm from Ohio. People back there aren't as accepting as they are here."
Blaine frowned. There were many things about what Sam said that he couldn't quite understand. He decided to go with his biggest question first. "What do they not accept in Ohio?"
"That I like guys," Sam said, glancing at Blaine and blushing slightly, as if he was embarrassed for some reason. Blaine didn't know why he would be – that statement was confusing, and Blaine wasn't entirely sure what Sam meant, but it didn't seem like a bad thing. "I mean, I like girls, too. But I figured it'd be better to live in New York, where people don't judge you as much."
"What do you mean that you like guys and girls?" Blaine asked, curious.
Now it was Sam's turn to look confused. "You know. I mean that I'm bisexual." He must have seen Blaine's blank stare, because he clarified, "I guess it means that I could fall in love with either a guy or a girl, and it wouldn't really matter to me."
Blaine nodded, finally understanding. "Oh," he said. That made sense. People fell in love with whoever they fell in love with. Blaine had never given any thought to falling in love with a man, considering that everyone he'd met had fallen for the opposite gender. But Blaine couldn't see anything particularly wrong with that idea. Your true love was the one that your heart united with, so the gender or the body would be irrelevant, at least in his way of thinking.
"Yeah," Sam said, looking uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Why would I?" Blaine asked, honestly starting to get a little confused again. This land had so many customs that were different than Andalasia, and he was having a hard time trying to figure them all out.
Sam smiled. "Just asking," he said. "Even here, not everyone is cool with it. But I can't believe you didn't know what bisexual meant. I mean, how?"
"We don't have a word for that in Andalasia," Blaine explained. "I don't think I've ever heard someone talk about which gender they like. Where I'm from, you fall in love with what is in the heart. Why would their appearance factor into it?" Of course, Blaine knew that that wasn't entirely accurate. There were many people who let themselves be swayed by beauty. But Blaine had always clung to the most romantic ideas about love, and promised himself that he would fall in love based on who the person was, not the way that they looked.
Understanding lit Sam's face. "That's what I think," he said with a nod.
Blaine smiled. "So, what is a college? You mentioned that word earlier, but I've never heard it before, either."
"What, they don't have colleges in Andalasia?" Sam asked, his voice sounding strangely teasing. Blaine decided to answer seriously, anyway.
"No, we don't," he said.
"It's a school – you do have schools, right?" When Blaine nodded, Sam snorted and said, "I don't know why I'm explaining this to you like you don't actually know, but whatever. It's a school that you go to to learn things that you need to know for the job you want to get."
"Ah, that makes sense," Blaine said. "You said that you're attending a college for art, correct? That sounds like it must be a wonderful job, to be able to create art all day."
"That's what I thought, too," Sam said, though his smile had slipped slightly. "I'm not sure what I'll do with it, though. It's not like there are a ton of jobs for people with art degrees, and even if I get one, it probably won't be a good one."
Blaine frowned at the obvious sadness in Sam's voice. "If you don't like this college choice, why don't you choose a new one? I'm sure there are many more jobs that you could train for."
Sam snorted. "Pratt is the only school that let me in," he said. "My test scores weren't the best, but I'm good at art, so I got a scholarship for doing that." He shrugged and waved his hand absently. "I'll figure something out. There's gotta be some job that I can get."
Blaine reached out to put his hand on Sam's elbow, unable to resist the urge to comfort him. "I'm positive that there is something waiting for you, Sam. Kindness and goodness will be rewarded in the end, and you've already shown that you possess both of those. There must be a wonderful future ahead of you."
Sam smiled, looking honestly touched, like he didn't know what to say. "Thanks, dude," he said after a moment's pause. "So, what about you? What do you want to do?"
"I'm not sure," Blaine said, pausing to think about it. Edward's destiny had been set since the moment of his birth, but that was the good thing about being the second son; Blaine had more freedom when it came to choosing his future. "Of course I'll seek out and find my true love, probably on a quest of some sort."
"Like this quest?" Sam asked, his cheeks going slightly pink again, though he didn't look away from Blaine.
Blaine started to answer, then paused and wondered what Sam had meant by that. Sam had already said that he might fall in love with a boy. And now he was looking intently at Blaine, and asking a question that almost seemed to imply that-
No, the thought of Sam having those feelings was ridiculous. Though Blaine had to admit that he wished that it wasn't. Something about Sam drew him, made Blaine want to know more about him. Blaine couldn't explain this attraction, except that it was very odd, but not unpleasant. He'd never been this eager to learn about somebody before. But Sam couldn't possibly feel the same. Blaine pushed those thoughts aside.
"Yes, it will likely be on a quest very much like this," he said with a nod. "After, my love and I will likely move into one of the smaller castles, though I'd like to stay close enough that I'll be able to help Edward rule the kingdom, should be need it." And Blaine knew that Edward would need the help. He simply didn't know how to run a kingdom, and Blaine worried that he'd never learn, though he told himself to have faith in Edward's abilities. And Blaine most definitely didn't trust Queen Narcissa to help Edward. Though she'd been a competent ruler for many years, there was something about her that made Blaine instantly distrust her.
"Sounds like you have it figured out," Sam said.
Blaine shrugged. "I suppose so."
They continued walking throughout the park, talking about random things. Sam told stories from the days when he attended something called high school, and was part of a club called Glee that apparently competed in singing competitions. Blaine marveled at the strangeness of a world where many people never sang, and where those who did sing in this Glee were hurt because of it. Blaine didn't know how anyone could stand to live in such a place.
He also learned that Sam had two younger siblings, whom he was fiercely protective of, at least based off the way that he spoke of them. Blaine in turn told tales of growing up with Edward, and the times that they hunted trolls together, including the story about Blaine's first troll hunt, which had somehow ended with Blaine stuck on the troll's head, clinging to his ear in a desperate attempt not to fall off. That hadn't been more of Blaine's more princely moments, and he generally didn't like to repeat it to anyone, but it was worth it when Sam threw back his head and laughed loudly. Blaine liked that sound far more than he would ever admit.
Nathaniel hurried along the path through the center of the park. He had sent Edward on a wild goose chase, going after a girl who looked similar to Giselle, but obviously wasn't her. Then Nathaniel had followed after the real Giselle as she walked with some business man that he neither recognized nor cared about. Once he'd realized which direction they were walking in, he had hurried ahead, looking for any way that he could convince Giselle to take one of the poisoned apples.
Luck struck when the child of a man selling various foods took off running after a man selling balloons. The child's father ran after her, leaving his cart unattended. Nathaniel didn't waste time rushing toward it, pulling the first apple out of his pocket. He dropped the apple into a vat of warm caramel sitting out, then turned to look around the rest of the cart. There was a green apron and hat hanging from a nail. He threw off his cost and put them on, then nodded, satisfied that he looked enough like a vendor to trick Giselle.
He turned back to the caramel, and froze. There was smoke pouring out of the vat. Nathaniel panicked, thinking that he had somehow ruined the the apple, and ran forward, grabbing the tongs to grab the apple from the caramel. It was still there, and didn't look harmed at all. And as he watched, the smoke began to lessen slightly.
He turned, and saw Giselle and the man walking toward his cart. There wasn't time to wonder about the source of the smoke. Instead, he grabbed a stick and stuck it into the bottom of the apple, ignoring the way it immediately started to smoke as if it was being burned. It didn't matter if the stick was burned away, so long as it lasted long enough for him to hand it to Giselle. And the smoke was light enough that he doubted anyone would notice it.
Giselle started to pass the cart. He hurried forward, sticking the apple right into his face so that she couldn't ignore it. "Hello, nice lady!" he said, using the best fake accent that he could muster. "Do you want a juicy, sweet caramel apple maybe?" Her eyes widened as she took it, and Nathaniel smiled, feeling as though this would be simpler than he'd thought. "No charge for the beautiful lady."
"Oh, it's free?" the other man asked.
"Of course!" Nathaniel exclaimed. "Today is free caramel apple day. Tomorrow is free beef jerky."
"Well, thank you very much, kind sir," Giselle said as she and the man walked away.
"You're welcome, miss," he called after her. He waited there just long enough for them to get a slight head start, then crept along beside the path, ducking behind trees to avoid being seen. He was far enough away that he couldn't hear what they said, but that didn't matter. All he had to do was take a bite, just a single bite, and it would be done. Edward would never marry his bride, and never become king. Narcissa would rule forever, and be so proud of him for ensuring that she could keep her throne. So proud that as soon as he returned to Andalasia, the two of them would-
"But of course it does!" Giselle suddenly exclaimed, loud enough to break off Nathaniel's train of thought. She threw her arms into the air, and the apple went flying out of her hand, arching over Nathaniel's head and landing somewhere that he couldn't see.
He barely held back a scream of anger and frustration. It was alright, he told himself. There were still two more apples. Surely the next one would kill the girl and win him Narcissa's heart. Then all would be well.
Nathaniel hesitated, wondering if he should follow after Giselle, to keep her in his sight. But no, it would be better to go find Edward, and to make sure he was thoroughly distracted so that there was no chance that he would find Giselle on his own. Should that happen, the entire plan would be destroyed.
Nathaniel send Giselle one last angry glare, then turned and walked off toward where he'd last seen Edward.
Time passed without either of Blaine or Sam seeming to notice it, until Blaine guessed that they had been walking around the park for at least an hour, perhaps two. Blaine didn't mind in the slightest, though he was disappointed that he hadn't found Giselle in that time. He enjoyed talking with Sam far too much to regret the time they spent together.
"This has been a lot of fun," Sam said, echoing Blaine's thoughts. "But don't you think it's time to finish the play or whatever your doing, and drop the prince act?"
"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, which had been a question he'd asked frequently this afternoon, as Sam often referred to things that Blaine had never heard of. Thankfully, Sam had never seemed annoyed or impatient with the questions. He answered them all in the same calm voice, which is what gave Blaine the courage to keep asking them, even though he hated to show how much he didn't know about this world.
"You know," Sam said, "stop pretending to be a prince so I can get to know the real you. I mean, I know that the way you're acting must basically be the real you, but I'd like to hear stories about things that you didn't make up."
This was the most confusing remark yet, but Blaine was starting to think that he knew what Sam meant, even if he didn't fully understand. Sam had been doing the same thing earlier, acting as though he didn't truly believe Blaine's story. Which was extremely odd. If Sam thought he was lying, then why would he agree to help Blaine on his quest?
Blaine didn't have the slightest idea what that answer could be, which worried him. He decided to just come out and ask. "What do you believe we're doing?" he asked, stopping and turning to face Sam.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "We're going to find your brother and rescue his girlfriend, right? Isn't that the whole point?"
"No," Blaine said. "What do you really think is going on here? You act as though you believe me to be lying, so I want to know why you would come along with me despite that."
Sam bit his lip, suddenly looking uncertain. "This is a performance, right? You and your brother came up with some skit, and now I'm a part of it. I mean, you don't really believe in all this, right?"
Blaine had to think about that one, to try to understand why Sam would really doubt him to the point of thinking that this was nothing but a theater performance. All at once, something occurred to him. "Sam, do you believe that other worlds exist?"
"Uh, no," Sam said. He looked like he was starting to regret coming with Blaine, or at least like he regretted starting this line of questioning.
"And do you believe in magic?" Blaine asked.
"No, of course not," Sam said, shaking his head.
That explained it, then. Sam had no idea that other worlds existed, or even that there might be methods of transporting to them. This world must have different rules than Andalasia, and those rules prevented Sam from thinking that Blaine was telling the truth.
He faced Sam and looked him straight in the eye, even putting his hands on his shoulders to show that he was completely serious. "Sam, magic exists, and I truly do come from a land called Andalasia," he said slowly. "You don't know that Andalasia exists, and it appears as though nobody in this world knows about the portal that connects our worlds. But I promise you, it is true. I swear on my kingdom."
Sam's face morphed into one of concern, though Blaine couldn't tell if it was concern for his sake, or concern over the fact that Sam was alone with a man that he likely now thought was insane. "Wait, do you really think that?"
"I don't think it, Sam, I know it," Blaine said. "I can prove it to you, if you wish to visit the portal with me, though I'm not sure if we have time right now to visit Andalasia. But I assure you, everything I say is the truth." He took a deep breath, and stepped back. "You don't need to continue traveling with me if you do not wish to. I understand if you choose to return to your friends and forget about my existence. You have given me so much help already; I promise you that I won't be offended if you leave."
For a moment, Sam looked like he was actual considering it. Then, seemingly to his own surprise, he shook his head and said, "I'll stay with you for a little longer."
Sam was pretty sure that Blaine was crazy, even if he didn't want to believe it.
He was also pretty sure that he himself must be crazy, to agree to stay with Blaine even after finding out that Blaine really believed in this fantasy world of his. Sam couldn't even explain it to himself, really. Part of it was because even if Blaine was crazy, he was still alone in the middle of New York City, which was a pretty dangerous place to be if you didn't know how to avoid the bad areas. Even if Blaine was insane, he still needed help. Another part was because he didn't want to leave now and have to hear Kurt say "I told you so".
But more than that, Blaine just didn't seem crazy. He must be, since he lived in some sort of fantasy world. But he was nice, and he used big words that Sam didn't always understand, so he must be smart. And aside from all the times he talked about Andalasia, his conversations made him seem completely sane.
And his conversations made Sam really like him, to the point where Sam had kind of wanted to ask him out on a date that night, after they'd found Edward. That went out the window now, but still. It was hard to go from having a crush on someone to not wanting anything to do with them. At the very least, Sam wanted to make sure that Blaine found his brother okay, so that he wouldn't have to worry about him.
Blaine's eyes widened in surprise, and he nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Thank you," he said. "I'm very grateful." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "I meant what I said about not being offended if you chose to leave, but I'm very glad that you decided to stay. I enjoy having your company."
Sam couldn't stop himself from grinning. "I like hanging out with you, too, dude."
Blaine's smile widened. "Thank you," he repeated. "That is an interesting nickname," he said thoughtfully. "Does it have a meaning?"
"Uh, I'm not sure. Probably," Sam said. He'd never thought about it before. "It's just something that people say. Well, some people. Guys, mostly."
"Well, regardless, I think I like that nickname," Blaine said. "It had a very interesting sound to it."
Okay, so Sam still had a small crush on Blaine, even if he was obviously crazy. That wasn't a good thing. But Sam decided that it didn't matter, since he wouldn't act on it, anyway. He'd just reunite Blaine with his brother, then that would be it. They'd leave each other after that, and he'd likely never see Blaine again, which was probably for the best.
"Do you hear that?" Blaine suddenly asked, cocking his head almost like a dog as he listened.
Sam frowned and listened as well. After a few seconds, he nodded. "Yeah, it sounds like there's a band playing somewhere." It sounded like there were a ton of instruments, even though they were far enough away that he could barely hear the music. That was weird. As far as Sam knew, there wasn't supposed to be any sort of parade today.
"We stayed here because we thought that Giselle would be attracted to the music, yes?" Blaine said with a grin. "Well, surely she'll hear that music and go to it. And with any luck, Edward will hear the music as well, and we will all be able to all meet up there."
"Yeah," Sam said, not sure why he felt upset about that. Well, okay, he knew the answer. He didn't want to stop hanging out with Blaine, which was a bad way to feel, considering they barely knew each other, not to mention the Andalasia thing. But Sam couldn't help liking Blaine, even if it was stupid to feel that way.
He shook his head to shake away those thoughts, and nodded. "Let's go."
The closer they got to the music, the more excited Blaine looked. The music had been growing steadily louder as they got closer, until Sam could make out the lyrics. It was some girl singing about how to show a girl that you loved her. Suddenly, Blaine grabbed Sam's arm. "That's her! That's Giselle. I only heard her sing once, but I'm sure that I recognize that voice!"
"Then let's hurry before she gets away," Sam said. Blaine nodded and let go of Sam's arm. A second later Sam felt Blaine's hand wrap around his own hand instead, and despite everything, he smiled as they kept walking. And the hand holding turned out to be really useful when they got closer to the music, since there was a giant crowd surrounding Giselle. Blaine and Sam reached the crowd just as the song was ending and people were starting to leave. With all the people around, Sam would have worried that he'd lose Blaine if they weren't holding hands.
"Do you see her?" Sam asked, after they'd been searching for a few minutes, and almost everyone in the crowd had wandered away. He knew the answer even before Blaine spoke, just because of the sad look on his face.
"No," Blaine said with a sigh. Sam spotted the path that they had been walking on earlier, and headed toward it again. "She must have left once she was done with her song, and we have no way to know where she could have gone."
"Well, she might still be in the park," Sam suggested, even though he had no idea how likely that was. "And even if she's not, you'll have to find them eventually, right?" Again, that didn't seem very likely, since New York was a giant city, but that didn't seem like something that he needed to point out to Blaine. At least, not right now. Then, for good measure, he squeezed Blaine's hand in a way that he hoped was comforting.
"I suppose so," Blaine said, sounding far less upset than he had a moment ago. "These quests have a tendency of turning out for the best, so even no matter how difficult it becomes, it will surely be alright."
"Exactly!" Sam said, as they walked under a bridge that went above the path.
"What is that?" Blaine suddenly asked, dropping Sam's hand and hurrying forward. Sam followed, trying not to be disappointed about the loss of contact.
"It's a bike helmet," Sam said. Then, because he could tell by now that Blaine usually asked clarification about these things, he added, "You wear them on your head when you're riding a bicycle to protect yourself." He thought about explaining what a bicycle was, but decided not to bother unless Blaine asked him about it.
"Yes, thank you, I saw people wearing them earlier," Blaine said. "This is what I was referring to." He bend and picked up the helmet, holding it up so that Sam could see that there was a hole cut completely through it. "And that," Blaine added, pointing to a caramel apple lying on the ground.
Sam started to say that an caramel apple lying on the ground in the middle of the park wasn't really unusual, but he stopped when he noticed something. The apple sat in the middle of a small hole that fit it perfectly, almost like it had sunk straight into the ground. "How did that happen?" he asked, taking a step forward. There was no way that could be a coincidence. It was way too perfect.
Blaine dropped the helmet and stuck his arm in front of Sam to block him. "Don't touch it," Blaine said. "It looks as though this might be a poisoned apple."
"A poisoned apple?" Sam asked skeptically.
Blaine just nodded. "I thought that something like this might happen," he said. "An old woman pushed Giselle down into the portal that sent her to this world, so clearly someone doesn't want her to marry Edward. And now that we've come here to rescue her, that person must have decided to kill her instead."
"Dude," Sam said, but didn't know what to say after that. After a moment he asked, "I thought that the apples didn't really kill you. I mean, Snow White was fine, right?" Then he wondered why he was asking that, as if he was really going along with Blaine's crazy logic.
"It can be cured by true love's kiss, but the kiss must be given before midnight on the day that the apple is bitten," Blaine explained, then crouched and leaned forward to examine the apple. "Do you see that? Look closely. I think the apple is smoking?"
Sam leaned forward, and his eyes widened when he realized that Blaine was right. "Why the hell is it doing that?"
"I'm not sure," Blaine said, straightening. "That's not how poisoned apples usually work." He frowned, then cautiously kicked the apple with the toe of his boot. The apple rolled forward out of the hole, and the smoke was suddenly much more visible, and when Sam listened hard, he could hear a weird sizzling noise. It rolled forward a few inches before stopping, leaving a trail of bare land behind it, like it had burned off all the grass that it touched. The hole it had been in looked burned, too, like the apple had melted the ground beneath it. Which was probably what happened, because even as Sam watched, the apple began to slowly burn a second hole into the ground beneath it.
"How is that possible?' Sam demanded. He'd never heard of anything that could do that. At least, not anything shaped like an apple. Not to mention that he had no clue why Blaine's shoe was fine if the apple had burned everything else.
Blaine walked toward it and bent down like he was going to pick it up.
"Dude, don't do that!" Sam said, grabbing Blaine's shoulder and wondering if Blaine was crazier than Sam thought, going near that thing.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Blaine said. He used the bottom of his tunic to pick up the apple without touching it. Sam leaned even farther forward, worried that Blaine was going to start burning up any second, even with the tunic protecting him. But the apple didn't even begin to smoke. "That's what I thought," Blaine said as he straightened, then turned to Sam. "Do you have anything unimportant with you? A handkerchief or some such thing that you wouldn't be upset about about losing?"
"Uh, I don't have a handkerchief, I know that. But let me see what's I've got." Sam stuck his hands in his pockets. There wasn't much besides his wallet and the key to the apartment that he shared with Finn, who had moved to New York this year to be with Rachel. He wasn't about to hand either of those over to Blaine to do who-knows-what with. But after a second he pulled out a few random pennies. "Will these work?"
"Those will be perfect, as long as you don't mind losing them," Blaine said. Sam handed him the pennies, and Blaine dropped them on top of the apple. Immediately, it started to hiss and smoke, even though it hadn't reacted when Blaine's tunic touched it. Sam stumbled back in shock, because even seeing it burn the ground hadn't prepared him for that. After a moment, he bit his lip and stepped closer to look at it again. The pennies were gone, like they had completely burned away in just a few seconds.
Blaine nodded as though he expected that all along. "The poisoned apples come from my world, not this one. It makes sense that it reacts differently to material from this world. It seems like things from my world can touch it safely – though biting it is a different story, of course – but anything from your world will begin to burn."
"My world," Sam repeated dully, not entirely understanding. All of that stuff that Blaine had said about coming from a different world... It couldn't be true, right? No, of course not. Sam felt stupid for even wondering about it. But still, he had to admit that the apple was freaky. There was definitely something going on there, something that Sam didn't understand.
Blaine nodded absently, looking like he was thinking too hard to pay attention to what Sam was saying. "But who gave it to her?" he asked, obviously not expecting an answer.
The chipmunk on his shoulder scrambled down to the ground and started squeaking in a way that almost sounded impatient, except that that was a stupid thought, and Sam had to stop thinking like all of this magic stuff was real, because it couldn't be. "What is it, Pip?" Blaine asked, crouching down. Sam felt a little ridiculous, but he crouched down next to him, watching Pip to see if anything was actually going to happen.
Pip hunched his shoulders and started walking around, leering at them and grumbling in a deep voice. Sam just stared. Chipmunks couldn't do that. No way could chipmunks do that, not even the best-trained one in the whole world.
Blaine frowned, his forehead furrowing in concern. "Nathaniel? You think that he might have something to do with this?"
Pip nodded frantically, squeaking loudly.
"Why?" Blaine asked.
Pip hunched his shoulders again, but not as much as he did the first time, and squeaked in a higher-pitched voice. Sam could only stare as Pip pantomimed the old woman pushing a someone down a well – he was pretty sure that's what Pip was doing, at least – and then suddenly straightening, throwing his arms up above his head and laughing in a way that seemed almost maniacal. Then suddenly he hunched his shoulders to look like Nathaniel again, holding his heart and wearing a lovestruck expression. Wait, how the hell did a chipmunk even manage to look lovestruck, anyway? Sam's head was starting to hurt.
"You think that Queen Narcissa transformed into an old woman to try to kill Giselle, and that Nathaniel is going along with the plan because of his love for her?" Blaine asked. Pip nodded.
"How did you get all that from... well, from whatever it was that Pip did? You understood that?" Sam demanded.
Blaine turned to him, looking surprised. "Yes, Pip was quite clear. And to be honest, I had suspected Narcissa from the beginning. Once Edward has wed his love, he will inherit the kingdom and Narcissa will no longer be queen. That isn't enough to be sure of her guilt, of course, but she does have a lot to lose if Edward marries Giselle. And step-mothers do have a tendency to be evil, so it's only logical to at least suspect her."
"Uh, right," Sam said.
"This means that it is even more urgent that we find Giselle and Edward immediately," Blaine said. "The apples cannot harm Giselle as long as Edward is near enough that he can kiss her before midnight, but if Giselle were to fall victim without Edward nearby, the effects could be disastrous."
"Right," Sam repeated. His mind was going crazy, trying to figure out how all of this could be possible.
"We can't leave the apple here, though," Blaine said. "Anyone could happen upon it, and I don't want to think about what would happen if the apple were to touch the flesh of someone from this world." Sam looked down at the apple, which was still smoking where the pennies had touched it, and shuddered as he imagined what that would be like against someone's skin.
"Pip, do you think that you could take care of it?" Blaine asked, turning toward the chipmunk. "I know that you came here to search for Giselle, and you have been immensely helpful, but someone needs to make sure that this apple cannot harm anyone else." Pip nodded and stood up straight so that he could give Blaine a salute. Blaine smiled. "Take it to the forest and hide it somewhere so that Narcissa can't get a hold of it. We need to keep it as evidence."
Again, Pip nodded, the used his arms – did chipmunks have arms? – to take the apple from Blaine, then ran off on his hind legs, looking like he was trying to avoid having any part of the apple touch the ground.
"Is that a good idea?" Sam asked.
Blaine nodded. "I trust Pip," he said simply, straightening and turning to offer Sam a hand. Sam took it with a shaking hand and let Blaine help him to his feet. Blaine frowned when he saw the expression on Sam's face. "Are you well? You're face is pale, and you look worried about something." He touched Sam's shoulder. "I promise that I will not let Narcissa harm Giselle, nor will I let her damage anyone from your world."
Sam swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "No, I'm fine," he said, trying to make himself believe it, even though he still had a weird feeling that a camera crew was going to jump out at any second and announce that he'd been punked. But even if there had been some way to fake the way that the apple burned the ground and the pennies, there was no way that they could fake... whatever it was that Pip did. The pantomiming and all that. That meant that there could only be one explanation, which didn't make sense, but it had to be real.
Sam looked at Blaine. "You were telling the truth, weren't you?" he asked. "You're really from some fairy-tale world."
Blaine nodded, his face going solemn. "Yes, Andalasia is a real place, and my brother and I come from there," he said. "Are you certain that you're alright? I know that you didn't believe me a few minutes ago, and it must be shocking to be suddenly faced with evidence that it is real. Would you like to sit down for a minute?"
Sam took another deep breath and shook his head firmly. "No, I really am fine," he said, and made himself mean it. Okay, so fairy tales were real, and there was apparently a well somewhere that led to a magical land called Andalasia. Cool. Sam could deal with that. It still seemed like it couldn't possibly be true, but apparently it was, and Sam just had to accept it.
"Are you certain?" Blaine asked, squeezing Sam's shoulder in a gesture that was way more comforting than Sam would have thought that it would be.
"Yeah," Sam said, and even smiled at Blaine. "Do you maybe want to go get something to eat? I mean, it's a little early to be having dinner, but..."
"Yes, that sounds wonderful. I haven't eaten since I arrived in your land many hours ago," Blaine said, smiling back at Sam. Then he stepped back, looking unsure. "You still wish to come with me? You didn't think that my quest was real when you agreed to accompany me on it. Now that you know about the dangers, I wouldn't blame you if you wished to leave."
"No, I'm definitely staying with you," Sam said quickly. He'd just found out that magic was real – there was no way that he could leave now! He was way too curious about what all this could mean. He knew that if he left Blaine now, he'd wonder about Andalasia for the rest of his life, and have no way to ever learn more about it.
And Blaine still needed help. That was the main reason that Sam wanted to stay. In fact, Blaine probably needed help now more than ever, if there really was someone trying to kill Giselle. Okay, that thought freaked him out an insane amount. He definitely didn't want to get involved with a murderer, even if it was one from a fairy tale. But more than that, he didn't want Blaine facing someone like that alone, even if he did hunt trolls and was probably better prepared to face this than Sam ever would be.
He didn't want Blaine to get hurt. That was the reason he stayed.
"Thank you," Blaine said softly. "The kindness you showed me... There is truly no way that I can ever repay you."
And that was another reason that Sam wanted to stay. Even if he was from another world, there was still something about Blaine that made Sam's heart start beating super fast whenever he smiled. Sam was pretty sure in that moment, he would've done anything to make Blaine happy like that. Not to mention his eyes. Blaine had awesome eyes. Sam was having a hard time looking away from them.
"Dude," he said, just as softly, "trust me when I saw that it's my pleasure."