A/N: A huge thank you to all of you wonderful people reviewing! You make me so happy.

Despite the cheerful way Sam had greeted Blaine in the morning his spirits seemed considerably dampened through the day. Somehow he wasn't his usual goofy self. At least that meant there were no uncomfortable cuddling, well cuddling with Sam could never be uncomfortable but the way Sam had held him the night before did all sorts of things to his body and his heart and it was just a bit too intense. "What's going on, Sam? Is something bothering you?" and to take the edge off a bit he added "Is it the hair?"

"Your hair is so awesome it isn't even funny. You should never gel it again." Sam said keeping a serious look on his face.

"Okay," Blaine laughed. "But really Sam, what's up with you today?"

"I just can't believe that it's over." Sam looked him right in the eye, and Blaine saw something in Sam's eyes that didn't make sense. He saw pain.

"I know, Sam," he tried to comfort his friend."It has been the best Christmas break ever. But just because school starts tomorrow doesn't mean we won't still hang out, right?"

"Right." Sam smiled but as it seemed to Blaine not entirely without effort.

After Christmas break keeping his parts to himself around Blaine wasn't a problem for Sam anymore. Granted it was because they didn't see each other for a few weeks. Sam was busy with school and football practice and glee club. And on weekends he was picking up more shifts at the pizza place. It wasn't that he avoided Blaine, he was just busy with other stuff. And Blaine was busy at Dalton. One thing Sam couldn't control though were his thoughts. The way an image of Blaine would pop into his head. Sometimes just of Blaine laughing, he loved the way Blaine laughed, the way it made his eyes lit up. Sometimes it was hugging Blaine, or stroking his thumb across the soft skin on the back of Blaine's hand. And sometimes it was of that morning, of Blaine's body pressed against his. And he could almost feel it again, the heat and the way it took his breath away.

Sam never seemed to have the time to see Blaine anymore. As hurtful as that was and as much as he missed spending time with his best friend Blaine also found it quite convenient. Blaine had never actually spent any time with Sam and Quinn together. But the memory of their performance at Sectionals was still vivid in his mind. And, however much it hurt, thinking about it actually helped. Because it was clear that their chemistry was rare, so now that they were not even hanging out all Blaine had to do was ignore the sharp pain in his chest and accept that that was something he would never have. At least not with Sam.

Accepting that opened Blaine's eyes to other boys. He spent a lot of time with Kurt over the weeks following Christmas break. Kurt was the only one of his friends at Dalton who were keen on doing stuff off campus, and Blaine found it really refreshing. And one day, when Kurt had as usual convinced him to go shopping, he met Jeremiah. Tall, beautiful Jeremiah, who had gorgeous hair and who even asked him out for coffee! Blaine didn't hesitate and within a week he had developed a full-blown crush on the older boy.

Having a girlfriend was great. Sam really liked Quinn and she was so hot. The best part of being with her was of course the making out, and it used to drive him crazy. It still did. Lately it had just become a bit more complicated. The first time it happened was during one particularly hot make out session not long after the break had ended:

As the kisses deepened Sam closed his eyes. He found himself kissing the most beautiful lips he'd ever seen. He was running his fingers through soft dark curls... He was kissing Blaine... He was kissing Blaine!

He had scrambled out leaving a bewildered Quinn behind.

If he concentrated he could make the image of Blaine go away when he was with Quinn. But when he was alone the thought of kissing Blaine kept coming back. And it kept getting him hard. But that part freaked him out. Or all of it did. Or none of it. He didn't know. It was just so new, and so intense.

Blaine would probably not want to kiss him like that anyway. Why would he? They were best friends, right, but all the more reason not to kiss each other. Blaine deserved to be with someone as gorgeous and talented as he was. Not a confused mess like Sam. Thinking about it he realized it was always he, never Blaine, who would initiate any physical contact. Always he who would pull Blaine in for a hug, always he who would start the tickling that he knew would inevitably lead to fake-wrestling. Always he who would grab Blaine's hand for no apparent reason. Except for that first time, the day they met, Blaine had grabbed his hand then. Thinking about that day made Sam smile in spite of himself. But still after that moment it had always been Sam to do the touching. So Blaine probably didn't think about him the same way.

Usually Blaine turned off his phone when he went to bed, but today he had been reading late and falling asleep mid sentence. When it started ringing he didn't even know where he was but before long he became aware of the phone and saw Sam's name on the display.
"Hey Sam. What's up?" he answered sleepily.

"Blaine... Oh, Blaine... " was all he could make out before Sam's voice was overcome by sobs.

"Sam!" Oh, my God, what was wrong? Blaine felt panic gripping at him. But he couldn't let himself yield to that. So willing his voice calm he asked "Where are you? Are you hurt?"

"I... I... "

"Okay Sam, it's alright. Everything is going to be alright. I'm here for you Sammy. I'm right here." Blaine kept talking in a calm, soft voice and after a while Sam's sobs weren't as violent as before and finally they all but stopped. "Can you tell me what happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, I'm in my room. It's my dad... He got laid off."

"Oh Sam. I'm sorry."

"I didn't think it was a big deal, or you know maybe I tried not to for the kids' sake. And mom and dad probably didn't want us to know how upset they were. But tonight I couldn't sleep so I went downstairs and saw them both crying. And I couldn't handle it. It just freaked me out... I'm so sorry for waking you up."

"Sam, you don't have to apologize. That's what I'm here for. Always."

"I really wish you were here right now."

"Yeah, me too." and he added trying to sound as reassuring as he could "Everything is going to be okay, Sam."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"B?"

"Yes, Sam?"

"Will you sing to me?"

"Yes, I'll sing to you," Blaine said with a gentle smile. "Good night, Sam."

"Good night, Blaine." Blaine sang the sweetest lullaby he could think of to Sam over and over, softer and softer and by the end of the third time he could hear heavy calm breathing that told him that his dear friend had finally gone to sleep. As he hung up his heart ached for Sam and for not being able to be there to hold him when he needed him. He really hoped he was right, that everything was going to be okay.

Between the football team being ripped apart by homophobic morons, the shitty situation his family was in and his suspicions that something was going on between Quinn and Finn Sam was never far from punching someone. His mind was a jumble. Adding to that all the confusion his thoughts about Blaine caused and it was just too much for him to handle. At least on his own.

When the thoughts in his mind became too tangled and too messy then Blaine had the ability to sort things out for him. Just the other day when he was a hot mess Blaine had known precisely what to say and do, and had made him feel calm and safe and sane again. He didn't have a clear image of what exactly he thought Blaine could do to help now but he knew Blaine would figure it out.

"Thanks for seeing me."

"Well, of course! I mean you never have to thank me for hanging out with you, Sam." Blaine smiled. "I was so glad you called, we haven't seen each other since like forever."

"Yeah, I know..." Sam said with a faint smile. He actually felt nervous, he never used to be nervous around Blaine. Before he had the chance to continue Blaine spoke again.

"Actually I have something to tell you. I've met someone! I mean we've only been on two dates so I have no juicy details for you yet," he joked. "But hopefully I will soon." Sam felt his heart sink and all his resolve to tell Blaine about the thoughts he'd been having dissolved. He composed himself as best he could.

"Blaine, that's great! So tell me about him."

"Yeah, I will." Blaine beamed. "But first was it something in particular you wanted to talk about, it sounded urgent on the phone?"

"No, not really. I just wanted to thank you for being such a good friend the other night."

"I broke up with Quinn." Blaine's heart did a somersault. He hadn't realized it before but since it turned out things were going nowhere with Jeremiah his feelings for Sam had resurfaced.

"Oh, okay. Sorry about that. What happened?" Sam was quiet for a few moments.

"I couldn't be with her anymore..."

Blaine held his breath and tried to not let his thoughts wander too far into his foolish hope. Sam proceeded to tell him an elaborate story about how he found out that his girlfriend was cheating on him. Of course Sam wouldn't just call him up to tell him that he suddenly realized that he wanted him and not her. But wait, he couldn't have heard that last part right!

"What?! You're with Santana now?" Blaine knew it didn't make sense for him to be mad at Sam, he should be supporting his friend not reproaching him, he just couldn't help himself. He listened as Sam tried to explain something that Blaine could clearly see made absolutely no sense.

"I'm so sorry that Quinn hurt you like that," Blaine said in a more sympathetic tone. "But all the more reason not to jump right into another relationship. That you can't have the one you want is not a reason to be with someone else!" Blaine couldn't stop himself from getting angry again, all the hurt he had felt over the past weeks came flooding back over him.

"What's even going on with you? You never have time to see me and you never even call me. Except to cry, which is totally fine by the way, that's not the point! Or to tell me about your new girlfriend. It's not okay that you've just ditched me!"

"I'm sorry that I've not been around lately. But that's not why I called you."

"No?"

"I called to ask you to come Rachel's tomorrow night. She's having a party."

"Kurt already asked me, thank you very much!" Blaine snapped. "Why do you want me to come to the party anyway?"

"Because you're my best friend and I fucking miss you. And I'm sorry things have been so crappy lately, that I've been so crappy. But I really want you to come."

"I'll be there, but only because I promised Kurt." Then in a softer voice he added "But it'll be nice to see you, Sam."