The Twists of Fate

(or the Five Ways Kurt and Sam Could Have Gotten Better Acquainted but Didn't, and the One Way They Did)

Hi everyone! I've had this on my hard-drive for a long time but I hesitated before posting it, mostly because the few among you who still remember me would probably rather see me post the sequel to A Fine Line between Success and Failure - but then I figured, at least this one is complete, so updates will come quickly :p

I dearly hope you'll enjoy this work - to me, it tastes of nostalgia :)

Thank you very much!

1. Auditions

"Ah, Mr Hummel, thank you for coming so quickly. Mr. Evans, Mr. Hummel is a sophomore as well and one of our best students, he'll show you around here. Don't hesitate to ask him any questions you might have."

Sam turned to face the guy that had entered the Principal's office and felt a bit anxious as he instantly compared their attires. He knew just enough about fashion to realize this Hummel kid followed it, judging by his perfect hairdo and what looked to him like designer clothes, and if this was a preview of the style most people used here Sam just knew he was going to stick out like a sore thumb. The faded white and blue T-shirt he had decided to wear because it was the most comfortable he owned and first days in new schools were always a bit nerve-wracking suddenly felt shabby instead of lovingly well-worn, and he found himself wishing he had listened to his mom and gone for something a bit more formal instead. He nervously ran a hand in his hair to at least try and make it behave, grimacing as he felt how dry the lemon juice had left it.

Principal Figgins obviously felt he had done enough for Sam and turned back to his papers, leaving both boys to hesitate a little before saying goodbye and exiting the room. Sam looked at Hummel, a bit wary, but didn't detect anything else in the kid than the reflection of his own guardedness, which was a bit strange – it was like Hummel expected Sam to attack him in some way, but that didn't make much sense.

It was this hint at uncertainty, no matter how unexplainable, that made him brave enough to shove his hand forward.

"So, uh, hi. I'm Sam Evans. Thanks for, you know, agreeing to show me around."

"And I'm Kurt Hummel; it's a pleasure to meet you. Please don't thank me, it really is no bother at all."

In spite of Kurt's formal tone he had visibly relaxed at the introduction, enough to smile a little at Sam, who found himself smiling in return.

"We still have half-an-hour before the first period, shall we visit the main rooms you're going to need to be able to find? Have you seen where your locker is yet?"

Sam answered he had so they immediately started a quick tour of the school, which was much smaller than Sam's old one, making awkward small talk all the while. He explained all about his dad's job and his transfer and learnt Kurt's father ran a tire shop in which Kurt regularly helped, which didn't exactly fit in with what he had seen of the boy so far but was really cool. A slightly uncomfortable silence threatened afterwards so he seized the conversation topic that had never let him down in his all-boy high school.

"So, is the football team here any good?"

Sam thought he heard Kurt mutter "a jock, figures" under his breath, but that didn't make much sense so he ignored it.

"It's not exactly great, although there are some good players. I've also heard they were going to have a new coach, so that might help."

"Oh, that's lucky for me, he'll probably have no set notions of who should play what."

Kurt just nodded in agreement, having seemingly lost the slight ease he had gained during their previous talk, and Sam found himself inexplicably desperate to make sure he didn't retreat further.

"So, uh, do you know when the try-outs are? Are you going to try and make the team?"

For some reason his words did the trick and made Kurt smile at him once more.

"Ah no, I don't think it's such a good idea. I actually played a bit last year, as a kicker, but I dropped the team when the coach made us choose between that and Glee club."

"Glee club? What's that?"

The last of Kurt's defensiveness immediately faded away, and his tone was suddenly enthusiastic as he answered.

"Our show choir club; there's a competition every year, we lost at Regionals last year but this time I'm sure we can get to Nationals – and they're in New York, can you imagine? But more than that, we're all misfits of some kind in the club, and it has become a kind of second family at school. A support system of sorts."

Sam couldn't help but smile: the brunet's excitement was catching. Kurt threw him a side-glance.

"What about you? Do you enjoy singing?"

"Well I've never really sang in front of people before, but yeah, I think it's cool. I play a little guitar too. You?"

"I play the piano…mostly simple tunes, though; I've only started lessons two years ago. What about you, are you an autodidact?"

Sam wasn't sure what Kurt meant by that, so he threw him a vague smile and hoped it would be enough of an answer.

"Sorry. What I meant to ask is, did you learn to play by yourself?"

"Oh, right!" Sam's smile to Kurt turned grateful at the other boy's explanation, a bit surprised by his perceptiveness. "Well my uncle was the one to gift me my guitar for my thirteenth birthday and he showed me the basics, but apart from that I did. Well, with the help of the Internet and stuff. I think the piano is way harder to play though."

They chatted a little more about their respective tastes in music, discovering that even with Kurt's partiality for show-tunes and Sam's tendency to mostly listen to whatever was on the radio lately they still shared enough to get a conversation going, mostly because Sam revealed he admired Lady Gaga and always smiled at Disney performances and Kurt showed an impressive knowledge of country songs.

The bell for second period was ringing before Sam knew it and Kurt made him promise to listen to some Musical classics before he led him to his classroom, easily agreeing to look at whatever Youtube videos Sam decided to send him in return. They traded email addresses before separating and the blond found himself smiling as he entered his classroom, suddenly feeling much more optimistic about his new school.

In the next two weeks Kurt and Sam communicated regularly by email, sometimes admitting they liked the songs they were being made to listen to, other times teasingly mocking the other's choice of music. At Sam's request Kurt sent him some MP3s of him singing, and though he had already guessed the other teen would be pretty good nothing could have prepared him for Kurt's pure talent. Sam shared his sincere admiration with the countertenor, making the usually unflappable boy look strangely vulnerable for a moment before he gave a small flick of his head and claimed he was glad he hadn't misjudged Sam when he had thought him able to recognize good music when he heard it.

In this same period of time Sam also heard a lot about the Glee club, and the kindest remark by far among those was Ben Jacob's assessment of one Rachel Berry, the female lead of the club, who was according to him "kind of loud, but incredibly hot". In face of those critics he admitted, if only to himself, that he probably would have felt wary about associating with any of the club's members if he hadn't met Kurt first. As it was, however, he found himself reassessing a lot of what he had thought important before meeting the other boy, starting with the desire for popularity that had made him pour lemon juice on his hair when his family had decided to move, something that Kurt had refrained from pointing out for a whole three days and never let him forget ever since.

And so it was that one month after his arrival in McKinley, Sam Evans declared to his best friend his intention to join Glee club and was left oddly breathless by the other boy's answering smile, the first real grin he had seen on Kurt's tired face since Burt Hummel had been sent to the hospital; and even though he was slushied the next day by the guys on the hockey team, he never once looked back.

And when Mr Schuester's assignment the week after his arrival was for them to pair up for a duet, he immediately turned to face Kurt, wordlessly asking for and receiving confirmation that they were to sing together, Mercedes's glare at not being asked belied by her irrepressible smile as she looked at the two of them.