Simply Stars

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A/N: I wrote this as a sequel of sorts to Running Rebound because there were several people who asked for more of that story but I had only intended it to be a oneshot. But if you haven't read it that's okay; it can be read on its own as well. I'm just glad that there are so many Samchel fans out there! I thought I was one of the only ones! Thanks again for the reviews. They help feed my muse! :)

The game starts with a sticker.

Sam finds it on his binder in Spanish class, the shiny purple star winking in the light like it has a secret. He hasn't played with stickers since he was little – and no, the Avatar stickers he has tucked away in a shoebox in his closet don't count. Because they're collectibles, okay? – and the last time he checked they didn't go planting themselves on other people's school supplies. He spends more time staring at the thing then he does listening to Mr. Shue teach, but he's just as confused when the bell rings as he was when he first noticed its existence.

In the big scheme of things, the sticker is probably the least of his troubles. Quinn is still making sure to keep her hands on Finn at all times, much to his chagrin. He catches Rachel's eyes trailing after the couple as well whenever they saunter through the halls so he knows he isn't alone. And Rachel… well, they must have made a silent pact somewhere along the way because they've spent a better part of the week trying to convince everyone around them that they were never in a relationship that no one even suspects them of having.

It isn't hard, really. They avoid each other in the halls and sit away from each other in Glee Club. Sam is beginning to wonder if their paranoia is even worth having. He doubts their peers' ridicule could be any worse than the slushie mess he had to wash out of his hair earlier. He watches her walking down the hall on the way to class, books clutched to her chest but head held high.

Honestly, he kind of misses her.

He had spent most of last weekend at her place after he had gone to her place seeking advice on his break-up with Quinn. He hadn't expected it to lead to sex. Or breakfast in bed. And he was pleasantly surprised to find that the atmosphere between them wasn't awkward or tense. In fact they had spent hours singing karaoke and watching movies. She had waved goodbye from the door as he left Sunday and he had gone home to tell his parent's that the weekend he spent at 'Puckerman's' house had been pretty great.

Now it's Wednesday and he sort of really wants to make plans with her for the weekend. But he doesn't have her number and she maybe doesn't have his and it'd be a bit weird to ask one of the Glee Club members for it. Plus, she doesn't seem interested at all and he doesn't want to be all needy and desperate. He goes to Glee Club with a headache and he tells himself to stop thinking so much, he's acting like a girl.

On Thursday his surprise is a paperclip.

He finds it on a copy of his sheet music for this week's routine and stands staring at it for so long that he's almost late to class. It's another purple star, not as small or shiny this time but no less of a mystery. He pulls it away from the papers and rolls it in his hand while he listens to the teacher lecture. The points are rounded off so it's smooth in his hand as he traces the shape over and over again. He places it back on the sheet music before the end of class and tucks the papers into the binder that has already been assaulted by the purple star-bearing fairy. If this keeps up he may have to start questioning his sanity.

After lunch he finds a star shaped magnet on the inside of his locker door. He debates with himself for a few long seconds before he decides to leave it there. It's probably just some prank, he thinks. Although he hasn't quite figured out the whole Purple Star angle yet. Maybe it's a joke that he's just not getting?

He keeps a careful watch over everyone he knows, but no one seems to know anything about what is going on. He asks Brittany if she knows anything, but she just frowns at him and says, "I'm sorry, Sam, but there's no such thing as purple stars. They're all yellow." She gives him a comforting pat on the shoulder before leaving to go find Artie and Sam regrets asking in the first place.

He discovers a purple eraser in the bottom of his gym bag before football practice. He examines it slowly, turning it over in his palm while he searches for clues. Coach Beiste is calling his name though and he really doesn't want to do extra laps today, so he drops it back in his bag and trots out to the field. He avoids Finn the best he can throughout practice like he's been doing all week. He may not want Quinn back anymore, but the thought of Finn sneaking his way into their relationship still gets under his skin. He skips the showers and heads for home, pushing sweat soaked bangs out of his eyes. He can feel Finn's eyes on his back as he leaves, but he doesn't care. He just wants to get home and get a shower.

He sets his office supply collection on the computer desk in his room, letting them tumble from his hands and land in a scattered pile. If they keep multiplying like they are, he's likely to be swimming in a sea of stars by the end of the month.

The next day he finds a post-it note in his locker where the magnet had been before he took it home. It's another purple star to add to his ever-growing collection, and he's disappointed that the sender left it blank. He looks up and down the hall as discreetly as he can, trying to catch someone watching him or possibly snickering in his direction. But he is alone in the craziness again, so he shuts the locker with a sigh and begins the monotony of Friday classes.

He checks his locker before lunch and finds an unexpected bonus. Someone had started a message on the post-it with small yellow stickers.

meet me

Sam grins at the crooked letters, suddenly excited. He rips the post-it from its place and turns it over in search of any more helpful hints. Without a time and place his mystery sender is going to be hard to find, so he presses the flimsy paper back onto the locker door and scrawls the questions Where? and When? beneath the letter stickers.

He tries not to rush through lunch lest the star bandit not have time to respond, but it's hard to keep himself seated. Aside from Mrs. Sylvester chasing Tina down the hall with Artie's wheelchair – Artie still in it of course – for a jump suit joke earlier, this is the most exciting thing to happen all week.

He walks back to his locker a little faster than is probably necessary and flings open the door. Sam feels a little victorious when he sees more yellow letters.

auditorium

after practice

Sam folds the note and slides it into his back pocket, more ready for school to over with than he usually is, even with the weekend looming on the horizon. The rest of his classes seem to drag on for forever, and he's so distracted during football practice that he manages to earn himself an extra set of laps.

Most of the guys are gone by the time he ducks inside, muscles tired and clothes dirty. He takes a shower in the locker room this time, since he has plans and hardly anyone is there. It's a quick one, but all of the stragglers have left by the time he gets out so he figures it kind of worked out after all. The football players are usually the last ones at the school student-wise so that means that he and his star giver won't have to worry about any interruptions.

Sam walks out onto the dimly lit stage a little hesitantly. It's creepier than he expected and he can hardly see. For one, fear filled second he wonders if it was Quinn who left the messages. Maybe she wanted to try and apologize for dropping him like a pile of trash and make amends. He almost turns on his heels and leaves at the thought. He doesn't want to hear it, not anymore and especially not now.

But then someone moves out of the shadows and he nearly trips over some prop as he jumps backwards.

"It's just me!"

Rachel smiles at him and greets him with a small wave. "I was starting to think you weren't going to show up," she chuckles nervously.

Sam tries to regain his composure, chiding himself for being so jumpy. "You're the one who kept giving me those stars?"

"Of course it was me. Stars are my signature! At first I had planned to just keep giving you one thing a day until you figured it out but I guess I got a little… overzealous. And you didn't look like you were anywhere close to figuring it out anyway so the post-it was my ace in the hole. It was pretty clever in my opinion."

"Why didn't you just, ya know, talk to me?" Sam isn't angry at her, but she looks apologetic anyway.

She looks away from him and nervously tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I was scared I guess. I didn't know if you wanted to talk to me and I didn't want to risk get rejected in front of everyone. At least here there isn't a crowd of people waiting to ridicule me afterwards."

"Why wouldn't I want to talk to you?"

"Because you're a member of the football team and ranking fairly high on the popularity totem as far as new kids go. And I'm just… me – geek and frequenter of the slushie facial. I didn't want to ruin what you have going for you. And I thought you might not want that either. You haven't talked to me all week either."

She has a point, and he feels a pang of regret that he really hadn't tried to approach her all week. "If I was that worried about my reputation then I wouldn't have joined Glee Club in the first place," he teases, the beginning of a grin threatening to show.

Rachel looks back at him, her eyes hopeful. "Do you really mean that? You really don't mind?"

"Of course I mean it. Friends are better than labels in the long run," Sam shrugs honestly. Rachel beams at him and Sam finds himself smiling back at her.

"You know, I missed you," she whispers.

His response is to take a few steps forward and pull her to him. Her lips are soft and warm against his own. She presses herself against him and runs a hand up the back of his shirt. When they finally break the kiss they're both slightly out of breath and red faced.

He hugs her closer and rests his head on the top of hers. He feels her arms tighten around him and sighs contentedly.

"I missed you too," he admits.

"Well you know," she says, tilting her head up the tiniest bit, "my dads are still out of town. We could, uh, go back to my place? You can spend the night again."

"Cool," he agrees, although the smell of her hair is so nice that he doesn't really want to go anywhere at the moment. His own hair is still wet from the showers and he can feel the damp strands against his forehead. "That sounds awesome," he continues, realizing that she probably wants more than a one word reply. "So what are we going to do, watch a movie? Oh! We can watch Aladdin like you were talking about last weekend?"

The smallest of smiles appears on Rachel's face and she shakes her head. She pulls away from Sam's hold and laces their fingers together instead as she tugs the blonde towards the door. "I was thinking something a little more mature than Disney can handle," she says with a wink.

His head tilts in question as he allows himself to be pulled across the stage. "What do you mean, like Star Trek or something?"

Everyone would agree that Rachel isn't a subtle person.

But when she's up against Sam's oblivious tendencies, you can almost pretend.

THE END