Title: At loose ends

Written by: Sano

Fandom: Glee

Pairings: SamKurt

Ratings: PG13

Warnings: Slash, fluff, and spoilers for S17 onwards

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it, but alas, I do not. If I did it wouldn't be fit for family tv.

Author's Notes: Happy Birthday Wifey! Hope you're happy with how this turned out.

Summary: After getting kicked out of his house, Sam Evans finds sanctuary in an unlikely situation.

He had $45 dollars left in his wallet. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a couple of crumpled dollars and sighed. Well, $48 to be exact. The Econo Lodge with the cheapest rate goes for 38 bucks for a night so if he stayed then he would have only enough money to buy a couple of twinkies for breakfast tomorrow.

Under the difficult circumstances, Sam felt a goofy smile spreading on his face. If someone told him a year ago that he would be sitting on a bench outside a motel because his parents kicked him out for discovering his sexual orientation then he would tell them to shove off because he was as straight as Robin was gay.

Snapping his wallet shut and shoving it into his back pocket, he grabbed his duffel bag from the floor and decided to just spend the night in his car. Tomorrow he would grab his Green Lantern lamp from his house (Which had about 1500 dollar stored), a few limited edition comic books, some more clothes before his dad got home from work and head on to the mall to sell them. It would break any collector's heart if they knew what he would do, but he was at odds here.

Maybe he could go home to Nashville, or Los Angeles, or even New York? He didn't know where to go, but first things first, he needed money. So for tonight he would park his car at the back of some diner, sleep the night off and leave Lima tomorrow.

Sam's stomach grumbled and he pulled into the first food establishment he could find and when he walked in, he smelled coffee and cake, and his mouth salivated while his brain counted the calories.

Oh, fuck the diet. He just got kicked out of his house and possibly lost his chance at finishing high school so he definitely needed anything that would lift his spirits. He didn't even have the heart to say goodbye to the Glee club, much better for him to just disappear altogether.

Anyways, they would find out soon enough. He would be Sam Evans, kicked out by his parents for being gay. The news would sweep McKinley and all the kids who were scared to come out of the closet would nail themselves shut.

He ordered a large triple chocolate cake and bottled water, settling into a corner booth to enjoy his dessert when the last two people he expected to see walked into the café.

It was Rachel who first saw him and after slapping Finn on the arm, tugged the taller jock over to his table. Sam forced a smile on his face as the pair sat down on the chairs across from him and tried to look like his life wasn't falling apart.

"Hey, guys. What're you doing here?"

"Oh, Finn and I were gonna talk about our pseudo relationship but we couldn't talk about it at my house since my dads hate Finn now and Kurt is home for the weekend so we didn't want to bum him out… anyway, I'm just gonna get some cookies and Finn do you want anything?" Sam barely understood half of the words that came out of the girl's mouth, but Finn seemed to have an electronic translator on him because he answered and Rachel whisked off to order.

Finn awkwardly folded his hands atop the table, "Look, man, I know we haven't gotten along since the gumball incident, but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be macking on Santana right now?"

Sam laughed, "Dude, she's visiting family in Boston for the weekend and anyway, we broke up 2 days ago."

"What?"

"Unbelievable, right? Who even knew that Santana had relatives, imagine evil inside one house… it would be like all the Saw movies and the Exorcist thrown into one weekend!"

Rachel arrived with their orders and they spent the next half-hour talking about Glee club, Santana wreaking havoc in Boston and seeing Sucker Punch together with the rest of the club next week.

Sam agreed to go even though he knew that they wouldn't see him at school on Monday, or forever. He pretended that everything was normal and that he was a normal teenage boy, one that had a home to come back to and younger siblings to take care of.

It was his last night with his friends and he discovered that he would miss everyone. Rachel's annoying traits, Finn's douchebaggery, Santana's evil, Brittany's obliviousness, Artie's swag, Mike and Tina's nauseatingly-sweet asian power, Lauren's bluntness, Puck's bad assery, Quinn's serene presence, Mr. Schue and his vests… and Kurt's… Kurt's…

Kurt.

The trio walked to Sam's car since he offered to give Rachel and Finn a ride home, and as Sam gunned the engine, Finn riding shotgun and Rachel at the backseat, the girl happened to glance at the back and saw the few bags and Sam's guitar in its leather case.

"Sam, are you going somewhere?" She asked, the blond was silent and shot her a tentative smile.

He had thought about what he was gonna miss about Lima, Ohio the whole night and he hadn't even thought of what he would say if Rachel or Finn, or anyone knew if they asked him. He couldn't tell them the truth, not yet.

The he thought of 127 hours, "I'm gonna be camping somewhere in the forest tonight. You know, bond with nature and all that." James Franco's performance was awesome in a stoner kind of way, but Sam didn't plan on amputating his arm with a pocket knife soon.

"Dude, that's awesome! Next time tell me so we'll get the guys together." Finn completely fell for it, but Rachel looked unconvinced.

"Sam, the closest we have to a forest in this town is the park." She stated, "Do you… need a place to stay?"

After a few cryptic answers, they dropped Rachel off at her house and Sam spent the night at the Hummel-Hudson household.

Carole was the perfect hostess when the boys arrived, she made Finn and Sam sandwiches and had Burt pull out the folding bed so Sam could sleep in Finn's room and although Sam was too busy eating (He didn't get to eat dinner and the cake wasn't enough), he thought he'd heard Carole tell Burt to let him stay for the weekend after Finn had told them what happened.

After playing a few rounds of Halo, with Finn losing every single time, the boys settled into their respective beds. The taller jock fell asleep within minutes, but Sam was wide awake, even though the stress of the whole day should've knocked him out.

The electronic clock already read 1:14 am but still he was asleep, and then the weight of what he would do tomorrow suddenly dawned on him.

He would leave Lima and his family behind.

He would have to get a crappy job, waiting tables or picking up garbage somewhere, with next-to-nothing pay.

He probably won't be able to finish High School and his dream, his true dream, of being a comic book illustrator would remain a dream.

The list went on and on and he was surprised that Finn hadn't woken up yet since his gasps of panic would've woken any normal human being. He shot out of bed and quietly went down the steps to go outside. He saw a bench right outside the front door before they went in and he was a hairsbreadth away from a total meltdown.

The moment his feet touched the welcome mat, he grief that he'd been keeping in for the past few hours broke free and he found himself curled up on the bench, his body shaking and tears running down his face. He was so frazzled that sounds weren't coming out of his mouth, just a combination of gasps and hiccups that he never knew he was even capable of doing.

He was so wrapped up in his misery that he didn't even notice the door opening and another figure sitting down next to him. He felt the nudge of something cold against his leg and Sam's stomach dropped when he discovered Kurt in his pajamas, holding out a glass of water to him.

"I-I-I…"

"Shhh… it's okay. Just drink this." Kurt shook his head and held out the glass again, the blond tried to reach for it but his hands were shaking so much that he almost dropped it. The countertenor caught the glass and brought it up to his lips. "Drink." He ordered and Sam complied.

Sam finally got his breathing under control after draining the glass and Kurt set it down on the floor where it wouldn't break. Kurt folded his hands over his lap and murmured, "Are you comfortable talking about it?"

Sam was flabbergasted at the way he said it. Earlier, Rachel had peppered him with questions and it took all of his willpower not to duct tape her mouth, Finn in the meantime was trying to get a rise out of him while playing Halo by guessing why he was out of the house, from eloping with Santana in Boston to pursuing a career as a rodeo rider.

But here was Kurt, who seemed to be one of the nosiest people in Ohio as evidenced when he had all but twisted his arm to admit that he dyed his hair, asked him what was going on in a tone that wasn't grating like Rachel's, or insensitive like Finn's badgering.

Sam was about to feed him the cock-and-bull story of camping over the weekend, but hell, he was leaving tomorrow; at least one person should know the truth.

"I came out to my parents, and they kicked me out." He expected Kurt to stand up and give a speech on how his parents are ignorant and wake Burt up so they could talk to them, but he never expected Kurt to cry.

"Dude, I'm sorry. Geez, I never should've told you if it would make you this upset!" He was glancing around for a handkerchief that didn't exist and settled for wiping the other boy's tears away with his thumbs.

"I-I'm sorry, Sam. I-It's just s-s-sad…" He held onto Sam's wrists as he took a couple of deep breaths. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and Sam thought it was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen.

Sam let go of Kurt's hands and leaned back. "Don't worry about it. My dad's an army man, so I kinda expected it. I've been meaning to tell them for months now; my overnight duffel's been packed ever since."

"Well, I know this is bad timing, but I always knew it." Kurt stated and the jock laughed.

"What gave me away?"

"Your hair." They glanced at each other and started laughing. As their laughter faded, Sam noticed Kurt's rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes and he was hit with the familiar wave of longing ever since the countertenor approached him at his locker in McKinley. The longing that pained him as Kurt transferred to Dalton.

"You know, dad said that I was brave… I always believed that but I've never met anyone who's more courageous than you, Sam." Kurt sighed as he looked up at the moon, "Dad has always been supportive of me and I thought that my life was heinous because of what I went through at McKinley…"

"I can't even imagine going through what you just did… and I'm talking in rambles and I'm not making sense," He shook his head and Sam grinned. "What can I do to help?"

Kurt jumped when Sam's hand covered his own and he looked up at the smiling boy beside him. "Thank you, Kurt. Telling you is all the help that I needed." Kurt smiled in return and the weight was still there, but Sam felt it lift a bit.

They spend the next few hours talking about Sam's plans, of him going to Nashville for a while to stay with his grandmother or to New York to stay with his older cousin who knew he was gay. Throughout the talk they exchanged numbers and email addresses, and Sam promised to call Kurt, or email him once he arrived at his destination. Tomorrow he would accompany Sam in selling his comic books and although Kurt's heart was breaking at the prospect of Sam doing this alone, he stayed quiet and listened.

The sun was beginning to rise and the two boys blinked as if waking from a dream. Sam realized that he'd been holding Kurt's hand the whole time, and he squeezed it gratefully before letting go. "Thanks, Kurt. You're a great friend."

Kurt shrugged, "Thank you for trusting me. Oh, and Sam, can you allow me to do one thing?"

"Of course."

With a tentative step forward, Kurt wrapped his arms around Sam in an awkward hug. After the initial shock wore off, he responded by wrapping his arms around Kurt and tugging him closer. His nose was buried in Kurt's hair and he breathed in the lingering smell of peaches.

Tightening his hold on Kurt, his tears fell.

The future was uncertain for him, and Sam's heart tore into two at the thought of leaving. But in this moment, he felt free.

And it was the best feeling in his entire life.

THE END

I hope this turned out into something that you like, Bre, but the thought of Sam actually getting kicked out just screamed angst.

Happy Birthday, wifey! I love you!