Nightshift

So I totally had this idea one night while I was working. Yes, I do work at Denny's so this is incredibly inspired by that. I always wondered what would happen if a stranger just appeared on one of my shifts and something like this happened.

Also, if I can get a good enough idea of whether or not you guys like this I'll write the same story from Sam's POV. I hope you enjoy!

The night had been long for Blaine. It was far too slow in the small diner and 6am couldn't come fast enough. Normally Thursday nights were decent. Burly truckers would mosey in, take an unoccupied booth for themselves and gruffly order coffee and breakfast, but since the highway was closed tonight due to a terrible car accident, this particular Thursday was dragging on without a customer for hours.

Blaine was in the back working on what felt like his 200th roll of silverware. His mind was distracted by minuscule things like school, friendships that were faltering and even the occasional thought of him being lonely for much longer than he had ever originally intended. The last date he was offered ended in his sitting at home and waiting for a call that never came. He last steady relationship was years ago, with a girl that he once considered his best friend. School was taking it's own personal toll on him and Blaine could feel his drive slowly dying away.

Blaine was so lost in his head that he almost missed the sound of the door opening.

A customer. Thank you Jesus. Blaine thought. Finally, a customer that would distract Blaine long enough to save him from his own mind. Blaine walked around the corner to the front of the diner and found something different from his usual 3:30am customer.

The boy who walked in was about Blaine's age, he was taller than him and had bright blonde hair that complemented his intense green eyes. He had the biggest lips Blaine had ever seen on a person, but they fit his soft and tired face. He had on a simple pair of jeans and white shirt that was mostly covered by a large, brown jacket. It didn't take Blaine long to admit to himself that his newest addition to his morning was attractive, but with Blaine's luck he was probably in some loving committed relationship with the girl he was destined to marry and make the perfect Ohio family.

"Good morning!" Blaine said cheerfully.

"Hi." was the short response Blaine was used to. Not too many people were too thrilled about being out this early in the morning, unless of course they had been drinking.

"How many for you?" Blaine used as his follow up question.

"Just one." Monotone voice. "Can I have the counter?" He pointed behind Blaine, who looked back.

"Sure!" Blaine said happily again. "Just as long as you promise to give it back."

That was lame Blaine. That was so incredibly stupid. Blaine cursed himself internally as the stranger smiled weakly and walked around to the counter.

Blaine followed him and faced him, being only separated by the counter. "Would you like some coffee to start?" he asked politely.

"Please." The stranger replied as he yawned.

Blaine grabbed one of the generic white cups from the drink rack, and filled it with black coffee.

"Here you go." Blaine said with a smile, handing the coffee to the stranger.

"Thanks." he responded quietly taking a sip.

Blaine thought for a second before deciding to make small talk. "What brings you in so early?"

The stranger looked up. and paused for a moment, but it was just enough time for Blaine to freak out and feel self-conscious.

"Sorry." He mumbled. "I didn't mean to pry."

The stranger chuckled. "It's fine. I've just had a long night. I figured some coffee would make it all go away." He really did have a striking pair of eyes.

Blaine still felt self-conscious, but tried to push the feeling away. "Ah, I know all about that. It's obviously very busy in here." He said, gesturing to the very empty restaurant behind him. The stranger chuckled again.

"I can tell. I wonder how you have so much time for me right now." he quipped back making Blaine chuckle this time.

"One thing at a time I guess." Blaine smiled.

"Well," the stranger said. "I can see that your name is Blaine." He said gesturing to Blaine's tiny, gold nameplate with his name plastered to it. "My name is Sam or Samuel." he said offering out his hand.

"Well hello Sam or Samuel." Blaine said taking his hand and shaking it quickly once. "So in the interest of not trying to pry again, do you mind if I ask about why your night is so long?" Blaine asked, feeling a little more confident this time.

"Sure." Sam responded, taking another sip of his coffee. "I ran away from home last night." He said simply.

If Blaine was good at anything it was reading the way people said things. He noticed that when people spoke, they attached emotion behind it. Every word anyone had ever said in front of Blaine had some type of feeling behind it. Sam's last words did not. They were simple and to the point. There was no anger, sadness or even boredom to them. They were just there. If Blaine was held at gunpoint and had to pick an emotion he would choose relief.

"Really now?" he finally responded. "Things tough at home?" he asked again. At this point curiosity took over Blaine, so there was no room for self-consciousness.

"Yeah, but I doubt you would understand." Sam said heavily, returning to his coffee.

Blaine considered this. There could be a million things going on in Sam's home life. Abusive parents, drugs, a fight about how his parents don't understand him, anything. Blaine chose his next words carefully.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure your parents still love you.'' he said assuringly, trying to instill hope in Sam.

Sam looked at him and Blaine could tell he was thinking before he spoke. He looked Blaine right in the eyes, and Blaine felt hot instantly.

"How do you do that?" Sam asked.

"I'm sorry?" Blaine said confused. That was not the response Blaine was expecting.

"How can you look at me, a complete stranger, and take the time to make me feel better?" he asked. The question was not backed by anger, but more like gratitude.

The question actually bewildered Blaine. "I…I uh-….I don't really know?" Blaine responded. He couldn't form a proper response. Blaine couldn't explain why he tried to make Sam feel better. Was it because he was attractive? No. That was too shallow for Blaine. "I suppose it was just because…. I don't want you to feel alone." Blaine vomited out before he could think about it.

Sam just stared at him. This moment was too intense for Blaine. He looked for a way to regroup. He walked to the coffee pot closest to him and randomly decided the coffee he made an hour ago was no longer good. He dumped it down the sink and suddenly it needed to be cleaned, even though that was also done just an hour ago. Blaine was looking for anything to keep his back to Sam for a second.

How did that get so serious so quickly? Blaine thought as he scrubbed the already clean pot. He's a stranger and here you are helping him with his life problems, pushing your advice down his throat and he has to be noticing how you look in his eyes. You don't even know this guy Blaine. Get it together.

Sam cleared his throat, and Blaine took a deep breath before turning around.

"You know Blaine, you have to get out of your head sometimes." he said quietly. Blaine knew that voice. It was the same voice Blaine himself used when he felt like he was speaking out of turn.

"Why do you say that?" Blaine said, keeping his voice even. He was frustrated, not at Sam, but himself. He was being too venerable right now. So venerable that Sam could see he was thinking to hard.

"Because I used to be the same way." he said looking Blaine in the eyes. "I used to live inside my head, coming up with things that could go wrong for every situation and eventually I lost everything and everyone close to me."

"Is that why you ran away from home?" Blain blurted out.

Seriously Blaine. Shut up.

"Yes." Sam responded to Blaine's surprise. "I told my parents something that I knew about myself and it tore them up. I decided that leaving would be the best way to handle things." Sam looked down at his coffee.

"Are you sure that's going to work?" Blaine asked, mind now racing to figure out what Sam was talking about.

"I'm still undecided." Sam said, still looking down. "I guess we'll see."

"There's not much more you can do." Blaine said, almost frowning. He and Sam sat in silence for a few minutes before Blaine found the courage to ask the one question he had been wanting to.

"So… what did you tell your parents?" he asked, treading carefully, sam looked up again. "You totally don't have to answer." Blaine panicked. "I should't have asked. I'm sorry. I'll shut up now." and he started to walk away.

"I….uh…I told them I was gay." Sam stated. Blaine stopped dead, and turned on his heel. He looked at Sam. Sam wasn't confident anymore. He looked like a lost child. His eyes were still intently on his coffee and when Blaine walked back in front of him, his body tensed.

"Oh." was all Blaine could make audible in his throat.

"Yeah…" Sam said slowly, his body still tense. His shoulders were almost at his ears, and Blaine could hear that his breathing had become heavier, and more intense.

Blaine knew what was happening inside Sam's head. He was once at the same place. Parents that hated what he was, his decision to leave home and never come back, and the hardest part, admitting to himself and others who he really was. Blaine knew exactly how to handle the situation.

"You know, it gets easier saying it aloud the more often you do it." He said softly, and Sam looked at him. His majestic green eyes had tears pooling at the bottom of them. In a weird way it kind of made them sparkle in a beautiful, yet tragic way.

"Really?" Sam said, his voice breaking.

"Oh yeah." Blaine was faking confidence now. "The first person I told was over text because I was too afraid of how they would react if I said it to their face. Nowadays I pretty much yell it everywhere."

That's a lie Blaine. You know it.

"Well." Sam said rubbing his eyes to get rid of his tears. "That's quite the relief."

"It just takes time." He said with a smile.

"Well, now I have all the time in the world. I'm not really occupied with much." He said.

Blaine decided that asking him more about his personal life was too much so he settled on basic questions.

"So Samuel, tell me about yourself."

Sam looked at him and smiled.

Damn. He has nice eyes and an incredible smile. Blaine observed. Is there anything wrong with him?

"Well, let's see…." Sam pondered. "My name is Sam, I like comic books and impressions. My favorite color is green and my favorite movie is Avatar."

Blaine laughed at the way Sam restated his name.

"Your turn Blaine." Sam said back.

"Oh." Blaine got nervous. "Okay. My name is Blaine." he smiled at Sam who laughed. "I like the OSU Buckeyes, my favorite movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's, I love to sing and my favorite color is red."

"The Buckeyes huh?" Sam observed. "I'm more of a Huskers fan."

Blaine scoffed playfully.

"What?" Sam said smiling.

"Who really has a mascot who is corn?" he laughed.

"Says the guy who worships the team of Buckeyes." Sam retorted, still smiling.

"Ah," Blaine recognized defeat. "Nicely played."

Suddenly Sam's phone rang, and Blaine walked away to give him some privacy. Blaine went to the back, his mind racing. Who would have guessed that a random stranger would just walking Blaine's work at 3:30 in the morning and get his mind working as hard as Sam did? Blaine checked his phone to kill time. No texts like usual and no missed calls. The cook cam from the kitchen.

"No food for your guy with the coffee?" he asked.

"No sir." Blaine responded without looking up.

"Good. I'm going for a smoke." and he hobbled off towards the back door.

Blaine decided he had killed enough time. and when he returned his heart dropped. the counter was empty. Sam had left. Blaine walked over to the recently unoccupied seat and found money for the coffee and a note on the back of a napkin.

Blaine,

Thank you so much for everything tonight. You are seriously the best thing to happen to me over the past few days. Since I don't know when you work next I'm going to give you my number. I hope you don't over think this and you just text me. I'll be waiting for it.

Sam.

P.S. That coffee was just the thing I needed.

555-3735

Blaine smiled, cashed out Sam's coffee and pulled out his phone without thinking about it, just like Sam asked.

Hey Sam. It's Blaine.

Blaine put his phone back into his pocket and waited for the text that never came.