156A/N: So much thanks to my beta Alice aka darlingwendy!
"So I had a great time tonight," Sam said, breaking the silence that had fallen over him and Karen, his date, a few streets back. They passed upscale shops and thrifty brownstones, Karen taking an oddly particular interest in the sights around her, even though Sam's pretty sure she's seen them all a thousand times before. If he'd been counting the numbers right, they were only two buildings down from her house. "I really enjoyed getting to know you."
"Huh? Oh, oh yeah, me too," Karen said, focusing back on Sam. "Dinner was great." She looked across the street again, at the group of boys who had gathered on one of the porch steps, playing their acoustic guitars, singing along, and laughing every now and then. Sam wanted to reach forward and take her hand, but as the thought entered his head she put her hands in her shallow jean pockets.
Sam dug his hands into his pockets, too, leaning against the stair railings of the house that Karen indicted was her own. "Do you, um, think you might want to do this again some time? Like can I call you?"
Karen tucked her dark, curly hair behind her ear, turning her attention back to Sam. Her hazel eyes glowed in the light of her porch light, her plump lips curling up in a smile. She looked beautiful. When Sam had asked her out, he'd been taking a chance, figuring she was out of his league. She'd said yes, though, which Sam thought was probably a good side.
"How about I call you, okay? Or text you or something?" She grasped Sam's bicep tightly, squeezing. Sam jumped to attention. That was the cue, right? For the first date end-of the night-kiss?
He leaned down slowly, eyes flickering to her lips, wondering if she would let him kiss her, or if it was too soon, or -
"Goodnight, Sam," Karen said suddenly, releasing her hold on Sam's arm and moving quickly up the steps. Sam watched her unlock the door; she looked back at him as she stepped inside, flashing him a toothy smile, but then she was gone.
Sam stood for a few more moments before sighing and turning back to walk the way he came from, searching for the subway stop a block away. Karen really was gorgeous, and she was smart and funny and Sam just really hoped that maybe they could make something out of their relationship. For once.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Got a bottle of wine and the first Avengers waiting for you at the apartment. You can tell me all about your date :) - Blaine. Sam smiled and texted back a quick you're the best before pocketing his phone and heading straight for the apartment he shared with his best friend.
"Hey, so what about your date? Has that girl called yet?"
Sam shook his head. "Nope. But it's only been like, three days or something. It's whatever," he tried to respond casually, hoping that his voice wouldn't somehow give away the fact that he checked his phone at least every ten minutes when he was awake, hoping for a call, a text, an email, something. At least he wasn't looking at Blaine when he said it.
He really thought the date had gone well. Damn it.
"She'll call," Blaine said softly behind him from his perch at the kitchen island. "She'd be absurd not to."
Sam snorted. "Absurd."
"Hey, I know I have the vocabulary of someone from the '50s. Sue me. You've been my best friend for seven years, you should know this by now." Sam looked back at Blaine, who gave him a wide, cheesy grin. His 'you love me anyway'went unspoken.
"But really," Blaine continued as Sam turned back to the stove. "She'll call. You're the nicest guy I know. You're always so sweet to the girls you go out with. You're one of the best boyfriends I've ever seen. Why wouldn't she call?"
Sam shrugged. "That's kind of just how it goes. It worked in high school, but now that we're older…I always think they're enjoying themselves, but I never get a call back." Sam scraped the slices of toast out of the skillet and onto a plate, reaching up to the cabinet for powdered sugar and syrup. "And it's like every girl wants something different, something that's not me, and I don't know what to change so that they'll want me. I have no idea what they're looking for."
He sighed. Reaching over to the coffee maker, he grabbed the cup sitting under the spout, spraying whipped cream from the can over the top. Holding that in one hand and the plate of toast in the other, he carefully made his way to the island and set both in front of Blaine.
"Three full slices of french toast with cinnamon and powdered sugar, completely doused in syrup, and a breakfast roast coffee with caramel syrup and whipped cream for one Mr. Anderson."
Blaine took a bite of french toast and moaned with pleasure. Sam found himself focusing on Blaine's mouth and the way it wrapped around the fork before he blinked and realized where he was staring. "This is perfect. Deliciously unhealthy, but so worth it."
Sam smirked, grabbing his own slice of french toast and single egg over easy off of the counter. "But hey, that's what brunch Sundays are for, right?"
Blaine nodded. "Thank you for cooking, by the way. I'm making you something equally as fatty next week."
Sam groaned. Blaine was going to be the death of him.
"And, um," Blaine continued after a few bites, "I have no idea what those girls want. Girls are confusing." Sam definitely knew that. "But I mean…I have Kurt, right, and Kurt is so great, he's-"
"Hey now, brunch Sunday," Sam interrupted before Blaine could continue. Blaine cleared his throat.
"Yeah, anyway. I have a boyfriend, but if I didn't…I would kill to date someone like you."
Sam completely ignored the sudden heat in his cheeks. "Yeah, I kind of figured that out in high school," he joked instead. He barely even saw Blaine's light shove coming.
"I don'tstill have a crush on you, dork. I'm in a committed relationship, thank you very much. I was just saying." Sam could tell that Blaine was trying to ignore the blush on his own cheeks just as much.
"Don't even lie, Blaine, you love me."
"Nope. Not a single bit." But Blaine's eyes as he looked at his best friend betrayed him.
"Well, thank you anyway." He bumped his shoulder against Blaine's. "It really does mean a lot to me."
They sat in silence for a few moments, finishing their breakfast. Since Sam cooked, Blaine was supposed to do the dishes, but before he could gather up their plates a blonde, furry head popped up over the couch behind them and let out a whine.
"Aww, Teddy, are you finally up, sleepyhead?" Blaine cooed, moving the plates to the sink. "Are you ready for your walk?"
Teddy bounded to the door, wagging his tail and letting his whole back side move with it. Sam reached for the leash, quickly catching the dog so he could hook it onto his collar.
"I'd definitely say he's ready. We'd better hurry before he pees all over the floor like last week."
Blaine abandoned the dishes, instead reaching for his jacket. "Well then, onward, trusty steed!"
"You know, I think I could just be a hermit."
Blaine shook his head at Sam, trailing after Teddy who tugged the pair down the streets of New York, weaving between the passers-by who were steadily walking down the street. The crowds were slightly more compacted than usual, everyone keeping their arms braced at their sides and walking closer to their companions thanks to the frigid late-fall wind. "You can rock plaid, and you can rock a goatee, but there is no way you can rock a hermit beard."
Sam pouted. "Well, how about a bachelor?"
"You want to become my brother?" Blaine asked incredulously, his expression making Sam laugh.
"Sure! It'll be easy. Sleep in all day, drink a lot of alcohol, go on dates every night, I could totally be like your brother."
"Please don't, I don't think I can deal with more than one of him," Blaine said, eyeing Sam. As if noticing Blaine's lack of attention on him, Teddy suddenly took the opportunity to race down the street, jerking Blaine along with him; Blaine dug his heels into the sidewalk as Teddy pulled, hoping to slow the dog down.
"No, it'll be great!" Sam said. "I'll date the girls, and maybe, you know, get a little somethin'-somethin'," he waggled his eyebrows, to which Blaine rolled his eyes, "but I'll still have you, so I'll be fine!"
Blaine paused as Teddy finally slowed down enough to check out a nearby light pole. "What does that mean?"
Sam shifted on his feet, sticking his gloved hands into his pockets. "Well, I mean, even right now, girls are awesome, but I don't need them. You're my best friend, you know everything about me and I know everything about you and we know how each other works and stuff, so you're really all I need. Not girls that come and go."
He bit the inside of his cheek. He had been completely honest, just stating things he thought to be fact, but Blaine was staring at him, eyes wide and jaw slack, and he realized that what he'd said had come off a lot more serious than he'd intended.
But maybe he'd meant it.
"I-"
Just as Blaine was about to respond, Teddy took off, tearing Blaine from Sam's gaze and reminding both of them that there were people surrounding them. Sam chased after them, trying not to knock into any pedestrians, and found the two stopped at a baby stroller, Teddy sniffing the baby inside, Blaine talking to the young woman behind it.
"I am so sorry about my dog," Blaine apologized. "He gets a little…" The young woman smiled and shrugged him off, though she looked flustered by the sudden bombardment.
"No, it's fine! Kenzie loves dogs." True to her words, the baby inside the stroller giggled as she placed her hand on Teddy's curious and wet nose. Sam watched as Blaine actually saw the baby, not just the stroller, his eyes lighting up and his lips breaking out into a wide grin. Sam swore he could see his heart melt.
"Oh, she's precious! Can I play with her?" Blaine gestured toward the baby. The woman nodded, and Blaine instantly kneeled down to the baby's level.
"Blaine loves kids," Sam said, moving closer to the woman as Blaine cooed to Kenzie and rattled one of her toys. Her tiny hand grasped around the rattle, and Blaine's smile grew even wider. "He's an actor, but I swear if he had a backup it would be some kind of teacher, like kindergarten or something. Or music for little kids."
"Do you think that's what he's going to wind up doing?" she asked.
Sam shook his head. "No, he's definitely going to be famous someday. He's…he's incredible. You should hear him sing."
If they strained they could hear Blaine, already singing the ABCs to Kenzie as she giggled along. Sam turned to the woman, holding out his hand.
"I'm Sam, by the way."
"Rebecca," she replied, shaking his hand with a smile. Her other hand remained on the stroller; Sam noticed that she didn't wear a ring.
"So is Kenzie yours?"
"Oh, no no no," Rebecca said, trying to laugh off what Sam had implied. "She's my niece. I moved to New York to be closer to my sister and help her out. She's got four kids, isn't that crazy?"
Sam laughed in agreement, leaving out the fact that he thought he would love to have a houseful like that some day. "So, um, are you single?"
"Yup. I really only got here about a month ago, so I've kind of just been trying to get comfortable. Haven't had a whole lot of time to meet guys, you know?" she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked over to check on Kenzie, Teddy, and Blaine. Kenzie was squealing in delight, Teddy attacking her face with 'kisses' as Blaine sat back and laughed.
"Well, maybe-"
"You and your boyfriend are really cute, by the way," Rebecca continued, still smiling down at the trio. Sam gaped, stumbling over his words and looking back and forth between Rebecca and Blaine.
"Wait, he's not-"
"Sam, I think Teddy's moved on to comic books, we gotta go!" Blaine called, suddenly being tugged up and away from Kenzie and towards the comic book store down the street by their over-energetic pet. "It was really nice meeting you! Bye, Kenzie!" he shouted to Rebecca and Kenzie before he got swallowed by the New York City crowd.
"Yeah, it was nice meeting you," Rebecca smiled at Sam, waving before she continued pushing the stroller down the street, leaving Sam behind. He watches her walk away incredulously, before turning and following Blaine to the comic book store.
Not again.
"So," Blaine coughed, still skimming the boxes of vintage comic books and carefully avoiding Sam's gaze. "Speaking of my bachelor brother."
Sam looked up from his own box, a copy of X-Men between his fingers. "Speaking of Cooper?"
"Yeah, he's um…he's getting married. Again."
"Wow. What is this, the third time?" Sam asked. Blaine nodded, pursed lips indicating he wasn't exactly pleased. "In like five years? Dude, your brother is like the worst bachelor ever."
"He's going through a phase," Blaine said, moving on to the shelves behind him. "Some kind of, 'I'm getting too old so I have to find the one even though I'm kind of grasping for straws instead of actually searching for true love' thing. I kind of feel sad for him. Does that make me a bad brother?"
Sam shook his head. "No, it just makes you a protective one. You want your brother to have the best."
Blaine smiled, glad Sam understood him, like he always did. "He's kind of the reason why I don't want you to become a bachelor. You'd probably wind up doing the exact same thing."
Sam considered it. "Well, I mean I know I fall in love too hard too fast, and I jump steps a lot-" Blaine tried to disguise his laughter as coughing, which didn't go unnoticed by Sam, "-shut up, you did it too, you've just been with the same person for forever- but I don't want to get divorced, you know? I want to know that the person I'm marrying is definitely someone I'm going to be with for the rest of my life."
"Don't we all," Blaine mused. "But you're not like him. And not that he's bad, you're just…different." He held up a comic out of the stacks and passed it over to Sam: Spider-man/Human Torch #3. "How about this one?"
Sam grinned. He'd had that comic when he was younger, but he'd had to sell it after his family lost their house so that he could buy Stacy a Barbie doll for her birthday. "Dude, this is perfect!" he exclaimed, sticking it on top of the stack of comics he planned to buy. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Blaine blushing. To distract himself, Blaine looked around the corner, checking on Teddy. Their dog was in a pen with the owner's dog, trying to get the older St. Bernard to play with him by jumping on his stomach. The other dog, thankfully, was very patient with Teddy.
"But yeah, Cooper's getting married, in like two weeks," Blaine said, turning back to Sam. "And, um." Blaine looked hopefully up at Sam through his lashes. Sam narrowed his eyes, unsure of where Blaine was going, before it dawned on him.
"And you want me to go with you?"
Sam raised his eyebrows when Blaine nodded. "Didn't I go with you to the last one? And the one before?"
"Yeah, so you know they're not going to be awful! I mean, the ceremony probably won't be to either of our tastes because it's Cooper and the girl he's marrying who's our freaking age, but there'll be good food and cake and an open bar and please, Sam, please?"
Blaine didn't have to beg, because Sam would always be more than happy to go with him, but he was still curious. "So, why isn't Kurt going again?"
Blaine closed his mouth with a snap, knowing that Sam already knew the answer. "He's got -"
"A work thing, yeah, right," Sam finished, turning back to the comic books. "It seems like he always does," he said in a softer voice, almost hoping Blaine wouldn't hear. Blaine and Kurt's relationship wasn't exactly the best topic to talk about between Blaine and Sam, which is why it was supposed to be banned on brunch Sundays.
"He's just…busy. He's working really hard, and he's supposed to get promoted soon, and he's really making a name for himself. I'm proud of him. It just sometimes means that he can't be there for things like weddings or parties or whatever. It's fine." Sam bit his tongue, not wanting to push the topic further.
"So, will you go with me?" Blaine asked. Sam turned around, a comic book in hand.
"Of course I will," he answered, extending his hand with the comic book out to Blaine, holding the book open to the page he knew Blaine would love. "Here. Young Avengers #12."
Blaine took the book, smiling down at the page where Billy and Teddy kissed for the very first time in the comic series. Sam knew Blaine had always seen the couple as a source of inspiration.
"Thank you," Blaine said softly, and Sam knew that all was forgiven.
"Ready to buy these and head out?" Sam suggested, already gathering up the comics he'd picked.
"Yup. You ready for pizza and a movie?" As Blaine got Teddy out of the pen and clipped on his leash, Sam snuck Blaine's stack of comics under his own and walked over to the cashier.
"You know it."