Author's Note: This is all based off of the prompt/idea and picture from ajjizom's tumblr post ( .com/post/2079354857/kurt-hurt-his-ankle-during-cheerio-practice-sam - located there, go check it out! )
Also, let's all go with the uncanon assumption that Kurt is on Cheerios when Sam joins Glee Club.
He refuses to cry.
He wasn't going to cry.
Kurt Elizabeth Hummel does not cry; especially in public, but even more so, especially in front of Coach Sylvester. Not with the knowledge that she's in the market for a new head cheerleader—and she's been giving him more glances in practice than usual.
A pair of hands is reaching for him, and his defense goes up. "I can still walk, thank you," he snaps at the Cheerio, one he knows is near the bottom of the pyramid—possibly the one who caused the damn fall.
"Porcelain!" The hard-edged voice of Sue Sylvester makes his back straighten instinctively as she pushes through the Cheerios surrounding Kurt. "Those legs of yours better be working."
"I'm fine." He can't let a little fall ruin his chances of being at the top. He swats any helping hands away, trying to make it seem like standing up is no issue. Which, at first, it isn't.
But then he puts some weight on his right ankle.
The high-pitched, feminine-sounding cry was enough to make his attention move from Coach Bieste's mini-lecture and to the Cheerios practicing in their usual spot on the sidelines. Even Bieste let a pause slip, and at the sight of the red-and-white clad students swarming around a limping Kurt, Sam broke away from the guys and ran over, worry coming over him like a wave.
Sam sees the bandages wrapped around Kurt's right ankle and bites his tongue, refraining from telling him he shouldn't be standing, let alone walking around. But even he knows better than to tell Kurt Hummel what to do.
"Ladylips!" Sam fixes his slouching posture at the sound of Sue's voice alone, and when he turns to look at her he suddenly feels the need to look anywhere but her eyes (although he thinks it's more respectful to look a person in the eyes when they talk, he has this horrible urge the effect would be similar to staring down a rabid dog). "Take Porcelain there to the nurse. I can't have a Cheerio limping around like a war veteran," she commands.
He's suddenly very happy that practice today entailed of mostly running and work that would get the team back in shape physically, meaning all his pads and gear are somewhere in the locker room.
He doesn't need to be told twice.
Kurt, who's practically standing like a flamingo with all his weight on his left leg, meets Sam's eyes for a moment, and wonders how this is going to work out.
"Uh…" Apparently, Sam was wondering the same thing. His eyes light up, as if a light bulb was switched on, and he turns so his back is facing Kurt, taking a knee. After a split-second of confusion, Kurt understands. But he's hesitant. Would Kurt get even more shit for being on another guy's back? Would Sam, for having Kurt ride him to the nurse?
"I'd get on my back before Coach Sylvester gets mad."
That was enough to get him to slide his arms around Sam's shoulders and wrap his legs loosely around his waist.
Sam isn't gay.
Well, not 100%.
But that doesn't mean he's going to tell anybody.
His worry that somebody (particularly Kurt) will find out escalades ten-fold, though, during the long walk from the football field to the nurse's office.
Kurt's on his back, and after a minute or so, he allows his head to rest on Sam's shoulder. While he's trying to get past the smell of sweaty football player, Sam's trying to ignore how hot Kurt's breath is on the skin of his neck. He also wonders if the cheerleader ever eats; he's so damn light, it's almost like carrying around a life-size doll on his back.
"Do you eat?"
He doesn't mean for the question to have slipped out. It just sort of did, like word vomit. He doesn't see it, but Kurt's blushing just as badly as he is out of embarrassment (and surprise, on Kurt's behalf).
On any other given occasion, Kurt would've gone on about his healthy eating habits and refusal to eat anything that was pumped with artificial growth hormones. But with the throbbing in his ankle and the butterflies in his stomach, he saves it for another day. "Healthy food, yes," he surmises.
"So, rabbit food?" Sam almost regrets the smirk when Kurt huffs, the sharp exhalation sending chills on the area of skin it ghosts across on his neck.
They reach a pair of doors and Sam simply stops walking, a little unsure of how to actually open the door and get in without dropping/hurting Kurt further. Then the light-bulb-switch occurs again.
He turns his head so that he can sort of look at Kurt, whose head is still on Sam's shoulder, and the color returns to his cheeks even worse than before as he thinks about how close their faces are at that moment. "Hold on tight for a second," he tells the Cheerio.
Kurt clings to Sam as best he can without choking him, his legs wrapping tighter around Sam's waist (which Sam is trying to hard to ignore, in addition to the fact that Kurt's business is right above his own ass), and Sam manages to open the door, hold it open with a foot, and slide in without harming Kurt or getting caught in the shutting door.
One they're inside, Kurt's hold loosens, and while he's hoping that the walk to the nurses office takes ages, Sam's wondering if the Cheerio can feel how hard and fast his heart is beating against his.
Kurt tries to hide his disappointment when Sam put him on the uncomfortable bed thing that's in the nurse's office while she phones his father. She comes in after a moment, letting him know that Burt is on his way.
When she leaves the two alone, it's awkward; Kurt's sitting with his foot dangling off the edge of the psuedo-mattress, and Sam is standing, unsure of what to do.
"Coach Bieste is probably missing her quarterback," Kurt comments offhandedly, indirectly setting Sam free for the second time.
Sam blinks, his eyebrows disappearing into his sweaty, messy blonde hair for a moment before nodding, having caught the hint. "I hope your ankle gets better, Kurt," he mumbles, turning to leave. The reluctance is obvious when Sam looks back before taking the final step through the doorway, leaving Kurt to come to the realization that Sam's probably the only peer he can think of who actually calls him Kurt.
At school the next day, Sam's wonders how many people are noticing how much of a creep he's being while he's standing around a corner. A corner, though, that happens to have a perfect view of Kurt's locker as well as Kurt himself, whose fumbling with getting his locker open, holding his bag on his shoulder, and standing with his crutches. Realizing that the cheerleader is having trouble, Sam decides to leave the spectator spot and help Kurt out, much to the Cheerio's surprise. He doesn't refuse, though, knowing it'd be dumb for him to let his pride get in the way of getting what he needs from his locker.
They make small talk; how Kurt's ankle is doing, what was wrong with it in the first place (it wasn't a break, but it was damn close enough), and a thanks to Sam for carrying Kurt all the way to the nurse (Sam says it's no big deal, but it really is and he hopes he could do it again—just without Kurt getting hurt in some way, the next time). But Kurt raises an eyebrow at Sam as he finds the palm-sized, newspaper-wrapped something with a post-it with 'Kurt' scrawled in what is clearly a boy's handwriting (Sam's, actually).
"Don't open it yet," Sam tells him, his trademark boyish grin in place, and he remembers that he needs to thank Mercedes for slipping it in Kurt's locker.
Sam walks Kurt to class, carrying his books and bag so that he can make an attempt to use the crutches that are almost as tall as Kurt himself.
After they part at the French classroom, Sam wonders if Kurt felt the tingles he did when their fingers brushed in the passing of books from one to the other, or if Kurt saw Sam look back at him.
Kurt manages to get situated in his usual seat, before tearing the newspaper off of the poorly-wrapped gift, fully aware of Sam's eyes boring
A wide smile stretches on his lips as he looks at the chocolate rabbit. He flips over the post-it and finds a short message written in typical boy-handwriting.
zeyko win si, rabbit.
In Glee club, Kurt sits between Mercedes and Rachel, but keeps throwing glances in a particular blonde's direction.
The bell rings, signaling the end of rehearsal, and Mercedes helps Kurt get situated with his crutches as she holds his books. He calls Sam over, and balances on his good leg as he holds out a perfectly folded, origami-esque looking piece of paper. When Sam flips it over, his heart does a similar motion as he sees his name written neatly in cursive. He looks up to say something, but the fashionable Cheerio surprises him with a light, way-too-brief peck on his cheek, before hurriedly making his exit, leaving Sam stunned in the middle of the choir room.
Looking back down, he unfolds the paper carefully, and sees a few words written in the same elegant script.
vous devriez me donner une leçon de na'vi.
Sam doesn't know what it says, but he does know that he just got kissed by the Cheerio he carried the day before and he wants something to do with the Na'vi language.
He smiles, doing a quick, celebratory fist pump before getting his things together, wondering if he could ask Kurt for a lesson in French.
Author's Note: done! I hope you all enjoyed it. c: thanks so so so much to ajjizom for allowing me to take her prompt and use it for this!
also, translations:
zeyko win si, rabbit. - Na'vi for "heal quickly, rabbit." I couldn't find the word for rabbit, and the "heal quickly" part is a loose translation using what I could find.
vous devriez me donner une leçon de na'vi. - French for "you should give me a lesson in na'vi." I do not speak French at all, so I apologize for any mistranslations (correct me if there's a better way of phrasing this, please). I speak some Spanish, but no French at all. xD