Title: Mall Days and Date Nights

Paring: Blaine/Sam

Rating: G

Summary: AU Season 2 ~ Post Silly Love Songs ~~ Sam and Quinn Break up and Sam runs into Kurt and Blaine at the mall (having dropped his brother and sister off at Chuck E Cheese for a party) and they all hang out.

Notes: Sorry for any typos. My transcription software doesn't always understand what I say and I don't always catch the mistakes. I have trouble typing things by hand since I suffered an injury last year to my right hand and it seizes up if I try to do too much.

People watching at the mall (not the one Jeremiah worked at) always made Kurt feel better about his life choices, which was exactly what Blaine needed after the Warbler's unsuccessful Gap Attack serenade. People watching and frozen yogurt helped heal both wounded soul and ego.

Strolling along the indoor walkway, Kurt was surprised to see a familiar face approaching. Sam was walking slowly, a small blonde child clinging to each hand and a neatly wrapped package tucked under one arm. The little ones occasionally veered off course, but Sam seemed to be an old pro at wrangling them.

Sam spotted them at the same moment, a broad smile flashing bright across his face, calling out, "Hey!"

"Hello, Sam," Kurt said as they stopped their respective journeys to exchange greetings. "Who are these two?"

"My brother and sister, Stevie and Stacy," Sam said, then turned to the children. "Say hi to Kurt and Blaine."

"Hello," they chorused, then the boy stared at Kurt and continued, "I like your pants! Red is my favorite color."

Smiling, Kurt said, "Thank you, Stevie. That's very nice of you to say."

Stacy just blinked at them and tugged on Sam's hand until he crouched down beside her so she could whisper in his ear. Whatever she said made him glance at Blaine and grin. "You're right," he told her, then prodded, "You should tell him."

She shook her head shyly and said, "You."

Still smiling, Sam looked up at Blaine from his crouch and, very seriously, intoned, "Miss Stacy would like to say you have beautiful eyes like a Disney Princess."

A soft, touched smile crossed Blaine's face and he hunkered down beside her, holding out a hand. "Thank you very much, Miss Stacy. You just made my day," he said, then, when she placed her little hand in his, Blaine kissed her knuckles like someone out of an old movie.

While Stacy did the little girl equivalent of swooning, smiling and hiding her face on Sam (though she continued to hold onto Blaine's fingers), Stevie shook his head at his sister, then said, "C'mon, Sammy, I don't want to be late!"

"You won't be," Sam assured him, then stood. "I've got to drop these two off that Chuck E Cheese for her birthday party. What are you guys doing today?"

"Nothing in particular," Blaine told him and Kurt nodded in agreement.

"Wanna hang out?" Sam asked guilelessly. "I have to stay here until their party's over and the only thing I was even thinking about doing was getting a haircut, but I'd rather spend time with friends."

Kurt blinked. Sure, he considered the guys from New Directions his friends, that they really didn't hang out, especially now that Kurt was going to Dalton. Still, Sam seemed sincere enough.

He always did.

"Sure, fine with me," Kurt agreed. "Blaine?"

"Sounds good," Blaine said with a shrug, then found himself being towed along by Stacy.

Kurt followed, amused, then pleasantly startled when Stevie snagged his hand. "So, who's birthday are you two off to?"

"Billy Stewart!" Stevie said happily. "He's awesome! The other day, he drank a bunch of milk and grape juice at our afterschool program and threw up everywhere! And it was…what color did you say it looks like, Sammy?"

"Lilac," Sam replied, scrunching up his nose. "I'm just glad I wasn't the one who had to clean it up."

"It was icky," Stacy said, face adopting the same expression as Sam's.

Clearly, the Evans family had good DNA because they were all adorable.

Dropping Stevie and Stacy off at Chuck E Cheese went smoothly and it was clear that Sam had the big brother thing down pat, handing over the gift and exchanging phone numbers with the birthday boy's mother. Then he waved to the kids and grinned at Kurt. "So, what do you guys want to do?"

Eyes ticking to the shaggy mop on Sam's head, Kurt said, "You mentioned something about a haircut. Is Quinn not liking the Bieber look?"

Sam's face fell and his broad shoulders slumped. "We broke up."

"Oh no!" Kurt exclaimed, reaching out to pat the boy's arm. "What happened?"

Pursing his lips, Sam blew out a breath, a thoroughly distracting habit (in Kurt's opinion), and mumbled, "I was raised never to speak ill of a lady."

So, she did something. "Did she sleep with Puck again?"

"Not Puck…and I don't know if she…ya know, but…."

"Cheating is cheating," Kurt told him firmly, resolving to call Mercedes ASAP to find out what had gone down. "A makeover could make you feel better."

That got a little smile out of Sam. "It's just a haircut. I saw a Supercuts when I…."

"Ugh, no!" Kurt shook his head. "You need to see real stylist…."

"No," Sam interrupted, then flushed. "I can afford Supercuts, so that's where I'll go."

Kurt blinked. Sure, compared to him and Blaine, Sam's look was a little shabby, but that was actually quite common among teenage boys. He'd never really considered the idea that maybe Sam just couldn't afford nicer things.

"Oh," he said awkwardly, looking at Blaine for help, but he seemed just as lost. "I, uh…."

"It's fine," Sam assured him. "Things got a little tight for a while when dad lost his job, but he started a new one last week and were going to be okay."

"Are you at least going to get rid of your bad dye job?" Kurt asked, falling back on humor.

"I don't dye my hair," Sam shot back reflexively, corners of his mouth tipping up in a smile.

"You have roots," Blaine pointed out gently and Sam snorted.

"Lemon juice, okay. I'm blonde-ish, just not this blonde," he admitted ruefully. "Think I should buzz it off? Start fresh?"

"No," Kurt and Blaine chorused, shaking their heads in tandem and making Sam laugh.

"Your facial features are very strong," Kurt said evenly. "A buzz cut would make them too…much."

Sam sucked his full lower lip into his mouth and then heaved a sigh. "It's my mouth, right? Everyone hates it, but it's not like I can do anything about it."

Clearly, some straight teenage boys had funny insecurities about themselves, despite looking perfect. At the moment, Sam just looked so darn sad….

"I'm sure hate is too strong a word," Blaine said gently. "Your lips are very prominent, yes, but in a good way. You're very handsome. Embrace it."

Thankfully, Sam was a rare boy who didn't feel threatened when complemented by a gay boy and simply smiled a little. "Thanks."

An hour later, they sat on the food court, enjoying a snack. Kurt had a strawberry-chocolate swirl frozen yogurt, Blaine a coffee milkshake and Sam a vanilla yogurt with raspberries on top. Sam's new haircut was quite good, neat and tight on the back and sides, a little longer on top, a style he wouldn't have to put much thought into beyond combing it. His natural color did seem to be a dark shade of blonde, a deep rich gold with brown low lights and Kurt thought it suited him.

In the middle of regaling Kurt and Blaine with a story from his own days at boarding school (it involved a llama, honey and a cranky teachers office), Sam paused. "Hey, Kurt," he said, tapping Kurt's wrist with a knuckle. "That guy over there is checking you out."

Freezing, Kurt asked, "What?"

"Hipster guy, glasses, with three hipster girls," Sam elaborated. "He's been eyeing you up for like 5 minutes."

Kurt turned slightly and saw that a boy was indeed smiling at him. Startled, he whipped back toward Sam and Blaine. "Oh God, what do I do?"

"Go say hi," Blaine offered with an encouraging smile.

"What if we're reading things wrong?" Kurt asked uneasily. "That would be bad."

"You're not. He's watching you," Blaine assured him.

With a sniff, Kurt said, "And you're an expert on knowing when someone is interested… Sorry. Sorry. That was catty."

Blaine frowned into his milkshake and Sam asked, "If you knew he was interested, would you be interested in him?"

"I suppose, I mean I don't know him, but I could get to know… Wait! Sam, what…."

The blonde had stood and was walking over to the hipster guy, who looked startled. It was an understandable reaction. As cute as Sam was, he was a large boy in a football jacket. If hipster boy was indeed gay Sam probably looked like the enemy.

Whatever Sam was saying seemed to ease hipster boys concerns though and his entourage of disaffected girls were suddenly peering at Sam with interest.

After a brief conversation, Sam wandered back to their table and reported, "His name is Chandler. He's very interested, love sure…something about military inspired clothes. He wants you to have coffee with him."

Kurt blinked. "When?"

"Now."

"What! But, I'm not dressed for a date…and we're here to…."

"Go!" Blaine urged him with a smile. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, I'll keep Blaine company, dude," Sam assured him. "Besides, we can see the Starbucks from here, so it's not like you're going far."

Taking a deep breath, Kurt nodded. "Okay."

He was going on his first date. Sure, it was just mass marketed coffee in a mall, but it was a step in the right direction!

Watching Kurt timidly introduce himself to Chandler (whose enthusiasm seemed to ease some of Kurt's fears), Blaine smiled, then turned to Sam, who seemed to be trying to wipe frozen yogurt off of his raspberries. "That was nice of you," he said. "Going over and talking to him for Kurt."

Sam shrugged. "He's put up with a lot of bad stuff this year. It was the least I could do."

"Don't belittle an act of friendship," Blaine told him. "From what Kurt has said, you stepped up before. You're the one who got a black eye from Karofsky, right?"

"Well, yeah, but Mike and Artie were there too! It's not like I was alone," Sam protested. "Kurt's my friend. I don't know why people are surprised when I act like he is."

"Because most straight high school boys are afraid to be seen as too friendly with an openly gay boy," Blaine informed him with a rueful sigh.

Sam pursed his lips. "I'm not, you know."

"Well, obviously you're an exception to the rule."

"No," Sam said, shaking his head. "Well, yeah, but no I'm not… straight. I'm not gay either. I'm bi."

"Oh," Blaine replied, surprised. "I didn't know. Does Kurt?"

Shaking his head, Sam said, "I was with Quinn, so it never came up. Why should it? It's not a big deal. I never understood why anyone else should care about that."

"The world would be a better place if more people felt that way," Blaine told him, then smiled. "What are you doing to your yogurt… Or should I say, your berries and the dollop of yogurt under them?"

"I don't want to get fat," Sam mumbled and Blaine looked him over.

"Fat-free frozen yogurt is not going to do you any harm," he teased gently. "You look like you're in great shape."

"Not good enough to make her not cheat on me," Sam sighed. "I mean, I know that I'm a giant dork, but I figured if I looked good and played football then it wouldn't matter."

"I'm sure nothing you did or didn't do influenced her to do whatever she did," Blaine said, feeling triumphant when Sam took a little bite of the yogurt. "Why do you think your dork?"

Sam shrugged. "Cuz I am. I like comics and science fiction. I want to illustrate graphic novels when I grow up. I go to the planetarium and the science Museum for fun. I thought taking her to a paint your own pottery please sounds like a good date…."

"Color Me Mine? I love that place," Blaine interrupted, smiling openly. "And, honestly, I think everything you just said is great. What comics are you into? I know it's indecisive, but I love both DC and Marvel. I mean, how do you choose between Superman and Batman or Avengers and X-Men?"

Brightening visibly, Sam nodded, "Yes, exactly! An impossible choice. Though Cap is my favorite."

"Oh, Iron Man all the way," Blaine replied happily. "Are you excited for the Captain America movie that's coming out this summer?"

"Is movie verse JARVIS the most sarcastic and awesome AI ever? Of course!"

From there their discussion evolved into a drawn out comparison of their various fandom interests and somehow ended up with Blaine admitting that he totally shipped Dean and Castiel on Supernatural.

Sam hadn't been phased in the least. "Hell yeah," he agreed. "They might not know it, but they're epically in love…Do you want to see a movie with me tonight? Or next weekend, if you're hanging with Kurt later?"

That made Blaine blink. "I… Are you asking me out?"

"Yeah," Sam said, cheeks turning adorably red. "The dollar theater is marathoning the first three Star Trek movies. I was thinking of going after I bring the kids home…."

"I'd like that…."

"I have a date!" Kurt announced, practically throwing himself into the chair that had been left open for him and staring at them in mild panic. "Like a real, going to dinner date!"

He was smiling though and his face was pink with a pleased blush. Sam grinned at him and held up his hand for a fist bump. "Good for you, Dude!"

"Don't call me dude," Kurt replied quickly, but knocked his knuckles delicately against Sam's. "When am I going to do? I don't know how to act on a date."

"Just be yourself," Blaine assured him. "Clearly Chandler likes you."

"Yeah and trying to be with someone else wants is a lot of work," Sam said with a nod. "When's your date?"

"Tonight…Oh, what am I going to wear?" Kurt exclaimed, then rose. "I need to find an outfit…or at least a good piece to build an outfit around."

Like a man on a mission, Kurt made a beeline for the nearest boutique with Blaine and Sam following.

"What time does the movie start?" Blaine asked and Sam grinned.

"6 PM. I'll bring a backpack so we can sneak snacks and soda in...and tacos! We could grab some Taco Bell right before we go into the theater, it's just down the street."

Smiling, Blaine laughed. "Star Trek and tacos? You certainly know how to woo a guy."

Sam blushed again and Blaine decided that the day spent at the mall had turned out far better than he'd even dared to hope.