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Artie was surprised when Kurt had informed the gang (as in Sam, Mercedes, Rachel, and him) that the Monday Potlucks were back on. Though he understood- they only had such a short amount of weeks before Rachel was off to shoot her show and Mercedes was off to make her record dreams.
Artie didn’t know much of what direction he was going yet he was waiting to hear news on if he was one of the selective winners on his short film he had created and entered into a young adult summer screenwriting contest. He also knew that Sam’s modeling job was getting pretty serious, he just didn’t know how much nor how much Sam was sacrificing himself for this.
The potluck was going smoothly, jokes going all around and Artie found himself smiling and laughing till tears in his eyes in between bites he didn’t notice how Sam picked at his food in portions and was making more food jokes than actually eating. It wasn’t until after the group's laughter had died down- Arite looked over to his friend’s plate to see much of his food left.
He raised an eyebrow at the taller male, before making a small remark- “Yo, Sam- No playing with your food.” He said, in a bit of a fatherly tone of voice to joke around. Sam looked at him, an expression Artie couldn’t read before a smile was cracked. Sam just laughed and grabbed another piece of his food then made another joke- causing their friends to look at him and laugh.
Artie bit his bottom lip, something wasn’t right. He laughed along before taking another bite of his meal. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sam take a small bite of his sliced up food and his stomach turned uneasily. He knew he’d have to confront the blond.. Just- later.
Later came around sooner than Artie liked. Mercedes has left already after helping with the dishes. Kurt was putting the rest away while Blaine and Rachel talked a ton about upcoming musicals. Sam was sitting more off by himself and Artie realized that now would be a good time to approach him. He rolled up to his friend before clearing his throat, “Sam? Can I talk to you out in the hall?”
Rachel, Blaine, and Kurt didn’t pay attention to them- Sam just raised an eyebrow at Artie before standing up from the couch. “Yeah, sure- what’s up man?” They both walked (well, Artie wheeled) out of the loft before Artie told the other three that they were gonna talk real quick. Kurt shot him a wink and Artie pursed his lips, wondering what that was supposed to mean.
They made it out to the hall and Sam leaned against the wall- crossing his arms and waited for Artie to start talking. “What happened there?” Blurted Artie and Sam’s eyebrow just raised. “What do you mean, Art?” He said a bit defensively. Artie huffed, “You know what- you doing weird things with your food and avoiding eating it.”
Artie watched Sam purse his lips and his eyes flicked away before shrugging. “I’ve got a photoshoot later this week, gotta watch what I eat.” Artie furrowed his eyebrows, “By barely eating your important meals? If you ask me, yo, that doesn’t sound exactly healthy.” “Yeah well I’ve got to be careful, one wrong move I can be cut. Then I’m finished.”
“You say that as if there is nothing else you can do with your life- If your managers are causing you to risk your health with theses stupid diets then I highly suggest getting new managers.” Sam just kept his arms crossed- shifting from foot to foot as he met Artie’s stern gaze. “Well the thing is that- yeah that’s the only thing I can do in my life. I can’t throw this, Artie.”
“Bullcrap! You’re Sam Evans! You can do so much in your life, modeling isn’t your only path in life.” Sam just stared at Artie and slowly deflated, uncrossing his arms and letting himself slide down the wall. “Yeah but what if- what if it is the only thing in my life. Mercedes is getting record deals, Rachel is getting her own show, Kurt and Blaine are becoming New York's cutest couple slowly. You are most definitely gonna win that screenwriter thing you always talk about. What am I doing?”
“Succeeding! C’mon, you’re barely giving yourself any credit. You’ve gotten through so much, yo! Now don’t let some stupid, 'know it all', managers try and destroy the confidence you held back then. Either you tell them off or I’m going to go and roll those assholes feet over, man!” That got a laugh out of Sam as he looked up at Artie from the floor. “You’re a good friend, y’know?”
“Of course I know, I’m R-T- Artie Abrams!” They both laughed, memories to the stupid Friday performance they did at prom filling their head. “Alright, c’mon- let’s go join the crazy kids in there. I better start seeing you eat better these days, Sam.” He said the last sentence in a more serious voice. Sam stood up from the floor and cracked a smile at Artie, “Alright, bro. Thanks for believing in me.”
Artie stuck his hand out and Sam fist bumped him. “No problem, man. We gotta stick together through and through!” “If you ever need anything, or just to talk to… I’m here, Art.” Artie smiled, noticing Sam genuinely meant that then nodded. “Gotcha bro. Let’s go in now.” “Alright, R-T Abrams.”