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The decision to share a two bedroom apartment between four people was one based on necessity and luck.
Blaine and Kurt had talked about him moving into the Bushwick loft with him, Rachel, and Santana but it was just too crowded. And Blaine couldn’t deal with the whole no walls thing. Plus, he and Kurt realized that while they were both ecstatic to be back together, they weren’t ready to live together yet. Maybe the following year, but not yet.
Tina had taken one look at the NYADA dorms and cringed. She knew that New York apartments weren’t going to be much better, but at least she’d get some choice in where she lived and who she lived with instead of being assigned a random building and a random stranger.
Sam couldn’t stay in Lima anymore and he hated Kentucky. He loved his family but he didn’t want to be a burden to them. And all his friends were either moving to or already were in New York, it seemed like the obvious choice. Plus he’d be able to rent a shared studio space in Brooklyn for pretty cheap and work on his macaroni art.
Mercedes was bored out of her mind in Lima. Sure, she had gotten a great job at her church in the child care center but she needed a creative outlet. With Tina moving to New York for school, she began looking into studios that offered internships. In her search, what she found was a songwriting partner that had a similar story to tell and a home studio.
Tina wasn’t sure who threw the idea out there, it could have been any of them. But it was Kurt who found their apartment. A two bedroom apartment a ten minute walk from the loft with large living room and a bathroom with double sinks that had plenty of closet space for four people with very different tastes and sensibilities.
They loaded up a U-Haul at the end of July and started the road trip to New York. Kurt, Rachel, and Santana were waiting for them in front of their new building when they pulled up and a couple of hours and a broken IKEA bookcase later, they were officially moved in and laying on the air mattresses Tina’s dad had sent with her until they bought real mattresses. They slept in the living room that night, all seven of them curled up around each other. Rachel, spooning Kurt who was spooning Blaine, Tina resting her head on Santana’s shoulder, and Sam and Mercedes somehow wind up cuddling with her face against his chest. It’s easy and comfortable and when they all wake up in the morning, no one mentions it because what’s the point?
The four of them spend the summer adjusting to each other. Sam and Tina like to shower at night, Blaine and Mercedes in the morning. Blaine can bake but good Lord, do not let him near a knife because somebody’s going to get accidentally stabbed. Tina wakes with the sun, takes her coffee black first thing in the morning and can usually be found out on the fire escape reading a book when you can’t find her. Mercedes is a fanatic about making grocery lists before going to the store. Sam, it turns out, is terrified of bugs and will trap them under cups if no one else is home to kill them.
They fall into easy patterns, though. Tina and Sam go for a run most evenings, while Blaine and Mercedes make dinner while watching reality TV. Their apartment becomes a second home for the three living in the loft due to the giant flat screen Mr. Anderson gave Blaine as a graduation gift. At some point during whatever they’re watching, Blaine and Kurt disappear into the room he shares with Sam and a necktie materializes on the knob. Still, no one says anything because they are blissfully happy together and no one can begrudge them some alone time so long as Blaine cracks a window when they’re done.
School starts and Tina and Blaine are sleeping odd hours and often crying over what happened in class. Sam gets a job at a comic book store and spends a lot of his time there helping little kids pick out their very first comic book. Mercedes starts writing almost everyday with her partner and they are polishing up the lyrics to get ready for their studio sessions.
Blaine wasn’t sure when he realized it, but Mercedes and Sam are in love with each other. He comes home from class and often finds them on the couch watching TV together and the way they make each other laugh... One night when they are making dinner, he tries to bring it up with her but Mercedes silences him with a look.
He tells Tina though the next morning on the train to school.
“So our roommates are in love,” he says simply, sipping from his travel mug.
Tina groans. “Ugh... I know!”
“Wait, you know?” Blaine snaps his head to the side to look at her.
“Are you kidding? It’s so obvious! Last night Sam talked about that dress Mercedes wore to church on Sunday for twenty minutes. I mean, come on!” She chuckles and pulls out her iPhone, skipping to a new song. “And she keeps talking about wanting country influences on her album. On an R&B album.”
Blaine smiles and takes another sip of his coffee. “So what do we do about it?”
“We don’t do anything, Blaine. It’s not our business, they need to figure it out on their own.”
He nods, stretching his legs out in front of him and flexing his feet. “I might join you guys on your run tonight.”
She snorts at that. “You won’t be able to keep up. We’re averaging a six and half minute mile.”
“Six and a half?!”
“While talking,” she add with a smug grin.
That night, Blaine doesn’t join them because Mercedes has a date. An honest to goodness date with a friend of her songwriting partner. Sam cancels on Tina, claiming to be sick but it’s obvious he wants to get a look at the guy. His name is Trey, he’s a bassist in a ska band, tall and lanky with closely shaved hair. He’s covered in freckles, has full lips and a smile that even makes Blaine’s stomach flutter. Tina gives him an approving look as she slices tomatoes for a salad. Mercedes gives them all a warning look as they say things about ‘back by midnight’ and ‘curfew’s are nonnegotiable, young lady’ as she leaves.
“Can you believe that guy?” Sam says, stomping into his and Blaine’s room and slamming the door shut.
“Okay, TayTay, we have to do something.” Blaine quickly stirs the salad dressing, blending the oil and vinegar together.
“Yes, we do, Blainey Days. Yes, we do.”
Sam and Mercedes barely speak for the rest of the week, almost avoiding each other. Mercedes tells Tina that they kissed but she didn’t feel anything and they decided to just be friends. Sam purposely spends more and more time at work and in his studio space.
That Saturday, Mercedes leaves early to meet up with her partner for the day and Sam never came back from the studio the night before. Blaine sends him a quick text to make sure he’s still alive and learns that Sam won’t be home until that night. The Food Emporium had pasta on sale for sixty cents a box and he’s got a good groove going.
He taps on Tina’s door before going in. Tina’s nowhere to be seen but the window is open. He stick his head out the window and finds her with her nose buried in Uta Hagen’s ‘Respect for Acting’.
“Let’s do this.”
Tina nods and folds down the corner of the page she is on.
They have to work fast. Just because they are both supposed to be gone all day doesn’t mean they will. They move all of Sam’s things into the hall so they can move Tina’s belongings into what will now be her and Blaine’s room. She’s put them all back in order once Sam’s are in place.
Kurt comes over and even though he gives them both shit about interfering, he’s sick of the dance they’re doing as well. The only difference in Sam’s set up is that Kurt organized his closet by color.
It’s late when Sam and Mercedes come home. Kurt and Blaine are in the bedroom, necktie on the door and Sam sighs at the sight of it, going into the kitchen and makes himself some Easy Mac. Tina’s in the couch, curled up under a blanket and still reading Uta Hagen.
“Run tomorrow?” she asks, glancing up from her book as Sam sits in the recliner they bought off a neighbor that was moving out.
“Yeah, we’ve been slacking off this week.”
“Speak for yourself. I willingly went to three extra dance classes.” She flips a page and yawns. The noise from the bedroom is picking up again and she rolls her eyes. “I’m thinking of taking up a collection to rent them a hotel room for their anniversary.”
“That’s not ‘til spring,” Sam says with his mouth full.
“They have a different kind of anniversary in November.” She puts the book down and stretches out on the couch.
“Oh,” Sam says, shoveling another forkful into his mouth. “Well, I’ll chip in what I can.”
“I’ll see if I can get a good Groupon or something. Maybe one that includes a couples’ massage.”
“They’d like that.” He rests his bowl in his lap and stretches his fingers out. “I need to find a material that isn’t so tiny.”
“What’d you do today?”
Sam says nothing, just keeps eating and stretching his hands out. Mercedes comes breezing in, tired but smiling. She doesn’t say much to either of them but goes straight to her bedroom.
“SAM EVANS, WHAT IS THIS?”
Tina jumps up from the couch and runs down the hall to the other bedroom, tapping on the door. “Put your pants on, it’s happening,” she calls through the wood.
She goes across the hall to Mercedes’ room and finds both her and Sam staring at their surroundings. Sam looks confused, Mercedes looks pissed.
“What the hell?” Sam says looking around.
“Look, we--”
“Tina, what is going on?” Mercedes sits on her bed, glaring angrily at her.
“Blaine and I talked about it and--”
“And what? You’d rather share a room with him than me?” Mercedes asks, sniffling.
“No!” She climbs on to the bed beside her friend. “I love you, it’s just--”
“Just what?”
Kurt and Blaine come into the room, both looking disheveled but at least they’re dressed. Except Blaine’s shirt is inside out and Kurt’s is buttoned wrong. Maybe Tina hadn’t thought this through.
“Look, I’m tired, can we deal with this tomorrow?” Sam asks, collapsing onto his bed. “I slept on that awful futon in the studio last night and I just want to sleep.”
Mercedes purses her lips and looks at the exhausted blond boy. “Fine. But we’re switching it back tomorrow.”
“Fine.” Sam sits up and brushes past Kurt and Blaine going into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.
That night, as they lay in bed, Tina and Blaine can’t sleep.
“Were we wrong?” she asks in quiet voice, playing with the end of her pigtail.
Blaine sighs, rolling on to his side to look at her across the room. “I don’t know, we’ll see.”
When they wake up in the morning, they’re surprised that they don’t hear Sam moving things around or Mercedes grumbling about what they had done. They’re no where to be seen. Not even the coffee maker is going. They tiptoe to the room and open the door a crack. They take off for the living room, both gasping and squealing at what they saw.
Mercedes in Sam’s bed, tucked under his shoulder and her head on his chest. His hand resting on her waist, holding her close. Both sound asleep with smiles on their faces.
“Wait, wait--before we start celebrating, let’s see what happens,” Blaine says, holding Tina still. She nods and they go about their morning like nothing happened. They don’t talk about it. None of them. Sam never moves his things out of the room and Mercedes never asks him to do so. At some point around Halloween, Tina notices that they had pushed their twin beds together. When she tells Blaine, they high five but say nothing else. It’s not their business but seeing their roommates happy makes them happy. And that’s all that really matters.