Love The Stranger (Glee)

Set Yourself on Fire

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“When there's nothing left to burn, you gotta set yourself on fire...”

- Jeff Wills

~Sam~

An aroma of Bacon and eggs fills the dining room. The familiar comfortable sounds of clinking plates and splashing orange juice cups, the loneliness of a family dog begging for scrap food from younger siblings, and a Dad reading the news paper, a Mom engaging in a game of "Where Are My Keys?" when they're in the same place they usually are. On the counter, in a flower spotted dish -- along with a few Jolly Ranchers and a spare Tech Deck Sam had got for Stacy, who ended up giving it to Stevie, who left it there a month ago. It's been in the room for years just like the familiarity of another day at the Evan's household.

Most people would take their time to eat, as breakfast would be the only time they'd see their family before an eleven hour school day. Well most people aren't Sam Evans, most people know how to handle stressful situations and their nicely compacted set of secrets buried beneath their food eating habits. It doesn't hurt to grab another slice of bacon, or to slip away whilst his family is distracted, the dog a pushover when it comes to a person with no food.

But there's something stopping Sam from leaving the table, something gnawing at him from the inside. Damn those Sunday School classes where he was taught to be honest, and damn them for being so effective when it came to a little boy just wanting to make friends even if he was homeless and smelled a bit like raisins. Hey? They were good back then!

"Mom, Dad," Mary and Dwight Evans weren't always distracted by mundane things like the Newspaper, yet here they are, emersed in the normal. Nevertheless, they adhere to standards and pull away from their controlled chaos for Sam. "The student I'm tutoring is on track to graduate next month."

"Oh my stars! That's great, Sam!" Mary's lips pout, and she holds her hand to her heart; no one knows if she's about to cry or faint when she does this. "Why don't you bring him over? We can celebrate, right hun?"

"Right," Dwight says, sipping down a large gulp of Orange juice. "I'll buy cake -- how 'bout it, Son?"

Now this, this is definitely not what Sam wanted to hear coming from his Parents' mouths. At most, he was looking forward to some congratulating, and maybe a suggestion to buy a present in which Sam would probably use for himself -- not an invitation to see Tony in person. Are his Parents finally going crazy?

Mary and Dwight Evans aren't known for their good deeds. Sam's Parents don't spend each day offering gifts to strangers, they're not conventually kind. The most they put into being outgoing is attending those group meetings with other low income parents. So they never really push to meet new people, much less throw a party for them.

Whatever it is, may it be the crazy, or just his Mom and Dad opening up to new things, Sam has to think of a way to escape their expecting gazes.

"No, it's ok. Tony's not really a people person," Sam says, inching his fingers towards his bag on the ground. Stevie yells at the dog and a cling! sounds out as a fork hits the tiled ground. "He uh -- doesn't like meeting new people, that's all."