𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 || s. evans

TWENTY FOUR

Rubbing her eyes, Izzy stumbled down the stairs to get a glass of water. She couldn't sleep ever since that day where she visited a memorial of a gay man that had been a victim of hate crime.

It was awful, and Izzy was worried sick about Kurt and Blaine. New York was supposed to be safer than Lima, but hate crime rates were just getting higher. She only hoped that they would be safe.

"What are you doing up so late?" Izzy groaned as she heard the TV play.

"Watching TV," Sam replied.

Taking a better look at what he was watching, she took a seat next to him. "Damn, Facts of Life. I haven't watched this in awhile. Mind if I watch with you?"

"Sure. It's amazing," Sam gushed. "This old redheaded lady runs this boarding school for lesbians, and then I think the lesbian school burns down. The old redheaded lady opened up this pot dispensary called Edna's Edibles. They all work there."

"Yeah, I know," she ran her fingers through her hair. "So how are you not asleep yet?"

"When I moved to New York, Blaine started reading me Star Wars Fan Fiction until I got tired," Sam guiltily admitted. "Can't sleep without it."

"I prefer Harry Styles fan fiction," Izzy mumbled under her breath. Guilty pleasure.

"You know, you never told me why you dumped me," he changed the subject.

Izzy hesitated before answering. She knew they would have this conversation soon, but she was not prepared to have it at midnight on a Sunday. Wait— Monday.

"Well, I was going away to college and I just needed to focus. No distractions. And I also couldn't really do long distance," she kept her eyes trained on watching The Facts of Life and tried avoiding all eye contact with Sam.

"I'm in New York with you now. And you seem pretty distracted with your friends, and the weekly dinners, and—"

"I get your point," she replied. "But having a boyfriend is a lot harder. Like, you're kind of an attention-whore. In the best way possible."

Sam nodded and took a big spoonful of cereal. "Cool, cool, cool, no doubt, I totally get it," he nodded unconvincingly.

Both of them went silent as they stared at the screen, watching the show right in front of them. The tension was prevalent as ever and the silence only grew louder.

"Everyone's doing something here, you know?" Izzy said, breaking it. "You and your modelling, Rachel and her Funny Girl, Mercedes and her record deal."

"You should totally try out for some dance audition. You're so good at it, they would probably give it to you just by looking at you," he tried encouraging her.

"Thanks," she gave him a warm smile. "But I have school and I don't even know whether I could pull it off," she snuggled up under the covers, sinking into the couch.

"If Rachel can do it, you can too," he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She allowed herself to lean on his shoulder as both of them drifted off slowly.

*******

The NYADA Midwinter Critique was a disaster. Both Rachel and Blaine failed because they sang a duet, but they had the chance to redo it. Only Rachel had just dropped out of school.