I just can't get enough of this ship. I love love love them together! And I still think that the writers need to address Beth's existence in some way. It's just not normal to ignore it!

Lor Menari

The first time Sam sees her, she's brawling in the corridor with a Latina cheerleader, shrieking about a boob job and getting dragged to the ground in a tangle of bare arms and legs that ordinarily would have intrigued him in a totally inappropriate way.

He skirts along the edge of the crowd and watches as a curly haired teacher breaks them apart and admonishes them both.

When the dark haired cheerleader loudly taunts her for being a mother, he watches her face contort into a mixture of anguish and rage that tugs at him even though he can't say exactly why.

When he asks about her, discreetly, of course, he's informed that she's Puckerman's baby mama and that she gave her daughter away last year. Does he really want to tap that, Karofsky sneers and because he just wants to fit in for once, he shakes his head.

Next time he sees her she's dancing around the yard with a bunch of other people dressed in black, singing about New York and wearing a big smile, but he can't see her eyes because they're hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

Sam's Nana Rose always says that the eyes are the window to the soul. Or is it the mirror? He's not sure, but he gets the feeling that Quinn Fabray's eyes would tell a lot.

The first time he gets a close up look at her, he's standing in the girl's bathroom and dripping a mixture of water and bright red slushie all over the floor. While he's rinsing his hair clean, she makes a reference to Avatar that makes him look up at her and those eyes hit him like a battering ram to the gut.

"Lor menari," he says quietly, unable to resist standing just a little closer to her. "It means 'you have pretty eyes'. In Na'vi."

The explanation of the Na'vi phrase makes her eyebrow shoot up but her lips curve into a slight smile and she brushes his hair from his forehead gently before leaving the bathroom, her vanilla perfume lingering behind her.

Sam knows that she's had a hard time last year. No matter how hard she tries to hide it, the signs are unmistakeable. The set of her narrow shoulders when Puck is around, the unspoken words that hang between the two of them, even the stickers on the folder she carries are all of little pink teddy bears and flowers. When Finn calls Rachel 'baby', Quinn flinches slightly and Sam wonders how nobody else in the Glee Club seems to notice how much she's still hurting even though he thinks it almost vibrates in the air around her.

He knows he shouldn't have tried to kiss her in the science lab, but God, she's just standing there with those big eyes and looking so fragile and lost that he might as well have tried to stand on his head as not lean in towards her and try to kiss away some of that sadness that was always in her.

When she backs away her gorgeous eyes are filled with a heart wrenching mixture of regret and sorrow and even a little bit of fear and Sam feels like the biggest jerk that ever existed.

Singing Lucky with her is, for him, the turning point in their relationship. She might try to hide it, but when she sings Quinn wears her heart on her sleeve and when she looks at him and gives him that smile, he knows that she's beginning to trust him.

And despite blurting out that he dyed his hair and his dorky impressions, she shyly admits that maybe this is a date after all.

When he kisses her gently on the cheek after dropping her home, she slides her hand into his and looks up at him and he can't help pressing his lips to hers just once and whispering in her ear.

"Lor menari."

Okay, so asking her to wear his promise ring is a little over the top and the fleeting look of panic in her eyes is a little worrying, but when she doesn't slap him, Sam figures he has a chance.

Quinn still refuses to talk about Beth with the exception of a passing reference to going into labour in front of a crowd when they are backstage at Sectionals. All Sam can do is hold her hands tightly in his and sit a little closer to her to offer her some comfort the only way he knows how.

When they sing Time of My Life and she's looking at him with her eyes alight, he feels ten feet tall.

Sometimes, she still looks sad, but he always manages to make her smile when he whispers in her ear.

"Lor menari."

His mom loves her, her mom seems to like him, and for a while, Sam thinks that everything is pretty much perfect.

It doesn't last.

Back at school, Quinn doesn't show one day to class and when he sees her at Glee, she's sitting next to Puck, their heads bent over something. Sam waits for her to notice him and when she does, she silently hands him a photograph of a blonde baby girl, dressed in pink and grinning happily at the camera.

Quinn's eyes are full of what he can only describe as heartbreak and it breaks Sam's heart too because dammit, he loves her and he can't bear to see those eyes so sad.

Puck gets up and silently leaves the room. When Rachel sees what Quinn is holding, she casts an apologetic look at Quinn and she and Finn follow Puck to make sure he's not doing anything that'll land him back in jail.

Quinn waits a moment before leaving and he can feel her trembling. When he covers her hand with his, she bolts from the room and he's left there, seven pairs of eyes watching him uncertainly. Tina, sitting beside him, quietly whispers to him that Quinn will be in the girls bathroom near the gym because nobody ever uses them and she won't want anyone to see her like this.

When he pushes the door open he sees Quinn standing there, hunched slightly, arms wrapped around herself, breath coming in short, painful gasps. The photograph of the smiling baby has fallen to the floor, face down. Her eyes meet his and Sam steps forward to her side, afraid to touch her and afraid not to.

"Beth."

The one word is enough to break the dam and Quinn begins to cry. Sam wraps his arms around her and just lets her. Somehow, they end up leaning against the wall, him holding her tightly and her clinging to him, brokenly whispering Beth's name over and over. Tina and Mike poke their heads around the door and silently leave Quinn's bag on the floor before leaving them alone.

When she has cried herself out, Quinn looks up at him, exhausted. Her eyes are swollen and raw from crying but she seems lighter somehow. "Thank you."

Sam smiles down at her and wipes away a stray tear with his thumb. "You're welcome."

"Why do you put up with me?" She asks the question simply and looks up at him, all pretence of being strong gone.

"Because I love you." His answer is equally simple. For Sam, the biggest thing is that he just loves her. He doesn't care who she was with before him, or what happened to her in the past.

"Why?" Quinn asks softly, her voice hoarse from all the sobbing. "I'm so screwed up, Sam. I'm no good for you, or anyone else."

He tightens his grip on her and hushes her gently. "You're amazing, Quinn. Just the way you are."

She snorts at this and cuddles closer. "Quoting Bruno Mars?"

"Cliché, huh?" Sam smiles and kisses the top of her head. "Ready to go?"

"Not just yet," she whispers. "Can we stay for a while? Please?"

Sam nods and sits there silently until she's ready to go. When she finally gets up and slips her hand into his, he looks down at her. Her eyes are still sad and all swollen, but he thinks that she's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

"Lor menari," he murmurs softly to her.

Quinn's smile lights up the bathroom and she leans up to kiss him softly before whispering into his ear.

"Irayo."

I would like to stress that I know no Na'vi, and I've only seen Avatar once so any incorrect phrasing can be blames on the internet translation site I used!

Let me know how you feel about this little one, it annoyed me until I wrote it!