"What do you mean you're not moving back, Sam?" Finn complained as he sat up in bed. He was on the phone with one of his best friends; okay, so maybe they weren't best friends anymore, but they were still close. Sam moving back was supposed to get them back on track so they could be brothers again.
"I can't just leave my family in Kentucky because my friends want me to, Finn. I have to help them out here," Sam explained with a sigh. From the tone of his voice, Finn could tell that Sam misses Ohio. He wants to come back, but he just has too many responsibilities in Kentucky.
"But wouldn't you coming back to Ohio help your parents out? They wouldn't have to pay for more food because you wouldn't be there."
"Yeah, but they still have to pay for my education, no matter what state it's in. Besides, I can't leave Stacy and Stevie behind. They'd kill each other without me there to stop them," Sam chuckled a little. Then his tone got serious, "And I just got a new job, so I can't suddenly quit after one week."
"You got a new job? That's great, man," Sam didn't sound too excited about it, but it was new after all. Finn hated his Sheets and Things job when he first started. Actually, he never liked it, but things got better once he was used to it. "Where?"
"Uh…Dairy Queen," Sam hesitated for a minute. Finn raised an eyebrow in questioning. "Look, I gotta go. Mom needs me to help with dinner. I'll come up to Ohio to visit soon, I promise."
"You said you'd do that over the summer too, and you haven't."
"Sorry, man. Really. I gotta go. Bye, bud." Before Finn could stop him, Sam hung up. With a groan, Finn lied back down on his bed. This means he's going to have to go through his junior year of high school without Sam with him; that's going to be impossible. Even when they fought, Sam was always there for Finn ever since sixth grade. Finn can remember the day he met Sam like it was yesterday.
Four Years Ago:
Finn hates English class. He already spoke English; why did he have to learn it? Not listening to his teacher, Finn continued to doodle random stuff on the desk. He was about to finish up his space ship when the door opened up. The principle stepped in with her bright smile and five inch high heels. Puck whistled at her like normal, making Finn laugh. Finn wasn't into older ladies like Puck seems to be, but he'll admit, Principal Brookes is rather pretty and young. Puck gets in trouble just to get sent to the principal's office. Finn tells him not to make a habit of it, but he knows Puck won't stop doing bad things. It's just who he is. Hopefully that won't continue when they're older. Finn wouldn't want his best friend to go to Juvie or something crazy like that.
"Mr. Ward, we have a new student," Principal Brookes interrupted the lesson. Ward, who is totally in love with the principal, flushes when he realizes that she's in his room.
"Uh, right," He clears his throat as he pulls at his shirt collar. Puck slapped Finn's arm with a smirk and points at Ward's pants. There's a bulge.
"Eww!" Finn accidently shouts. Everyone looks at the boy as he claps his hands over his mouth.
"Nice dude," Puck chuckles.
"Class," Principal Brookes, completely aware of the situation and found it completely hilarious, smiles at the classes laughs. She doesn't address the problem or Mr. Ward—like normal, because he's a creep—and steps aside from the doorway. Behind her, a small boy with moppy blond hair steps into the classroom with a nervous frown. "This is Samuel…"
"Sam!" he half whispers to her.
"Right, Sam Evans," Principal Brookes puts her hand on his shoulder, making him blush.
"Dude! Check out that kids mouth!" Puck shouts and points. He really has to stop doing that. Sam gets even more red when everyone looks at him.
"What's wrong with it?" Finn asks, not noticing.
"How many tennis balls can you fit in your mouth?" Puck asked Sam as he stood up. Sam stuttered for a while; this was not a good start to being a new kid.
"I-I don't know. I've never had any balls in my mouth…have you?" Sam must have done something right, because everyone was laughing, just not at him. Puck smirked a little; he was impressed. Finn tried not to laugh; no one's ever said anything back to Puck like that before. Leaning over to his best friend, Finn smiled.
"I like this kid."
"He's alright," Puck shrugged. Finn could tell Puck was getting a little insecure. That rarely happens, so it's kind of entertaining to see. Principal Brookes left the room and Sam sat down in the empty seat which happened to be behind Finn. Puck leaned over from his spot beside the brunette kid and held his fist out for Sam. "Sup, dude."
"I'm not putting that in my mouth if that's what you want," Sam shook his head and leaned away from Puck's hand. Finn chuckled and Puck smirked with shock again. Leaning back in his chair, Puck gave Finn a nod and crossed his arms over his chest with a smile.
"Alright; we can keep 'im."
From that day on, the three boys were as thick as thieves. They concurred the rest of middle school, joined the football team their freshman year and got to the top quicker than anyone's ever seen freshman do before. They were unstoppable and inseparable. That is until Quinn happened. Finn always saw it coming, deep down. Ever since the day Sam and Quinn met, Finn could tell that something was up.
Three Years Ago:
"I hear Sammy's not the new kid anymore," Puck whispered to his best friends during history class. Sam and Finn were in the row behind Puck, side by side like usual. Sam frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"There's a new transfer girl. Hot too," Puck wiggled his eyebrows. Just then, the class could hear Principle Brookes heals walking down the hallway. She walked right into their room, looking as young as she did last year, this time with a blond girl behind her instead of a blond boy. While Puck just smirked at the newbie, Finn and Sam went blank.
"This is Lu-" The girl tugged on Principle Brookes' hand to get her attention. She whispered something into the lady's ear and the young school leader smiled. "Quinn Fabray."
"Man, our principal is bad with names; she messed you up too last year, right Sammy?" Puck asked, looking back at the still moppy haired boy. Sam didn't even notice; he was too busy staring at Quinn. "Sam? Sammy?" Puck whistled as if he was talking to a dog while he waved his hand in front of Sam's face. Sam didn't even flinch. "Man, what's up with him?" Puck asked his other best friend, but got no response. "Finn?" Finn was frozen too. Puck scuffed and turned back around in his seat to doodle in his notebook. "Weirdoes."
"You may sit…" the history teacher scanned the room for an empty spot. Finn and Sam jumped out of their daze and into action. Both of them got up to offer their seat for Quinn, pointing at their seats with goofy smiles. Puck couldn't help but chuckle. "Sit down!" The teacher barked at them. They both frowned with disappointment and started to sit down, "Actually, Finn, switch one desk over to the right."
"Wait, wha'?" Finn wasn't really paying attention.
"Move, dude! Move!" Sam swatted him away, knowing that it meant Quinn would be sitting next to him. When Finn realized it, he practically jumped into the next row and fell into the chair. Quinn smiled, a little amused and a little creeped out by both boys behavior. She wasn't used to this kind of attention. Once she sat down, she could feel both of them watching her through the corner of her eyes. She finally looked to between the two of them.
"What?"
"Oh, uh…" Sam and Finn realized they were probably smiling really creepy at her. Sam cleared his throat and held out his hand for her to shake.
"I'm Sam," he tried not to smile too much so she wouldn't notice his long lips. Before she could shake his hand, Finn tapped her on the shoulder. She turned her head around to see him holding his hand out too.
"I'm Finn."
"Uh…" she was confused on whose hand she should shake. Instead she just nodded once and gave them a little smile. "Quinn." Both boys dropped their hands with disappointment and turned toward to 'focus' on the lesson. They frowned at their notebooks, wondering what they did wrong.
It only took a short minute for Puck to turn around and smile at her. "Oh, dear god," Quinn mumbled to herself as she hid her hand with her face.
"I'm Puck," he winked at her. She just glared, not amused at all anymore.
"What kind of a name is Puck?"
"His real name's Noah, but he thinks that's dorky," Finn told her with a shrug. Her mouth formed an 'o' as she looked at the dimpled boy. When he realized that she was actually looking at him, his cheeks turned red. It only made Quinn smile; how adorable, she thought.
"Right."
"Shut up, dude!" Puck glared at Finn, who smiled apologetically. Quinn laughed as the two of them started to bicker with each other. She leaned towards Sam, still watching the arguing boys.
"Do they always act like this?" Sam's smiles shook with nerves.
"Yeah, pretty much." Quinn just nodded and was about to start paying attention to the class. Not wanting to miss his chance, Sam opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out but a small noise. Quinn stared at him with her eyebrow in the air. He let out a breathy, embarrassed laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm new too…sort of. I was new last year…but now I guess I'm kind of old. Well not old. I'm only fourteen…almost fifteen…but that's a couple months away…my birthday I mean…and I'm rambling," Sam felt like curling up into a ball and dying right at that moment. He covered his face with his hand and shook his head with embarrassment. It wasn't until he heard a bell like giggle at he realized Quinn wasn't weirded out at all.
"It's okay." She admitted with a kind smile. Sam turned another shade of pink. Puck turned around to face the two of them and smirked at Quinn; Sam knew what that meant. He was going to ruin things for him.
"Sam dyed his hair." Quinn let out a little, squeaking gasp but held it in because she didn't want to be rude.
"Dude!" Sam would have punched Puck's arm if he could reach. Puck held his hands up in surrender.
"What? You did!"
Sam continued to shake his head and buried it in his crossed arms over his chest. Quinn felt kind of bad, but she couldn't help the smile on her face.
"Why?" She asked Sam even though he wasn't up for talking. Finn decided to step in to gain her attention back from Sam.
"He used lemon juice. It's true, I was there." Finn chuckled, looking at his friend who suddenly popped.
"Finn!"
"Sorry, bro; the girl asked." Finn gave Quinn a smile. She giggled a little and bit down into her lip to stop more laughter. She didn't want to hurt Sam's feelings. Sam was shaking his head, making his blond locks sway.
"It's okay," She reached over and touched his arm lightly for a second. It made Sam stop what he was doing, completely in awe that she touched him. "I think it's kind of cute." She admitted with blush. Sam's smile was like one hundred watts.
"Crap." Finn mumbled to himself as he sat back in his seat. He was screwed.
But Finn was the one that ended up asking Quinn out at the end of the summer. Finn was the one who ended up dating her while Sam was the third wheel to everything. Finn was the one that got to kiss her and hold her and get all her attention; Quinn choose Finn; plain and simple. But Sam was always in love with her; Finn was too in love with her himself to notice. Quinn always knew; it was sort of obvious.
Sometimes, she'd catch Sam staring at her in class, but he'd always look away right after. Or he'd offer to walk her to class but then Finn would show up out of the blue. Or Sam would offer to drive Quinn home from one of their group movie nights because Finn fell asleep during the movie. Sam did all the little things that could go unnoticed by others because they were innocent and Sam was just a kind hearted guy. But Quinn always knew he meant more to it than normal. She never felt the same way though; at least, not as much as he did. She loved Finn; she didn't start giving into Sam until Finn had joined New Directions randomly their freshman year and he was constantly around Rachel freakin' Berry.
Two Years Ago: Quinn was having a horrible, horrible day. During Cheerios practice, the girls lifted her up and she was strong for a while until her leg started to buckle. Sue noticed the little quiver and shouted that Quinn better lay off the bacon if she wants to be head cheerleader soon. Feeling embarrassed and fat, Quinn held her tears in until they were dismissed. She got changed as fast as she could and ran out onto the football field to try and find Finn. She really needed his support right now. Catching Puck about to run into the locker room, Quinn ran up to him and grabbed his elbow. "Puck, where's Finn?" She asked in a hurry.
"He ditched practice again because he's practicing some lame show tune with that Berry chick. She's kind of hot, actually." Puck shrugged and walked off into the locker room. Quinn felt more tears sting her eyes, and this time, they ran free down her cheeks. She ran off, trying to hide them from everyone else outside. She made it up the bleachers and sat halfway up before collapsing down into one stand. She hid her face with her hands as she sobbed; Finn was with Rachel! He ditched football for Rachel! Quinn would honestly be okay with the whole 'my boyfriend's in the glee club now' thing if it wasn't for the fact that man hands Berry was into Finn and probably putting moves on him right now. Quinn was crying so hard, she didn't hear someone come up in front of her.
"Q?" a familiar voice asked, laced with concern. Quinn looked up to see Sam standing on the step in front of her, frowning with worry. He was still all changed from practice and had his football bag over his shoulder. Quinn sniffed away the last tears, whipped them away and tried to hide her face from one of her best friends. "What happened? You okay?"
"I'm fine, Sammy," Quinn tried not smile, but she couldn't. It hurt too much too. She felt all alone. Luckily, her blond curls were down to block Sam's view of her tear stained cheeks. Not like that helped much because Sam wouldn't give up until he got to the bottom of them. He dropped his bag down onto the bleachers, making it clunk, and knelled down in front of her to get a better few of her face.
"Hey," He said gently. He lifted her chin lightly with his fingers before giving her a friendly smile. "You know you can tell me anything." She did know. She knew perfectly well that she could tell Sam anything because he'll always be there for her. "Come on?" he asked as he rubbed her cheek free of tears. He didn't care if he was over stepping bounders. Sam's her friend; she needs a friend right now. Sam would do this for any of his female friends…if he had any real ones other than Quinn that is.
Quinn sniffed and dropped her chin again. "It's just…Coach called me fat and I can't find Finn and…" Quinn froze when Sam brushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear. She looked up right when he rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb. 'He's a friend Quinn…just a friend' Quinn thought to herself as she stared back at him. Expect friends don't look at other friends like that. Not that kindly, and intensely and lovingly. Quinn couldn't help thinking that Sam is right there; close enough to touch. 'Sam's here and Finn's not' Quinn thought. It made her feel selfish, but she didn't care. She didn't care if Sam was here 'as a friend'; she knew he'd be more than that if… "…can you take me home, Sam?" Quinn asked with a weak voice.
Shock was written all over his face. His hand retracted back from her cheek and to his side as his lips parted. Quinn looked into his eyes to see what he was thinking; 'I shouldn't…she's your friend, Sam…you're Finn's friend…but Finn's not here…who cares! She needs a friend, you can't take advantage of that…but what if she wants me to?' Quinn could read all that just from his eyes. She could tell Sam was battling himself; he can have everything he's ever wanted right at that moment if he wanted. And he wanted.
"Sure; of course, Q."
Finn should still hate him. Finn should want nothing to do with Sam Evans anymore. You don't do that to your friends; you don't sleep with their girlfriends behind their back and get them pregnant. You just don't. Every time Finn thinks about it, he feels a little sick inside. It's like someone just told him the truth all over again.
Fist collided with bone and skin over and over and over again. Sam tried to fight Finn off, but at the same time knew he deserved it. His fighting became less and less as he gave in; Finn could hit him all he wanted. Sam was sure that he had a busted lip and a bruised eye, but he didn't care. He hurt his friend; he deserves to be hurt back.
"You son of a bitch!" Finn kept shouted as he beat up what used to be his best friend. Mr. Shuester finally ran into the room and pulled Finn off of Sam.
"Hey! What the hell is going on in here?" Mr. Shuester asked as held Finn back with one hand on his chest and the other hand stretched out towards Sam incase the other boy pounced.
"Tell me the truth!" Finn yelled, his voice raspy with anger and tears that he was fighting off. Sam was panting, holding onto his jaw with his opposite, not bruised hand. Quinn took a step forward from where she had jumped back; Finn had ran into the choir room so suddenly and didn't give anyone a chance to step back before he attacked Sam straight up. Luckily, Puck held Quinn back so she didn't get hit too. Everyone of course formed a half circle around them to see the fight but none tried to stop it. Rachel looked guilty and hurt but she didn't deserved to be hurt. Finn was mad at her too for telling him this.
"Who told you this, Finn?" Quinn was sobbing.
"It doesn't matter who!"
"Rachel obviously told him," Kurt pointed out for good measure. Quinn's head turned in Rachel's direction as the small girl denied it.
"Yeah, it was Rachel. But I want to hear it from you," Finn lifted his hand up in the direction of Quinn and Sam. Sam wouldn't even look at him, much less say anything.
"Finn, calm down," Mr. Shuester said gently.
"No they're both lying to me!" Finn shouted, making everyone jump. Sam shut his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw. Quinn let out a gasp as Finn met her eye. His voice got softer, hoping that she'd still tell him that he's the father and that she never cheated. "Just tell me; is it true?"
"Quinn," Sam whispered, looking at her back through his eyelashes. Quinn didn't even turn to look at Sam to know what he meant by it; he had given up. There was no way out of this and she should just admit it.
That alone was enough confirmation for Finn, he had starred with stunned hurt at Sam as he whispered his girl's name, but Finn wanted to hear it from Quinn herself. He turned his eyes back to her, who was pleading him forgiveness with her eyes. Her arms were wrapped around her small baby bump. And then she slowly started to nod, and Finn's heart started to crack. "Yes; Sam's the father."
Shatter. Finn swears his heart broke in a million tiny pieces; so small they could fit in a pinhole. His eyes dropped down to Quinn's stomach. Everything was different now. That wasn't his child inside of her; that wasn't his daughter, his Drizzle. Tears pricked his eyes and he didn't even bother fighting them. It all made sense to him now; how a month before Finn found out about the baby, Quinn had been kissing him stronger than normal, how she was tugging at his clothes and claimed that she got pregnant through their underwear.
"A-All that stuff about us…not really doing it but still…" Finn couldn't even say it because he felt so damn stupid. "How could-how could you lie to me like that?"
"Finn, you have to under…" Sam took a step forward, trying to reason with him.
"You shut up!" Finn snapped at him; he was about to spring again, but Mr. Shuester held him back. Finn started back at Quinn, who let out a sob when he shouted at Sam; he doesn't think she deserves to look hurt. She's the one that's killing him inside. "I'm done with you." Finn shook his head. "I'm done with…done with all of you!"
Finn knew that he would never truly be done with that that day. He'd always love Quinn because he believed that first loves last forever. Sam will always be his brother, no matter how bad things get or what wrong they do; and Beth will always be his daughter. She may not have ever been biologically his, but he's still her dad in his eyes. Once you love a child, thinking it's ours, they're yours forever. Finn had told Kurt a while back, before he knew the truth…'She's my daughter, and…there's so many things I want to say to her, and I'm never going to be able to. Like how I don't want her to think that her father just abandoned her. How I would do anything for her. How, no matter what I do, I'm always thinking about her. How I'm going to spend my whole life loving her and she's never even going to know it.' Well, Finn was never able to tell her all those things he wanted to say. He never got to tell her how he would do anything for her. He never got to say that no matter what he's doing, he's always thinking about her. How he'll spend his whole life loving her and she won't even know it. All those things are still true, even if Finn isn't her father. Hopefully Sam thinks the same; Finn knows he does. That's the one of the reasons why Finn forgave Sam. Finn forgave Sam because Sam is the father of that baby, and will love her just as much as he had, even if Quinn and Sam gave Beth up for adoption. The other reason Finn forgave Sam: because Finn knew how much Sam loved Quinn.
A Year And A Half Ago:
While everyone went back to the competition, a few important members had to stay behind. Quinn, who had just given birth, and Sam, who was too in love with his daughter to leave her. While Quinn was thankful for the glass that separated her from the baby, Sam had his forehead and finger tips pressed against it. He couldn't get close enough to Beth. Both of them wanted to hold her and never let go; Quinn just knew that if she held Beth again, she'd never be able to give her up. Sam didn't want to give Beth up at all.
"She's beautiful," Quinn whispered, tears fighting her pride. Sam smiled as he watched Beth yawn from through the glass. He spread his fingers and pressed his palm against the glass as if Beth's hand was on the other side.
"She's perfect," Sam said just as softly. Hearing him say that just made things twice as hard of Quinn; they were both completely head over heels in love with their child. If only Sam didn't want to keep her, it would be easier for Quinn not to. Sam finally said it out loud, "Do you want to keep her?" his voice was gentle, not pushing her to say yes or no, but it was edgy, as if her saying no is like stabbing him in the heart with a knife. Quinn closed her eyes, unable to look at the baby and say this at the same time.
"No." Quinn swore she heard Sam suck in his breath, but when she opened her eyes, he hadn't moved an inch. His hand closed in a fist against the glass before he lowered it to rest his fingers against the windowsill. He let out a small sigh, as if saying goodbye already, and closed his eyes. "Do you?" Quinn had to ask. She had to know. But Sam didn't answer her; when he opened his eyes, there were tears making the green a shade darker. Quinn bit down into her lip, willing herself to be the strong one. Wrapping her robe and her arms tighter around herself, Quinn closed her eyes again to ask her final question.
"Did you love me?" Sam didn't even have to wait to think about it.
"Incredibly," Quinn opened her eyes, but didn't turn to look at him. She can see his reflection through the glass. He never took his eyes off the baby, but she felt his fingers lace with hers. "Especially now." Sam gave her hand a squeeze; afraid that he'd let go, Quinn gripped onto his with both of her hands, making him smile warmly. Quinn smiled through the tears and rested her weight against Sam's side. She held onto his hand with both of hers and closed her eyes. It wasn't until she felt Sam kiss her head and lean his against hers that she knew; she can do this. They both love Beth too much not to. They can do this.
They never kept Beth and Sam and Quinn didn't last; that was partly Finn's fault. If Quinn hadn't still had feelings for Finn, then maybe Sam and Quinn would still be together now. Sam did give Quinn a promise ring and wanted to marry her one day. Then again, Finn had proposed to her once too.
Two Years Ago:
Quinn and Finn were lying down on his small bed, just resting because of their stressful school day. Everyone had found out about Quinn's pregnancy and she took it roughly. The guys on the football team were giving Finn a hard time too. To make things worse, Sam was completely ignoring both of them and Finn really needs him right now. Quinn was starting to doze off even though it was only seven thirty. Finn had his head resting on her stomach, trying to listen to see if he can hear anything. His hand rested by his cheek with his thumb gently rubbing the small baby bump. Quinn would giggle through her sleepiness at how much it tickled; while Finn was running his fingers against her stomach, Quinn was running her fingers through his hair. This was a peaceful moment, a moment that Quinn cherishes because her live never seems to be peaceful anymore.
Finn stopped humming a tone that was familiar but Quinn couldn't place her finger on—he sings it all the time when she's asleep; she just doesn't know it—and just stares up at Quinn. His eyes are cloudy with thought as he just gazes. His eyes are warm and full of love and hope and make Quinn believe that they can survive everything. "I love you," he says softly. Quinn smiles and brushes down the side of his face with her thumb before continuing to run her fingers through his hair.
"I love you too." That gets the corner of Finn's mouth to smile for a small second as he closes his eyes. Quinn watches as Finn takes a deep breath, buries his face in her stomach, nuzzles his nose against the bump and kisses it a light kiss. Quinn bites down into her smiling lip at the soft, sweet touches. It's moments like these that she can forget that that baby inside of her, that baby that Finn loves so much, isn't even his. It's moments like this that Quinn believes that they are a real family without any corruption. But when Finn rests his cheek back down on her stomach, his head tilted in so his nose was against her belly too, and stares back up at her that Quinn's nerves get to the better of her. For a second, she thinks that he knows. She thinks that he's about to end it all and change her life forever. Little does she know that he is going to change her life forever, just maybe not in a bad way. After another deep, calm breath, Finn speaks again.
"Marry me." His voice is soft, and warm and so perfect that Quinn thinks she imagined it for a moment. When she knows he did say it, she lets out a 'ha' because she thinks he's kidding. He doesn't move a muscle, not affected by her laugh at all. That love and that hope is still in his eyes; his serious, warm eyes that Quinn could build a home in.
"What?"
Finn slowly places his left hand on the bed by her side, trapping her underneath him as he rises. He leans his weight against his hand while his other plays with her left hand's fingers. "Marry me,"
"F-Finn…"
"Not right now; maybe not even any time soon. Maybe not even in the next ten years. But one day…marry me," and she's so stunned, and so amazed, and so in love that she doesn't think about how they wouldn't be ready for it, and how he probably wouldn't want to marry her when he finds out that truth and she answers him.
"Okay."
Finn needs to stop thinking about this stuff. He thinks about it every time he thinks about Quinn, or Sam, or Beth. Over and over again these events play in his head, even the ones he wasn't there for, and he gets so wound up in them that he loses himself for a moment.
Finn loses sight that those things were years ago. He loses sight that Finn's grown from that and moved on; or moved on as much as he could, anyway. He loses sight that he's dating and in love with Rachel now. He loses sight that Sam Evans is his best friend and that Quinn is both their first loves that he'd forgive her for anything. Finn forgets that he ended up breaking Quinn's heart by breaking up with her for Rachel and displayed his love for Rachel in front of everyone at Nationals; now he has to go to school tomorrow, without Sam, and face the music he caused by losing Nationals for the glee club. Tomorrow is the start of the craziest year of Finn's life.
A/N: this took me hours to write, and when I started it, I had no clue what I would be writing, but this came out instead. It's late, and I'm tired so I'm not going to proofread this, so if there are mistakes, I apologize. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this; I think it's just going to be a one shot for now. Let me know what you think! Thank you!