I know I say this a lot but… I am really, really, REALLY sorry that it is taking me way too long to update this fic. And I am also going to apologize in advance if this chapter is too short for your liking. BUT, because of the blasted 7-week hiatus, I will be writing a new chapter every week to compensate.

I also want to take this time to thank ceruleanblues for her review for this fic. It really made my day and I'm glad that you (and a few others) understand the way I write. Thank you very, very, VERY much! And, of course, I want to thank all of you (as always) because you're all awesome! All the reviews, constructive criticism or not, really helps. Makes me a stronger writer. Makes for a better story too!

Anyway, here it is!

It took everything inside of Quinn to pull herself away from Sam. Though she longed to be with him for years now, it didn't seem right for her to take advantage of Sam's current situation. "We can't do this," she told him regrettably while taking a couple of steps back.

"Why not?" he asked with a sad look upon his face.

"Because it's wrong, Sam! Alice passed away only six months ago. How do I know that you're being sincere right now? How do I know that you want to be with me wholeheartedly and not just because you're lonely?"

He stared at Quinn in bewilderment. Sam could not believe that she would ever think that he's capable of manipulating her in that way. There was no one else that he could picture being with after Alice. "Don't you remember what I told you on my wedding day?" he asked her.

"What are you -" Quinn's thoughts suddenly reverted back to that very day. She knew that he had told her something then but thought that it wasn't important. "I-I didn't catch what you were trying to tell me."

Sam reached out for her hand and gently caressed it. "I told you that night that I'll love you no matter what. Q, you don't ever forget your first love. Never. And I never forgot you."

She shook her head in protest, looked him in the eyes and said, "We can't. Not when you're like this. I mean, look at you! Look at this house!"

"I'll change! Quinn, I promise, I'll be a better person for you."

"No, Sam. You have to do this for yourself."

"No," he said in protest as he walked past Quinn and sat on the living room couch, "I like it this way. No one's nagging on me to keep my feet off the centre table... I can leave my stuff everywhere and no one would care." For the first time in years, Sam didn't feel constricted in any way. Sure, he didn't like the way the house looked but living without a care fits him somehow. Quinn looked at him in disgust as if he were a wild pig. She stormed out of the living room and made her way towards the kitchen. Confused and in a slight panic, Sam stood from his comfortable seat and followed her to the chaos that awaited him in the kitchen.

As he entered, Sam found Quinn cleaning the mess he had left on the counter. "W-what are you doing?" he asked her nervously. She had taken out the garbage bin under the sink and tossed all of the garbage lying around.

"If you're not going to clean this up, I will," she replied quickly.

"No!" he called out as he took the garbage bin from Quinn.

"Do you not notice the smell in this kitchen? It smells like a cat died in here. The more you keep all of this crap lying around, you'll die of the fumes coming out of here or food poisoning. Do you want that? Do you want to die six months after your own wife?"

He took a deep breath in and, for the first time, he smelled exactly what she had blatantly pointed out to him. Sam looked at Quinn with a mortified look on his face. I've fucked up. Big time. As Quinn was about to reach for the garbage bin to continue cleaning the house, Sam wrapped his arms around the bin with a firm grip – hugging the pile of garbage ever-so-close to him. "No," he told her once again in protest.

"Samuel... Evans... Give me the damn bin!" she ordered with as much authority as she could muster.

He quickly walked away from Quinn, began to pick up the litter around them and placing it inside the bin without saying a word. A smile slowly crept in on her face. There's the Sam I know, she told herself. As Sam continued to clean up the mess around the counter, Quinn took out some more cleaning supplies from under the sink and began to clean the dishes that have been sitting out for God knows how long.

"Thanks," Sam finally muttered under his breath as he continued to do his work.

"For what?" she asked him.

"For waking me up."

Though Sam had offered for her to stay in his now-newly-rejuvenated house, Quinn decided to stay over at Puck and Rachel's during her two-week vacation. She knew that staying with Sam would only complicate things. Knowing Sam, he would try everything and anything to win her back. However, she had made a promise to Alice first before anything else. Her feelings for Sam will have to wait. Quinn was helping as a friend and she was helping her friend pick up the pieces of his broken heart. Whatever happens afterwards will happen in time, she told herself.

Her first night in Ohio was rough. Since she couldn't sleep, she sat in Rachel and Puck's living room with a cup of hot tea in hand – thinking of Sam and wondering what he was up to at that very moment. Was he out again getting wasted? Is he sleeping soundly on his bed? Or was he awake, unable to sleep because of the thought of her?

"Hey," Rachel suddenly greeted Quinn as she made her way towards the living room, "Why are you still up? Don't tell me that work is calling for you."

Quinn gave her a warm smile and motioned for Rachel to sit down beside her. "Can't sleep," she finally told her friend, "Must be the time difference or something."

"What are you talking about? New York and Ohio are on the same time zone," Rachel replied sharply, "Anyway, I know you're thinking about Sam. So just spill it. How was your visit?"

"It was okay... He's changed a lot. It's as if he doesn't care anymore."

"I told you so."

"But I changed him back."

"What? W-What are you talking about?"

"I made him clean his whole house."

"You did not!" Rachel said with a shocked look upon her face, "We tried that and it didn't work! How - What did you do?" As Quinn recalled what had happened that afternoon, Rachel sat listening to her in bewilderment. Then, a smile appeared on her face and she grabbed hold of her friend's hand.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked worriedly, "Is your baby kicking?"

"No," she replied, "I'm just happy you're here." Quinn smiled at her friend and nodded in agreement. "Sam needs you more than ever, Q. He didn't want to listen to us because he was waiting for you all this time."

"I... I don't know about that."

"Fate is giving you an opportunity here, Quinn. Sure, you can go ahead and take things slow all you want. But, the time for you two to be together starts now," Rachel held her hand tighter to show her sincerity regarding the subject, "Don't let this chance pass you by. If I didn't take the plunge with Puck, do you think we would be happily married and awaiting our first child now? Think about it."

As Rachel walked out of the living room, Quinn sat on the couch alone once again with all of her thoughts racing through her head. Then, she remembered the letter from Alice that Sam had given her.

Once she entered the guest room, Quinn found Alice's letter on the nightstand by the bed. Slowly, she made her way towards it and looked at it nervously. After much consideration, Quinn sat on the bed, reached for the letter, took a deep breath and opened it.

"My dear friend Quinn," the letter started, "If you are reading this letter at this very moment, that could only mean that I have perished from this world and have left my husband." The tears began to roll down Quinn's face. Though she did not spend a lot of time with Alice, she reserved a special place inside her heart for her departed friend. They became close friends fairly quickly and never did Quinn ever think of Alice in a malicious way. It broke her heart that someone with a kind heart was taken from this world too soon. "I only hope that Sam is coping well and, seeing as I have you to look out for him, I know that he is in safe hands."

"Now, as I could only imagine, you must be wondering why I have written this letter. You see, Quinn, I wanted to let you know of what I am doing to/ have done to Sam." Quinn's heart began to beat quickly.

"As it became clear to me that there is no hope for my survival, I have decided to part ways with Sam both physically and emotionally. Knowing my husband, moving on – especially getting over a loss like this – is hard for him. Thus, I thought that it was best that I break his heart while I was living to help him heal faster when I do pass on."

"Though this may sound absurd to you, this is the only plausible thing I could really think of to help him forget me. This is also the reason why I did not write him a letter and only made one for you. Like I have mentioned, I know that you are watching over him and helping him through this difficult time. This is why I know he'll be okay. Because he has you. Which brings me to the second reason why I have written this letter. Not only am I disclosing to you of what I have done to Sam, I am also asking you for one last favour."

"Quinn, please love him. Love him the way you did before. Love him the way I know you still do. I know, deep within his own heart, he still keeps the memories of you and the feelings that he has for you there. You played such a huge part in his life throughout high school, through his marriage to me and, now, my death, that I can't possibly think of another woman I'd want him to be married to but you."

"Please take this into consideration. I know it's hard and quite bizarre, to even think of being with Sam right now, but, in time, I hope that you two will find peace and, most importantly, love in each other's arms. With all my love, Alice."

Quinn quickly folded the letter and sobbed quietly. Feeling more troubled and lost because of Alice's request, she didn't know how she was going to break the news to Sam or whether she should let him know of the contents of the letter. Due to the amount of respect she has for Alice, she felt as though it is not ethical for her to think of creating a future with Sam. What do I do now?