Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who read the previous chapter. Please review! :)

lcb22796

Chapter 14

"So if you need anything, just give me a call, okay? I'll be right there down the street. My house is just a few blocks away from here." The landlady, Mrs. Potters, says to Sam as he examines his new medium-sized apartment, his temporary home for the time being. Puck is such an amazing friend to have all these things be arranged for him, and he doesn't know how to thank him enough. "Yes, Mrs. Potters."

"Hey, you have a huge pile of books here, huh?" She asks while staring to Sam's huge collection of books involving some classics and a few literary winners. "Well, started it as a habit 2 years ago, you know, for anti-depression."

"Good for you. I see you're so much interested in books, there's a cool bookstore here in Jacksonville, check it out and you'll see what I'm saying."

"Okay," was all that he could say because he just wants to rest because he's tired from the flight. His employer would give him 2 days to adapt to the neighbourhood, and after that he said that he could start working.

Before he went to sleep, he went to check on his email and sent a quick message to Puck telling him he got to Jacksonville safe all the while checking his inbox, too. He has a message from Olivia.

Sam,

It's been two years since everything happened. Although we got a divorce, I never got the chance to truly apologize to you… and to Quinn. I know I was selfish back then, when I tried to kill her, but can you blame me? If you were in my position, I'm sure you're gonna do the same too. Don't worry, I've come to accept what you did and we can never go back to that time to change everything that has happened. So if you would allow me, just to make it up to you, please meet me at the Tallahassee Regional Airport, I have some business to do there and I know you're in Jacksonville, Puck told me. So please come. I don't what happened between the both of you, but I'm hoping you're still together. I hope you can bring her too, if possible.

-O

Sam reread the email a few times thinking about what would Olivia want from him when they've both moved on. It wouldn't hurt, why not give it a try? He said to himself. And so he replied to her saying he's gonna be available for the next two days and they should meet up tomorrow. But something in her email felt wrong to Sam. I'm hoping you're still together, she said. He realized that he did everything just to have her, separate with his wife, feel like a jerk, destroy his life, but he never got her. It was as if he did no justice for leaving Olivia.

"So why does the store owner need to tend cash when all she has to do is to check on her store?" A familiar voice sneers into Quinn's hearing, stopping her on her tracks, looking for a familiar visage of someone she's known for years. "Rachel! Oh my god!" She then leaves the counter and waves at the store clerk to replace her and hugs her long-time friend. "Oh my god! I can't believe you're here!"

"Guess what, Quinn?"

"Yes?"

"I'm gonna get married!"

"What?!" She then backs away from hugging her, giving her the what-do-you-think-you're-doing look.

"I said I'm going to get married! And he's actually here!"

"What? Who? When? Where?" Just then, a tall, white man with a flashing smile comes to their way and Rachel introduces him to her friend.

"This is Finn!"

"Hi." She stretches her hands enough to meet with him and she can tell that Rachel's the one who proposed to this guy. "Nice to meet you."

"And you should be happy, we're gonna stay at your place!"

"Rachel," she says as she pulls her best friend at the far end corner of her bookstore saying "you know I'm not comfortable living with too many people, right?"

"Come on, Quinn. Adding 2 more people in your household is not many! Besides, we're here because we're thinking of starting a family here!"

Quinn just became confused. She knows her best friend too much to know that she's not gonna give up her Big Apple dream. "What? I thought you're gonna die in New York."

"Hey, you should be happy for me! I'm marrying someone I love and living here would make our families super close!"

"Okay," was all that Quinn can say, but she's happy her best friend will be living with her… for a while. She repeats that phrase over and over in her mind, thinking of what chaos will happen if two crazy girls live in the same house.

Sam looked upon the gigantic skyscrapers and establishments towering before him as he makes his way to Tallahassee Regional Airport. Olivia said that she'll be arriving at 11:15 am to be exact, so Sam still has 15 minutes left before he'd meet Olivia.

At first, he thought it's a bad idea talking to her again. It would bring back so many memories of what happened 2 years ago. It would bring back all the negative feelings he had for himself: guilt, shame, hate… He doesn't know why he's doing this anyway, but he figured it would be best if there would be some 'closure' between the two of them.

A few minutes later, Olivia arrived and saw him, his hands on his pockets, giving him a beaming smile on her lips, as if nothing terrible had happened 2 years ago. She walks to him, and her smile grew larger, making Sam realize that she's moved on and so is he… but not totally.

"It's nice to see you again, Sam." They just stood in front of each other, feeling the awkwardness of the situation, but Sam felt the need to hug her. It's almost 2 years, it's time to let go and be friends, he thought.

"Come on, let's get ourselves some food." Sam mouths inhaling the sweet scent of her hair. He had to admit that she aged beautifully, and she grew larger, in a good way. If there's a person I know who suck at breaking up and moving on, well, that's me, he admits to himself.

They ate at a nearby coffee shop, ordering pastries and sweets, and some coffee too. Olivia was not really that hungry, as she ate during the flight. They had conversations about how life went when they separated, mostly Olivia talking, and Sam is happy to see that finally, Olivia got the best of herself. She showed him a picture of her son, Malcom, who is a year old now.

"He's cute," he says noticing how much her child resembled her in his facial features.

"Yes, he is."

"So, who's the lucky man?" He asks noticing that she kept mum about the love talk itself. She only shared her work, and her son, but not that lucky man.

"I know you're wondering, he's wonderful and all but…" She starts talking about her husband, looking down at her food.

"But?" He presses her when she suddenly stops.

"He's a workaholic."

When Sam and Olivia were still together, as Sam could still remember, she's all so touchy-feely that he needs to be there for dinner, with exception if he has to work for extra time, so he would go home after work, to see her, hang out with her, eat dinner together, and sleep together. He realized that Olivia will forever be a family woman, valuing the importance of being a family together, so this husband she's saying must fix himself for his family.

"Oh," was all he can say, knowing that he can't compare himself to the new husband as he had made mistakes himself, too.

"I thought you'll be going with her, where is she?" She says noticing that Quinn isn't there. Though it still hurt her how things went for the three of them, she wanted her to be there. To apologize. There's no better apology rather than saying it personally.

"I… Quinn is in…" Sam doesn't know what to say. Of course, he has to say something, but it would be a shame for the both of them, because he left Olivia for nothing. Finally, Olivia finishes it for Sam. "You two broke up?"

"Yes, two years ago." He finally admits.

"What? I thought you two are married now, having kids, or something like that." She's supposed to ask him what happened but she knows what really happened, she tried to kill her. Oh god, the things I did just for love… God, forgive me.

"I'm so sorry, Sam… I swear… I wasn't my best self that day when it all came to me. I'm so sorry." She says, holding both Sam's hands, tears watering her eyes.

"No, Olivia. It's done. I've forgiven you. I think she's the reason why we broke up… She couldn't handle all the complications, I guess she wasn't that strong enough that time." He says.

"God, Sam. I've been too selfish… I wish I could really apologize to her. Do you have any news about her?"

"She just left me without explaining myself, so that was the last time I saw her."

"I'm so sorry, Sam." She says knowing that this was the hardest for Sam. She knows he loves her enough to cheat on her, and to throw their relationship away like that, it's just too much for him.

"Don't be, I know wherever she is, she's happy now. If not, then she should be coming back to me, right?"

"Yes. But I still wish you'll find happiness, Sam."

Olivia finally says goodbye to Sam, saying that she needs to run some errands in the city. They've exchanged numbers and confirmed each other's email addresses, showing that they're good as friends right now. They hugged each other for a little longer, knowing that all the connection they had when they were together was still there, just needs a little booster. They're both thankful for each other for that talk and meetup, knowing that that time would be done again in the near future, hopefully with their families.

Sam came back to Jacksonville a little earlier than he expected, so he used his spare time to tour the city, looking at potential hangout places when he's bored in the apartment. He then remembered his landlady saying about the newly built bookstore a few blocks away from his apartment. He walks to that direction and sees the bookstore for himself.

One requirement before he enters the bookstore is to see if there's anything classic or a literary winner displayed beyond the glasses. And there are, tons of them, actually. But then a familiar figure catches his attention. A familiar figure, a very familiar hair, a familiar smile, a familiar face, and when he thought all the luck of his fate abandoned him, he was wrong. There she was, smiling happily at the customers, tending to their needs and giving them what they want.

He wanted to enter, get inside, tell her that he's there, that they can start again, but he just can't. So he backs off, walks away, and when he gets home, all he could think of is how happy she looked that day that he knows if she sees him, it will just hurt her again.

And so he'd try his best to hide himself to her, like he never existed. Just to make her happy.

Please review! I will try to update as soon as I can! :)