SAM'S ESCAPE

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

SETTING: Quinn's house, special locations, Breadstix

WHO: Sam Evans and Quinn Fabray, others

WHEN: Around end of July/beginning of August

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing related to Glee or any other song/product mentioned below.

The next 3 weeks passed by in much the same fashion except for it getting hotter. Sam had saved nearly two thousand dollars by the end of July and could not be happier. He no longer had to help his parents out financially so he was able to save most of his paycheck except for gas in his car, the insurance on it, and what he spent on fun stuff, like taking Quinn to the drive-in. The fun times, though, were few and far between depending on their work schedules. At the bistro, Quinn was basically working full-time hours as Angela had taken a medical leave of absence due to her pregnancy.

Whenever Quinn's mom and Bill were at the house and talking about planning their wedding, Sam and Quinn tried to get in on the conversation as much as possible to learn about what all it took to put on a wedding. It was definitely an eye-opener to them both.

One night after a particularly exhausting discussion about the costs of a reception, Sam and Quinn were sitting on the couch watching TV when she told him, "So maybe we just elope..." That kind of stung him a bit.

"I haven't even asked you yet...and no," he said. More and more, that was his comeback to her when they'd talk about being married I haven't even asked you yet. He was still trying to figure out how to propose, didn't have a ring, and there was no way in hell he'd run off and elope. "You'll have a wedding, Quinn." She snuggled into his arm then and didn't push the elopement issue anymore.

He figured by the end of summer he might have roughly three thousand dollars saved and would use a thousand dollars of that toward her ring. He knew they could always upgrade it later when they were more financially stable but to get them going a small decent ring would be okay. Her promise ring had only cost him a hundred fifty dollars so he figured he could buy a nice ring for a grand. Then, school would start and his hours would drop, so by the end of the year he hoped to have thirty-six hundred dollars saved even after buying her ring. Surely, they could have a small wedding with that kind of money. Sometimes, after crunching the numbers, he'd actually be sweating from thinking about this and how real it sounded. A lot of times he'd think are we doing the right thing?and then he'd see her or hear her voice or smell her perfume or gaze into her eyes and just be lost in thoughts about her and him.

Sometimes, he'd be daydreaming of exactly how to propose to her. That had to happen at some point, and he wanted it to be special. In his mind, he felt the true proposal had happened at Cedar Point really, but he needed to make it official. He thought he wanted to tie it in somehow to some of their other special moments, like when she said a whole new world on the beach and he pretty much bawled right in front of her.

Finally, one day at the end of July, he had an inspiration, thanks to the computer. He had been messing around on her laptop while she was at work, looking at the OSU page for the Lima campus to see what classes they offered there, when he stumbled upon something very interesting that he kind of wished he had known about before. He checked the hours for the place and called up Mike Chang to see if he wanted to drive over there and check it out with him. He picked up Mike and they drove over and toured the facility. Sam liked it. It wasn't over the top, it wasn't expensive, and it would be personal to them.

"So, why are we here Evans?" Mike said, looking around.

"No reason really...I'm just trying to plan something and wanted to check it out..." he answered, flipping through a brochure about programs and events held there and then saw a section about special events. Weddings and receptions. He grinned...oh my god, he had hit the jackpot.

"Planning something? What?" He grabbed the brochure from Sam and saw what he had been grinning about.

"Are you effing kidding me?" Mike asked as Sam tried to get the brochure back.

"Shut up and give that to me!" Sam whisper-yelled at him.

"Seriously Sam...what the fuck is up?" Mike said, holding the brochure up above his head and then he thought he had a realization. "Oh shit...Quinn's knocked up!"

"God, would you shut up! No...she's not pregnant...god," Sam muttered and grabbed another brochure, tired of fighting with Mike.

"Then what? What exactly are you planning?" Mike asked him, finally calming down.

"I can't say right now...but if you'd stop being such a douche maybe you'll get invited," Sam's smile was huge.

"Oh dude...biggest mistake ever..." Mike said. Sam frowned. "Why do you want to tie yourself down now? You're not even 18, right? I mean, I like Quinn and all but god dude...what about all the other chicks you have not had the pleasure of meeting yet?" He winked when he said meeting.

"I don't want to meet any other girls. I want Quinn and that's that," Sam said. Sam and Quinn had expected some opposition from their parents but not their friends. "Listen, please don't tell Tina we came here. I want it to be somewhat of a surprise for Q."

Mike looked at him for a moment. "So, are you like going to ask her to marry you here?"

Sam looked around the place again. "Yeah...yeah, I think so."

After dropping Mike off at his house (and reminding him not to say a word to Tina or he'd chop his nuts off), Sam drove home, thinking he had the place, now he needed the ring. Maybe he ought to go window shopping or something before just walking in and making the decision. It was too late that day so he decided to focus on that tomorrow and go to the jeweler's alone since Mike had been such a dumbass earlier.

Quinn got home at her usual time, and Sam had some supper waiting for her. They were sitting together at the kitchen table, catching up on their days, when his parents came up from downstairs and sat down with them at the table, looking pretty serious.

"So, you two have been doing some planning for next year? College and such?" Sam's dad asked them. They looked at one another, not sure where he was going with it.

"Uh, yeah, like we needed to get our class schedules ready for next year so we went to see Ms. Pillsbury at school, the counselor, and she gave us info on colleges. Quinn and I are taking biology together..." Sam was interrupted by his father pushing the brochure across the table to him, the one he had brought from Quinn's room to read more about, the one about being married and going to college and how to make it work. He had wondered where that had disappeared to, thinking Quinn had taken it back to her room.

"Yeah, about that..." Sam said, looking at Quinn for any help.

"Are you absolutely sure there is nothing you have to share with us?" Sam's mother asked them.

"I'm not pregnant..." Quinn said quietly.

"Then...you two are thinking about...just getting married?" his dad asked.

"Uhhh..." Sam looked over at Quinn. "We've talked about it...yeah."

His parents both sighed. "You two are not even 18 years old yet. That is a huge decision, one of the biggest ones you'll ever make. You're not through school, you have no money..."

"How old were you and Mom when you got married?" Sam asked, already knowing the answer.

"That was an entirely different situation Samuel..." his mother answered.

"How so? Quinn is notpregnant and we're not ready for that yet. We are, however, ready to make a commitment to one another..." he looked at her again, hoping he had said the right thing. She looked scared but nodded.

"What about school? Where will you live? How will you make ends meet? You would need our permission and frankly I'm not ready to give it to you yet," his father told them. Sam and Quinn had definitely not planned on that reaction; they had counted on the parents granting permission after some discussion of course.

"What? You haven't even given us a chance to really talk to you about it! I haven't even asked her yet!" Sam was trying to keep his emotions in check but had not expected to be told no. Then he heard Quinn, quietly crying behind him. He scooted his chair close to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Is this because of Bill and Judy?" Sam's mom asked them quietly, knowing that the romanticism of people getting married rubs off on other couples in love. And it was blatantly obvious to her, at least, that they were very much in love, even if they were still kids.

Sam and Quinn looked at her. "No...we have talked about this for like a month before they told us they were getting married." Sam said quietly.

"Then, what's the hurry? I just don't understand..." his dad said. Sam saw his mom reach over and take his dad's hand and give him a look. He felt better seeing that gesture, knowing his mom could calm his dad and make him see things rationally.

"I dunno...you kinda ambushed us here...maybe we can go out to dinner or something and talk about it?" Sam asked them.

His dad looked at his mom. "Fine...Friday night then...and I sincerely hope you have some sort of explanation Samuel."

His parents went back downstairs. Sam hugged Quinn.

"They said no, Sam...they said no..." He was kind of surprised at how emotional she was. It bothered him that his dad said he would not permit it, but Sam was sure he could get them to come around. She was sobbing in his arms.

"Hey, hey Q...they said no today...they'll come around, I promise...we'll talk to them Friday, okay? I think my mom is kinda on board...she'll talk to my dad and we'll have their blessing, okay? And, I guess if not, we'll wait until you turn 18 and do it then," he said, trying to calm her down.

She sniffed, wiped a hand across her face, and looked at him. "Okay...Friday then..." she said quietly, her breath still hitching.

He kissed her on the mouth amidst all the tears and what he suspected was snot...a little gross but he did it anyway...and said, "Just because they're being asses doesn't change how I feel about you, about us..."

He walked her upstairs and lay down with her until she fell asleep. He gently kissed her on the forehead, taking another look at her puffy face, then went to the basement to talk to his parents privately. He explained that he had some plans that he didn't want Quinn to know about just yet, that he had money saved for her ring and for a wedding later on, stuff he didn't want to bring up in front of Quinn Friday night...at least not yet. He told them he was sorry they had found out in a roundabout way with the brochure but that he and Quinn had talked about how to handle their senior year and going to college and not starting a family right away. He told them they had not taken this lightly and had put a lot of thought into it and how they wanted their future to unfold and that it wasn't just so he could sleep with her all the time (in his mind though he thought that moving off the couch to her bed on a more permanent basis would rock and that was only to get a good night's sleep...and maybe some morning sex, but he kept all that to himself). He told them it should be obvious to them how Quinn felt about it. I have never seen her cry so hard as when you said you wouldn't give us your permission Sam told them. He told them they weren't planning on getting married next week or next month but maybe by the end of the year and if they had to wait until the day she turned 18 then that's what they'd do. He said that was all he had to say about it, that he knew in his heart his future was with her. He returned to the family room, made up his bed on the couch, rolled over to face the back of the couch, and finally exhaled. Thinking of Quinn crying, though, upset him and he shoved his face in his pillow, himself crying. He felt movement next to him...shit. He wiped away the hot tears and rolled over, expecting a parent to be there to chastise him for something or other.

It was Quinn, knelt down to his level. "I didn't kiss you goodnight..." She kissed him softly, told him she loved him, and went back upstairs.

God, what an emotional night

he thought, waking up the next morning to get ready for work. Too much crying when they were talking about getting married...that wasn't how it was supposed to be, not sad tears. The only thing that kept him going through the day was the thought of looking at rings at the jeweler's where he had bought Quinn's promise ring. The day was long and hot; he had a lot of driving to do around town that day and really just wanted to be done. When he finally left at 4, he saw Quinn's car down at the bistro so he knew she was there and he drove over to the jeweler's.

The jeweler's had the air conditioning pumped up and it was such a reprieve from the heat, he thought. He knew he was all sweaty and most likely stinky from his long day, still in his jeans and flower shop shirt and ball cap, but he didn't care. He needed something good in his life at the moment after the train wreck of the night before. He looked in the cases at the huge diamond engagement rings, of course no price tags on those. He looked at the rings with different colored gemstones. He saw the little promise rings like the one he purchased for Quinn so many months ago.

"May I help you sir?" a lady asked him.

"Umm, hi...I guess I am interested in engagement rings...I bought a promise ring here a few months back..." he stammered over his words.

"Oh, well, we probably have a record of that. For the same lady, I presume? The engagement ring? I'm sure you'd want the same size as the promise ring, correct?" She went to a computer and asked for his name, finding the promise ring he bought. "It looks like the promise ring was a 6.5." She pulled out a tray of the huge engagement rings.

"Ummm...I'm kinda on a budget...and those are probably way outside my budget..." he said looking at the massive diamonds.

"Okay...and how much were you looking to spend?" she asked him, putting the big rings back.

"Maybe a thousand dollars?" he said uncertainly.

"Oh, we have a very nice large selection of rings in that price range! Let me see what I can find..." she started pulling rings from different trays and putting them on the counter in front of him. "We could also order a ring...how soon did you need it?"

Crap...he wasn't sure about that. "Maybe by the end of August?"

"That'd be enough time to order a custom-made ring, if ordered now...do you have any style in mind?" she asked him. He wanted to give her the world but how did you put that into a ring? He just told the lady that...he had nothing to lose.

She smiled at him. She loved dealing with nervous young men about choosing an engagement ring for their intended. This one looked more like a boy, though, quite younger than usual. He seemed to be about the right amount of nervous but at least knew his limits on how much to spend. The challenging part was his request about the world.

"How about something like this?" she showed him a ring and saw his eyes light up. Perfect. It was the perfect ring for Quinn. It was a little more expensive than he anticipated but he could swing that extra money. He put a down payment on it that day to hold it and left the store. Something had finally gone his way. He nearly skipped to his car. Oh my god...I just bought her engagement ring he thought excitedly, a huge grin plastered on his face.

The lady had taken his debit card from his shaking hand and rang up $500 to hold the ring. The ring wasn't anything she'd prefer, not her personal taste, but it obviously meant something to him and his soon-to-be fiancée and seeing a happy customer was good enough for her. Plus the $1200 sale.

Later that night at home, relaxing on the couch, Quinn had told him it was shark week again and that was why she had been so high-strung the night before.

"Oh, I see..." he said but really didn't understand. He was just glad the unprotected pool sex didn't come back to haunt them.

"Are you ready for tomorrow night's dinner?" he asked her.

She kind of shrugged. "I don't know...it's all kinda on the table now. What I'm currently worried about is telling mom and Bill. So...what are we going to tell your parents?"

"Just what we talked about, I guess. What do you think your mom and Bill will say?" he asked, now concerned about that.

"She probably won't believe it until she sees a ring," Quinn laughed. He kind of chuckled but about fell off the couch. It was like she knew he had found her ring that day.

"Remember...don't give up on me Q...I'm working toward it..." he said, trying to bluff and hide the big smile about to erupt on his face at just the thought of her wearing that ring.

"Oh, I haven't Samuel...I have faith in you...in us actually..." She leaned over to him and kissed him.

"Next week, you wanna take me to the fair?" she asked him, the kissing heating up. She reached down to the front of his shorts, feeling him get hard so she rubbed him there a bit, bringing his erection to life.

"Yeah...mmmm...sounds like fun..." he said, feeling her hand move inside his shorts and grip his penis.

That evening ended with a bang for Sam via Quinn's hand.

The next night, they met Sam's parents for dinner at Breadstix. They started off with small talk about their summer jobs and then about senior year and then about their plans for the future. Sam reached under the table for Quinn's hand and held it tight.

"First of all, I need to apologize to you Quinn," Sam's father started. "I never meant to upset you so badly by blurting that out about 'granting permission'. This is obviously something that we need to time to digest. I can see how much you love my son, though. What concerns us most is you two finishing school, high school and college."

"For your age, you two are quite mature, with Quinn dealing with the adoption of Beth and Sam you having to deal with financial issues that no kid should ever have to face...we aren't concerned about your maturity. You seem to get along together living under the same roof and spending most of your time together. Have you given any thought to where you will live? I'm guessing you'd want to move out of Judy's house? How about your jobs when you go back to school? You can only work part-time in high school, maybe swing full-time hours with part-time college. Have you talked to Judy and Bill yet?" Sam's mother questioned them.

"We haven't told anyone else besides you and Ms. Pillsbury, the counselor at school," Quinn answered.

"We were hoping to live at Quinn's until high school is done and go from there, if her mom will let us. Like, pay rent to her mom and Bill or something. Our jobs would be part-time until we finished high school and then we'd work full-time and go to college, partly online and partly on campus. Maybe OSU's Lima campus. We've checked into scholarships and grants...did you know there's money out there for people who can be labeled 'homeless'?" Sam answered those questions. He still hated the word 'homeless' but if it helped him secure money for college then so be it.

"It's such a huge step, kids," his mother said. "What made you two decide that you all of a sudden want to be married?"

Sam looked at Quinn. He knew instinctively what did it for him. "Her eyes…" he said dreamily, gazing at her, then leaning in to kiss her. It was a chaste kiss but about to go the other way when Quinn leaned back from him, whispering Sam. She smiled at him and then turned to his parents.

"I can't picture my future without Sam in it…he's my best friend…" she said quietly to his parents.

"Sam? Other than her eyes, do you have a more practical reason to marry Quinn?" his father asked him.

"My future is Quinn…she's all I want…I don't want to be apart from her ever…I want to make that commitment to her…" he said, confidently. "I actually can't picture moving forward without her…"

"I'm not moving forward without him…" Quinn added.

"And, if you still will not give us permission, we'll get married the day she turns 18…we've already decided. So, we'll be married by the end of this year or 6 months later…" Sam squeezed her hand again.

His parents looked at one another.

"You still will need to get Judy's permission…" his father said.

Sam and Quinn were beaming at one another. He pulled her into a hug, whispering I told you in her ear and he heard her whispering oh my god Sam in his ear. She was teary-eyed when they pulled away.

"Are you serious? You are giving us permission?" Sam asked to be sure.

"You've explained yourselves and seem to have a plan, you are going to stay in school, and you're basically living as though you're married already, except for Sam on the couch. Our only one suggestion is please wait to get married until the new year. If you get married this year, when you file your taxes you'll probably wind up owing money, which your mother and I found out the hard way," his father told him.

"How do you think Judy will respond, Quinn?" Sam's mom asked her.

Quinn looked at Sam, then her hands.

"I'm not sure what she'll say…probably a lot of what you asked us," she said finally.

His parents looked at one another.

"Do you want us to be there when you tell her?" they asked.

"You would do that?" she asked, feeling extremely relieved. "I think it would help…a lot."

"Quinn, we would absolutely love to have you join our family," Sam's mother said. Quinn went over to her and hugged her. Thanks mom she whispered to her. She even hugged his dad, which freaked Sam out a little.

They finished their dinners and headed back to Quinn's. Bill and Judy's car was in the driveway.

"If they are downstairs, are you two ready to run this by Quinn's mom? Remember how we reacted when you first told us the news…it might not be favorable at first but I have a feeling Judy will come around…might just have to give her time," Sam's dad told them, seeming more like an ally to them now. He had always liked Quinn's effect on Sam and had hoped they wound up married, just not quite so soon, but they were obviously determined. After the baby scare, Sam had seemed to change, grow up, so when this came to light at first he had been shocked but after listening to them he felt they had a halfway decent handle on it. He was just waiting for their first big argument to see how they dealt with that.

"Yeah…we need to get it out there with them now…" Quinn said, hoping like hell they were upstairs but those lights weren't on so she wasn't holding her breath.

They were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying some wine and the last of their dinner. Everyone said their hellos, asked how their wedding planning was going, had they set a date (maybe early December?), and then Quinn asked if they had a minute, she needed to talk to them. Everyone took a seat at the table, Quinn next to her mother.

She took a deep breath and picked up her mom's hand.

"Mom…" she glanced at Sam. "Sam and I want to get married." And then she waited for the shitstorm. Her mom looked at Bill, then at Sam's parents, then back to Quinn.

"Quinn…is there a reason why?" she asked carefully.

Quinn shook her head no. "I'm not pregnant…we just love each other and are ready to get married."

"You two are just kids! You're not even 18! Quinn…what about school? You're both just so young!" Judy sputtered.

"We're not talking about next week or even next month…he hasn't even asked me yet…we've talked to the guidance counselor at school about being married and going to college…we're not dropping out of school mom…" Quinn tried to jam in all the information she could.

"I'll believe it when I see a ring!" Judy said stubbornly. Sam smiled behind Quinn.

"I know mom…soon…Sam's mom and dad have given us their blessing…" Quinn told her.

"Now Judy, let Quinn…and Sam…talk to you about this. It is really not that surprising to me," Bill said, trying to soothe Judy.

"Okay, Quinn, Sam, tell me what you told Mr. and Mrs. Evans then to win them over…"

"Judy, let me tell you that we felt the exact same way you do. We were most upset that something like this would mess up any chance they have at going to college. They have already put a lot of thought into their options regarding college. They don't plan on tying the knot until after the first of the year, if that makes any difference," Sam's dad interjected.

"They are trying to not make the same mistakes we did," his mom added.

Judy listened to Sam's parents and then asked Quinn why she wanted to marry Sam.

"I can't picture my future without him in it, mom. I don't want to move forward without him by my side. He's my best friend…" She felt him reach from behind her with his hand, taking hers.

"She's myfuture Ms. Fabray…she's all I want now and forever. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her in my life…and her eyes…I could just get lost in her eyes," Sam said.

"And you haven't actually proposed to her yet?" Judy asked Sam.

"No ma'am, not officially. Soon though…" he answered.

"Mom, since we're both under 18, we need our parents' permission. If you don't give us your permission to get married at the beginning of the year, we'll just wait until I turn 18, so it's a six-month difference," Quinn said.

"Oh Quinnie…I just don't know…I'll have to think about it. Is this stemming from Bill and me getting married? I can understand it seeming so romantic…but it's a huge step Quinn…not only emotionally but there are financial concerns and other things…where do you two plan on living? Are you keeping your job at the bistro and Sam at the flower shop? On top of keeping up with school? Oh, I just don't know…" Judy seemed flustered.

"We were wondering if we could live here until we graduate and pay you rent and pay on the utilities. We'll have to work part-time during school but once we graduate we can work full-time and take classes online for college. We know it won't be easy but we've faced harder situations already, both of us have," Quinn explained to her.

"Thank you for letting us know. Let me think on it, okay? It's all so much and so sudden," her mom said.

"That's how Sam and I felt too," Quinn told her.

Judy and Bill went upstairs, and Sam's parents stood up to run by the babysitter's to pick up Stevie and Stacey.

"You're right about it being tough…at least you recognize that…we are proud of you both though, for thinking it through and coming to us before you ran off to Vegas or somewhere…" Sam's dad said. He held out his hand to shake Sam's but Sam stood up and hugged his dad, telling him thanks.

"I guess my boy is a man now…" he muttered. Sam blushed and then hugged his mom.

"Thanks for talking to Quinn's mom with us…it helped, I think," Sam told them.

Sam and Quinn decided to walk down to the park and swing.

"How do you think your mom took it Q?" he asked her.

"Better than I expected actually," she laughed. "I think Bill is totally on board, bless his heart."

"Are you going to tell your dad?" he asked, meaning her Russell, her real dad.

"I dunno…probably not…he wouldn't care anyway," she said dismissively.

"Oh…his loss…"

"He has not earned the right to know what is going on in my life after what he did to me," Quinn said, starting to sound pissed.

Sam got off his swing and got behind Quinn to push her gently.

"What would he think of me?" Sam asked her.

"Honestly? It wouldn't be nice Sam…" she said quietly, stretching her feet to the sky.

"What do you mean? I can take it…"

"He'd probably put the blame on your parents for them losing your house and your dad losing his job; he'd never ever open our home to anyone who needed a hand; your hair would be too long, like a hippie," They both laughed. "Never ever in a million years would he allow us to get married before we were 18." She hated saying that crap to Sam but that was how her father was.

"I see," Sam said quietly. "Maybe after we get married I can meet him."

"I don't even know where he's at right now," Quinn said.

He slowed her swing down and went to stand in front of her between her legs, putting his hands over hers on the chains, then leans into her and brushes his lips against hers.

"I'm glad we're starting our own family Q, the two of us…" he whispered.

"Samuel and Quinn Evans…I love how that sounds…" she said.

"Me too…" he kissed her again and they headed back home holding hands.