hello and welcome to this little piece I wrote while watching the Olympics at 2 in the morning. I'm debating on whether I should make these little song lyric one shots a series or individual stories (leaning towards the former), but anywayyy, here's the first one, hope you all enjoy!
Wish you were so, wish you were so, wish you were sober
He meets her in one of his classes. He's a physics major so he has no idea why he's taking an Introduction Politics and Government class, thought it would be a good choice for an elective until he realized how boring politics and the government actually are.
They make eye contact from across the room and he thinks he falls in love on the spot. She has striking brown eyes and the most golden blonde hair he's ever seen; if he squints he's pretty sure he can see a halo hanging above her head. He has no idea what her name is, he's eighty percent sure he's never actually seen her before, but as he leaves the lecture hall he's counting the days until he can see her again.
He usually considers himself to be an unlucky guy. He's awkward and clumsy, was poor for a large chunk of his high school life, and his first girlfriend ended up cheating on him for the majority of their relationship with her best friend. But somehow destiny or God or whoever heard his prayers helped him out for once because they end up getting paired up for a group project, which he quickly realizes that as much as it is a blessing, it's also a curse.
Her name is Quinn and she's the same age as he is. She's an English major, but she's thinking of switching to political sciences. She's also 5'5 and has the most beautiful smile he's ever seen, but she doesn't need to know about those observations he's made.
He can't focus when he's around her. She might be one of the smartest people he's ever met, and he's already decided she's the most beautiful. Sometimes he thinks she might even be an angel sent from Heaven. She knows way more about everything than he does, but he never doubted that.
He's a little sad when they finish their project because there go his chances of ever speaking to her again, but as if she can read his pathetic and desperate thoughts, she invites him to a party that weekend.
Despite it being halfway through his second year, he's never actually been to a party. At a university party that is, he was on the football team in high school. He's not so socially awkward where he would have no clue what to do.
This party's shit, wish we could dip
Go anywhere but here
Don't take a hit, don't kiss my lips
And please don't drink more beer
It's at some fraternity her roommate's boyfriend is a part of. He offers to pick her up from her dorm because he has no clue where the fraternity even is. He's ten minutes late because he forgot what dorm room was hers and had to ask about seven people before one of them told him what room is hers, but he doesn't think too much of it, girls take forever to get ready anyway.
She's wearing a pair of black leather shorts and a red lace bodysuit that looks more like lingerie than an actual top. He can tell she's a little tipsy when he gets there, but he doesn't care because she giggles and grabs his hand when she closes the door to her room.
He's surprised at how many people know who she is. They get stopped by random people who want to say hi about fifteen times before either of them can get a drink and by the time they reach the kitchen he's dying for a beer.
She leaves him for chunks of the night to go talk to girls she's friends with, which either leaves him leaning against a counter observing everything or talking to some guy he met in his astronomy class.
Is he having the greatest time? Definitely not. Is he still glad he's here with the prettiest girl to exist? You can bet he is.
She always comes back every twenty minutes to check on him. Sometimes she stays, sometimes she's pulled away by someone again. Thirty minutes pass when he decides to go searching for her.
She's slumped against one of the doors upstairs, a clearly intoxicated redhead giggling and poking her cheek next to her.
"Hey Quinn, you alright?" He asks as he crouches down next to her.
"Hmm." She mumbles out. He shakes his head and removes the cup of what he assumes is a mixture of a bunch of alcohol from her hand and places it next to them as the redhead focuses her attention on him.
"Who are you?" She slurs, trying to sound intimidating, but it just comes out as sad.
"I'm going to take her home." He tells the redhead as he stands up, carefully pulling Quinn up with him. The redhead quickly tries to get up with them but groans and grabs her head, leaning back against the wall.
"How do I know you're not going to take her to your dorm?" She asks, crossing her arms.
"Call her in forty minutes, she'll be in her room, alone." He says, not caring to wait for her response as he fastens an arm around Quinn's waist and guides her down the stairs and out of the fraternity.
Ima crawl outta the window now
'Cause I don't like anyone around
Kinda hope you're following me out
But this is definitely not my crowd
"Sammy, I don't feel so good." She groans when they're halfway back to her dorm. She clutches her stomach and he guides her to a bush so she can vomit her guts out there. He scrunches his nose up in disgust and holds her hair back for her as she empties the contents of her stomach.
She shudders once she finishes and he pulls off his hoodie and hands it to her as they walk back.
He debates whether or not he should follow her inside once they get there, but then decides screw it, there's a fifty-fifty chance she'll thank him for this tomorrow.
She climbs into bed without changing into her pyjamas, taking off her makeup, or brushing her teeth, but oh well, that'll be her problem to deal with in the morning.
He finds a bucket someone is using to store clothes in and empties it just in case she wakes up and finds herself needing to throw up again in the middle of the night. He leaves a water bottle on her nightstand and goes to wish her goodnight, but she's fast asleep when he turns back around.
Nineteen but you act twenty-five now
Knees weak, but you talk pretty proud, wow
Ripped jeans and a cup that you just downed
"Sam!" He hears the next time they have class together again. He turns around to see her waving her hand at him so he stops and waits for her to catch up outside of the lecture hall.
"God, I am so embarrassed about what happened last weekend. I'm so sorry about everything. I can't believe I got that drunk." She says, sounding sincere which he appreciates, but he has no idea how to respond so he just scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. He's not going to lie to her and tell her that he had the time of his life.
"I think this belongs to you." She says, pulling his hoodie out of her bag. He hesitantly looks at it because he's pretty sure the last time he saw it, it had vomit on it. "I washed it." She tells him, noticing his reaction.
He nods and takes the hoodie from her, and as he's putting it in his bag she starts talking again.
"Let me make it up to you. Let's hang out somewhere, no alcohol, just us." She says, smiling nervously and he hates the way it makes his stomach flutter.
"Yeah, okay." He agrees and she grins.
Take me where the music ain't too loud
"Are you sure you're not taking me somewhere to kill me?" he asks her for the hundredth time as she guides him where to go.
She rolls her eyes, but the smile she's had on her face the entire ride doesn't disappear so he takes that as a good sign. "Yes, I promise, just park right up here." She says, referring to the side of a dirt road.
"Quinn, this is super sketchy." He says and she smirks.
"Come on wussy." She teases, jumping out of the car and heading to the back of the truck.
He pulls out the bag she brought and groans at how heavy it is. "Jesus woman what did you put in here, a dead body?" He asks and she laughs.
"Why is everything with you about death?" She asks as she leads the way.
He follows her as she takes them through what looks like a trail and after ten minutes they stop at a huge patch of grass surrounded by trees. It's like a mini-park, just for the two of them, with a bunch of beautiful flowers sprouting from the ground.
"So, funny story." She starts as she begins to empty the contents of her bag. She pulls out a blanket and lays it down so the two of them can sit on it. "I got lost once and found this place. I was trying to find cell service so I could figure out where I was and stumbled upon this." She tells him as he sits down next to her on the blanket.
"So now I come out here when I need peace and quiet. Whether it be to do an assignment or just to read, it's nice out here." She says, reaching into the bag again and pulling out different containers filled with food. "I hope you don't mind that everything is pretty much store-bought or junk food, I can't cook at all." She says, blushing and he grins from ear to ear.
"It must be pretty lonely coming out here by yourself all the time." He says, looking around as he takes a grape from one of the containers.
"That's why I brought you." She says and he looks at her once more. She shrugs but a blush begins to creep up her cheeks. "I thought it could be a place we could share." She says and he blinks. He's pretty sure he's got a matching blush on his cheeks.
Trade drinks, but you don't even know her
Save me 'till the party is over
The next weekend, she wants to bring him for drinks with her friends.
He's a little hesitant since from what he's seen so far, she doesn't exactly mix with drinks all that well. But he can never really say no to her even if he wanted to.
"I promise, it'll be super chill. Just a couple of people at this nearby bar. I'll pick you up." She says and it makes him feel a little better to know that if she's driving she can't get that wasted.
And then she looks at them with those eyes. Those eyes that make him feel like she's reaching into his chest and pulling at his heart and how is it that he's only known this girl for a little over two months and he already feels like he is head over heels in love with her.
So of course, he agrees.
Kiss me in the seat of your Rover
She pulls up in a freaking range rover. She's a lot later than he was to pick her up from her dorm that one night they went to a party together, but she also did have to drive to his apartment so he lets it go (her also showing up driving a rover helped a lot).
But then he gets inside of the car and the rover is nothing compared to her. She only has jeans and a cute little white tank top on, but dear God she has to be the most gorgeous thing he's ever seen in his life. And he's seen a lot of cool things, remember how hot Black Widow was in Iron Man 2?
She must notice him examining the car because she says "it's my friend Rachel's. She's not going to be there tonight because she has a rehearsal - she's an Arts major. But I didn't think you would fit inside my little Volkswagen Beetle." She tells him while blushing and all he wants to do is tell her he would do anything as long as she was with him. But that's a little creepy to say to a girl you've only gone out three times with so he decides it's probably best to hold back his smitten thoughts until they've at least established what their relationship is.
She parks in front of a bar he's never seen before despite it being a fifteen-minute drive from his apartment. His knees almost give out when she grabs his hand once they exit the car and walk into the restaurant.
Her friends are nothing like the ones from the party. The first thing he notices about them is that they're loud.
They scream and squeal when they see her and she must notice him tense because she squeezes his hand.
"Guys, this is Sam." She introduces and he doesn't know how he feels about it. He didn't introduce him as her boyfriend or anything, but introducing him by his name and no other attachments could mean that she's talked about him to them before.
There are two other girls, Mercedes and Tina. Tina brought her boyfriend Mike, and lastly, she introduces him to Kurt and Adam.
Adam studies Chemistry at a nearby college so he finds comfort in talking to him all night. Her friends are a lot nicer than that one redhead he had an encounter with. They ask him about himself and don't ignore his presence. They also talk a lot about how Quinn was in high school since that's where they all met each other so that's a plus.
He internally lets out a sigh of relief when the only drink she gets is iced tea. Despite the others getting drinks, he doesn't want her to feel left out so he orders himself a rootbeer.
They stay for a few hours until Quinn begins to get tired and leans her head on his shoulder, her eyelids drooping. To make her feel better he tells her he has an assignment he needs to start the next morning, so they are the first to leave despite being the last to arrive.
They mostly just listen to the radio on the way back, both of them too tired to start any conversation. As the southern gentleman he is, he asks her to text him when she gets back to her dorm once they arrive back at his apartment.
Real sweet, but I wish you were sober
I wish you were sober
(Wish you were so, wish you were so, wish you were sober)
I wish you were sober
He's a lucky guy, he knows he is. He has no idea why she would still want to hang out with a guy like him, dorky and never knows what to say. It's not like she doesn't have other suitors, he's seen guys hit on her while the two of them are together. He knows she has other options.
But still, here she is. And don't get him wrong, he loves it. Other than the fact that every weekend he has to spend his Saturday night and part of his Sunday morning sitting in a co-ed bathroom so his (kind of?) girlfriend doesn't get vomit in her hair.
He's a shy guy okay? He doesn't want to bring it up to her and for her to be offended or hurt because he's kind of insinuating that she might be a borderline alcoholic, but he's not sure how much more of this he can handle. He kind of misses the nights alone in his dorm on Friday night watching Marvel movies until he falls asleep.
At first, it was cute. She would be bubbly and free and get him to break him out of his shell, but now he's growing kind of concerned. How can it be healthy for someone to drink that much throughout the week? Sometimes before he goes to bed he prays for her liver. If he can't get her to stop drinking at least he can do that much.
Tripped down the road, walking home
For the life of him, he can never figure out why exactly he decided to take a Calculus class. Yes maybe he's good at math, but god it is so incredibly boring. He walks out of his lecture hall, trying to cram his notebook into his bag when he hears someone call out "hey Evans!"
He turns around to see Quinn leaning against the wall, grinning at him.
"How did you know where my class was?" He asks her, a little puzzled. She doesn't even know what his schedule is.
She shrugs. "I know people." She says while walking towards him. "Want to go watch the sunset?" She asks, and without even giving him time to respond she grabs his hand and begins dragging him outside.
He nearly falls over his own feet trying to keep up with her as she leads him towards the football field. She runs onto the field and towards the bleachers and he swears he only blinks and she somehow makes it halfway up.
"Well, come on!" She says, waving her hand for him to come over as she jumps the last couple of bleachers to sit in the second row from the top.
"So, the sunset?" He asks as he sits next to her, the both of them watching as the sky blends between oranges, pinks and purples.
"They remind me of beginnings. Like no matter what kind of day you have the sun will always set and another day will start tomorrow." She says. He looks over at her, her eyes shining and her skin glowing from the sunlight. Her hair turns a lighter shade of blonde and she looks like some sort of goddess sent from above. "It's just so beautiful." She says, and he agrees.
"Yeah, it is." He says, not exactly talking about the sunset. She looks at him and blushes, nudging her shoulder into his playfully. "So," he says, trying to start a conversation. "What new beginning does this sunset symbolize?" He asks her, turning his attention back to the sky.
"I was thinking us." She says casually, and he chokes on his spit, making a complete fool out of himself. But when he looks over at her the look on her face tells him that she doesn't mind.
You kissed me at your door
He gets a knock on his door at six pm. He never gets any visitors so he's a little confused, but he grins when he opens his door and sees Quinn standing there with a movie in one hand and takeout in the other.
"So remember when you teased the shit out of me for having never seen Back to the Future?" She asks while pushing past him to get inside, throwing the takeout on his living room table. "Well, I was at Walmart getting more pens when I saw this was like five dollars." She says, holding up a copy of Back to the Future.
"And the takeout?" He asks, nodding towards the bag. She smirks.
"Burgers of course." God, he seriously thinks he's falling in love with this girl. "I got extra salty fries though. But I got you mayo to make up for it." She says, kicking off her shoes and tucking her feet behind her as she sits on the couch and rummages through the takeout bag.
"I have a DVD player in my room." He says and she looks up at him smugly, which causes him to blush.
"Sam Evans, are you trying to make a move on me?" She asks, and he feels his cheeks set up even more.
"What? No! My PS4-" she giggles and shakes her head, grabbing the takeout while walking right past him.
"It's okay, I wouldn't mind." She says, and he swears she shakes her hips the tiniest bit as she walks to his room.
She's laid out napkins over his bedsheets by the time he meets her inside and he puts in the movie while she sorts the food. Two hours later, the movie is finished and he looks at her to get her opinion.
"You know, it kind of makes no sense for them to say back to the future because the future is moving forward and back obviously means backwards." She says, throwing a fry into her mouth and he shakes his head.
"Only you, Quinn Fabray." He says and she moves forward to lick his cheek.
He groans and wipes his cheek and she giggles, moving the empty bag and used napkins off of his bed and onto his bedside table. "Solid movie though, not the worst thing I've ever seen." He grins.
"What's the worst thing you've ever seen?" He asks and she taps her chin.
"You in the mornings." She says, teasing and he raises an eyebrow.
"Is that so?" He asks and she nods, he isn't exactly a morning person like she is. He puts a wounded look on his face to distract her from the fact that his hands are moving up to her sides. He tickles her and she squeals, moving away from him. She throws her head back and laughs and when he finally moves his hands away there are loose strands all over her face.
He tucks them behind her ear and she looks up at him and then glances down to his lips. He moves forward and catches hers in his and she moves one of her hands up and places it on his chest.
He deepens the kiss and she moans, moving closer to him. Her hands grab at the bottom of his shirt and they break their kiss to throw it over his head, allowing him to attach his lips to her neck. She sighs, bringing her hands up to his hair and lightly tugs.
"Sam." She whispers and he hums, moving down to her collarbone. "Sam." She whispers again, tugging harder on his hair.
"Tell me what you want Quinn." He says, slipping his hands underneath her shirt.
"You." She responds.
And well, when has he ever been the one to deny her anything.
Pulling me close, begging me to stay over
But I'm over this rollercoaster
He's doing a lab for one of his classes when he gets a call from an unknown number. He assumes it's a spam call, so he sends it straight to voicemail. But then it calls again. And again and again and he groans and chucks his calculator to the side, snapping what? to the person on the other side because did he mention it's currently two in the morning and his barely finished assignment is due at noon the next day.
"Is this Sam?" It's a girl on the other line, and it makes him sit up straighter because he does not get random calls from girls, like ever. High school Sam would be jumping for joy, but he's sort of got a girlfriend now so he is a little freaked out.
"Who's asking?" He asks, which pretty much gives away that he is indeed Sam, but oh well.
"Rachel. I'm one of Quinn's friends." The one with the Range Rover he reminds himself, not having ever met the girl. Maybe it's kind of shallow for him to only remember the kind of car she drives out of all the things Quinn has told him about her, but can you blame him? It's a really nice car.
"Oh. Hi Rachel." He says, a little confused as to what this is about.
"Hi. I was wondering if you would be able to help me out." She says and he furrows his brow at how it's a little odd that Rachel wouldn't just ask what she needed help with.
"With what?" He asks, looking back to his barely finished assignment, hoping whatever she needs won't take too long.
"With Quinn." She says and he sighs, already having a feeling as to what this is about.
"She's drunk isn't she?" He asks, already getting up from his desk and grabbing a nearby hoodie.
"Well, she was when she called me, but we've been here for a while so it's hard to determine her level of intoxication so-" he shakes his head while grabbing his keys and heads towards the door.
"Rachel." He says, cutting her off and indicating to her that he doesn't have time for games.
"Yes, she's drunk." Rachel says, a little hesitant, and he swears he can hear a touch of disappointment in her voice.
He follows her directions and parks at a nearby restaurant where he sees Quinn and Rachel sitting outside, Quinn slumped up against Rachel, her head on her shoulder.
"I couldn't lift her on my own and I guess she got kicked out so the bartender refused to help me." Rachel explains as he picks Quinn up and walks towards Rachel's car to place her inside.
"Wait," Rachel says and he stops, confused. "I don't think my roommate will be too happy if I bring home a drunk friend. She has an early class tomorrow." Rachel says, rubbing her arm nervously and he curses under his breath.
He buckles Quinn into his car while Rachel picks up his things and places them by Quinn's feet while he runs to the driver's side. He turns his car on and looks to Rachel who is still holding the open passenger door. "Sorry we couldn't meet on better terms." He says, a little bit of a bite slipping through his voice.
"Sam," Rachel says and he looks over at her. "Everyone has something they're running from, some of us just deal with it better than others." She tells him before closing the door.
Ima crawl outta the window now
Getting good at saying, "gotta bounce"
Honestly you always let me down
He kind of bumps her head and legs into different corners while carrying her from his car to his apartment, but she thankfully remains asleep the entire time. He places her in his bed so she can sleep it off and takes off her shoes before going to his desk so he can finish his assignment.
He keeps peering over his shoulder to check on her so he doesn't finish his lab until around five in the morning. He sets an alarm for eleven so he has enough time to drop of his lab. Yeah it might be the crack of dawn by the time he gets to sleep, on his couch out of all places, and he might only get a solid six hours, but he's slept for less before.
He wakes up the next morning when he feels something being placed over the top of him. He opens his eyes to see Quinn trying to adjust a blanket onto him and she jumps a little when she notices he's awake.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She says softly, and he takes the time to take her in. Her mascara is dry and dark around her eyes, she had clearly spent a chunk of the night crying. Her lips chapped and her hands a little shaky, but none of it seems to bother her, none of it ever really does.
He just throws the blanket off and heads to his room so he can start getting ready. He groans when he walks past a digital clock that tells him it's only half-past nine. Oh well, he's awake now.
She follows him, and at first, she doesn't say anything as she lingers in the doorway, but then finally she asks, "are you mad at me?"
"I don't know Quinn, I had to pick you up at two in the morning because you were too drunk to get home yourself so you tell me." He barks at her and he sees her lip quiver the tiniest bit. It makes him feel more shitty than he already does.
"I'm sorry." She says, her tone still the same even though he has raised a lot louder.
"Are you? Because I still seem to be spending all my weekends holding your hair back while you vomit." He snaps at her and she flinches.
"I never asked you to do that." She tries and he scoffs.
"What did you expect me to do? Just leave you there so you could choke on your throw-up? You should know me better than that." He says, moving around so he can get all his stuff organized so he can get the hell out of here. He feels like he's suffocating, he hates being angry at her.
"I'm sorry." She says and her voice breaks. It causes him to freeze and he hates how much of an effect she has on him. He barely knows this girl, he doesn't even know if they're actually dating, but she still somehow has him completely wrapped around her finger.
"I'm over being your sober companion Quinn, I didn't sign up for this shit." He says before walking out the door.
And I know we're not just hanging out
She's still there when he gets back which honestly surprises him. She's cleaned up around his place which makes him feel a little guilter than he already does. He knows he has no reason to be, other than being a little harsh he hadn't really done anything wrong, it's her that has done more damage, but being upset with her makes him hate himself more than her.
She's sitting on his couch, reading one of his astronomy books, looking up when she hears him open the door. "Hi." She says, closing the book and sitting up straighter.
"Hi." He says, shrugging off his jacket and kicking off his shoes. Things are tense and awkward, so he stays by the door, unsure of what to do.
"I got breakfast sandwiches, I know you haven't eaten yet." She says, standing up and following him into the kitchen.
"Cool." Is all he says back.
She stands awkwardly on the other side of his small kitchen, twirling her thumbs around and looking nervous. "I don't like the person I am either Sam."
He sighs, alright, so they are going to talk about it. "I like who you are Quinn, I just don't like that version of you." He says and she nods.
"I don't like it either." She tells him, in complete agreement.
"Then stop being her." He says, like the answer is that simple.
She looks like there's something she wants to say, like there is some sort of explanation for all of this, and he thinks back to what Rachel told him last night. He pleads with his eyes, tell me, Quinn, help me understand. But she looks away.
"Okay." Is all she says and he furrows his brows.
"Okay?" He echos, confused. There's no way it can be that easy.
"Okay." She says, shrugging. "It's not like I'm an alcoholic or anything." She adds, some of that sass he loves so much returning and he feels relief flow through his body.
Nineteen but you act twenty-five now
Knees weak, but you take pretty proud, wow
Ripped jeans and a cup that you just downed
It's not exactly easy at first, the temptation is always there. Quinn's friends, aside from her high school ones, are all drinkers and parties. Throughout the week she has different invites to the next party or to hang out at the nearest bar.
But she stays true to her word, with his help of course. They spend their time doing other things, like going out places or even staying at his apartment so he can expose her to different genres of movies other than romantic comedies.
He takes her to a nearby arcade he and his buddies found during his first year and she completely kicked his ass at more than half of the games. He gets his revenge when he destroys her in bowling.
They go to Six Flags in New Jersey for a weekend and he learns she is a lot more of a daredevil than he is, which he honestly should have expected.
Sometimes her hand twitches or she looks to someone with a cocktail when they go out for dinner and he knows what she's thinking, or more like what she's craving. But she never breaks her word, and that's all he can ask for.
Take me where the music ain't too loud
"Want to meet my mom?" She asks one day while they're driving back to his apartment after he picked her up from work.
"What?" He asks, a little caught off guard.
She must not think it's a big deal because she's texting on her phone. "I'm going down to Lima for her birthday, do you want to come?" She asks, putting her phone down and looking over to him.
"Are we at that stage?" He genuinely asks her and she rolls her eyes.
"Dear god Sam, stop overthinking everything." She says and he scoffs. He does not overthink everything.
"Yeah, I'll go." He says, taking the heat off of him.
"Okay perfect, we leave in two days." She says casually, looking back to her phone and his eyes widen.
"Two days?!" He echos and she looks at him weirdly.
"Yes, we're only going for the long weekend." She says slowly like he's a child.
Two days later, he finds himself driving twelve hours from New Haven, Connecticut to Lima, Ohio. A place he didn't even know existed until a month ago. She's asleep on the passenger side, a travel pillow was thrown around her neck. She's got one of his hoodies thrown on and her feet propped up on the dashboard. Even while asleep, she's still the prettiest thing he's ever seen.
They (he) drive all night so that they can get there the next morning. They arrive at eight and he shakes her shoulder lightly to tell her that they're here. She groans and rubs her eyes, then stretches and hopes out of his truck, running to the door and leaving him to deal with all their bags.
He meets Quinn and her mother by the door and she lifts her eyebrows when she sees him. "Well, this one's pretty." Her mother says and Quinn glares at her.
"Hi Ms. Fabray, my name is Sam." He introduces and she smiles.
"Call me Judy." She says, giving him and wink and waving him inside.
They spend most of their first day napping (well at least he does since he did all of the driving) and then have dinner with her mother. The second day is her mom's birthday so they go out to get her a gift and some flowers during the afternoon and for dinner, they head to some restaurant called Breadstix.
Their last two days she shows him around. She takes him to her high school and tells him about the glee club she was in and introduces him to her old glee club teacher, some guy named Mr. Shue who she seemed to be fond of. He was surprised to see how accomplished their club was, with one national title along with a bunch of other trophies.
She also shows him the cheerleading trophies she won while being head cheerleader for two years, but she didn't seem as proud as those. He's not shocked to learn that she was valedictorian, clearly decorated with loads of clubs and the grades to match.
She also shows him around to the places she used to hang out with her friends, spending time at some coffee shop called The Lima Bean and in the evening they go out to a roller rink.
On their last day, she wakes him up at half-past seven. He groans and tries to swat her away, but she isn't having any of it. "Come on Sam, there's someone I want you to meet." She says, pretty much dragging him out of bed.
When he meets her downstairs she has a bouquet of daffodils sitting by her side and he eyes them, confused, but she just smiles and takes his hand, leading him out of the house.
She tells him they don't need to drive and after about ten minutes of walking, they end up at a graveyard. He assumes she's taking him to see a grandparent, or maybe even her father since she hasn't talked at all about him and he hasn't met him yet, but he was wrong.
When they stop at their destination he reads the tombstone while she lays the flowers down on the grave. Finn Christopher Hudson, August 24th, 1994 - October 10th, 2013. Loving son, brother, and friend.
She sits beside the graves and looks up. Despite it being a cloudy day, she still puts a soft smile on her face. "Hi Finn, I brought someone for you to meet." She says, pausing as if he's going to respond. "His name is Sam, and I think you would like him, he's dorky like you." She jokes and he laughs softly, whacking her on the back of her head lightly and she turns around to glare at him.
He takes a seat next to her and she lets out a shaky breath. "I know you would have wanted us all to move on, but it never gets any easier without you, especially after everything that happened." She says, wiping a few tears so he throws an arm around her shoulder.
"I still check on your mom, and she's doing good. Burt keeps her busy, and Kurt visits from New York all the time. You know him, always a worrier." She says, laughing softly. "I miss you all the time." She says, more tears falling down her cheeks.
After a few minutes, she lays a hand on the grave. "I leave today, but I'll be back soon, I promise." She says, getting up and walking away, wiping her cheeks. He gets up to follow her, but as soon as he stands the clouds break and the sun shines down on him. He looks up to the sky and smiles. "I'll take care of her, I promise."
Trade drinks, but you don't even know her
Save me 'till the party is over
She calls all the shots, which of course he doesn't mind. He'd go to hell and back for her if she asked him to.
She makes all of their plans, but sometimes on a whim, he'll ask her if she wants to get lunch or hang out somewhere after class and she never says no. But she's an organized girl, she likes preplanned dates, schedules, and routines, he knows her well enough to know how she operates by now.
So imagine his surprise when she shows up on a Tuesday night at half-past eleven with rain-soaked hair, clad in only a grey zip-up hoodie and a pair of light wash jeans.
"Quinn?" He asks, noticing how despite him opening the door minutes ago she still hasn't looked up from the spot on the ground that she fixated on since before he noticed she was outside.
"Hey come on, you're gonna get sick." He tells her softly, grabbing her hand lightly to bring her inside, out of the harsh rain.
She allows herself to be pulled lightly by him and follows him inside to his small living room. "Did you walk here?" He asks, stalling a bit because he's unsure of how to tackle this situation. He knows his best bet is together out of her wet clothes but he doesn't know how to go about it when she's clearly not in the best mindset to do it herself.
She just nods, standing in front of him, slightly shaking as he leans back onto the couch trying to figure out what to do.
"From where?" He asks her, concerned. He hopes it wasn't from her dorm, it's a fifteen-minute drive to get there from his apartment so he can't imagine how long of a walk it would be.
"A bar." She says while shrugging. Frustration courses through his body because he's told her that he doesn't want to do this again, but when he looks up into her eyes he can tell there's something deeper there. There is something she was trying to run from this time.
She shivers and he gets up from the couch, pulling her softly towards his bedroom. "Sit here." He instructs, referring to his desk chair as he walks into the bathroom to get a towel. Her hands are shaking in her lap when he returns, but he's not so sure it's because she's cold.
"Can I take off your hoodie?" He asks her and she nods once, her eyes almost looking lifeless and it causes him to shiver himself.
He helps her up from the chair and she almost falls into him, like she can't be bothered to properly stand him by herself. He peels off her soaked through hoodie and throws it on his floor, for now, he'll deal with it later. Underneath she's wearing a white tank top, so he lets her keep that on while he hands her the towel to dry herself off and turns to his closet to get her one of his hoodies.
"This is the thickest-" he begins to tell her, holding up the hoodie but when he turns around he notices she's taken off her tank top and is standing right in front of him topless. "Oh um-sorry I didn't-I'm gonna-um-here's the-" he stutters, snapping his eyes away immediately and looking back at the closet while he holds out the hoodie to her.
"Come on Sam, it's nothing you haven't seen before." She whispers to him, a lot closer than where she was before and he gulps.
"Not like this Quinn." He says sternly hoping she will drop it because he's pretty sure she knows he has a tough time saying no to her.
She accepts the hoodie and he sighs gratefully and rummages through his drawers for a pair of old sweatpants he thinks will fit her. He hears her moving around his room from behind him so he turns around to see what she's doing.
She's sitting in his bed, his bedsheets pooled on top of and around her, staring at him with those damn eyes that bring him to his knees every time. She shakes her head as soon as she realizes what he is trying to get her. "I just want you." She says and he sighs.
"Quinn, we shouldn't. Not like this, not while you're drunk." He says, sacrificing the fact that she might get angry at him because he would never take advantage of her.
"That's not-I just," she stops her, picking at a piece of loose thread from his sheets. "I have a daughter." She says, so casually that he almost misses it.
He freezes, the room feeling a lot smaller than it was seconds ago. She lets out a shaky breath, some of her bangs blowing upwards in the process and his hands ache to just tuck those stray pieces behind her ears, but his feet are glued to the ground, he's trapped against his closet door.
"I got drunk," she starts, her voice wet and watery and her hands are a lot shakier than they were before. "I got drunk past there point where I knew what I was doing, and I guess I had sex with my ex-boyfriend's best friend, but I don't really remember anything. And god he was so perfect, Finn. He was so perfect, but he wasn't in love with me. He loved the idea of me, this pretty blonde cheerleader who would shield him from any criticism he got for branching off and being different, for breaking the laws of high school because that uniform and those pom-poms would protect him from anything. I mean he was the quarterback, and he joined the fucking glee club, and he didn't even care." She tells him, laughing through the tears that are pouring out of her eyes and down her cheeks. "And I just wanted to feel something, I just wanted to feel what that love felt like in return." She says, her voice breaking as the tears stream down her face. She looks up at him and it's the first time he's ever noticed how sad and empty she truly is.
"I got pregnant and had a baby on my own because Puck cheated on me two seconds after promising me he would do anything for me and the baby. And then I lived my life. I finished high school and dated Finn a few more times until we stopped playing the stupid game we were playing and a year after we graduated he died." She says, crying a lot heavier now, gasping for breath and his heart aches for her. He wants to go up to her and hold her, but he knows that's not what she needs right now. He knows she needs to just let it all out. It all makes sense now, the graveyard and why she wanted him to meet Finn.
"He died. He died and I could never stop feeling like I took so many years away from him. Years where he could love who he wanted to love or do what he wanted to do because I was this bitchy prom queen who fit the mold of your stupid typical high school cliche. And I wanted him to fit that mold with me, but that was never what he wanted. And I forced him anyway and look what happened. I took away so much from him." She sobs, wrapping her arms around herself and he sits on the bed in front of her, placing a supportive hand on her calf over the covers. She just cries harder so he goes to sit beside her, throwing his arms around her and she moves to cry into his chest.
"I know you think I'm perfect Sam, but I'm not. I'm damaged goods." She whispers to him, her eyes shining with new tears.
"I don't care what you think you are Quinn, it doesn't change the fact that I," he trails off, unsure if now is really the best time to have this conversation. But she's looking at him, hopeful that he'll just give her something to make her stop feeling like this, so he breaks their eye contact and looks at the opposite wall and says it. "I love you."
"Why?" Her response is immediate and her voice is small. He isn't offended by her reaction, he didn't say it because he wanted anything back.
"Because you're so much more than you think you are Quinn. You're like one of the smartest people I know, you have this sass that drives me fucking insane ninety percent of the time, but I am somehow so drawn to it. You have a comeback for everything, and most of the time I can't actually think when I'm around you. You take the breath away of every man in every room you walk into and I would be jealous if I wasn't too busy being in awe of you myself. I love you because you love the little things about life, and you pretend like you don't, but you always see the good in people. You see the potential of who they could be instead of who they actually are."
"You're naive Sam, you look at the world for how it should be, not for how it actually is." She bites at him while moving slightly away from him and he knows what she's trying to do. She's trying to push him away by hurting him, but he's not going anywhere.
"And you're angry at it. You're angry because life has let you down and instead of taking time to sort through your grief and feelings you blame the world and label yourself as unloveable." He tells her, equal fire in his eyes and she must recognize it because her glare softens. He guesses it's because no one has stood up to her like that before.
"I've been loved twice before. I didn't even love one of them back." She says, trying to convince him that she's not worth it. He's a boy from a small town city, he's never experienced the kind of loss she has. He hasn't had to sell his soul just to survive yet, he still believes there is good in the world. She can't be the person to make him realize there isn't any.
"Sometimes we fall in love with the wrong people. Not because they're bad people, they're just not the right people for us." He tells her and she looks up at him again, differently this time. Like he holds different answers to the questions she's been asking all her life, only ever getting responses that have disappointed her.
"You can't fix me, Sam." She tells him, her voice hoarse and small from all the crying that's been done, but he also thinks it's because she feels vulnerable. He knows her, she doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve. She walks around unable to read to those around her as an intimidation tactic. If you don't let them in they can't hurt you, a motto that probably plays on repeat inside of her head.
"I'm not trying to fix you. I just want to love you while you fix yourself."
Kiss me in the seat of your Rover
She ends up falling asleep shortly after that. Yeah, they've slept in a bed before, but she wasn't in this state. So he lays her down and tucks her in his sheets and turns to leave to sleep on the couch, but she grabs his hand.
"Stay." She mumbles, half asleep. He debates it for a second, but she's pretty sober now, and the most he'll be doing is holding her, so he throws off the hoodie he was wearing and chucks it on his desk chair and slides in behind her. She turns around and snuggles into his chest, and right as sleep takes over him, he hears her whisper "I love you too."
She's gone when he wakes up. Is he surprised? Not completely. Definitely disappointed though. He throws on a black t-shirt and heads into the kitchen area to make himself some breakfast, only to find her sitting on a stool eating some pancakes and reading one of the books his mom bought him on constellations for Christmas two years ago. He knows she heard him enter the room, but she doesn't look up, just continues munching on her pancakes.
There's a plate on the centre of the counter which he assumes for him. There's also a bowl of fruit cut up which kind of confuses him because the last time he checked he's pretty sure he only had beer and takeout in his fridge. She looks up at him while he's making himself a plate so he takes the opportunity to raise an eyebrow, silently asking where the fruit came from.
"There's a great farmers market down the street, good fruit. I went out looking for coffee this morning since you don't have any like some sort of caveman when I found it." She says, looking down at the book again while popping a piece of strawberry into her mouth. And true to her word, there's a cup of coffee sitting next to her from a coffee place he recognizes that is about two blocks from his apartment.
Before going to sit next to her, he kind of admires her for a moment. She's got her hair tied up in some sort of updo using a pencil and is wearing (more like drowning in) that same hoodie she was wearing last night. She's also wearing the jeans she was wearing last night.
He kisses the side of her head without thinking too much of it before sitting on the stool beside her. "And the pancakes?" He asks, reaching over to her to steal some syrup.
"I can't cook, they're the only thing I know how to make." She says, quietly and he knows there's more to it, but he doesn't pressure her to tell him what it is. She pauses for a moment before continuing "Beth used to love them."
He doesn't know what to say. What can you say to make the situation better? So he just grabs her hand and squeezes it to tell her although he'll never understand, he will always be here for her.
"I was never planning on keeping her. I loved her so much, but I wasn't dumb enough to believe that I would be able to raise a child at the age of sixteen. And I know kids do it all the time, but they have their parents and my dad kicked me out and my mom paid more attention to the bottle than me after she kicked him out for cheating on her so I did for her what I knew what was best: I gave her up." She takes a shaky breath and he notices that her grip on her fork tightens so he lifts their joined hands and brings them up to his lips, hoping to give her some comfort. "So I gave her up. And her adoptive mom was nice, she let me visit her all the time. But then in my senior year Puck slept with her birth mom and she moved to New York and took Beth with her and I haven't seen her since." She says and his heart sinks in his chest for her. He can't imagine having to have something so dear to you be ripped away. There are a few tears, and he lets her shed them until she's ready.
She sniffles and wipes her eyes before smiling. "But it's okay because I still get Christmas cards and drawings every few or so months in the mail."
He pulls her onto his lap and holds her as she squeezes out the last set of tears on his shoulder. "One day it'll stop hurting." He whispers into her hair while rubbing soothing circles into her back.
"I know."
Real sweet, but I wish you were sober
I wish you were sober
(Wish you were so, wish you were so, wish you were sober)
I wish you were sober
"So like, are we dating?" He asks her, a year and a half later while they sit in his bed, watching some movie he's forced her to watch that he's barely been paying attention to while he threads his fingers through her hair, her head laying on his chest.
"Gross." Is all she says, snuggling further and gripping his shirt tighter, like if she let's go he'll get up and walk away.
"Well, my mom keeps asking." He says and she snorts.
"Your mom?" She teases and he rolls his eyes.
"Yes, my mom." He responds, pulling on one of the strands of her hair and she gasps.
"I can't believe I'm with a momma's boy." She says and he smirks, but then her words sink in.
"With huh, does that mean we're together?" He asks her and she sits up, turning around to face him.
"I mean, right now we technically are." She says and he rolls his eyes again.
"Quinn." He says and she looks at him smugly.
"Sammm." She mocks and he pushes her shoulder lightly, causing her to laugh.
"There's no other momma's boy I would rather be with." She says, leaning forward to give him a quick peck.
"You can't take it back." He says once they break away and she grins.
"Would never want to."
Welp, I absolutely hated the ending, but let's all just pretend it wasn't a hot mess. today is my last day of summer classes, yayyy (you would think I would sleep earlier than 2 am, but here I am). this means I might be able to write more frequently (fingers crossed). I'm thinking I might post a multi-chapter story next which I am kind of excited about (a little spoiler: it involves a baby!). I don't think it will be as long as wonderland in another life, but then again I didn't think wonderland in another life would turn out to be that long so who knows. anywho, hope you enjoyed it and leave a comment (:
