Three Months Later

"Quinn, relax." Sam was standing outside of the bathroom in the apartment that Quinn had recently moved into as she re-did her make up for the tenth time that day. She tended to do a lot of touching up of eyeliner when she was nervous he noticed.

"I can't relax, Sam!" she replied back to him, reapplying her mascara in the mirror. "This is my last chance. My last shot at being able to fix this."

Sam moved to lean against the doorway and look at her through the mirror. "Everything is going to be fine. Okay? You've worked hard for this. You're supposed to enjoy it."

Since that day in the kitchen, Sam and Quinn had made leaps and bounds in their relationship. They took things slow- not wanting everyone around them to just think they were jumping into a relationship that neither of them were really invested it. They went out on dates, did a couple more duets in Glee. Though now it was as if the year apart had never happened. To them, they felt like they just picked up where they left off.

About a month after they got back together, Quinn had turned 18. She could officially move out of her house and be away from her mother, which not surprisingly did wonders for her anxiety condition. She still had minor episodes- mostly over school, but she hadn't had a full blown attack since that day on the cross country trail.

Sam spent a lot of time at the apartment. Since he wasn't living with his family, he had spent a lot of time on the Hudson's couch. They didn't really give him a whole lot of rules except to mainly tell them if he would be coming around that night. As time went by, he was spending more time at Quinn's than anywhere else. It was a temporary place anyway, because come- August they'd both be moving to Connecticut where Quinn would be attending Yale for Theater and Sam would be going to a Community College in New Haven. He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do with his life just yet, but he pretty much decided that as long as Quinn was a part of it, he would be good with anything.

Though their relationship was what it was, and they were essentially living together- there was no sex. Both of them agreed that they were not in the right place for it, Quinn still being emotionally troubled in certain ways, and Sam wanting to make sure that when they did approach that stage, there would be no regrets. Though they both figured that it would happen sooner rather than later, they were both happy with the pace they were at.

Quinn finally finished her make up, for what seemed to be the final time and then turned to Sam and shrugged. "I look okay, right?" she asked

Sam smiled warmly at her and took her hands pulling her closer to him, "You look beautiful. You always do. Now let's go- there's this thing about birthday parties in which they give out cake and you know I can't resist cake." He teased. Quinn rolled her eyes at him and he laughed before giving her a quick peck on the mouth, "C'mon gorgeous."

Quinn had spent the entire car ride fidgeting. That was a new thing for her. Once she started getting to the point where she would have panic attacks when she felt edgy, she now fidgeted. It wasn't exactly a welcome change, since she was used to being poised and in control at all times- but it was a million times better than the scratching and not being able to breathe. And a lot less painful.

At one point, Sam took his hand off the steering wheel and took hers in order to stop her constant adjusting of her skirt or playing with the tissue paper of the gift she was holding in her lap. Quinn sighed and looked out the window. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in May and they were on their way to the local park for a birthday party that Quinn never thought she'd receive an invite to.

It took time, a lot of time, but not long after she and Sam reunited, Quinn made the first steps in making amends with Shelby- with Sam's encouragement. It started out with having lunch occasionally. Quinn had to prove to Shelby that she was different and that she wouldn't be trying any of the same things that she did before, what with CPS and all that. Even to this day, Quinn still hadn't seen Beth in person. She got pictures and the occasional video text. But there was no babysitting, no seeing her in person.

Until the last week when Shelby invited her to Beth's second birthday party. It was going to be a picnic with Shelby's family, and Puck. It wasn't going to be big or anything, but Quinn was going to participate in Beth's birthday and that was a big deal.

The pulled into the parking lot of the park and Quinn took a deep breath. She could see the small gathering of people just ahead of them. She spotted Puck's mohawk, and Shelby's long hair. There were other people that she didn't know, obviously friends and family of Shelby. People who knew Quinn's daughter before she could.

"You okay?" Sam's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She nodded and opened the door and got out of the car, waiting for Sam to join her before walking over to the group. If he hadn't been there with her she probably would have chickened out or something. This meeting was so much more than her first meeting with Beth. No ulterior motives, not sinister plans. She was actually meeting her daughter.

The finally reached the table and Shelby turned around, smiling- her attitude towards Quinn had gotten much better over the previous weeks. "Hey guys, just in time!" She smiled.

Quinn nodded, smiling, not sure what to say as Sam squeezed her hand reassuringly. Just before she was about to crane her neck to look for the little girl, Puck had stepped around Shelby, holding Beth in one arm.

Quinn looked at Beth, taking her in. Her hair was a little bit longer, but it was so curly it still looked short. Her legs were longer, her face still chubby and her eyes still ever-observing. Quinn stepped forward a bit and took Beth's hand in hers, "Hey, pretty girl." she smiled, her eyes brimming with tears again. "Happy Birthday."

Then Puck did something that Quinn hadn't expected. Well, she did, but not right that second. "Here, Q." He said, lifting Beth up and placing her in Quinn's arms.

At first Quinn was afraid Beth would start crying like she had the last time Quinn got to hold her. Beth looked at her, as if deciding whether or not this was something she was going to be okay with. After a few moments of analyzing Quinn's face, Beth reached out and hooked her fingers in Quinn's bottom lip. Quinn laughed, glad to have achieved approval from the little girl and held her close. "Oh baby girl, I love you." She whispered into the blonde curls.

Beth didn't leave Quinn's hip much through out the party. Sam held her for a bit, using his impressions and general silliness to get giggle out of the toddler. They had cake and Quinn got to hold her as Shelby blew out the candles. Presents were opened and Beth apparently loved the stuffed lamb that was in the box next to the golden locket that would be saved for when she was older.

Soon, far too soon for Quinn's liking though, it was time to leave. Quinn said her goodbyes to Beth, again breaking into tears- but this time she was leaving with plans to watch Beth while Shelby went to a conference in Columbus. The hesitation now gone between the two women.

Sam smiled when they climbed into bed that night. In their pajamas, comfortable, ready to sleep so that they could go to church the next morning. It had been a great day for them and Sam was really happy to see Quinn smiling so much.

As the turned off the lights, Sam went to assume his usual position of laying behind Quinn his arm wrapped around her waist but this time he raised his eyebrows when Quinn told him to turn over on his other side.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just do it," She laughed, pushing on his shoulder. He did as he was told and turned around. He smirked to himself when he felt her smaller arms wrap around his torso, her face tucked into his shoulder, her being the big spoon for once.

"Why the change of pace?" he asked again.

"Well...you're the one that always holds me. It's time that I return the favor," she mumbled, hugging him tight.

Sam fell asleep that night with a smile on his face.

A.N: There we go! It's done. This was the epilogue. I really hope you all liked this story and I very much thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I really enjoyed writing this! I'll be sure to make more Fabrevans fics too! And if anyone has a prompt that they'd like me to fill feel free to send me a private message- I'm always looking for new ideas!

xoxo