Beginnings in Disguise- A Glee AU

Chapter 4

Brittany's POV
(three weeks later)

This whole long-distance thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I haven't heard from Sam in a while. We may have said that we'd call every day, and that was true at first, but eventually "every day" became "every other day", and his calls became less and less frequent. These days, I'm lucky to get a text message.

I'm just sitting alone in my apartment, thinking about how much I miss Sam, when my phone lights up, and the words I see are ones I haven't in a while: "Incoming Call from Sam Evans." I miss Sam more than anything right now, so I pick up without a moment's hesitation.

"Hey, Sam."

"Hey, baby. I miss you." The joy I feel from hearing his voice on the other end of the line is so overwhelming I almost burst into tears.

"I miss you too, Sam."

"How's New York been treating you?"

"Pretty good. I've been hanging out a lot with Santana and Rachel and Kurt and some of their friends, so I have, like, people here. I wish you were here, though."

"I wish I was there, too. I gotta stay in Ohio for work, though. But you know what we arranged: once we get married, I'll stay in New York with you every other weekend. And we'll see each other on holidays, too."

"I still think that's not a lot of time," I say.

"It's for the best, Quinn- uh, Brittany."

I do a double take. Quinn? Who's Quinn? I'm, like, 90% sure that isn't me. "What did you just call me?"

"Call you? What are you talking about? I didn't call you anything."

"Yes you did, Sam. Don't even try to lie to me. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not stupid. I know you just called me Quinn. Who's Quinn?"

"Brittany, calm down."

"Just tell me who she is, Sam! Are you cheating on me?"

"Brit, I can explain-"

"There's nothing for you to explain, Sam. How long has this been going on?"

"Just after I found out you were moving to New York," he says. "So, like, around four months."

I start to cry. "Why would you do that to me?"

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't even really thinking about you. I just... knew that I was gonna be alone once you left, and-"

"You should get used to being alone, Sam, because we aren't getting married. In fact, I never want to talk to you again. Have a nice life, Sam." Immediately after hanging up the phone, I take off my engagement ring.

---

Santana is absolutely mortified when I tell her about Sam's and my called-off engagement. "HE DID WHAT???"

"Yep. I've never felt so betrayed. I just... I don't know what to believe in anymore. Sam was my whole world."

"That does it," says Santana. "I am getting on the first flight to Ohio and beating up that Sam punk. You're my friend, Brittany. Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it."

Rachel is very opposed to that. "Santana, violence is not the answer."

"I think you're right, Berry. Violence isn't the answer. It's a question, and the answer is yes."

"Rachel has a point, Santana," I say. "I am beyond hurt right now, but there's gotta be a better way to handle this situation."

As if on cue, my phone starts ringing. "It's Sam. Should I pick up?"

For the first time since I broke the news, Kurt speaks up. "Absolutely not. He has some nerve calling you after you told him you never wanted to talk to him again. You deserve better than him, Britt."

"Give me the phone," says Santana. "Physical violence may be off the table, but Berry didn't say anything about giving that cheating rat a verbal beatdown."

I hand Santana the phone, and she starts in. "Hey, Sam? This is Santana Lopez. I don't know if you remember me. I'm one of Brittany's neighbors, we met briefly. Britt told me about what you did, and now you have the audacity to-" she pauses, then her eyes widen as if Sam just said something very surprising. I start to wonder what it could be. Oh my gosh, is he pregnant?

It's Quinn, Santana mouths. Now Santana's surprise makes sense. Why would Quinn be calling me?

"Oh, you want to talk to Brittany? She's right here, let me give you to her." Santana hands me the phone.

"What do you want from me?"

"I'm just calling to tell you I'm sorry about what Sam did," says Quinn. "I just found out, and I feel horrible. I had no idea Sam was engaged, so he played both of us. If I'd known, I never would have dated him."

"That's... good to know, I guess."

"I think you'd also like to know this: as soon as Sam told me about you, I left him. I feel betrayed by Sam as much as you do, Brittany; I totally thought he was the one. He was so close with Beth, too."

"Beth?"

"My daughter. She's 10."

"Oh." Sam always wanted to have kids one day. We always used to talk about starting a family together. I can't believe that that's never gonna happen. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Quinn. I just wish the circumstances were better. Maybe we could be Facebook friends or something?"

"Yeah, sure. That sounds nice."

Once I hang up, I notice that everyone in the apartment is staring at me.

"Spill the tea, Britt," says Kurt. "What did Quinn have to say?"

I tell them everything Quinn told me.

"It's like you said to me," Santana says. "Endings are beginnings in disguise. Your relationship with Sam ended, but your friendship with Quinn has begun."

"True," I reply. "I'm, like, really wise. Also, y'know how I said I didn't know what to believe in? I was wrong. I do know what to believe in."

"And what is that?"

"The four of us, and our friendship."