And I Owe It All To You

Chapter Four: The Usual

        “Here ya go, Oli.” Sam said cheerfully to the dirty tattered man, sitting against the pizzeria siding. “The usual brunch order! A green tea Frappuccino and biscuit.” Sam did this regularly with the extra money he earned modeling. It was something he enjoyed. And considering there wasn’t enough room in the loft for Oli to stay, he felt it was the least he could do.

            “How you doing today, Sam?” And in return for all the food, Sam’s new friend provided a listening ear. Which Sam needed more than anyone, including Sam, realized. With Blaine doing God knows what with Kurt and Rachel’s full time job on Broadway, he didn’t get very many chances to get stuff off his well-defined chest. Besides, Oliver “always wanted to be a therapist,” until he “totally messed up and ended up homeless.” Whether that was a joke or not, he always proved to Sam to be helpful.

            “Eh, it’s okay.” Sam paused. “Something really funny happened at last night’s shoot, you’ll love it.” Sam continued with a huge smile. Oli wasn’t going to pry, if Sam wanted to talk about something he would soon enough. Instead, Oli listened to Sam’s story, which was, in fact, hysterical. Sam continued into another equally hilarious story from last night as he and his homeless friend watched the people that passed by. One brunette woman with a pony tail and blunt bangs, who Sam thought was exceptionally hot but Oli felt wasn’t his type, sped by sporting a blood red pea coat. Occasionally, they would even point out and poke fun at someone’s ridiculous outfit. For someone who was dressed in barely more than rags, Oli had an excellent fashion sense.

            Oli was dark blonde and looked a bit like a homeless, younger, Ryan Gosling or maybe a (once again) homeless, younger, Sam Evans. Sam was still undecided on which of those Oli looked more like. Oli’s voice was deep and his sense of humor was Sam’s favorite in the whole world. He also loved to sing with Sam, they had almost the exact same range.

            When pressed on how his day was after Sam finished telling his stories of his modeling adventures, Oli’s reply was the usual “Eh, I’m homeless, I’ve had better days.” And that was all, no elaboration. Oli didn’t want to bother Sam with his problems, Sam did more than enough. Instead, Oli attempted to change the subject: “Got yourself a girlfriend, yet, Sammie?”

            Sam quieted down a bit and looked down at his hands pressed against the pavement. “No, actually…” He trailed off. Sam remained paused for a moment more before looking back at Oli. “Well, there is this girl who’s been working with my make-up for the past few shoots. She’s like a nine point five and has ass for days. Blonde, sweet, funny, she sort of reminds me of…”

            “Reminds you of whom?” Oli quickly asked. Oli felt like he knew the answer, Sam talked about all the girls with romantic plot points in his life with him. He often mentioned two blondes from high school, but spoke of one with a certain sense of longing.

            “Oh, no one, I-I-I don’t remember anyway.” Sam stuttered out. “Anyway, her name’s Lily and I was talking to her about high school, and Glee clubs came up and…” Sam paused yet again. “Actually, Oli, that’s sort of what I wanted to talk about, even if I have been avoiding it.” Oli sipped his Frappuccino awaiting the news he knew was coming. “You, uh, you know that blonde from high school I told you about?” Sam asked, stumbling over his words. He was nervous to tell him this for some reason.

            “Brittany? Or Quinn?” Oli knew which one he was talking about, the familiar sense of longing was as strong as ever, but he asked anyway. Just in case.

            “The, uh, second one.” Sam replied. “Well, you see, she’s coming to visit Rachel.” Sam paused, hoping for Oli to fill in the quiet, but Oli was at just as much of a loss of words as he was. “And I don’t think she knows I live in the same loft as Rachel. She’s staying for a week.” Sam continued on, eventually filling in the silence.

            “Well then, you have a week to what?” Oli asked. Sam didn’t realize he was being quite so obvious. Oli knew, he was rooting for his best friend.

            “Oh, I don’t know? I’m just really excited to see her, you know? It’s been a while.” Sam began, barely taking time to breathe. “I’m sure she knows I’ve forgiven her and we still get a long great so it shouldn’t be awkward, right?” Sam had regained his speaking confidence, but began to ramble just a bit. Oli just took a bite out of his biscuit, nodding as Sam continued. “It should be fun time, and we can catch up. Maybe we can go to that sushi place I took you to the other day.” Sam couldn’t restrain himself from talking.

            “Sam,” Oli stopped him. Sam looked Oli in his similarly green eyes as Oli continued asking, “are you still into her?” The answer was already obvious, but he felt Sam needed to say it out loud to himself.

            “What? What? No?” Sam stopped as Oli rolled his eyes, in more of a reassuring manner rather than sarcastically. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.” Sam smiled ever so slightly. “I never really got over her. She was my first love and my first heartbreak. She made me feel like more than a hot body. I was hurt at first, but I realized she was a broken girl at the time, something I was too dumb to realize, and so I forgave her, but I think she had already moved on… God, she’s beautiful.” Sam sighed deeply, with a nostalgic smile. “Do you know what I told Quinn when we broke up?” Sam took a deep breath “‘Oel ngati kameie.’ That means ‘I love you’ in Na’vi. It was—is true. She wanted to be with me, but I was stupid and hurt.”

            “Listen, Sam. You are not dumb. Some people are just good at hiding their emotions, until they break.” Oli replied putting his hand on Sam’s shoulder. “So that answers my question. You have a week to get that blonde beauty back.” He had to talk Sam into going after Quinn, or he’d regret it. Sam deserves all the happiness in the world.

            “I can’t do that, Oli. She’s with Puck now. He’s always been a friend to me; I definitely can’t do that to him.” Sam said, remembering the reunion when the Glee club closed. Seeing Quinn kiss Puck hurt him in a way he hadn’t felt before. He should have been singing that song with Quinn, not Puck.

            “Sam, if there is ever a time in your life to be selfish, now is the time.” Oli said brushing some dust off of his dark green, torn pants. Sam stood up, shaking his leg as he rose. It must have fallen asleep.

            “I really can’t do that. For one, they’re both my friends and if they’re happy, it’s not something I want to shit all over.” Sam said with a slight groan as he sat back down. “And besides, I know exactly what it’s like to be on the opposite end of that situation… And let me tell you, it is not fun. It’s horrible; it makes you want to cry yourself to sleep. It makes you feel inadequate.” Sam had begun to tear up. “Even if you do have a rocking bod’ like this.” Sam joked pointing to his abs with one hand and wiping his eyes with the other. He joked like he always does, lightening the mood. “It just doesn’t make sense, though. I didn’t think they would ever be together. He’s always been so mean to her; it hurt me too. But now they’re together, for good, it seems.”

            Oli smiled reassuringly, “You might be surprised, Sam. She seems like a smart girl, she did fall for you after all.” Sam laughed while putting his arm around Oli. “People don’t change that easily, he’s still the same jerk, and she’ll realize it.” Sam looked down with an ever so slight smile, waiting for Oli to continue. “And if I do recall correctly, you told me you made a promise to her when you gave her that promise ring: to marry that hottie with a body! And Sam, if anyone is a man of his word, it’s you.” Oli said, rubbing Sam’s back. He was so close to getting Sam to where he needed to be.

            “I don’t know, Oliver. I’ll think about it.” Sam said looking down at his watch. Sam rose to his feet quickly, wiggling out from under Oli’s arm. “I’ll be back with lunch in a bit, I’m almost late to a big shoot.” Oli smiled. “See ya in a bit, bud.” Sam said with a wink and a smile before turning and jogging off into the crowd of colorful people. Oli continued to enjoy his drink after waving Sam off, until he quickly returned. Sam shot Oli two more quick words before turning around and jogging back into the crowd: “Thanks, Oli.”