The first kiss was a complete and utter failure. Even Sam Evans was willing to admit that. He hadn't exactly been thinking with the right head when he leaned forward in the middle of the astronomy room, the song 'Lucky' being plucked from his fingers on his guitar. He had never been so bold with a girl, never tried to talk to a girl within two hours of meeting her. Quinn Fabray, as Sam would soon find out, was no ordinary girl.

She had freaked out before he could even get his lips on her, running from the room with a look on her face that made Sam feel like an idiot and a douchebag for even trying. Her eyes were mesmerizing and her lips.. well he wanted to see if her lips felt as soft as they looked.

He would indeed later find out that yes, Quinn Fabray's lips were as soft as they looked when his lips finally did graze upon hers. The soundtrack for his favorite movie was playing in the background and while the battle scene was his favorite part of the movie, his eyes were focused on the Cheerio clad girl next to him, watching the screen and taking in the weird language and the cat people for the boy who was slowly worming his way into her heart.

It was Quinn who took the lead this time, placing her hand oh so delicately on his cheek and crossing the distance between them. The girl didn't remember what happened at the end of the movie. The way her cheeks were hurting from smiling too much distracted her from that.

xxxx

All the kisses after that moment came and went like a blur. Sweet little pecks on the cheek to hot makeout sessions to kisses that blew his mind to kisses that lingered long after their lips parted; the kisses became part of the routine. Until the kisses stopped.

It was a mistake. It was all a mistake. The blonde hair and the eyes and the kisses were just distractions, trickery to gain his trust and his heart and rip it to shreds. Not that he could let it show that the kisses meant anything to him. No harm, no foul, right?

xxxx

Mercedes seemed nice, well most of the time. She was just so... different. His dad once told him that if something didn't work , try something new. Mercedes was definitely new. She was loud and brass and a diva with a capital D, but she was different and different was good. She didn't have the blonde hair or the mesmerizing eyes and when he did finally kiss her, it didn't have that same… he didn't know. They had fun together, when she wasn't telling him what to do or what to pay for and maybe.. just maybe he thought he could love again. Sure the kisses weren't the same, but they could make due.

It was when he saw the girl with her big bad boyfriend that he realized what was missing. Sam's hair was still slicked back and there was still some water in his ears as he held a bouquet of roses ahead of him, planning on giving them to Mercedes and asking her to be his girl when he ran into them. They were kissing by her locker and though he began to feel a pain in his chest that he couldn't even begin to describe, suddenly it made just a little bit of sense as they pulled away and the girl's grin went from ear to ear, just like Quinn's had when they-

He stopped himself before he could think about it.

xxxx

The graduation party kiss was drunken and sloppy and abso-fucking-lutely needed. Was it fate when the green glass bottle had passed the two Cheerios making out in the corner and Puck wrapping his arm around Rachel's shoulders before landing directly in front of one Yale-bound Quinn Fabray? Sam didn't know, but after months of pining over Mercedes and realizing they were over and eventually getting used to the idea of being alone, a kiss sounded like it was exactly the release he needed.

"Get a room!"

Sam opened his eyes, immediately pulling away from Quinn at Finn's words. His eyes were finally opening, and adjusting to the light that didn't seem so bright earlier. Why was he panting? Why was she panting? Her face was red, her eyes practically bugging out as she licked her lips once again. The eyes.. the eyes.. he was losing himself again. Quinn moved back before he could kiss again and the bottle began to spin, Brittany more than willing to break away from Santana for a moment when Mike's turn landed on her.

You can't tell me you don't want to do that again.

-Q

Sam reread the text five times before glancing back and sending back his reply.

I thought you'd never ask.

-S

xxxx

"I'm so proud of you, baby," Sam blurted out before taking the white robed clad Quinn in his arms, kissing her all over her cheeks, her forehead, her nose. She was holding the empty leather case that was mostly symbolic in her hand, her Yale diploma being mailed to their apartment sometime in the next week. Their apartment, where the pair did a lot more than just kissing.. not that her parents needed to know any of that.

The boy had to let Quinn go once her parents walked up to them, marveling at how marvelous the college graduation ceremony was and how beautiful the engagement ring on Quinn's finger was in person, rather than just in email. His parents weren't there, he still had another year before he would graduate from Sacred Heart University, but he could already hear Quinn and her mother gabbing about a spring wedding somewhere close by, not that Sam cared much about the details. All he wanted was Quinn in a white dress, he in a nice fitting suit and a minister saying the words, "And now you may kiss the bride."

Xxxx

"Not too soft, not too hard. You can't look like you're eating her mouth, but you can't look like you are already bor-"

"Dad, I know how to kiss Quinn."

Sam gave his father a playful nudge as he finished up with his bowtie, his shoes feeling a bit uncomfortable the more he had to stand and wait. He hadn't seen Quinn since the night before, the whole 'no seeing the bride before the wedding' thing. It was their wedding day, the day they had been planning for over a year, though he had found some pictures in Quinn's childhood bedroom that suggested it had been longer than that for her. Sam had already seen his mother begin to sob and Mrs. Fabray let out hastily wiped away tears.

"She looks really beautiful, Sam," his mother had told him right before the ceremony was supposed to start. Well duh, Sam had thought to himself as he turned to face the minister and heard the wedding march begin.

xxxx

"You may kiss the bride."

Sam had been waiting for those words since the moment he got down on one knee in front of the popular head cheerleader and offered her a promise ring, the same promise ring that had now been fashioned as a necklace that the head cheerleader now wore every day.

To death would they part, in sickness and in health, forever and ever; the words didn't seem so scary when it was Quinn standing by his side and now that he got to kiss his wife, he had to do it right.

Sam could hear the cameras flashing, the crowd sighing at the young couple as they took their first kiss as husband and wife, both of her arms wrapping around his shoulders as they deepened the kiss for a moment before finally pulling away. Quinn was beginning to giggle as the crowd began to cheer and Sam wanted to stay in that moment for just a second more before turning to face the crowd as the new Mr. and Mrs. Sam Evans.

xxxx

The beeping of the hospital machines mixed with the sound of soft crying was all Sam could hear as he laid in his hospital bed. He couldn't believe he had last so long, but from the tears of his wife right next to him, he knew she wanted him to stay with her even longer.

"Quinnie," the man began, lifting his hand to tip her chin up so that he could stare into those beautiful hazel eyes one more time. His wife was still a stunner, aging gracefully like she had always done. "We both know I'm gonna die a happy man." Taking his hand in hers, he pressed the back of her hand against his lips, thinking of how she had given him children in their 40 years of marriage and how those children had produced grandchildren that loved to watch Avatar with their Grandpa Sam. Sam knew he only had a few hours left, but he wanted to wanted to spend as much time with Quinn before he left, making sure she was taken care of once he was gone.

Visiting time was ending and with Quinn holding her head high, the man knew his wife wasn't going to show anything to the nurses and doctors waiting to escort her out. She was standing up to leave when Sam held her hand, not letting her go just yet.

"How about one more kiss?"

He forced a smile on his face and for a moment, he saw one flash on hers as she pressed her hand against his chest and leaned in for a sweet kiss that he never wanted to end. He was sure that was his favorite kiss of all. "I love you, Sam Evans," she whispered out against his lips before reaching for the necklace that hung around her neck, his promise ring dangling from the dainty silver chain.

"I love you too, Quinn Fabray," her maiden name rolling off his tongue so easily before he stole one more kiss away on her cheek before setting back onto the bed. "And by the way, Quinn, that kiss was my favorite." Sam felt Quinn's hand move to his cheek as he began to shut his eyes, the monitor machine beginning to beep a little more rapidly as the noise became duller and duller in his ears before going silent altogether.

xxxx

The doctors wouldn't let her touch him once his heart monitor started going flat, her oldest son, Jake, pulling her away from the room as they tried to revive him but she knew he was gone. He had gotten his kiss from her. He was always happier when he had gotten a kiss from her. She was flanked by her children as the doctors finally told her the news, Jake and Lucy on one side, Luke and Charlotte on the other, all blonde hair with pouty lips that only caused Quinn to sob more as she looked at them. They were their father's children, always wanting to take care of their mother and always wanting to do good.

She felt Luke's hand on her back, rubbing in soothing circles as Lucy and Jake kept silent, their pouty lips in a thin line and their faces in deep concentration as they thought of something to say to comfort their mother. Charlotte leaned her head against her mother's shoulder; sniffling once again as silent tears fell down on her face. "We miss him too, Mom," she finally said, wide green eyes staring back up at Quinn.

The waiting room was silent as the Evans family mourned the loss of their patriarch when Quinn's shaky voice began.

"Did I ever tell you how I met your father?"

The children, all adults, looked like small children as they shook their heads 'no', sitting up to attention at their mother's voice.

Clearing her throat, Quinn smoothed out her skirt as the memory of the astronomy room and the kiss that didn't land crossed her mind, a reminiscent smile on her face that all her children noticed immediately.

"Well, it all began with a kiss."