A Life Debt Repaid

Everyone in the hall was staring at Sam and Quinn, while Quinn took center stage, staring fixedly at Sam.
He stood in the middle of the crowd, watching her silently.
She in turn felt fear that he would turn and leave, just as she did not know if she had the courage to stand before him again and
to declare her feelings for him in front of so many others.
Nonetheless, amid the deafening silence, Sam suddenly walked toward the stage.
His pace was slow as if his feet were made of lead, but he was also unusually determined.
Quinn’s heart raced uncontrollably right then!
Everyone else was watching them nervously, especially Cordy and Zoe, with the latter being especially concerned that the
cowardly Sam would bail.
Fortunately, he was a man who showed responsibility. He would not leave Quinn alone and embarrassed.
Hence, as everyone looked on, Sam stood before Quinn, his gaze flickering as their eyes met.
He gulped ever so slightly, his emotions clearly ruffled even as he did his best to calm himself.
“Don’t mind that, Quinn,” he said nonchalantly as if it was just a joke. “I must have had a stroke when I recorded that video-just
pretend I was mad. You know how ridiculous I can be, always doing inane stuff like that just because I’m in the mood. Don’t take
it to heart.”
Quinn blinked as she continued to stare fixedly at him while he turned to leave, looking for a staff member to remove the footage.
“But I took it to heart,” Quinn said slowly and clearly just then.
Sam froze in place, doing his best to stop his racing heart.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’ve caused you trouble. If you really take offense to this, I won’t ever show up around you ever again, alright?
Don’t let a person like me affect your life. That’s just unnecessary.”
Quinn stared at him, tears welling up in her eyes as she saw his frustration and exasperation.
“A person like you? What do you mean?” she asked.

“An inconsiderate freeloader who does whatever he wants. Nothing good either way,” Sam said casually as he insulted himself to
no end.
Quinn’s eyes were read as she hid the tears in her voice and questioned him, “Inconsiderate? When you sacrificed your own
relationship for someone else, even ruining your reputation for it? You’d rather leave your homeland than make things awkward
for others-how is that doing whatever you want? You’d work overnight tirelessly for the family-how are you a freeloader?! How
could you say that about yourself?”
Sam pursed his lips, emotional and surprised that Quinn would defend him like this.
He had always thought himself a lowlife, a troublemaker, and a person insignificant in Quinn’s mind-or in everyone else’s mind,
for that matter.
“Quinn...”
“I do,” she suddenly said.
Sam was left staring at her, perplexed by those two words that came out of nowhere.
“I’m saying I’m willing to marry you!” Quinn declared loudly right then.
Sam’s heart raced out of control, but he thought he was hallucinating.
Quinn was with Ryan, and they even had a child together... Why would she want to marry him?!
Was she feeling guilty because of this video?
He really did not want to trouble her-he would wish she never saw this video if he could.
As he stared frantically at Quinn, she said, “I’m not feeling guilty or worried about letting you down, even though Zoe and Cordy
told me that you were going to propose six months ago, but it had to be put off because of Ryan’s accident. They told me that
even though you looked calm and composed, you were so nervous you messed it up countless times, and...”
She trailed off, her voice choking with tears.
She did not think that Sam had done so much for her.

In reality, she was never going to be with Ryan even after Sam left.
She had just been emotionally blackmailed into dating Ryan, but it was also her reservation. In those six months after she made
him accept his life after his accident, she had freed her conscience and no longer felt like she owed him anything.
And by then, she could be with Sam without any burden.