Work Text:
Drew stood on the balcony, staring out at the stars. That nagging, dull feeling he'd had in his gut wasn't going away. How was he going to do this? He closed his eyes as he thought about how much his life had changed in the last two months. He wasn't ready for this, but he knew it had to be done. They'd lied to each other long enough. One more look into her sad, trapped eyes and he wasn't going to make it.
He walked back into the house and stared at everyone as they waited for the wedding to start. He numbly walked past everyone and walked up the stairs, pausing at the door. He saw her sitting at the vanity. Her shoulders were slouched, a frown on her face as if she were conflicted. Then he saw her grab a tissue, wiping at the tears that were trying to fall. He loosened his tie and quietly entered the bedroom, "Hey," he said softly.
She looked up and stood nervously, "D-Drew, I didn't see you there." She said giving him a nervous smile and chuckle. "What are you doing up here? You know its bad luck to see the bride. Go back downstairs, I'll be there soon." She said waving a hand at him.
Drew gave her a sad smile and swallowed, staring at her, "You look beautiful." He said walking towards her, his hands in his pockets.
Sam frowned and sighed, "Drew, seriously, go downstairs. I'll be right down so we can get married."
Drew continued to stare at her, "You don't have to go downstairs." he said softly with a shake of his head.
Sam let out a soft scoff and stared at him, "Drew, yes I do. We're getting married today. Are you feeling okay?" she asked taking a step closer to him.
Drew licked his lips as he stared at her, "Sam…as much as this is going to hurt me," he paused staring directly into her anxious eyes, "We can't do this."
Sam's frown deepened as she stared up at him in confusion, "Drew, what are you talking about? What's going on right now?" she asked nervously.
"I can't marry you, Sam." He whispered as he watched her.
Sam continued to stare at him before she broke out into a non-humorous chuckle, "Wait a minute, are you-are you serious, right now? Is this a joke?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest.
Drew continued to stare at her and that's when he saw her face turn into a poem. She went from being shocked, confused, sad and then angry. She reached up and slapped him sharply across his cheek, "You son of a bitch!" she said through gritted teeth. "I can't believe you are doing this to me!" she said angrily.
Drew rubbed his cheek and sighed deeply, "Sam—"
"No! How could you Drew?!" she yelled at him. "What are we supposed to tell everyone who's waiting to see us?!" she continued angrily.
"The truth!" he said loudly, watching as she stopped her tyrant and glared at him with her heavy breathing. "We tell them the truth." He whispered with a shake of his head. "Sam, I love you and I do want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Then why are you doing this to me?" she asked angrily. "Why are you breaking up our family?!"
"Because you don't love me, Sam." He said quickly staring at her with a frown. He watched as she remained silent, just staring up at him, "I'm not the man you want to spend the rest of your life with…Jason is." He said simply. "I know how much you love him, how much he means to you, and I would never want to keep you away from him. Since he's come back, you've changed. You've—held on to me tighter and at first I thought it was because you really loved me and wanted a life with me." He said with a small smile, "But then I realized it was only because you wanted to prove to everyone that you'd moved one. That you weren't the same Sam that dropped everything for Jason and loved and lived to be with him."
Sam's breathing picked up, the frown no longer on her face as it was now replaced with a look of panic, "Drew, just wait a minute okay?" she panicked. "I know you think I still love him, but you have to understand that it was in my past. Yes, I will always have love for him, but things are different now. I love you. I want a future with you!" she stressed desperately.
Drew took his hands out his pockets and held her hands in his, "I wish I could believe it, but I can't." he said softly, looking down at their hands. "He was your first love. He has your heart in ways that I never could and—and that's fine." He said continued, staring back at her sad face. "I can't be the man you want; I can't give you what you need." He whispered, using his other hand to caress her cheek as the tears rolled down her face.
He sighed, staring in her big brown eyes, "I am letting you go because you deserve to have the life you want. I can't give it to you." He whispered. "I wish I could, but I just can't. When you thought I was Jason, you thought you wanted the same things I did, but that wasn't it. The life I gave you bored you to death. You don't deserve that, and…I don't deserve to be with a woman who will settle for me when she can have what she's always wanted. I deserve better than that." He said firmly.
Sam sniffled and shook her head, "We-We can make this work." She said through a sob.
Drew felt the tears build up in his eyes as he stared down at her, "No, we can't." he said softly. "It'll just be what we've been living since we found out who I really was—it'll be a lie." He said with a shrug.
Sam let out a sob and let her head fall into his chest. Drew closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing her back as she cried. "I'm so sorry." She whispered brokenly.
Drew swallowed the tears and sighed, "Me too." He whispered, leaning down and kissing her head, "Me too."
Sam sniffled and raised her head up, "I wanted this to work." She said softly, reaching up and caressing his face.
Drew gently moved her hand from his face and sighed, "If you did you wouldn't have lied to me. Sam, I always told you that you could tell me anything. No matter how much it hurt, I always knew I would be okay."
"I was confused and-and I didn't want to hurt you." She whispered as another sob escaped her.
Drew sighed, and swallowed, "Yeah, I know, but in the end, that happened anyway." He said sadly.
Sam sniffled and sighed, "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." He said softly. "We had good times. It was fun while it lasted, but I believe we're both going to be okay." He said softly.
Sam sniffled and stared up at him, "What about Scout?"
Drew sighed and nodded his head, "We're going to figure it out. You're her mother, I'm her father, and we'll always be connected through her. Nothing will change that." He said kissing her hand.
Sam let out a sad chuckle, "We'll always have her." She said softly.
Drew smiled softly at her and sighed, "I'm gonna go. Okay." He said swallowing the tears back.
Sam squeezed his hand a little tighter and shook her head, "You-You don't have to go. Just-Just stay and-and let's talk some more." She said quickly.
Drew studied her for a moment and sighed again, "There's nothing more for us to say." He said with a nod, gently letting go of her hand, "I'll uh, I'll come back for my things in the morning. We can figure out a schedule for Scout." He said softly.
Sam wrapped her arms around her body and nodded her head, "Okay." She said softly.
"Bye Sam." He said softly.
"B-Bye Drew." She said through another sob.
Drew sighed and turned away, walking out of the room and down the stairs. He paused seeing Curtis standing by the door. The rest of the guest were gone. The two friends stared at one another, neither one saying anything. It was something Drew appreciated. "Let's go." Drew said softly as he grabbed his keys and left the place he once called home. As he sat in the hotel, he thought about how much had changed for him and for the first time in his life, he was able to let out a sigh of relief. Whether he knew what came next or not, the real Andrew Cain was going to be just fine.