Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 36th cycle. Now cycle 37!

"First Song"
Sam/Mercedes
Samcedes Firsts series (sequel to First Dance)

They weren't so far gone as to miss school now that summer had begun, but then school wasn't just the things you couldn't wait to get away from. There was one thing above all else they knew the weeks would make them miss the halls of McKinley High. And this was even more pronounced, after Sam put forth one very important wish.

"Maybe one day we can have a duet," he smiled at Mercedes as they folded his family's clothes. He used to take the load to a Laundromat, but after they'd started dating, Mercedes had insisted he should just come to her house and use her machines. So the routine had become for him to come over and for her to help him with the clothes.

"In Glee Club?" she asked, and he nodded. "So that'd mean telling them about us, right? Ready for that?"

"Hell yeah," he nodded firmly, and she couldn't help but smile… blush a bit. "I mean I know we decided to keep it a secret for now, but you know I'm not looking to hide," he shook his head, putting a folded shirt down. "You?"

"Going to march down that hall with my boyfriend," she nodded with pride.

"Oh, have I met him?" he joked, and she threw a balled up pair of Stacey's socks at his head. "Hey!" he laughed, crouching to pick it up. "So what do you think?"

"About the duet, oh, don't worry we've got that in the bag," she told him with a confident shrug.

"In the bag, awesome," he nodded with a smirk. They got back to folding for a minute or two before he paused, a sudden idea coming to him. He didn't say a word… all in time.

A few days later, Mercedes had received a semi-mysterious text message, telling her to be ready to be picked up at four, dressed to go out. He could always be counted on for certain sweet gestures of the kind, and the summer had been the best one she'd had in a while… probably why it felt like time was flying. Sam made her feel things she'd only ever dreamt she could feel, like it would always only ever happen to other girls, while she sat by and watched, still alone. It was like she said: when they'd go back to school, they'd 'announce' themselves, but she wasn't anxious to see this time end either. This was special, it was theirs… getting to know each other more, finding new ways they liked each other… After they went back to school, that part would end.

Shortly after four, the doorbell rang and she answered. There was Sam on her doorstep, looking ready to go, almost sheepish. "Sorry I'm late, had to wait for my parents to get back to be with my brother and sister," he explained as she walked out and closed the door.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," she shrugged. "So are you going to tell me what we're doing tonight…"

"No," he refused, sticking to his mystery. She didn't mind even a little bit. As on most outings, apparently, they ended up at the mall, which didn't give much in the way of mystery solving. She was playing it coy, but she was getting excited… what was he trying to do? "Okay," he spoke all of a sudden, and they stopped walking, and…

"Uh, Sam?" she looked at him, confused.

"I know it looks, uh…" he tried to find the word, but then let it go and decided to reveal his motives. "I just thought, maybe we don't have to wait until September to have that duet we talked about. And if we want to keep our low profile…" he indicated the flashing 'karaoke' sign. She nodded slowly, and he leaned in to her ear. "They won't know what hit them when you step up to that mic." She smirked, looking back at him.

"When we step up to that mic. Come on," she grabbed his arm and pulled him through the door. They found a table and Mercedes grabbed a list sitting on the neighboring table. After a minute of scouring titles, he felt a tap on her arm and looked up. Sam pointed to the stage, and when she looked over to see the odd woman coming up for her turn.

"Woah…" Mercedes sat back. "I didn't know they still made those…"

"I think she made it herself," Sam blinked. Mercedes tried not to let her laughter show, like she was afraid the woman would dive at them. "Here," Sam took the sheet to obscure her face and she held on to his hand so the sheet wouldn't move. "Is there any room down there?" he chuckled. "I think she spotted me."

After the woman had screeched her song and been given a response not even close to half-hearted, Sam had looked back to Mercedes. "I'm still thinking," she declared, turning her eyes back to the list.

"No pressure, take your time." After a moment she paused, put the sheet down. "I'm glad you brought me here," she told him. He smiled, nodded. "But I'm thinking… I know you said we could it now, before we go back to school, but… What if we did wait?"

"Are you nervous?" he asked, putting his hand over hers.

"Me? Never," she scoffed, and he smiled. "But if we do it today, still pretending we're not boyfriend and girlfriend, then it wouldn't be the same. If we wait, and we keep it for when we go back to Glee Club, it'll be like… our debut," she nodded.

"Debut… I like that," he agreed. "Are you just worried about going on after her though?" he hooked his thumb back at the stage with a smirk.

"Hard act to follow," she joked back.

"Want to go get dinner then?" he suggested.

"Yeah," she agreed, but then stopped him getting up. "Can we just… Can we watch a few more of them?" she asked, with curiously pleading eyes. He held up his hands in surrender and she turned back to look at the stage, almost giddy. Sam wasn't even disappointed about how they hadn't had this song like he thought they would. She was right; they should wait for Glee Club… it would be special. Seeing how she reacted to the performers now, that was plenty good. Soon they had taken to scoring the various singers, almost considering awards, and special mentions… Dinner consisted both of eating their meals, and impersonating their favorite karaoke patrons.

"You know what we should do? Next weekend, we go back there, and we create our own train wrecks," Sam suggested at dessert. Mercedes almost dropped her ice cream cup as she laughed.

"Can we dress up for it, too?" The wicked smirk on his face made it clear: of course they would.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!