DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE OR THE SONG IF I DID SAM AND MERCEDES WOULD BE TOGETHER IN L.A. WITH THEIR OWN SPIN OFF WITH PUCK, ARTIE, AND SANTANA.

A/N: Happy SamCedes Week. To be honest I had no idea it was SamCedes week till a great author told me so S/O out to ngawai and thank you for hippin me to the game blessing to you. I have to admit I have a Tumblr account but do not know how to use it…LOL so if you wanna teach me let me know. Any I wanted to contribute to SamCedes week so here it is. This was supposed to be a one shot but it got really, really long so long that it is now a story and it has continuing chapters to come. It was inspired by the song Endless Love by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. I hope you enjoy.

Much Love

Endless Love

It has been five long years since Mercedes Jones had laid eyes on Sam Evans. Five years since she felt his touch or kissed his soft plump lips that drove her insane. She prided herself on being an independent woman and taking care of herself. She was a successful R&B singer with number one hits. She has also dated some of the hottest men in the music industry, albeit the relationships never worked out, still she was dating. She was over him and there was no reason for her to not be able to be in the same vicinity as him.

~Flashback~

When she heard she was nominated for her first Grammy she was so excited, when she found out she was nominated for three that night she was floored. When she found out that they wanted to perform she damn near passed out. They told her they wanted her to perform in a tribute for Diana Ross which Mercedes absolutely said yes to because she loved Diana Ross. Mercedes could not contain her joy the day she was to go rehearse the tribute with the other artists. As she entered the arena with her manager Santana Lopez she could not stop smiling.

"Damn Aretha can you smile any bigger?"

"I am just so excited San, I mean this is the Grammys and I get to perform."

"It's the dream" Santana said "and you deserve it."

"It's our dream girl" Mercedes said grabbing her arm "you have a growing list of talent that will be on this stage soon."

"I am a pretty kick ass manager."

"That you are, and I am just so glad I got you first."

"Well since you saying all this nice shit about me I better go do my job and find out who you're singing with."

"That'll be nice" Mercedes said.

Santana went to meet with the coordinators and directors of the show to get the logistics about Mercedes performance when she heard a familiar voice. She turned to see Artie Abrams talking to one of the directors.

"Artie Abrams is that you?"

He turned to see her standing there;

"Santana Lopez as I live and breathe what are you doing here?"

"I'm working. I have a client who is performing at the Grammys. What are you doing here?"

"The same as you, I didn't know you went into managing?"

"Well it started out as just helping a friend get some gigs and turned into being a full fledge career. What about you?"

"Sort of the same thing a friend needed some help so I used my resources to get work for him and now here I am"

"Wow this is amazing and I know my client would be excited to see you."

"Mine would be happy to see you too."

They stared at each other for a second slowly figuring out what was going on here. Neither one wanted to say what the other was thinking because if what they were thinking were true this could be a disaster. Santana broke the silence;

"So your client knows me?"

"And your client knows me?" Artie said.

They both nodded

"And your client is here to rehearse for the Diana Ross Tribute?" Artie asked.

"Let me guess your client is singing a duet?" Santana asked.

"Yeah" Artie said.

"We're screwed" they said in unison.

~End of Flashback~

It's been five long years since Sam Evans had laid eyes on Mercedes Jones. Five years since he touched her chocolaty silky skin or her treacherous curves that drove him insane. He prided himself on not dwelling on the past and moving on. He has become a successful country star and his songs were number one on the charts. His life was going great. He had dated some of the hottest women in the world. From other artist to supermodels even though he could never keep a relationship he still dated. He was over her and there was no reason he couldn't be in the same vicinity as her.

~Flashback~

"What are we going to do?" Santana asked "There is no way she is going to want to perform with him."

"Well he won't be too excited to perform with her either" Artie stated.

"We just have to do our jobs and make them do something they are not comfortable with-"

"Because we know in the end it's what's best for them." Artie interrupted.

"Well I guess we need to go tell them before they find out from somebody else" Santana said

"Yeah or before they see each other" Artie said "that would be horrible."

"Yeah it would"

"Good luck" they said in unison as they walked in separate directions.

Santana stood outside of Mercedes dressing room door trying to find the right words to say.

How do you tell someone that the one person they vowed to never see again after the messed up way things ended between them, that now they have to get on stage in front of millions of people and sing a love song to each other. She got herself together and went in.

"Cedes I got everything taken care of and they will come get you when they are ready."

"Cool San did you find out who I'm singing with?"

"Yeah I did."

Silence

"Well are you going to tell me?"

"Oh yeah I was going to tell you."

Silence

"Today"

"He's an up and coming artist and actually he's nominated for two awards." Santana said

"That's great, what's his name?" Mercedes asked

"His name"

""Yes his name San so I know what to call him when I meet him."

I know a few names she go call him she thought.

"Santana what is going on here?"

"Nothing Cedes."

"You are acting weird and I want to know what is going on? Why won't you tell me who I am singing with?"

"Because, I know you won't like it."

"What do you mean I won't like it? I am a professional and I can sing with anybody. There is nobody I can't-"

Then the light bulb came on. The color drained from her face and her heart sunk.

"I'm singing with HIM."

Meanwhile…

"HER" Sam said "They want me to do a duet with-"

"You still can't say her name" Artie said.

"I can say her name" Sam spat.

"Then say it" Artie snapped.

Sam looked at Artie like he was crazy. Artie never yelled at him like that before and over what, saying her name. Of course he could say her name he was completely over her. He did not miss her smile, or her laugh, or how she scrunched her nosed when she was nervous or annoyed, her beautiful juicy lips or her magical ass. SNAP OUT OF IT SAM! You are over her.

"You can't say it, and you want to know why you can't say it because you still love her" Artie stated.

"No I don't" Sam said.

"If you don't then it should be no problem performing this duet with her then."

"I just can't man" Sam sighed "she hates me and last time we were in the same place it ended badly, you remember."

"Yeah I do remember and you were an ass to her."

"She was not perfect" Sam said "she was unreasonable and stubborn."

"She was being a diva something you used to be able to handle and thought it was cute" Artie said "but for some reason you flipped out on her and literally kicked her out."

Sam fell back on the couch remembering that day. He had been a jerk and all she was trying to do was surprise him. He regretted kicking her out of his party the minute he did it but his pride kept him from going after her.

"Yeah she could have told you that in fact she was going to come to your party but in all honesty she didn't think she could. Her label kept her really busy and her schedule wasn't clear" Artie said "you acted like a brat and pouted when she told you she couldn't make it."

"I did not pout" Sam said.

"You pouted like a big ol' baby" Artie laughed "but then she showed up and I thought you would be happy but NO you decide to get drunk and flirt with random hoe's and yell at her when she showed up. Telling her that you were not going to sit around and wait for her anymore. You were going to be a huge country star and you did not need her to drag you down."

Sam cringed at the words that Artie was saying. He still could not believe he would say those horrible words especially to her. The pang in his heart had been there since that day and never seemed to go away.

"I wanted to beat your ass that day" Artie continued "but I liked my job and I knew you would never make it without me."

"You did take it out on me with that hell of a schedule you had me on" Sam snorted.

"Yeah I worked your ass off for what you did to her."

"So does she know?"

"I'm assuming she does now. I ran into her manager and she was going to tell her. By the way she says hi."

"Who's her manager?"

"Santana" Artie smiled.

"Oh great can this day get any better."

Just then came a knock on the door and a stage manager informed Sam that they were ready for him.

"Come on bro it's time to face the one that got away" Artie said putting his arm around Sam's shoulder.

Sam side eyed the hell outta Artie but sighed and walked toward the stage.

Meanwhile

"Santana I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't get up there with him and sing this song with him. It's too much."

"Cedes calm down you're going to pass out."

Mercedes was pacing back and forth in her dressing room.

"This is so not fair. Why do the Grammy Gods hate me? That has to be the only reason they would force me to sing with him for my first Grammy performance."

"No one hates you Wheezy. It's a logical choice they chose the two of you to sing together. You both have huge albums on the charts right now and you're both nominated for best new artist. The Grammys just wanted to showcase that."

Mercedes knew what Santana was saying made perfect sense but she did not want to hear that. All she could think about was that night he kicked her out of his party. How humiliated and hurt she was. She just knew after he sobered up he would come after her and ask her to forgive him and she would have, but he never did. She waited for days for him to call. Then days turned into weeks, then weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. She could not believe the man who claimed to lover her forever and always could say the things he said to her. Her heart was broken, she was broken. Now she has to face the man who broke her and sing a love song with him.

"Cedes this is a great opportunity for you and I would hate to see you blow it over him."

"I know San and you're right I can't mess up my career over him."

A knock came at the door informing Mercedes that they were ready for her.

"You got this diva" Santana said "show him what he has been missing."

"Thanks San I just need to go out there and do my job and not worry about him."

~End of Flashback~

Sam was on stage getting his microphone set up when Mercedes walked out. His jaw dropped at the sight of her. Damn she is even sexier than I remember he thought. He continued to act like he hadn't noticed her. Mercedes was led to the stage by a stage manager and was getting her microphone set up when she glanced at Sam. O M Ga Ga did his arms get bigger? Why does he have to be so damn sexy she thought? She focused on the instructions that the stage manager was giving her. When it was time for rehearsal to start Sam and Mercedes was standing on opposite sides of the stage and were to walk out when it was time to sing. Sam was to come out first and Mercedes was to follow. When the music started they were very professional and did what they had to do. They both tried to have very little eye contact between them. It was just painful to watch. The director went to Artie and Santana and asked to speak to them.

"That was a disaster" the director said "if they perform like that tomorrow night they will be laughed off that stage. Is something going on that we need to know about?"

Artie and Santana looked at each other and shook their heads. Artie spoke up first.

"They kind of have a bit of history together."

"Yeah they have not seen each other in five years" Santana chimed in "and the last time they did see each other it was sort of a disaster."

The director looked at both of them with a look of disbelief.

"Well we can't change history and we can't change this performance so they need to get their shit together and figure this out because I will not have another 'Frank Ocean' performance at the Grammys."

"We will make them get it together" Santana said.

"It will be a great performance" Artie said "if we know those two like we do they will make it hot."

Artie and Santana left the room embarrassed for their clients.

"What was that?" Santana said looking at Artie.

"Two knuckleheads in love trying to deny their feelings" Artie replied.

"We can't have them being the laughing stock of the Grammys" Santana said "it's not good for business."

"Damn straight" Artie said "they are not going to mess up my name cause they won't admit they in love, uh uh not gonna happen." He was waving his finger in the air.

Santana laughed "so we gotta get them together huh?"

"That's what it looks like."

"So what's the plan?"

"What hotel are ya'll staying in?" Artie asked

"We're not" Santana said "we live here so we were getting ready at her house."

"Not anymore" Artie said "bring her to the Roosevelt Hotel tonight and tell her you wanted to do something special for her first Grammys. I will make sure that her room is right next to his."

"Brilliant" she said "they are bound to run into each other."

"Oh I'm going to make sure they run into each other."

"So Operation SamCedes is on" Santana said.

"Oh it's definitely on" Artie replied.

A/N: So I hope you liked it let me know :-)