Author's Note: These are two inter-connecting one-shots that fill in the blanks for SamCedes during the season finale; ie how they got together and what happened before and after they ran into Kurt and Blaine at the Lima Bean.
The title comes from the song "Beauty and the Beast," which just screams SamCedes to me. Also, I know Kurt and Rachel's performance of "For Good" came after Finchel's New York date, but for the sake of this story pretend it happened before.
Tale As Old As Time
Sam wasn't exactly sure why he had agreed to help Finn on his quest or whatever to woo Rachel with some date straight out of a romantic comedy. It's not like they were friends or anything. Cause, yeah, they so weren't. They, like, barely spoke and maybe the most they had ever said to each other was when Mr. Schue was having them perform Rocky Horror and that might as well have been a lifetime ago.
Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his McKinley letterman's jacket, he flipped his bangs out of his eyes and licked his lips a few times before he nudged Mike in the ribs with his elbow. "Dude, why am I here? Like, I get why you and Artie and Puck are here; you're Finn's friends and all, but we're not exactly bros, you know?"
The slim Asian blinked in disbelief at the taller blonde. "Um, you do remember the disaster that was me singing with Tina for the duets competition, right? I'm a dancer, dude, but more importantly my voice won't stand out as much in a four part harmony as it will in a three part harmony. And you know if Rachel hears it crack, she'll stop the date and start making me do my scales and my arpeggios or some other crazy vocal exercise."
Shaking his head, a grim look crossed his face. "Talk about a buzz kill, right?"
Then the boyish features of his face turned urgent as he reminded Sam, "Besides Finn and Rachel doing a duet together is our best chance at Nationals."
"Hey, Michelle and Samantha," Puck called out. "You wanna stop gabbing already? I know you wanna know how Sammy gets those amazing highlights in his hair Mikey, but Frankenteen and Babs are like two feet away. Now lean up against the wall and try to act cool."
The mo-hawked badass popped the collar of his navy blue shirt and gave the other boys a smirk as he snarked, "You know like me."
"Right," Sam elongated the word and shook his head. "Cause you're not the dude holding an accordion; you know the lamest instrument ever?"
"Watch it, Trouty Mouth. I'll totally punch those submarine lips of yours into next Tuesday. Besides," He remarked with a swagger. "I make everything, even this lame old man's instrument look damn good. It's just what the Puckzilla does. Now shut up," He hissed. "I can hear Finnessa's ginormous feet."
"This date is straight out of those wonderful romantic comedies I love watching so much." Rachel's voice was bubbling with excitement. Clapping her hands together and hopping up and down, she stopped to look up at the much taller boy from behind her lashes and whispered wistfully, "If only there was a group of street singers ready to serenade us, it would be perfect."
Without giving Rachel any indication that they were all leaning up against the wall, Finn just nodded and then Puck started playing his accordion and singing.
"Oh this night...It's a beautiful night...And we call it Bella Notte...Look at the skies...They have stars in their eyes...On this lovely Bella Notte..."
Artie's soulful, but soft tone took over the second verse as they followed Finn and Rachel down the New York City street.
"Side by side...With your loved one...You'll find enchantment here...The night will weave its magic spell...When the one you love is near..."
And then he and Mike joined in with Puck and Artie for the chorus.
"Oh this is the night...And the heavens are right...On this lovely Bella Notte..."
"In those romantic comedies you like so much," Finn whispered while Artie shared a knowing look with Sam who nodded. "This is where I would kiss you."
"Yes." She murmured back, lips trembling.
He leaned in and Sam was all ready to fist pump and then bump fists with Mike who was standing next to him; knowing once their two leads kissed, they would have sealed their win at Nationals. Except there was no kiss. Rachel kept saying she couldn't and eventually she just ran off in the other direction, leaving Finn standing there looking more confused than usual.
Damn, Sam thought as he shared similar looks of disappointment with the other three boys who were standing around him. There goes our chance at Nationals.
The tall blonde boy was still humming "Bella Notte" when he walked through the lobby of the hotel, his hands stuffed into the pockets of jacket. He was about to punch the "up" arrow to go back to the room, when the doors opened and revealed Mercedes stepping out. His palms started to get sweaty and he could feel his cheeks heating up as he swallowed thickly and started doing a mental checklist of whether his breath smelled, he smelled or if he still had any bits of Cheetos stuck in his teeth.
Her soft, but teasing tone drew him out of his head. "Boy, are you just gonna stand there? Or are you gonna move so I can be on my way?"
Blinking, he shook his bangs from his eyes and his lips curved slightly. "If I say no, are you going to do something about it?"
She giggled; a sound he could admit silently – since they had been hanging out after prom and stuff – that he looked forward to hearing. "Hell to the yeah, I'm gonna do something about it. Divas don't take kind to people being in their way when they're on a mission. Even if they are a cute white boy who can rock a letterman's jacket like nobody's business."
Peering at her from behind his bangs, his wide mouth grew into the signature lopsided grin she had come to know and her stomach flip flopped. "So," He moved from standing in front of her to by her side and he easily slung an arm around her shoulders. "Is that diva speak for, like, I think you're hot Sam?"
The wiggling he did with his eyebrows made her burst into full on laughter and she shoved him away. "I don't got time to play games. I gots to get my diva on and ain't nobody stopping me."
"Get your diva on? Now? But it's like, past curfew or whatever! We're like supposed to be in our beds and stuff."
She narrowed her eyes as she scoffed and folded her arms over her chest. "Yeah, cause you didn't just come in from outside."
Sighing heavily, she let her whole stance soften as she whispered, "Kurt and Rachel aren't the only ones with Broadway dreams, you know. I'm just as excited to be here for the same reasons they are. When we were all supposed to be writing songs and everything, they snuck off to the Gershwin Theatre where Wicked is performed and they sung on a real Broadway stage."
She sucked in a shaky breath and Sam swallowed thickly, his heart twisting inside because he could see how badly she wished she could have gone with the other two divas in the glee club. Her usual fierce nature was back before his heart could beat again and her head was held up high as she told him, "Well, now I'm gonna sing on a real Broadway stage."
"You're not going alone." He surprised himself with how forceful his tone was and he must have surprised her too because her chocolate eyes were wide.
"I mean..." He sighed and ran his fingers through his blonde hair. "You like, can't go out there alone." He stressed as he exaggeratedly motioned toward the hotel doors with his hands. "Who knows what's out there? You could like run into giant sturmbeests or like Death Eaters or maybe even Jabba the Hut! Maybe I don't know anything about Broadway or whatever, but I'm not letting you go by yourself. New York's dangerous at night."
"Are you serious right now, white boy? I ain't gonna be running into any fictional Sci-Fi stuff or whatever it is you talkin' bout. And I can take care of mine, a'ight? You don't need to be worryin' your pretty face about this. Mama's got it on lock."
"Can you just like," He paused to lick his lips a few times and glanced down at his beat-up sneakers before his clear green eyes locked on her chocolate. "Humor me? If you go by yourself, I won't be able to sleep and I'll keep everybody else up by like watching the SyFy channel and thinking about all the horrible stuff that could happen to you."
"I promise," He was fidgeting with nervousness and bouncing on his heels. "That I won't interrupt you getting your diva on and stuff."
Her stomach was flip flopping again and her cheeks started to heat up from how cute she thought he looked right then. His bangs were falling into the stunningly clear green shade of his eyes (and she couldn't blame them; his eyes were the prettiest she'd ever seen), his cute pink lips were pouting and he just looked so earnest that she couldn't tell him no; even though she wanted to.
She hadn't planned on having an audience when she went to have her Broadway moment, but he wasn't just anyone. Ever since prom, they had been sort of hanging out – way more than they ever had before – and it was hard not to ignore how good looking he was or how sweet.
She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, as if she was making some grand sacrifice by letting him tag along, but when his large calloused fingers wrapped around hers, sparks surged up and down her arm and the heat in her cheeks grew.
They were steps away from the stage at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, when a booming voice stopped them in their tracks. "What do you two think you're doing?"
Slowly, the pair turned around. He looked sheepish, his head hanging down while she tried to go for the wide eyed innocent look. The late night security guard shook his head. "You've got fifteen minutes to sing your song, then you kids better get lost. Otherwise I'm makin' some phone calls that you're not gonna like."
Her whole face brightened. "You serious? You're gonna let us sing?"
"That's fourteen minutes and forty five seconds." Was all he said before walking back out.
Sam laughed softly at the way Mercedes jumped up and down and clapped her hands. She let out this not so little squeal, which made him wince, but the wince quickly turned into a gasp when she suddenly launched herself at him and his hands were filled with her ample curves and the heaviness of her breasts were pressed into his chest and he could smell her perfume.
Sucking in a shaky breath, he pulled her just a little closer and bent forward – in what he hoped was a totally non-creepy way – to smell the warm cinnamon smell of her perfume.
When she pulled back, he missed the feel of her immediately, but it didn't last long because her small, smooth fingers were wrapped around his larger, calloused ones as she dragged him up on the stage with her. He stumbled slightly, his feet struggling to keep up with the fast, excitable movements of her own and it was like someone knew they were up there or something because suddenly the room was flooded with bright, white hot light.
"You know," She said, her voice wistful and chocolate eyes big and full of happiness. "Toni Braxton performed on this very stage as the first black Belle."
He didn't know that, but he nodded anyway, his eyes transfixed on her as she moved about the stage. She wasn't graceful the way Quinn was and her movements weren't big and wide like Rachel's (you know, like she'd been practicing since she was like born or something), but they were sort of soft (could you move soft?) and easy and like she belonged up there.
He started to walk off, ready to give her the moment she wanted, but the sound of her forceful tone stopped him. "And just where do you think you're going?"
Turning to face her, he rubbed the back of his neck and blinked a few times. "Uh, out there? You like wanted to get your diva on, right? Not that I know what that means or anything, but um, don't like divas usually sing by themselves or something?"
"Boy," She shook her head, giggles bubbling behind her voice. "Get your Trouty Lips back up here. This diva knows how to share her spot light."
"You wanna sing..." He said the words slowly as if he was trying to process them in his head. Licking his lips, he swallowed thickly and asked, "Together?"
"No." She deadpanned, reaching for his hand to pull him toward her. "I wanna sing by myself and have you just stand there lookin' all fine in your letterman's jacket and jeans."
The words were out of her mouth before she even realized what she said and her cheeks burned hotter than they ever had before. She started gnawing at her lip and her eyes were hidden by her perfectly curled eyelashes, and just as she started to say something, he got brave and pressed her lips closed with one of his fingers.
(Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly) ("Beauty and the Beast" - Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson)
His finger slid away and his name fell from the softness of her lips in a breathless questioning whisper, "Sam?"
He sucked in a deep breath and slid his fingers through his hair. "I'm not like good at this stuff, okay? I mean I have no luck with girls and I'm like really nerdy and stuff, but um...When we were dancing at prom and since we've been hanging out a little, I just..You're...You're awesome, Mercedes. Like the extended edition of Avatar with the half hour of bonus features awesome.."
"Is that geek speak for sayin' you're feelin' me?" Her voice hinted at laughter, but this was the most serious question she had ever asked another person in her whole life.
"Totally." His wide mouth stretched into this lopsided smile that had her heart skipping beats and her own smile playing at her lips.
(Just a little change
Small, to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast)
Inches separated them, inches that were quickly closed by him bending his head and her standing on her toes. Their lips met and the kiss started out slow and exploratory, but it still hit all the right notes; like two singers figuring out how to blend their voices in harmony. His arms brought her closer to him; their bodies now meshed together and the feeling intensifying the kiss as her mouth slid open to invite his tongue inside.
Pulling back from each other, their eyes were dazed, cheeks were flushed and their breath was quick. His lips quirked slowly and with his fingers caressing her cheek, he told her, "You're ha lor."
"Say what?"
The flush of his cheeks deepened, turning his pale skin a brighter pink then the natural color of his lips. "It means you're beautiful in Na'vi."
Her smile was as soft as her voice when she murmured, "Thank you."
(Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
And ever just as sure
As the sun will rise)
A silence fell between them as they stared into each other's eyes and then they heard the door creek open and somehow the fifteen minutes the security guard had given them was up. His handsome features clouded with disappointment. "You didn't get a chance to sing." He was almost pouting then he licked his lips and nodded eagerly as if an idea was forming in his head. "Maybe I could convince that guy to give you just like a couple of minutes so you can sing. Don't move, okay? You're gonna..."
"Stop." Her voice wasn't loud, but it still managed to stop him. "You don't have to do that, Sam. I got somethin' better than singing on a stage."
"Y-you d-did?" His heart had suddenly leapt into his throat and mentally he was crossing his fingers hoping that she meant he was that something better.
"I got you."
"Y-yeah?"
"Yeah."
(Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong)
(Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as song
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast)
(Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast)
Song used "Beauty and the Beast" by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson
Note: A giant sturmbeest is an animal that the Na'vi in Avatar hunt for food, Death Eaters are dark wizards from Harry Potter and Jabba the Hut is the space gangster from the Star Wars films, which I'm sure – despite Sam's worries – you're not going to run into in New York at night, LOL.
"Ha Lor" means "beautiful" in Na'vi, but if I'm wrong don't blame me, I used the Navi-Lator online.
And the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is where "Beauty and the Beast" the Broadway musical was performed and where it closed it's run as the eighth longest Broadway show in history.