first dance, a glee fanfic

AN: So Prom Queen happened, but they remained just friends for the rest of the semester- so Samcedes is not established, just to let you know. Also this story alternates points of view, starting with Mercedes. Hopefully it's not too confusing :) Enjoy! Reviews are appreciated.

"And that's when I said, 'sweetheart, if I wanted something frayed, I cut the ends of your hair off" Mercedes began laughing as her and Kurt walked through the door at Breadstixs. When she was able to catch her breath she noticed that pretty much everyone was looking at her. She bit her lip in embarrassment and followed Kurt to the table that the glee club was sitting at.

"Sorry we're late, we had a little detour at the mall, we got wind of a flash sale at Forever 21 that we could just not pass up," said Kurt as he pulled out a chair next to Blaine. Though he wasn't a part of the glee club he was dating Kurt and everyone knew him well enough that they didn't mind inviting him to this little midsummer reunion. Blaine leaned over once he was seated and gave him a small peck on the check. Though Blaine was a little nervous about PDA, being surrounded by all his friends made him feel that if anyone wanted to cause problems, they would be okay.

"That's alright, we're happy that you guys eventually left the mall," replied Finn and he draped his arm around Rachel. Mercedes scanned the table for an open seat. They staff at Bredstixs had pushed together a series of table so everyone good sit together. Brittney sat across from Santana and Mercedes observed that Santana was blushing at the look Brittney was giving her. Mercedes rolled her eyes. That girl just needs to stop pulling and R. Kelly and come out of the closet. I'm tired of her being mean, she just needs get her love on with Brittney. It would make everyone's like easier. Artie sat next to Brittney, but didn't even seem to notice her sitting there. He was focusing on the conversation him and Quinn were having and they both seemed lost in their own little world. Mercedes made a mental note to talk to Kurt about it later on at the sleepover they were going to have. After almost a half a year of not really speaking to each other they wanted to spend the summer focusing on regaining the friendship they once had. Mike and Tina sat across from them, absorbed in their Asian fusion. They are going to get married, Mercedes smiled at her thought. Finn sat in between Mike and Rachel, and also across from Lauren and Puck. Puck and Finn looked like they had just started a heated debate: PS3 vs XBOX 360. Rachel was rolling her eyes and leaned over to have a conversation with Kurt and Blaine, while Lauren backed Finn up. Puck seemed offended at the fact the Lauren wasn't backing up his PS3 argument. She just shrugged her shoulders, "Mama knows what she likes and what she likes is Halo 3." Sam sat next to Puck and seemed like he was focusing on the debate they were having, backing Puck up the best he could, just to even out the playing field. Mercedes noticed that the only open seats were either at the end of the table where Brittney and Santana were sitting or next to Sam. She really wanted to take the seat next to Sam but she didn't want to seem too obvious, but she figured it was her best option. She was happy it was across from Kurt and Blaine that way if anyone asked why she chose that seat she could use them as an excuse. She also didn't want to get in the middle of the Brittana lesbian vibe. That would just be uncomfortable and awkward. She went to go grab the chair next to Sam when he stood up suddenly and pulled it out for her. Mercedes felt her checks get a little warm and was happy for her dark skin complexions so no one could see her blushing.

Sam didn't know what came over him. He had been watched Mercedes walked in, mesmerized by the way her hair bounced of her shoulders, the way her hips swayed, and how her smile lit up the room. It brought him back to the amazing night they had spent together at prom. When he had sang Friday he could see her in the back dancing like there was no tomorrow. She was smiling and laughing. At first he thought it was at him, but when he saw her bust out the robot he knew that she was just having fun. He remembered the calm feeling he got thinking that when he eventually danced with her he could be himself and do the nerdy dances he had been too afraid to do with Quinn at homecoming. After he got the courage to ask her to dance to Jar of Hearts the rest of the night had been perfect. Their first dance had been slow and thoughtful. They didn't say much, he didn't want to mess the moment up. Being with Mercedes had made him happier than he had been in a while. It was like being with her made of all his problems go away. They were conjoined at the hip the rest of the night. She joined him when he broke out the sprinkler and even helped him start the lawn mower. He knew Mercedes was cool, he just hadn't realized how awesome she was.

Thinking about Prom made him think about all the time they had spent together since then. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday night for the past month and a half she would come over and help babysit Stevie and Stacy. Quinn usually had been the designated babysitter, but after Finn broke up with her she got weirdly clingy and Sam had asked Mercedes one Tuesday to come over instead to get a break from her. Mercedes agreed enthusiastically and even brought a batch of cookies for the kids to eat. When Sam got off work later on the night, Stevie and Stacy were still up and they charged at him with questions.

***flashback***

"First off, why aren't you in bed?"

"Sam, I tried to get them to go to bed, but they said they had something really important to tell you." He smiled at Mercedes, who looked like she had fought a battle with the two young ones.

"It's okay, Mercedes." She smiled back at him.

"Alright, what's so important that you stayed up way past your bed time to tell me?"

"Can Mercedes come over more often?" Both shouted. Sam raised an eyebrow at Mercedes, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Well Quinn already agreed to come over Wednesday and Thursday and I'm pretty sure Mercedes has plans this weekend." Stevie and Stacy groaned in defeat and shuffled their feet to the bed.

"Well I do have plans on Saturday; my Friday is nice and free and if Quinn isn't booked for every Thursday I can do those two." Mercedes gave Sam a smile that made his stomach flip.

"Really?" Stevie said as he hoped up from the bed, Stacy ran over to Mercedes and gave her a hug.

"Please Sam, can she?" ask Stacy.

"Well if she wants to commit to Tuesdays and Thursdays with you monsters that's her own death wish, I don't work on Fridays, but if you don't mind spending time with me also, we would love for you to come over."

"Please come over, I mean I know Sam smells, but I'm still fun!" said Stevie from the bed.

"Hey!" shouted Sam in response and stuck his tongue out at her, Stevie responded with sticking her tongue out too. Mercedes giggled at them.

"Stick your tongues back in your mouth! And of course I would love to hang out with all three of you," Mercedes gave same a small smile that caused Sam's heart to flutter.

***endflashback***

That night Sam laid awake thinking of the diva and found himself excited for Fridays. Though he and Mercedes hadn't talked much since Prom, he knew that Fridays were going to be fun and special and they were. They always laughed the night away, sang songs, and always found a way to have an adventure – whether it was make believe or real. Mercedes made their dingy hotel room feel somewhat like a home. He found himself watching the clock Tuesday and Thursday nights at work, wishing the time to go fast so he could see Mercedes and on Fridays he spent the day trying to clean to make sure everything looked it best for when she came over even though he knew she wouldn't care. He found himself falling for Mercedes, but he had no idea how she felt. Then the Thursday before this whole glee dinner he got held up at work; a disgruntled customer made him drive all the way back to his job and back to his house for an order of breadsticks. He was already and hour later than usual and still had to go back to his job and get back to the motel and he had no way of getting in touch with Mercedes. He hoped that she didn't have any plans and didn't mind staying. Stevie and Stacy should've already been in bed, so they shouldn't have been a problem. As soon as he got back he clocked out of work and began the race home. He pulled into the parking spot in front of his room and saw Mercedes pacing back and forth and biting her nails. She saw Sam's car pull in and when he stepped out she ran and pulled him into an embrace.

***flashback***

"I was so worried," Mercedes whispered into his chest. Sam was a little caught off by the hug, but he felt himself instinctively pull his arms around her and rest his head on top of hers.

"Why?"

"Well you're close to two hours late. I called your job and they said they didn't know where you were. I thought something bad happen." He cursed the stupidity of his boss. He was 24 year-old high school dropout and seemed like a pot head. He then realized that Mercedes seemed to really care about him. He didn't know if the feelings she was feeling were anything more than platonic, but she cared and it made him feel good. He smiled when he realized that he really cared about her to.

"I had a really awful customer how had me driving all over Lima. I really wanted to call you and tell you what was up but I had no phone." The stood in the embrace a little while longer and Sam liked the way she felt in his arms. She eventually pulled away, wiping her eyes. He wanted to lean down and kiss her, but he didn't know if that was too forward. Even if she cared for him, who says she would want to date him.

"Well Stevie and Stacy are obviously asleep so I'm going to head home." Sam walked Mercedes over to her car.

"Thanks for staying late….and being concerned about me."

"It's no problem, they were asleep for the last hour and a half and I care about you Sam, you're really awesome." Sam searched her face to see if there was anything more. The silence that fell was heavy, like there was something more that they should've said, but neither of them did. Mercedes gave Sam a small smile and got into her car. Sam watched her drive away, thinking of all the things he should've said.

***endflashback***

Now he was standing up, pulling out her chair, feeling his cheeks get warm. No one was really paying attention to them; they were too wrapped up in their own messes to care about his. Kurt noticed though, and gave him a slight eyebrow raise, which made Sam see an awkward, private conversation in his near future. He took his seat and began asking Mercedes about her day and about the things she got at the shop. He loved the look of shock that she gave him, like she was surprised that he was interested in her life.

The waitress showed up to take everyone's order and to bring Kurt and Mercedes their drinks. Sam listened as Mercedes went through the things she had bought at the store, with Kurt intercepting his opinions on the outfits she bought.

"She looked fine, I'm sure you would agree," He gave Sam a wink, which made Mercedes appreciate her dark complexion again because her face was on fire. Mercedes was a little mad at Kurt, she hadn't gone into many details but she had told Kurt that she and Sam had been seeing a lot of each other and she that she developed a little crush on him. He tried telling her that he was going to get them together, but she insisted he stay out of it. Sam was just being a good friend and so was she. There was no reason to make this bigger than what it was. After a brief argument, he conceded, which Mercedes was thankful for.

She tried not to look at Sam too much. After the last time she had saw him she was a little embarrassed. She had been crying about him being late. She didn't want Sam thinking she was clingy like Quinn, she was just really worried.

After a few moments, the group began ending their small conversations and they all began talking to each other, catching up on everyone's summer. Santana seemed un-amused but Mercedes noticed a small smile that she tried hiding. Mercedes knew that even though Santana tried to deny it, she loved hanging out with the glee kids.

"Lord TUbbington and I are going to the old people's house to make the happy," said Brittney with a proud smile. Everyone began praising her for doing something really good for the community. Even though Brittney was slow, she had a good heart.

"Well my play Pip Pip Hooray is coming along quite nicely, I already have the first act done," interjected Kurt.

"Well I can't wait to hear it and if you need someone to play you're lead, just let me know. You know off my talents." Mercedes rolled her eyes at Rachel in a loving way. Mercedes noticed Sam had gotten up and looked around to see where he had gone off. While looking for Sam she hadn't notice Kurt walk off to go find him.

Sam stood by his car to get some air. Sitting next to Mercedes was clouding his judgment. He had to stop himself from touching her. He actually caught himself reaching for her hand a couple of times; he just wanted to hold her again.

"Is everything alright?" Sam turned around to see Kurt standing in front of him.

"Yeah…I uhhh left something in my car." He went to go open his door and realized he left his keys on the table. He heard a jingle behind him. Sam saw Kurt with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Forgot something?" Sam blushed,

"Thanks man." He reached out to grab them but Kurt pulled them back.

"Tell me why you really came out here." Sam sighed and he thought about lying to Kurt but decided there was no use. He had already seen through his first lie, no use in trying again.

"I just needed some air…to clear my head…from…"

"Thoughts of Mercedes?"

"How did you know?"

"I saw the way you were looking at her, looks like love to me." Sam took a sigh in and placed his hands on his head.

"I really care for her, a lot, and I want to be with her, I want to hold her and kiss her, I want to make her smile when she's sad, I want to be the one who tells her she's beautiful every morning, and say I love you to every night before she goes to bed. There's so much more to say but there's no point. There's no way I can be the boyfriend she deserves, I don't even know if she'd want to date me." Sam casted his eyes down with a look of defeat; Kurt took a few steps forward.

"You know, Mercedes isn't as big of a diva as she makes herself seem. Sure on the stage it's all about her, but she really is down to earth. She doesn't need fancy things. Even if you could afford to take her to nice place, she'd probably still insist on paying for herself. She thrives on move nights and just hanging out, being with people she likes is what makes her happy. Be telling me what you just did, I know you'll be good to her. And the problem of "if" she'll date you, well…I'm not allowed to say anything, but I can gesture." Kurt just nodded his head. Sam smiled at him.

"Thanks Kurt."

"Just treat her well."

"I will…oh by the way, you have some pull her right?"

"Yeah…why?"

"Do you think you can help me with something?"

"What do you have in mind?"

Mercedes eventually noticed that Kurt had left and when she looked at Blaine to find out where he was, he just shrugged his shoulders. If that boy said something, it's not going to be pretty. She then saw Kurt come back, with a smile on his face.

"Where did you go off to?" ask Blaine.

"Oh nowhere, just need some air." Mercedes gave Kurt a look of disbelief.

"You're up to something." Kurt leaned back insulted.

"Me? Never," scoffed Kurt. Puck looked around the table,

"Dude, has anyone seen Sam? He's been gone for a while."

"Maybe he's taking a poop," replied Finn. All the girls, and Kurt and Blaine, gave him a look of disgust. The guys acted like there was nothing wrong.

"That's rude to talk about at the dinner table," replied Rachel. As the other girls were getting ready to back her up, there was some feedback coming from the front of the restaurant. The table turned to see Sam sitting on a stool with a small ukulele, with some guys from the jazz band on stage with him. How are they always around?

Mercedes wondered aloud, "what is he doing?"

"uhhh My name is Sam and I'd like to play a song. Mercedes this is for you."

Sam felt his palms get sweaty as everyone in the restaurant looked at him. He saw the surprised, questioning look on Mercedes face. It's now or never.

Well it…started with your hips
So I moved up to your lips
To take a chance, ask for a dance,
Cause you're the cutest thing on this side of the world
We call our homes
Yet I feel so all alone half of the time
We gotta live with what we got
And I got nothin'
So I pray you take my hand so we can conjure up somethin' rad

Everyone started clapping their hands, except Mercedes, who just had a smile on her face. He noticed that the entire restaurant was bobbing their heads.

And if you could move on with your life
Just like you do, just like you shoobie do do doo
But you could make everything alright
And I want you to
Because ever since the first dance
All I thought about was lovin on you

Brittney pulled Santana up and began dancing with her, along with Mike and Tina dancing. They were soon followed by Rachel and a resistant Finn. Kurt and Blaine got up and grabbed Mercedes with them, even though she was still in shock. Artie asked Quinn for this dance, which she surprisingly agreed to and eventually the rest of the group joined.

So I moved to the dance floor
With instincts and nothing more
I had ants in my pants, I did the boogie dance
And there was nothing to do but laugh
So I made another leap, hoping to sweep you off your feet
I said baby maybe we could bust this joint
And see if my place is open to chill

Sam was surprised that everyone had joined, but he was happy. It made the whole situation less awkward. He spent the most of the song making eye contact with Mercedes. Her smile almost made him forget the words, but he pulled it together and continued to.

At the end of the song the restaurant erupted into applause.

"Thank you," Sam spoke into the microphone. Still all eyes were on him, they sat in anticipation in Mercedes response. Nothing exciting really happened in Lima, Ohio so this was a big deal. Sam stepped down from the stage, with his hand in his pockets.

"So, what did you think?"

Mercedes still didn't believe what had just happened. Sam had just sang to her…in the middle of Breadstix.

"I loved it!" She didn't know what this meant for them though. She wanted to take it as he liked her, but she didn't want to mess things up. Maybe he was just telling her she was a good friend and…what was she kidding he had to have liked her, that's the only way she could take it. Still she didn't know if this meant he wanted to date her date her. Maybe it was supposed to be a whole big scam like her and Puck.

Sam didn't know what he was supposed to do next, he couldn't figure out what exactly she wanted him to do. He tried to make the message obvious, but he also knew that Mercedes guarded her heart. He decided to just let his instincts take over. He felt his body take a few steps forward to close the distance. His hand reached out and grabbed her smiling face. He smiled at her; he thought he could feel her shake.

Mercedes shivered at the touch of Sam's hand against her face. His smile made her knees go weak.

"Mercedes, I meant what I sang. Since prom you're all I've thought about and the time we've been spending together has been some of the best moments of my life. You've made my situation brighter with just you're smile and I was wondering if you would do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" Mercedes watched him as he bit his lip in anticipation for her response.

Okay this is definitely a dream. Sam had just asked her to be his girlfriend. She looked into his blue-green eyes and then at his mouth. She was going to be able to kiss those lips one day. She had wanted to kiss them for a while now and she was finally going to be able to. They were going to be able to hold hands and cuddle during movies. They were going to go on dates and they would argue over the bill and Mercedes would be able to reassure him that she was fine with paying. He would be able to teach her about comic books and she could teach him about rhythm and blues. They were going to be able to talk all night long until the sun rose, just about stuff. She was going to have someone to share herself with. And mostly, He is going to be mine. She saw his look turn to worry and she realized she still hadn't answered. She had been too busy thinking about their relationship that she hadn't said yes yet. She thought about just saying yes but then felt herself stretching too reach his face. Screw waiting to kiss him.

Sam felt Mercedes lips brush his. Now it was his turned to be shocked. It was a light kiss, but it had so much meaning. The kiss meant their future…together. Even if they didn't last forever, they had right now and he had no intention of letting go.

"So does that mean yes?" Mercedes nodded her head. Sam leaned down and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into another kiss, it was deeper this time, but Mercedes didn't seem to fight it.

"Get a room!" Sam then realized that everyone in the restaurant was still looking at them. He felt his cheeks get really warm and when he looked down at Mercedes, she was biting her lip and looking away. Sam looked at Mike who had been the one to say something and gave him a glare.

"Sorry man, I just want things to remain PG!" The group laughed. Sam looked back down at Mercedes who was already smiling at him. He leaned down, kissed her again, and whispered into her ear,

"Thanks for that first dance."

AN: So the ending wasn't my best but I still hoped you enjoyed! The song is First Dance by NeverShoutNever. I just thought it was a happy song that described the beginning of their relationship.