On September 1, 2011, the Jones Family sat in their Red Minivan as they headed for Fairfield Township, a small community just outside of Lima where 72-year old Edna-Ruth Geiger lives. The proud grandmother is hosting the family's annual reunion and was anything but subtle about how important it is for everyone to come. As her favorite grandchild, Mercedes wanted to do everything in her power to ensure that they were there, so she suggested that they spend the night the day before so they'd be able to help prepare before everyone else's arrival. The family could be heard singing along to 'Check it Out' as the song blared throughout the vehicle, Mercedes and her mom Alice covered the Nicki Minaj verses, while her older brother Alonzo and her father Melvin alternated with WillIAm's parts.

"Why are we listening to this?" Melvin asked, a little frustrated by his own lacking rap ability.

"Oh Mel, don't be a stick in the mud. I like it. Besides, I don't know about you but I want to stay current with the times. And Nick Monet is where it's at! He might dress a little weird, but hey nowadays Drag Queens aren't just a nighttime thing. You've gotta stay hip if you want to have a strong relationship with your kids." Alice turned her attention to Mercedes and Alonzo who were seated in the back. "Isn't that right, my babies?"

The brother and sister looked at each other and tried their best to contain their laughter. Alonzo spoke first. "Yeah mom, you're right."

"You're absolutely right. Although I should tell you that saying the word 'hip' is the fastest way to appear UNHIP." Mercedes said before laughing again. She whispered in her brother's ear. "That's not all she's wrong about. You think we should tell her?"

"No definitely not. She'll figure it out one day, but hopefully no time soon. This is hilarious." He whispered back as he continued to record the conversation on his iPhone. "Quality YouTube material right here."

"Really? Let me see." Mercedes looked at the phone as her brother began to playback the video.

Alice spoke again. "But still, I'm more 'slammin' than your dad right?"

"Oh my God, are you serious?" Alonzo groaned while Mercedes and Melvin began laughing hard.

Alice questioningly looked at all three of them genuinely confused. "What?"

"…Nothing." The three responded.

After Mercedes collected herself, she leaned forward to skip a few tracks ahead on the CD and addressed her mom. "Okay mom, you handled that song pretty well, but now the real rapping begins. I challenge you, and you alone, to a rap-off. "

"Honey, didn't I always teach you not to challenge unless you're sure you can win? You're on!"

After another few minutes of rapping and singing, the family entered Fairfield Township. They were now about 25 minutes away from their destination. "Hey Dad, grandma just texted me that she wants us to stop and pick up some more plastic ware, paper cups and napkins."

"Okay there's a convenient store around the corner here. I can't believe she remembered what you taught her. Your mom can't even text."

"Hey hey, now. It's not that I CAN'T. I CHOOSE not to. Individuality over here." She said pointing to herself. "I'm a trendsetter, marching to the beat of my own drum. "

Alonzo rolled his eyes. "God mom, next you're going to start preaching about how texting is the man's way of keeping everyone down."

"I've never been proven wrong."

The family pulled into a 7Eleven and Mercedes volunteered to go inside and purchase the items. Her father handed her the cash and she exited the car. She opened the door to enter and spoke to the cashier asking which aisle had the party supplies. He directed her to the first aisle down and she thanked him as she began walking. Once she turned down the aisle she began looking for the items, soon spotting the napkins. She bent down to pick up a few packs when her cell phone vibrated, indicating someone was calling. She took it out of her pocket and checked the caller ID. It was Kurt.

While still looking at the phone, she stood up and bumped into someone, knocking both her phone and the packs of napkins out of her hands. "Sorry." She quickly said at the same time as the other person. As she looked up, she was captivated by a pair of green eyes belonging to none other than Sam Evans.

*Flashback*

June 3, 2011

The last day of school (junior year)…

Mercedes was at her locker gathering the rest of her belongings before she planned to head home and change. She was meeting some of her friends from Glee Club at Breadstix later tonight for an impromptu early dinner and she wanted to have enough time for a quick shower and to find a hot outfit. Earlier today at lunch Kurt made her promise to wear the lavender and silver, leopard-print tank top he picked out for her the previous weekend on their trip to the mall. She shook her head and smiled at the current state her life was in.

Never had she expected her move from Cincinnati to a 'Where the hell?'- town like Lima, Ohio to turn out to be as awesome as it's been. After having moved here in February, she didn't expect much of a warm welcome. She was soft-spoken, smart and followed the beat of her own drum, a recipe for epic disaster when it comes to high school, where individuality usually just gets you labeled a 'loser.' However none of that seemed to prevent her from making fast friends with the members of Mckinley's Glee Club. On her second day, she'd been heard belting out Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' by a flabbergasted Tina Cohen-Chang while walking towards her car at the end of the day. The next thing she knew she was auditioning, subsequently earning a spot on the team and performing in competitions. They'd won at regionals, but placed third at Nationals, which didn't seem like much of a failure to anyone other than Team Captain and H.A.B.I.C. (head ANNOYING bitch in charge) Rachel Berry. Everyone else considered it an honor when you considered the fact that it'd been their first time competing in the event. Mercedes personally couldn't have been more proud since it was also her first time singing for an audience that wasn't family or church members. She even sang lead for their show-stopping final number.

Fast forward a few weeks and here she is ending the school year and planning to do so by celebrating with her unexpected yet very close group of friends. She was about to close her locker as one of her favorite songs began to play on her IPod and she sang along.

Mercedes:

"Running hot,

Running cold,

I was running into overload,

That was extreme."

"I took it so high, so low, so long,

There was nowhere to go like a bad dream."

"Somehow the wires uncrossed,

The tables were turned,

Never knew I had such a lesson to learn."

"I'm feeling good from my hat to my shoe,

Know where I'm going and I know what to do,

I've tidied up my point of view,

I've got a new attitude."

Sam Evans turned the corner and began walking down the hall towards the school exit. He couldn't wait to get out of here and begin his summer vacation properly, which meant partying with his football teammates and friends, then ending the night with a hot random hook-up. He'd tried the whole relationship thing in the past with his Ex Quinn, but then again she's his Ex for a reason. About six weeks into the relationship, he grew tired of her. He wasn't the type to blatantly use a girl for sex, but he'd be lying if he said that it wasn't part of the reason why he lost interest. He'd known Quinn since the 8th grade and didn't want to hurt her feelings by ending things so quickly after she'd given him her virginity. But she wasn't a stupid girl, and she could tell he was no longer happy with their status as a couple. She told him that there were no hard feelings, but the situation still taught him that relationships, even amongst teenagers were nothing to mess around with. At least not 'serious relationships.'

If there's one thing Sam Evans doesn't do well, it's take things seriously. He never needed to. Like others in Lima, he was from an upper middle class family making him a classic example of a spoiled rich kid. He didn't always like the stereotype that came with it, especially during elementary school when some of the other kids would accuse him of thinking he was better than the rest of them. For a while, the bullying really bothered him. He'd even asked his parents if they would reconsider sending him to Oakdale Academy, a prestigious prep school that most of the other children in their neighborhood attended. However Nancy and Paul Evans preferred for their children to have a less 'stuffy' atmosphere for learning. His father explained to him that public school would help him to become a well-rounded young man, and that he'd grow to like it once the kids got to know him. For a while Sam was shy and made no effort to make friends, but soon after he met Michael Chang and they clicked instantly. By 5th grade the two became interested in football and started hanging out with their teammates Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman.

Throughout high school, Sam developed an IDGAF attitude only adding to his popularity. Whereas he instantly clicked with his guy friends because of their interests in sports, most girls tend to go for the unobtainable, which meant that they flocked to him on the regular. He wasn't a 'player' so he never took their flirting as anything other than hormonal girl stuff, even if it was a huge ego-booster.

As he headed towards the parking lot, he stopped when he heard the sound of a beautiful voice. He directed his attention at a cute, Black girl dancing around as she continued singing. He'd seen her around a few times, but just as they were passing each other in the halls or something. He didn't even know her name. But there was something about this moment that made him want to take the initiative. He smiled slightly and moved to stand a bit further behind the corner wall out of her direct sight. He listened as she sang on:

"I'm in control,

My worries are few,

'Cause I got love like I never knew,

Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo...

I've got a new attitude."

"I'm telling you she was all over me. Not surprising, no one can resist the awesomeness that is, Sir Noah Puckerman. Learn it and know it boys."

"Bullshit. Isn't she from 'America's Next Top Model'? Why would she be into you?" Mike asked.

"Whoa chillax, son. This is a Hater-Free zone. Besides if you really want to know what it is that the ladies can't resist about me, all you gotta do is ask your goth-geisha girlfriend."

"Shut up, man. Tina would never go for you. And she's not my girlfriend. We're just…friends."

"More like fuck-buddies. I'm with Puck, man. There's no way you haven't at least shown her the magic dragon." Finn said as he and Puck high-fived.

Mike rolled his eyes and chuckled. "You guys and your Asian jokes SUCK!" Mike yelled dramatically at Puck and Finn. He began walking ahead of the other two boys and saw Sam lurking. He slowly tiptoed and snuck up behind him. "Sam!"

Sam jumped at the sound of his best friend's voice, completely ready to kill him. "Are you kidding me? What the fuck Mike?"

Mike couldn't contain his laughter as he gripped the blonde's shoulders, his head tilted down as he laughed hysterically. "Sorry dude. I couldn't resist. What are you doing anyway?"

Sam playfully shoved the Asian boy off of him and tried to divert his attention. He didn't want to seem like he'd been watching the singing girl like a stalker or something. "Nothing. Where the hell were you guys? I was about to leave."

Puck and Finn were now standing in front of him. "You can blame Puck for that. He spent forever on the phone. Claims he was breaking up with some model reject." Finn said.

"Oh I see how it is. I'm going to have to school you too, huh Hudson? Whatever, you cock-blockers wouldn't know anything about it. Am I right Evans?"

Sam had once again been too focused on the mystery girl with an amazing voice to hear what was being said.

"Evans? Yo Evans, you good?"

The other three boys turned their attention in the same direction as Sam. They were all in awe at the sight of the short girl singing and dancing while closing her locker. She bent over to pick up her backpack and a tote bag containing the extra contents of her locker. Her dark blue skinny jeans hugged her curves and the sight transfixed them even further.

"Well damn. What do we have here?" Puck whistled.

"She…has…the best ass…ever." Finn stuttered.

"Ooooh, I get it. You weren't just staring, you were in a trance. Can't say I blame you though, bro. She's hot."

"Shut up, Mike! I wasn't staring at her. She just…well I heard her singing so I turned around and saw her, like right before you guys came up to me."

"Yeah well whatever. Excuse me, losers." Puck brushed past Sam and Mike heading towards Mercedes. When he got to her side he cleared his throat to get her attention. That didn't seem to work. She was stilling listening to her IPod, so he tapped her on the shoulder.

Mercedes stopped her packing and turned around to see who was behind her. "Can I help you?"

Puck smiled and reached out a hand to help her up into standing position. "Only by giving me permission."

Mercedes rolled her eyes and decided to humor him. She plastered on a fake flirty smile. "Give you permission to do what?"

"To sample some of your sweet chocolate, sexy mama. I bet you taste delicious." Puck raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it along with her fingertips.

'Ugh, he must be a football player. God, do they like share pick-up lines? He can't be serious.' 'Mercedes thought as she let out a dry chuckle. "Aren't you charming?" 'Not.'

Sam was glaring daggers at Puck as he continued to flirt with the curvy songstress. Having heard enough he headed towards the two, Mike and Finn at his sides.

"Yeah I hear that a lot, but it feels special coming from a goddess like you. So what's your name?"

"Mercedes. Yours?"

"Noah Puckerman. But as my future baby's mama, you can call me Puck. As in rhymes with F-"

"Okay, well I hate to interrupt your little chat, but I'm sure this lovely little lady has better things to do than listen to you sound like a desperate idiot, NOAH." Sam said. He smiled at Mercedes. "I like your name, Mercedes. Mine's Sam. Sam I am."

"Thanks. And let me guess you DON'T like green eggs and ham." Mercedes smiled back.

Sam laughed. "Exactly."

Puck leaned over and whispered in his friend's ear. "Seriously dude? I totally got claim on her, so do me a favor and back the hell off." Puck said.

Sam eyed Puck as Mike spoke. "Please ignore my friend's rudeness. I'm Mike and this is Finn." Finn smiled and shook her hand as Mike continued. "I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"

"Well not exactly. My family and I moved here in February."

"Really? Where are you from?"

"Cincinnati. My mom was born and raised here though, and we moved to be close to my grandmother."

"Oh that's cool. My dad actually lives in Cincinnati, well for the most part." Puck said.

"Really? That's awesome."

Sam rolled his eyes as the group continued talking and joking. He mentally chastised himself for getting caught watching the girl sing. Now here she was being hit on by Puck of all people. If he'd been more aggressive and just introduced himself instead of lurking like a fool, she would've been speaking to him instead of the other guys. Even though Puck was an ass most of the time, his dating record spoke for itself. He was right. 'Caring is for pussies. You either get some or you are one.' 'Whatever.' Sam thought as he decided to just forget about it. If Mercedes wanted Puck in spite of the lame ass pick-up lines, she can have him.

Mercedes checked the time on her cell phone and noticed that it was 3:30. She had to get home if she wanted to have enough time to get ready and swing by to pick up Tina. "Damn. Sorry guys but I've actually got to head home. I'm meeting some friends later."

Puck pouted. "And you probably want to go home and get even hotter for tonight. We understand. A girl like you is bound to be quite the social butterfly. You're heading over to Breadstix right?"

"Yeah. A few of us from the Glee club are going to go. You too?"

'Glee club. So that explains that voice of hers. No surprise.' Sam smirked.

"You're in the Glee Club? I didn't even know we had that here." Finn said.

"Really? Do you know Tina?" asked Mike.

"Yeah I do. She's a sweetie. Actually she's coming with us tonight."

"SO ANYWAY…" Puck loudly interjected as he shoved Mike aside. "…we planned on going there tonight too. Just a few of us from the football team, maybe some of the cheerleaders, whatever. Hopefully we'll see you there."

"Yeah, maybe you will. Bye guys." She smiled and began heading towards the door to exit the school.

As she was about to open it, she dropped a few books from her tote bag.

Sam instinctively went to help her. He picked them up and handed them to her. "Here you go."

"Oh, thanks…" Mercedes said.

Their hands touched and there was a moment when they both felt a spark.

Sam looked into Mercedes' deep brown eyes. He smiled. "…No problem."

She smiled back and placed the last book into her bag before she pushed the door open, all the while forcing herself to keep walking instead of looking back to see if he was watching her.

Sam couldn't stop smiling if he tried as he and his friends looked on speechless until she reached her car.

*End of Flashback*

"Sam? Hey! What are you doing here?" She almost didn't recognize him. He cut off his platinum blonde locks now sporting a shorter, almost strawberry-blonde haircut, and he'd gotten even more muscular over the summer. He wore a blue hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, black jeans and black chucks. He was gorgeous.

Sam looked at Mercedes in obvious shock to see her and smiled. Her hair was in a side-swept ponytail and she was wearing a red haltered sundress with black leggings, a blue denim jacket and black gladiator sandals. She looked stunning. "Hey yourself, Mercedes. Not much, just looking around. I'm…uh…on my way to visit a friend." 'Not a total lie,' he thought. He didn't want her to know where he was really headed. It probably already looked pretty bad that he was on this side of town this late by himself anyway and for some reason her opinion mattered to him. He wasn't in that big of a rush though, and he didn't want the opportunity of having a chance to speak one-on-one with Mercedes to go to waste, so he bent down to pick up the fallen items and asked her a few questions. "What are you doing here though? You excited for school on Tuesday?"

She smiled as he handed it all to her. "Thanks. We're on our way to my grandma's house. Our family reunion is tomorrow so we're staying over. As for school, surprisingly yeah, I am pretty excited. My schedule's great so this year should be easy. What about you?"

"Same. My classes should go better than last year. But then again you never know I guess."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well…" He was once again apprehensive about telling her such shameful information. His dyslexia was something that remained an issue in more ways than one and he didn't want her to think he was stupid. "I'm not really that into school."

"Oh. Well, that's okay. No one really is for the most part. But then again this is senior year. What colleges are you interested in?"

"Ohio State. Hopefully on a football scholarship."

"Wow, me too! Well not for football, but you know what I mean." She chuckled.

Sam smiled at her shyness, thinking it made her even cuter.

Suddenly they were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps as Alice approached the two. She smiled and addressed Mercedes first. "Honey, it's getting late so we've got to get going." She faced Sam and held out her hand. "Hi there. My name's Alice, I'm Mercedes mom."

Sam shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Sam. Sam Evans."

"He's a friend of mine from school." Mercedes said.

Sam smiled. She called him her 'friend' and he was meeting her mother.

"Oh, so he's what you'd call a 'white chocolate, brother-from-another-mother,' huh?" Alice asked with a million-dollar grin as she playfully nudged a laughing Sam on the arm.

Mercedes was rendered momentarily speechless. She brought up her hand to cover her face in shame and shook her head. "You have got. To be. Kidding me."

They all then heard the muffled sounds of a voice. Mercedes looked down in her hand and realized that Kurt was on the phone. "Oh shoot! Kurt? Hey, give me a second okay?" She lowered the phone from her ear and looked at her mom. "Um, you mind ringing up our stuff, cool mama?"

"Sure my cool daughter." She took the items and started for the register. "It was nice meeting you Sam."

"You too." He smiled.

When Alice was gone, Mercedes spoke again. "Sam, I am so sorry. I don't know why she does that. Ugh, so embarrassing."

"Hey, I'm sure she's not the worst. Your mom seems nice."

"Yeah well easy for you to say, you don't have to put up with it on a regular basis. Call it her midlife crisis."

"AW, QUIT COMPLAINING." Shouted an amused Kurt.

"Ugh!" Mercedes rolled her eyes. "I forgot again. You're on speakerphone, Kurt so stop shouting. Sorry Sam."

"Sam? I'm the one you left hanging on the line like some wet, old rag! What about me?"

"Shut up." Mercedes said with an annoyed chuckle and spoke to Sam. "Madness, right?"

He smiled. He was about to say something when they had another interruption.

Alonzo entered the store and called for Mercedes and Alice. "Mercy! Mom! We're going to be a while. Dad went across the street to the gas station to speak to someone about the oil light. It keeps coming on and he's getting paranoid." He said as he headed for the bathroom.

"Are you serious?" Mercedes sighed. Things were not going as planned. "Well I'll text gran to let her know we'll be by later." She took the phone off speaker. "Kurt? I'm going to call you back later."

"K You better. I've got to hear about what's going on with you and 'Ken-doll' Evans. Be good, sexy."

"You are horrible. Later." Mercedes hung up just as Sam finished texting someone. "Sorry about all the interruptions. I guess I should go help with the bags."

Sam put his hands in his pocket. "Yeah, no problem. I've got to head out. So…I guess I'll see you on Monday."

"Yeah, see you on Monday."

"Bye," He waved.

"Bye." Mercedes watched as he exited the store, staring at his backside until she was interrupted by the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat. She jumped and turned around to see her mother smiling from ear to ear holding the bags which contained the party supplies. "OMG mom. What is up with you?" asked Mercedes as she grabbed a few bags and began laughing.

"I should ask you the same thing. I saw that look just now. He's a cutie, huh?"

Mercedes' face became hot and she lowered her head before speaking. "I'm not saying anything. Let's get going." She started towards the door.

"Mmmhmm. We've got to wait for your brother. Lonnie! Hurry up let's go!" Alice shouted towards the bathroom.

The 23-year old hurried out and slowly peeped around the store before addressing his mother. "Mom, 'Lonnie?' I told you I hate it when you call me that."

"And that's supposed to make me love it any less? Come give mommy a kiss?" She playfully puckered her lips and pinched her son's cheeks.

"Yyyeah, I don't think so." Alonzo ran out of the store.

Mercedes and Alice laughed as they headed for the door. "Now that's when you should use your powers, for good not evil. Terrorizing Alonzo's fine, but me…" Mercedes pointed to herself. "No!"

"Okay. I promise I'll remember that for the future."

Sam had been on the road for about 15 minutes and finally made it to the Motel6. Something about seeing Mercedes tonight really unnerved him about his plans for the evening. Her presence was like a sign. Even her kind words of encouragement about school spoke volumes. 'I shouldn't be doing this.' He thought about leaving when a blue Escalade pulled up in front of the green Prius.

The car came to a stop and the driver's side door opened. The driver exited and made his way over to Sam. "Hey QB, how's it going 'Sam the man'?" The tall brunette young man in his early 20s smiled at the younger teen boy and reached out to grab his hand. He pulled him in for a brief embrace.

Sam relaxed a bit and managed to return the smile. "Hey Brody, what's up? I've just busy with football practice, you know."

"I'll bet. I remember those days, although I didn't have BEAST for a coach. How's the team looking lately? Are the new freshmen any good this year?" Brody asked as he headed back over to his truck. He went to the back, opened the trunk and began unloading several cases of beer.

Sam headed over to help him. "They're okay. I'm not worried about it though. I make the calls and I wouldn't set us up for a fail, even if I had to play alone."

"That's what I like to hear. Taking control, that's what QBs are supposed to do." Brody said as he picked up a few cases and headed for the motel room knocking when he got there. Sam picked up the remaining cases and followed him.

After a few seconds the door to room 3 opened. A slender brunette currently sporting a red fedora stood in the doorway. "HHHEEEYYYY, MAN!" She slurred, clearly drunk. "About time you got here." She clung to Brody in a gigantic hug.

He laughed and grabbed the girl's hands prying them from his neck. "Marley, what the hell? Come on, you know drunk breath and shitfaced wasted aren't attractive."

Marley let go of his shoulders and grabbed his hand pulling him into the motel room.

'Blackout' by Breathe Carolina blasted from the speakers as Sam entered behind him and looked around seeing how crowded it was. He hadn't expected this many people to be here this early. It was only 9pm. Sam rarely missed parties, especially the ones that included the older crowd, but he suddenly wasn't in the mood for staying too long. This party in particular had more college-aged people here than normal. In fact the only people Sam recognized from McKinley were Dave and Azimio, who were currently downing shots while being cheered on by other party-goers.

Marley led them to a corner where they had a seat. Marley got them a few beers and some tequila shots. Brody convinced Sam to have a few, and they took their shots before they began talking to a few other guys, occasionally sipping the beer.

About half an hour and 4 beers later, Marley came back over. "Sam, I can't take it. Your PUSSY-cat's being a whiny bitch again. She's been moping all night waiting for you to show."

Sam groaned, not at all in the mood to deal with any drama tonight. "Great." He said sarcastically while opening another beer. "I might as well get this over with. Where is she?"

"She's in the bathroom drowning her sorrows. I'll get her." Marley got up and trotted over to the bathroom.

Intoxicated or not, Sam knew when something just wasn't worth it. He took one last sip of his drink before sitting it on the table and trying to stand up. "You know, I think I'm going to head out man. I got a lot to do in the morning." Sam lied.

Brody put down his beer bottle and pulled Sam back down. "Nooo, there's no way you're leaving me with 'the lushes' tonight. Come on man, stay a while."

Sam sighed and straightened up in his chair just as a petite blonde fell over into his lap. "What? You were just gonna leave without even speaking to me? That's so not nice…" slurred the drowsy drunk girl.

"Katrina, get off of me. You're drunk and I'm not dealing with your shit tonight." Sam said. He grabbed the drink previously on the table and had another sip, now totally uncomfortable with the situation.

"Ugh, do not fucking call me that. I like 'Kitty' better. You know that, Sammy…"

Sam tried removing the girl from his lap. "Yeah well I like my space. I guess we both lose."

"Nooooo Sammy. Don't be like that. Aren't you…happy to see me?" She said as she began lightly touching and cupping him through his jeans. Sam saw the look in her eyes and focused on his drink, taking slow sips as she continued touching him. "Come on, Sammy. Pleeaaassee?" She licked his neck and began kissing it. Sam all the while fought the urge to take her to the back room. Sure she was annoying and clingy as hell, especially when she was drunk, but he had to admit that her advances were starting to get to him. "I haven't seen you all summer. Don't you miss me? Miss us?"

Now that did it. Sam finally gathered the strength to push her off him. "No. 'WE' were a few drunken hook-ups. That's it." Sam got up right as Kitty gave him a sloppy kiss. She forced her tongue in his mouth and he fought the urge to gag. He got her off of him, grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. 'What the fuck was I thinking?'

As he approached his car, Sam put on his jacket. He opened the door, got inside and put the key into the ignition. Just as he was about to start driving he felt a headache coming on. He rubbed his temples and slowly began looking around the car to see if his mom still had her emergency aspirin supply in the glove compartment. Sam saw that it wasn't there and decided to call Mike to pick him up. He reached into his coat pocket for his cell phone when he felt something. He was pleasantly surprised to find just what he'd been looking for, a round pill that he assumed was a Tylenol. 'Yes.' Without hesitation he popped it into his mouth and dry-swallowed the pill hoping it'd keep his headache at bay long enough for him to make it home.

"Well, I'm glad it was a simple fix. Now we can make it to your grandma's house before it gets too late." Melvin said as he pulled out of the service station parking lot and onto the road.

"That's just it, dad. It WAS simple. We wasted like a whole hour just for that over-charging idiot to tell us what we already knew, that there was something wrong with the engine. He didn't do anything else." Alonzo said.

"Well I'd rather be safe than sorry. It could've been something more serious. We don't want to be stuck out here in the middle of the night."

"I know that's right. This whole area is like a forest. There are probably a bunch creepy crawlers lurking out here. Besides, the gas station attendant was cute. I say it was time well spent." Mercedes smiled.

Melvin looked at his daughter in the rearview mirror, panic etching his face. "What gas station attendant? Where was I? He didn't try anything, did he Honey?"

Mercedes smiled at her father. "Oh, it was nothing daddy. Don't worry."

Melvin nervously chuckled. "That was not funny. Mercy, you almost gave me a heart attack." They all laughed knowing how serious he was.

As the minutes passed the family quieted down, clearly exhausted. Melvin continued driving, while Alice and Alonzo slept and Mercedes texted Kurt before she put in her earbud headphones and fell asleep as well.

Sam was feeling a bit out of sorts. It'd been 15 minutes since he took the Tylenol and he only seemed to be feeling weirder. Sure his headache was gone, but his mood seemed to constantly change, something he had no control over. Instead of being pissed and ready to head home, he was now feeling more upbeat and regretted leaving. He knew that this was the last party of the summer and as such he should be there. On top of that, he could go for another beer. Maybe after he got another drink in his system he could handle dealing with the girls there long enough to find one worth keeping for the night. 'Fuck it. I didn't come out here for nothing.' With his mind made up, he pulled the car to a stop and decided to turn around and head back. He hit the gas and attempted to make a sloppy U-turn in the middle of the nearly deserted street, ignoring the headlights from another vehicle as it approached. It wasn't until he heard the screeching of tires, the crushing of metal and a loud BOOM that he realized what happened.

AUTHOR'S NOTE (A/N): The songs mentioned in this chapter are listed below:

"New Attitude" by Patti Labelle

"Respect" by Aretha Franklin

"Check it Out" by Nicki Minaj and WillIAm

"Blackout" by Breathe Carolina

(Disclaimer: I don't own these songs or Glee.)