I don't own any of the songs mentioned or glee.

Mercedes returned home from work almost an hour late. Her meeting had run long and that left her almost no time to run to the store. Normally coming home late wouldn't be a big deal but tonight she and Sam were celebrating their second anniversary of being a couple. Even though she knew it would make her even more late she decided to make a quick pit stop at the liquor store to grab him his favorite beer. When she got home she heard music coming from the kitchen. As she put her purse down and made her way to the kitchen with the groceries she noticed that there were flowers everywhere. On the table in the hall, all over the living room, and there was a vase of roses on the dining room table. When she got to the kitchen door she saw Sam in front of the stove doing one of his ridiculous body rolls while he dashed some cinnamon in what appeared to be a bowl full of apples. She put her bags down and then walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Sorry I was late." She practically whispered.

"No worries, it gave me extra time to grab flowers cause my meeting ran late too." He said as he turned around to face her with a smile.

"Thank you for those. Why so many though? Not that I mind." Her smile matched his. She reached up just a bit to give him a quick kiss. Normally he was much taller than she was but with her heels on it wasn't such a huge difference.

"You're very welcome. Why not that many? You deserve all the flowers Cedes. What's in the bags?"

"Stuff for dinner, I thought I'd make mac and cheese with that honey chicken you like."

"Yes!" he exclaimed letting go of her to fist pump.

She chuckled at his excitement and started talking the food out of the bags to start dinner. Sam had gone back to whatever he was cooking until he noticed the beer on the table.

"You got me beer too? You're the best babe."

She turned around and smiled at him. "I know. Whatcha cooking?"

"Apple cinnamon bars." He had a proud smile just like hers had been a second ago; he knew they were her favorite.

"That makes you the best too! But you always are."

The two continued to cook and talk about their days with each other. When dinner was finished they decided to eat picnic style in the living room. Mercedes ran upstairs to change into some sweats because she was completely done with the dress she had on. She came back and sat down next to Sam on the floor.

"You look beautiful."

"I'm just wearing sweats, Sam"

"I know, but you always look beautiful."

She kissed him again, that's all she could do when he was so sweet. As they ate they talked more about their days and work. They both got quiet for a minute.

"Do you remember that night you first asked me to go out with you?" she asked him with a smile as she took a sip of her wine.

"Like it was yesterday."

"So tell me again why you dumped him?" Quinn asked her best friend.

"Because he just wasn't, I don't know, he just wasn't right?" Mercedes answered trying to find the right words.

"How do you mean?"

"I mean we didn't work together. I just want to feel special, not like just a space filler. Ya know?"

Quinn nodded her head. "I know exactly what you mean."

"For one he never wanted to go out, which would be fine if he wasn't just sitting on his couch practically ignoring me. And when we did go out he was always trying to get home so he didn't miss one of his precious shows. I mean I'd like to go on an actual date every now and then. Maybe I'm being too picky?"

"I don't think so. You know what you want and that's fine. He clearly wasn't it."

"Who wasn't it?" asked Sam as he came and sat down at their table. The three of them had planned to meet at froyo world and Sam was running a bit late, the girls had gotten there about ten minutes ago. The three had gotten even closer over the last few years. Sam and Quinn had been good friends since they were kids because their families were friends. Mercedes moved in down the street, sometime around sophomore year of high school, and the three had quickly taken to each other. Now they all had moved out and were getting on with their own lives but still remained close.

"Mercedes was just telling me why her most current fling was more of a dud." Quinn told Sam as he chowed down on his frozen yogurt and looked over at Mercedes. She just made a face, pursing her lips and shrugging her shoulders.

"Why was he a dud?"

"He just wasn't at the same place I was. I'm thinking either I'm gonna have to change what I'm looking for or just stop dating because the guy I'm looking for may have gone extinct."

"What are you looking for?" Sam asked suddenly looking more curious.

"I just want someone to treat me right. You know what I mean? It may sound dumb but I just want that kind of effortless love. I don't wanna feel like I have to constantly nag for attention. If that makes sense."

He just nodded. Later that night after the three had parted ways and Mercedes was getting ready to go to sleep her phone pinged with a text from Sam.

"I've been thinking about what you said earlier and I know exactly what you were talking about. I feel the same way…..that being said I think we should go on a date."

She had just stared at her phone for a minute. It's not like she hadn't thought about it before but they were never really single at the same times and it just never seemed like the right time to bring it up. She was ready to completely give up on dating; one date with Sam couldn't hurt.

"Okay. One date and if it goes bad then we don't mention it again."

"Deal…. But it won't."

"I guess you were right about it going well huh?" She still smiling.

"I made sure it would."

"I could tell, it was honestly one of the best dates I had ever been on."

"I was hoping it would be. I really didn't want to screw things up with you."

"Well it was perfect."

He leaned over and kissed her. Then he went back to grinning like a little kid. "I'm so glad."

Whenever she thought about their first official date she couldn't help but smile. Sam had shown up to pick her up with her favorite flowers. Then they drove for about twenty minutes and came to a big empty field. Sam grabbed a giant blanket, some pillows, and a thermos of tea from the back. They picked a spot and just sat there all night talking and looking at the stars. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Sam stood up and reached his hand towards her.

"Wanna dance?" he asked with the same grin on his face.

"Sure, but only if you promise to dance right and not start body rolling left and right." She teased with a semi serious tone. There was a time and a place for that and now was not really it. No matter how well he was able to do it.

"I'll try." He answered with a chuckle.

Sam helped her up and then went over to the ipod dock and turned on 'At Last' by Etta James. He secretly loved this song and he knew it was one of her favorites. He pulled her in close as they swayed to the music. She was barefoot now so he was back to being much taller than she was, she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. He planted a kiss on the top of her head and just took in the moment. He loved nights like this, just being together with her. He thought back to the night that had started all this and smiled. He had secretly had a crush on her for a while. When she started talking about what she wanted in a relationship he couldn't help but realize that it was exactly the same thing he wanted. He thought back to how nervous he was that night just before he texted her, just a bit more nervous than he was now.

As the song finished he stopped dancing and took her hands in his. She seemed a bit confused at him letting her go to hold her hands and look at her, until he started to lower himself to one knee with a shy smile. That's when she looked a lot confused, maybe more in disbelief than confused. Her mouth opened slightly but she didn't say anything.

"Mercedes I-"he started but didn't get far.

"Sam…" she whispered.

"Can I finish?" he asked gently, she looked as if she was going to say something else. Instead she just nodded and mouthed 'Sorry'. "Mercedes I love you so much and I have for the past two years. Probably longer but I just didn't realize. I love what we have together. You're it for me; you're the eggs to my bacon. Will you do me the honor of doing this whole life thing with me for the rest of our lives?"

Normally Mercedes had no problem with words but as per usual with Sam she was speechless. As soon as he finished she nodded and he slipped the ring on her finger. She was too busy looking into his gorgeous green eyes to even notice that he had the ring box in his hand. Once it was on her finger she grabbed his face with both of her hands and kissed him, hard. She was overcome with emotions and just decided to channel it all into this kiss. She knew he would understand and as always he did.