It Happened On A Night Like Tonight
Written by WickedSong
Disclaimer/Note : I do not own Glee, it belongs to FOX. And I also do not own the song So Close by Jon McLaughlin composed by the wonderful Alan Menken for the movie Enchanted. It belongs to the respective artists/record labels. This follows on from 'The Hardest Goodbye' and 'Do I Ever Cross Your Mind' but prior reading isn't really required. It also isn't very compliant with 'You Are The Reason For The Words What If' because in that the first time they see each other again is Nationals in 2012 but hey, the idea was in my mind and that usually means it will be all I think about or focus on until it's at least started.
Sam hadn't really thought he'd ever come back to William McKinley High School at all yet here he was, standing at the doors of his previous school looking down at his attire; the same suit jacket from the previous year at junior prom along with the bolo tie which had made a return appearance.
The reason for his appearance at all when he didn't even attend the school anymore? Quinn had contacted him a month previous, asking about his family and how their situation was. It was better, he had told her, they had moved out of their grandparents' home and were now living in a small apartment in Nashville. It wasn't too big but it was big enough and much better than the motel room they had called home for the last couple of months in Lima.
Quinn had quickly asked if he had thought about coming back for the prom. He had said at the time that no he hadn't, considering the fact that the thing was for those who actually went to the school and not for those who had left before their time was up. She had then wondered if he would be her date – just as a friend of course. It would be a nice surprise, she had implored, if the others saw him. He had initially turned her down.
That was before she had contacted his parents somehow and they had said he should go to Lima, they had said that they could all go to Lima, Stevie and Stacie being excited because they had friends that they had also had to leave behind with the move to Tennessee. They could stay overnight and head back out on the Sunday afternoon.
They had enough money now, they had insisted, and it would be a great way for him to meet back up with everyone for one night and catch up with what had happened in the year since he had been gone.
So that was why he was outside the building, watching everyone go in and out as they pleased. He had arranged with Quinn to meet here. They didn't need any rumours going around. They were two friends and that was great for them. It was better for them.
"Seriously, the bolo tie makes a reappearance?"
Sam turned from looking at the doors to see Quinn standing there, looking very beautiful in her dark blue dress, a strapless one which went down to just past her knee. Her hair was as short as it had been when she had cut it in New York last year but it suited her.
Sam brought his hands up to the bolo tie, adjusting it. "What, they're cool."
She laughed at him, then held out her arm. "So, are you going to escort me into prom or what?"
"Are you sure about this?" He turned to look at the school again. "I mean, what if they don't want to see me?"
"We missed you, Sam."
She placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling encouragingly at him, before he held out his arm to her. She linked arms with him and they walked into the gym, set up similarly to the year before at the junior prom.
"So is the glee club performing here tonight?"
"No, but most of us are seniors so we're all here."
Sam nodded his head, as Quinn seemed to spot some of the group, pulling him over to where Finn, Rachel and Kurt seemed to be involved in a discussion about something.
"Hey guys!" Quinn said excitedly, rushing ahead of Sam to hug Rachel, Finn and Kurt. Sam looked warily at them, wondering how Rachel, Finn and Quinn were this comfortable around each other now since it had only been a year since the drama surrounding their complicated triangle of a relationship had been starting to die down as the former two had officially became a couple again while Quinn had sworn off guys for a while.
Quinn gave them a quick smile before turning around to show that Sam was there.
There were gasps from the three before there was a hug from Rachel, followed by Kurt, and then Finn. They may have been rivals throughout the year but when the entire club had found out about his family they had put all that behind them, focusing on the more important things both in and out of the club.
"Well, Sam Evans, we certainly weren't expecting you to appear here tonight," commented Kurt, who looked smart and comfortable in his attire, an outfit similar to the one from junior prom, only slightly altered to fit what Sam would guess was 'the new trends' that Kurt would always tell him about on the nights he would help babysit Stacie and Stevie.
"Quinn insisted and so did my parents," replied Sam, awkwardly.
Rachel beamed as she looked at Finn. "Try and find everyone else," she told him, sending him into the crowd of those gathered. "They're all going to be so shocked to see you here. In a good way of course," she hastily added.
Sam nodded but he still felt out of place. He had his own prom coming up back in Tennessee. It was the junior one again, since he had only been able to go to the one last year here because Rachel and Mercedes had arranged the prom on a budget. He was sure he would have been there regardless though since the club had performed but still – this wasn't where he was meant to be.
He looked around the room, trying to spot anyone he knew. He could see Santana and Brittany dancing together, Lauren sitting at one of the tables, Puck hovering suspiciously around the punch bowl while Artie spoke with Tina and Mike. The only person who he had been in the glee club with last year who he couldn't see was Mercedes.
He wondered where she was and redoubled his efforts to find her but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Looking for someone?" Rachel asked, standing beside him. "Quinn and Kurt went for some punch and I think Finn's still trying to find everyone, even though they're all basically standing over there." She sighed but she sounded content and like she was alright with Finn and his sometimes blatant stupidity. It also looked as if it was something she endeared.
Sam smiled subconsciously. In the back of his mind he had always viewed Finn and Rachel as one of those couples who after a rocky time would find their way back to each other, like in those sappy romantic comedies that always had a happy ending.
Having a quick scan around the room he shook his head at her question. "Nope, no one at all. Everyone's here."
"Yeah, I can't see Mercedes and Shane though."
Shane, thought Sam and he knew his heart shouldn't have sunk at the idea that she had a new boyfriend.
"Shane?" he asked, innocently as he could, keeping his voice even, and hiding his disappointment that she had someone new.
"Her boyfriend. They met over the summer, after you left."
"Oh."
Sam swore that Rachel picked up on his quiet since she gave him a small smile and a knowing look but he dismissed this. She couldn't have known because they had been so careful around everyone else not to give anything away during the time they were together and they had both promised to keep it a secret and pretend that it had never happened.
"Wait, wait, she's at that table over there," Rachel said quickly, pointing over to a table where the view had became clear after a group of students had moved away. She sat alone again, fiddling with her corsage, again and looking like she was just waiting for something.
Probably waiting for Shane, Sam thought bitterly but he didn't say anything.
"Go say hi and I'll try to find Finn," Rachel said, nudging him towards the table and again Sam saw that gleam in her eye, that hint of knowing but she didn't say anything further.
He looked over and her eyes were still cast downwards so if he didn't want her to see him there was still time to get out of here. But he couldn't do it. Seeing her again was like letting the floodgates open, letting everything that he had felt come back to the fore of his mind. It let the feeling of how nervous he was last year come back, how great it had felt when he had held her hand and how well he had realised she had fit with him at that point.
It had taken him a good year to find her and he had realised that he liked her.
He liked Mercedes Jones as more than a friend.
Letting his mind roam free, his legs moved of their own accord pulling him towards her. Finally he was standing in front of her. "Mercedes," he said, quietly and he wondered how his voice was working when his throat felt extremely dry.
"Sam," she replied, almost equally as quiet, looking as if she had seen a ghost.
They didn't say anything to each other. It was almost as if they were having a silent conversation in their heads with each other, words not needing to be spoken. A soft tune started, slow, romantic almost.
"Would you like to dance?"
He held out his hand.
"I'm waiting for my..." She looked down again, then back up at his hand.
He shook his head. "Your boyfriend, I know." Lowering his hand, he went to walk away, feeling stupid for believing she'd want to dance with him when she had someone more stable, a boyfriend, around.
"Wait, Sam." He turned to see she stood up and approached him. She held out her hand. "I'd love to."
"You're in my arms and all the world is calm, the music playing on for only two, so close together and when I'm with you so close to feeling alive."
They began to slow dance and Sam remembered how at ease he had felt with her in his arms last year, even if Rachel's song choice had been not so romantic and it had ended far too quickly for his liking. The top of her head just reached his chin and so he could smell her hair, smell her and the perfume she still seemed to wear. He recalled she had worn it to the prom last year and then wondered how he remembered that. She also wore it the night he had told her he had to leave and now she wore it tonight.
"A life goes by, romantic dreams must die so I bid mine goodbye and never knew, so close was waiting, waiting here with you and now forever I know, all that I want is to hold you so close."
The words of the song seemed to be speaking to him and he thought it incredibly coincidental that this song had to be the one to be played just as he had asked her to dance.
"So how was Tennessee?" she asked, her voice seeming to be chipper but there was a sadness there that she was trying to hide but he could detect. "How's your family?"
"We're good, we're good. In an apartment now. Not too big but it's better than the motel, right?" He smiled and she nodded, smiling back at him.
"I'm glad."
"So close to reaching that famous happy ending, almost believing this one's not pretending, now you're beside me and look how far we've come, so far, we are so close."
"So what's your boyfriend like?" he asked, knowing it was going to come up sooner or later.
"Shane? How do you know about him?" she asked, replying to his question in a soft voice and he couldn't bear to look into down into her eyes so he kept his averted. "And why are you here?" she kept her voice soft so he could tell it wasn't her accusing him of something or hating the idea that he was there.
He smiled at that thought – she liked that he was there like he did. This night, as soon as he had started to dance with her had became a whole lot better.
It was like that last year as well.
"Rachel told me. And Quinn invited me, but my whole family insisted. We're all back in town."
"When do you leave?" It sounded exactly like when she had asked it that night he had went to her house, on their way out of Lima, to tell her that they were leaving.
"Tomorrow afternoon."
They looked at each other very carefully during the instrumental part of the song, unresolved feelings between them becoming noticeably clear as the junior prom of last year was a thought in their mind. There was something between them there that had never been lost, even in a year of a new boyfriend for her and a girlfriend for him, a relationship which hadn't lasted long.
She was right here and he felt like kissing her but he knew he shouldn't. But he really wanted to. He had this internal debate within himself hoping that she couldn't notice it taking place.
"I missed you, Sam." With her words, she seemed to hold onto him that little bit tighter and he returned this.
"I missed you too."
"Oh, how could I face the faceless day, if I should lose you now, we're so close to reaching that famous happy ending, almost believing this one's not pretending, now let's go on dreaming though we know we are-."
"Mercedes, there you are."
Mercedes tore her eyes away from Sam to look over to see Shane there.
Sam saw him when he pulled away from her, knowing that their time for dancing was over. Those two minutes of bliss were over.
"Oh, Shane," she said, looking flustered. "This is Sam. Shane, Sam, Sam, Shane." She introduced them to each other.
"Hey Sam, nice to meet you." Shane smiled at him, then took Mercedes' hand. "Come on, let's dance, babe."
Sam watched as Mercedes went off with Shane and he walked back to where he had stood with Quinn, Kurt, Rachel and Finn earlier but they couldn't be seen.
He could still see Mercedes though. He caught her eye as she danced with Shane and she stared at him too and it was like they were both just trying to deny that they felt anything there but they did. There was that charged moment that Sam thought was just confined to the romantic comedies but no, it was a real thing, when you realise that there's a whole lot more to resolve that you think. There was that moment where she had said she missed him and clutched onto him and he had held onto her too because for that moment they were those two teenagers last year who figured out in a small slow dance that there was a whole lot to what was between them than they thought.
He sang the words softly under his breath and she noticed this too and looked straight at him, the tears in her eyes visible and he could feel the tears in his own too.
This song was made for them.
"So close, so close and still so far."
I literally teared up writing the end of this and I totally wasn't intending to but I've wrote so much angst that I'm not really meaning to cry anymore, it's just coming out. Also, their dance was inspired by the dance in Enchanted where the song comes from and I always, without fail, bawl like a baby at that scene.
This idea came when I reblogged the picture of Samcedes doing their dorky moves at prom and I said that 'Bubba' will never be able to match Sam Evans' moves if he goes to senior prom with Mercedes in season three so then I got this idea of Sam coming back for the night and them having this dance and I went bananas trying to write it all but it eventually came all together tonight.
I have been listening to So Close non-stop now and it's an amazing song so if you haven't listened, I suggest it.
Okay, so you know the drill, leave your reviews, thoughts and I will probably be back with more Samcedes soon,
WickedSong x