This started life as a drabble I wrote many years ago for Samcedes Week. I was thinking about some of my old stuff earlier and decided to upload it here. This is one of my favourites!
The funny thing about teen magazines, Mercedes thought as she tossed the one she'd been idly flicking through back onto the counter, was that no matter how often they speculated about who was dating whom on the Tell It To Bennett set, they never seemed to get it right.
Sam Evans' face smiled out at her from the cover, his image all perfect blond hair, straight white teeth and All-American good looks. He looked every inch the teen heart throb; pined over by thousands of girls across the world, his likeness gracing hundreds of bedroom walls and countless magazine covers… and Mercedes had it on good authority that he hated it.
That hadn't taken her long to figure out once Mercedes had started working with Sam on Tell It To Bennett. The show had blown up almost overnight, and as the central character, Bennett, (the teenage bad boy with a heart of gold secretly moonlighting as an advice columnist) Sam had suddenly found himself thrust into a limelight he hadn't particularly wanted.
Mercedes caught Sam's eye in the mirror as the make up artist for the day's shoot touched up her face. Sam was being shown various outfits on a railing shoved against the back wall, but he looked like he'd rather do the whole thing in the plain white t-shirt and denim combination that he usually lived in. The shoot was actually a rare day for them both, not because Sam wasn't used to them, but because most of the time the cast didn't get to do photoshoots together. Usually it was just Sam and Quinn, the beautiful blonde girl who played Susie, Sam's love interest on the show. The media loved Quinn and Sam, you couldn't open a magazine without seeing pictures of them or reading speculation that the two of them were dating in real life.
Girls wanted to date Sam and be Quinn - it was just how things were - and the studio lapped it up, milking every column inch and question mark for all it was worth in an attempt to drive the show into higher ratings.
That was another reason Sam hated being a heartthrob. He'd told her once that he hated the idea of the public or his employers dictating his private life, and for a while Mercedes had wondered if maybe Sam was gay like her friend, and current teen icon, Kurt.
The hordes of screaming girls that followed Kurt around on a daily basis either didn't realise that he was gay, or they didn't care. They all proudly carried banners or wore t-shirts announcing that they were going to marry him someday anyway.
After catching a drunk Sam with his tongue down the throat of equally drunk guest star, Sugar Motta, during the first season wrap party for Bennett, Mercedes was fairly certain that Sam wasn't gay.
That was confirmedwhile she and Sam had been going over lines in his trailer one night during filming for the second season of Bennett. It'd been late, and they'd both been tired from a long day of shooting, not to mention that Sam had had a photoshoot with Quinn that morning that had left him in something of a mood.
Most people tended to leave Sam alone when he was like that, but Mercedes was generally considered to be the exception to the rule. For some reason, the two of them had struck up an unlikely friendship over the course of Bennett's first year, and the two of them were mostly inseparable whenever they were on set together. Sam called her his best friend, and there was an unspoken understanding amongst the rest of the cast and crew that if Sam was in one of his sullen moods the only person who could get him out of it was Mercedes.
The pair of them were taking a break from the line-learning, and Sam had been venting about the shoot and interview that had taken place that morning.
'It just pisses me off that they never actually ask me who I'm interested in.' Sam had said after a while, his head in Mercedes' lap as she stroked one hand through his hair and flipped through the pages of her script with the other.
Mercedes had laughed and moved her hand away to highlight a section before returning it to his head again.
'I thought all they asked you about was who you're dating.'
Sam sighed and tilted his head up to look at Mercedes' face. Her forehead was wrinkled in concentration and she was thoughtfully chewing her lower lip as she pored over her script.
'They ask me which of the girls on the set I would date.' he began, 'Quinn, Rachel, Santana or Brittany.' his jaw tightened in annoyance. 'Never Tina, and never you. It's insulting.'
Mercedes paused what she was doing to smile down at Sam, cradling his head in her hand as she rocked forward to look into his face with his head still in her lap.
'Aw, Baby, I didn't know you cared!'
She passed it off with a laugh and went back to her script, while Sam tried to ignore the way his stomach had flipped when she'd called him 'Baby' and leaned into him like that.
'But what if it is one of you girls I'm interested in?' Sam asked, sitting up. 'I mean, it's like everyone's trying to tell me that you're not an option.'
He caught Mercedes' eyes and looked away quickly, embarrassment colouring his cheeks and ears red at his slip. 'I mean, um, you and Tina.' he cleared his throat, 'that you and Tina aren't an option.'
Mercedes shrugged, apparently having missed the slip that had seemed so glaring to Sam.
'Well, we're kinda not.' she allowed. 'Not yet anyway.' she shrugged again. 'It's only 1990, Sam. People still have a lot of prejudices towards people of colour. Besides, I'm pretty sure Tina has a thing going with Mike Chang from Verity North: Demon Hunter.'
Sam sighed and flipped over onto his stomach, his chin resting on Mercedes' thigh as he watched her fiddle with the pages of her script. She only had about twelve short lines in the latest one - Sam had counted. It wasn't really fair, because as far as he was concerned Mercedes was awesome and deserved far more than to be treated like a glorified extra while everyone else talked around her.
Sam sighed. At least she got more lines than poor Tina; that girl was basically mute.
'Yeah, I know.' Sam nodded, causing his head to bob against the soft flesh of Mercedes' thigh. 'It just sucks.'
Mercedes laughed and ruffled his hair before dropping a hand to pinch his cheek lightly. 'You don't have to tell me twice.' she smiled kindly at him before tossing down her highlighter pen to fix Sam with a serious look. He was worried until she affected an interviewer voice and pretended to point a fake microphone at him.
'We're joined today by Sam Evans - teen hearthrob and star of hit TV show Tell It To Bennett. Now, how about you tell it to us, Sam… Who's your idea of a dream date?'
She pointed her fist at Sam and he grinned, scooting to sit up properly so he could talk into her make-believe microphone.
'Well…' he began seriously, his eyes dancing with amusement as they locked with Mercedes'. 'She'd have to be funny.' he started, 'I love a girl that can make me laugh. And fun to hang out with - I have to feel like I can be myself around her.' Sam licked his lips and leaned in closer to the fake microphone so his breath tickled at Mercedes' skin.
'And I find short girls very attractive, so that would be nice, and I love curly hair.'
Sam lifted a hand to finger the shoulder-length, natural curls held off Mercedes' face by a huge funky-patterned bow.
'And I really like brown eyes.' Sam said, leaning a little closer as he looked into Mercedes' rich, mahogany coloured ones. 'And that little snort that comes out when she laughs really hard.' The fake microphone was forgotten as Sam's voice lowered and he edged ever closer to Mercedes, who seemed to have forgotten that she was supposed to be an interviewer and not looking back at him like that.
'And her soft, brown skin.' Sam ran a finger down Mercedes' cheek. She shivered against his touch as he leaned in to close the final distance between them, tilting her face up to meet his as Sam pressed a soft, sweet kiss to Mercedes' plump lips.
'Oh.' she sighed quietly when Sam had pulled away, her eyes glazed.
'Yeah.' Sam had said softly, his breathing coming out a little shaky. 'Now you know why I hate those questions so much.'
That had been three years ago now, and the show was currently entering into its fifth season. Mercedes and Sam had been quietly seeing each other ever since that night in the trailer, but the media still insisted on linking him with everyone, and anyone, but her.
'Kids, Kids!' Zach Garrity, one of the Tell It To Bennett producers entered the room with his usual hurried air and ushered them all into the centre of the room with an arm motion like a mother hen gathering her flock.
'Little ones,' Zach began with an air of gravitas as he surveyed each of their faces in turn. 'I have some sad news.'
The cast members all braced themselves, Mercedes' eyes meeting Quinn's in the crowd as they exchange a worried look at Zach's tone.
'I'm afraid the studio has decided that season five of Bennett will be its last.' Zach finished, hanging his head at the news. 'Now I know you're all going to be disappointed, but think of it this way: surely it's better for us to go out on a high note instead of… darn it, what was that phrase I heard the other day…?'
Zach snapped his fingers together as it came back to him. 'Jumping the shark, that's right! We don't want to jump the shark, so this is really a blessing in disguise. Ok, guys? I don't want you to be sad.'
Zach stopped talking and looked up to take in the faces of the young people who formed the core cast of the popular show. Strangely, none of them looked all that bothered.
Rachel was already getting excited because the show's cancellation meant she could finally try her hand at Broadway, and it was no secret that Artie had had his eye on a pop career for a while. Quinn had been thinking about going to college, and both Santana and Brittany had been talking seriously about getting away from the limelight. Santana in particular had been getting bitchier, and both Mercedes and Sam had independently tried to talk to the young woman about her ever increasing dependence on alcohol to get her through the day.
Brittany on the other hand, was quite content to retire at twenty-one and open an animal shelter, she'd always seemed rather indifferent to the spotlight, although her character was relatively popular. Luckily, Tina had missed out on the madness by getting out a year earlier to star in a film about a talking robot. The movie had done exceptionally well at the box office and it was becoming increasingly obvious to everyone just how wasted the young woman had been on the show.
Mercedes' eyes flicked involuntarily over to Sam to see how he was taking the news, and she found that his eyes were already trained on her, watching from across the room where he was perched on the armrest of an overstuffed couch.
She could already guess what he was thinking; no more Bennett = no more hiding, and as soon as Zach had dismissed them all to go back to prepping for the shoot Sam had grabbed Mercedes' hand and led her out to a private area out the back of the lot.
'I want to come clean.'
Mercedes sighed and let him wrap his arms around her waist to pull her closer.
'How did I know that that's what you would say?' she asked him, tipping her head to the side as she slid her hands up his chest and draped them loosely around his neck.
'Because,' Sam said, punctuating each phrase with a kiss, 'you know… that I want… to tell… the world… how wonderful… you are… and how much… I love you.' Sam pulled away from her, their lips making a soft pop as they disconnected and a wide smile stretched across his lips as his eyes caught and held with hers.
'After the season wraps there'll be no need for us to keep hiding.' he studied her face intently, his expression turning serious as he tried to figure out how his girlfriend felt about all this. 'I mean… unless…Do you not want to…'
Mercedes pressed a finger to Sam's lips before he could finish and then quickly chased it with her lips as she attempted to kiss his doubts away.
'I'm all for telling people.' she explained after she'd pulled breathlessly away from him. 'But I'm not sure we should just suddenly announce that we've been dating for the past three years.'
Sam groaned and dropped his head back against the exposed brick wall, his hands still on Mercedes' hips as he propped one foot against the stone.
'But it's the truth.' he protested, 'why can't we just tell people the truth?'
'Because they'll feel lied to,' Mercedes explained, dropping a kiss first to Sam's nose and then to both his closed eyelids. 'They'll feel betrayed, and they'll start to resent you and blame me for it .'
Sam sighed, both in response to her kisses and her words. He knew she was right, but he still hated that he had to regularly stop himself from telling everybody how in love he was with the woman in front of him.
'I promise, after shooting ends we can go public.' Mercedes assured him, sliding her hand into his as she peeled herself out of his embrace. 'Until then, business as usual.'
Sam looked momentarily downcast as he tightened his fingers around Mercedes' small hand and allowed her to drag him back in to the photoshoot. The photographer, a guy in an orange silk shirt and white dress pants, was already trying to set the others up in the space. Sam groaned inwardly when he overheard the man saying to Quinn "and you'll have your arms around Sam…"
Sam spared another, final, look at his actual girlfriend before squaring his shoulders and brushing his blond curtains out of his eyes. Then he plastered a jovial smile on his face and went to go pretend to be in love with Quinn.
Really, if there was one thing Mercedes Jones should have suspected of Sam Evans, it was that he would find the biggest stage he could to declare his love for her, and then use it.
She and the rest of the Tell It To Bennett cast were currently sitting in the audience at the Emmy's waiting to hear if they'd won any of the five awards they were up for. One of them, the one for Best Performance by a Leading Male in a Comedy, was just about to be announced, and Mercedes held Sam's hand discreetly under the table as they waited to see if he'd won. They'd wrapped on shooting Bennett's final season just three days earlier, but they'd been so preoccupied with awards season and the wrap party that Mercedes hadn't spared much extra thought to her promise to Sam.
She should have known that he would have, though.
When Phylicia Rashad opened the small, gold envelope and called out Sam's name, Mercedes let out a delighted squeal and wrapped her arms around him. She felt Sam give her a fortifying squeeze before he leaned in to plant a chaste kiss on her cheek, breaking away from her to do the same with Quinn and Rachel to cover the action.
Sam looked shocked as he made his way to the stage, and she knew that he had actually been really overwhelmed to even have been nominated for the award. He'd told Mercedes as much the night before, while they'd been lying in bed together, when Sam had confessed that he hadn't even written a speech because he just couldn't see himself winning and needing one.
The teen awards were nice, but to win at the Emmy's would be a dream come true for Sam. Now that Bennett was done he wanted to branch out into more legit acting roles; movies and such, and he'd already had a few offers from interested parties. Sam had speculated to her that maybe his Emmy nomination was a sign of good things to come, and as Mercedes watched him make his way up to the stage she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming swell of pride at what he'd accomplished.
Beside her, Quinn wrapped her arms around her friend as if sensing her emotional state. Mercedes was grateful for the support the blonde provided, especially when the tears began to well up in her eyes. Contrary to the rumours of in-fighting amongst the women of Bennett, Quinn and Mercedes had actually managed to forge a strong friendship during the course of the show, and both considered the other to be one of the few people in the world they really could trust with anything.
The two of them watched, hand in hand, as Sam made his way to the podium, kissed Phylicia on the cheek and accepted his award. Once the applause had died down he took a deep breath and started his speech.
'Oh my God.' Sam picked up the little statue in his hands and tested its weight, staring down at the thing like he couldn't quite believe it was his.
'Wow.' he let out a little endearing laugh into the microphone before taking a deep breath and launching into his speech proper.
'Well, um, first and foremost, I'd like to thank the amazing cast and crew of Tell It To Bennett, who have just made these past five years an incredible experience that I'll never forget. Um, to the wonderful producers, Zach, Brian and Dan, you guys…' Sam blew out a breath and shook his head incredulously before shaking the trophy in the direction the producers were sitting in.
'Thank you guys so much for taking a chance on a small-town kid from Tennessee, I really cannot thank you enough, you guys are the best. Uh…to the incredible writers, Michael, Sean, Christopher… thank you for giving us such wonderful stories to tell week after week, I know I'm not the only one who appreciates it. Uh…' Sam let out another deep breath and took a second to get his bearings before speaking again. 'To my gorgeous family; my parents, my little brother and sister who are probably staying up well past their bedtime to watch this.'
There were a few titters of laughter from the audience as Sam broke away from the mic to give a small, self-deprecating laugh.
'To my agent, Sally at Shaw and Associates, the incredible fans who stuck with us for five seasons, and last, but by no means least, to my best friend and beautiful girlfriend, Mercedes Jones, who has kept me sane over the years, supported me through the highs and lows, and has generally been the most wonderful woman I've ever been lucky enough not to deserve. I don't know what I did to get you in my life, Beautiful, but I pray to God everyday that I keep doing it. I love you so much, Baby, and I couldn't have done this without you.'
Sam blew a kiss to the audience before raising the statue triumphantly over his head, pausing to offer a soft, 'thank you,' into the microphone before making his way offstage.
A buzz erupted around the room after his departure as the attendees turned to discuss this sudden revelation. Mercedes' tried to keep her face straight as multiple cameras were all of a sudden turned on her as they tried to get close up shots of her reaction. Honestly, Mercedes wasn't entirely sure what her reaction was. Sam's speech had been so heartbreakingly beautiful, and she couldn't believe the lovely things he'd said about her. But on the other hand, he had said those lovely things about her, in front of everyone.
'You dark horse, you!' Artie had congratulated when Sam eventually made his way back to their table. He'd leaned over slightly to slap Sam's hand in appreciation, and Sam had grinned happily back, slipping his arm openly around the back of Mercedes' chair as he dropped into the seat next to her.
'Sorry that was so public.' he apologised, leaning into close so he could whisper quietly into Mercedes' ear. 'I swear, I didn't plan for it all to come out like that, but once I got up there it all just sorta tumbled on out.'
Mercedes smiled and lifted a hand to stroke his cheek, hesitating briefly before she remembered that, yes, she actually could do that now.
'It was a beautiful speech, Sam.'
She caught his eyes with hers and held his gaze for a moment before leaning in to capture his lips with hers. It wasn't anything over the top or flashy: It was just a sweet kiss shared by two people who had loved each other for a long time. They barely registered the flashbulbs going off, but the next day the moment was gracing the cover of almost every newspaper and magazine as the revelation that Sam and Mercedes were a couple hit.
It didn't take long for the teen magazines to start piecing together the clues that Sam had been dropping in his previous interviews. Eventually even they were forced to admit that maybe Sam hadn't been talking about that one episode of Bennett where Rachel got a perm when he mentioned his preference for curly-haired brunettes. Then they were declaring that they'd suspected the secret romance all along, and just like that, Mercedes was a hot commodity.
She was being offered magazine covers and interviews left right and centre. Even Oprah had called, wanting to put Mercedes and Sam at the centre of an episode about interracial dating in the media, but Mercedes had turned them all down.
Sam had asked her why over dinner one night (at an actual restaurant!) and she'd shrugged and said that she didn't want to be known as 'Sam Evans' girlfriend'. Mercedes had always had her own career and aspirations, and she wasn't prepared to use her relationship with Sam to achieve them, nor would she give them up for him, although she knew Sam would never ask her to.
The blond had just grinned and squeezed her hand tighter when she'd said that, and then leaned across the table to kiss her, for once not caring who saw them.
Although both of them revelled in no longer having to hide their relationship, after a while the media intrusion got a little bit too much for them both. Sam was forced to admit that as much as he loved people knowing he was with Mercedes, he didn't like people asking for details about their relationship, and neither did she. After the third instance of a pushy reporter asking for details, Mercedes and Sam had agreed that, even though they were done hiding their relationship, they were done talking about it publicly too.
That was why the couple would only smile politely and say 'no comment' when asked about the very shiny diamond ring that appeared on Mercedes' finger a few months later. It was also why Sam didn't make a fuss of the silver band he was sporting on his left hand a year after the Emmy's while doing press for his first feature-length movie, and when Oprah asked about the inspiration behind her first hit album, Mercedes had no qualms about casually mentioning her husband, Sam.
The thing was, even though the media tried desperately to paint scandal and betrayal into the blanks of Sam and Mercedes' marriage, they always managed to miss the glaringly obvious: that the two of them were happy.
As far as Sam and Mercedes were concerned, the media could continue to tell their made-up stories and lies to whoever cared to listen, but it wouldn't be them.
After all, Bennett didn't have to listen to that stuff anymore.