Mercedes breaks it off the day before she leaves for college in Los Angeles. After everything they went through to make it work—after spending another perfect summer together—she says goodbye.
She shields herself with practicality, blaming things like the miles between Los Angeles and Lima, their differing plans for the immediate future, and their age—but, the way her gaze flickers, settling anywhere but his face, and the way she bites her lip to keep it from trembling are telltale signs.
Sam can hear what she isn't saying. She's doesn't want to do this anymore than he does—she's scared. She should know better than to try and fool him, however. It's never worked before.
He tells her as much and she flatly denies it, her face screwed up in defensive ire. They just have to be realistic, she tells him—accept the fact that maybe, as much as they love each other, happily ever after just doesn't encompass them. They'd already tried their hand twice, but if life constantly wanted to propel them in different directions, maybe there was a reason for it.
She tells him she's saving them from the ultimate heartbreak of watching their relationship deteriorate over time, and implode later on over issues out of their control—conflicting schedules, different interests and goals, and the very real possibility that living apart for so long would change them as people, especially as she went through this life-changing first year being on her own and he forged through his most defining year of high school.
She says he'll thank her later because this is the best thing.
Sam is pissed. She still doesn't understand there's no other option for him—for either of them. They stumbled upon their fates that first prom night and there's no going back. They know all the ways in which they fit together now. Staying apart will just be another exercise in torture and no one else will ever feel just right.
He tries to tell her they'll be together again after this year—because really, the only thing he knows for certain about his future is that it's going to run parallel to hers. She was with him at his lowest, when he was abruptly forced from youth. She was his rock then and now, the light that kept the shadows at bay. After everything they'd been through, he knew—he'd always love her, always need her.
It doesn't really ease any of the emptiness she feels about having to leave him behind now. Too much is changing, and an admirable, yet vague, plan about how they'll keep in touch all the time while they live completely separate lives isn't concrete enough to hold on to.
They'd been through a forced separation before and it hadn't worked out so well then. They both remembered overwhelming loneliness and the sad tinge in all of their interactions after he'd left. Tear-filled Skyping sessions had wrought too much heartache, so they tapered off into less frequent phone calls. Affected cheer, thinly veiling how much they missed each other, made conversation awkward, leaving the occasional text as their primary mode of communication—and what relationship could really survive on a few toneless words and smiley faces?
All of Sam's protests fall on stubborn ears. She's resolute and she's out the door moments later, using last minute packing as an excuse.
Sam is mad as shit, but he still shows up at the airport to see her off. He only rolls his eyes as she tries to shake off his hug, and pulls her closer, cradling her tightly against his body. She wraps her arms around his waist in spite of herself. A sniffle is the only warning he gets before she's sobbing into his chest and he doesn't care that her parents are watching when he lifts her face with his hands and presses a kiss onto her mouth.
They're both crying now and it's just like a scene from some sappy romance movie, but Sam doesn't care as he tries to tell her through his kiss that he loves her and he's going to go right on loving her even if she's intent on breaking his heart at the moment.
She stands in his embrace after, her head pressed against his heart, only relinquishing her hold on his waist to swipe a hand at the tears streaming silently from her eyes. Sam's forehead is pressed against her hair and his hand follows an idle pattern up and down her arm. His breaths are shuddered and her heart squeezes almost painfully as she takes in the erratic beat of his heart.
The boarding announcement finally brings them apart, but not before he kisses her chastely one last time. He tells her he'll still be there when she decides to stop torturing them both.
He watches her walk away, arms crossed against his chest, chewing hard on a stick of gum to keep from buckling. She turns back to wave just before she disappears around the corner, on to her life without him in Los Angeles.
He feels her father's hand on his shoulder just as he's about to make a fool of himself and run after her. As romantic as it is in the movies, following her through a security gate without a ticket would probably just land him in jail or strip searched in a tiny room, so he blows out a breath and offers the man a tight smile.
He waits until he's back in his room at the Hudmel's to completely fall apart, relieved that the house is empty. He loves Kurt, but this sobfest would probably provoke an offer of warm milk and a lady chat, and the last thing Sam wants to do is talk about it.
The tears seem to seep out all of his energy as they expend themselves. He cradles his pillow against his chest, replaying his last moments with Mercedes over and over in his head.
With every kiss, every touch—everything—between them since that fateful prom night he's been trying to tell her that she's it for him.
As the image of her last wave goodbye repeats in his mind, he closes his eyes, wondering when they'll get their timing right—and it's a matter of when because he's not about anything less than being with her.
A/N: Just a bit of head canon I decided to flesh out a bit. There will be three or four more segments to this.
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