A/N: So, I know I left the Light In The Dark story hanging, but I can't bring myself to finish it. After I heard that Chord was leaving the show and that would be the end of my Samcedes... I can't even open the damn document without tearing up.
Anyway, for this fic, there's a bit of Mercedes/Shane (what even is that ship name?) at the end, but it's mostly Samcedes. Glee, as it has a tendency to do, didn't really flesh out the whole "Sam leaves and Mercedes meets Shane" story too well, so I took it upon myself to do so. Oh, and I was listening to Take Me Home by Aqualung the whole time I was writing this, in case you're interested.
"We can make long-distance work! Skype, and texting…it wouldn't be that hard!" Mercedes said, eyes brimming with tears.
Sam sighed, looking down at the ground for a second before he could meet Mercedes' eye. He had already made his decision, but Mercedes was threatening to sway it. He knew he would break if she really started to cry. "As much as I want that for me, I don't want to hold you back. I want you to be happy, not pining over me all the time. I want you to go out and live, Mercedes. Meet people, date people, experience life. It would be selfish of me to keep such a wonderful, beautiful girl to myself when I'm so far away. I'm going to miss you so, so much, and it's killing me to think that if I had just seen you the way I see you now a few months earlier, we would have had so much more time together." He bit his lip, trying to hold back his own tears.
"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow."
Mercedes' shoulders shook a little, and she rushed forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Sam's body. He leaned down and kissed her hair softly.
"I'll miss you," he murmured again, breathing deeply and trying to memorize the smell of her hair, the warmth of her body held against his own, the way her fingers absently traced patterns against his skin whenever they could.
She pulled back just far enough to capture his lips in a last, bittersweet kiss. It was brief and gentle, Sam's hand coming up to cradle her face against his warm palm, and her fingers combing through his hair. Sam was the first to break away, tracing her cheekbone with his finger.
"I should go…" He told her, when honestly, all he wanted was to stay in Mercedes' arms forever.
For a moment, Mercedes looked as if she wasn't going to let him go, but her hesitation didn't last, and she stepped back. She stayed silent, watching with teary eyes as Sam gave her a sad smile and got into his beaten-up car. She didn't let the tears fall until his car turned the corner at the end of the street.
Mercedes met Shane three weeks later, at the infamous summer barbeque her parents threw every year.
They hit it off right away; he was funny and cute and in her grade, and had just moved to Ohio from Illinois. He spent the entire day complimenting her whenever he got the chance.
It wasn't until the next day that he came around to her house again, asking her out to the movies. She hesitated, thinking of Sam, before she accepted.
Shane was sweet, paying for the tickets and holding her hand during the length of the movie. He held open the car door for her and walked her to the door at the end of the night. He leaned down for a kiss, and she met him halfway. It was nice; he had thick lips like Sam's, but they were rougher, she noticed. She ignored it and deepened the kiss, sinking into the memories of long, warm days with Sam, in his car that always smelled of pizza, in the cool shade of a tree at the park, at the beach under the heat of the midday sun. She moved a hand up to run it through Sam's soft, straight hair, but her fingers met short, coarse bristles instead. She pulled back, remembering where she was and whom she was with.
She said goodbye quickly, pecking Shane on the cheek before slipping inside her house and heading straight up to her bedroom. She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, pillow hugged to her chest.
She wished it had been Sam tonight, wished it had been his hand holding hers in the theatre, his lips against hers as they kissed goodnight. But it wasn't, she told herself firmly. Sam was gone, and he wasn't coming back, and she might as well make do with what she had. Shane was nice, he was good-looking and a football player. He made her laugh and made her happy. Maybe not in the same way she had been when she was with Sam, but someone was better than no one…wasn't it?