Title: Innocence
Pairing: Eventual Kurt/Sam with Sam/Mercedes friendship
Rating: PG for this chapter.
Summary: Sam and Mercedes talk after prom.
Notes: I honestly have no idea how long this will be, but do not fret, this is a Kum endgame fic. School ends on Thursday, so hopefully I will have plenty of time to get writing soon!

"Thanks for being my date tonight, Sam," Mercedes smiled lightly at her blonde friend, high heels in her lap as they sat side by side on swings in the Lima Elementary School playground. The sky was black with a smattering of stars and the playground was illuminated by the glow of streetlamps lining the road. "I know technically Rachel was your date too but Jesse St. Sucks kind of stole her away."

"And insulted my bolo tie," Sam muttered.

"And that," Mercedes chuckled. "I don't know what that girl sees in him, he's awful to everyone. He called me lazy, you know that?"

"Some people are just jerks," Sam responded quietly. "Every story has to have a villain. Or, in the case of Rachel and Finn's story, two villains."

"I'd say three, actually," Sam looked to Mercedes questioningly. "White boy, do you pay attention? Schue has a total boner for Finn!"

Sam looked horrified for a moment before a smile broke out on his face. The two laughed for a moment before silence fell between them. The sound of chirping crickets could be heard, and a convertible filled with too many teenagers drove by, rap music blaring. Sam and Mercedes could hear their drunken shouts.

"Those are the villains of my story," Mercedes sighed once the car was out of sight. "The kids at this school… It's like they don't even care that you exist if you aren't beautiful, if you aren't a size zero, if you don't go out and get drunk and have sex every weekend. You don't matter if you aren't a Cheerio or a football player. Aren't there more important things, though? Doing things you love? I do the one thing I love most in the world and I still feel lonely all the time."

Sam reached over and grabbed her hand reassuringly.

"I'm not saying that I don't have friends, because I do, but I'm not important to anyone. I feel so…" she paused, "I feel so expendable. I thought I was Kurt's best friend. It took him two weeks to tell me that he had started dating Blaine. He never even talked to me one on one when he decided to go to Dalton. He didn't even tell me about the bullying! I didn't… I don't understand what I did to make him stop trusting me. I thought things were fine and then suddenly he had a new best friend and then a boyfriend and it's like I'm not even there. I'm no one's favorite.

"I dated Puck last year, for a few days, did you know? It was for popularity on both our parts, but a part of me entertained the idea that maybe we would have some movie romance. The kind where you start things with the wrong intentions but end up falling in love anyway. Well, that obviously didn't happen. That's the only time anyone's ever showed romantic interest in me, and it was fake."

"Quinn was my first girlfriend," was Sam's response. Mercedes looked to him in surprise.

"How is that possible, boy?" She asked. "You're smokin'!"

Sam blushed. "All boys' school."

"Boy would I love to go to one of those…" Mercedes muttered.

Sam laughed. "Anyway, Quinn was my first girlfriend. Neither of us ever said it out loud, but we knew it wasn't real. She wanted her social status back by dating the quarterback and I wanted to make sure I was in a secure place with my popularity. It was never about feelings. I know I gave her the stupid promise ring, but I don't think I ever felt anything more for her than friendship. And Santana…"

Mercedes laughed. Sam didn't even have to say anything more.

"Sam," Mercedes said quietly, looking at her friend. The light atmosphere had changed quickly, but Mercedes couldn't help but wonder. Spending time with Sam for the last few days before prom had made her realize that there was much more to him than she had ever seen. There were moments when he would start to say something and then mumble a never mind. Moments when he would seem embarrassed seemingly out of nowhere. Sometimes he would be in a good mood only to suddenly become sullen and quiet. "Sam, who is the villain of your story?"

He averted his eyes, looking at the ground and kicking the woodchips beneath his feet. There was at least thirty seconds of silence before Sam let out a long breath and said, "I want to tell you, Mercedes, I do, but I've talked to Puck and he told me that almost immediately after you found out Puck was Beth's dad, you were off telling everyone who could listen. You're a gossip, and sometimes that can be a good thing, but I… Look, I don't know who I can trust in this town and I can't risk this getting out. I want to tell someone so badly but I just… I can't."

Mercedes was silent. "You're right."

Sam blew out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Awkward silence caused tension between the two before Mercedes spoke again.

"Puck was wrong. He got his best friend's girlfriend pregnant, and then lied about it. I was the only person outside of Puck and Quinn that knew and if I didn't tell, Finn would still believe Beth was his own child. And yeah, I'm a gossip. I talk about who's dating who and who wore what stupid outfit to school and things like that but Sam, if you tell me whatever it is you're bottling up, and you tell me that you don't want a soul to know, I swear to you I will not tell. You're a really good guy and you've been an amazing friend the past few days. Whatever it is you're keeping in is doing more harm than good and if you need to get it out, I promise that you can trust me."

Sam looked to his friend and the moment she saw the wetness in his eyes she stood up, leaned over and hugged him. "You can trust me," she repeated quietly.

Sam wiped his eyes quickly and sniffed. He looked out at the slides on the other side of the playground and remembered when he was young and played on similar slides. Before any drama or heartbreak or confusion, he would just run around and slide down every slide he could.

He looked up and met Mercedes eyes, eyes full of sincerity that reminded him of the days of childhood innocence, and said, "Mercedes, I'm gay."