Title: New Year's Nuts
Author: bana05
Rating: M+
Characters/Pairings: Mercedes/Fabrevans
Spoilers: Up through Glee S2E10.
Disclaimer: Glee ain't mine, unfortunately; otherwise, Mercedes would have a harem.
Summary: Sam hadn't anticipated going nuts over a girl who didn't belong to him - even if only in his mind.
Author's notes: Happy New Year! I was trying to get this posted yesterday, but I was also traveling most of the day so that didn't quite work out as planned. Thank you so much for the response with "Christmas Cookies"! That was unexpected but definitely appreciated. This second part is a response to that and to fill a prompt from my boon ace reroutedreams who asked for a "Rich White Girl Problems" genesis!fic. As always, please forgive errors and enjoy!
Sam Evans was well aware he had a girlfriend, who was even with him at this football/Cheerios New Year's Eve party, but his eyes were completely trained on someone who was decidedly not his girlfriend—but shouldn't he watch out for her? She was flying solo at this party, and this was the time of year for random hookups that could potentially lead to bundles of "whoops" come the fall. And after spending the majority of the school year seeing his girlfriend wrestle with the fallout of her "whoops", Sam couldn't, in good conscience, have it happen to someone for whom he was growing to care.
Maybe too much? Nah, he thought and took a swig of his rum and coke. Besides, Quinn would be very appreciative he was looking after her soul sister with such vigilance, after all.
And quite a healthy dose of lust, Sam could admit.
As he sat on the couch in their teammate's living room, he watched Mercedes and their behemoth of a linebacker move to the beat, one large ham-hock of a hand gripping the girl's ample hip as they did so. The linebacker, Shane Tinsley, had to bend down low to speak to Mercedes because of their height difference, and the sheen of perspiration on Mercedes made her glow even in the dim lights of the room. Sam wanted to yank her into his own arms and dance, but that would be rude…and just slightly more possessive than he was allowed to be considering Quinn was also here getting her groove on with Santana and Brittany in a Cheerios dance circle. He internally cheered, though, when Tina came over and did what he wasn't allowed to do, and laughed in his red Solo cup when Shane's face fell all the way to his feet when the bodacious babe shimmied her fine ass away from him.
Sucker…
All the glee girls sans Lauren, who was out of town still and Rachel, who wasn't Finn's girlfriend at the moment, were now dancing together, Santana grinding behind Mercedes and Brittany doing body rolls with Tina. Sam almost choked on his drink when Quinn wrapped her arms around Mercedes' neck and buried her face into her jaw, clearly getting her own groove on in a way that pushed the boundaries of appropriate drunk girl-on-girl grinding to flat-out trying to "get it in" on the dance floor.
"Someone's gettin' lucky tonight…"
Sam looked over to see Artie rolling up next to the couch, his eyes darting between all of them but lingering on Quinn and Mercedes especially.
"Jealous?" Sam asked with a smirk.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" Artie said, his own smirk growing.
Sam's smile grew when Quinn spun Mercedes around and hugged her from behind, her hands getting a little fresh along Mercedes' belly as she whispered in Mercedes' ear. Mercedes then threw back her head on Quinn's shoulder and laughed, gripping Quinn's fingers as she shook her head. Lust gave way to genuine mirth for Quinn, and they were suddenly giggling like schoolgirls.
"Nope, no jealousy here," Sam insisted, and he meant it.
"Yeah. I guess when you have the most beautiful girl in the room, why would you be?" Artie asked with a shrug.
"Because Brittany's chopped liver?" Sam asked with a bit of an edge.
Artie's face softened as he gazed at his girlfriend hugging and swaying with Santana. "No. She's magic. My magic. I'm definitely lucky…"
Sam understood the sentiment, even if he thought there was something more to the friendship between Santana and Brittany beyond platonic, but it wasn't as if he weren't in a similar situation. The difference was, Sam knew it, or at the very least wasn't deliberately obtuse to it. But Sam wasn't going to waste his time parsing out someone else's relationship dynamics.
Instead, he was going to play up his.
He gave Artie a fist bump before braving the dancing fray, smirking when alcohol-flushed Cheerios brushed up against him as he passed. When he finally reached Mercedes and Quinn, they were flailing about with Tina and twirling each other under their arms. Quinn, a little farther gone that the rest, twirled Mercedes with relish, causing the other girl to spin out until Sam caught her to him.
Her eyes widened at her abrupt stop, then she smiled, vermouth heavy on her breath. "Hi!"
He brought her closer and kissed her cheek sweetly. "Hey, happy lady."
Mercedes giggled and leaned her cheek into his lips. "I'm very happy! This party is so much fun!" she said on another giggle, holding him close as she buried her face into his shoulder. "Am I still spinning or is it just the room?"
"Just the room, I'm afraid," Sam said, winking at Quinn who blew them a kiss.
"Oh, damn, I was hopin' it was all'o us," Mercedes said with a pout, but she laughed and twisted out of his arms to flounce back over to Tina and Brittany. Sam chose not analyze why his arms felt so empty and his body felt so chilled, especially since mere moments before the living room seemed to have been a sauna.
Quinn sauntered up to him and grabbed him by the neck to bring his mouth down for a bruising kiss. Sam frowned at her aggression, not because it was foreign, but because it felt misdirected. He pulled back, the frown still in place.
"Who pissed you off?" he asked lowly.
"Nobody?" Quinn said as a question, her eyes bouncing around the ceiling before looking back at him. "A year ago…a year ago, I was living with Puck, pregnant, and incredibly miserable. It's funny how much and how little of that has changed…"
She said it so nonchalantly, but the weird tone in his voice, coupled with her looking over her shoulder toward a waiting Finn, had a shiver of dread snaking its way up his spine.
"Why are you miserable?" Sam asked. Since she wasn't living with Puck anymore and he had no doubt in his mind Quinn wouldn't let herself get pregnant again, that was the only option that could be the same from last year. Was it he? Had he done something wrong? He tried to be a good boyfriend to her, even with her mercurial demands. She was worth it…she had to be. Like Artie said, he had the most beautiful girl in the room, after all.
Quinn shrugged, this time glancing over at Mercedes who was now booty popping with Santana in Artie's blissful face. "I miss her."
Sam frowned. "She's right there, Quinn," Sam said, then moved his mouth to her ear. "She was there not even a week ago…"
He still had dreams about it, waking up to a pulsing, yet flaccid cock and sticky pants and sheets. He'd reverted to thirteen year old again thinking of all that sweet flesh, hearing those husky pants and moans and the arias they both made when they came.
"Jesus," Sam murmured, his pants suddenly too constricting.
"And now you understand," Quinn whispered, nipping at his jaw as her hand, sans red Solo cup, cupped his erection.
"You want her again?" Sam growled against her lips, tugging her bottom one between his teeth.
"I'm so wet for her, I can't stand it," Quinn whispered against the point of his chin. "But she doesn't get it…"
A slow song had started and the glee couples paired off. Sam noticed Tinsley making a beeline for an oblivious Mercedes and he tensed.
"Excuse me, babe," he whispered, dropping a kiss to Quinn's forehead. "I'm gonna go get our girl."
"Okay. I'm dancing with Finn. He looks so sad," Quinn said in a baby voice and sashayed over to the forlorn giant. Sam ignored the pinch in his gut as he reached Mercedes before Tinsley did, blocking her way to the couch where she'd been headed. Mercedes blinked up at him in surprise, looking more lucid than she had in hours, and peeked around his arm.
"Where's Quinn?"
"With Finn, and that rhymed," Sam said, curling his arm around her waist again. The pinch loosened as she sank her soft body into his with a giddy chuckle, and he gave her a lopsided grin. "You're happy drunk."
"Happy, happy!" Mercedes trilled. "I bet you're a horny drunk…"
Sam's eyes widened. "How can you tell?"
She started to respond, then that lucidity returned and she stiffened in his arms. "I'm not supposed to know that."
He smiled at her and bent his head until their noses touched. She shook in his arms, which gave him the perfect excuse to hold her tighter. "But you do…and you're right."
"Maybe you should go find Quinn, then," Mercedes said.
"That rhymed too," Sam commented evenly, "although my old English teacher said it shouldn't because it's an 'e' not an 'i', but she was the most country teacher I ever had so she's a hypocrite."
Mercedes giggled. "You notice the strangest things!"
"There's nothin' strange about you, Mercedes Jones," he whispered, though he knew she heard him over the thumping bass and the loud conversations happening around them because her eyes fluttered and her breath caught.
"I didn't say there was," Mercedes eventually replied, but she pulled away from him as far as he allowed her to go, which wasn't very far at all because he still held her. He liked the armful she made very much. He'd blame it on the alcohol later.
He snickered. That would be a cool song for glee to do…
"Sam?"
He didn't like his name sounding so nervous coming from her, so he decided to break the tension a little. "My siblings loved the cookies by the way."
Her smile was bright and intoxicating, which had nothing to do with the liquor she'd been imbibing all night. "Really? Oh, that's great! Did you have a good Christmas?"
Sam's smile faltered a bit, but he hoped he straightened it before Mercedes had time to comment on it. "We went back to Tennessee, to my grandparents' house in Memphis. Good to go back."
Her hug was friendly and warm, a perfect excuse for him to cling to her, just for a little bit. "I'm glad, Sam. You deserve good things."
"I do?" he asked, very surprised by the comment. "Why?"
She shrugged. "Dunno…somethin' about you, somethin' that's just so good. I want goodness for you, Sam Evans."
Her words had a slight lag to them, as if the alcohol was finally taking its hold, but she could also just be sleepy too. Regardless, they cheered him so much he hadn't realized just how much he needed to hear them until he had.
He looked down at her and noticed she was practically falling asleep against him on the dance floor. "Wake up, lady," Sam said into her ear, but she just snuggled deeper into him.
"I'm such a lightweight," Mercedes muttered into his chest. "This is my first New Year's Eve out with the cool kids and I'm practically usin' you as a mattress."
"I don't mind," Sam said, looking around for Quinn. He spotted her snuggled into Finn with a slight, almost nostalgic, smile on her face as Finn rubbed her back comfortingly. Sam frowned, thinking that was his job; but here he was doing the same thing for Mercedes. Quinn cared deeply, even if she liked to hide that fact under an icy exterior at times. Finn was her first love, so there would always be that connection with him; and Mercedes had no one, and Sam would never leave a friend in a lurch if he could help it.
"I wanna go," Mercedes mumbled, pressing her forehead against him now. "If Quinn doesn't mind, I wanna go…"
Thankfully, so did Quinn; and moments later, the trio was on the way to the Fabray house where Mercedes was sleeping over. Quinn's mother was at her own New Year's Eve party and wouldn't be back until later the next day, so Quinn had bitterly, yet suggestively, offered Sam an invitation to stay in response. Luckily, he'd already convinced his parents to let him stay at Puck's house tonight, so he had an alibi if need be.
In fact, Mercedes still didn't know he'd had intentions of staying as well, and Quinn hadn't informed Sam of the Mercedes portion of plan, either, until after they'd arrived at Mercedes' house and she'd approached with a duffel in her hand.
"You're being naughty," Sam had accused, getting out of the car to help Mercedes.
"You like me naughty," Quinn had countered with a saucy wink.
But now, with Mercedes snoring in the back seat, he wondered if Quinn thought this was all a wash anyway. By the slight pout she was currently sporting, Sam supposed so.
Once they arrived at the house, Quinn assisted a sleepy Mercedes up to her room and onto her queen-size bed while Sam brought up the rear with Mercedes' duffel. Mercedes, still half out of it, began stripping, revealing a lacy bra that perked up her bountiful tits deliciously and exposed the adorable pooch of her stomach over the waistband of the pants she wore. She then sat there with a scowl, looking around the room as if it were foreign.
"This ain't my house," she announced.
"Nope," Quinn called, rummaging through Mercedes' duffel and eventually pulled out an oversized sleep shirt. "You're staying with me."
Mercedes pouted and grabbed the shirt haphazardly, still staring at something only she could see. Sam thought she was adorable, and then something more when she slipped on the shirt and then pulled off her bra through the collar of it. Both he and Quinn were riveted by the way her nipples were visible through the shirt and Sam's mouth watered for them, then just all of her when she stood and did a little shimmy to get her pants off that made her breasts bounce underneath the shirt. Sam glanced at Quinn who had so much lust in her eyes it was all he could do not to attack both of them.
"Niightt," Mercedes sang as she flopped down onto Quinn's bed. Had it not been for the jiggling, the move would've been hilarious. Instead, it was horn-inducing.
"Oh, Mercedes!" Quinn chuckled, climbing into bed behind her friend. "Surely you can make it for another three minutes…"
She shrugged. "Maybe, but why? Besides, you can now go downstairs and spend time with your boo without me gettin' in the way—"
"You're not in the way," Sam said, approaching the bed and kneeling before her. He smiled and Mercedes closed her eyes, although he didn't know if that were because he was so close or because Quinn began smoothing soothing strokes along her hair and back.
"Aside from Valentine's Day, I'm sure this is the most romantic time of the year, and y'all givin' me a pep talk?" Mercedes said skeptically. "You two should be somewhere gettin' your cuddles or more on, not babysittin' me." She frowned mightily. "Why you ain't take me home, Quinn?"
"Because I want you here with me," Quinn said without hesitation, kissing Mercedes' exposed shoulder courtesy of the sleep shirt's asymmetrical collar. Quinn's milky hands slid up Mercedes' sides until they found her freed breasts and squeezed them through the shirt. Mercedes moaned and took a deep breath, then opened her eyes to Sam. Just then, the grandfather clock in the Fabray foyer downstairs started tolling, and Sam didn't think anything of it when he closed the distance between him and Mercedes to kiss her.
Mercedes gasped and pulled away abruptly. "Wrong lady, Sam."
Instead of answering, he kissed Quinn just as chastely on the lips, nuzzling Quinn's nose. She scrunched it up adorably before leaning over Mercedes' body to kiss the other girl's lips herself. By the time they broke apart, the clock was finishing its final two dings.
"I'm either very drunk," Mercedes said, closing her eyes again, "or I just received two midnight kisses for New Year's."
"You are drunk," Sam affirmed affectionately, "but you also received two kisses."
"Y'all're so sweet takin' pity on your forever-alone friend," Mercedes drawled.
"Well, you won't be this year," Quinn said, "isn't that right, Sam?"
Sam cupped Mercedes' cheek and kissed her again, more firmly this time. And this time, Mercedes didn't pull away. She tasted of vermouth and her, and it was all he could do not to shove his tongue down her throat. Kissing her first hadn't been a mistake, even if he'd gone primarily by instinct and the need to comfort. She'd never had a New Year's kiss; and for some reason, he'd needed to be the one to give it to her—not Quinn, and certainly not Tinsley!
"Your lips are addictive," Mercedes whispered when they broke apart. "Quinn, how you ain't kissin' him all the time?"
Quinn giggled into the crook of Mercedes' neck, her thumbs still thrumming Mercedes' nipples. Sam grinned and kissed that giggle into moans, resting completely across a prone Mercedes to accomplish the feat.
"Come to bed, Sam, so we can cuddle Mercy," Quinn said.
"Gotta wash up, first," Sam replied.
She seemed torn about leaving Mercedes, but the girl was snoring lightly again and unlikely to even notice Quinn's absence. They went into Quinn's bathroom, in which Sam immediately closed the door and slammed Quinn's back against it and kissed her like he'd wanted to do since during the party and seeing her reaction to Finn's puppy-dog act. Quinn chuckled and accepted the kiss, even wrapping her legs about his waist and squeezing.
"Kiss me, Sam," she sighed against his mouth.
He continued nibbling on her lips for a moment as he reached behind her to unzip the plum sweater dress she wore. As good as the color purple and all its hues looked on Mercedes, this dress she'd given Quinn for Christmas made the green-eyed girl's skin look almost luminescent, so beautiful she was in it. Sam had been speechless when she'd come down the stairs in it with high black leather boots, and Sam had had half a mind not to go to the party at all.
As he pushed down her dress, his lips followed along her gorgeous neck, sexy collarbones, to the small cleavage her white cotton bra created. He sucked on her nipple through the material, his large hands pushing the rest of her dress completely off her body. He was on his knees now, and he lifted one booted foot and calf over his shoulder as he pulled aside her white-cotton panty briefs and gave a long swipe to the dampened curls at the apex of her thighs. Quinn gasped prettily and clutched his hair, making him moan against her and lick her from slit to clit again. Quinn was tasty, and had been the tastiest he'd ever had until he'd sampled the lady currently sleeping in Quinn's bed.
"Fuck me, Sam," she whispered. "I need you inside me…"
They'd finally consummated their relationship the day after their date with Mercedes, the experience with her bringing them closer than ever. Neither had been each other's firsts in fact, but they'd been each other's firsts in feeling. Quinn hadn't loved Puck and Sam could barely remember the girl's name to whom he'd given his virginity; and while Quinn had been a demanding lover, Sam knew the least he could do was make sure he protected her as best he could and give her the "first time" she'd deserved.
He'd held her as she sobbed when it was over.
Quinn pulled his charcoal turtleneck over his head and he pushed down his jeans and boxers, grabbing his wallet and taking out a condom as he did so. He didn't bother stepping out of his boots as he slipped his sheathed cock inside of her. Quinn groaned, her eyes rolling in their sockets, and he sucked the tender skin where her neck and shoulder met.
"So good, babe," she whispered. "Yes…"
He wasn't going to last long, but Quinn was already shuddering herself, gasping and whimpering against his jaw and shoulder as she twisted her hips counter to his thrusts. The door shuddered with their lovemaking, especially as Quinn clung to his neck and raked her nails along the nape of it. He kept his touch mindful of her hips' soft skin, but he wanted to pound her, loving how tight and wet she was around him.
"I'm close, babe," she whispered.
"Come all over me, Quinn," he whispered against her mouth, stroking her faster. "I got you…"
She cracked a split-second before he did and they slumped against the door, sharing soft kisses as he slipped out of her. He carefully tied the condom and threw it in the trash, Quinn turning on the shower so they could clean themselves. She seemed to be in a rush and he grinned lopsidedly at her.
"Anxious?"
"Just want to make sure she's okay."
"You love her," he said simply.
"She was there when I had no one and she didn't have to be…and she's still here now even though I haven't…" Quinn shook her head, careful to keep it away from the spray. "I don't deserve her."
"That's not how love works," Sam said, rinsing off his soap-lathered body when she moved away.
Quinn arched her eyebrow and stepped out the shower. "You're an expert?"
He laughed a little and shook his head. "Hardly, just…somethin' my parents say a lot."
With all the turmoil going on in his family, something he still hadn't told Quinn about, the "I love yous" had increased to the point they were almost annoying; but he remembered when the last mortgage notice from the bank had come and his father had buried his face in his hands in frustration, saying his wife and children didn't deserve this…him…and his mother had stood next to his seated, defeated form and said that line. His father had frozen, looked at his mother with her wrinkled shirt, tangled hair, and tired eyes as if she'd hung the moon in the skies herself, and held her with his face pressed against her heart. And that one moment, spying them through the kitchen door, Sam knew the Evans clan would be able to make it through anything because they were rooted in that kind of love.
That was how he wanted to love and be loved…
He shut off the shower and stepped out, accepting the towel Quinn handed him. She looked at him contemplatively and he felt exposed despite his nakedness.
"What?"
"Sometimes, I don't think I deserve you, either."
"Again," Sam said with a small huff and grin.
She smiled as well and looked off to the side, tightening her towel about her as that smile faded. "I want Mercedes to have an epic love, you know? She does deserve that, don't you think?"
"Yes," Sam agreed.
"But she doesn't think she'll get it," Quinn said, frowning a little. "She dated Puck even though she knew he was using her. And even though he'd treated her the best he'd treated any girl he'd been with, she'd settled for a guy who wasn't head over heels for her. Like that was all she was worth, and it'd irritated me, although I hadn't known why at the time. She even thought Kurt had a crush on her sophomore year, can you believe that? She was so desperate I was actually able to convince her an obviously disinterested guy wanted her? I was horrible to her…"
Sam held her, kissing the top of her head. "She'll find someone. I bet you didn't ever think you two would be as close as you are."
Quinn smiled grimly. "Two years ago I wouldn't have been caught dead talking to her, at least not to say something nice. I was at the top and she wasn't— bottom of the barrel." She whirled to face him, her green eyes troubled. "I want the top, Sam. After this past hellacious year…I deserve that! But then I wouldn't have found Mercedes…"
"It doesn't have to be a choice, does it?"
"It shouldn't be," Quinn admitted, then left the bathroom.
Sam slipped on his boxers and left the bathroom as well. Quinn now wore a white nightgown with lace trim and was snuggled into Mercedes' back. She'd left enough room for him to spoon against her. He draped an arm around Quinn's small waist but made sure to stretch his hand to touch Mercedes' ample hip too.
He awoke to the dawning sun, a low-grade headache, and sobs. He awoke to a golden head between thick chocolate thighs and a cock so hard it hurt when it twitched. He awoke to hear his girlfriend's name whispered like a mantra and dark hands squeezing breasts he'd been illicitly craving ever since his first taste of them.
He awoke to shocked, orgasm-primed eyes staring back at him.
Sam smiled and Mercedes blinked, continued blinking even as he shifted closer so he could suck her tit through her sleep shirt. Mercedes groaned loudly and threw her head back, would've knocked herself out against the headboard, probably, had a pillow not been in the way.
Quinn looked up, her green eyes mischievous as ever, and winked at him. "Morning, Sam."
Her voice was deep and sultry, making him harden more. "Mornin', Quinn. How's breakfast?"
"Hot, creamy, and delicious. I'd share, but I'm rather greedy right now…"
Mercedes' moan made him tremble, and he couldn't help stroking his cock through the opening of his boxers. He closed his eyes at the first touch of himself, already too close to make it as long as he'd like.
"Can I?"
His eyes snapped open and noticed Mercedes' transfixed on his erection. It twitched again, as if saying yes before he could.
"I thought you weren't ready," Sam said inanely.
Mercedes rolled her eyes and then closed them when her body jerked, whispering "shit!" at something Quinn had done. "That was so last year, Sam…" Then her grin grew wicked and she ogled him. "Besides, I'm interested in some New Year's nuts…"
He had to laugh at that and even Quinn snorted, but then he wasn't laughing at all when Mercedes licked her bottom lip as she stared at his cock. And while he'd take a hand, Sam really wanted those lips…had been dreaming about them almost nonstop for days.
"Hand or mouth?" he asked her.
She looked into his eyes, narrowed hers, then gasped as her body jerked again, her hand gripping Quinn's hair. "Both, fuck, both!"
It took a few moments for Quinn to pause for the cause because Mercedes had climaxed. Sam took off his boxers and stroked the inside of Mercedes' thighs that were still damp with her release. She felt so good beneath his fingers…tasted so good on his fingers as he licked her essence from them. She watched him do all of this with a combination of embarrassment and fascination and he held out his hand to her.
"C'mere, lady," he whispered.
He made her straddle him so he could take off her sleep shirt. He flung it somewhere, too focused on her breasts and his desire for them. He held her close and finally sucked her nipples as if they were hard candy. Her wet nether lips dragged along his hard length, making him squeeze and suck harder so he wouldn't give into thrusting himself inside her; yet it was she who pulled away first to press her own kisses down his torso, pausing at his own nipples, until she finally reached his cock.
"Breakin' stereotypes left and right, aren't we, Evans?" she said coyly, grinning at his length, her breath teasing him.
Sam's breathless chuckle lodged in his throat when her soft hand finally grasped him.
"Fuck yes," he whispered. Her innocent, inexperienced touches were bringing him to the brink faster than he'd anticipated. The bed shifted and Quinn settled next to her, showing Mercedes how he liked to be touched, kissed, licked.
So far, this was the best New Year's Day ever!
At Mercedes' first kiss, he bucked so hard he almost caught her in the nose. The two girls laughed uproariously at that, making Sam blush.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
Quinn cooed at him, sliding up the bed until she kissed him. He could still taste Mercedes on her lips and tongue.
"If she's anything with you like she was with me, you're in for a treat," Quinn promised.
"With you, it's always a treat," Sam said and kissed her again, but moaned in her mouth at the feel of Mercedes' tongue pressing against the opening of his cock.
"Shit," he grunted.
"Told you," Quinn said smugly, now kissing his jaw and thrumming his nipples in concert with Mercedes' ministrations.
He didn't last long at all—at the first real suck Mercedes gave, he shoved her away and spurted all over his lower belly, some catching her cheek and hair. Mercedes looked dazedly at him for a few moments but then grinned such a naughty grin he almost came again.
"As Santana would say, wanky," she commended.
"His turnaround time is impressive too," Quinn commented, grinning at him as she kissed his lips.
"Again, you lucky girl," Mercedes said, stroking his thigh as she looked at him. It was more a comforting caress than anything else, but Sam still became aroused. Mercedes eyes widened as she noticed this, but she pulled away completely in reaction.
"What's wrong?" Quinn asked.
"I should go. I don't belong here," Mercedes said quietly, now looking around, no doubt, for her sleep shirt.
"What do you mean?" Quinn asked. "You're our friend—"
"And friends let friends get their boyfriends off?" Mercedes asked, doubt, not censure, coloring her tone. "Friends let their boyfriends get their friends off? I went along with it because…it was nice, being wanted, for a change. But I can't rely on you for that, not when it's not my place. I…I need to find someone for me, you know?"
Quinn didn't look happy about this, and she sat on her knees. "I love you, Mercedes."
"Yes, and you know I love you, Q, but you're with Sam," Mercedes stressed. "And he's with you, and I need to tap out before this gets unnecessarily complicated and I'm the one left to pick up the pieces."
It sounded to Sam she spoke from too much experience—actually, it sounded like she was already doing it right now—and that made him glower at his feet. Had he ever thought he'd truly have threesomes? No. Had he dreamed of them? Of course! But Mercedes was right—all three of them were too traditional to have this be a lasting dynamic.
"I don't know why we can't—who are we hurting?" Quinn muttered, getting up and gathering some clothes. "It's nobody's business what goes on! I know for a fact Santana and Brittany always have threesomes and sometimes more! Why can they do it and I can't?"
Mercedes and Sam shared a look then, and Mercedes shook her head imperceptibly. Even Quinn knew their relationship dynamic wasn't what it'd been for themselves, but she was upset, so they let her go.
Quinn was still muttering under her breath as she slammed the door to the bathroom, making Mercedes jump. Sam sighed, running a hand over his face as he sat up, pulling up the covers to hide his nakedness. Mercedes rummaged around for her sleep shirt and slipped it back on, looking at Sam sadly.
"I'm not wrong," she said after a quiet moment.
"You are and you aren't," Sam said.
Mercedes rolled her eyes. "I'm too emotionally raw and slightly hung over to figure you out right now."
"You're not the only one holding on to something unanticipated."
Mercedes' brows furrowed before relaxing with some recognition. "Sam…"
He shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin. "But you're right. This should probably end. If only you knew how possessive I was over you last night and you aren't even mine."
Mercedes ducked her head. "I knew. And it was…heady, and I shouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I had. The only thing that makes this remotely okay is this was practically Quinn's idea, but her Marie Antoinette complex is gonna be the death of me!"
Sam laughed at the turn of phrase. "What?"
"You know, rich white girls who want everything and think they're entitled to it without thinking of the consequences until it's too late because they don't have to. I don't wanna be sucked in that vortex, and I certainly don't want to help her create one of herself, either. Extracting her out of the first one was a time in and of itself. She's just getting settled. I can love her and not fuck her—especially when that's not my place! Quinn knows that."
Sam said nothing, having no idea how to respond to such an impassioned monologue. And while Mercedes had a point, it still didn't answer what it meant for them.
"What do you mean?"
Sam started, only now aware he'd asked that aloud. He shrugged but maintained eye contact with her. "Are we still friends after this?"
Mercedes shrugged, twisting the hem of her sleep shirt. "Up to you, although I'll do nothing for your popularity…"
He shrugged. "Your friendship is worth more than any possible threat to my 'popularity'—real or imagined."
"But you're with Quinn, I'm sure that makes you immune to slushies or something," Mercedes said with a small smile.
He looked at her askance. "Did it for you?"
Mercedes shook her head. "Quinn was on my level when we became close so, no. I was like her Jiminy Cricket on how to navigate the Loser Lane at McKinley," she said on laugh.
As uncomfortably as that declaration sat with him, Sam smiled simply because she was revealing herself to be quite the dorky diva herself. "I don't think you're in the loser lane, Mercedes."
"Well, whatever lane I'm in, I know how to stay in it," Mercedes said with a scoff, crossing her arms underneath her breasts. "For a week I was in the popular lane with you guys and it was all right, but it wasn't mine, you know? I like my lane—whatever that is—and if that means I have to catch a slushie in the face every now and again then that's what I'll do. Cherry's my favorite, anyway."
"Blueberry," Sam said with a small smile, and she snorted.
"How unoriginal, Avatar boy."
"That's the single-greatest film of all time, Miz Jones," he reminded her.
"Highest grossing doesn't mean greatest, Mr. Evans—any true cinephile would know this!"
They argued over the merits of the ten highest-grossing films until Quinn left the shower, both abruptly quieting when Quinn wrapped her arms around Mercedes from behind and whispered in her ear. Mercedes' expression turned tender when Quinn kissed her cheek, and the two touched foreheads for a little while before Mercedes left the bed and entered the bathroom herself, duffel bag in tow.
Quinn stared at Sam for a second before climbing onto the bed and crawling over him until their lips were level. He settled a hand on her hip and stroked his thumb along the curve of it.
"Quinn?"
"I hate it when she's right," she declared. "Which is often."
Sam chuckled and kissed her sweetly. "She does love you, Quinn."
"I was being selfish, I know," Quinn admitted on a sigh, "wanting my cake and eating it too."
Sam couldn't hold back his bark of laughter if he tried.
"What?" Quinn almost snarled, rearing back with a fierce scowl on her face. "Sam!"
He was writhing on the bed, tears streaming down his face, turning into a ripened tomato. Quinn huffed, rolled her eyes, and started to leave, but Sam wrapped strong arms about her waist.
"Slow your roll, your highness."
She quirked her lips. "They don't give prom queens honorifics…"
"But I'll give you honor anyway, how about that?" Sam asked against her smiling mouth.
"Eeeww!"
They pulled apart laughing at the playful scowl Mercedes sent them. Sam felt Quinn tense with the yearning to include her in their affection, but she respected her soul sister's wishes and settled back against him. He gave her a proud kiss to her temple and Mercedes' scowl turned into a wistful smile as she nodded.
"One day I'll have someone love me like that," she declared for herself, "but I won't borrow my girl's boo until I do."
"You have to admit, Sam sets the bar pretty high, doesn't he?"
Now Mercedes looked directly at him, the wistful smile now more sad than anything else. "He does, but he was never meant to set mine, Quinn." Mercedes then sighed and shook her head and shoulders, as if resetting herself. "Anyway, you got a stocked pantry, Miss Fabray? I think I can throw down on some pancakes and bacon—"
"Yes!" Quinn cheered, scrambling out of bed and looping her arm through Mercedes' as they went downstairs and discussed the possible breakfast menu. Sam stared at the ceiling, his head pillowed on his arms. Sam could be a little slow in mind sometimes, even he could admit that, but his heart was another matter entirely; and after the initial wince of Mercedes' last comment about him, he finally understood what she meant.
He realized she was starting to set his bar too.