I high-tailed it down the hallway. Sam and I had no classes together in senior year, if you didn't count glee club. Thankfully, our lunch periods overlapped, and that's where I was headed. The cafeteria door had just entered my sightline when an arm hooked around my elbow.

"Me. You. Lunch. Now," Kurt piped in my ear.

I turned to him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, "Well, actually me and-"

He blurted, cutting me off, "I've lost my innocence."

My jaw nearly hit the floor.

"What? Like, you and Blaine-"

He hushed me.

"Shh. Not here. In there."

He crooked his finger at an empty classroom.

"Sure, but we have to find Sam first, though."

Kurt frowned at me, leaning down a bit.

"We can't talk about that around Sam. You know I love him, but this is strictly BFF territory. Besides, locker-room talk… Sam tells Finn and things get hella awkward. I don't want anybody who lives with me knowing anything about my sex life."

He shuddered at the thought, folding his arms.

"Finn and Sam barely even speak to each other since the Quinn thing."

"Still, I'd appreciate it if we could keep this between us," Kurt nodded with a pleading look.

"Of course. I won't tell Sam, but I'm supposed to be having lunch with him, Kurt. I can't ditch him."

He scoffed a bit.

"But you can ditch me? 'Cedes, you and I were Thing One and Thing Two a whole year before Sam even transferred to McKinley. This is beyond important."

I understood what Kurt was going through. Well, not really. Sam and I hadn't gone past second base. But I could still grasp that he needed to share the moment with me. As much as I understood his need, and as much I wanted to be there for him, I knew that Sam was expecting me.

"…Kurt, Sam is waiting for me. We always have lunch together."

Kurt rolled his eyes, adjusting his vest.

"Right. Always. You mean, since you started dating. We always had lunch together, Mercedes. Until Sam-"

"Okay, no, Kurt. We always had lunch together until Dalton," I corrected, the heat rising in my cheeks, "But I didn't give you any crap for transferring because I knew you'd be happier."

I didn't like what he was implying, or the way he enunciated Sam's name. Kurt's eyes widened.

"Me transferring to Dalton to protect my safety and you blowing off your best friend for a guy are two totally different things, Mercedes, and I can't believe you would compare the two."

"I'm not blowing you off, Kurt, but I'd be blowing off Sam if I just changed plans on him like that. And Sam's not 'some guy'. He's your friend and my boyfriend."

He sighed, avoiding eye-contact with me.

"I know that, Mercedes. I know. Just…fine. Whatever. We can talk about this later. Enjoy your lunch with Sam," he said insincerely as he turned on his heels and sashayed down the hallway, his nose turned upward.

"Just fucking wonderful…" I sighed to myself, closing my eyes.

"Yep. Damn right you are."

The words were whispered in my ear, followed by a chuckle as strong, familiar arms wrapped around me from behind. I leaned back into Sam, welcoming his comforting embrace, in need of it.

"Baby…" I smiled.

His soft lips kissed my cheek as he rocked me from side to side.

"Hey, beautiful. You and Kurt all right?"

I turned to look at Sam, hoping he hadn't heard the way Kurt was talking about him like he was Yoko Ono.

I nodded, "Yeah, we're fine. He's just… being Kurt. You know what it's like dealing with a diva- If somebody implies the world doesn't revolve around said diva, the shit hits the fan."

"Well, good thing my world revolves around you, then, huh?"

Sam spun me around to face him, hands resting on my waist. His gentle smile caused me to grin from ear to ear.

"What did I do to deserve you?" I thought out loud as my eyes adored his face.

He chuckled softly, raising a hand to stroke my cheek.

"I don't know, but it must have been pretty bad…" his arm slipping around my waist, "Come on, let's get some lunch."

My head rested against his chest as we continued to the cafeteria. I pretended not to notice the puzzled and/or disapproving looks we got. I understood perfectly. He was gorgeous with a rock-hard body, and I was…"Aretha." I didn't get what he saw in me sometimes, either. But I knew that he saw it, and that was all that mattered.

Sam didn't find himself nearly as attractive as everyone else did, but he still noticed the looks. The one time we discussed it, he confessed that he thought it was because he was white and I was black. When I brought to his attention that he and Santana didn't receive any disdainful looks, he reasoned that it was because she would have destroyed the self-esteem of anyone who even thought about opposing her. Though I couldn't say he was wrong, I was sure that it wasn't just our races that made people feel like we were mismatched.

As insecure as the outright disapproval made me feel, I knew I could never let it stop us from being together. Sometimes I did feel like Sam was too good for me, which was exactly why I would never let him go. He was perfect and he was mine, and it would stay that way as long as I could help it.

We continued down the hall, the brightest blip on everyone's radar. I felt Sam kiss the top of my head, and I leaned in closer to him, the scent of his body spray soothing me. We didn't release each other until we entered the cafeteria. Sam turned to me.

"I'll find us a table."

"We could just find a table after we get our lunch. It's not too crowded," I shrugged.

Sam looked down at his shoes, "I brought my lunch today…" he added quickly, "It's cheaper."

"Oh…" I said, reading the expression on his face, "I could-"

"Mercedes, it's fine," he said firmly, finally locking eyes with me, "I'll go find us a table. See you in a minute."

With a quick kiss on my forehead, he sped off through the sea of students. I could even see his embarrassment in the way he walked. Feeling helpless, I entered the lunch line, allowing the lunch ladies to spoon whatever they pleased on my tray. My mind was hardly on what I wanted for lunch.

When I sat down across from Sam who was nibbling on a cheese-less bologna sandwich, he looked down at my tray and then at me with a smirk.

"You hate baby corn."

I laughed, "I do. I wasn't really paying attention."

"Is it Kurt?" he asked, taking a sip of the water in his canteen.

I shrugged a bit, replying, "I guess."

Sam frowned sympathetically, "What's going on with you two exactly? What were you fighting about?"

I scoffed, pushing my food around with my spork.

"He was just being a selfish jerk."

Sam looked up from his sandwich, raising an eyebrow, "About you spending time with me?"

"How did you know?" I ask incredulously.

He shrugged, "Just had a feeling. I mean, what else could it be?"

Sighing through my nose, I nodded, "Well, yeah. You pretty much nailed it."

I suddenly felt Sam's hand on top of mine. He leaned over the table, bringing it to his lips.

"Mercedes Jones, you are one of the most selfless people I have ever met. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's you. If that means spending time with me, then Kurt needs to accept that…and if that means spending more time with Kurt, then I accept that."

"Oh, God, no, Sam- I'm not giving up any of my time with you. That's not going to happen. We see each other at glee club and during lunch. You're either watching Stevie and Stacy or working, which can't be helped. We need our time together."

Sam chuckled, squeezing my hand.

"Okay, okay. I was just saying. Seeing you is the brightest part of my day," he smiled, his green eyes glittering at me with a look of sincerity, "…I love you."

Sam and I had been dating over four months, and that was the first time I heard him speak those words. I never wanted to pressure him into saying them, knowing that Quinn and Santana had used and abused him. I was simply honored that he opened his heart to me after the way they had treated him. Besides, I could feel in his touch and kiss, the way he looked at me, the way he sang to me, that we were more than just some fleeting fling. Still, hearing the words ignited something inside of me.

I replied softly "I love you, too."

I watched a bright smile spread across his face.

"Whew. Really? Because I was starting to think that you were just keeping me around for my James Earl Jones impressions…"

He looked at me with a devilish grin and I reached across the table, ruffling his hair.

"Boy, shut up and eat your sandwich."