I Should Have Told You Before,

Written by WickedSong.

Disclaimer/Note : In the first chapter. I know you guys have been waiting for this (thanks for the feedback btw! :D) So here you go. Hope it does not disappoint as a follow-up.


A week following Sam Evans' sudden and second departure from Lima and Kurt Hummel was ready to take matters into his own hands. If Sam and Mercedes weren't willing to work out their issues, then he guessed he'd have to take matters into his own hands. He had tried to get them to speak, calling Sam and insisting that everyone needed him in Lima, that she needed him and that he needed her and no matter what had happened in the past, they should be ready to move past that now. Sam had ended the call when Kurt had refused to change the topic and hadn't answered any of the counter-tenor's phone calls since then.

Mercedes, on the other hand, had said she was fine and Kurt knew this excuse only too well. She had been 'fine' as well when Sam had moved to Kentucky, she had been 'fine' for a couple of months and then how 'fine' she was led her to Shane. She was very good at not dealing with her feelings, he knew this, he had been on the receiving end of this, he and everyone else had watched this in action. They had been all too quick to believe her last time, all caught up in their own problems, unable to see what was in front of them.

Sam's reluctance and Mercedes' denial worked hand in hand to convince Kurt that intervening was his only option now.

"Kurt, where are you going? The mall is that way."

Kurt gripped the steering wheel tighter in his hands, not daring to look at his friend, trying to gauge her mood before saying anything. Santana, who sat in the back seat with Brittany beat him to it however.

"Just a detour."

"Where?"

"Kentucky." Kurt was surprised at how loud he sounded but he continued, even as Mercedes widened her eyes and demanded that he turn around now. "Oh this is not about you and Sam. I need my Twilight book back and he still has that. It's important."

Santana sniggered which caused Mercedes to turn around and glare at the girl, who shrugged her shoulders, showing that she didn't care and was fully involved in this plan. Brittany looked very enthusastic too. She bounced up and down in her seat.

"Kentucky is four hours away, Kurt. I could call this kidnapping."

"Oh hush," he replied. "Obviously I talked to your parents and they were on board. They even gave me some gas money." He gave her a cheerful smile. "I'm doing what neither you or Sam are brave enough to do. You should be thanking me."

"Us," corrected Santana.

"Us," amended Kurt, with a nod, his eyes still on the road. "Apologies Satan."

"I'll let you off with it, Hummel."

She gave a curt nod, and Mercedes looked between them disbelievingly.

"So you've all just sort of glossed over the fact we're driving four hours to Kentucky, for what?"

"For love."

Brittany's reply sounded so sweet and innocent and genuine that even Mercedes couldn't stifle her smile but it was quickly wiped away when she thought about it. "He's the one who left. He's the one who doesn't want to fix this. Why should I-"

"You're both being stupid, you've both made mistakes, you're both being stubborn and we're going to fix these mistakes today or so God help me," Santana said, and she sounded as if she was hell-bent on getting their situation worked out in that day and if it took any longer she'd turn the car around.

Mercedes didn't say anything else although she had plenty to say. Who were they to get involved in this? Did they even get what had happened? Or had they been blind as she had sang that song of goodbye to Sam in glee on Valentine's. Had they just forgotten how she had dissolved into tears before their eyes while he had fled the choir room, not able to handle his own that kept coming. And maybe that was the reason.

She hadn't even stopped to see herself as heartbroken, because she had been so good at just pushing all the pain away, and had kept herself busy enough, what with Troubletones rehearsal for Regionals, the New Directions practices (which frankly didn't help so much because he was always there too and there was that distance she didn't trust herself to bridge) and then finally Quinn's accident, which had left her with even more emotional turmoil than before. But she had been strong, strong for everyone else, for herself and that had worked. It had worked before. No one had noticed when Sam had first moved and she had been allowed to push it away and 'move on' as she had called it.

Now, she was actually being called out on her lies, her insistence that she was 'fine' with Sam moving back home. She would laugh if it wasn't so sad that they had just all now noticed.

So the remainder of the car ride to Kentucky was somewhat silent, with the only sound being Brittany's voice as she rambled on about something to Santana, who smiled and laughed with her, always amused by her girlfriend's point of view and theories. Mercedes tried to listen but that voice in her head just kept saying, 'you're about to see him again,' and that made her more nervous than she cared to admit.

They stopped for a quick pit stop but were back on the road and at their destination before it got dark. Kurt had been pleased at the time they had made, but hadn't wanted to waste any time and so found Sam's address quickly and somehow managed to navigate the car to the modest two storey house the Evans' had found once their luck had started to change.

Mercedes didn't realise she had been sitting in the car for that long until Santana spoke up. "So what do we do now? Ring the doorbell? Knock some sense into him?" She looked as if she meant that last question literally.

"This is a mistake," Mercedes said quietly as she looked down at her hands, which shook nervously with dread and anticipation. "I should have never let you drive me here, Kurt. I-I can't do it. I can't face him."

Kurt reached over and took her hand. "Look, I know we're not as close as we used to be, but I can still read you like an open book." He gave a weak but genuine smile. "If you didn't want to come here, you wouldn't have come here."

"You forced me!" she exclaimed incredulously. "You just dropped the 'we're going to Kentucky' bomb on me without any thought about how I would be feeling about it."

For the first time he looked a little guilty. "So maybe it wasn't the most rational thing to do? Maybe figuring this out in your own time would've worked, maybe letting him do that would have been a success. But how long would that take?" He shrugged his shoulders. "We did this," he looked at Brittany and Santana who wore encouraging smiles, "because we care about you, and Sam and the only thing we want is you two to be happy. And that's with each other."

Mercedes looked up to smile at him and then to the two Cheerios in the back, before taking a deep breath, steeling herself and opening the car door.

"That's our girl!" exclaimed Santana cheerfully while Brittany whooped in the background. Kurt gave a small smile of approval and mouthed 'just keep walking' in an attempt to give her the strength to do what she had to do.

As Mercedes opened the gate, it taking a little longer than it should have due to her furiously shaking hands, she felt the first droplets of rain fall onto her face. Remembering that she had brought no jacket with her and knowing there wouldn't be one in the car she kept going, walking up the path until she reached the door.

Hesitantly she reached her hand up and knocked, not sure who would answer and what the reaction would be.

She couldn't help but smile when the door opened and a small head appeared around the door which was locked by a chain. The little blonde girl looked up and down, then blinked a few times in astonishment before closing the door back over.

Mercedes didn't know how to take this, what to do next but she stood her ground, while the rain fell, ready to knock the door again if that was Stacey's way of freezing her out. She wouldn't leave without Sam knowing everything. Without seeing if this was finally their chance.

She raised her hand to knock again but was stunned when it opened and she was face to face with Sam. It had only been a week but she felt as if she hadn't seen him in forever, and she hadn't to be honest. They had been so distant, like two people who used to know each other, who nodded in acknowledgement of the other across the choir room, who said quick hellos and goodbyes in the passing.

Momentarily stunned, she let Sam speak first. "What are you doing here?" His voice was gruff but she knew that was just to hide the fact that he was still hurt. She knew that tone well enough.

"What's with the attitude?" She folded her arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I meant to be pleased at my little sister telling me you were here? I thought you were fine with moving on?"

Mercedes kept her arms folded, and looked down. "Do you think I'd be here if I was?"

Sam shrugged. "You tell me."

Tell you what, she thought as she scrutinised his expression, one that made it seem as if he was also asking the same question, how I want you to know how much I miss you now, how much I missed you before, how much I wanted to say something last week and how crushed I was when I realised that no matter how much I stood outside of Breadstix you weren't going to turn back, not this time.

And while it all seemed like something she could say, again, she couldn't quite articulate her thoughts, not when all they had ever had seemed to rest on this conversation. After today they would either reunite or walk away - and if it was the latter no amount of time could fix what had been broken.

Sensing her hesitance Sam gave a wry smile and looked upwards. "It's raining. Come on, we can talk inside."

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

He opened the door and turned back, this time his smile in full force. "You never would."

She wouldn't lie that the smile made her heart do a flip but she followed him anyway, as he walked into the dining room. "Where are your parents?"

"Out for the day," replied Sam. "I'm looking after them." He gestured to a shy looking Stacey and Stevie who peered into the room. "Kinda like old times."

Awkwardly Mercedes nodded, remembering how she would also help look after his siblings in those old times.

"Guys, some privacy?" he asked, smiling at his siblings and they jumped back from the door, Stacey accusing Stevie of eavesdropping and vice-versa. Sam chuckled. "OK, OK, just go ahead and watch some TV, but keep it quiet."

Mercedes was reminded of how parental Sam had always appeared to be around his brother and sister, the result of months spent acting as both brother and authority figure.

Closing the door, Sam went to sit across from her.

"I thought we were done. I stood in front of you and even though everyone else was there, I poured my heart out, I was looking for you to give me a reason, I was looking...looking for something I guess we're never gonna find again."

How wrong you are, Mercedes thought, as she put her hand on the table, not so close to touch but close enough. "You didn't give me a chance," she demanded. "You basically said 'take me or leave me' and then gave me all of a second to process it. How fair was that?"

Sam leaned back on his seat. He sighed. "I never thought of it that way. I just couldn't wait anymore. Maybe I should have-"

"You didn't let me finish," she said, with a gleam in her eye, as she looked at him. At this he leaned forwards again and put his hand back on the table, again just close enough that they weren't actually touching. "It was my fault as well. I had wanted to say to you for a weeks that I wanted to try again-"

"So did I-"

"-but I was scared."

"-but I was scared."

They both laughed after they realised they had spoken simultaneously. It was the strangest thing to be laughing about - this fear - but it appeared to be the common thing tying them back together. That thread that pulled them back to each other. Knowing that they were both afraid of taking the fall was maybe just enough to force them to take it.

"I waited for you to come back after you left Breadstix," she confessed. "I thought you'd come back. Again."

"I wanted to," he replied, looking down. But he quickly lifted his head and taking some initiative he placed his hand over hers, an action which caused her to look up. He took it as a good sign that she didn't retract it. "But like I said, I thought-I thought you had moved on - or wanted to - from us and me. My parents told me to stop being an idiot, to go back but-"

"So basically it was a misunderstanding?" She shook her head, feeling the urge to laugh. It was all so inconsequential now. In the here and now where they were sitting across from each other in his dining room, in his home, in Kentucky. It all seemed so simple now, so clear.

He nodded, and gave that crooked smile. "A big misunderstanding which has lasted way too long." He gripped her hand tighter, more urgently, something which she returned. He was about to speak but Mercedes took the words right out of his mouth.

"Sam, will you be my boyfriend? Again?"

Sam looked deep in thought, shocked that she had been so forward about it. "I just have to think about that..." She tilted her head, and stuck her tongue out at him, knowing what he was doing. "Of course I will."

"And I know if you don't come back, well, Puck is going to be making his own visit here soon."

Sam laughed and smiled. "My parents were going to drive me back tomorrow anyway. They said I had to sort this thing out, that I couldn't run from us anymore."

"Strangely enough that's what everyone else said."

"Everyone else?"

"Yeah." She took his hand. "Just one minute of your time." She couldn't help the huge smile that erupted on her face when she felt his hand in hers again, like it should've been for the better part of this year, before everything got all messed up.

Walking outside, she pointed to the car, where Kurt, Santana and Brittany were involved in heated discussion until they saw them.

Kurt rolled down his window. "You two work things out!"

Santana did the same with hers. "And other stuff, right!"

The old/new couple only smiled and laughed, before turning to each other. "So this is goodbye then?"

"Until tomorrow," said Sam.

She put her arms around his neck for a hug and he put his around her waist, pulling her in close, thinking how it had been almost a year since he had held her like this. So long, too long. He would never let go again if he could help it.

"Until tomorrow," she repeated. Backing out of the hug, she kept her arms where they were and he also did so, the two leaning in, closer and closer, finally sharing that one searing kiss, full of passion, and everything they had held back from that cold December day when he had swept back into her life up until this warmer day, with the drizzling rain overhead, when they had finally come together again.

Grinning, Mercedes asked. "You know I love you, right?"

"Absolutely."

Several kisses later and the two parted ways, confident in the future of tomorrow and what the days after that would bring for them - for this chance to finally get it right.


Come on, me ending a fic with broken up Samcedes and creys? Unless it's an angsty oneshot pre/post returning, I don't think so. Anything beyond a two-shot/full length story is Samcedes angst and then happiness! I follow a formula *shrugs*

OK, so this chapter was dedicated to mariposafria. I had some different plans for the talk before they reunited but I decided on this sort of calmer thing because in the end it really was a misunderstanding, of her not being able to get the words out at the right time.

I hope you all enjoyed this two-shot and thanks so much for all the alerts/faves and reviews :) Makes me so happy to see people like my stuff :)

WickedSong x