"It is so a date."
Quinn lounged on a velvet purple couch they got at a yard sale, while taking notes from her textbook. Mercedes applied her cherry lip balm with her newly manicured finger.
"Is not." Mercedes switched her neck around to snap at Quinn. She would have gotten ready in the bathroom, but there was not enough room for all her supplies. Mercedes began to frantically toss the ends of her hair at her naked elbows.
"Mercedes, earlier you asked me whether to wear falsies or mascara. You would not be this frigid for a non-date." Mercedes decided on mascara.
"Okay, c'mon, tell me. How do I look?" Mercedes was desperate for Quinn's approval, when she didn't need to be. She looked fantastic. She wore a white, off-the-shoulder, cotton sundress that gathered at the waist, showing off her famous hourglass figure, her favorite rust-colored cowboy boots that Quinn often wore although they were not her size. Her hair fell in waterfalls, tinted with golden brown with a side-swept bang and had an arm full of wooden bangles and gold bracelets to match her golden hoops.
Quinn removed her horn-rimmed glasses and raised her shoulders, "You look gorgeous."
"Really?"
"Oh my God! See! This is so a date!" Mercedes made a frustrated noise and went into the bathroom. "You're all excited and flustered!" Mercedes came back into the living room with a faded jean-jacket over her arm. "Face it, you are going on a date with the singing bum. You like the singing bum."
She began to count off on her fingers, "Okay, one: it is not a date. Two: it is definitely not a date if he does turn out to be a bum. Three:...Shut up, Quinn." Mercedes spun around for the mirror one last time before putting her jacket on.
"You're going to have kids that don't wear shoes and sing 'Kumbaya'."
"What the hell are you even talking about?"
"I don't know." Quinn giggled and flipped a page in her textbook. "Can I tell you what I do know?" Mercedes turned around to see Quinn hiding behind a loose-leaf paper that said, "IT'S A DATE!", with scribbled hearts all around and the caption "Mr. and Mrs. Singing Bum." in black Sharpie marker. Mercedes went to the counter in the kitchenette, stuck her hand into their Winnie the Pooh jar and threw a cookie at Quinn. She shielded herself with her Intellectual Property textbook.
"Bye!" Mercedes sang out the door, while Quinn was still trying to get her to admit what she would not: she actually might like the singing bum.
"It is so a date." Quinn said to herself before taking a bite out of the chocolate chip cookie that was used as a weapon against her and returning to her studies.
Mercedes stood anxiously underneath the sun visor of the Starbucks where they had agree to meet. She held herself, assuming the worst and waiting to be stood up. She was preparing snide remarks and comebacks to make to him in the case that she didn't show up. Give him hell without a tip. Though, all of this conspiring wasn't making her feel any better. Then she felt a tap on her left shoulder, she turned to the left and saw no one, then to the right and there he was. He looked so laid back in his plain v-neck and jeans, that Mercedes was beginning to feel overdone.
That was until he said, "God, you're beautiful." Mercedes chuckled at his bluntness and was slightly embarrassed but happy that her efforts weren't unnoticed.
"I was expecting a 'Hello', but that works too." It was Sam's turn to be embarrassed and he smiled down to the sidewalk. Then, Sam held out an arm for Mercedes to hold.
"Shall we?"
"We shall."
Arm in arm, Sam and Mercedes strode down the street, genuinely happy to be in each others presence. At the first crosswalk they stopped at, Mercedes rose the first question.
"So, Sam, you're not from New York, right?"
"No, ma'am. I'm from Nashville, Tennessee." Sam put on his southern drawl, making Mercedes swoon a little, only catching herself when it was time to walk.
"What brings you to New York?"
"Uh..I'm just doing some freelance, you know? Taking some time off."
"Oh, no. That's code for "I'm-a-homeless-bum" isn't it?" Mercedes thought out loud. She liked him so much already, she couldn't stand being wrong about him. Even more so, Quinn being right.
Sam laughed at the abruptness in Mercedes tone and happily corrected her. "No, that's code for "I-just-got-out-of-school-and-I-do-odd-jobs-around-the-city."
"School? What school did you go to?" Education instantly made a 0 turn into a 100 for Mercedes and Sam was already a 95 so she was really excited...and tittlated. However, she was going to run into on-coming traffic if he revealed that he just got out of high school.
"I just graduated from RISD. Got a Bachelor's in Illustration. Yeah, I wanna...make my own comic books one day. Actually, I'm in the process of creating my first one."
"Really? What's it about?"
Sam's face became full of delight as he described his comic book to Mercedes. His heroes were a group of teen friends that had unique social and physical abilities. There were more details, but Mercedes was too busy watching his succulent lips at work. He had been working on it with a friend from RISD, but the friend decided to push it several companies in California.
"Why didn't you go with him?"
Sam answered her with a shrug. "We still communicate through e-mails and skype, though."
"Aren't you worried about the fact that he's doing business without you?"
"Nah. I'd trust him with my life." Mercedes softly smiled at Sam and squeezed his arm a little tighter.
"So, what are the freelance jobs that you do?"
"Um, I cut grass, I do some carpentry work, plumbing, some illustrations for local newspapers..."
"And you're a Starbucks troubadour?" Mercedes' eyes gestured to the black guitar case strapped to Sam's back.
"Yeah. It's my favorite, quote-unquote, job that I have."
"Yeah? Why?" Sam's eyes glinted as he turned to look at Mercedes. He was happy that she was so full of questions, he felt that meant she was interested in him.
"It's like...gah..how do I describe it? I'm not very good at words, but in every moment of my life, I could find a song to describe what I'm feeling. Happy, sad, anxious, distressed, sexy..." On the last word, he did a Barry White voice that made Mercedes snort. "But, it just always felt like when the people in my life couldn't say the right things to make me feel better, the music always could."
Mercedes nodded in agreement. "So, what are you feeling right now?"
"Right now?" Sam gave her a mischievous look and stopped walking with her. He unpacked his guitar and started to tune it. Mercedes looked around to see if anyone else was witnessing this. This was really happening right now. Sam was really going to sing her a song in the middle of the sidewalk. He began to tune out his guitar and play a familar riff to Mercedes.
Oh, her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying
She's so beautiful, and I'd tell her every day
Oh, you know, you know, you know I'd never ask you to change
If perfect's what you're searching for, then just stay the same
So don't even bother asking if you look okay
You know I'll say
Onlookers and pedestrians began to stop and stare at the two of them. Shining in the middle of the block like a piece of broken glass, sending beams of happiness at eachother.
When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
'Cause girl, you're amazing
Just the way you are
Soon, a whole crowd of people surrounded Sam and Mercedes clapping and cheering. Sam walked up to meet Mercedes' smiling face and played a final chord for her, getting a laugh from Mercedes.
"Whether the words are mine or not, everything comes from right here." Sam's grabbed Mercedes smooth hand in his large, calloused one and placed it on top of his chest where his heart was beating steady underneath. No one had ever sung Mercedes a love song before. Well, James would, but only to get her feedback, not to win her heart. Mercedes wanted to kiss him into an inch of his life, but instead she kept hold of his hand and dragged him along, never taking her eyes off him and never taking her smile off her face.
Mercedes finally got a moment to herself outside of Butterfield Market. Sam said he had to pick something up there on their way to Central Park. She checked her iPhone for any messages. She had two.
Hey, honey! It's Kurt! I called the house, but Quinn told me you're on a date-Quinn must die-so, I hope you're having fun!
Mercedes heard someone scream "I love you, Mercedes!" from the background.
Oh, oh and Blaine says 'Hi' too! Oh, sweetheart I miss you so much! Be sure to call back with all of the deets! Kay, I love you, be safe!
Mercedes silently smiled at Kurt's dramatic delivery considering they just talked the other day, but was happy that she was being thought about. She saw her second message was from Quinn and rolled her eyes in preparation for the foolishness she was about to hear.
It'sadate! It'sadate! It'sadate! It'sadate! It'sadate! It'sadate! It'sa-
Mercedes hung up immediately.
Sam returned outside with a huge, wicker basket.
"What's that?" Mercedes tried to open the basket, but Sam moved away.
"Hey, lady! Don't you like surprises?"
"No."
"Well, you'll like this one. C'mon." Sam roped his arm around Mercedes neck, never letting go.
Sam and Mercedes hiked up to one of the highest hills in Central Park. Mercedes was upset about this, repeating "Black people do not hike." Sam just ignored her until they got to their destination. It was now dusk in the city and from the hill they could see everything.
"I don't really like coming to the landmarks of the city," Sam said, rolling out a plaid red and white blanket on the dewy grass."But, if you look down you can see all of the people and if you look up, you can see a few stars." Mercedes looked at the spots of the sky where Sam pointed in awe."It's like sitting on a cloud."
"I can't believe I've never been up here before."
"Well, you said, 'Black people don't hike'." Mercedes laughed and crawled down on the blanket to join Sam. Sam reached for the blanket to unpack the food that Mercedes could smell while treading behind him up the hill. In fact, she was probably so dehydrated from her mouth watering. "Okay," Sam began to list the things he had brought as he took them from the basket, "we got roasted chicken, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy and bottled water. Bon appetite."
While having dinner, Sam talked about his little sister and brother, Stevie and Stacy and how his family had a hard financial situation for a while and he ended up getting a full ride to RISD. After dinner, Mercedes and Sam laid on the blanket together, star-spotting.
"Hey," Sam said lightly. Mercedes turned to look at him with curiousity. "You've spent all this time getting to know me, I've hardly got any time to know you."
Mercedes made a loud breath, "Okay, in a nutshell. I grew up in Ohio. My father's a dentist, my mother is his secretary. I have one older brother, he lives in California. I have an degree in the Open Arts from NYU and I'm persuing my M.F.A. there too."
"Okay, now tell me something about you that I couldn't find on Wikipedia." Sam turned on his side to look into Mercedes' eyes. Mercedes rolled over too, their hands meeting in the middle.
"Um, my best friend is my roomie."
"Alright, I'm assuming it's a girl?"
"Yes. Her name is Quinn."
"Does she go to NYU too?"
"No. She goes to Columbia Law School." Sam made a low, clean whistle. "Yup."
"So, you guys met in high school?"
"We did."
"What made you guys best friends?" Mercedes contemplated the question, then rolled onto her back. She felt all of the crickets and ants moving underneath her.
"It's a long story."
"I have all the time in the world for you." Sam shifted onto his elbow, staring down at Mercedes with a seriousness that was none sweet nor awkward.
"Okay, um...In high school, I was...I was a loser, to put it plainly and she was popular and head , we both joined glee club and it all changed." Sam didn't know what a glee club was or a cheerio, but he thought it best not to interrupt.
"Kurt and I...Oh, Kurt's my best friend too, he's in L.A...Yeah, we, um, we both became cheerios. Quinn was pregnant and she got kicked out. It's the equivalent of being a cheerleader to most people, but to be cheerio was to be a warrior. I mean, intense practices, diets, and the coach was a complete tyrant. Anyway, she, um, told me that I had to lose weight to be on her team. A massive amount of weight. So, I tried to work out the normal way, but that didn't work. So, I tried crash dieting and pretty soon...I crashed. I ended up passing out in the cafeteria. I woke up to find myself in the nurse's office and Quinn brought me a banana. She commended me for being so comfortable in my own body and she told me that I shouldn't let becoming a cheerio take that away from me. And she told me that I was beautiful. She was the first person to ever call me that. I mean, the first person that wasn't in my family and that wasn't Kurt. That meant a lot to me. Anyway, after her parents found out about her pregnancy, she got kicked out and I invited her to move in with me and my family. It took some arm-pulling for my parents but...I couldn't let her go through that alone. After she had her baby and gave her up, she moved back in with her mom, but we've always been really close...Wow, I guess it wasn't that long." Mercedes chuckled to herself.
Sam had that same earnest look on his face. Mercedes looked a bit confused at him. She couldn't tell what he was thinking and that scared her. Then, Mercedes felt the heat of Sam's body hovering on top of her.
"Sam-" Mercedes was silenced by his soft lips. Sam planted soft kisses on Mercedes mouth, bridging the tip of his tongue in the crease for permission to enter. Mercedes moaned as Sam's tongue explored her mouth. Sam moaned and went deeper into the kiss as Mercedes response became rougher. Sam detached his mouth from hers and moved her hair away from her neck for access. He whispered into her hair in between kisses, letting his southern accent slip a little.
"Oh, Mercedes...Sweet Mercedes...You're so soft...And you smell so good..."
Sam nudged his knee between hers for an entrance. His hand slid so slowly up her dress, grabbing and caressing her skin like so that goosebumps raised instantly. Sam felt the wetness seeping through her lacy panties and became hard in a matter of seconds. His fingers bent back the elastic and snuck their way into Mercedes' walls. The fingers skillfully pushed Mercedes' button, leaving her a sobbing mess. She was panting as her hips were jerking with his movements. He went a little deeper, and Mercedes threw her head back in a deep moan.
"Oh, oh honey, you're going to kill me." Sam said, eying her now visible nipples. Just then, he noticed something in Mercedes' hair. It was brown and it was fluttering. "Oh shit." Sam whispered, stopping his fingers in the process. Mercedes whimpered in protest. "Mercedes...don't move, okay baby? Just don't move."
"What? Why?" Mercedes asked, still breathless and undone. Sam cursed again. "What? What's the matter, Sam?" Mercedes asked, a little more demanding this time.
"Okay...Don't freak out...But...There's a bug in your hair."
"WHAT?"
Mercedes jumped up immediately screaming, throwing her hair hair to one side, finger-combing it as frantically as possible. Then, to the other side, while her feet looked like they were in the middle of a game of double-dutch.
"Get it out, get it out, get it out..." Mercedes pleaded.
"Baby! Baby, you have got to stay still okay? Just stand still, so I can check you..." Sam put his hands around her head to check for anymore bugs, while Mercedes hopped around impatiently.
"It's gone, right?"
"All clear."
Mercedes started to feel her heart-rate return to normal and took a minute to look down at herself. Sam was stepping towards her again for a kiss, but Mercedes backed away.
"What's wrong?"
"Sam, I don't know you! I don't know you and I just let you-We almost just got busy! In public, no less!" The last sentence Mercedes whipsered harshly through her teeth, while gathering her things from the blanket.
"Almost." Sam took a quick second to adjust his erection, so it wouldn't be so ovbious. That didn't work.
Mercedes sighed, after fixing herself up again. Sam preferred to see her all flustered and unkempt, it looked like he did his job and he did it well. "Look, Sam. I just feel like everything is moving a little too fast. Like, Mach 5 fast."
"Nice Speed Racer reference." Mercedes huffed at his willingness to change the subject to comics.
"Sam-"
"I know, I know. You're right and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...imposed myself upon you I guess."
"No, don't be. I mean, I gave you the greenlight. Hell, I gave you the keys to start the car."
After a polite, hands free walk from the park with light conversation and minimal flirting, Sam and Mercedes arrived in front of her apartment.
"So," Sam closed the space between them. "I think it's only customary for me to give you a goodnight kiss. Or, am I going Mach 5 again?" Dangerous territory.
"Mm, no, I think we can handle that." Mercedes and Sam's lips were about to rejoin, when suddenly they both winced at the bright light coming from the doorway of Mercedes' apartment. Quinn was standing expectantly in the doorway, smirking at the both of them. "Quinn! Um, this is Sam and Sam, this is Quinn. My roommate."
"Uh, yeah, hey, nice to meet you!" Sam quickly put out a hand for Quinn to shake. Quinn looked at Sam then at Mercedes then at Sam again, and firmly shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you as well." Mercedes made a sigh of relief. The three of them stood awkwardly for a moment then, Quinn asked them, "Did you-did you guys want me to close the door again or-"
They both protested wildly: Mercedes explaining that Sam was just leaving and Sam insisting he had to get some sleep because he had a job in the morning.
"So, um, goodnight." Sam said.
"Goodnight!" Mercedes said, now in the apartment standing beside Quinn. Sam walked away rubbing the nape of his neck.
"Goodnight, Sam!"
"'Night, Quinn!"
After Sam was out of sight, Quinn asked, "You guys were about to kiss, right?" Mercedes glared at her and walked further inside their apartment.
"Uh-huh, it was so a date!"
A/N: Hi! I really hope you guys enjoyed this one. It was so much fun to write. I have a lot of ideas I want to run with, however this fanfiction is taking over my life and I realize that I haven't really made you guys wait very long for new chapters. So, I have to get on my school steeze and then AND ONLY THEN! I will give you new updates. Oh, and next chapter, I have a bit of surprise for you all 3 Thanks for reading!
Songs featured: Just the Way you Are by Bruno Mars
