Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the songs mentioned within this work. All rights go to their respective owners.

Chapter 4: Home

It came to him one day in a flash of inspiration.

Catcher had been writing some other person's chronicle when he'd suddenly had a thought occur to him.

Sam and Mercedes had grown closer once Sam had become homeless.

It was that event that had started him on the path to becoming the man She fell in love with, hadn't it? He'd stopped caring so much about popularity after he'd lost everything, and then there was all the early morning coffee runs, the babysitting... all those study sessions in the dark intimacy of that motel room... playing at being a family and attended to his younger siblings...

Really, Catcher's face scrunched up in revulsion, it was no wonder he had managed to win her over that way, but without Sam's homelessness... there would be no need for them to spend more time together. No reason for him to begin to look beyond Her surface...

Catcher smirked to himself as he discarded the chronicle he was working on and went to reclaim Sam's from his inattentive Chronicler. As soon as Catcher had the volume back on his desk in front of him he readied his seraphim quill, and began to unwrite the original story, blowing off the dust as he went. He was certain that this edit would needs be his last.

Mercedes was really trying to have fun at prom, but it was hard. Pretty much all her friends had come with dates, and she felt like a third wheel if she hung out with any of them for too long. It was obvious to her that they all wanted to snuggle and be romantic with their partners and Mercedes was getting in the way. It was exactly what she'd suspected would happen... and what she'd wanted to avoid.

Mercedes had had a series of long discussions with her mother about not wanting to go to prom. She'd spent heaps of time carefully laying out her reasoning for staying home but her mother had been adamant that Mercedes would regret it if she didn't go. Adamant.

Eventually, fate had come down on her mothers' side when the New Directions were booked to perform - which ultimately guaranteed that she had to go, regardless. So Mercedes had told herself that she would have a wonderful time, dutifully picked out the dress and bought the heels, made sure her hair and make-up were on point and then, when prom night had arrived she'd stood at the top of the staircase, taken a deep breath and smiled brightly as she descended so her parents could take a ton of pictures like the proud parents they were. Mercedes had smiled and posed as her parents took photo after photo that would go in family albums, be sent to all her relatives and get trotted out and shown to anyone who so much as set foot in her parents' house - pictures of a smiling Mercedes Jones on her way to her first prom, all dressed up and all alone.

After her parents had taken about a million and one photographs, Mercedes was finally allowed to get into her car and drive herself to the dance. Her dad had offered to take her, but that would have made her feel like even more of pathetic than she already did so she'd politely declined the offer. Plus, driving herself meant that she could at least go home if things got a bit too much. Mercedes didn't want to be a Debbie Downer or anything, but as far as she was concerned the whole thing was like another Valentine's day; an obnoxiously in-your-face reminder of how single she actually was. Mercedes would rather duck out early than put a dampener on anyone else's evening, she really was happy for her friends and they deserved to have the perfect night she wanted for herself.

Maybe if they'd gone as a group instead as individual couples, Mercedes mused, maybe if there wasn't so much tension between everyone because of the Prom Queen elections… She sighed and wrapped one of her dark curls absentmindedly around her finger, watching it spring out again when she released it. She'd probably sneak out as soon as she'd fulfilled her obligation to be there. Maybe if Artie came back she'd stay longer, he was actually really fun to dance with when he wasn't mooning over Brittany, but he'd disappeared a while ago and she hadn't been able to find him.

So now Mercedes was sitting alone at one of the big round tables as she cradled a cup of punch and watched her friends slow dancing with each other.

She was happy that they were all happy, although the way Finn kept eyeing Rachel over Quinn's head made her worry that there might be trouble ahead for her soul sister. Perhaps being single wasn't so bad, she considered as she watched Rachel give Finn a wistful look over Jesse St. James' shoulder. Rachel always acted so put upon and unloved, but she had two guys who wanted to be with her. Hell, in Run, Joey Run she'd had three. Mercedes dropped her eyes to her shoes to keep from getting misty eyed, just once she'd like to be the one having the Cinderella moment under the corny paper streamers, just once, instead of always being the girl on the outside looking in. Mercedes stared at the contents of her cup for a second, wondering if she was so emotional because of the night, or if someone had spiked the punch with gin. Usually she was a happy drunk, but gin never failed to make her weepy. Speaking of weepy drunks… wasn't she due to sing with Santana sometime soon? Mercedes fished her phone out of her purse for a quick time check, she had a half hour before she was up and then afterwards she could go home and maybe watch a movie or something - prom wasn't really doing it for her this year.

Sam was really not having the greatest time at prom. He'd brought a date, a short redheaded girl on the Cheerio squad named Robyn, but the girl had spent more time making sure that everyone noticed them together than she had actually talking to him. He was beginning to get tired of it.

Sam had thought Robyn was nice enough at first. They'd gotten together while he was still reeling from Santana's unceremonious dropping of him for Karofsky, and the little Cheerio had seemed sweet and attentive. Robyn would toss her hair over her shoulders and smile engagingly up at him whenever Sam passed her in the hallways, and she'd always make a point to complement him on his football skills after practice. Sam hadn't know her well, but he had the vague feeling that she was a nice, quiet kind of girl.

When news of his break up with Santana had gotten out, Robyn had shown up at his locker offering her sympathies, she'd hugged him and showed real concern for how he was holding up. Sam had been touched by the kindness of her gesture.

'I don't get why Santana would do that.' Robyn had told him with confusion dancing across her pale freckled face. 'You're like, way cuter than Karofsky.'

Then she'd carefully reached out a slender manicured hand and rested it lightly on Sam's bicep, smiling up at him through her heavily mascara'd lashes. That was the exact moment Santana had walked past arm-in-arm with Quinn, showing no concern for him whatsoever, and he'd thought 'screw it', and asked Robyn out on a date.

The date itself had been ok, if Sam was being nice about it. Robyn hadn't understood any of his jokes, and she'd never even seen most of the TV shows or movies he got his impressions from. Sam had been at a loss for what to say during the whole meal and in the end he'd just sat in silence and listened while Robyn talked. Which she was perfectly content to do… for the whole night. Robyn didn't even ask him a single question, nor did it phase her that Sam stopped saying 'uh huh' or 'mmhm' after the first hour. She'd just kept on talking about split ends, or beauty treatments. Or about some girl who'd worn something Robyn had declared 'hideous', or the waitress' perm, or make up, or something. It turned out Robyn complained a lot, and she wouldn't let him defend anyone. He'd made the mistake of saying that he thought the waitress looked pretty (because Robyn had managed to say all that stuff about how bad the woman looked while she was in earshot.) and the cheerleader had fixed him with this… look, like he was back in third grade being picked on for not being able to read that well (he hadn't known he was dyslexic then). Sam hadn't said anything else after that, that look had stung him more than he wanted to admit, so he'd just let her keep going while he counted down the minutes until he could go home. Sam wondered what Mercedes would say in that situation - not that he could see Mercedes dating Robyn - but he wondered how she would deal with it. Sam had noticed that she was really protective of people, even ones she didn't know well. Sam figured she'd probably call Robyn out on her BS and leave, but he didn't have the same luxury. He'd driven Robyn to the restaurant, and as much as he wasn't keen on a second date he would never just leave her there, even if the evil part of him didkinda want to.

Sam had been exhausted by the time he'd driven Robyn home. He'd climbed out of the car, opened the door for her and watched her bound out like some kind of newborn lamb. Sam had wondered dimly how the girl still had the energy for that when he felt like he could sleep for a hundred years, and all he'd done was eat and listen. Still, Sam's parents had raised him better than to let any of that show, so he tried his hardest to listen and be attentive when she'd started talking again.

… But didn't she need to come up for air? He wondered. Wasn't her throat tired? Maybe she drank a ton of water so her throat never got dry? Surely, that much water would make a person have to pee a lot. Maybe she did, Sam considered, or maybe she had some kind of special power that allowed her to consume her own weight in water and never have to go. Maybe she was the real life version of Mr. Freeze from The Incredibles… only she'd be Ms. Freeze, he guessed. Sam wondered if Robyn would choose the path of villainy, or if she'd choose to be a hero. Maybe she'd try and get famous and then learn that 'with great power comes great responsibility'? Just like Peter Parker! Sam smiled genuinely for the first time that night at his round about thought processes took him from Robyn - who had never read a comic in her life - to Peter Parker, arguably one of the greatest comic book characters of all time… Next to Batman. Sam stipulated. Maybe. Except Batman had messed up motivations, and then there was his favourite underrated hero, Captain America…

Sam didn't realise that he'd stopped listening to Robyn until he'd missed most of what she'd said. He hadn't meant to - he'd actually been trying really hard to listen - but his mind just wouldn't stay on her no matter what he tried.

'This was fun! Wanna go to prom together?' Robyn had said at the end of a run on sentence, and then stood looking at Sam expectantly until he'd guiltily realized that he'd zoned out and missed what she'd said.

'Um… sorry, what did you say?'

Robyn's nose scrunched up at his words as she tipped her head to the side.

'You're shocked that I asked, right?' Robyn queried, her ponytail swinging gently. 'Because girls don't usually ask guys, but I figure, life's too short for that stuff you know?'

'Uh…' Sam had been completely lost, 'Right, but…'

'Right!' Robyn had carried on before he could point out that that wasn't what he'd meant… 'Plus if I don't ask then some other girl will, right?'

'Uh…' Sam said again, feeling like someone had just pulled the rug out from under his feet. 'I… guess?'

'Exactly!' Robyn leaned back as if he'd just said something profound and beamed at him. The way she was looking at him was making him feel uneasy.

'So?'

Robyn fixed him with piercing blue eyes that made Sam think sympathetically of those poor animals that managed to wander onto freeways. He figured he had a lot in common with them right about now.

Crap, she wanted an answer! Sam realized when Robyn continued to look at him pointedly. He'd thought the talking was bad, but the silence was most definitely worse.

And shestill hadn't told him what the damn question was.

'So…' Sam repeated before trailing off, hoping that Robyn would take his cue and fill in some of the blanks.

'Prom…' Robyn copied his tone, looking at him like he was a simpleton.

'Yes…?'

'Great!' Robyn squealed in a cheery voice, before she pecked him lightly on the lips and bounded inside her house, leaving Sam to wonder what the hell had just happened.

So now he was at prom with her as his date. She wasn't that bad, considering. There had been a few snarky comments that he'd shut down as best he could, but that didn't change the fact that they had nothing in common, and Sam still didn't know what to talk to her about. Robyn only seemed to want to discuss cheerleading, celebrity gossip, other students, or TV shows he didn't watch. Sam would never admit it out loud, but most of the time he was with her he was either pissed off or bored out of his brain. With Santana, he'd known that the bitchiness came from a place of love, he'd learned during the short time that they had dated that Santana was actually pretty sensitive on the inside, she had a lot of stuff going on beneath the surface that she protected with an armour of insults. Robyn was different. With Robyn he got the impression that she was cruel because she wanted to have power over someone else, and at the moment that someone was Sam. He couldn't wait for the night to be over.

Sam swayed gently as they danced, trying to ignore the fact that Robyn's head kept swiveling to see who was looking at them as they shuffled around in small, tight circles. Keeping his head down seemed likely to get him head-butted given the frequency with which Robyn was whipping her head to look around her, so Sam lifted his chin and scanned the room as he moved. His eyes fell instantly on Mercedes, sitting alone at a table cradling a plastic cup and looking… sad. Sam noted with displeasure, she looked beautiful… but sad.

Sam frowned as he tried to keep Mercedes in his line of vision, turning his head so he could continue watching her as the pattern of the dance turned him away from her.

He would much rather be over there with Cedes than here right now, Sam thought, even if Robyn is more popular.

It was funny, when he'd first started at McKinley popularity had seemed really important to Sam, but after Quinn cheating on him and the stuff with Santana… Sam had started to think that maybe popularity wasn't actually all that important after all.

Take Mercedes, for example, Sam had hung out with Mercedes a lot since he'd joined glee club and he never failed to have an awesome time with her. She was one of the best people he knew - but she wasn't "popular" - surely that alone ought to tell him something. Cedes was fun, and she always knew the movies his impressions came from. And she laughed at his jokes too, Sam thought with a small smile to himself.

She'd never come out and said it, but Sam knew that Mercedes didn't like being on her own. It was something he'd been able to sense in her almost as soon as he'd properly started talking to her. Sam could always sense stuff about Mercedes if he tried, even back when he hadn't known her that well and as time wore on he didn't have to try as much. Quinn had said it was because underneath it all they were so alike, but she wouldn't expand on it when Sam had asked her. He'd gotten the impression that Quinn considered her insider knowledge of Mercedes to be some kind of secret that she didn't want him intruding on. Still, Quinn's unwillingness to share did nothing to hinder the connection Sam felt to the pretty, dark-skinned girl. His 'Cede Sense', as he liked to call it, was the reason he'd known something was up straight away when he'd run into her buying groceries one morning by herself. At that point they hadn't known each other that well, but Sam had bitten back his natural shyness and straight up asked the girl if there was something wrong because he just couldn't shake this feeling he had about it. After a little prompting Mercedes had admitted to him that her parents were away at a conference for the weekend, whereas ordinarily Kurt would keep her company during instances like that, he'd told her that he had plans with Rachel and Blaine and therefore wouldn't be going over after all.

Mercedes hadn't had to say anything else. Sam had seen the hurt in her eyes despite the speed with which she'd masked it, and it was suddenly obvious to him how lonely Mercedes must be. She'd done such a good job of putting up a front that he'd been sucked into it, but once he'd learned the truth… It was like Neo seeing the Matrix, now he knew it was there it was all he could see.

While they'd been dating, Quinn had talked to Sam aboutMercedes all the time, but while she'd acted protective of her relationship with Mercedes, Sam had noticed that the blonde girl barely talked to Mercedes anymore. Sam had pointed it out, but Quinn had just clammed up and said that 'it was complicated' in a voice that told him clearly that the topic was closed for discussion. Now Kurt was drifting away from her too and Sam knew from Quinn that Mercedes' older brother was still away at college…

'Do you wanna hang out?' he'd asked without having to think about it, he just wanted to make that horrible expression in her eyes go away. He hated seeing Mercedes sad, it did something to his insides that he couldn't describe. He'd been so relieved when the girl had accepted his offer that he'd pumped he air, earning him a side eye and a gentle laugh from Mercedes. It had been the first time he'd successfully made her eyes smile. Since then Sam had been hanging out with Mercedes more and more often. He didn't even have to ask if she wanted company when her parents went away anymore, he just showed up. He and Mercedes seemed to think on the same wavelength, and he'd discovered that his grades got a lot better when he studied with her. She had a way of explaining things in just the right way that it made sense, and he'd gone from pulling in pretty consistent C's and D's to getting B's and even a couple of A's in a lot of his subjects. Naturally, his parents adored her.

He would have had a better time if he'd taken Cede to prom, Sam accepted morosely, as he continued to sway with Robyn. He'd been thinking about asking Mercedes to go with him, just as friends, but then Robyn had happened and he hadn't been free to ask her anymore. To make matters worse, Mr. Schue had made the announcement that New Directions had been booked to play prom and Mercedes had gotten so upset that she'd walked out of the choir room. Kurt had gone after her, but he'd come back in fifteen minutes later, alone, and informed them that Mercedes had opted to go home for the day. Sam had called her later that night and spent two hours watching, and making fun of, a bad sci-fi movie they found on cable over the phone. By the time they'd said goodnight to each other Sam was satisfied that Mercedes was at least feeling a little bit better, although he hadn't broached the obviously sensitive subject of prom. Although, looking at her from across the dance floor now Sam wished he had, maybe then he could have done something to fix it. He wasn't sure what, but he would have tried.

As soon as the song was over Sam excused himself and disengaged from his dance partner. He had just started to make a beeline for Mercedes when Robyn grabbed at his arm and jerked him back. She was rocking a pretty strong grip for such a small person, Sam noted, impressed, as her grip on his arm tightened for a millisecond before she let go. Must be all that cheerleading.

'Where are you going?' Robyn demanded, crossing her arms over her strapless green dress as she glared irritably at him.

Why is she even angry? Sam wondered as he regarded the small cheerleader warily, she was tapping one stiletto-clad foot impatiently against the hardwood floor as she glared straight up at him. Sam wondered if she knew that she very strongly resembled a three year old on the verge of a tantrum. He would know, Stacey had had a fair few of them when she was younger.

'I'm going to talk to my friend.' Sam explained patiently with a gesture across the dance floor at Mercedes.

'Uh-uh! No.' Robyn commanded, her auburn ringlets bouncing as she shook her head.

Sam tried not to sound as annoyed as he was beginning to feel but he didn't like the way Robyn was bossing him about, and why the hell didn't she want him talking to Cedes?

'Why not?'

'Because, Sam!' Robyn explained, waving her hand frantically as if to say 'duh!'

Sam narrowed his eyes, still not getting what she was trying to say and Robyn pressed a suffering hand to her forehead before she lowered her voice to a harsh whisper.

'Because, Sam, look at her.' Robyn reached up and put her hands on his shoulders, looking into his face like a coach giving a pep talk at a boxing match, 'she is not one of us, Sam. Look at us!'

Robyn passed a hand back and forth in the space between them to indicate them both.

'We're the beautiful people! We're popular.'

Sam took a step back from the Cheerio and looked at her as if she had snakes coming out of her head. Was this woman really, honestly spouting out this shit?

'Cedes is beautiful.' Sam told her firmly, an edge of warning in his voice, which Robyn either didn't pick up on or flat out ignored.

'Yeah, right.'

The girl snorted derisively and looked back at Mercedes before she turned around to look at Sam again, clearly failing to register his thinly veiled anger.

'On what planet?' Robyn asked, a mocking laugh escaping her lips.

Robyn's face contorted as she sneered at Mercedes, and Sam stared at her in awe, wondering how he'd ever, ever found this girl attractive. Those days are gone, he thought with a shake of his head as she went to slip her arms around him again.

'Mine.'

'What?' Robyn pulled back, her arms extended as she tried to slip them around Sam's suddenly tense form.

'You asked me on what planet Mercedes is beautiful.' Sam stated, his words sounding clipped as he struggled to push them out through his clenched jaw.

'And the answer,' he said, carefully removing Robyn's arms from around his waist and stepping away from her, 'is mine.'

He got a few feet away before Robyn's outraged voice halted him.

'If you go over there, then we are done, Sam Evans! You'll lose your shot with me. Forever.'

Sam figured it was a good job he had his back to Robyn because he was pretty sure she would have slapped him if she'd seen him roll his eyes the way he did. Really though? Sam thought, had they even been on the same dates? Their relationship was dead in the water before it even started. He would much rather not have done this at prom, but Sam was finally putting his foot down. He didn't care if it was social suicide, he wasn't going to stand for people disrespecting his friends, especially not Mercedes.

Robyn was doing a pretty passable impression of a fish on dry land as she watched him in disbelief. No doubt she would have started some nasty rumour about him by Monday, Sam guessed, but right now he couldn't stir himself to care about anything other than getting rid of the sad vibe he was getting from his best friend.

Sam half turned back to Robyn with a sigh, one shoulder lifting in a combination of an apologetic shrug and a wince.

'Sorry, Rob.'

Then he turned away from her and went to go see Mercedes.

'Hey.'

Mercedes looked up from where she'd been examining the sequins of her deep purple dress and smiled as Sam Evans approached her.

'Hi.'

Sam slid into the empty seat next to her and swiveled it around to face her.

'You're not having a good time.'

It was a statement, not a question, they both knew each other well enough not to beat around the bush, and Sam wasn't about to watch her try and do the same 'cheery girl' routine on him that she used on everyone else. They were past that, and they both knew it.

Mercedes sighed and leaned her elbow on the table.

'Not really.' she admitted, leaning forward to prop her chin on her hand, the movement brought Mercedes just that little bit closer to him, and for the first time that night Sam got a good look at exactly how pretty she was. He bit his lower lip and thought regretfully of his earlier choice of words to Robyn – he'd been wrong. Mercedes wasn't just beautiful, she was stunning. Sam felt his palms begin to sweat a little bit.

'How come?' he asked, wiping his hands along the pant leg of his rented tux.

'Everybody's partnered up.' Mercedes explained with a shrug, 'and other than when ND sing I'm kinda bored.'

She scrunched up her nose apologetically, 'How bout you? How's your night going?'

Sam grinned and propped his chin up on his fist so he was mirroring her position.

'A lot better now I'm talking to you.'

Mercedes dipped her chin, and furrowed her eyebrows at him in a look that Sam knew well.

'What! I'm being serious.' He protested on a laugh, feeling a million times more at ease than he ever had with Robyn. 'Stop giving me the 'Boy, stop' face.'

Sam imitated her expression perfectly and Mercedes cracked up, her eyes glittering with mirth as she reached up to wipe away the stray laughter tears before they ruined her make up.

'We probably spend way too much time together.' She informed him on a giggle, but Sam shook his head his green eyes seeming to sparkle under the low gym lighting as he grinned back at her.

'Not possible.'

Ok, Sam admitted to himself as he watched the glittering reflections from the disco ball above cast tiny flecks of light across Mercedes face. The complete, honest truth was that he'd had a crush on Mercedes Jones since the Night of Neglect concert all those months ago. He'd tried to squash the feeling for a whole host of reasons, one of the main ones being that he was with someone else at the time. Even when he wasn't seeing anyone the truth was that Sam was more scared of Mercedes turning him down than he had been even when he'd first approached Quinn. For some reason, with Mercedes he felt like there was more to lose if she said no.

Mercedes smiled shyly at him but didn't say anything else. Instead she turned her head back to the dance floor and watched the couples swaying together under the soft lighting.

'Hey, do you wanna dance?' Sam asked uncertainly.

He'd been watching Mercedes watch the couples for a few minutes now, and yet it had only just occurred to him to ask her. Sam had refrained from smacking himself in the head when he realized, but just barely.

'Are you sure?'

Mercedes dark brown eyes studied his face as she waited for his response. It wasn't that she didn't want to dance with him, it's just that she hadn't expected him to ask her. Besides, didn't he come here with Robyn? Mercedes winced as she imagined what that girl's reaction would be to her slow dancing with Sam.

'What about Robyn?' she added and it was Sam's turn to wince.

'Robyn and I have… gone our separate ways.' Sam explained mysteriously, and Mercedes suspected that there was more to the story than he was willing to share with her right now.

'You know you can't slow dance The Robot…' Mercedes teased in an attempt to lighten the mood, Sam chuckled and jiggled his eyebrows at her as he held out a hand to help her up.

'That sounds like a challenge.'

'Oh dear God.'

Sam chuckled at the expression on Mercedes' face as he helped her up and led her to the dance floor.

'I'm kidding.' He promised as he guided her arms up around his neck and settled his hands on her hips.

'I'll have you know I'm actually pretty good at the slower dances.' He told her as he looked down into her beautiful face.

Mercedes never looked so lovely as when she was happy, Sam thought as he drank in the sight of her. It was like she glowed when she was happy, and by being close to her he felt bathed in it. He was suddenly confronted with the revelation that, at some point over the past few months, he'd gone from having a small crush on Mercedes to being half in love with her. And he hadn't even noticed.

'Is that so?' Mercedes asked coyly and Sam nodded, temporarily dumbstruck by his realisation.

'This is privileged information, Miss Jones,' he started as he shrugged off the feeling and leaned down to whisper in her ear, his voice humming low and conspiratorial.

Sam paused, his breath fanning her cheek as he caught the scent of her perfume, something warm and soft with a hint of flowers. Sam inhaled it as he held her leaned close to her. She smelled like summer.

'But back in Tennessee…I took Cotillion.'

Sam pulled back so he could see Mercedes' face again and chuckled at the mix of joy, amusement and disbelief written on it. She let out a delighted giggle and grinned up at him, her eyes dancing.

'Really?'

Sam responded by twirling her out and back in again before dipping her with a flourish. Mercedes' surprised laugher made his smile grow even wider before her infectious giggles pulled him in and he joined in before righting them again. Mercedes clutched at the lapels of his jacket as her giggles subsided and she fought to get her breathing under control. Sam instinctively wrapped a steadying arm around her, his hand coming to rest in the small of her back as they stood beaming at each other like a couple of idiots. As he looked at her, flushed and happy, the feelings that washed over him forced Sam to admit to himself that he might just love her a bit more than half.

The opening bars of a slow song started and Sam stepped away from Mercedes to hold out his hand.

'Mercedes, I just wanna tell you…' Sam's mouth suddenly seemed very dry. He cleared his throat and started again. 'You look beautiful. Would you like to dance?'

Sam felt the blood rushing to his head as he held out his hand to her. They were already on the dance floor, and he'd only really said it because his dorkiness tended to make her smile, but as he'd voiced the words Sam had felt their significance hovering heavy in the air around them. If her hesitation was anything to go by, then Sam was fairly certain that Mercedes sensed it too. When he'd first asked her to dance he'd been asking her as a friend, but now… now the question felt loaded, and the pause before she said anything was starting to feel like a lifetime.

After a beat Mercedes' eyelashes fluttered and a soft smile graced her lips as she lifted her hand and opened her mouth to respond.

'I…'

'I wanna go home.'

Robyn's voice interrupted the moment more effectively than a bucket of ice water, and Sam turned to look at her, incredulity edged all over his face as he wondered if he could possibly dislike the girl more than he did at that very moment. Sam reckoned that he probably could, Robyn seemed to keep finding ways to beat her own top score.

'Take me home. Now.'

Robyn crossed her arms over her chest as she pointedly looked Mercedes up and down before she very deliberately turned her back on the curvier girl and focused her full attention on Sam. The message couldn't have been clearer if Robyn had commissioned a sky writer: Mercedes was dismissed.

Mercedes took a deep breath and tried to convince herself that snatching the bitchy cheerio's updo and teaching her a very painful lesson in manners wasn't a good plan of action, but she wasn't being very persuasive. Sam's arm came around her while his eyes never wavered from Robyn's face. The petite redhead didn't even seem to notice what he was doing as she bitched at him. Mercedes didn't know how Sam had known that she was considering a smack down, but the steady way he stroked her back was definitely helping to calm her down. Their eyes met in a silent status check when Robyn stormed off to leave, but the little harpy turned back almost immediately and fixed them both with an impudent look.

'Well? Are we going?'

The glance Sam and Mercedes shared spoke volumes as Robyn turned on her heel and stormed out of the gym.

Sam let out a long groan as he dropped his head back and stared at the balloons and paper streamers that decorated the ceiling.

'I really don't like her.' He complained before he dropped his head back down again and turned to face Mercedes.

'But I have to drive her home.' Regret was etched all over Sam's handsome features and Mercedes could read the expression in his peridot green eyes like a book; he'd much rather stay, but he was a gentleman, and Robyn was his date…

'Go.' Mercedes shooed him away. 'It's ok.'

Sam shook his head as if to say that it wasn't ok but followed Robyn out of the gym when she came back into the doorway again to fix him with a death glare. Sam and Mercedes shared one last knowing look before Sam disappeared out the door.

Things really kicked off after Sam had left. Kurt was elected Prom Queen by write in ballot and Mercedes had been so furious Puck had had to hold her back from kicking the crap out of a guy who'd had the audacity to laugh when the announcement was made. Mercedes had wanted to go after Kurt when he'd run out, but Blaine had gone straight after him and she'd known that the Warbler would be more help to her friend right now than she could be, as much as it pained her to admit it.

If it had been up to Mercedes she would have left after that, but she and Santana were down to sing for the coronation dance and Mercedes felt she owed it to Kurt to be as strong for him as she possibly could. The song suddenly seemed tacky and cruel in light of the evening's events, and Mercedes had grimaced when the first bars came in but Kurt seemed determined to dance to it, so she was determined to sing it for him.

Mercedes was relieved when the song ended and left not long after, giving Kurt and extra long squeeze when she said goodbye. She didn't say anything more than that, Kurt knew she was there if he needed her. Mercedes knew that dwelling on the event would only make it worse for Kurt, so she left with fond goodbyes to the rest of the glee club and then got in her car and drove home.

Mercedes' parents hadn't expected to see her home so soon and they said as much as soon as she got in, but after she'd quickly filled them in on what happened they understood why she'd wanted to come home early.

'Sorry you didn't get the prom you wanted, Sweetheart.'

Mercedes' father was a teddy bear of a man, large, sweet and gentle. He kissed his daughter gently on the forehead as she prepared to go upstairs. He hated that the people at her school would do that to little Kurt, but then, those kids didn't see all the amazing things his baby had to offer either, so their judgement was clearly way off.

'It was actually ok,' Mercedes assured him after a moment, mentally going over the brief time she spent hanging out with Sam. It had only been about twenty minutes, but it still managed to make the whole night seem worth it.

'Aside from the Prom Queen thing.' She amended, and her dad nodded.

'Well, I'm glad to hear it, Honeybear.' he smiled down at her and stroked her hair affectionately.

'Now, I'm going to bed. I'm too old to be up this late!'

Mercedes laughed as her father made a big show of getting up and stretching like he was elderly.

'Night, daddy.'

'Goodnight, Sweetheart. Don't stay up too late, church in the morning.' He reminded her as he leaned down over the back of the couch and gently shook his wife awake.

'Come on, Ronnie. Time for bed.'

Mercedes' mom revived enough to make her way upstairs, hand in hand with her husband, but she paused sleepily at the bottom step to give her daughter a kiss goodnight.

Mercedes poured herself a large glass of water before she followed her parents up the stairs, her mind still on prom. She felt kinda bad that as much as she hoped Kurt would be ok, it was actually Sam who was occupying the larger portion of her thoughts. Mercedes couldn't stop remembering the tiny details of him, the way the silk lapels of his tuxedo had felt under her hands after he'd dipped her. The look in his eyes when he'd held out his hand and asked her to dance a second time, the regret on his face when he'd looked back at her just before he'd left the gym to take Robyn home…

Mercedes flopped backwards on her bed without changing out of her dress and groaned. Sam was her friend, she couldn't get a crush on her friend, she told herself, punctuating every word in her head to drive home the point, and it was Sam, who had only ever dated cheerleaders. Who was she kidding? Mercedes had had a crush on Sam for months now, but she'd never tell him, he'd gone from relationship to relationship and Mercedes had a rule that she never encouraged feelings towards people in relationships. She wasn't a cheater, which meant that Sam was strictly off limits, or at least, he had been up until tonight. Technically, Sam was single now. Mercedes pulled one of her pillows over her head with a groan and lay there unmoving until the sound of rain on her window stirred her.

Mercedes stood slowly and went to her closet to retrieve her sleep clothes, looking idly out at the rain as she heard another raindrop hit the windowpane.

It wasn't raining.

Mercedes brow creased in puzzlement as she went to investigate, clutching her purple shawl around her shoulders as she leaned down to peer out her window. Movement below caught her eye, and Mercedes' eyes widened at the sight of Sam waving his arms at her.

'Sam! Are you crazy?' She called down in a hushed whisper when she'd pushed her window open. 'It's,' she checked the read out on the digital alarm clock next to her bed, 'It's almost midnight, Sam.' She accused as the blond just grinned up at her.

'I know!' he whisper-yelled back at her, 'which means I have exactly…'

He pulled up the sleeve of his tux jacket and checked his watch.

'Exactly 16 minutes before prom night is over.' Sam let his arm drop and grinned up at her. 'So whaddya say?' he called up to her, 'you wanna go to prom with me?'

Mercedes rolled her eyes and ducked her head back inside her room without saying anything, which left Sam freaking out under her window for about 30 seconds of those sixteen minutes until she reappeared at the front door and looked at him expectantly.

'Prom's over, Sam.' Mercedes informed him as she quietly made her way over to the handsome boy who'd showed up at her window in a tux. She shook her head, dumbfounded at his actions even as the butterflies in her stomach went haywire, she was pretty sure she had Mothra in there.

'Not yet.' Sam contradicted, 'we still have…' he checked his watch again, '14 and a half minutes.' His eyes crinkled in a slow smile as he looked at her over his watch before he shoved his hand in his pocket and held the other one out to her.

'And what do you plan on doing for those 14 minutes?' Mercedes asked playfully as she slid her hand in his. Sam's body tingled at the contact and the nerves in the pit of his stomach decided that now was the right time start a conga line.

'Well,' Sam licked his lips and thought longingly of the Chapstick in his car. 'I didn't get my dance.'

Mercedes couldn't help it - she laughed. It wasn't a ha ha 'you're so funny', kind of laugh, nor was it a 'you're such a loser' laugh. In actuality, it was the kind of laugh you let out when you can't quite believe that you're about to get what you wanted. It was a 'dreams coming true' kind of laugh - a Cinderella laugh.

'You remember when you told me that you'd love a 'Say Anything' moment?' Sam asked as he led her to where his truck was parked at the end of the Jones' driveway.

'Yeah…' Mercedes answered uncertainly, a part of her still expecting a punch line even as her heart told her that there wouldn't be one.

'Well, I wanted to do that for you,'

They reached Sam's truck and he halted them but kept a hold of her hand.

'But then I realized that pretty much no one has a boom box anymore, and also that it's almost midnight so…' Sam reached inside his open truck window and picked up the iPod that connected to his car stereo, scrolling through the songs list until he found the one he wanted and pressed play. He dived for the iPod again when Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden came through his speakers and frantically hit pause.

'Sorry,' he explained as the tips of his ears went red, 'Not…um…'

Sam selected the right song this time and double-checked it twice before he trusted himself to put the iPod down again and go back to Mercedes.

'You're going to have to imagine this is really loud,' Sam explained as he took Mercedes in his arms with a small lopsided smile.

'And that it's under your window…' Sam spoke into her ear as he began to sway her in time to the strings that had begun to play quietly through his car speakers.

'And that it's a boom box.' Sam concluded with a husky laugh as the sound of Joshua Radin's voice cut through the night air.

Digging a hole, and the walls are caving in

Behind me

Airs getting thin, but I'm trying

I'm breathing in

Come find me

Sam loved that Mercedes trusted him enough to follow his lead completely. He knew from experience that they danced well together, but that had always been for competitions and performances, this time it was for them and only them. This dance was something that no one else could touch. Sam twirled Mercedes and caught her in his arms again. A slow smile spreading across his face as he pulled her into a simple box step, letting her get used to following his lead before he graduated into a waltz, swirling around under the stars and streetlights to the strains of the music coming faintly from his car.

He could feel it again, that glow that he got from being around her. Laughter lit Mercedes face as she let him guide her around their impromptu dance floor they'd made of the pavement. Sam wasn't lying, he was actually really good at this kind of dance, and he made Mercedes feel lighter than air as he spun and caught her a few times, never once missing a step or faltering with her.

It hasn't felt like this before

It hasn't felt like home… before you.

Mercedes felt so incredibly safe with Sam's arms around her. Safer even than she felt with her parents. There was something about being with him that felt so… right. Just like the song said, when she was with Sam, Mercedes felt like she was home.

She tried not to dwell on that. It was a scary thought and one she wasn't sure she was ready to address just yet. Sure, Sam was doing all of this for her, but that didn't mean that he felt the same way she did. Mercedes had to be careful of her heart, if she gave it over to Sam before she was sure he felt the same way then she would be asking to get it broken.

I know you're scared that I'll soon be over it

That's part of it all

Part of the beauty of falling in love with you

Is the fear you won't fall

Sam couldn't get over how stunning Mercedes was, it was all he could do to keep up his steps and he blessed the dance instructor who had made him do the steps over and over again until they were ingrained on his brain like indelible marker. He'd hated the guy when he was a kid, but it sure seemed worth it now. Mercedes looked up at him, her dark eyes shining brighter than the stars that lit the canopy sky above them and the smile that she wore dazzled him. I did that. Sam thought to himself proudly, I made her smile like that. If making her smile like that was all he did for the rest of his life, Sam thought dazedly, then he'd still feel like it was time well spent.

I know it's easy to say, but it's harder to feel

This way.

Sam blushed as he realized what he'd just thought just as the song came to an end. He slowed Mercedes to a stop and looked down at her, memorizing her exactly as she was now. The expression on her face, the way her long dark lashes fanned across her cheeks as she blinked, the smile that lingered on her lips…

After a moment Sam stepped away from her, taking her hand in his as he led them back to his truck.

'You're a wonderful dancer, Sammy.' Mercedes said dreamily as she followed after him.

'Thanks.' Sam rubbed the back of his neck with one hand bashfully as he accepted the compliment.

'No. Thank you, Sam. For this.' Mercedes told him earnestly as she reached up her other hand to cover the one that was already holding hers. 'I had a wonderful time.'

'But we're not done yet.' Sam protested.

They had reached his truck again and he checked the readout on the digital clock in his dash as he turned back to her.

'We still have ten more minutes of prom night.'

Mercedes shook her head incredulously but the smile on her face grew as she did it.

'You're crazy!'

Sam grinned back at her, 'Maybe, but I can't go to prom without having pictures of me with my prom date now can I?' he reached inside the cab of his truck again and pulled his arm out a few moments later holding a small digital camera.

'Are you serious right now?' Mercedes questioned him when she caught sight of the camera, her hands coming up to her face to stifle her surprised laughter.

'As a judge.' Sam deadpanned and wrapped an arm around her waist before he extended his arm to get them both in the frame.

'Ready?'

Sam leaned his head down to Mercedes' and smiled before he snapped a shot, turning the camera around afterwards so they could see both see how it came out.

'I think we can do better.' He insisted as he held the camera out again. 'Another smiling one.'

He snapped the photo and brought the camera back so they could see it again.

'Oh, I like that one!' Mercedes approved and he smiled at the childish glee in her voice.

'Me too. But I think we should do funny ones too.'

Mercedes laughed again and nudged his shoulder with her own.

'You would.' She told him affectionately, 'Ok, let's do this.'

They took photos like that for a few more minutes, pulling faces into the camera and giggling when they saw the results before Sam looked at the last photo they'd taken on screen and shook his head.

'These are awesome, but you can't see how beautiful you look in your dress.' He complained.

'Or how handsome you look in your tux.' Mercedes agreed with heat rising to her cheeks.

'I think I can fix this.' Sam tried to sound decisive, but it was hard with a grin spreading across his face at her words. She thought he was handsome! He set the timer on the camera and led Mercedes around to the front of his truck, where he balanced the camera on the hood and pressed the button to start the timer. Sam ran back to Mercedes and put his arms around her in the classic 'prom date' pose just as the shutter went off.

He ran back to the camera and checked the photo before he set the timer again and went back to take another one.

They did this a few more times, goofing off and pulling faces at each other, as well as taking more serious ones that they could put in their family photo albums (someday in the future when they wouldn't get into trouble for sneaking out late.)

After a while Sam checked his watch and saw that it was two minutes to 12, so he set the timer so it would go off at exactly midnight before he turned to head back to Mercedes, his heart feeling like it was about to beat out of his chest as he explained what he was doing.

'This is officially the last photo of prom night.' He told her as he made his way to her and slipped an arm around her waist.

'Facing each other this time.' Sam suggested, and Mercedes nodded in agreement, turning around so she was facing him.

Sam could hear the thumping of his heart in his ears as he looked down into the face of the prom date he wished he'd taken to the actual prom. Mercedes licked her lips and Sam's eyes lingered on the movement. Her lips looked soft, Sam thought, he bet they were soft.

'Thank you for giving me my Cinderella night, Sam.' Mercedes whispered to him as they waited for the timer to run out, 'I never told anybody, but all of this...' she gestured wide to encompass the night. 'It's kind of been a dream of mine.'

She turned watery doe eyes on him. 'Thank you for making it come true.'

A tear spilled over her cheek and Sam raised a hand to wipe it away with his thumb, his hand lingering as he looked down into her face. Their eyes locked as his thumb continued to caress her cheek even after the tears were long gone. Mercedes' breathing hitched as she licked her lips again, the butterflies in her stomach that had laid low up until now springing back to life in full force.

The light on the front of the camera flashed the timer running down at the same time that Sam leaned down slowly and placed a gentle kiss to Mercedes' lips. His eyes fluttered shut as Mercedes reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair, pressing her lips harder against his as he deepened the kiss. Sam's hand on her waist pulled her tighter to him as his tongue tentatively licked her plump lower lip. Mercedes' mouth opened for him with a sigh as she blossomed under his touch like a flower.

And then the camera went off.

No! NO! NO! Catcher screamed as he slammed the chronicle shut, ignoring the cloud of dust that emitted from between the pages. She married him. Again. High school sweethearts, married after college.

'How very touching!' Catcher yelled at the chronicle on his desk, 'How very lovely for you all!'

Why did she always choose him? Catcher demanded to know.

Why did they keep finding each other?

Anyone else would have fallen for someone else at least once by now. Anyone else would have given up. But not these two. Never these two, Catcher fumed, they just kept winding up together. Coincidence after frigging coincidence.

This wasn't meant to happen! Sam wasn't supposed to win!

Catcher sprang from his chair and paced the room, muttering to himself as he walked.

Stupid, hateful, cursed creature that was Sam Evans! Catcher had truly thought that changing things so he was never homeless would be the key to everything. In the original timeline they'd only gotten to know each other after he'd lost his home.

So how could it work out this way if that never happened?

Sam with money was meant to want popularity. She wasn't popular! The girl… Robyn had pointed that out. Why had he ignored her!

Catcher wished that he could control people the way he did events. If he could do that then She would be his, and she would never even ask who he was. Catcher would have made it so that She would never even remember his name… but the limited scope of power he possessed didn't work like that, and he could never bring himself to hurt Her, not even to keep her away from… Catcher spat out the name, Sam Evans. Next time he'd be smarter, Catcher promised himself as he sat down to reset the chronicle again. Next time he would win.

The Fear You Won't Fall by Joshua Radin

AN: Ok, so there it is... the Prom chapter. *Takes deep breath* Thank you for reading, hopefully you enjoyed it and you aren't disappointed/mad at me!

Anyway, this will be the last update of Magnetic until I've updated Hazard, I've neglected that story for far too long! But don't worry I will be working on them both and I'll try not to make you wait ages for an update to either story.

Once again, thank you for all the support, reviews and alerts. They always bring a smile to my face! Oh, and to Koxie - Yes, I did write the lyrics to Drown Over Me :)