A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! It really encourages me to keep up with it! Enjoy this new chapter and review please!


After tummies were full from the ice cream, Mercedes and Sam decided it was time to head back the hotel. Mercedes hadn't heard from her parents but she hoped everything went well. The time at the ice cream parlor was everything she hoped for. They all had a great time and got ice cream all over the place. Sam was a little hesitant at first (being self-conscious about his physique and all) but Mercedes assured him that eating whatever he wanted at this point in time would not make him unattractive. His eyes lit up at the thought of Mercedes finding him attractive. Mercedes gave a slight blush. Just because I think he's attractive, doesn't mean I like him…right? They were all making jokes about each other and Stevie and Stacy were good sports and when the waitress came for their orders they became even more excited. Stevie got a chocolate dipped waffle cone with three scoops of cookie dough; Stacy got a soft served vanilla in a sugar cone covered in sprinkles and Sam and Mercedes decided to spilt a banana split. The conversation did not stop. Everyone had something to say at all times, but mostly Stevie and Stacy talked, with Mercedes listening intently and Sam laughing, remembering the various stories they were telling. By the end of the night Mercedes knew pretty much everything about them- from their birthdays to their favorite color to embarrassing secrets that were told by the other. If this is how they always are, dinners are going to be interesting. Mercedes and Sam were sitting next to each other; she couldn't help but notice how warm he was and how every time they accidentally touched a shock of electricity was sent through her body. She also saw how much his brother and sister adored him. He was like a superhero in their eyes and she could she why. Sam was everything anyone could ever want. He was sweet, caring, funny, attractive, strong, supportive, protective, and even though he was really corny it was that more endearing. She had no idea why Quinn and Santana let him go. Gosh, what am I thinking? Sam would never be interested in me like that and WE'RE MOVING IN TOGETHER, the rumors that would start. Mercedes paid the bill and left the lady a generous tip, they did make a mess.

"Thanks Mercedes! That ice cream hit the spot!" Stevie giggled as they walked back to her car.

"I think I might die of sugar overload!" Stacey screamed.

"Sam, the amount of ice cream you can eat is a bit ridiculous!" Sam gave a half smile. He did eat more than his share of the ice cream, but he did give Mercedes both cherries to make up for it.

"Well Mercy I like sweet things." She was sure at that moment in time he winked at her, but then again she had eaten tons of ice cream too, maybe the sugar was laying mind games with her.

"Does everyone have their seatbelts on?" Everyone responded with a happy, but very full yes. They then began the ride home, Mercedes and Sam buzzing with excitement to see how everything went. They pulled up to the motel and it took everything for her not to jump through the window and run up to the front door. Mercedes calmly parked the car and everyone hopped out. Sam walked up to the door and knocked on it, even though he lived there he thought it would be weird just to barge in. A muffled "come in" was heard through the door. When they walked in they saw Lily Evans sobbing into Christine Jones' arms while Charlie Evans was giving a hug to Thomas.

"Mommy, daddy, what's wrong?" ask Stevie. Mrs. Evans kneeled down so she could be eye-level with her children. Sam looked over at Mercedes with the goofiest smile.

"Guys, Mr. and Mrs. Jones have offered to let us stay at their home until we can get an apartment."

"So we're getting out of this stinking motel?"

"It looks like it!" The two youngest Evans ran up to their parents- Stevie almost knocked over Mrs. Evans and Mr. Evans picked Stacy up and spun her around.

"Though we appreciate you hugs, you really shouldn't be hugging us." The two let go of their parents and ran to the Jones family, giving them hugs that assured them that they had made the right choice to let them stay with them.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" They were jumping and hugging and smiling and screaming and just…relieved. Sam observed from the side and felt tears coming. Come one, not again. I have to hold it in. Mercedes looked up from the small children grabbing on to her and saw Sam standing in the corner, trying to do anything but cry. She snuck away from everyone, even though it was a small room-she still managed to do it-, so he didn't have to worry about his family watching.

"I already told you it's okay to cry." He pulled her into a hug and just began sobbing in her shoulder. When she told him the first time about her plan, he was happy and emotional, but to see how his brother, his sister, and his parents reacted was too much for him. Through the sobs, he whispered, "I will never be able to thank you enough." She pulled back to look at him, but didn't break the embrace.

"Well that just means we'll have to stay friends until you can." Mercedes pulled him back in closer and just stood there until he was ready. Though he was crying, Mercedes felt really safe in Sam's arms and enjoyed being the one to comfort him in his time of need. Now everyone was looking at them and Sam decided he was ready to let go. Sam cleared his throat and smiled.

"Well then guys, I guess it's time to start packing up." Since the Evans had recently moved everything into the motel, they had all the boxes and seeing as there were seven of them and the hotel room was the size of a closet, it took less than an half an hour to get most everything packed up. Mercedes volunteered to lower her back seats and have all the boxes be out in her car and seeing as there was a seat open Sam volunteered to ride with her back. Though the ride was only 15 minutes he wanted to have some more alone time with Mercedes. Even though they were probably going too tired to talk, being in her company just made him feel better. Since there were only a few boxes left to be packed and loaded, Sam and Mercedes told their families to go ahead and check out, then head back to the house. They could see that Stacy and Stevie were tired and tomorrow would be a busy day unpacking and getting the rooms separated. Tonight the Evans family would disperse themselves into whatever room they felt like but tomorrow they were going to actually put thought into who was sleeping with who and which room. With a skeptical look both set of parents asked if them if they were sure they could handle the rest of this and with a confident smile Mercedes reassured them that everything would be fine and Sam nodded in agreement.

"Okay, now you two behave and hurry up and get home. We start bright and early tomorrow and I don't want to hear any whining from you little missy about not having enough beauty sleep." Mrs. Jones walked to her daughter, gave her a hug, and made her way out the door. Sam's parents came and gave him a hug and followed right behind. Stevie and Stacy were so out of it that they had already been sitting in the car for the last 10 minutes.

"Well, let's not waste any time; let's hurry up get these boxes packed, because I do need my beauty sleep." Mercedes joked as she threw a role of tape at Sam, which he caught with ease. They spent the next 10 minutes in silence, working diligently. Both were smiling so it wasn't really an awkward silence, just a comfortable silence. All of a sudden Mercedes began humming a song. The tune seemed familiar to Sam; he just couldn't place the song. He listened more intently and decided that before he went crazy, he was just going to ask her what she was singing.

"Mercedes, what are you singing?" Mercedes looked up, not realizing she was being listened to. She blushed.

"Oh it's nothing, it's just a song I thought of that would describe this situation. It's kind of dumb. I'll be quite."

"No, that's not necessary. I just want to know."

"Fine. Umm you've probably heard it before, na na na nah, na na na nah, hey hey hey, goodbye. I just felt like you know you were leaving this place and you could now kiss this place goodbye."

"I've heard that song and I completely agree with you. It's not dumb at all." Sam began singing and Mercedes joined along and since neither one of them really new any of the words to the song they made a game out of it by coming up with new lyrics. Sometimes it dealt with moving, sometimes it was random things and sometimes they just messed up entirely and when that happened they would burst out in laughter and start the game up again. In no time they were finished and loading the last box into the car.

"Whew, well that's the last of it. Say goodbye to this crappy motel."

"Motel, you have been the worst thing that has happen to me and I hope that we never have to meet again."

"I didn't think you'd take me seriously!" Sam blushed. Gosh, she probably thinks I'm such an idiot. He looked at Mercedes and saw that she was giggling. She wasn't trying to make fun of him; it was just something she didn't expect. Mercedes sat down in the driver's seat.

"Alright, time to peace out. Do you have your seatbelt on?"

"Mercedes, I am a grown man, you do not need to ask me that question, every time we get into the car."

"The car doesn't start till I hear a yes."

"Mer-"

"Shh. That doesn't sound like a yes to me." Mercedes had a straight face on and didn't take her foot off the break.

"So is your seatbelt on? I'd like to be home sometime tonight." Sam thought about what he was going to do. He leaned in really close to her, just like earlier and as loud as he could, he screamed, "YESSSSSSSSSSS."

"Sam! Chill out! You don't have to scream." Mercedes roared with laughter, threw the car in reverse, and as the pulled away from the motel, Sam looked in the passenger side mirror and hoped that he would never have to see this motel again. The ride home was mostly silent, but one thing was pressing on Mercedes and so she decided to bring it up.

"So, we sounded pretty good in there."

"I guess we did. I didn't think we would." Mercedes gave him an eyebrow raise.

"I mean I think you have an awesome voice, you're just so sassy and bold and I'm just well, I'm just me." Mercedes giggled.

"Yeah, I guess I get what you're saying." He moved back in offense and she smiled at him to let him know she was joking.

"But seriously, it works. We should sing a duet sometime in Glee."

"That sounds awesome Mercy. I think we could even beat Rachel and Finn."

"True!" And the rest of the car ride was silent.

"Well home, sweet home." Mercedes smiled at Sam. The amount of hope that was in his eyes, surprised her, but she thought about it. With everything he's been through, the only way things can go is up. Sam grabbed his overnight bag from the backseat and they headed inside. The house was quiet.

"I guess we were gone long enough for everyone to fall asleep."

"Well we did take a little bit and plus everyone was exhausted." They headed up the stairs and down the hall. Stevie and Stacy took the room next to Mercedes. It had a bunk bed in it. For some reason Max, the second oldest wanted a bunk bed for when his friends slept over and even when he went into high school he wouldn't part with it. Momma and Papa Evans were across from them, so the room across from Mercedes was the only one left.

"Well I guess this is your room for the night. Ummm if you have any questions or concerns, honestly, right now, I'd prefer you have them wait till morning." Sam gave a quiet chuckled. He loved how sassy she looked right now. She was tired, he could tell, and he knew that she didn't mean any harm by it, she was just being honest.

"That's fine with me. Good night."

"Good night Sam." Mercedes turned around to head to her room.

"Hey Mercedes."

"Yeah Sam?"

"Thanks again." He gave her another half-smile and it took everything in her not to melt into the ground. She pulled it together and smiled at him.

"No problem. Sleep well." Sam turned around a closed the door, while Mercedes just stood and watched. When the door clicked shut, she turned around and closed her door too. Feeling too exhausted to even undress she feel on the bed face first. She contemplated texting Kurt to let him know that she had four new house mates but decided it was best to leave it until morning, he'd want the details and she wasn't up to giving them. She felt her eye lids getting heavy and decided to let gravity take them over and within the next minute she was fast asleep. After what felt like only minutes of sleep, Mercedes heard a slight knock on the door. She began to try to get up to go answer but before she could even think to step on the floor, two small bodies ran and jumped on the bed.

"Mercy! Mercy! It's time to wake up. We want to get our stuff." Mercedes looked at the two little faces staring down at her and looked up at Sam and his beautiful smile standing at the door.

She could get use to wake ups like these.