Hey guys! Merry Christmas! Here's my gift to you on this beautiful day. Thank you to those who have taken the time to review. I love reading your comments. Keep them coming!

Thanks to Lana for being my second eyes.

Please excuse mistakes you might see and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Glee and its characters are not mine

Sam made a phone call to Kurt an hour before landing in Lima. He wanted to know if he knew what was going on with Mercedes and was told that she wouldn't tell him. She came straight to his dad's house from church and had been crying ever since. The information made his stomach drop. Sam didn't like hearing that Mercedes had been crying and was practically inconsolable. He wanted to get there right away, but he knew that he needed to be patient, so for the next hour, he paced up and down the aisle of the plane.

The minute the plane landed, he was running out and heading to the chauffeured car. He couldn't be more thankful for his parent's gift to him and Quinn. It was saving him a lot of trouble right now. The ride to Kurt's childhood home took only fifteen minutes, but it felt like it went on forever. He was antsy and couldn't stop tapping his foot on the ride over. The minute the car stopped, Sam jumped out and rang the doorbell. He was thankful that Kurt had opened the door right away.

"Hey, Sam." Kurt greeted him with a hug.

"Hey, Kurt." He said returning the hug, "Where's Mercedes?"

"Mercy's in my bedroom. Come on, I'll show you."

Sam followed Kurt to the staircase and on the way, he smiled at Blaine. The other man was reading a book in the living room by the fireplace.

"Where's your parents?" Sam asked when he noticed that only Blaine and Kurt were in the house.

"They had to do something after church. They should be back soon. I'll introduce you once they're home…"

Sam nodded.

When they got the door to his room, Kurt smiled softly at Sam and said, "I hope you can calm her down. I've tried to do it, but she hasn't been responding. Blaine and I feel so bad for her."

"I'll try…" Sam vowed.

Kurt opened the door and gently said, "Mercy… Sweetie… Sam is here."

When Mercedes heard Kurt's words, she threw off the pillow that she had been using to cover her face, got up and ran straight into Sam's arms. "Thank God you're here. Take me home, Sam. I don't want to be here anymore." She begged.

Kurt left the two alone and rejoined Blaine in the living room.

Sam held Mercedes tightly in his arms, wondering what was really going on.

"Mercedes, I know you don't want to talk about this, but what happened? I need to know, baby. Can you tell me what happened?" He asked after sitting down on the bed and making her sit on his lap.

Mercedes felt safe with Sam around. Her shaking and sobbing had stopped and she was currently tucked safely in his arms. The oddest part of all was she swore that she could stay in his arms forever. It was crazy for her to think this way, but she couldn't control how her mind worked, as shocking as it might seem, the thought came naturally to her.

Knowing that she owed him an explanation, she let out a sigh and moved her head so that she was looking into his eyes, "It's my mom. We got into an argument. She was pushing me towards the creepy guy that I was telling you about last night… She gave him my cell phone number and home address without my permission and when I confronted her about it, she-"

Mercedes was sobbing again and that broke Sam's heart, so he wiped her tears away and said, "It's okay, baby, you can tell me."

Sam's words somewhat calmed her down. She took a breather to compose herself before continuing with what she was going to say, "She called me a disappointment and told me that I have done nothing but disappointed her. She wanted me to become a lawyer, but I defied her and instead, I became a social worker. Then I stayed in Seattle after college and now, I refuse to date the guy she chose for me. It seems like I'm always disappointing her. All I did was try to make myself happy. Is that so wrong, Sam?"

Sam listened and felt his heart breaking for Mercedes. She looked broken and lost and he wanted to help her so that he never had to see her sad again. "I'm sorry." He said, holding her tightly, "You are not a disappointment. You are one of the best people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and I wish that your mom would see you the way I do. You saved me, Mercedes, you were there when no one else was and I could never repay you for your kindness. There is nothing wrong with making yourself happy. Everyone should be more like you. So what if you are only a social worker, I don't see anything wrong with that. You are helping people and that is all that matters."

There must be a deeper underlying issue between Mercedes and her mother that he didn't know about. She wouldn't be this heartbroken if it was just a simple spat. People got angry all the time and they say mean things to each other when they do, but it didn't make them break down like Mercedes just did. Something was off and despite wanting to know what was truly going on, he told himself that he wasn't going to pry. If she wanted to tell him then she would, but only in her own time.

Hearing those words coming out of Sam's mouth made Mercedes feel a little better. He listened to her and spoke to her kindly. If only her mother was that understanding… Feeling a little better, she sat up straighter and flashed him a small smile, "Thank you, Sam. You don't know how much your words means to me."

"You're welcome, Mercedes. I'm here for you whenever you need me." Sam returned.

His gaze locked with hers for a few short seconds before it finally made its way down to her lips where it stopped. He had been wondering what it would feel and taste like to kiss her. He could picture it clearly in his mind; his lips on hers, tongues clashing together. Would she taste as sweet as the scent of her skin? He had made up his mind to push away the little voice in his mind that was telling him to slow down and pull her in for a kiss.

Inching closer, he cupped her face in his palms and leaned forward, "I'm going to kiss you now." He said warning her, giving her a chance to pull away before he sealed her lips with his and claimed her as his own.

"Kiss me…" Mercedes whispered. Her heart rate had increased and she was ready to finally be kissed by Sam. It felt like she had been waiting her whole life to be kissed by him and she didn't want to defer it for another second. "Please…"

A knock came at the door then, breaking the magical moment between them. The knock was followed by Kurt's unsure voice, "Umm… Mercy, your mom's here. I told her that you want to be left alone, but she won't listen. Sweetie, she's waiting on you downstairs."

"Okay, Kurt…" She answered.

Sam let out a sigh, cursing himself for waiting too long. He almost had her and she wanted him to kiss him too. Damn, my luck.

"Do I have to talk to her?" Mercedes asked with a frown.

"You don't have to. You're an adult, she can't make you do anything you don't want to do." He said still stroking her cheek.

Mercedes considered her options and knew that she had no choice, if she refused to talk to her mother, she would not leave her alone. "I'll talk to her." She told him, "But will you come with me, Sam?"

"Yeah, I'll come with you." Sam agreed and because he couldn't stop himself, he gave her lips a chaste kiss. "That was for courage and a taste of what's to come."

Her eyes were closed for the brief kiss and she could feel tingles travel from her lips all the way down her body. The kiss was too short, she wanted more and she made sure to voice out her displeasure, "That's not fair. You can't tease me when I have been waiting for that kiss…"

"You've been waiting for it?" He asked, raising a brow, "Since when?"

Mercedes blushed and bit her bottom lip, "Don't judge me, but I've wanted to kiss you ever since the first night I woke up on top of you."

"Really? Then I must be a pervert because I have been thinking about kissing you and doing other things, very naughty things, even before then." He admitted, his cheeks warming up from the embarrassing admission.

She giggled at that and snuck in another chaste kiss, "You're right, you're the pervert between the two of us, but it's okay, I don't judge." She giggled again, "Now, come on, let's go face the dragon lady and then you owe me a real kiss..."

"Bossy… I like it!" Sam said all too excitedly.

He took her hand, laced their fingers together—an act that felt as natural as breathing, he noticed—and walked out of the room.

Mercedes wasn't even shocked by what he did next. When it came to Sam Evans, almost nothing surprised her anymore. Besides, his hand fit perfectly against hers. It was like it was made to hold hers.

Kurt backed away from the door when he saw the knob turning. Mercedes and Sam came out with smiles on their faces. Although he observed them holding hands, he didn't make a comment. He was going to save his questions for later, when Mia Jones had gone home.

The three walked down to the living room in silence and when they got there the first one to speak was Mia.

Mia was surprised to see a white male coming down the stairs, and not only that, he was also holding Mercedes' hand. What in the world is going on here? Who is this boy? She has never seen this man before in her life and Mercedes has never told her that she was seeing someone. They must be friends. A man like that couldn't possibly be attracted to Mercedes, could he?

She pushed her curiosity aside and cleared her throat. Looking straight at her daughter, she said in a clear and commanding voice, "That was rude of you. We were supposed to have lunch with Jordan. I had to come up with an excuse to cover for you. You have a lot of explaining to do, Mercedes, and you better have a good reason for ditching me at the church like that…"

"I'm an adult, mother. It's time you treat me as one. You seem to forget that I no longer need your permission to leave. I told you that I didn't want anything to do with Jordan, but did you listen to me? No. What you did was wrong. You don't have the right to meddle in my life, especially when I told you that I want nothing to do with the man you chose for me." Mercedes retorted steely.

"Don't you take that tone with me, Mercedes Bailey Jones. I am your mother and I know what is best for you. Jordan is a good guy, he is going to make a great husband for you. You are 28 years old with no boyfriend and no prospects. Soon you will be an old maid. Is that what you want? To end up a spinster?"

Sam was feeling really uncomfortable by this conversation. He was not a rude guy, but the things that Mercedes' mother was saying rubbed him the wrong way. Mercedes was a beautiful woman who shouldn't have to take any flak for her choices and he couldn't let the older woman go on any further. He had to say something and end this bickering.

"Excuse me, I know that you don't know me and this might sound rude, but I would really appreciate it if you would stop talking down to my girlfriend." Sam said interrupting the two.

Mia's head whipped around where she then directed her gaze at the man who had brazenly stood up for Mercedes. "Boyfriend?" She asked looking between Mercedes and the man, "Since when do you have a boyfriend?"

Sam spoke up again before Mercedes could answer, "We started dating not too long ago. I'm Sam Evans." He introduced himself and offered his right hand to the older woman.

Mercedes was shocked by Sam's forwardness. There was something different about him. He seemed a lot more self-assured than he did when he moved out of the apartment. There was an air of confidence in the way he carried himself and the matter of fact way he was speaking to her mother. It was arousing to see this version of him. Stop it. This is not the time for that.

"Like Sam said, we just started dating." She reiterated his statement and squeezed the hand that she was still holding to show that she had his back.

Mia looked at Sam's hand as if it was diseased. Once again, she eyed him from head to toe and wondered what his malfunction was. There had to be something wrong with him. He looked like he was rich and came from an influential background. What would he want with Mercedes? Then it hit her. It all became clear all of a sudden, this young man was just going to take her daughter for a joy ride and after he has had his fun, he was going to drop her like a bad habit. Well, that was not going to happen. She was not going to let her daughter be a play thing to a rich man.

She directed her gaze at Mercedes and refused to shake Sam's hand. With a condescending timbre, she scoffed, "So you believe that he's really interested in you? Come on, Mercedes, I thought that I taught you better than that. Don't you see? He is only going to use you and once he has had his fun, he will dump you and break your heart."

Sam drew his hand back as if she had just backhanded him when he heard Mia's biting words. This woman was vicious. How could she say such a thing to her own daughter? He felt the need to protect Mercedes and did just that by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"You are mistaken, Mrs. Jones. My intention towards your daughter is honorable. I want to be with her and see where we can go with this relationship in the future. Mercedes is a grown woman, I don't need your permission to date her, and I would really appreciate it if you would refrain from insulting her intelligence. If you would only open your eyes and see what a wonderful person your daughter is, you would understand how I truly feel about her."

Both Jones women were stunned silent.

Mercedes couldn't be prouder of Sam and felt her heart swell with pride for him. He had come a long way from the shy and timid man that she met just a week ago. Here, he stood proud and unwavering, and she couldn't help but to fall a little more for him.

Mia had to hand it to Sam. He was a brave young man. The way he was standing up for Mercedes took a lot of guts and if she was a betting woman, she would wager that he really did have strong feelings for her daughter. But just because he made good speeches, it didn't mean that he was a great guy.

She still couldn't trust him and so she said, "That's a nice speech you are making there, Mr. Evans. I would believe you if I knew who you are, but since my daughter neglected to tell me all about you, I'm going to chalk you up to some random guy Mercedes is infatuated with."

"Mom…" Mercedes said in protest, but her mother had stopped her from saying anything more by raising a hand up.

"No, Mercedes. Let me finish what I'm going to say to Mr. Evans here." Mia took a pause to get her words together before continuing, "I don't trust easily and I don't know you, so I am not going to trust you right away. I understand that you have feelings for Mercedes and I applaud you for standing up for her. It takes a certain kind of man to do that. With that being said, I will no longer meddle in her love life. Am I happy that she has someone to care for her? Yes. But like I said, I don't know you and that makes it really hard for me to trust you. I guess, we'll have to see… It all depends on whether you stick around or not. If you're still around come next year, I might just change my mind about you."

Before Sam could say anything, Mia was standing up and putting her coat back on. "Mercedes, bring Mr. Evans to dinner tonight." She looked back at Sam and for the first time, she smiled at the other man, "I will see you later, Mr. Evans and make sure you are ready to eat."

When she left the Hummel's residence, she had a little smirk on her face. Mercedes might just have found the man for her and her daughter didn't even need her help to do it. She felt pride for her daughter and couldn't stop smiling.

Once Mia was gone, Sam kept gazing between Mercedes and the door. He couldn't believe that the older Jones woman had invited him over to dinner. "Didn't she just say that she didn't trust me? Why is she inviting me to dinner?" He asked without much thought.

Mercedes turned to face Sam and smiled. She knew exactly why her mother had invited him to dinner, she liked him. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she stood on her tip toes and kissed him softly. "My mom likes you. She only invites people she likes to dinner."

Sam wanted more of the kiss, but Mercedes had pulled back before he could deepen it. Her words made him smile. Although, he had said that he didn't need Mia's approval to date Mercedes, he wanted it nonetheless. Things would be so much easier with the older woman's blessings.

"I can't say that I have anything to complain about. It's good that she likes me. It means that I don't have to sneak around to date you." He said smirking. "Now, I believe you owe me a real kiss…"

Sam didn't give Mercedes time to retort, before she could so much as bat a lash, he had claimed her lips in a deep sensual kiss. Their tongues swirled together, both greedily wanting more from the other, yet they kept their hands at a respectable position. Mercedes' were around Sam's shoulders while Sam's were cozily tucked around her waist. They didn't pull away until it was mandatory to breathe and even then, they didn't want to stop. Making their way back to Kurt's room, they continued their make out session for the next hour, both thankful that neither Kurt nor Blaine had interrupted them until Mr. and Mrs. Hummel came home.

So what did you think about the chapter. Mama Jones is something else, ain't she? What do you think is going to happen at this dinner?

Leave me a review and tell me your thoughts.

The next update will be posted in 2 days.

Until next time,

xoxo,

lovessamcedes