AN: Also read the one on the bottom. Please ignore any mistakes!
Chapter Six: That Should Be Me
"I don't think he's doing this for you like he says he is."
Ms. K slowly walked towards them from the end of the hallway, her arms crossed over her chest and an eyebrow arched as she watched Sam's surprised expression. When she was a foot away from them, he stuttered out, "W-Why do you say that?"
Ms. K's baby blue eyes turned to Mercedes, a soft smile on her lips. "Is it okay if I talk to him alone, Mercedes?" She saw the thoughts going through the girl's head before she nodded slowly, giving Sam a hesitant look before closing the bedroom door. Turning back to him, Ms. K sighed slightly before motioning for him to follow her out towards the backyard balcony.
She could feel the uncertainty radiating off of Sam in waves. He was nervous, to say the least, unsure of what she could possibly say.
Once they were outside, having been able to bypass the entire group since they were fighting over food in the dining room on the other side of the house, she walked to the railing of the balcony and rested her arms against the wood. He mimicked her and she could feel his eyes on her. Laughing slightly on the inside, Ms. K whispered, "You have absolutely no idea what you're doing do you?"
Even though she was watching the ocean, she could tell he was taken aback, his form visibly jumping for a split second before relaxing, his head down as if he was staring at his shoes.
"I just…"
"Do you love her?"
She could tell he seemed to become confident in that second as he stared at her and said without a doubt, "Yes."
Smiling gently, Ms. K turned towards him and saw the truth in his eyes. So he really just doesn't know what he's doing. "You're going about this the wrong way, you know. I know I don't know all about the situation but I can tell that you two apparently dated before and broke up. Obviously it being your choice but now you miss her and want her back. I'm guessing you did the whole '80/20' thing?" The confused look on his face made her laugh. "It's where someone is in a relationship, the girl or guy they're with being the 80, and then sees someone hot and wants them, that other person being the 20. In the end, you always miss the 80 and want to go back because the 20 wasn't enough for you but you only realize that after you lost the 80."
The blonde woman laughed sadly before muttering, "I should know. How do you think I became a Ms. K? I used to be married to a wonderful man but… I saw someone else and had a chance to cheat and I took it. In the end I was stuck with the 20, and to this day I miss my 80."
Looking over at Sam, Ms. K saw sympathy in his green eyes and she turned her head to look at the ocean again.
He seemed to take this as his cue to speak, his tone melancholy. "That wasn't really what happened... but you're right… I have no idea what I'm doing but at the same time, I want her to try being with someone else so I know that I made the right decision when breaking up with her - even if I ended up wanting her back as soon as the words left my mouth."
"You can't think like that. If she's still in this much pain however many months after, then obviously someone else might not be good for her."
He made a sound in his throat and she watched him before continuing, "When you're meant to be with someone and something ends up breaking you two apart, it'll be the worse pain you've ever felt in your life. You'll be in so much pain you'll become a different person but at the same time you know that if you see your other half with someone else, all you want is for them to be happy. It may hurt like hell and may make you miserable but the thought of them happier than ever, even if it's not with you, can keep you going.
"Like I said, I don't know the entire situation but I can tell that Mercedes is different. When she first got here she looked defeated, she seemed better after the trip to the beach, but just looked destroyed when ya'll came back from Broadway." Ms. K watched him as he stared out towards the ocean, guilt reflecting in his eyes. "You may want to do what's best for her but in the end, you wanting her to date other people is your selfish desire to see that you didn't make a mistake. To confirm to yourself you weren't wrong and that you could move on."
"But I don't want to move on!"
Ms. K was taken aback by his outburst, her baby blues watching him curiously before saying firmly, "Then go in there and get her back. Waiting is only going to worsen the situation."
Can I really just go in there and get her back? There are so many things that we need to talk about.
Sam stood there, chewing on his bottom lip as he stared at the ocean. Thoughts kept running through his head and he had apparently been standing there too long because he was suddenly being pushed towards the sliding glass doors that led inside. Looking back at Ms. K, he saw her smirking face before he smiled. "Thanks Ms. K."
Apprehensively, his hand touched the door handle and he glided it to the right, opening it.
He didn't know if this would go over well but from the look of hope he had seen in Mercedes eyes when she found out he still wanted to be with her, he knew he might have a chance. Let's just hope I made it in time.
Walking back towards her room, he knocked and received no answer. Frowning, he made his way towards the dining room where most of the group was located and smiled at the image that created him. Puck and Finn were fighting over the last pancake and Puck had the tall teenager in a head lock while trying to reach for the fork in Finn's hand, the pancake slowly falling off the utensil.
As soon as Sam was noticed, everyone became quiet and Puck and Finn stopped their fighting, everyone look at him with an expression Sam couldn't quite place; curiosity with a tinge of distrust? The blond swallowed nervously before speaking, his voice cracking in the process; "Have any of you seen Mercedes?"
"You gonna break her heart again?" Santana asked sarcastically.
For a split second he felt like he had been punched in the stomach and he began to chew on the inside of his cheek, his green eyes looking towards the floor. Taking in a deep, shaky breath to calm his nerves, Sam prayed for strength before looking up at them. "I don't know what the guys told you about last night, but I want to make things right. I just – I really need to talk to her. Have you seen her?"
A couple people shook their heads but Quinn spoke up, mild antagonism written all over her face; "Wyatt came by and took her to breakfast."
For the second time in the past five minutes Sam felt like someone had punched him, except this time in the heart.
Smiling shyly, Mercedes smoothed out the ruffles of her navy blue camisole, a short sleeved jean jacket around her shoulders and a pair of mid-thigh length shorts on her hips. Her gold sandals glowed in the bit of sun that caught them as she sat in Wyatt's red jeep. He had the cover on it and Mercedes inwardly thanked him because she did not want her lightly curled hair to become a bee hive.
Small talk drifted them between them before Mercedes thoughts ran away to what had happened earlier with Sam.
She had been halfway ready for the day when he had come knocking on her door, looking undeniably sexy in his jeans and a white, v-neck shirt. The diva admitted to herself that his idea of "dating other people" had encouraged her to join Wyatt for breakfast but that didn't mean she wasn't going to give Sam a firm talking to about how she still loved him and how idiotic he was for even questioning them. Sure they had broken up but obviously he had regretted it since he said he wanted her back, right?
Where does he get off thinking he's not enough? She snorted lightly and let her eyes wander towards Wyatt.
He was looking rather delicious too and his smile alone had sealed the deal in her joining him for breakfast.
"It's probably been two weeks since I saw you last."
The diva smiled softly before returning her attention to the road, "Yeah; I would've gone last week but I was busy with Kurt trying to figure out everything we'd need for this trip."
"Well, we certainly missed you last week. Graham choreographed to Party Rock Anthem."
A loud groan erupted from Mercedes' mouth. "I cannot believe I missed that!"
"Well," Wyatt began as he parked the car in front of a Denny's. "I can always teach it to you. Graham really outdid himself; it's epic."
Smiling, Mercedes unbuckled her seat and opened the door. When he didn't help her out of the car, a part of her whispered that Sam would've been out of the car and running to open her door had she been with him. The diva shook her head slightly and made her way inside with Wyatt.
For her, breakfast was slightly awkward because almost every little thing he did – a smile, what he ordered, the way his fingers would fidget as if he wanted to hold her hand from across the table – all of it reminded her of Sam. The fact she kept wishing she were with the blond made her frown an before she could wipe it off her face, Wyatt took her hand that wasn't holding her fork in his and squeezed.
"You okay? You seem distracted."
The look of concern made the diva feel guilty; her chocolate colored eyes looking down at her half eaten breakfast and her brain unconsciously recognized the sound of rain. "I can't stop thinking about someone."
She held her breath, half expecting him to flinch away from her touch and get angry while the other didn't have a clue as to what could happen. A squeeze of her hand had her looking up at him in shock, the knowing smile on his lips making her mouth fall open slightly.
"It's obvious he wants you back, you know. I could tell from the moment he made me stop dancing with you."
Mercedes cheeks felt hot as she remembered last night and she pursed her lips lightly. A part of her was glad she had told Wyatt bits and pieces of what happened between her and Sam. From what he knew, Sam and her had dated for a while, broken up, and were now at a standstill. What do we even call ourselves now?
"How about we finished our breakfast and I'll take you back to where you're staying."
"I'm sorry I wasn't a very good conversationalist," Mercedes whispered with a sad smile; Wyatt squeezing her hand one last time before letting go and eating the rest of his breakfast.
Fifteen minutes later, Mercedes was exiting Wyatt's jeep, a wave and smile her goodbye. Running towards the house to keep her hair from getting to wet, she sighed once she was underneath the porch roof.
Anxiety hit her like a ton of bricks and butterflies filled her stomach as rang the doorbell. Quinn quickly opened the door for her and smiled at her appearance.
The diva looked like she couldn't get under the roof of the porch fast enough. Her clothes showed wear the rain drops hit them and her hair slightly curled. She was lucky she wasn't soaked considering how hard the rain was beginning to poor down.
Walking inside, Mercedes took in a shaky breath and turned around to face Quinn, who quickly answered what she had wanted to ask. "Sam's been sitting on the beach ever since he found out you left to go to breakfast with Wyatt."
"But it's raining!" The blonde nodded.
The two shared a look before Quinn hugged her, grabbing an umbrella from a nearby hook as she retreated. "I think you'll need this."
Smiling her thanks, Mercedes took the white umbrella from her friend and began going towards the back of the house. Before she even took a couple steps, she turned around, "What are the other's saying? ... About Sam and me, I mean."
"We're all a little surprised," Quinn said as she shrugged. "You guys hid it very well. Thinking back, I was personally surprised by how Sam was able to stop himself from being affectionate. You know how he is; always wanting to hold you close and show you how much you mean to him. I think after we all thought about it, we kind of were surprised we didn't realize how perfect you guys were sooner."
"Well you aren't the only ones. Even he has a hard time realizing it."
Quinn made a sound in her throat and moved towards the diva, taking her arm gently as they walked towards the back of the house. "We all do want to know what happened though but we promised to not go after you guys or anything. Whenever you're ready to talk, we're here."
Once they reached the sliding glass doors, nervousness set in and Mercedes hugged Queen one last time before sliding open the door, immediately popping open the umbrella. She made sure to walk down the wooden steps towards the beach slowly, not wanting to fall on her bum and ruining what could be an important moment in her life. She could still feel Quinn's eyes on her even after the door slid closed. When she was halfway towards his soaking wet body, she thought to herself she wouldn't be surprised if the entire group came to watch them talk, even if they couldn't hear.
Standing a couple feet away from him, she knew that he had no idea she was there. The rain was steady but was no longer pouring. His entire body was soaked, his blond locks sticking to the back of his neck and ears, looking longer now than when dry. The white shirt he was wearing was see through and clung to him like a second skin a part of her noticed how wonderfully sculpted his back was. He was no doubt freezing, even if it was the middle of July and she hoped they wouldn't get a cold from this.
Mercedes didn't know how long she stood there but it couldn't have been long; she just couldn't stop staring at him.
You can do this, Mercedes.
Hesitantly, she took a step forward, no sound coming from her footfalls against the sand. Each step felt like an entire hour went by before she was right behind him, sitting down quickly and quietly. From behind him, her legs made a v and she squeezed his sides with her thighs as she leaned against his wet back, her umbrella still in hand and keeping the rain from reaching them. Her cheek felt cold against his back but she felt him take a sharp intake of breath as he most likely felt her warmth against him. Had she not continued to hold the umbrella, she would've wrapped her arms around his middle and before she could stop herself, the umbrella dropped from her hand and she did just that. At the moment, she didn't care that she was ruining her hair, he was more important.
Her thoughts went to what the group was probably seeing. He had his legs bent and was leaning his arms against his knees, his chin resting on his arms while she held him from behind. Her arms around his waist and her legs surrounding him lightly bent at the knee.
"M-Mercedes," he breathed and her chest felt warm against him.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"I know your touch… I'd be able to tell it was you even if I was blindfolded and not able to see your legs."
She giggled lightly and closed her eyes as she took in the feel of him breathing.
Even if this talk ended whatever was between them, she would cherish this moment forever.
I hope you guys got the Tyler Perry "Why'd I Get Married" bit.
Sorry it took so long !
I lost my job the same day the whole Chord debacle happened and have been looking for another one. The Chord thing never would've stopped me but I would like to thank QTFics for the wonderful messages. It really gave me inspiration for this chapter and the next one I'm probably going to put up soon.
That Should Be Me by Justin Bieber
Panicked Karma
