Hi! Here's the next chapter! I'm gonna try to have the next chapter up asap but sorry if it takes me a while. Thanks to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, and following! You guys are so awesome! :)


"I HAVE AND IDEA!" Sam said as he jumped up and grabbed Mercedes hand.

"What?" She asked kind of surprised.

"Just come with me!" he said pulling her along with him.

Mercedes didn't know what was going on but Sam seemed pretty excited. He was kind of like a kid himself in that respect, he got really excited really easily. He had a childish air about him, but not in a bad way. "Sam, slow down. Where are we going?" she asked as he practically dragged her behind him.

"Sorry." He said slowing down with a coy smile "You're just gonna have to wait and see Em."

"Em?" she half asked half laughed, looking up at him questioningly.

"Yeah, cause you're name starts with M."

She just smiled at him as they walked. After about three minutes they were in some random area that looked kinda sketchy. "Where the hell are we?" She questioned as Sam started to go through a giant bush.

He stopped and turned to her "Just trust me okay?"

She was extremely skeptical but decided to just go with it because, if she was being honest, she did trust him. She sighed and said "This is some horror movie shit. You know that right?"

He just laughed and held some branches out of the way for her. She stepped through and was pleasantly surprised when she saw a small river and lots of random, colorful flowers growing everywhere. It was like they had just stepped out of the city. "Where are we?" she asked in awe.

"I'm not totally sure, I just found this place one day when I was walking around."

"Sam, there is an entrance right over there." She said with a stern look, pointing to a break in the hedge fence with a small arch over it.

He smiled and nodded "Yeah, I know. It's more fun to come in this way though. It's also quicker."

She just rolled her eyes and smirked. "So why are we here?"

"I just wanted to show it to you. It's a really nice place to just come and not think or think a lot." He said as he lay down in the grass. "That part is up to you."

"It's really peaceful." She said as she sat down next to him.
"Exactly, this is where I come if I really need to think about things. It kind of reminds me of home, but also the city. It's the best of both worlds."

"How come it reminds you of home?"

"Just 'cause it's so calm and slow, if that makes sense."

"It does." She nodded as she laid back.

As Sam lay there next to her he thought about what had happened over the past day and a half. Yesterday he hadn't planned on showing up on her doorstep with movies and food, it just kind of happened. He also hadn't meant to stay the night. However whenever he was near her he felt a kind of calm that wasn't there when he was with other people. When he hung out with other people it was always so tiresome, like he had to keep them entertained, but with Mercedes it was the opposite. He didn't think about too much, he just let himself have a good time being with her. When she fell asleep on his lap he didn't really make any real effort to move her or leave. She needed her sleep after all. Then there was this morning. When she woke him up, and was really close to his face. Those lips he kept thinking about kissing were just inches from his own. After she got up he realized that he had almost kissed her, but his head told him that that was a bad idea. He wasn't totally sure how she felt about him and the last thing he wanted was to scare her away. He looked over at her; she was lying down with her eyes closed. He decided to take his own advice and stop overthinking things. They were friends and he really liked being with her. It made him sad earlier when she said she didn't want to fall in love, not because he could see himself falling for her already, but because she deserved to be loved to the fullest.

Mercedes looked at the sky for a few minutes and then closed her eyes, thinking about what was going on with her and Sam. She realized that she didn't know what was going on. They were friends and that was it? Right? She felt like she was falling for him, but then she realized that she had never really had many close guys friends before so maybe she was just confused. He really seemed to care for her and that was something she was gonna have to get used to because he seemed to be sticking around. Everything was really easy with Sam; she didn't feel like she had to be anything she wasn't. She decided to just relax about this whole thing. She needed to just take things as they came. She always had a hard time trusting people but that didn't seem to be a problem with Sam. All of a sudden she felt like she was being watched, she opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Sam. He was staring at her with a smirk on his face.

"Whatcha smirkin' at, Evans?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just you, Jones." She turned her head back to the sky but not before he saw her smile. "Hey, there's a great pretzel place around the corner. Wanna check it out?" He asked as he sat up.

"I do love pretzels." She replied as she stood. "Lead the way."

"They have like fifty different kinds. Plus a butt load of different sauces." He started walking and grabbed her hand. He wasn't sure why, he just did.

"Seriously?" She asked before just quickly glancing down at their hands.

"Yeah! The jalapeño one is really good if you like spicy."

"Hmmm," she said scrunching her nose, something he thought was totally adorable "What do they have for sweet?"

"Oh, they have a really good cheesecake one."

"A cheesecake pretzel?" She looked like she was trying to contemplate if it would actually be good or not "That sounds like it could be nasty."

"It's actually really good. They have a bunch of different fruits you can put on top."

"Well, cheesecake is my favorite."

"Mine too." he said smiling.

When they got to Twisted there was a line out the door. They grabbed a number and decided to wait for a few minutes to see if the line moved at all, which it did. Once they got inside Mercedes was in awe of how many different combos they had. Sweet, salty, savory, and some that seemed just plain gross. As she was looking at the menu she noticed that the older woman standing next to her was smiling at her and Sam. She found it odd but just smiled back. "How long have you two been together?" she asked still smiling.

"Huh?" Mercedes asked as she leaned in a little closer figuring she heard her wrong. Sam hadn't noticed any of this. He was trying to decide between a chocolate chip pretzel and a bacon one. He really loved bacon. He decided to see if he could get a chocolate chip one with bacon. When Mercedes leaned in to hear the woman better it pull on his arm a bit, they were still holding hands.

"How long have you two been together?" she repeated nodding towards Sam. He just smiled, still not sure about what they were talking about.

"Me and him?" she glanced back at Sam who was standing there smiling, looking totally clueless. "No, we're just friends."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed." Then she leaned in a bit closer and said "If I were you I'd scoop him up before someone else does." She finished with a wink and leaned back.

Mercedes giggled and shook her head looking back at the menu.
"Everything good?" he asked when she leaned back to where she was before.

"Yeah, that lady was just wondering how long we've been together. I told her we're just friends. This must be how Ashley and Dan feel." She told him, chuckling. Before he could say anything the cashier called their number. Mercedes decided to try the cheesecake one Sam had suggested and Sam got a chocolate chip one wrapped in bacon.

"Sam? Did you seriously just order that?" She asked once they had ordered and were waiting at the pickup counter.

"Yeah, why?" he clearly didn't see what was wrong with that.

"Cause you consumed like half a pig at my apartment and now you're having more bacon. You're gonna give yourself a heart attack."

"I just really love bacon. I promise to have a salad for dinner, okay mom?"

She just laughed and shook her head. "Without bacon in it!"

"Fine." He said as he mock pouted. She couldn't help but notice how cute he was when he did that. They got their food and decided to eat there. They sat at a table in the back with big arm chairs. Sam insisted Mercedes try some of his bacon chocolate chip invention, mostly because she told him it looked gross.

"Alright, it's not bad." She admitted after trying a bite.

"I know my eats!" He said with a proud smile.

They finished eating and decided to head back, it was almost three and Sam remember he was gonna Skype with his siblings at three thirty. Mercedes thought it was really nice that he was so close with his family. Neither of them had plans for the rest of the day so he told her he'd call after he was done Skyping.

"Thanks again for yesterday." She said as they walked down their street arm in arm. "and today."

"It was my pleasure." He said as he hugged her. They were both quiet for a second, hugging for maybe a little bit too long. Then he said "I never realized but you're kinda short. Can I call you shorty?" He knew this question would probably get him in trouble but he thought it was too funny not to ask. She looked up him with a look that said 'like hell you can' but started smiling when she was him trying not to laugh.

"Absolutely not, Stretch!" She said as she pushed him away "Go talk to your family." They both laughed as they parted ways. Mercedes hadn't realized she left her phone at home until she got inside. She grabbed it off her nightstand and saw another batch of texts from Maggie.

BREAKFAST!? AS IN HE STAYED THE NIGHT?! OOHHHHH GET IT GIRL!

Sick my ass, you were just tryin' get some lovin' from that hunk of man candy!

Is he still there?! Why aren't you answering me? I bet you're tied up…. WITH EACHOTHER! TEXT ME BACK.

You really know how to leave a girl hanging.

MERCEDES JONES! TEXT ME BACK OR WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS!

jk. I love you too much, but seriously what's going on? I want all of the dirty details! ;)

Also, if you end up pregnant I might slap you!

but then I'm gonna insist you make little Mercedes/Sam, Samcedes if you will, call me auntie Maggie cause I like the sound of that.

YOU TWO WOULD MAKE SUCH BEAUTIFUL BABIES. Get on that!

I'm losing my mind. Just freakin call me or something when you're done sucking face.

Mercedes actually laughed out loud at just how utterly out of her mind her best friend was. She knew she would never hear the end of it if she didn't respond to her soon so she decided to call her. She picked up on the second ring.

"Well, if it isn't Miss. Mercedes Jones. Queen of pretending she's sick so she can love up on the neighbor boy."

"Whoa. Hey. Slow down crazy! Nothing happened." She laughed, this woman was too much.

"Mhmmmm" Mercedes could practically see her 'that doesn't fool me for one second' look through the phone. "That's what they all say."

"Well, I'm serious. I told him that I wasn't going out last night cause I wasn't feeling well and he showed up with food and movies. It was very sweet actually." She tried to explain to her friend without grinning like a doofus, but it wasn't working.

"I can hear that grin. Why did he stay the night if nothing happened? Hm? Cause in my experience guys don't just stay the night if nothing's gonna happen."

"We were watching a movie and he asked if he should go cause I seemed tired. I told him I was fine but he kept saying I should get some rest. So, being the smart ass I am, I laid my head in his lap and I accidentally fell asleep."

"And that's all?"

"Yes, that's all."

"Then why did it take you SO LONG to text me back?"

"We went out after I made breakfast."

"Pffttt, just friends my ass."

"Maggie. Stop it! You know I'd tell you if something happened." She was quiet for a minute, they both were.

"I'm gonna come over so we can talk about this more. If that's okay? Or is your just friend still there waiting for another platonic sleep over?"

Mercedes really loved Maggie but she could do without her sass. "No, you can come over ya crazy bitch."

"Alrighty! I'll see you in about twenty minutes."