Thank you so much for each and every review! Ya'll are awesome! I really appreciate your reviews, they are really motivational. I'm really so honoured that you choose to read my little story.
A guest reviewer asked when I would update Our Story.
Answer: I don't know yet. I have kind of had a bad case of the writer's block when it comes to that story. I promise I'll try to finish it by the end of December, though :)
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters they belong to Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.
He heard her laughter before he saw her; it was sweet and loud. He looked up from mopping the wood floors to see Aria pulling her mother into the open glass door.
Since it was summer break Mercedes decided to take more and longer shifts at the soup kitchen. Since her father was also on the board of an orphanage Mercedes also spent some of her time helping out there when she could. Mercedes was raised to give to the needy. When she was a child she used to play with the orphans at the orphanage.
Aria let go of Mercedes' hand once her eyes fell on Sam behind the buffet counter. She gave him a big grin and ran towards him but stopped when she noticed the big black swollen skin around his eye.
Sam came to his new 'job' with expensive sunglasses on to save himself from embarrassment. Esther, though, told him she did not allow thugs in her kitchen so she told him to get lost of the glasses. But Sam could see behind the cover story; Esther wanted everybody to see his black eye to embarrass him further as if getting knocked out and brought back by a few glasses of water whilst most of Mercedes family- siblings, parents, a few aunts and uncles, were staring on was not embarrassing enough. The older woman took his sunglasses.
"Why is your eye big and purple?" Aria asked curiously playing with the straps of her small Dora backpack on her shoulders.
Sam kneeled before her.
"Well, I fell."
He could not tell the child one of uncles decided to go all WWE on him.
"Does it hurt?" She asked gently placing her hand on his cheek gently brushing her fingertips on the aching skin. The action made Sam smile through the pain.
"It hurts only a little bit."
She formed a little 'O' with her mouth before recoiling her hand back to her side.
"Mommy always kisses my booboos when I have a ouchy. You should ask Mommy to kiss your booboo away too."
Her sweet young innocence made him smile. He could not help but glance at Mercedes who immediately looked away avoiding his gaze. He looked back into eyes that resembled his own.
"Baby, why don't you go show Auntie Esther your new pet?"
The girl smiled and nodded before holding out her fisted hand to Sam and opening it. Resting on her palm was a red ladybug.
"I picked him up outside." Her voice bursting with pride
"Wow, he's so pretty," Sam said indulging her. "What's his name?"
"Francis."
"Francis?" Sam repeated. That was an odd name for a four-year old to choose.
Aria nodded.
"Yip, Mommy helped. It's Francis from A Bug's Life," she explained. "I like Lion King and Frozen and A Bug's Life."
"Those are awesome movies."
Aria grinned and wrapped her thin arms around his neck for a hug. Before Sam could react she let go and ran into the kitchen in search for her great-aunt. Sam could not help but smile as he watched her disappear, his heart filling with adoration for the sweet little girl.
Her disappearance left him and Mercedes alone engulfed in the smoke of awkward energy. Sam straightened off the floor looking at her standing in all her radiance.
"I'm sorry about yesterday. Vincent is... erratic at times," she said with a sigh fiddling with her handbag's strap.
In all honesty if their roles were reversed and some guy broke Stacy's heart he probably would have done the same thing. The only real damage done was too his ego.
"It's fine," Sam said with a tight smile. "I survived."
Mercedes gave a slight nod before sliding past him filling his space with the soft hint of her perfume. He concluded that was the end of their conversation; however she surprised him by stopping and speaking.
"Try Arnica or Calendula aka marigold," she said. "It reduces swelling and helps heal the muscles. You can buy Arnica in oil form, it's the best. Or try pineapples and papaya; they have antioxidants that speed up the healing process. You can apply the pulp around the blackened area or eat the fruits. The pulp works better."
Sam smiled.
"How do you know all of that?"
She shrugged with a bored expression written over her face. She wanted to project the appearance of disinterest.
"Vincent got into a lot of fights in high school; he went through that misunderstood stage and handled it with violence. My mom always used those remedies to treat his bruises."
With those words still hanging in the air, she turned on the balls of her feet and disappeared into the kitchen.
The loud howling wind banged against the windows of the motel room. Living in dorms made privacy a difficult thing to obtain for the two young lovers. They spent their weekends together tangled up in a motel room.
It was no elaborate room in the Hilton Hotel decorated with expensive furniture and linen. But it was cute and served its purpose; the need for privacy from the outside world. The room was small only with a double bed covered with clean floral duvet. The black box television stood proudly in the middle of the room.
Sam looked up from the laptop on his lap when he heard her soft footsteps entering the room. She was only wearing an old shirt a size too big brushing mid-thigh. As she walked she let her hair loose from the ponytail on top of her head she made to prevent her hair from getting wet whist she showered.
Sam took the opportunity to study the young woman now going through her weekend bag. Her brown skin glows under the soft light and the help of her coco butter lotion, which he could smell from his position on the bed. Her lips were still swollen; her body still aglow from their previous love-making session before she took a shower.
"What?" Mercedes asked self-consciously feeling his green gaze sweeping over her skin.
"You're just too freaking beautiful," he says, his voice low and gruff causing shivers down her spine.
The intimacy of the sentence took her breath away and bathed her body in warmth. His linger eyes held sincerity. At times insecurities would get the better of her whispering in her ear she was no Quinn Fabray who could keep the attention of Sam Evans for longer than a few weeks. Mercedes knew she was not an ugly girl but she was not blind or deaf; she is aware of the fact that she was not society's version of beautiful. That title belonged to thin, tall girls like Quinn Fabray.
In Sam's presence, though, she felt like Miss America. He made her feel beautiful. It was the way he looked at her; as if she was the only thing he saw. It made her heart skip a beat, it made her muscles numb. He accepted her; flaws and all. He took her bad days with the good.
She smiled at him walking over to the bed. Sam placed the PC on the side table opening his legs so she could sit between them, which she did, She sat on her knees in front of him, brushing away the duvet in her way, her thighs brushing against the blue boxers he was wearing. She circled her arms around his neck prompting him to wrap his hands around her waist.
"You're not too bad-looking yourself," she joked.
He grinned.
"I know," he says, his words laced with playful arrogance. "With our gene pool we'll have the cutest kids ever."
The words made her smile; he envisioned a future with her. But Mercedes was a logical person; even though her heart accepted the words as truth her mind was wondering if they were moving too fast. Their relationship was still in its infancy, only having reached the two month mark the previous week.
"What's with the face?"Sam asked running his fingers over her jaw line.
"I sometimes think we're going too fast," she says staring into his forest-like eyes. "It scares me," she admits.
Sam stopped mid-caress, his gaze filling with query.
"I-I'm afraid of building all these dreams with you…"she sighed. "I'm afraid of building them with you and potentially not fulfilling them. I'm afraid of how much I want and need you, Sam." Fear was written in her gaze. "I won't be able to recover if things don't work out between us. I won't."
Mercedes was an independent person. She never thought of falling in love with someone so deeply. It was a consuming feeling she adored. The fact that she adored trusting someone so wholly and constantly thinking of someone scared her. It was not a feeling she was accustomed too.
Sam pressed a soft kiss to her cheek as he wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a hug. Mercedes closed her eyes soaking up the rays of warmth from radiating from his bare skin.
"I'm not going anywhere, babe," he whispers against her ear before pressing his lips to the spot.
"Do you promise?"
The uncertainty in her soft voice caused him to pull away so that he could look into her eyes. He wanted her to not only hear but also see the promise in his eyes.
"I promise you, Mercedes, I'll always be there," he whispers resting his forehead against hers. "I'll be like a parasite sticking to you refusing to let go."
A soft short laugh left her lips.
"You really outdid yourself with that metaphor, Sam. Romantic."
He grinned placing a soft kiss to her lips. Her veins felt ablaze. Passion coursed through her bones like blood through her veins. He smiled against her mouth gently nudging her smaller nose with his.
"I'm gonna jump in the shower quickly," he said before unexpectedly rolling them over, making her land on the mattress with an 'oomph'. The look she gave him told that she was not amused. Sam only grinned and kissed her softly.
The kiss was meant to be short and teasing but as always, with Mercedes things jumped from 0-100 in a matter of seconds. Before either knew it Sam's hands were under her shirt and she had her legs wrapped around his waist.
Sam pulled away with a groan. Mercedes saw his Adam's apple bob as he bit his lip.
"I really need to go take a shower. Let's put this on pause," he said before rolling off her. He left her lying on the bed in a position of dried up frog that died of shock in the middle of a blistering road through the dessert.
"I'm not a TV show you can just press pause on," she called after Sam who now disappeared into the bathroom.
"If you were you would be rated foxy!"He shouted.
Mercedes raised a brow sitting up on the bed.
"Go back to Britain Austin Powers!"
Sam stuck his head through the open doorway, a grin written on his face.
"You want to shag? I fancy myself-"
Before Sam could continue a pillow hit him in the face causing him to stumble back in surprise.
"Woman, you could have killed me."Sam said dramatically clutching his heart. "I just saw the white light."
She rolled her eyes.
Sam studied her from the doorway, a soft smile written on his lips as he wiped his hands dry on the dishcloth. He watched her carefully choose her colours from the rainbow packet next to her. She clutched the chosen colour she deemed worthy in her left hand and drew on the page. She seemed to be lost in concentration; her tongue peeking out between her lips. Her focus solely trained on her work of art in progress. He found the picture too adorable for words.
A pesky uncontrollable cough erupted from his chest putting a freeze to her creative session. She looked at him in surprise before giving a dimpled smile.
"Look at my picture," she said picking up the once blank paper and waving it in front of her face.
Sam threw the dishcloth over his shoulders walking over to her and took the paper to examine it. It was a stick figure drawing; three stick figures drawn by an untrained hand, one dark brown the other yellow and the short smaller figure drawn in red-orange. The dark brown figure and small red-orange figure were wearing triangle-shaped pink dresses whilst the yellow figure was only wearing a pair of blue pants. The nostalgia the image in front of him brought made smile.
Once upon time this is what he envisioned for him and Mercedes one day; a family like the one portrayed in the child's drawing. He wished the picture on the paper would manifest itself into reality. He wished that he lived in a reality where he, Mercedes and Aria were a family.
Realizing his daughter was waiting for a response Sam spoke:
"Your picture is so pretty," Sam said sitting down next to her on the wooden floor.
"It's me and Mommy and you."
He could feel the tug on his heartstrings.
"It's very pretty."
She smiled.
"Take it," Aria said grabbing her 'Backpack of Distractions' as he heard Mercedes dubbed it. She took out her colouring book. "Mommy says we should give stuff to poor people."
Sam swallowed a laugh; not because of the message but the fact that she offered a picture as a charitable donation… and she thought he was poor.
"Thank you, Aria," he said. "This is the best present ever."
She gave him a grin telling him that was the sought after response. She went on another exhibition into her bag of endless mysteries. This time she had a juice box in her hand offering it to Sam.
"Open."
Sam did as he was told and punctured the thin silver circle with the straw. He gave the juice box back to her and watched her take a few gulps before offering him some too.
"You want some too? It's yummy." She said.
Sam bowed over searching for the straw with his lips. He took a small sip of the apple juice and pretended that it was the most delicious thing he has ever tasted for her amusement.
"You're right. It is yummy!"
"I told you," she said smartly taking her juice box back and continuing drinking its contents.
"Ari," her familiar voice called. The father and daughter duo looked up from their positions on the floor. "We have to go, baby. Go tell everybody bye in the kitchen."
Aria nodded her mane of curls following behind. She stood up and skipped into the kitchen. Mercedes kneeled down gathering Aria's forgotten stationery next to Sam. The soothing fragrance of apples infused with soft hints of citrus fruits invades his personal bubble. The scent brought back painfully beautiful memories of the past; intimate moments shared between them.
Sam swallowed the lump in his throat as he helped her pick up random toys, papers and colouring pencils. Their hands gently brushed; her familiar skin causing electric goose bumps. Mercedes pulled away as if he was a blistering fire.
Her reaction to his touch hurt him. Her father's words replays in causing a rip through his heart. He hurt her deeply with his words and his actions. Of course she would retort so strongly to his touch. He wished his words could act like an eraser, sweeping over the painful memory and erasing it, as well as the pain it brought with it, away. But, that was just wishful thinking; words would never be enough to convey his remorse. He needed to show her.
She went back to her task as if what just happened was only his imagination.
"Mercedes."
"What?"She replies placing the pencils into the box.
"Can we, maybe talk about this…about everything?" He asks, his gaze sweeping over her face.
She stopped what she was doing and looked at him.
"There's nothing to say."
Sam sighed; he knew this would not be easy.
"We both know that's not the case."
She gave a sarcastic laugh.
"So, you're a mind reader now who knows all I want to say? Oh great Sam tell me what I'm thinking now."
"You think I'm an asshole who deserves to jump off bridge while on fire."
"You forgot the part where vultures are eating you alive whilst you fall to your doom on fire into shark invested waters," she said sweetly.
The image, though horrific, dragged out a small laugh from Sam. She's always had a way of creating the most interesting images with her words alone.
"Mercedes," his voice turning serious, "I know you hate me-"
"Maybe you are a mind reader."
"-but we need to talk and resolve these feelings. We-"
Aria skipped back into the shelter dining room to her parents cutting Sam off. Mercedes took the toys in Sam's hand and threw them into Aria's backpack before standing up.
"Come one, baby," Mercedes told the child offering her hand.
Aria hugged Sam. Sam placed his arms around her small body pressing her closer. Sam smiled; their shared moment warming his heart. Aria let go of him prompting him to let her go.
She walked over to her mother and placed her hand in her mother's waiting hand.
"Bye-bye."
Sam raised his hand and gave a smile wave.
"Bye, Aria." He moved his gaze to Mercedes. "Think about it, please."
Mercedes gave an irritated sigh trying to keep from rolling her eyes.
"Goodbye, Samuel."
"-she hates me," Sam said pressing the bottle of wine to his lips.
Santana rolled her eyes as she placed the plate of food in front of him before sitting down across him. Around them a few chefs were busy preparing food for the diners indulging in 5-star food for lunch.
"Why can't we eat in your office?" he asks his friend and owner of the award-winning restaurant.
The Latina shrugged.
"I like having control of my minions. I want to make sure they do things perfectly. You don't become an owner of an award-winning restaurant by sitting in your office while you should be in control of what happens in your kitchen."
Sam raised a brow.
"I am so glad you are not the president of a country. You would totally be one of those dictatorial leaders trying to take over the world."
Santana shrugged taking the bottle of wine out of his grasp and studied it.
"You realize this is a $400 bottle of wine."
"You're the one who said I could take wine from your personal stash."
"You're paying for this, Trouty Mouth. The least you could do was use a glass." Santana looked at a nearby waitress in the kitchen. "Yo, Moustache McGee, go get me two wine glasses."
Sam's friendship with Santana Lopez was odd but it worked. She had a sass that reminded of Mercedes. Santana, though unlike Mercedes, did not have a filter and did not care when she offended people.
Sam looked at his plate of food; fish covered with green herbs. Santana used him as her restaurant's food taster before she adds new meals to her menu.
"What is this?"
"Baked ocean trout with tahini and herb salad," Santana said. "I know you eating it is cannibalism since you somehow developed legs and can now survive on land but-"
"I really don't like you," Sam said. The look he gave her declared he was not amused at all.
She smirked and took the two glasses from the girl. As she poured wine in the two glasses Sam took a bite of the food.
"This is good."
"I know it is good. I'm amazing," Santana said handing him a glass of white glass. "So should I add it to the menu?"
Sam nodded.
"So, what did you do to Mercedes Jones this time?" She asks rolling her eyes. "This obsession you have with her is absurd."
"Well, she is the mother of my child," Sam said before sighing. "And I think that she's the love of my life."
"That's tough," Santana said taking a sip of her wine. "So, do you wanna work things out with her, my little pet fish?"
Sam's personal life was going into soap-opera zone and she had a VIP seat to it. Santana did not like getting involved in people's life love but her friend needed somebody listen to his complaints so she would stick it out.
"She hates me. Where have you been?"
Santana rolled her eyes.
"I asked if you wanted to get back together with her."
Sam placed his utensils down on his plate.
"The wishful part of me is holding out hope but reality just reminds me that it's useless. Aria gave me this picture of the three of us…it…it did things to my heart," Sam said.
"Grow some balls," Santana said rolling her eyes. "Rather than bitching about it to me grow some balls and fight for the girl. That's what I would have wanted you to do if you claimed to be in love with me. You said it yourself you didn't try hard enough back then; try harder now. You have nothing left to lose." She studied his eye; most of the swelling was gone leaving only light purple skin around the area. "You have already lost your dignity, so you got nothing to lose and everything to gain."
Sam ignored the insult aimed at his masculinity.
"What if I fight for her and try this hard only to have it blow up in my face? What if she rejects me and I spend my life chasing a ghost…chasing nothing but a wish?"
"Look; it's clear to see she still has some lingering feelings-"
Sam interrupted her with a snort.
"-do you really think she would have this strong reaction to you if she felt absolutely nothing? I think not."
"Well, the only lingering feeling she has is hate."
Santana gave an exasperated sigh.
"Not only do you have the lips of a tuna fish but also its intelligence." Santana rolled her eyes. "She's hiding behind hate because she does not want to show you that you have power over her. Her reaction though shows you have and that angers her because deep down she still does. If she really hated you as much as she claims; she would have put her brothers on you like bulldogs and beat you until you were on death's door. If she hated you so much, I'm pretty sure she would not give you hints on how to get rid of a black eye. If she hated you she would have probably given you hints on how to get it infected and let you end up blind, I would have. She does not hate you. She's hurt. The fact that you still have the power to hurt her makes her angry and that disguises itself as hate."
"What?" Sam asked slowly. "That was confusing? How do you know that? You don't even know her."
She shrugged.
"I'm a woman, I know things. I also picked up a few things in therapy. I have most of my epiphanies in my shrink's office."
Before Sam could reply the waiter Santana had dubbed as Moustache McGee told her a customer wanted to speak to her after having found a hair in his food. Santana immediately broke into Spanish curse words and asked who made the meal promising that she would shave off all of that person's hair and feed it to him or her.
Once Santana and the girl disappeared out of the kitchen her words replayed in his mind. She was right he needed to man up and fight. He needed her to see he regretted what was said that night. He needed to show her he was willing to fight for her forgiveness and what they had before.
Their relationship may have been short but it was something beautiful. He could not compare what they had shared with any of his prior and following relationship. They were more than just lovers, they were best friends.
"Mercedes," Sam groaned resting his head on the book on the table.
Mercedes looked up from her own book to find an exhausted and hopeless Sam staring at her. They both had upcoming test so they agreed to meet at the library and study together since they have not seen a lot of each other this past week.
She put her book on the table and leaned over so she could run her hand through his locks massaging his scalp as she did on those nights they spent together in bed just talking
"I don't even see letters anymore. It's just a bunch of lines," he sounded hopeless. "I'm too stupid for school."
"You are not stupid, Samuel," she says; her voice laced with conviction leaving no room for doubt. She only used his full name when she meant business. "You better stop believing that nonsense."
Sam has shared many times before that his dyslexia made him feel lesser than his peers. It made him feel unintelligent. Even though Mercedes told him his learning disability had nothing to do with his intelligence, he still felt like an idiot some days.
"Let's take a break for a while," she suggested. "I feel an approaching headache."
She gathered her books and stationery to place her things into her bag.
"What do you want to do?" Sam asked gathering his own things and throwing them into his bag.
"You'll see," she said getting to her feet. She offered him her hand, which he took. She interlocked their fingers and led him out of the building filled to the brim with books.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked once they reached outside.
It was a gloomy day; the sky painted grey, once cotton like clouds heavy and grey from storing heavy amounts of water.
"You'll see," she repeats.
"Is this the part where you drag me off to a secret location to kill me?" Sam asks as he unlocks his truck.
Mercedes rolled her eyes and jumped in with his help.
"Take me to Walmart." Those were the first words to leave her mouth when he climbed in.
"Bossy much?"Sam asked starting the truck. He gave her a mischievous grin. "I like it."
Mercedes rolled her eyes knowingly.
"You're a pervert."
They drove for a few minutes before reaching the supermarket. Mercedes jumped out of the truck armed with her wallet and her best Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation:
"I'll be back." She then rolled her eyes. "I spend way too much time with you."
Sam grinned watching her leave. He took the time to check the condition of his social life while Mercedes was in the shop; a few Facebook notifications and emails. Mercedes returned with a box of chalk.
"Now I'm really confused," Sam said eyeing her purchase.
"Just drive to the park."
Sam decided to let the riddle decipher itself and did what she instructed. They stopped at the desolate park. She jumped out of the pick-up prompting Sam to do the same. She took his hand and led him to the pavement before letting go.
"I present you with your canvas."Mercedes said. "You're frustrated and stressed. You need a break and something relaxing. Drawing relaxes you, so let's get our graffiti on."
Sam smiled his heart swelling with adoration. Nobody has ever understood him like the young beautiful woman in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her warm body closer. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on her lips.
"I love you. You're like the best girlfriend ever," he whispered.
"I know. I'm awesome." She gave him one lingering kiss.
Sam *slips under the duvet*: I'm gonna sue the kid and his parents. I'm gonna sue the school too and the kid's grandparents too. I'm even going to sue his descendants.
Mercedes *rolls eyes*: Sam, you are over-reacting-
Sam: No, I am not: that kid is a pervert and he assaulted my child, Mercedes!
Mercedes *slips into the bed next to Sam*: Sam, it was a kiss on the cheek. That's not assault. In addition the kid is only five-years old; I can promise you he does not have impure motives surrounding Aria. *Shrugs*. I think it's cute that she has a boyfriend.
Sam: No, no, no.
Mercedes *rolls eyes*: Use this as preparation for when she actually starts dating one day-
Sam *shakes head*: No, she is not allowed to date until I die. Boys are perverted animals.
Mercedes *raises a brow*: You realize you were a boy too once upon a time?
Sam: Yes, that's why I'm saying it! I don't want guys around my baby girl. I don't want them to corrupt her.
Mercedes: Says the man that corrupted me. Aren't we being hypocritical?
Sam *gives her a bored look*: Mercedes, I am locking Aria away in a tower until the day I die. I can't handle the idea of guys around her. *Pretends to shiver at the thought*
Mercedes *her voice laced with sarcasm*: Good luck with that.
Author's Note: So what did you guys think of not only this chapter but also the story's progression thus far? Is it going at a good pace or too fast or too slow? Share your thoughts :)
