Mercedes steps away from the hold, gives Sam a small smile and enters into the cabin. Sam cranes his neck up to the sky and prays that everything will works itself out. He ruffles his hair around a bit turning on his heels to make his way back to the house. He only get's a few feet away before a deep voice stops him.

"Is Ms. Mercedes alright?"

Sam turns his body to face the voice; what he doesn't expect to see is a large dark skinned man facing him directly. The man's posture is wide and confident, and unlike the other workers he has the courage to look Sam in the eye.

"Yes, she'll be alright" Sam answers peering at the sheer size of the man...he's huge. "She just needs some sleep."

The bigger man folds his arms across his chest, like he's unimpressed with Sam. If Sam didn't know any better he would've thought this man was preparing for a fight; and even though Sam is strong and big for his age, he'd rather not get into a wrestle with this guy any day. This man looks as fit as an ox; it would be a never ending round of fights that would tire out both opponents.

"Good" the man says shifting his weight to Sam; almost like he's got the option to get into Sam's face if he wanted too. "Cause I don't like seeing Ms. Mercedes upset."

"Is he threatening me?" Sam thinks to himself. Instead of being offended he's finding himself starting to smile. Not because he's got the upper advantage, it's because he's entertained with the idea that a man of his standing has the courage to threaten him. If Sam wanted too, he could have this bigger man whipped or worse for even talking to him like that; but this man's bravery alone has earned Sam's respect. The smile on Sam's face grows bigger as the situation starts to click.

"Heck?" Sam tries.

"Yes, sir" he answers slow and annoyed.

"Nice to meet you" Sam half-jokes.

Heck shifts his weight again. "Now sir, I know it don't matter to you if she's happy-"

"Your wrong" Sam interrupts him. "Her happiness is very important me-"

"My point is-" Heck says interrupting Sam like it's nothing. "I don't care what it takes to keep her happy...if that's you, God help her..."

Sam's eyes widen at his comments...this man knows no bounds. He's never heard any of the workers speak this freely except for Mercedes, and even then that took some coaxing. Mercedes was very outspoken, but she's always had to live by rules of silence. Forced to look pleasant in horrible situations, forced to keep quiet when she's had something important to say. But Heck? He's not afraid to speak out to protect someone. The fact that Mercedes has someone like that in her corner, brings a sense of comfort to Sam.

"Just know...if something bad happens to her," Heck warns. "Before I die, with all the power in my body you will go first."

Heck glares at him hard before walking past him in the opposite direction. Sam watches the large figure disappear in the night. He's a little shaken receiving the threat but for the most part he's okay with it. He shakes his head trying to clear away the thoughts of the night. He takes in a deep breath and begins the walk again to make it back to the plantation house. Sam is exhausted, he just wants to sleep in his warm bed...but tonight that seems impossible because another new voice stops him again.

"Ni-Ni-Nice night out tonight" Noah stutters trying to catch Sam's attention. He's not at all sure how to go about this.

Sam turns his head tiredly and gives a wave to who he thinks is another work hand. "You should go home!" He shouts. "Get an early start on the work tomorrow!"

Noah jogs a little after Sam who's continuing to walk towards the house. "I don't work for you Mr. Evans" he says gaining his confidence.

This doesn't stop Sam as he's got one goal in mind; reaching his bed. Sam notices the guy walking beside him refusing to go away; so he decides to take the Evans-Authoritative approach.

"If you're not a worker, then you're trespassing" Sam says in his best Commanding-Evans-Tone, no matter how much his want for sleep covers each word. "Which means you have to leave the plantation."

"Now wait just a minute" Noah says trying to keep up with Sam. "I came here to talk to you, and if you don't want no one finding out about that black girl you were just with-"

Sam stops dead in his tracks, causing Noah to walk a little ahead for a second.

"You'll listen to what I have to say" Noah says watching him carefully.

Sam gives Noah a cold and business-like stare as he's thinking. This man has clearly just seen what happened between him and Mercedes. Being honest with himself, Sam wouldn't have minded if their relationship had been exposed...but the amount of trouble it would cause for her wouldn't be worth it.

"What's your name?" Sam says still glaring.

"Noah" he answers. "Noah Puckerman."

Sam grinds his teeth a little clearly annoyed. "Well, Mr. Puckerman...its late, too late to discuss any of this now. So make sure you come by tomorrow morning first thing. Tell no one of this, and I mean no one until we've spoken tomorrow morning. Agreed?"

"Agreed. First thing."


Mercedes wrinkles her nose the next morning because she realizes that her face is too warm. When she opens her eyes, she automatically becomes upset with herself because she's overslept. She won't be late for her chores, but her morning time with Sam is long gone...she's missed their date. And because she's missed it, depending on what the day is like they might not see each other until later that evening, if at all. This automatically puts Mercedes into a slightly annoyed mood, spending time with Sam in the morning is her favorite part of the day...and she can't get it back. Mercedes yawns pulling the blanket back to get up from her bed. She looks across the room to find her mother sleeping soundly. Mercedes looks away feeling a little embarrassed, as the thoughts of last night start to come back. She shakes her head trying to forget the thoughts, and quickly get's up to wash her face and get dressed. Even though Mercedes moves around quietly barely making a sound, her mom stirs around a bit opening her eyes to see Mercedes already set to leave for the day's work.

"Sleep well?" Delilah asks, sleep still caught in her voice.

Mercedes nods, not really in the mood to talk; she ties an apron around her waist.

"Last night" Delilah begins. "Wh-"

"Please don't ask" Mercedes sighs braiding her hair into two large braids.

"I have to ask" Delilah says sitting up. "I was worried about you-"

"There's no need to be, you know I never leave the plantation" Mercedes answers cooly. "And I was with Sam,"

"That's exactly why I have to ask" Delilah says in a tone. "You and Sam-"

"Mama" Mercedes says cutting her off for the first time in her life. "Don't."

Delilah looks as if she wants to start an argument, but bites her tongue hard to keep from verbally shredding her daughter to bits. She get's up from the bed and stands up looking her daughter square in the eye. "I'll see you at the house."

Mercedes nods not saying anything else, but walking out of the cabin. It's safe to say that she's a little upset with her mother at the moment; all this time her mother has kept her relationship with Master Evans a secret. On the one hand Mercedes can completely understand why her mother never chose to tell anyone...it's for the same reasons she didn't want people knowing about her and Sam. She didn't want to have to deal with the looks and gossip that was sure to follow with the title of being the Master's mistress. But Delilah not sharing this with Mercedes, hurt her a little; they had a special bond. An open book relationship, one with no secrets between either of them, they could talk about anything. They had always been so close; and the fact that her mother didn't tell her about this was like she didn't trust her enough to keep a serious secret.

Mercedes' mood is consistently declining and a conversation with Heck isn't helping.

"Mornin' Merce" he greets warmly.

"Mornin' Heck" she nods continuing to walk.

"Everything okay Ms. Merce?"

"Fine, thank you" Mercedes says still walking.

"No it's not" Heck says knowingly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I'm fine!"

"You're never fine, when you say fine...somethin' happen?"

"No" Mercedes answers irritated.

"But you're usually smilin', you're not smilin-"

"I CAN'T SMILE ALL OF THE TIME!" Mercedes bellows before breaking into a run for the plantation house.

When Mercedes get's there, the guilt for yelling at Heck is right there to meet her. She knows she'll have to apologize to him, but right now she just wants to get to her work...and maybe see Sam. Yes, she decides; if she happens to see Sam throughout the day it would be a good way to make up for this horrible morning.

"Mercedes?" Flora says. "Where's May?"

"How should I know" Mercedes snaps; but the look Flora is giving her makes her change her answer immediately. "I don't know ma'm, she wasn't here when I got here."

Flora squints her eyes again before turning back to her big pot of grits. "I don't know where that girl runs off too, she should be here-"

"For what" Mercedes grumbles. "She's slow and talkative, and just get's in the way. I can do the rooms by myself."

Mercedes doesn't wait for Flora to scold her again so she just leaves the kitchen. She's so frustrated with her day she doesn't even notice Mr. Evans greet her and walks right past him.

"Mercedes?" He says taken aback. "I said good morning?"

Mercedes stops and turns around to see a politely smiling Mr. Evans. She takes a deep breath and smiles fake. "Good morning Master Evans, did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did, thank you" he replies brightly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you" she answers. "Please excuse me, I have my chores to do."

"Of course, don't overwork yourself" he says watching her go up the stairs to the rooms, finding humor in the way she grumbles while leaving the room. "Just like her mother" he laughs to himself.

Mercedes begins the housework chores, starting with dusting and sweeping the floors before washing the windows. After she finishes all of that she goes to Master Evans and Sam's rooms to collect the laundry so it can be done. Walking down the steps with a basket full of laundry she sees a new face standing in the hallway of the house. She she almost misses her footing on the step because she's too busy trying to figure out if she's seen this person before or not. The clothes end up falling out of her hand and down the stairs, tumbling the clothes out. Mercedes let's out a gust of air before walking down the stairs to pick up the clothes. The new stranger surprises her by walking over to help her.

"Thank you" Mercedes says quietly but grateful.

"No problem miss" Noah replies putting more clothes into the basket.

Mercedes smiles for the first time that day. "I'm no miss, sir."

Noah smiles too. "You're a lady aren't ya?"

This is the first time anyone other than Heck has every put a title to her name...she likes it. It makes her feel like a person, someone who's entitled to respect...like a fellow human being.

"This is pretty heavy for a lady isn't it?" Noah asks lifting the bundle.

"I can manage" Mercedes says taking it away from him. "Thank you again sir."

"You have a nice day ma'm" Noah nods his head going to stand back in the hallway.

Mercedes feels a little better about the day, as she leaves the room to continue with her work.


"We can talk in here" Sam says formally, before leading Noah to his dad's office. "My dad won't be back for a while. Sit."

Noah steps into the medium sized office glancing at the furniture in the room. It's oversized and expensive, and seems to offer no comfort. When Noah sits down, the chair puts him in a rigid and formal position. Instead of sitting behind the desk Sam leans up against the front with his arms cross. Noah clears his throat and looks back at him not the least intimidated.

"So" Sam starts. "Why exactly are you here?"

Noah frowns a little. "You asked me to meet you, you know? Last night? I saw you and-"

"Yes I get that" Sam says cutting him off. "But why come here in the first place?"

"What?"

"How long have you known?" Sam asks changing the question. "Who else have you told?"

"You mean about-" Noah hedges and Sam nods. "No one, I was only looking for you when I found you with that girl."

"Why were you looking for me?" Sam asks confused; he doesn't even know who this man is, so why is a complete stranger looking for him.

"Because, it's come to my attention that you're engaged to Quinn Fabray."

Sam looks at him like someone just let an elephant loose in the house. "What does Quinn Fabray have anything to do-"

"Well at first I thought I was going to have to convince you to stay away from her...but after last night I think it's safe to say you don't care about Quinn in that sense."

"Quinn's alright," Sam says still not seeing a point.

"Quinn is a piece of work, and from seeing how sweet your girl is...I can pretty much guarantee that marrying Quinn would make you miserable."

"What's your point?" Sam says getting annoyed.

"My point is, let me help you." Noah says easy-like. "I'll marrying Quinn, and take her off your hands."

Sam looks at Noah a long time before busting out in laughter. "What makes you think she'd go for you? Is it safe to say you're a hired-hand?"

"Which makes her all the more likely to say yes" Noah says without hesitation. "I don't have titles, or a reputation to keep up. I'm a nobody...we could run away, start somewhere fresh. Some place where none of that matters."

"Where?" Sam says hopeful; I mean if some guy was willing to solve his Fabray problem he was completely okay with that.

"Out west...I'm planning on starting a ranch out there."

Sam's ray of hope disappears as he realizes that Quinn would never go for it. Quinn hates anything dirty or unsettled...that was the West in a nutshell. Sam starts grinning thinking of Quinn toiling away in some prairie-house gardening or herding animals. In his mind he's picturing her falling down in a giant mud pit getting all dirty, screaming at the top of her lungs because she's a mess.

"She'd never go with you" Sam says still smiling. "She hates working...towards anything. Quinn's been placed on a pedestal so high she's afraid to come down. She's like a doll, only meant to sit still and look pretty."

"It doesn't matter, until I've saved up enough money" Noah says looking at Sam with a smirk. "Which is where you come in."

Sam starts smiling too. So this is what it was all about...money...he should've known.

"How much?"

"$5,000" Noah says quick as Sam laughs harder.

"$5,000?" Sam chuckles. "Blackmail? How honorable."

"That's not how I originally wanted to go about this, but I'm out of options" Noah sighs. "If that doesn't sound good, think of it as a business partnership...you'd be an investor, we could go 50/50 on it."

"A ranch?"

"Think of it, you'd have another stable income. A ranch is a great investment-"

"What makes you think I'd want to go into a business I know nothing about, with a man who's trying to blackmail me?"

Noah sighs again. "I know what it's like to be in love, and can't be open about it. In that way we're alike."

"So?" Sam sighs.

"The best part of the West is the fact that it doesn't care about what you are or who you love, just what you can produce with your bare-hands...you could come with us...you could bring her too..."


A/N: so i'm going in a different direction...hopefully i didn't just shoot this story in the foot...if i end up not liking what i've just written i'll ask you to forget what you've just read and start fresh in the new chapter lol

also too, sorry if i don't update as frequently as people would like, it's because i want to make sure your not reading crap, and if i get stuck on a part i've got a horrible habit of changing things multiple times until i'm satisfied with it, which postpones the updating...

thanks again for reading, and the positive feedback, especially on tumblr...special shout-outs to ngwai1 and chorrd (make sure to check out their blogs on tumblr!)

THANKS AGAIN,

much love...pce!