Sorry this chapter took so long to publish. Maybe re-read Chapter 8 to re-familiarize yourselves?
BTW - I might have to change this fan fic rating to M, I'm not sure. You'll see why. I apologise to those who strictly wanted T stuff.
Anyways; please read, review and enjoy.
Sam
To be honest, I had forgotten about the game of hide and seek until Mercedes and I walked into the glee room. Everyone else was there apart from Artie, Lauren and Brittany.
"Where were you guys hiding?" Mike asked. Every single eyebrow in the room quirked, and Kurt and Tina shook their heads in unison with similar, knowing smiles on their faces.
"In the most hidden of all hiding places," Mercedes said.
"Yup. Can't even be revealed."
Just as Rachel was about to speak up, Lauren was wheeling Artie into the room, slightly out of breath.
"Couldn't find her!" Artie explained.
"Damn – it would be Brittany of all people to outsmart us, wouldn't it?"
If not for Santana's devious smirk, I'm sure she would have been pissed off by Lauren's comment. "So you guys give up?" She asked, with a saccharine smile.
Both the seekers exchanged a look before nodding.
"They give up, Brit!"
Out she came from behind the open door to the room. The expressions on everyone's faces varied from confused to appreciative.
"You guys searched every single room…apart from this one?" I asked, on the verge of laughing.
Lauren huffed, and Artie kissed his teeth before moving back to the rest of the group. We all laughed at their reactions, and Brittany's smug expression matched her little victory cheerleading kick.
After we started to calm down, Mr. Schuester spoke up. "Alright guys, I'm glad we're all feeling a little bit better now -"
"But…" Finn interjected.
The frown tugging the corners of our teacher's mouth was enough of a hint. "I still think we should just…talk this out."
Surprisingly, Mercedes agreed. "Definitely, Mr. Schue." Her hands tightened around mine. "If we can't talk to each other, then what have we been working on since we started glee club?"
Everyone smiled proudly at the much adored Mercedes. Although she never always got the attention and credit she deserved, not one person could say that they didn't love her like a sister or close friend; not even Rachel.
"Absolutely right, Mercedes. I've actually written an account of mine and my dads' reaction to the news. I'd really like to share that with everyone. I think it will help me deal with what's going on. Is – is that okay?"
It was funny how everyone grew accustomed to each other. While the rest of us accepted Rachel's attention grabbing ways and her need to be first for everything, Blaine anticipated Santana's intolerance to her attitude, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders to stop her. He grinned, though his eyes were still red and glistening from his earlier tears. "Go ahead, Rachel." He muttered something into Santana's ear; although she cringed away from him, she rolled her eyes in assent of whatever he said.
We all pulled up a chair and sat together as Rachel began her recount of that day. She described her feelings – how sad and devastated she felt. She made several references to Broadway musicals to emphasise her emotions but obviously, I didn't understand them. She and her dads had sung their favourite songs together as they cried and shared cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream and mint drizzle. They watched all of the news reports about this asteroid, after which Rachel belted out the most emotional song she could think of. The Berrys then went to Rachel's room as her fathers tucked her in, and they talked about all the good things in their lives, and what they were proud of. Rachel came up with a 'coping mechanism' – they talked about what they would be proud of in life if this asteroid were to come in ten years time, instead of soon.
To me that sounded like a shitty, depressed thing to do but I bit back my words. I felt Mercedes' head shake against my shoulder, so she obviously agreed with me.
After another five minutes, Rachel finally ended with a shaky voice and teary eyes. So Mr. Schuester had us share our own reactions to the news. It varied from a day of shock from Sugar, endless sobs with Joe's family to a crazy family reunion and feast with Santana, Brittany, Finn and Kurt.
It felt good to openly remember that Mercy and I weren't the only ones going to die. Obviously, I knew everyone was at peril but it was hard to keep remembering that. Somehow, it made things feel a little less dark, a little less lonely and scary and painful.
Once our entire circle shared stories, there was a moment of comforting silence.
Mercedes and I weren't hiding our fully exposed affection for each other.
But everyone already knew about it didn't they? My arm was draped around her shoulders, and I stretched out my leg across her lap. She was turned into my side, head resting against my shoulder.
I know she was never one for public displays of affection. Whenever we got the chance to sit together in glee club, I'd always try to hold her hand secretly, out of sight. It's not because of our relationship statuses, why she never allowed me to hold her hand, but it was because she didn't want to have to depend on me. Even when she was with Shane, the only time you saw them display their affection was when he just sort of forced it upon her. He'd suddenly snatch her hand or slide his hand around her waist. Seeing that had always disgusted me to the pit of my stomach.
Now, though, she didn't care. Something in her had changed, but I loved it. Now, she was admitting that she wanted someone to lean on, and to be held and comforted by them. And she was choosing me as that person to share her vulnerabilities with. How I was so lucky enough, I'd never know, and I didn't want to know, either.
That was when I realised I had started humming a melody that came to my head at the thought of finally having someone to love for the rest of my life – I'd found Mercedes a long time ago, but it took me up until now to do something about my affection for her.
Out of the blue, Mercedes started singing the lyrics to the melody, very quietly into my neck. Her voice was so sweet and strong though, that the whole room could instantly pick up on our song.
Remember those walls I built
Well, baby they're tumbling down
And they didn't even put up a fight
They didn't even make a sound
I found a way to let you in
But I never really had a doubt
Standing in the light of your halo
I got my angel now
It's like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
It's the risk that I'm takin'
I ain't never gonna shut you out
I was being warmed and enthralled by her beautiful singing voice. I even closed my eyes and stopped humming because her voice alone was creating heaven. Mercedes nudged me, and together we sung the next lines – my deeper voice blending with hers.
Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace
You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away
Per to the usual glee tradition, I expected everyone to have joined in at some point, if not now. I know they were all familiar with Beyoncé's Halo. But instead, they all smiled and swayed, some letting tears fall as the rest nodded for us to continue. Even Rachel, Kurt and Mr. Schue wanted us to carry on alone.
Mercedes had sung the chorus for me before, since I wasn't sure if I'd heard it, but it soon became one of my favourite songs because of her.
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
Mercedes took the lead – and I gave it to her, singing only the second 'halo' on each line. But the next part was all hers.
Hit me like a ray of sun
Burning through my darkest night
You're the only one that I want (and she actually ruffled my hair!)
Think I'm addicted to your light
I swore I'd never fall again
But this don't even feel like falling
Gravity can't forget
To pull me back to the ground again
Feels like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
The risk that I'm takin'
I'm never gonna shut you out
I joined in on the chorus again, and we looked right at each other as we sang.
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
Halo. Halo.
We sang that verse again, and Mercedes harmonized that final 'halo' in such a spine-tingling, powerful voice that I had to hold my breath.
By the time the chorus had come round again, Mercedes got out of her seat as we continued singing, to hug everyone two at a time; letting them know that this song was meant for them as well, and not just me. It was a nice gesture and all, but I didn't agree with that. This song was solely about her love for me and mine for her. It was something pretty amazing.
Now was when the entire glee club joined in and it made us all smile but feel so much sadder too.
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
I can feel your halo, halo, halo
I can see your halo, halo, halo
Each line we sang was more passionate than the last. The final line was, of course, served up on a silver platter to Mercedes because only she could add the harmonies that made us all shiver and cry and smile all at the same time.
After my girl stole our breaths yet again, within a second she was in the centre of the biggest of group hugs.
Mercedes
"If for some crazy, inexcusable reason I don't get to speak to you before we're all made into rubble and bits," I shook my head at Artie's bluntness, "then be strong. You've been the best friend to me since I met you, and I'm gonna miss you so much. I'll carry your voice in me until the end," he pounded his chest just to emphasise his point.
We were outside of the school building, saying our goodbyes. Once our meeting was ended by me finally getting to claim the spotlight and sing my heart out – thanks to Sam, for allowing me to feel so passionately – our last Glee club meeting was over. I had said goodbye to everyone, and the most heartfelt goodbyes – though we knew we would see each other again soon – came from Blaine and Kurt. They both ambushed me in hugs and kisses, and now I was saying goodbye to Artie.
"Boy, what are you doing, showing emotion and shit?" I asked, which is what he had once said to me when I was having self-esteem issues. "Nah, you know I love you so much, Artie. You're the best, and you gotta continue to be the best. But I've got to see you at least one more time before the end. Okay?"
He nodded his head, a bit too vigorously to stop himself from crying. "Cool! Bye Whiter-Than-Me."
"Bye, Art-Diva." I kissed his cheeks, and that was all the proper goodbyes done with. Whenever I'd next see them, we'd meet like we would've done any other day. That was the best way to keep our calm and sanity.
Finally, I was left with the man who'd managed to break and fix me in the past week. Sam enveloped me in his arms.
We stood that way for a while – breathing into each other and just staying locked in the other's embrace.
"Merce…" he whispered.
"Hmm?"
"I'll stay like this for ever, you know?" I nodded against his chest. "So you'll have to order me to get the hell away from you."
"Who said I want you to stop?"
His arms tightened around me in response.
Eventually, though, I was starting to feel restless. Luckily my growling stomach decided to speak up for me.
"Yeah…I love you too," Sam said, grinning as I pulled away.
"Glad I didn't have to say it, then." I stuck out my tongue.
"Let me walk you home." For the first time since…ever, we walked outside holding hands. We talked about absolute random things like the colour of the sky, why people were lactose intolerant; which led to Sam saying that he was craving some whipped cream with fries.
I was going to joke and ask if he was pregnant or something, but that would have been weird territory with the Quinn situation taking place only a few hours ago.
"That sounds disgusting," I said instead.
We were on my street now, and he stopped in his tracks. "You've never had fries with whipped cream before?"
"You really are insane," I said, grabbing his arm and tugging him along.
"That's definitely on our list."
I was going to ask what the hell this list was for, but I took a few seconds to figure it out. "A Do Before We Die list?" He nodded, pulling my arm around his toned back and placing his arm around my shoulders. "Are we going to make those?"
"Sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?"
It hurt me to speak so matter-of-factly about our impending death. But why? It was going to happen, there was no avoiding it. This was now a part of our short lives. "It does. And I think three weeks will be more than enough."
"We can cross one off our list."
I knew what he was referring to – us finally getting to be together. As we got to my house, he bent low so his eyes met mine. Before our lips could meet, his breathy words fluttered against my lips. The boy was slick; at some point, he had started sucking on a peppermint. I didn't know if he was aware or not, but that scent had the potential to undo me. "We're friends, right?"
"Best of," I whispered back.
He puckered his lips in thought. "Are we…soul mates?"
"I think so, don't you?"
"Definitely. I just had to establish a…uh…" He clicked his fingers as he tried to think of the appropriate word.
"Foundation?"
"That's it. Yeah, I wanted to establish a foundation. So, we gotta make this official. So…will you be my girlfriend, Mercedes?"
My heart skipped a beat, and heat flooded my cheeks. Yeah – we'd confessed our love for each other already. But asking me that one little question was enough to make me breathless and shy. "Yes, of course I will."
"Thank God! Like, you know, I wasn't sure how you felt about me…" I smiled and rolled my eyes. "I love when you do that," he commented.
"Do what?" We walked the last few steps to the gates.
"Roll your eyes. You do it all the time, but you do it a lot with me. It's not supposed to be a good thing but -"
"It is a good thing. You own this eye roll, Sammy Daddy."
Yeah – I set myself up for this. "And you own this-" he burst open his jacket as he rolled his body, thrust his hips and licked his lips "you own this body roll!"
A sparkling laugh blossomed in my chest and through my lips. I rolled my eyes again, "Sam-" He did another, more powerful body roll this time. "What- are you going to do that every single time I roll my eyes?"
"Yep."
I shook my head. "Whatever. Are you coming inside?"
He chewed his bottom lip as he looked at the time on his phone. "Nah, I'll come tomorrow, okay?"
I did my best to hide my disappointment; now, I wanted to spend all of my time with him.
But as I felt disappointed, he somehow seemed excited about something.
"Yeah…sure," I replied, slightly suspicious of the glint in his eyes.
"Um…don't eat much tonight. I wanna take you out t-tomorrow and…well, you know, I-I don't want you to be too full. So…yeah. Light snack, okay?"
"I wasn't planning on eating much anyway?"
"Good! That's good."
Not wanting to cause any more rifts or tension by voicing my suspicion, I ignored his strange behaviour. "Kiss me goodnight then, Sam."
He pressed one large hand to the small of my back, and leaned in to capture my bottom lip in a soft kiss. We placed sweet, chaste kisses on the other's lips before I pulled away.
My mind had changed: I adored Sam so much. He was smart – despite what he and others said - and funny and generous and thoughtful and brave. He was everything to me, has always been and always will be. I was ready to die with him
I was ready to make love to him. I've shared everything else with him apart from my body, apart from my bed.
It took me a while, but I realised that this was how I'd been feeling all along.
I mean, there was also the fact that there was only three weeks left to physically perfect our relationship. But I was still ready, for myself, to do this with him.
He seemed oblivious though, and I started to wonder that maybe he didn't want this from me. "Do me a favour, Cedes? Don't…don't fall asleep until I call you tonight. Please don't, okay?"
I nodded. "I'm not tired anyway."
"That's even better." He pressed his lips to mine once again before pulling away so I could walk through the gate to my house.
After waving one more goodbye to him, I walked inside, and watched through the peephole as he strode away, like he was in a hurry to be somewhere.
Or to get away?
Sam
This was definitely the perfect idea. Tonight was going to be perfect, and tomorrow was going to be even more amazing.
I hoped I was doing a good job of hiding my excitement from her. The idea almost gave me a headache, it was so powerful and epic.
I hoped I wasn't getting ahead of myself….
I didn't know if she was ready or willing or if she even wanted me to…
I didn't know what she was expecting.
It didn't matter though. Once my plan was underway, she would either make me the happiest man alive, or I would finally understand what she wants, and even that, I would accept. But I was banking on the fact that I knew my Mercedes, my Mercy, Ma Sweet, all too well, and I knew how'd she respond.
I was practically jogging home by this point.
It was possible that, after I got the ball rolling, that Mercedes and I could cross a handful of things off from our Do Before We Die list, regardless that we hadn't even written one yet.
Mercedes
Puck wasn't home when I walked in, and my parents said they hadn't seen him since he left the house earlier.
Before I had the chance to panic or have my parents worried, I texted him.
I was glad he was feeling considerate because within two minutes, he texted me back, saying he was fine, he was just dealing with things.
Puck wasn't stupid or constantly reckless like people believed, so I trusted his word. I told him to be home before Mom and Dad woke up in the morning, and he agreed with a whatever, sis x.
It was just after 8pm, and I went upstairs; I found it kind of funny how my parents seemed to be getting fed up of each other's company already.
Just like normal times…
So I decided to try and relax. In my bathroom, on the second floor, I started running a bath.
After an excruciatingly long process of undressing and brushing up my hair into a high ponytail, I sunk into the hot water, and reached over to my wicker basket full of fruity bath explosions. After unwrapping a honey and cherry flavoured bomb, I let it fizz and create bubbles in the bath.
The thick heat of the water along with the sweet smell made for a frighteningly good combination. The heavy worries on my mind weren't feeling as burdensome right now.
I know the oncoming asteroid was basically a big elephant in the room, but there was nothing to be done about it. Every single day, I woke with a feeling of fear and anxiety rooted in my heart.
What if I accidentally slept three weeks away, and the world was ending tomorrow? Is it really going to be that bad – will every single living and breathing thing on this Earth die? Will the whole planet just crumble away and scatter throughout space?
Will it literally be like we never existed, apart from a rock here and a strand of DNA there?
Or will a part of the land survive?
What if that part was Lima, Ohio? What if I…Mom, Dad or Puck…what if we didn't die…
Sam quickly entered my head.
What if him and I survived as well?
Imagine…
I sank into the water – making sure the hot water covered my face. I needed to wake myself up from those stupid thoughts. What kind of fluffy clouds, lollipops-and-rainbows shit was that?
I let my thoughts drift to trivial, positive and un-asteroid related topics that existed in the world.
Once ten minutes had passed, I found myself actually relaxing.
Somehow, Sam infiltrated my mind again. But differently, this time.
After I was able to realise that I wanted Sam to be the one to take my virginity, my thoughts started dirtying, and images of us together flooded my mind.
I was only half aware that I was dragging my nails along the skin of my forearms, imagining Sam's warmth completely enveloping me, reaching every single part of my body...
With my foot, I nudged the cold tap on whilst simultaneously unplugging the bathtub with the other. I hurriedly splashed my skin and face with the cold water to freeze and erase my sexual fantasies about Sam, no matter how much I wanted to explore them.
I was getting ahead of myself. Maybe Sam didn't even want me that way.
But if he did, I didn't want my first time to have already taken place inside my head…
It took longer than usual for me to lethargically moisturize my body with honey and vanilla body lotion, and finally I could feel the cool sensation of my deep purple silk pyjama pants and camisole tickling my skin.
As boring as it sounded, I was planning to read all night tonight.
There was this book that Santana gave me for my birthday last year. It was a week late because she didn't even know it was my birthday. The book had still had its price sticker on the cover, and it wasn't even wrapped.
Not that I cared about presents that much, but this gift, I kind of wished it was wrapped.
It was a romance-slash-erotic novel and "it doesn't hold back on the goods", she had told me. Apparently, it contained aspects of Kama Sutra, bondage, ménage á trios, dress up and "other freaky crap."
I hid that book like it was my own filthy secret. I had forgotten about it often enough, but the moments when I did remember it; I was always too nervous to open up to the first page.
I was scared that it would suddenly ignite some sort of fire inside me, and that I'd want to have sex with Shane just to relieve that sexual tension.
That wouldn't have been fair at all, and it wasn't decent of me.
So away that book stayed.
But now, though…well, things were slightly different. This was me living on the edge, before the world ended – reading smut late at night.
Listening to the hungry sounds coming from my stomach, I went downstairs to say goodnight to my parents and maybe grab something to eat.
I didn't verbally exclaim 'what the hell?' but the look of horror, amusement and confusion were all mixed on my face.
My parents were doing shots.
My mom was in the middle of holding something in her mouth, face soured and eyes closed, with a shot glass in her hand.
My dad couldn't contain his laughter as he was counting seconds.
I stood there, locked in place, as he finally reached eighteen and my mom swallowed whatever alcohol she was in the midst of consuming.
"Well done, sweetie."
Still rolling her tongue to get rid of the taste, she waved to me. "Hey, baby."
"What…"
"Sambuca." My dad explained, seeing my confusion.
"You just...did a shot of Sambuca?"
"Like a diva! At least I drank my shot. Your weak-ass daddy over here-"
"Hey! It's not that I didn't like -"
"Couldn't handle," Mom corrected.
He narrowed his eyes, and that made me giggle. "No. It's just…I uh, remembered something shocking while I was drinking the tequila, and -"
"Lies!" Mom declared, and both she and I laughed at my dad's scowl.
I don't know why, but I felt so happy that they were happy just then. Seeing them having so much fun and just letting loose; it was a lovely (yet disconcerting) sight to see.
I left them to it.
"I'm going to bed early, alky parents." They both exchanged mischievous, amused glances. Of course I was glad that they were enjoying themselves, but it was kind of creeping me out too.
"So! Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."
"Night, baby cakes," my mom said, reaching up from the floor to give me a kiss on the cheek.
"Sleep well, sleepy head." I hugged my dad before hurrying up the stairs when I heard my dad whisper 'round 4.' It wouldn't have bothered me so much if I wasn't left wondering…round 4 of what?!
Finally I got to my room, switched on my bedside lamp, put on my reading glasses and snuggled under the covers of my king-sized bed.
I was afraid that Diamonds and Other Hard Things Girls Like would just be full of sex and all sorts, and be terribly written and trashy as a result.
The first few pages actually got me hooked and interested.
I was just finishing chapter two – the slightly drunken male character was discovering some unfamiliar lacy underwear strewn over the floor of his girlfriend's apartment before he heard female moaning coming from their bedroom – when two things happened.
The first – my stomach hungrily protested, reminding me that I still didn't get anything to eat.
The second, my phone was ringing.
Drawing myself out of the world of fictional words which were beginning to make me feel flustered, I checked the time on my phone as I was about to answer; 11:15pm already.
"Hello?"
I didn't check out the caller ID, so my heart did an unexpected flip in my chest when I heard Sam say, "hey Mercy, baby."
His voice was so smooth and deep, that I found myself chewing my bottom lip. "Hey, Sammy Daddy."
He took a sharp intake of breath, before speaking again. Glad to know I had some control over him, too. "There's something I want you to check out. Step outside for a sec?"
I pushed my glasses up my nose. "Excuse me?"
The giddiness he was displaying earlier was now evident in his voice. "Please, please, please, please, please?" He whined. "Just for one sec, step outside. You can't…um, can't see it from your room. Two seconds."
As I sighed and slid my feet into my slippers, I asked, "I thought it was gonna take one second?"
"Yeah, one second. It'll be worth it."
"So I need to go outside, leave my very warm bed, at this time of night to see what exactly?"
"You'll know it when you see it. Quickly. Are your parents home?"
"Yup," I said. I quietly snuck out my bedroom, and tiptoed down the stairs.
I didn't know what to expect when I got outside, and I thought that was all the more reason to keep my parents unknown to my activities.
"You're coming out, right?!" I was scared my parents would hear Sam excitedly shout down the phone, but their laughing voices coming from the living room told me otherwise.
"Yes!" I whispered, "just hang on." I left through the back door at the opposite end of the hall to my parents. They usually kept this door open, since Puck tended to enter and exit the house through this way. Since he wasn't home yet, it was luckily still unlocked.
I was greeted by a slight chill in the air, as I rounded the side of the house and made my way to the front lawn. I looked up to the sky, thinking it was something up there that had Sam bringing me out of the house to see.
"Hey!" Someone whispered.
My heart danced and raced, and my hand flew up to my chest.
Sam was leaning back against the iron gate which lined the front of the house.
"Oh my God, what are you doing, Sam?"
"Being spontaneous, darlin'."
I rushed up to the gate, clutching one of the cool bars with my fingers. His free hand went up to meet mine, and through one of the gaps, we shared a quick kiss.
"Can I come in?" He murmured in a low voice which could undo me and then make me up again.
"Are you -"
"And can I come into your room? Spend the night?"
"What?! My mom-"
"And can I feed you, and cuddle you, and kiss you, and touch you and do all the things you want me to?"
Like a flash, heat flooded my neck and cheeks. All of a sudden, my legs became the most unstable things one person could stand on. The images that I was conjuring up in my head of me and Sam…they were attacking my mind and body once more, with a vengeance.
"You mean sneak in…" His mouth seductively pulled on one side at the sound of my breathlessness.
"I've always wanted you to sneak me into your house late at night. Imagine that thrill…" I saw something in his face change, and I knew it was both a good and dangerous sign. "Wouldn't that be something wicked?"
Now was the time I decided to rid my mind of doubts, reservations and caution. This was Sam, and if I couldn't be reckless and impulsive with him, with only a measly few weeks of life left, then…well, I'd just be a boring coward, wouldn't I? "Sure, Sammy Daddy. Watching a big, strong, tall guy like you manage to sneak up to my room…well I think that'd be impressive as hell."
I watched him swallow hard, and that told me that he hadn't been counting on me flirting back.
Sam
I really wasn't expecting her to flirt back like that. To be honest, I thought she'd just roll her eyes and chew me out for being so reckless.
But she honestly seemed to like it, and that was threatening to crack my bravado. I guessed this YOLO attitude going around had the potential to change a person's behaviour.
"Only problem is…" she said, "this gate can be pretty noisy to open sometimes. And I don't wanna draw any attention to what we're up to..."
The gate wasn't all that high and there was a climbable brick wall beside the iron. I've climbed it once as a dare already, and this time I had adrenaline on my side. I snaked my goodie bag through the gate, and with a confused expression, she accepted it.
"No peeking," I instructed, before retreating and then taking a running leap towards the wall. My feet managed to get a good grip in one of the crevices and my hands managed to grasp the top, and Mercedes' startled gasp fuelled me to keep going. I finished climbing the wall, and debated whether I should leap down and risk breaking my leg, or scale down the gate like last time.
"Sam, what the hell?" She hissed. Was it weird to find that being scolded by Mercedes was kind of a turn on? "Get down before-"
"Before what – before I die?" She winced, unsure of how to respond to that. "Think I can jump down from here?"
Now she was paying me back for my distasteful joke. "If you take the proper way down, then…"
"Then what? You'll grant me a wish?"
"Yeah, whatever, just get down here."
Was she purposefully setting herself up for no good? I didn't care. Turning to the other side of the wall, I shuffled to the gate and managed to slide (clamber) down the iron.
The rattling of the metal and the squealing sound of my sneakers against the iron was loud enough to be heard. That made me jump down the rest of the way, and that movement only jerked the gates even more.
"Shit," she whispered.
Grabbing her free hand, I pulled her back the way I saw her come. We had just reached the safety of the shadows when the porch light was switched on.
Mercedes took over, leading me into her house.
My heart was pounding wildly, and my muscles felt ready for war.
This was more exhilarating than I'd thought it would be. We crept back into the house, and Mercedes gently pushed the door closed behind us.
We tiptoed up the hall, listening to her parents' bemused voices. The staircase was right by us, but her mom seemed to be close to the living room entrance.
Silently, I took the bag from her tense hand and just went for it – being as light as possible on my feet as I took the stairs two at a time.
"Mercedes?" I heard her mom ask as I rounded the banister.
"Oh…mom, hey…" As I heard her trying to make up something about what was going on, I headed up to the second floor where I knew her room was situated.
Not ten seconds later, I heard Mercedes follow after me. "Last on the right," she quietly directed me.
The rush from sneaking into her house was still zinging through my body. I honestly felt like I could do anything right now. I kicked off my shoes as I walked further into her room. I was noticing the purples and creams before hearing the door close behind me.
I let out a nervous chuckle. "Yes, I'm crazy. But I couldn't-" When I turned around, she ran into me, forcing us to tumble back on her giant bed.
Her soft lips were puckered against mine before I had the chance to think, and they parted for me to slide my tongue into her mouth. She raked her hands through my hair, and that drove me up the wall. Her ample breasts were pushed against my rapidly rising and falling chest. My lower lip was captured between her teeth, and my involuntary moan had her smirking against my lips. Ever so softly, her thigh was making contact with my crotch and I don't think she even realised that was happening.
Before I could react, she gave this hot, throaty chuckle and then pulled away to fall back next to me on her bed. After taking a breath, she asked, "so what's in the bag?"
There was no dignity in the way I was panting, gasping for air. My heart was still racing, my mind was a fog of thoughts, my palms were sweaty, and blood was rushing through me; threatening to head right towards my pride and joy down south. Any words were literally stuck in my throat. I could feel heat flooding my cheeks, feeling myself blushing. "I've always wanted to make a man speechless," she purred. Why the hell would she say that? Those words said in that smooth voice belonging only to this beautiful woman – it was all too much. "That's what you get for trying to get both of our asses whooped, Sam!" She poked me hard in my arm.
Finally, I was broken from my daze. "What the hell just happened?"
She smiled softly. "I just got you back," she winked. "We have to be quiet, because I do actually want you to make it through the night."
Still recovering from that heated moment, I nodded in agreement. "Me too." I reached over the edge of the bed to pick up the bag I had brought. "I love your glasses, by the way."
I heard the confusion in her voice. "You've seen me in them before?"
"Well, they look extra sexy tonight." Reaching into the bag, I pulled out a still warm box of fries and a can of whipped cream.
"Um, I'm not-"
I sat up straight, food in hand, and looked right into her pretty brown eyes. "You're gonna try it. For me."
"Hell to the no, Sam." As she said this, she pointlessly shook her head against something we both knew was going to happen. I shook the can, and sprayed just a bit on a section of the fries. Her stomach growled, and I couldn't help but smile.
She pouted as I took out two fries covered in cream, and brought it to her lips. They were clamped shut, though.
"Cedes, c'mon, just try it."
She shook her head, unwilling to speak in case I seized that opportunity. I held her jaw in my hands and pressed a lingering kiss to her mouth. "For me, just try it. You're gonna like it, Mercy. Mercy baby. Ma Sweet." She rolled her eyes at me, but kept her mouth closed. Fine, we'll play dirty. "Am I gonna have to use my lips, now? Maybe use these hands…" I brushed my fingers down her chest and then down her arm. "Or maybe you'll open your precious mouth for me if I use this huge erection of mine to make you scream my name-" I didn't need to say anymore, her jaw dropped in shock and I used that chance to pop the whipped cream topped fries onto her tongue.
She slapped my hand away, but my delicious snack was already in her mouth…and I wasn't even intending for that to sound as dirty as it did.
I smiled as she reluctantly chewed, and her eyebrows rose. "Can't even lie, Sam – that actually tastes really good."
"Uh-uh," I muttered. I took out the remaining two fries with whipped cream on them and fed them to her. As she opened her mouth for another bite, she reached for the can and fries. I crossed my legs and faced her.
"You're a genius when it comes to stupid food combinations." Mercedes shook the can in her hands. She picked out several fries, placed only the ends in her mouth so the other halves stuck out, and she leaned closer to me. Meeting her halfway, I bit down in the middle so we could share them. I opened my mouth for her to spray some whipped cream onto my tongue, and then she did the same for herself.
She smiled guiltily at me, and I winked back.
As we comfortably and silently shared the fries and cream, my eyes fell upon an open book that was face-down on her pillow.
It was the hot and steamy picture on the cover which caught my attention.
Oh so innocently, I asked "so whatcha reading?" I had the joy of watching her eyes widen in horror, and she seemed to be debating whether to try and hide it or come up with some lame excuse. "Jig's up, Jonesy."
She sighed, after feeding me one of the remaining fries, and leaned back to retrieve her book.
"Santy bought it for me."
She held the book out for me to read the title – and I smirked at her nervousness. "You know – if you never seemed so guilty about it – I wouldn't have cared what book you were reading. But seeing your reaction," my eyes roamed over the cover before flipping to the pages she was reading "made me very interested."
She wrung her hands as she let me skim the book as I pleased. I pretty much got the gist of it though: sex, sex, sex.
She knew very well about my dyslexia, and it was something that I'd never felt comfortable talking about or displaying in front of anyone, but I didn't fight so hard to hide it with Mercedes. And this was why: "Are you seriously gonna read that chick-smut?" She asked.
She never assumed that I couldn't read or understand something; she always made me ask if I needed help. At first, I hated that because it was so hard to ask. Sometimes, I wouldn't, and I'd just suffer in silence. But she stopped allowing that.
One time, we were waiting in her father's dentistry; Mr. Jones had amazingly offered me, my parents and siblings a free check-up. I'd had mine the week before, but I was there for Stevie and Mercedes had offered to keep me company. As we waited for him to come out from his appointment, Mercy was flipping through some crappy magazines and newspapers and I was getting bored. I reached over her to pick up some random sports mag – it was the most current of the stack.
I was only looking at the pictures, since they were what always kept me interested but then Mercedes heard me gasp at an article headline. "No way," I muttered.
One of the minor league baseball teams I supported had a game that went soap-opera wrong.
But the article also reported some of the court cases which led up to and followed the huge scandal. It basically contained big, legal words which I couldn't even begin to make out.
It was so frustrating because it was my favourite player that was involved, and there were so many difficult words that they immediately jumbled up in my head, blocking my vision.
Mercedes hated it when I didn't try to read something, and she hated it even more when I didn't ask for help.
I'm ashamed to admit that I spent five minutes roaming my eyes over the blocks of text, pretending to read it because Mercedes already knew that I'd wanted to read it, and I was actually a bit scared of how she'd react.
Once I felt like it was long enough time, I began turning the page.
Ha! No fucking way. Mercedes' observational skills were mad good. "What happened?" She didn't lift her eyes away from her magazine.
"Oh…just some drama on the field."
"Seriously? What happened?"
"Oh…I'm finished with it, if you wanna read."
"Nah, I just want to know about the story."
"Nothing special. Fighting, probably."
"Probably? You just read it, Sam."
"Wasn't really focusing on it-"
"For five minutes?" By this point, heat was rushing to my face and I was blushing with a passion. I heard her sigh. "You didn't even try." Her voice was no louder than a whisper, but the disappointment was loud and clear.
"I did," I whispered back, trying not to catch any attention from other waiting patients.
"You didn't, Sam. I watched you-"
"Why were you watching me?" I looked around the room, trying not to unleash my angry embarrassment on her. "Why do you even care?"
This was when our true, unspoken feelings were about to become completely raw and new for us to see. It was a whole year since we became friends, and by that time, we were extremely close.
She nibbled the inside of her lip, but she held her ground. "You know how much I care about you. You're my best friend. And I don't want to see you give up like that." My heart swelled, and I had to swallow it back down. Just as I was about to open my mouth to speak, she continued. "And if you care enough about me, Samuel, then you'll do this for me. Read that article to me, or ask me to help you."
"No, I-"
"I have to ask my teachers all the time how to spell words or pronounce words, or I have to have something explained to me because I really don't understand it."
"Well…that's different. You're in AP classes-"
"Which makes it even more difficult because I'm the only one who doesn't understand."
I huffed. "But you're not my teacher!"
"No, I'm your friend."
"Best friend," I quietly corrected.
"Yes. And that should make it easier because I just wanna help, like how you help me. Remember when I was singing along to that Red Solo Cup song of yours, and I got the lyrics wrong. You straight up corrected me."
"I'm-"
"And when I asked you to explain football to me, when we were with the guys, because I was cheering for a foul? Or when you had to remind me that Star Wars was nothing like Star Trek?"
"But-"
She laughed at the next memory. "Remember when we were all working on those original songs? And we were researching random things for inspiration? And I was reading something aloud to you guys, some book about how to rhyme?"
I had to smile. "You said a cup board instead of a cupboard."
She nodded. "And I had to read it again, like, five times. 'Cup board? What the hell's a cup board?' And while everyone was laughing their asses off, you're the one that said 'Cedes – it's a cupboard.' Those are the times you corrected me, but there's been loads more times that you've helped me-"
"I know, Mercy. I was being dumb."
She let out a breath. "That was exhausting." I sheepishly smiled at her. "Now can you read the article to calm me down?"
I hesitantly nodded, and turned to her. "You gonna help me? Even if I can't say the easy words?"
She looked down to her hands. "I'll help with everything, Sam. I'm always going to be here for you, the way you'll hopefully be here for me."
That was the day I realised, with my whole heart, that I was falling hard for this girl.
From then on, I was getting better at letting her help me out. And that, in turn, meant I could do better at reading and writing when I was on my own or when I was with anyone else.
Breaking away from my fond but serious memories, I opened the book to a random page in the middle.
"No, I'm not gonna read it. I want you to read it to me." Her brow immediately furrowed in refusal. "It's your book! And it's you who can't seem to handle a little explicit description. And plus – after all the times you've made me read to you, you could at least return the favour." Mercedes still looked as if she might say no. Then I remembered something else. "This is my wish. For climbing down the gate earlier. I want you to read the first dirty bit you can find."
Her eyes glinted at the challenge. "Why?" She whined.
"Because it'll be sexy. And it's making you squirm already." I tickled the side of her stomach. Batting my hand away, she huffed, and took the book from me. After her eyes fell on the page, she said honestly, "this part's not even all that bad. But Santy made sure to dog-ear the 'good' parts'." I watched as a look of concentration etched her face. Several pages previous to the random one I selected, she stopped. "You asked for this, alright?"
I nodded, changing my position to lean on my side beside her. She shuffled closer to me, brought her knees up to her chest and held the book out around her legs.
Mercedes
There was no denying the gentle stir of arousal inside me.
Santana surprised me – she obviously picked out a sexual scene as one of her favourites but this one wasn't straight crude or dirty. It was explicit, no less, but there was a sense of passion and love, too.
Sam was breathing heavily as I continued to read; right when we reached the part about the man drizzling melted chocolate across his woman's back and placing chocolate kisses all over her skin, Sam sat up. He trapped me in between his long, toned legs and was leaning in close as he listened to me read. I turned too, extending my legs over his thighs so my feet pointed behind him, with only the book to separate us.
"'…the feel of his woman beneath him made Eric feel like the most powerful man on the planet. The way she could make him crumble and lose his sense of control just by whispering or screaming his name made Eric feel like the most powerless man on the planet.
With the sweet chocolate smoothed over her even sweeter skin, he bathed her with his tongue and lips. He recognised the point when she went into inner conflict with herself: she began to squirm." Sam made this smug sound in his throat, referring to when I was squirming eariler. "Catherine was trying so desperately to allow herself to be worshipped by this man on top of her: sucking her clean of any white chocolate – her favourite kind – drizzled on her back. She knew he was in a very affectionate mood – that he wanted to be playful and teasing and he wanted to be played and teased in return.
But that desire was both of their undoing because Catherine found his sensitivity to be extremely arousing. The idea that he was being gentle with her warmed her heart. Yet the fact that she could easily flip them over, slide herself onto his strong and throbbing erection and take what she wanted from him was completely tempting. He'd give her the best, most pleasing orgasm ever, in any way she wanted; just like the way he'd given her the impressive diamond necklace she was currently clutching in her hand.
Yes, she knew it. She was done with the playfulness now. Once she claimed her time to tease him in return, then they'd be done with-' Sam…what…"
I was so engrossed in the novel that I didn't notice Sam had silently reached for the whipped cream.
Pushing away the thin strap of my silk pyjama top, he sprayed a trail of whipped cream dots along my left shoulder and neck. There was only a cool sensation on my skin from the contact.
I knew exactly what he was doing; our sexy reading time had me longing for some touches and kisses, too. I guess that's why my mind was a haze of desire, and there were passionate tingles fluttering in my stomach and heading south. And I guess that's what made me say; "so you're still hungry for sugar, Sammy Daddy?" I honestly don't know what possessed me to say that.
I'd never heard a man growl before, apart from on the football field when I was forced to watch Shane play sometimes.
But Sam growled now, and it came from the animal deep within him. It was all alpha male, and hot.
His lips kissed and licked the first drop of whipped cream from my shoulder, and he made sure to get all of it. I sucked my lip into my mouth and closed my eyes at the electricity exploding beneath my skin from the contact.
"Keep reading," he instructed.
"What?" I don't think I even whispered that, but Sam heard.
"Don't. Stop. Reading." He punctuated the final word with a gentle bite of my skin over the next bit of cream.
After a sharp intake of breathe and a slight shiver, I opened my eyes and made them focus back on the page. "'He'd give her the best, most pleasing-'" I whimpered – the fucking hell, I whimpered! – when I felt Sam's teeth softly bite into my shoulder again. "You read that part already," he murmured. He quickly soothed my skin with a careful lick against it, making sure to take some more of the cream away with his tongue.
"Oh. Um…here: 'Once she claimed her time to tease him in return, then they'd be done with all the sweet foreplay. Little did Catherine know that Eric's mind was already one step ahead. He was aiming to lull her into a false sense of security. Sooner or later, he knew that she'd want her turn to play too. And as soon as she decided to put that into action, he wasn't going to give it to her.
They were equals in wealth, in love, in personality, in worth and all of the other real world aspects. In this bedroom though – there could only be one lover to dominate, to take control at any one time. Sure, they could make love together. But they were doing more than that right now. He'd take her and make them climax together the way he wanted her to. And once she recovered- if she ever could – then he'd let her have her chance to tell him what to do.'" I was pausing and tripping over the words, not frequently, but occasionally; and it was down to both Sam sighing when he liked a particular sentence while he continued lapping both me and the cream up, as well as the words themselves.
But I carried on. "'It's safe to say that a true back and forth was taking place between the thoughts of Eric and Catherine, unbeknownst to either one of the two lovers. He captured her slender back between his powerful thighs, pressing his hard penis against her backside. Upon hearing her hiss his name, he easily assumed that he would definitely be the one to take control once he finished kissing away the remaining ribbons of warm chocolate.
How wrong he was, reader. Eric knew that Catherine wasn't one to be taken over unless she allowed it, which explains the large and hard cold diamond in her tightening grasp. He seemed to forget this, though. But no – Eric's biggest weakness was about to give Catherine the strength to make him beg for her to finish dominating him. His complete surrender would arrive when her soft lips closed around his large and hard erection. And by coveting this upper hand through her sexual technique, she'd get to keep it for round two because he'd be too weak and undone to try to claim it back.'"
"God, that's hot," Sam remarked, pressing his lips to my neck. He puckered and nuzzled his lips to the highest spot before kissing me on my lips.
And this boy had some cream on his bottom lip. I caught it between my teeth, making sure to simultaneously graze my tongue against it too.
"Cedes," he whispered, and I felt his hands tremble on my legs.
"Sam," I breathed; slipping my tongue between his parted lips, taking control just like Catherine did in the story. Sam seemed to appreciate that because his hands roamed up to my waist.
I had just slid my hands beneath the hem of his cotton v-neck to brush against his smooth and muscled stomach when the bed vibrated.
"Doesn't matter," he said into my mouth, his hands continuing to press higher on my waist. I realised that it was his phone vibrating in his pocket, and by its repetition, I knew it was a phone call.
Pulling away from him, even when he tried to kiss me again, I gestured towards his cell with one hand whilst picking up the can of cream with the other. Reluctantly, he slipped his phone from his jeans. With his smouldering dark eyes sexually tormenting me, he took a deep breath to calm himself – probably to keep away the frustration from his voice too – and answered the phone.
I held petty grudges: so I wanted to get him back for teasing me with his kisses and nips whilst I was reading. I rapidly shook the can, shoved up his t-shirt and sprayed his abs with whipped cream, just as he said hello to Blaine.
The muscles in his stomach deliciously clenched, and his voice suddenly went raspy. As my tongue poked his abs before I started to lick and suck away the cream, I had him stuttering and clearing his throat to remain composed.
No; this wasn't at all like me. The Mercedes Jones I knew wouldn't ever think of doing something like this with anyone. At all.
But it somehow felt like it was exactly like me, that this was a side of Mercedes Jones I just hadn't discovered yet. And I was relieved and grateful that I got to greet my sexuality with open arms right now, before the chance was obliterated forever.
I wanted to try everything with Sam; I wanted all of him to myself.
But I just wanted to know that – regardless of his flirting and teasing and excitement – that he truthfully wanted me, too.
I made sure to kiss each individual muscle in his stomach after I devoured the whipped cream. His conversation was a blur in my ears, and when he wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, there was nothing else around us. Heat popped all over my body at his possessiveness.
My lips made their way up to this strong chest, collarbone and then throat. I pressed gentle kisses all along his throat and chin, and I felt it vibrate when he spoke.
Finally satisfied with my helping of dessert, I sat up straight and ran my fingers back through his soft, dark blonde hair. I even scratched his scalp slightly, and his eyes closed in pleasure as he said something else to Blaine and then said goodbye before snapping his phone shut.
"Mercedes." That was all he said as I raked my hands through his air.
The book had long ago fallen between our bodies, face up and now showing a different page.
I giggled at his hum of content. I leaned in to sweetly kiss his mouth.
He managed to regain his senses now. "Blaine must have thought I was touching myself or something, because of you, missy. Making me sigh and stutter."
"Oops," I said without a shred of an apology in my tone.
He didn't seem to be aware of doing it, but he collected my small hands in his bigger ones as he spoke. "Sure. But…Blaine invited us to a rave."
"Hm? When?"
"Right now," he answered, lips moving against my knuckles.
"What...? Now? Where? Why?"
He chuckled at my confusion. "Rave. Yes. All Saints Avenue. End of the world." He carried on showering the back of my hand in attention with his mouth.
"But…it's just after midnight. Is he crazy?"
"Why can't we be crazy? Might as well, these are our only chances." Sam's hands tightened around mine, and he was still grazing his lips against my fingers.
"But it wouldn't be like the party we threw?"
He shook his head against my hands. "Crazier."
That set off a million thoughts flying inside my head. "Would you seriously go?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "It's Blaine. Plus Kurt, Santana, Brittany and Sugar will be there. Sounds safe enough. And it's not that far away." He turned my hands over, wanting to places kisses into my palms now. "It would be serious fun, I can tell you that."
"But do you wanna go?"
He lifted his eyes to mine – a green forest fire literally blazing in those two depths – and he raised an eyebrow. "You know I'll go with you to wherever."
I had to admit it: despite all the potential danger and recklessness, my heart raced at the thought of sneaking out of the house, with a boy I had snuck in, to rave in the middle of the night. It'd be so exciting and fun.
"But it depends what you want to do tonight, my love. I'll gladly stay here with you, and I'll do what you want me to do. To you."
But did I even care about the rave though?
Yes, I wanted to go.
But staying here with Sam and…if I was correct in assuming that he was implicating sex, then it would be a straightforward choice - like deciding between spending a day in heaven or the Lima Bean café; sex being the former.
And if Sam thought he was fairly placing an argument for both situations, then he needed to think twice about his last point. "I'll - I'll take what you want me to take from you. And I'll treasure it always."
Of course I wanted to do this with him. I'd been dreaming of it for so long now, and it was plaguing my thoughts right now too.
But this rave was for one night. Sure there'd be more, but who's to say I'd be able to go to another? It was a spur of the moment; one of few I've ever had. Imagine if I got to do this! My virginity wasn't going anywhere right now. I could give it to Sam tomorrow, or next week or on the final day we have to spend before the asteroid hits us.
But could I really play with time like that? Could I really assume that I'd have a future to do this? Sure, there was supposed to be three weeks left. However, they could have made a mistake. What if tomorrow was when the asteroid came?
I couldn't think like that. I had to cherish each and every single day that was given to me, to us.
Sam obviously was leaving the choice up to me, and his clamping my hands to his neck whilst nipping the skin of my forearms was not helping anything. It only took my breath away, and made my room feel so much warmer than it was.
My impulses and heartfelt desires were going to battle inside me, and my current dilemma was their battleground.
So; what did you think? Pretty PLEASE share your opinions (bad or good).
I haven't decided whether they go out to the rave or not. Should they go out or stay in? Votes please.
Something exciting will happen either way, promise.
And do I need to change this to Rating M or is it okay?
Oh, and I wrote that erotic novel extract myself; it's all my words. You can probably tell lol
