MERCEDES' POV

"That's her decision," She heard Sam saying as she quickly approached them. His eyes darted to hers before snapping back to Derrick. They were clouded with an emotion that she didn't recognize but she had a bad feeling about it. She never wanted this to happen. She never even considered that it could happen-Sam and Derrick being anywhere near each other. The thought of it made her feel queasy. The thought of Derrick made her queasy.

"What's my decision?" She asked as she stood next to him.

"Derrick was asking me if it was okay if you and him talked in private." Sam explained, his expression straight.

"I hope you don't mind I introduced myself," Derrick said.

"Actually, I do." She replied quickly and even she was a little shocked by the bravado in her voice-a tone that was rare in her voice when talking to him. She knew then that it was Sam's presence next to her that strengthened her and she wasn't completely sure how to feel about that."What do you want Derrick?"

"To talk to you," He told her.

"Then why are you talking to him?" She asked, gesturing to Sam.

"Look, she doesn't exactly need my permission to talk to you." Sam told him. "She's a grown woman, not some dog on a leash." He said and Mercedes was slightly surprised by the coldness of his tone. She realized then as she looked at him, his gaze never leaving Derrick, that he was angry. And she wasn't sure how he would deal with it. She'd seen Sam offended and verging on angry the day he left but she'd never seen him like this. He looked tense everywhere and his hands wouldn't leave his pockets. She had to do something. She wrapped her arm around his and tugged a bit to get his attention.

"Why don't you go get the gift out of the car?" She asked him when he finally looked down at her, his tightened face softening as she smiled at him.. "It's in the trunk, I completely forgot about it." She said, handing him the keys from her purse.

"No problem," he replied quietly as he turned around. She watched as he walked away, turning back to Derrick only once he was gone. His face was as smug as ever. How could I have not hated it before? She wondered.

"For the record, I don't think you're a dog on a leash." He said, breaking the short but icy silence between them.

"What do you want?" She asked him, rolling her eyes.

"Can we sit down?"

"Whatever," Mercedes shrugged. They sat at the nearest empty table and her foot tapped impatiently the moment it hit the floor.

"So where did you two meet?" He asked and Mercedes scoffed, her eyes narrowed.

"We're not doing this, Derrick." She said as she moved to stand. His hand was on hers in a second and her nostrils flared at his touch immediately. She looked down at this hand and snatched hers away quickly."What the hell do you want?" She almost yelled. "You can't just come here to my cousin's wedding and try to have a conversation with me. I didn't sit over here to have a little chat with you. You either have something to say to me or you don't so what it is?"

"I have a brain tumor." Derrick spit out. Mercedes froze, her mouth falling open. She flopped back down in her chair as her thoughts scrambled. She was quiet for a moment, her eyes darting quickly around the fabric of her dress as she stared down.

"What?" She breathed, her eyes finally meeting his again. She was floored.

"It's what I came to tell you." He said. "Well I didn't really come to tell you that as much as I came to apologize to you." He continued. "I'm going into surgery in two weeks. The doctor's couldn't make me any promises."

"So what do you want, a clean conscious?" Mercedes replied, regretting the way it sounded immediately.

"No, no. I-," he shook his head. "I know that I hurt you, Mercedes." He admitted. "And I also know that I never directly apologized to you." He sighed as a tear quickly fell down his cheek. "I know I could be an asshole a lot of the time, but I did love you, Mercedes. And you didn't deserve what I did to you. You didn't deserve that." He shook his head. "The last thing I wanna do is leave this earth knowing that you hate me." He told her. She absorbed what he was saying but even as she heard all his words and his plea for forgiveness, she could only recall all the countless nights she'd spent crying alone in her room because of what he'd done. All the time she'd spent hating men, all the time she'd spent doubting herself-all because of him. And now he was dying and he wanted her forgiveness. But she didn't know if she could find it in herself to give it to him.

SAM'S POV

Sam had never imagined that Derrick would approach him and introduce himself. He wasn't prepared for it at all and when it happened he was taken a back. But not only that, he was instantly angered. He was angered by how easily he approached him, considering all he'd put Mercedes through.

"You're Sam, right? The guy who's dating Mercedes?" He asked. Sam's eyes narrowed immediately. At the time he had no idea who he was, but something about him bothered him on sight.

"Who's asking?" Sam had replied.

"I'm Derrick," he said. His whole body had tensed immediately and he'd almost reflexively stuffed his fists in his pockets. He'd only just met him and he knew immediately how bad he'd been for Mercedes. He hated the fact that Derrick had felt the need to come to him first in order to talk to Mercedes-as if she answered to him. As if she couldn't make her own decisions. He realized then that he'd probably expected that from Mercedes when they were together-submissiveness. Weakness.

He didn't want to be anywhere near him. He was relieved when she'd asked him to go get the gift. He needed the space. Sam wasn't quickly or easily angered, but when he got angry enough, he was known for lashing out. He didn't want to do that there, not in front of her family, not even in front of Mercedes. It wasn't something he was proud of-the horrific fights in middle school after he got fed up with being bullied daily over his lips. After it all went down, he was forced to go to anger management therapy once a week for two months and then once a month until he graduated high school. The fights really were horrific. He hadn't hit anyone since then, but then he'd never been as angry as he was since then until Derrick. So he needed the fresh air. He didn't want to relive those dark days.

After Sam put the gift into the stack, he sat at a table far enough from them so that it didn't seem like he was watching them but close enough for him to see. Marcus and a few more of her relatives gathered around and talked with him but he found it hard to pay attention to them. He watched her facial expressions change, he watched her listening intently as he spoke, and lastly, he watched Derrick's head fall as she said something to him and he said only one more thing, before he left. Sam sat for a moment more, watching to see what she would do next-who she would look for. But she only sat there blank faced. Something was wrong.

"Excuse me, guys." He said as he left the table and headed her way. He approached her slowly, watching her intently to see if anything would change-if she had just been fixated on something on the floor. But there was nothing. She seemed almost completely out of it.

"Mercedes?" He called as he knelt down next to her. She blinked and then looked at him, a forced smile spreading across her lips.

"Hey," she said in weak enthusiasm. "I think I'm ready to go now." She told him. And he nodded.

"Everything alright?" He asked her as he stood, taking her hand in his and helping her to her feet. She nodded as she looked at him, that same fake smile on her face. It was starting to literally pain him.

"Let's just go," she said. He nodded again as he sighed. Whatever it was, it didn't seem like he would hear about it tonight. He walked with her to give a hug to her mother and say goodbye. She made them promise that they'd come to a small family dinner in a couple weeks and he watched Mercedes agree weakly. He could tell that her mom was concerned by the way she looked at him as she hugged Mercedes for a second time. But he was uninformed and he could only shake his head.

She let him drive-which he considered a bad sign in itself. She was completely silent and his brain was rocking with all the things that could have happened. He just wished she would tell him. He couldn't look at her blank face and consciously convince himself that whatever happened wasn't a big deal.

"Do you want me to just take you home?" He asked her and he saw her shake her head in his peripheral vision. He was relieved to know she still wanted to come home with him but sex was the last thing on his mind. "We can just go get you some clothes," he offered.

"No," she finally spoke. "Alicia came home today and I just don't wanna run into her right now, let's just-" she trailed off and he nodded, though he was still confused. What the hell happened? He thought. All possible answers in his head pointed to him bashing Derrick's face in.

Devon left a quick note on their refrigerator that said "At Alicia's", leaving them in the dorm alone. Before he could even ask, she insisted on showering alone. He straightened his bedroom as she did so, his mind wondering. She stayed in there for a while-longer than she ever had during that past week. He could only imagine what she must have been thinking about. But he wouldn't dream of forcing it out of her. He'd learned today from her cousin that Mercedes wasn't exactly an open book-except when she was with him. So the fact that she couldn't voluntarily tell him what was going on worried him but he also wanted to respect her privacy. It just wouldn't stop nagging him. How was he supposed to sleep next to her that night with no explanation as to why she could barely look at him or anything besides the floor?

He jumped from his bed when he heard her coming in from the shower. She'd decided to sleep in the dress slip she'd been wearing under her dress and he couldn't help but notice she looked amazing in it. She didn't say a word when she entered. She only walked past him, tip-toeing up and dropping a light kiss on his lips before she continued. He couldn't enjoy it. He knew she'd only done it to make him feel like he didn't need to be worried but it wouldn't work. He was so worried he couldn't see straight. He showered quickly before he returned to the room, finding her underneath his covers and turned away. She wasn't asleep. He knew how her body was when she was asleep and that was anything but still. He got next to her, pulling her close and onto his chest. She didn't fight, she only sighed. But he could feel the tears from her eyes on his bare skin. He closed his eyes as he sighed.

"Baby, I don't know what happened," he started as his fingertip circled around the middle of her back. "but I just really need you to know that whatever it is, I'm here for you. It's killing me watching you like this." He almost whispered the end. "Everything in me wants to hurt him like he hurt you." He said and she sighed again just before she sat up. He followed suit quickly, staring at the back of her didn't say a word, he could only hear her sniffling. Moments passed before he spoke again.

"Mercedes I-„"

"Do you know what he said to me before he left after he told me he was cheating and that he was so much happier with her?" She interrupted. Sam shook his head as he moved around to sit Indian style in front of her so he could look at her. Her face was wet with tears. He wiped her face with his thumbs and shook his head again.

"What did he say?" He asked and she exhaled loudly.

"He said, you were right." She told him. Sam's skin stung with the words. "He cheated on me for two months and he didn't even have the decency to apologize until tonight."

"Then he doesn't deserve your forgiveness." Sam replied. She almost laughed.

"That's what I thought," she said. She shook her head as she looked down at her fingers. A silence stretched between them before she sighed again and continued,

"He's dying, Sam." She told him finally and his eyebrows shot up. "It's not concrete but, he's got a brain tumor and he's going into surgery soon. He said the doctor's can't guarantee he'll survive it." Sam was at a lost for words but he could tell she didn't expect him to say anything yet. She put her face in her hands and groaned and Sam rubbed her back gently until she sat up straight again. "He came here to apologize to me for what he did before he possibly dies and I couldn't forgive him." She admitted and that was when his heart shattered for her. She shook her head as she started to sob, her head falling forward and into him as she cried. "I couldn't-," she whimpered out. He wrapped his arms tight around her as strangled sobs escaped her continuously, her body shaking with didn't say a word, only let her cry until she didn't need to anymore.

"You can't beat yourself up for this," he told her once she'd calmed down. "You were betrayed, Mercedes, by someone you told me you thought you would be with forever." He said. "Him being sick and his life being at risk doesn't just suddenly make that disappear, he has to understand that. You have to understand that."

"I feel like a horrible person," she whispered.

"You're not." He told her. She sniffed.

"I don't hate him, Sam." She said as she met his gaze again. "I don't hate him like I thought I would when I saw him for the first time again." She went on. "But he hurt me so bad. So much of me has changed because of what he did and he just got to disappear and be happy." She shook her head. "How am I supposed to forgive him for that?"

"Maybe one day you'll be able to. But if today isn't that day and even if tomorrow isn't, it's not your fault." Sam told her, his hand caressing her cheek. "It wasn't fair to you. You are not a horrible person. I don't know anyone who would've been able to do what he asked you to do." He assured her. She shook her head as exhaled, wrapping her arms around him. They moved back to the front of the bed and she lay her head on his chest again. She laughed quietly.

"I'm damaged, Sam." She muttered into his embrace. "You should get away as fast as you can." He chuckled because he'd been thinking the exact opposite. He'd been thinking how much he cared about her and how long it seemed he'd waited to finally see her beautiful smile again since they'd left the wedding. He hated that it had all happened at all. Her eyes were more swollen than ever and her voice was hoarse, but she was there with him and she was at least laughing again despite what she'd just been through, and that was enough to bring him a bit of peace.

"Zip it, you're perfect." He said as he kissed the top of her head.

"Run," She joked and he shook his head, smiling as her skin warmed against his. He interlaced their fingers and kissed her hand before replying;

"Not a chance,"