Here's a new update. Two in one day... Oh yeah! But, I sense that this update is going to get me into a lot of trouble.
Like always, thanks for all the reviews, the follows and the favs! :)
Disclaimer: Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.
Please forgive all the mistakes...
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Happy reading...
Chapter 10
Bursting from their Thanksgiving bubble became difficult for the new couple. Returning to their regular lives, college and work was something they both dreaded because all they wanted to do was to stay in their 'Tennessee State of Love'. Going back to New Haven meant dealing with Santana's constant racy comments about the library stacks, Joe's very untimely cockblocking moments and finals.
Walking around campus hand in hand with Sam was a very interesting experience for Mercedes because not matter how different Sam was from how she met him; he was still one of the most popular guys around campus. Frankly, she was having a difficult time adjusting to all the attention her relationship with him was getting. Even going to the library was a whole new deal for her because people would be staring at them all the time and honestly, Sam was not helping with keeping the attention away from them.
"Stop."
"What? I am not doing anything." He said innocently. "I'm just kissing my girlfriend's neck because she looks cold."
"That's exactly what I mean, Sam. People are staring." Mercedes said mortified.
"So, let them stare and eat themselves out of envy." He said, as he continued his ministrations, not caring that Santana was sitting across from them as well.
"Sam, I mean it. Stop!"
"I'll stop if you stop being so sexy." He whispered to her ear, sending all kinds of electric shocks down her spine.
Seeing the spectacle in front of her, Santana started to mumble her to take him to the library stacks but Mercedes muttered a firm no in reply.
"Sam. I need to concentrate. I have a scholarship to keep."
"Ok, Ok. I'm studying."
Ten minutes later, Sam started with his antics again. He started to rub Mercedes' thigh and to play naughtily with her hand, causing her to lose track of her reading. "Sam… My scholarship."
"You know my dad could easily pay for your tuition fees." Sam pointed out trying his luck with her.
"I don't want your dad to pay for anything when I have a very capable brain that can help me keep my scholarship."
"Ok. You win. I'll stop for now."
"Thank you."
Seeing what was happening, Santana decided it was time for her to escape. "Guys, I gotta go. I have lunch plans with Brit. See you guys later and remember the dusty stacks are only two floors away."
Mercedes looked at her completely mortified, while Sam thanked her for the idea. "Don't even think about it, Sam Evans."
"Give me a few minutes and you will want me to take you there in heartbeat."
"Sam, finals start next week and you need to be serious."
"Oh… I will. Later." He said naughtily.
XXXXX
In the distance, there was someone watching them like a hawk. Everything that person wanted was the perfect moment to strike the happy couple. Sam Evans needed to learn a few things about elitism and that person, with the help of another person, was going to make sure that he learn them somehow.
"What are you going to do to break them up?"
"I don't know but one thing I can assure you they are not going to last."
XXXXX
As Sam continued his not so subtle ministrations, Mercedes was losing her concentration more and more. "Gosh, I've read the same sentence like 20 times."
Sam mischievously laughed. "You can't resist me, Mercy."
Sam Evans was right. He was becoming a vice to her. He consumed every single thought and every moment. She loved him more than words could ever express even though none of them had said the l-word to each other. She was sure their actions were speaking what their words could not say yet.
"Come with me, Mercedes." Sam said while he grabbed her hand, forgetting all about the belongings they were leaving behind.
While Sam guided Mercedes around the library, the mysterious hater made the move. "Follow them and do what you gotta do to embarrass them." The person ordered.
"On my way." The little minion said.
As they went up the stairs, their excitement was rising rapidly and they could not get their hands away from each other. When they finally arrived to where the solitary stacks were, they hid in between a couple of shelves, unaware of the person following them. Mercedes pushed Sam against one the shelves and started to kiss him passionately, Sam in response grabbed her so tight that there was no space between them. Engrossed into their heated make-out session, they did not notice that the person, who followed them, was snapping pictures of them. When they were about to go all the way, the minion, trying to get a better snapshot of the couple knocked down a couple of books and made them stop.
"Who's there?" Sam shouted as he put his shirt back on and Mercedes was rapidly getting dressed herself. As Sam tried to look around for whoever the person was, the person ran out of the floor through the emergency door and neither of them could not get a good look of the person.
"I got some interesting pictures. Meet me at the newspaper's office; we are going to have some fun." The person said and hung up the call.
XXXXX
The next day, Mercedes was walking through the hallways of the Political Sciences building and she noticed that everybody was looking at her weirdly and whispering things she could not understand. Yes, being in a relationship with Sam Evans was the synonym of getting unnecessary attention but one thing she hated was people whispering about them in her face. In that moment, Brittany approached her with the college newspaper at hand.
"Hey Mercedes, I did not know you agreed to have someone photograph you while getting dirty with Sam at the library?"
Mercedes looked at her in utter confusion. "What are you talking about, Brit?"
"Look, it's on today's paper."
Mercedes grabbed the paper and look for the craziness Brittany was talking about. When she finally found the page, she could not believe what she saw. 'SAM EVANS AND HIS LOVE FOR THE POOR'. Mercedes read the title again and again. Mercedes began to read the article but she could not read past the first three paragraphs. The article explained how Finn and Sam deceptively arranged some bet to get Mercedes on Sam's bed just because she was a poor waitress. However, Sam embarrassed of having to have sex with her at his apartment, took her to the dusty library stacks instead to complete his task.
"What is this crap?" Mercedes shouted with her eyes full of tears while Brittany tried to comfort her. "I need to find Sam."
"Not so fast, girl." Mercedes turned around and found Rachel Berry standing in front of her.
"What do you want?" Mercedes asked annoyed, while Brittany walked away to look for Santana.
"Nothing. I just wanted laugh in your face because of the ridicule Sam has put you through. Did you really believe that someone like Sam could be interested in someone like you?" Rachel said insultingly. "Look at you! You are the epitome of a gold digger."
Mercedes slapped Rachel strongly. She could handle a lot of things expect being called a gold digger. "Everything I have, I've got it because of all my hard work. I don't need Sam nor any other rich boy to take care of me."
Rachel, rubbing her cheek, angrily spat. "Mercedes, we all know how the people of your ilk are. Stop pretending."
"Stop pretending what?" Sam said as he intervened.
"Sam!" Mercedes said still confused about what was going on.
"I'm waiting for an answer." Sam said frustrated.
"My work here is done. I don't feel like getting myself tangled with scum. But, it was interesting to find out that this…" Rachel said as she pointed at Mercedes. "It was just a silly bet between you and my Finny." After Rachel spat her venom, she walked away with a malevolent smile on her face.
Sam rapidly faced Mercedes and tried to hug her but she pulled away from his grip and ran outside the building, not caring that it was raining heavily.
"Why do these things happen to me?"
"I'm sorry, Mercedes! I really am. I didn't even finish reading the article when I started looking for you."
"You're not as sorry as I am."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I never should have started this. You are the kind of distraction I was trying to avoid." Mercedes said rubbing off the tears mixed with rain from her eyes. "Never in my life had I thought that I was going to end up being the joke of Yale University."
"Mercedes, please let me get-" Sam said trying to guide her back to the building.
"Don't touch me." She said removing his hands off her.
"Mercedes, please listen to me. You need to hear me out." He begged.
"So, there's a truth to all this mess."
"Not exactly." He said while he unsuccessfully tried to close the gap between them. "I wanted to make the bet with Finn at the beginning. That is something I am not going to deny. I remember telling him something about it one of the times I went to the café before I actually got a change to meet you but everything changed the first time I worked with you at the café. That was the night everything became clear to me, even though, I tried my best to hide it with my cocky attitude. It was the first time; I saw something in you that ignited everything that made who I am today. For the first time in my life I felt like my true self." He explained.
"And, what would have happened if I had not woken up anything on you?"
"I don't know. It would have been just another game."
Mercedes was disappointed, hurt and all she wanted was to run away from him. "Stay away from me, Sam. This… you and me… it's over." She said, while she walked away him.
"No. I won't accept that." Sam said frankly.
"Why?" She asked without facing him.
"Because I love you." He finally confessed.
"You love me? Why I should not believe this is part of some ploy?"
"Because… I am not pretending that I love you. I really do. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me. I am this endearing person today thanks to you. I told you this when we were at my folks. Mercedes, my parents told you that you were the first girl I ever brought home and they didn't have the need to lie for me. They were as real to you as the amazing relationship that we share."
"I'm sorry, Sam but what we had... is broken. We're done." Mercedes said and ran away, leaving him heartbroken and empty.
A/N: Oh no! Troubles in Fluffy land? Well... Relationships grow when they face troubles, right? Mercedes took a rash decision to end things with Sam. Will she regret it in the long run? What is Sam going to do about what the newspaper posted? Is he going to find out who did it? One clue... Finn did not do it, but he did made the mistake of sharing some information that was wrongly used.
Please... Don't be mad at me... I promise all of you the fluff will be back soon.
Until Next Time,
XOXO