The Rhapsody
Mercedes had been at Kurt's for hours and the rest of Sam's shift at work, he could not stop thinking about his time with her. Now, the shop was closed and everyone simply left the building when it did, and vowed to clean up etc the following day. Sam left with Lauren, so that he wouldn't be locked inside of the building and just brought his things with him. He and Lauren always had a blast when together, anyway. "Are you going to tell me anything?" She asked him when they got into her car.
When Mercedes and Sam returned to the shop, Mercedes had led the blindfolded Sam to the elevator and the two disappeared into her apartment for a while. Neither of them would say anything about what went on there. Mercedes and Sam prayed together about his upcoming mission to make amends and ask for forgiveness from people in his past. She gave him a crash course in blind dancing, and her feet were not happy about that decision, at all! They played with the dogs – which Sam had a blast doing so, without being able to see them, not knowing which way they were going , and as they rolled around with the animals, Mercedes ended up landing on top of Sam somehow, and she kissed him, softly and chastely, on the lips. "Thank you for lunch," she said, then pushed herself up and stood. She snatched off his blindfold and mask and handed it to him, "Maybe dinner, next time," she suggested.
There was no discussion about it and Sam was not going to make any assumptions, but from the feel of it, she meant it. It was genuine and she wanted him… but that could have been wishful thinking on his part or an impulsive show of gratitude for a fun day on hers. He decided not to bother the rest of her birthday by trying to probe her about the matter. After the date with Sam ended, and they both came off of the elevator, Sam immediately reported to Quinn, with the hugest smile on his face, ever. And Mercedes immediately left with Lauren to get pampered and beautified at the spa.
Mercedes, Lauren, Quinn, and Tina all got ready for Mercedes' birthday party at Kurt's place – since his was the biggest and his in home studio was big enough for a group of models to have photo shoots inside of. Sam dropped Lauren off at Kurt and Blaine's and went back to her place to chill out until it was time for them to meet at the spot. Kurt had insisted he wear some fashionable suit that he had to admit looked pretty good on him, but – whatever. The only person that he'd want to impress couldn't see it.
Now, as the ladies and Kurt prepared for the night, that Mercedes was hella excited about, Lauren smirked at Mercedes' glowing face while she did her makeup. Mercedes was sipping on blackberry merlot and letting her friends decorate her for her big night, while they listened to music. Kurt watched the scene on Lauren's phone again and snapped, "I can NOT believe that pretty bastard did not tell me about this! A few weeks ago, I was his first choice for gift planning, but today, he gives the best gift ever and leaves me totally out of the loop."
Lauren laughed and said, "There was no loop. He went in solo. Besides, last time he involved you, he thought that he'd gotten you into trouble."
"I'm a grown ass man… I only get into trouble with my grown ass man… and not even then, because I run the show around this place. He looks the part, but I assure you, this is Kurt Hummel's domain." He smiled and finally handed her the phone back, "And I know that he made quite an impact, because there are two things that Mercy never talks about: the first is when something really upsets her, like to the core… like Puck. I know she hasn't said a word to me about him in weeks. The other thing she keeps to herself is stuff that makes her extremely happy, because she's scared to admit that she allowed herself to feel good inside."
"I feel good inside every day," she commented.
"Sam good?" Kurt asked and the smile on her face stretched near beyond the borders of her cheeks. "Mm hmm. That's not a smile that I see every day."
Tina was silent as she perfected her own outfit. Lauren watched her, wondering what she was thinking and waiting for a comment, but none came. Lauren didn't know whether to be pleased or worried. "How are you feeling, Tina?" She decided to ask. Tina glanced at Mercedes, and – noting the smile on her friend – smiled, herself. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. She wanted to share in Mercedes happiness, she really did. But, she couldn't force herself to be happy about this. This was all wrong. Mercedes had just gotten out of a damaged situation with a white guy that, although passive aggressively, treated her like a piece of property (she could never really stand Puck, either, to be honest); and now it looked like her friend might be jumping right into another situation… and a more effed up situation, at that.
"Sam and I are just friends, you guys," Mercedes commented and meant it with all of her heart. They were close, but it took her growing up with Artie and being his friend for years before they were in puppy love in high school. She knew Shane her entire life before she dedicated the greater part of her senior year to her romance with him. And she had known Puck her entire high school career before actually falling for him shortly after her graduation from a special gifted school for the blind. No portion of her brain found it possible nor acceptable to determine that she would want to be with someone after knowing them less than three months.
"Is that why he tweeted 'Mercedes smells good' earlier?" Kurt asked, now looking at his own phone.
"I did smell good," she said and strummed her hands down the length of her waistline.
Quinn walked up behind her in the mirror and strummed the same trace, "And you looked good, too. The two of you were really cute together, today. I wish that you could have…"
"Nope," Mercedes said. "Don't say it. I don't want to hear that statement, at least for the rest of the night." She said thoughtfully, "I should really thank you all, though. Because it's those kinds of comments that even prompted Sam to do what he did."
Quinn asked, "What do you mean?"
Mercedes faced Quinn and told her, "I mean that he wants me to be able to see things, just as much as anyone else, but he knows that telling me that he wants me to see things only makes me feel flawed and misjudged." She sighed and told them, "I didn't have to see us today. That was the entire point – I don't have to be able to see in order to know something. We felt each other today."
"In the absence of Santana, please allow me to say, 'Wanky,' Lauren said.
Mercedes snickered and said, "I'm serious. The moments that we had together today transcended the physical and the tangible, so to wish that I could have "seen" us is an insult to me and to what happened today, and I'm not gonna have it!" Mercedes held out her hand, "Drink," she said and Lauren fetched her glass of wine and placed it in her hand. "Are we ready to go out, yet?"
Mercedes could hear the arguments. They should have known it to, but they didn't seem to care much about that, for the moment – because they were arguing again (about her). They just didn't have the money to keep her in the blind school, but her mother would have nothing less and her father could not figure out how to make it work. He wanted his daughter to be in the best school for her, as well, he just couldn't figure out what he could do in order to make that a possibility. What was worse was that they were going to lose the house, and business was not necessarily great at the Jones' gift shop. He wanted to sell the place. She wanted to bring more in demand items into it – custom gifts and antiques. That made no sense to him, because that would mean spending more money. However she insisted that it would also mean making more money.
She began to sing, to try to block out the fussing. It was her birthday, couldn't they have tried not to argue. Just because of that simple fact? She supposed that she would simply have to entertain herself with song, until one or both of them called it quits and someone came to check on her. Then, she would pretend that she was not hurt and that no one was mad and she would sing to them and be funny so that they would love on her and forget all about their problems. Even if it wasn't going to happen that way, she was going to try.
Puck leaned against the bar, talking to Lauren, while Sam sat alone, watching the girls dance. Kurt and Tina dolled Mercedes up to look like a star, in bright yellow, magenta and teal. Her dress had an open back, that dove into a v that pointed right to the start of her perfectly rotund backside and her lotion was shimmery and glistening beads of perspiration were on her from dancing. She had splits on either side of her dress and the movements she made revealed her entire leg, and the high heel yellow shoes that contrasted against her brown flesh as they laced up and around her delicious looking legs. Her earrings looked like dream catchers, which Sam found hilariously appropriate for her, and she had her hair up in a curly do with a sway bang front, a flower on the side and feather & crystal clips to keep everything in place. Sam was BEYOND pissed off at the moment.
Why the hell would they dress her like that, knowing that she couldn't see herself? And of course, he wasn't going to question it, because it was her choice and they had described to her in detail what she would be wearing and she could feel the outfit on her – she had some knowledge of what she must look like to him and a butt load of other guys that he saw swooning over her lusciousness. He couldn't take his eyes off of her and his pants were extremely uncomfortable to wear.
Lauren was out with Puck tonight, which was either a good sign or some type of trick by Puck to win Mercedes' attention. If it was the latter, the plan was, thankfully, failing miserably. Mercedes wasn't paying attention to anything but the music and the drinks being passed her way. Mercedes and Santana had their breasts pressed together, hands up in the air, shaking their stuff. God, everything shakes on Mercy! Tina and Quinn were bent over in front of their friends, rubbing their butts on them. Brittany's snatch was nearly directly in Tina's face, as she danced with her shoulders against Sunshine, leaning backwards. It was like a clothed, all girl lust party over there; but Sam only had eyes for one of them… sort of…
Santana looked pretty good in her girls' night out clothes, or lack thereof. In fact, this was quite an attractive, half naked, social circle. He glanced at some of the other women huddled together dancing, and none of them really looked as good. He saw Sugar dancing with her friends Giselle and Harmony. Their dancing looked like they had rehearsed it, but it was actually pretty cool. It wasn't sexy like the POM (Pieces of Mercy) girls, but he was entertained. Sugar waved at him and he nodded politely, hoping that she wouldn't approach. She didn't.
Sam smiled to himself, but it quickly left when he saw someone dancing with Mercedes… some dude. Who TF is that? Sam sighed as her arms went around the guy's neck and she rocked close upon him, with her friends cheering her on. He glanced at Puck to catch him staring at the sight, himself. Then, they made eye contact and Puck smirked at him, then turned around to face Lauren again and start talking, happily to her. Someone sat next to Sam, breathing hard. Don't be Sugar, he thought and turned to see Sunshine, in her dazzling tube top, short shorts, heels and glitter make up. She looked much older than she generally did at work… she also kinda looked like a stripper – but several of the women did.
"Do you not like dancing, Mr. Sam?" She asked.
"I do," he said, noting immediately that she had been drinking, even if not a lot. Of course, for someone her size, it might not take much for her to get drunk. "I'm just not in the mood to dance, right now."
"No? What are you in the mood for?" She asked, with a naughty little smile.
"Have you been drinking?" Sam asked.
She went into an unfounded fit of laughter and answered, "Sure, we all have!"
He nodded and told her, "Maybe I should, too. Yeah, that's what I'm in the mood for," he said and got up. "See you, Sunshine." He walked to the bar and leaned against it, right behind Puck's back, as he leaned on his side, facing Lauren, on her barstool. "I hope you aren't drinking, Puck."
Puck turned to face Sam, not even the slightest bit amused, as Lauren clawed at the air and pleaded silently to Sam 'SAVE ME! HE IS DRIVING ME NUTS!' Sam tried not to laugh at this as Puck told him, "I haven't drunk alcohol since my daughter was born. I'm the official designated driver. It'd take more than you to mess me up, Evans."
Ignoring the slight, Sam asked, "Where is your daughter tonight? Quinn's on the floor and all your friends are here."
"Not all of them. She's at Shane's house. He's her godfather," Puck said. Sam looked thoughtful for a moment (it was kind of hard to believe that he and Shane were that close, but Shane had never mentioned Sam Evans' name), then ordered three drinks – two shots and a mixed drink. "Whoa, whoa! Are you alright, Evans?" Sam shrugged and slid one of the shots past Puck to Lauren. She snatched it; the two of them looked at each other, nodded and hit the shot… Puck noticed – like they had done this before, or something. He frowned as Lauren slammed her glass down and gestured for another shot. Hell, what if I wanted to kiss her? He thought. "Keep a cool head, Dude," Puck told Sam. Sam lifted an eyebrow at him, unimpressed and took a sip of his drink. Sam waved for another shot, as well.
Knowing how much of a snake Puck could be, Sam wouldn't have been surprised if he'd been invited to stay at the center for the purpose of being seen by Shane. Sam shook that from his head. It was Mercy's birthday and he wasn't going to bring any drama into it. He had a feeling that before the night was over, one or more of her closer friends would do that anyway. Trying to distract himself from negative thoughts, Sam called out, "Zizes, you look gorgeous, tonight!"
"Do I?" She asked. Then, yelled at Puck, "Thanks for noticing!" She took the second shot, then headed towards the floor, "Come on Evans!"
"My shot.." he said, but she'd pulled him away.
"He's not as attractive when you start hanging out with him and everything that isn't his daughter, who is a lovely, wonderful child, is WHINING!" She complained. "Or terrible flirting. He has no skill, He's like one of those misogynistic old movies where it's just canon that the guy gets the girl, even though he clearly has nothing that she would ever want in real life. Then he keeps bragging about how he doesn't drink anymore, which is great – but it's like he's trying to convince me of something and I don't even care about that."
"We can't leave our recovering alcoholic designated driver at the bar alone with a free shot," Sam said, rushed back to the bar, snatched his shot up, drank it, then went back to Lauren. She laughed at the fact that she actually thought he was going back to keep Puck company. "On another note, you two looked great together. Is this a date, because I don't want him to think that I'm trying to snatch away every woman that he lays his eyes on…"
She fussed, "This man needs something to be addicted to! He used Mercedes to get over alcohol and I'm not gonna be the one he uses to get over Mercedes, when I just wanted a good time with a pretty guy. It is sad and it is frustrating, and he is a pretty S.O.B. but he ain't that pretty. Come on, we're too far from the pulse of the party."
When they got to the crowd of dancing ladies, Sam didn't feel comfortable jumping into the groove. There were a lot of hot, closely grinding sweaty bodies. That didn't bother Lauren a single bit. She jumped right in the middle of the circle and began shaking it like it was her birthday. Sam laughed and waved his hands in the air as he cheered her on. Kurt and Tina immediately flocked to her and began to dance with her. Quinn was in the middle of a Santana Brittany sandwich and Kurt and Blaine were in their own world together. That… sort of freed Mercedes up. She was dancing in the group, but not with anyone and Sam slid right in, right up to her from behind. Random dude was nowhere around.
Sam wrapped his arms around her midsection and put his face against the side of hers. She reached up and wrapped her hands around his neck and rolled against him. "Where have you been all night?" She asked.
"I didn't wanna crowd you and suck out all the fun," he said. She just laughed. "What gave me away?" He asked.
"Your height, the fabric of your suit, and you smell like Sam," she laughed and turned to face him, then just fell forward onto him and began to rock her hips left and right. Quinn suddenly appeared in front of her and danced her away from him. She threw a warning look over her shoulder at Sam and shook her head 'no.' For a time, he checked himself around Quinn, because she was obviously very important to Mercedes and he had not wanted to upset her… but having learned more about Quinn, recently; he didn't give a damn; and he was ready to open his mouth and let the shots come out.
Lauren watched the interaction and shimmied over to Sam. "I'm going in. Wait a few moments, then bump her into me," she said. He was going to question her, but she pretty much did the same thing that Quinn had done to Sam, to Quinn, and Sam obediently bumped Quinn into Lauren, after the fact. Lauren turned around and in one fluid motion mushed Quinn in the face and sent her falling back onto Brittany and Tina, as they danced together. Lauren covered her mouth and said, "Oh, Quinn, My bad!" and went to check on her while Sam went to dance with Mercedes again. He looked at Lauren and a shocked, dazed looking Quinn that Tina and Brittany were trying to help regain her balance. Lauren winked at him and he loved her more than anything, right then.
By the time karaoke started, Mercedes was feeling good and shining with alcohol and dance induced sweat. Her friends were all signed on for songs, and she was going to hear every one of them. Santana sang, "Groove is in the Heart" by Deeee - Lite, with Brittany and Mike back up dancing. Sam watched his friend enjoy the show, even though she couldn't see. She was at the edge of the stage dancing and clapping. Lauren sang "Take It Off" by the Donnas, and Sam realized that it didn't even matter the genre, Mercedes knew every single song on the karaoke list, because she sang along to all of them as she danced around. Tina sang "Barracuda" by Heart. Blaine and Kurt did a duet version of Stevie Wonder's "As…" which sounded like a poor choice for them, to Sam's ears, but Mercy seemed to love it (along with everything else). Then, Puck got onto the stage and Sam folded his arms. Lauren rolled her eyes and hoped that he would just pick something smart and fun, but when the music to Possum Kingdom by the Toadies started, she just shook her head and looked at Sam. "Back to the bar," she said and they both went.
At the end of the song, Puck said, "I know what everybody's thinking right now, so just let me clear things up. Lauren Zizes – that was for you." All of the group looked around for Lauren and saw her choking on the shot that she was in the middle of when he made that announcement, and Sam attempting to fan her and give her water. Puck laughed, and said, but I actually have another song for my best friend, for her birthday. Here's to you, Mercy – K?" She nodded as the music to Shinedown's Burning Bright began.
"How does he get to sing two songs?" Sam asked out loud.
"The clique knows the owner," Lauren told him.
Puck was singing, "I feel like there is no need for conversation. Some questions are better left without a reason and I would rather reveal myself than my situation. Now and then I consider my hesitation…" Mercedes climbed herself onto the stage and Puck grabbed her hand to help her up as someone tossed her a microphone that Puck caught with one hand and passed to her.
"The more the light shines through me, I pretend to close my eyes. The more the dark consumes me I pretend I'm burning, burning bright…" Sam didn't like the fact that Puck was looking at her as they sang this chorus and she was facing him. It was like they were in a world of their own… and she and Puck had a history… Sam bit his lip nervously and ordered another drink.
Mercy sang, "There's nothing ever wrong, but nothing's ever right, such a cruel contradiction…"
Then Puck grabbed her hand as he sang, "I know I crossed the line, it's not easy to define - I'm born to indecision. There's always something new, some path I'm supposed to choose, with no particular rhyme or reason…" People in the place were going crazy over the two of them and by the end of the song, Mercedes was crying as she held Puck and he was saying something to her and led her off of the stage, with his arm around her. What had just happened? She was nodding her head to whatever Puck was saying and Sam didn't like the sight of that, given Puck's record of mind control and manipulation of her.
Sam wanted to go check on her, but Lauren grabbed his arm and shook her head, "Take it to the stage," she told him. But, Artie was already on the stage, and Mercedes was settling back in her spot at the front of it, waving Puck off. Puck came towards Lauren and Sam and Sam clenched his fists. Maybe he shouldn't have had so many drinks so quickly. When he reached them, Lauren simply said, "Puckerman."
Puck held out both of his arms and asked, "How about that walk?" She frowned and rolled her eyes, but he fell onto her neck and started giving her quick little kisses, "Stop frontin,' you know that song did something to you." He pushed her towards the door and Sam simply stood, feeling confused and a little ridiculous. He made his way to the stage, as Artie was rapping something about Bonita Applebum… a song that Sam had certainly never heard in his life, but he was never really into rap. However, there was Mercy, grooving to that, as well. He guessed that she was over her Puck moment, or at least not going to let it affect the rest of her night.
There had been rap, pop, rock, and other stuff, and Sam realized when it was his turn, there hadn't been country. He was probably gonna sing country, anyway…
When the music started, he heard Mercedes squeal, "I love this song!" That made him smile. At least, even if it wasn't well-received, he knew that she liked the song in general.
"Never had no one, I could count on. I've been let down so many times. I was tired of hurtin', so tired of searchin', til you walked into my life." Sam walked to the edge of the stage and sat down on it, right in front of her, "It was a feeling, I'd never known, and for the first time - I didn't feel alone." He could hear her singing along with him, "You're more than a lover. There could never be another to make me feel the way you do. And oh, we just get closer," (she began to echo an ad lib – We just get CLOSER), I fall in love all over (in love all OVER) every time I look at you.
I don't know where I'd be without you here with me. Life with you makes perfect sense. You're my best friend." She was silenced when she felt his hand touch her cheek, "You stand by me and you believe in me, like nobody ever has. When my world goes crazy, you're right there to save me, and make me see how much I have…" Mercedes placed her hand over his mouth and just shook her head at him. She couldn't take him singing another word. He backed away from her, took his song back to the stage and finished it, seeing her move away, with Quinn, Santana and Tina flocking to her to escort her.
When Sam got off of the stage and Sunshine was getting on, Kurt intercepted him.
"What do you not understand about the words, 'not ready'?" Kurt asked, drunken and loud.
"It was just a song..." Sam tried.
"Until you personalized it, by touching her face and singing it to her!" Kurt snapped, pointing his finger and raising his voice. Sam's fists clenched together. He and Kurt were cool, but Sam was not one for having a man yell at him like a child in a public place. Maybe it was his prison background, maybe it was just the fighter in him, but if Kurt came any closer, he was going to get hurt. Blaine noticed the change in Sam's body language, grabbed his partner, and tried to calm him down. "Do you think because I'm gay that I won't hurt you, Sam Evans? My princess has been floating on air all night, and now…" Blaine pulled Kurt, lovingly, but forcefully enough to put some distance between he and Sam.
"Puck made her cry! In fact, Puck personalized his song…" Sam's head was spinning and his temperature was elevated.
"Puck has been her friend since we were sixteen," Kurt said.
"All of you always make excuses for that bastard," Sam said.
"Yeah, and you know how else the hell I've made excuses for? You - Sam. But, if you are going to repay me this way, especially after I overlooked the fact that you treated me like a leper when you first met me, you'd best believe that ship has sailed, Honeybun. Where're my girls at?" Kurt asked, looking around.
"They went to the ladies' room," Blaine said and Kurt stormed off, still fussing out loud. Blaine sighed and said, "You know, Kurt can be a little high-strung and overbearing, but he has been there for Mercedes since the institution and he loves her to pieces. He would never do anything to hurt her."
"What institution?" Sam asked.
Blaine bit his lip and said, "The institution… for the blind. She was in one when she was younger," then he quickly took off, taking out his phone and texting as he did. Sam stood alone, for a time, then went to the bar. He needed some water.
Sam sat on the bar stool and asked for a water. The large woman behind the counter asked, "You're with the Mercy Jones crowd, aren't you?"
He smiled, a small smile and said, "You must've missed the fool that I just made out of myself singing."
She smiled back at him and said, "You didn't make a fool of yourself, Pumpkin. She just hasn't had the proper time to think it over. Give her a moment, and it might take her two." She gave him a bottle of water and drank it thirstily. "Who are you?" She asked, and Sam presumed that she knew Mercy well enough to answer the woman.
"I am Sam," he said. When he was younger, he would have made a little joke about Dr. Seuss… but his head was spinning and he was a little too damned old to even resurrect that.
"Sam…" she said thoughtfully. He could tell that she had heard his name before. "I've heard of you," she said. "Need something for your head?" She asked. He nodded and looked extremely grateful when she handed him a two pill packet of aspirin. She smiled at him and said, "You seem like a good kid. If you need anyone to talk to, I have a pretty good ear."
"Thanks…"
"Beiste," she said.
"Beast?" He asked, with a confused face.
"B-E-I-S-T-E. Shannon Bieste, to be exact."
Mercedes did not take long to clean up and return her smile to her face. It must have been the alcohol, because she did not understand why Sam's song affected her so much. Then, it could have been Puck's apology and his promise to try to keep being the best friend that he had in him to be, "Unfortunately, we both know that I'm not very good at it," he commented, to which she could only nod. "But, I try my best, Mercy. I really do, and I'll never stop."
She thought that she was going to be alright when she heard Artie try at A Tribe Called Quest. Hell, that was her jam! Then, she heard the music to My Best Friend, by Tim McGraw, and at first assumed that someone outside of their party was on the stage (wasn't really the selection type for her group), but she heard Sam's voice and was stunned. But, maybe, he just really liked that song. Maybe it was just one of his favorites, like it was one of hers. When he got right in front of her, it frightened her, so she did the reasonable thing – she didn't panic. She just sang along, because this was karaoke night, and that's how she liked it, singing along. But then… he touched her face.
Like: I'm singing to you right now. I need you to know that these words are literally for you. Mercedes broke. Quinn, Tina and Santana hung around the ladies room, while she splashed her face with water and dried herself off. Fortunately, they never let her wear makeup that easily ran, but it was running enough that they did an emergency touch up for her. "Lead me back to Sam," she commanded. Quinn, Tina and Santana all exchanged looks and she said, "Hello?"
"Sure, Cedes," Quinn answered her and took her hand.
Tina shook her head, angrily and began to storm towards Mercedes and stop her, but Santana caught her arm. "Tina, I feel just the way you do, but you pick and choose your fights and this is not the time. It's her birthday and she's drunk."
"That's exactly why she doesn't need to go back to him."
Santana said, "Look, you didn't see him today, Tina. You didn't see how willing he was to just hand himself over to her and how she responded. If you try to stop her right now, your friendship will be in trouble."
"If I don't try to stop her right now, my FRIEND could be in trouble!" Tina snapped back, and jerked her arm away from Santana. "You just don't understand us. You don't know enough about Mercy to understand. I've seen her when things didn't go right and she's not as strong as she would like for people to believe."
"She's not as weak as you choose to believe that she is, either." Santana said, but Tina was already walking away from her.
When Santana came out of the ladies room, there were their friends, in a cluster, right outside of the bathroom. Kurt was irate about something, with Blaine and Mercedes trying to calm him down. Tina began complaining to Mike and Quinn about her recent exchange with Santana and Sam was standing there, with folded arms, not making a move or sound, with Brittany talking to him, oblivious to the fact that there was a volatile situation feet away from her. These bitches never need to drink, Santana thought and went to collect her girlfriend.
She found Mercedes and hugged her goodnight. "I open the shop in the morning, so Brit and I are going to take off, Mama." She said and kissed her cheek. "You be careful. Whatever you decide to do tonight; just be careful and be safe." Brittany hugged and kissed Mercedes as well, and the two left.
Kurt was crying and fussing about random stuff, now. Mercedes heard him say, "I juist have a lot of feelings," then she felt a hand take her hand and she allowed it to lead her away from the foolishness that was Kurt's drunken rant. Before too long, the noise was muffled inside of the building and she was inhaling fresh air. "Sam… they'll be pissed," she said.
"They'll pull through," he told her. "I wanted to apologize, yet again for overstepping my boundaries. I'm a little bit drunk," he said, then quickly said, "NO! No, I'm lying… I'm very drunk and it was ill-conceived for me to even have a drink, because I haven't drank since I was a teenager, and back then, I did it TO make myself lose inhibitions and go nuts."
"I think that everybody's drunk tonight," she said, in an understanding voice. "And it's kinda my fault. I kissed you earlier, and I shouldn't have done that."
"No, you definitely should have," he corrected her. "Look, I don't care if you don't want to be with me. That's not what I meant. I do care. I care a lot. I only mean that whether or not you do, I'm gonna be here for you. I'm at your mercy, Mercy." He laughed at himself and shook his head.
"I can't be with anyone, right now, Sam. It would be selfish of me to kiss you and things that might elicit emotion out of you when I know that I can't be with you in that way."
"No, it wouldn't." He told her. "You are telling me, right now that you don't want to be in a relationship with me. I'm gonna respect that and I'm not gonna try to push you or force you into anything. I might slip up here and there and tell you that I think you're AMAZING, but I'll not try to make any decisions for you or presume ownership over you…" Mercedes was kissing him, now. There was something about hearing someone seriously say these things to her that made him irresistible to her. For him, her lips were enough. He didn't need her to commit to him, as long as he could have her, in whatever way that she was ready to give. This kiss was his everything, tonight. This moment was not an obligation, it was a gift.
"Mercedes!" She heard her friends calling from the doorway, then felt Sam grab her hand and pull her along. "Cedes? Where'd you go?" Kurt asked, "So, she's blind and drunk, walking around in the dark?"
Blaine reminded him, "She's blind. The fact that it's dark doesn't matter."
"That's not what I meant, obviously, Blaine. I meant we have to try to look in the dark for a blind, drunk woman," he yelled out, "Who I am going to spank when I find her! Mercedes!"
Mercedes whispered, "Ready? 1, 2, 3…" and she and Sam jumped from behind a vehicle at their search party and roared. "Quinn screamed and placed her hand over her heart. Kurt screamed and waved both hands in the air. Blaine jumped in front of Kurt, not even knowing what he was protecting his sweetheart from. I think Tina pulled out a knife," Sam said through laughter, making Mercedes laugh until that part about Tina.
Tina flipped her weapon shut and stuck it back into her clothing. "Mercedes, that really isn't funny," she commented.
"It sounded like it was pretty funny," she said.
"It was," Sam confirmed, still holding her hand.
Kurt noticed it and asked, "Is this real life? Am I on drugs? Am I really this drunk? Why is there hand holding happening in this parking lot? Are you two together?"
"No," they both replied. Then Mercedes said, "But I'm pretty sure that I've changed default couple status.
Mercedes laid in the comfort of her snuggly big blanket and piles of pillows. She felt someone next to her and instantly panicked and moved to touch their face… Quinn. She sighed and sat up, then heard the groggy female voice, "You need something, Cedes?"
"Need to know what you're in my bed for," Mercedes said.
"That awkward moment when Puck never returned to the bar because he and Lauren had run off and we ended up calling a cab and piling into it like sardines, and once he got here, he was so sick of everyone that he asked us all to get out," Quinn said.
Mercedes muttered a cuss word then, "I remember. Wait, are Sam, Sunshine, Mike and Tina in here, too?"
"Mike and Tina took the couch and Sunshine slept downstairs with Sam," Quinn said, absentmindedly. Then, she gasped and corrected herself, "I mean she slept downstairs and Sam, too. Not that they, together. I mean, I'm sure they didn't…" She could feel Quinn climbing out of the bed and she heard, "I'm gonna make you some coffee." But Mercedes didn't know if coffee was going to help her. Her heartbeat had just spiked at Quinn's slip of the tongue. The thought of Sam being with someone else genuinely bothered her.
When he was sporadically seeing Sugar, she was amuse, but now – just the suggestion… she reached for her phone. Damn drunken nights! "Have you seen my phone, Quinn?" She called out and heard her friend return to the room and start shuffling around in it. Then, she felt it in her hand and immediately called Sam.
"Good morning," he said.
"Good morning," she said back. "Did I wake you?"
"I didn't get a chance to go to sleep," he admitted. She felt her heartbeat speed up even more as he took a pause, then said, "Sunshine stole my bed, so I had to try to sleep on the floor, then she was snoring, so I left the room and tried to sleep on the shop floor, but it's just too hard, everywhere in the building, except for upstairs, but when I got up there, I got on the internet and ended up browsing until I dozed off at Santana's desk." She smiled and he replied, "Don't be smiling. I'm in pain. Can you call Sunshine and order her out of my bed?"
"Can you just get on the elevator and come up here? We're gonna have coffee and breakfast."