DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE NOR ANYTHING ELSE MENTION.

ENJOY :)

Mercedes pushed the lock button on her key as she walked up the steps to Sam's house. Reaching the front door, she took her finger and pressed the doorbell, moving her hands into her pockets quickly so they could warm up. She had wanted to come by and make sure Sam was okay. It was the least she could do after everything that had happened. Hearing his weak voice on the other side of the door asking who it was, she knew he was still crying, "It's me..Mercedes."

Sam tried his best the clean his face so it wouldn't be so obvious but he realized that there wasn't no point in doing so. Pulling the door open, he peeped his head out, "Hey."

"Hey." Mercedes said softly as she titled her head to look at him, "I just came to check on you."

"I'm fine." He said in the most unconvincing voice, trying to muster up a smile to make her believe him.

Mercedes pursed her lips as she rolled her eyes, "You were never a good liar." She took a calming, tugging on her bottom lip, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." He pulled the door open and moved to the side, waiting until she came in fully before closing the door back. He gestured for her to go the living room, following behind her, "Would you like something to drink?"

Mercedes sat on the couch and shook her head, "I'm fine, thank you." Seeing a cat come up to her and began to rub against her leg, she smiled, "You have a cat?"

"Yeah, that's Dasher." Sam watched as Dasher hopped on the couch and got into her lap.

Mercedes chuckled a bit as she rubbed his fur, listening to his loud purring. She looked back at Sam and sighed, "I'm so sorry."

Sam held him hand up, sniffling hard, "Please stop apologizing." He looked up to ceiling as he leaned back on the couch, "Even after hearing my brother admit to fucking my life up, in some way, I still feel like this is my fault."

"It's not Sam." She said truthfully as she got up and went to sit by him. Even after all these years, she still felt like she was close to him. She grabbed his hand much like he did hers yesterday in the coffee shop and gave it a small squeeze.

Sam took his free hand and wiped his face, trying to reassure himself that it wasn't. He felt like he should've know something wasn't right when Mercedes didn't at least say goodbye, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How did you even muster the courage to come back here after everything?"

"Well, I didn't come straight back." Mercedes tucked her hair back behind her ear and glanced his way, "After everything went down, I left for college early. I stayed with Aunt and Uncle in California while I was there. I attended medical school snd once I passed my test and completed my residency at a local hospital, I decided that I wanted to stay for awhile. Honestly, I just really moved back eight years ago and the reason why is because my parents didn't get to see Dani as much."

Sam smiled at the mention of his daughter, lifting his head up, "She's a really good kid. We had coffee and a really great conversation the other day."

"Ah, so that's where she went." Mercedes should of known that she would reach out to him immediately. She knew growing up, it was hard for her to not have him around and it showed, "She's giving me the silent treatment so.."

"Teenagers. We did that once upon a time." He said with a genuine laugh for the first time since he has been home.

Mercedes smiled as she put her head down, noticing that she was still holding his hand, her cheeks warmed up as she slowly slid it out, "I have something for you."

Sam's face twitched up in confusion, "Me?"

Mercedes nodded as she stood up, telling him she'll be right back as she went back outside.

He didn't have to wait long because she came back in with a medium size box in her hand. She smiled as she handed it him, "It's just an early Christmas present."

Sam sat up and took the box from her, opening it up. He immediately felt the tears come back to his eyes in full force when he realized what it was. She had brought him pictures and videos from Danielle's childhood. He grabbed the first photo album and sat the box to the ground, opening up the book, the first picture he saw was the one when she was first born, "She looks so much like you."

"Really? I always thought she looked more like you." Mercedes said as she reclaimed her seat beside him, pointing at the picture with a smile, "She has your nose and lips."

Sam smiled as he continued to look at it. One book turned into another one then another one. A whole hour flew by as he went through the box of memories. He even watched one of the tapes Mercedes had and it was of Dani's first time walking. Of course he got emotional and it was expected. He missed so much, he couldn't get that back but he was grateful that Mercedes had given him these memories, "Thank you for this, I really mean it."

"You're welcome." She gave him a smile as she tilted her head to the side, her expression turning serious, "I know you've missed a lot..I know but I want you to be in Dani's life. We can't change the past but we can live in the present and make a better future."

"You're right." He said as he tore his eyes away from the photos to look at her, smiling, "Thank you again."

Mercedes nodded just as her pager went off, pulling it out of her pocket, she looked at it and sighed, "I'm needed at work. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine." Sam said as he stood up from the couch as she did, following behind her as she walked to the foyer. He opened the front door and watched as she stepped out, "Thank you for the pictures and videos."

"It's really no problem." Mercedes turned around to face him when she heard him talking, giving him another smile. She didn't know what possessed her to do it but she leaned forward and gave him a hug, getting rid of any awkwardness that they had between them.

Sam was shocked by the gesture but it didn't stop him from hugging back. He wrapped his arms around and hugged her tight, the feeling of her in his arms once again was an overwhelming emotion which caused him to let go. He cleared his throat and looked down at her, "Becareful driving."

"I will." She said as she gave him one last smile before walking down the steps and going to her car. This was a huge step for both of them. She wanted to repair their friendship not only for her daughter but for herself as well.

Danielle folded the last of her things and placed them in them in her drawer, taking a deep breath as she walked out the room. It's been a lot going on these past couple of days. With her meeting her dad, to her being mad at her mom, she literally felt bad about it. She knew she was wrong for how she treated her mom and it made her sick to her stomach thinking about the way she has been acting. Her mom was everything to her, she did everything for her and she legit felt bad. When she got down the stairs, she headed right for the kitchen. She decided that she would cook dinner tonight for her, something she often did but haven't done in awhile. Checking the clock, she should be home any minute. She took two bowls down from the cabinet and grabbed a big spoon. Opening the top of the pot with the white rice in it, she separated a good amount into the bowls before moving to the crockpot. She had decided to make homemade honey sesame chicken, topping the delicious chicken on top of the rice just in time.

Mercedes was dead tired. Her shift had ran longer than she had plan it too. With two emergency surgeries, she was beat. She wanted nothing more than to take a hot bubble bath and get in her bed. Closing and locking the front door behind her, a wonderful aroma hit her nose. She sat her purse on the table and slid out of her shoes, rubbing the back of her neck as she went into the living room, coming to a stop when she saw her daughter sitting drinks on the coffee table, "Hey."

"Hi mom." Dani said with a nervous smile as she stood straight up, clearing her throat as she ran her hands down the front of her pants.

"Having friends over?" Mercedes asked as she took off her coat and sat it on the couch, removing her watch and necklace as well.

"No." She answered confusedly when it came to her why she said that. She sighed as she walked closer to her, wringing her fingers nervously, "I made dinner for us."

Mercedes looked at her in shock before folding her arms across her chest, "Really?"

Danielle nodded as she put her head down, feeling tears immediately starting to form, "I'm so sorry for how I've been acting, I really am. I wasn't upset with you, I promise I wasn't..everything was just so overwhelming and I.."

Mercedes saw her having a hard time so she walked over and wrapped her arms around her, "It's okay."

"No it's not." She cried as she laid her head down on her chest, sniffling loudly, "I've never treated you like I have and I feel so bad for doing so. You were only trying to protect to me. And it wasn't like I didn't believe you because I did. I just..I don't know."

"Danielle it's okay baby, I promise." She lifted her head so she could look at her, wiping her tears away, "I understand why you were upset, I really do."

"I'm so sorry mommy, I swear I am." Her shoulders shook frantically as she stood in front of her mom.

Mercedes hugged her tightly as she laid her head sideways on top of hers, tears fogging up her own eyes, "I love you so much sweetheart, all I ever wanted to do was protect you, that's all. I never lied to you about anything Dani, I swear. The only reason I didn't want you to know who Sam was because I didn't want you to go looking for someone who was only going to let you down. But I was completely wrong."

Danielle sniffled as he tried to calm down, pulling back to look at her, "He really isn't a bad person."

"I know." Mercedes let her go as she sat down on the couch, "We both just found out last night that his brother was the one who did it."

"Oh my god." Danielle said with a frown playing on her face as she took a seat by her, "W-why would he do something like that?"

"He says he was protecting him.." Mercedes drifted off as she felt her anger starting to come back and she shook her head, "It doesn't matter now. The damage was done. We all have to move forward from this."

"Are you still mad at him?" Danielle asked as she wiped her tears away, looking at her mom with curious eyes, "My dad, I mean.."

"Far from it." Mercedes gave her a soft smile as she wrapped her arm around her, "I always knew deep down that he didn't do it but I was just going on what I thought were facts. When I found out the truth, it was a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Although I am still highly pissed off on what happened, I am happy for you and him because seeing how he reacted, made me know for sure that he wanted to be in your life."

I'm sure he wants to be in your life too Danielle thought. She sighed as she shook her head, she couldn't believe that someone could do this to her mom and dad. It made her so angry because even though she has only known her father for a week, he was the most sweetest person ever.

"You get it from him." Mercedes said as if she read her mind, smiling as she reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly, "Your sweet personality and gentle soul, that's all him."

Danielle smiled brightly as she leaned forward to give her a big hug, "I'm sorry again mom. I love you so much."

"I love you too sweetie." Mercedes kissed her cheek before pulling back, "Let me take a bath first then I'll come back down to eat dinner and maybe we can watch a movie. I might fall asleep though."

"Okay." Danielle smiled as she watched her get off the couch and head up the stairs. She grabbed her phone from the coffee table and sat back. She couldn't believe that his own brother would do something so cruel. It made her so mad that he took away a big part of her life. She wanted to call Sam to check up on him but seeing that it was after eleven, she figured that he was probably sleep. Putting her phone beside her, she decided that she'll call him tomorrow. When her mother finally came back down after fifteen minutes, she fixed them both a bowl of her delicious food and popped Rush Hour 3 in. They had finished their late dinner and about fifteen minutes into the movie, they were both sound asleep.

Santana sat on the counter beside Mike and sorted through some charts. She got off in ten minutes and decided to do some of the work for the night nurse. Although she was doing this, her mind was elsewhere. Mercedes had given her and Mike a rundown on what had happened and she wasn't as shocked as she expected to be. Others didn't see it but, Saint always seemed a little controlling to her when they were in high school. It was only confirmed when he did this bullshit to her friends. She sighed as she sat the folder down, lifting her head up when she heard someone call her name. She raised a brow when she saw Damien coming towards her, "Hey, what are doing here?"

"Mercedes called and said to meet her here." He said with a shrug as he finally reached them, "I'm hoping she took me up on my offer."

"What offer?" Mike asked as he looked at him up and down, not knowing who this man was.

"A second date." He answered the Asian man before holding out his hand for him to shake, "Damien Luckett."

"Dr. Chang, Mercedes' brother and best friend." So this was the dude she went out with Mike thought to himself before going to back to the folders.

Before Santana could say anything, Mercedes came up and signed a piece of paper, giving it to another doctor, "Thank you." Mercedes gave him a smile before turning around to them, clasping her hands together, looking at Damien, "And thank you for coming down here, I won't keep you long."

Santana scanned the woman's face curiously, not knowing what the hell was about to go down but she couldn't wait to see.

"No problem, I hope this pertains to the flowers and card I sent you." He smirked as stared down at her with a knowing expression. He knew exactly how to woo a woman and had no doubt in his mind that she loved it.

"It does actually." Mercedes folded her arms across her chest, leaning against the counter, "I'm just going to be blunt with you, we're not going on a second date."

"Damn." Mike muttered underneath his breath as he tucked his lips into his mouth.

Damien smirk dropped from his face, "Why not?"

"You're arrogant, conceited and so sure things are going to go your way." Mercedes frowned at him, "Definitely a turn off."

"Oh shit." Santana said as she looked at the man with a small glare. She thought for sure that he was a sweet guy from the conversations they had but she guessed she didn't really know the real him. She cursed underneath breath as she ran her hand over her face.

"But it was evident that you had a good time." He pointed out with a small frown forming on his lips.

"It was also evident that I had a few glasses of wine and plus, I'm a wonderful actress." She smirked as she walked over and patted his shoulder before going around him, "You will find a girl who's more up your speed. Good luck in life."

Damien looked at her in disbelief before throwing his hands up and walking away. He couldn't believe that she didn't like him because of his that. And the way she dismissed him..damn. No woman has ever done that to him.

"Fun my ass. I knew it was too good to be true." Mike said as he recalled the conversation they both had, shaking his head with a smile.

Mercedes snorted as she sat down in the chair in front of them, "It was fun at first. We had a nice conversation but it's about how he starting acting after the date."

Santana sighed as she looked down at her hands, "Sorry Cedes, I was just trying to help you get back out there."

"It's okay San." Mercedes smiled as she lightly tapped her leg with her foot, "Like I told you two before, I'm fine with being single."

"Okay, okay..we won't try and hook you up no more." Mike said as he looked at her, pursing his lips when he saw the big smile on her lips and how she began to clap.

Mercedes chuckled as she turned in her seat and rolled to the computer. She looked at the clock and saw that she had another hour before she got off and when she did, she could finally start her two week winter vacation.

A/N. Early update for this week. Let me know your thoughts! Sorry but I had to let Damien go. I had more planned for him but I changed my mind & it was time for him to hit the road. Back to the beginning, I really thought that it was a HUGE step and a big moment for Samcedes. Like Mercedes said, she wants to repair their friendship and that was definitely a great start to doing so. Dani and Mercedes relationship is pure love, I love it! You will be getting flashbacks of them soon, I promise. And BTW, don't think this mess with Saint is done, it's far from over and you will see. Have a great week & weekend. :)