'And of course, I will take the coveted closing slot.' Rachel was saying snootily to Mercedes, flicking her thick chestnut hair over her shoulder with more than a hint of dramatic flair.

The girl had somehow managing to convince herself that she was 'neglected' and therefore deserved the closing spot of their Night of Neglect fundraising concert, although Sam couldn't see in what way, shape or form the brunette could ever be considered overlooked. In his mind, Rachel Berry was the exact opposite of neglected. He was beginning to feel over-exposed and he hadn't been around anywhere near as long as the others had.

That girl would make a great spin artist. Sam thought to himself as he quietly watched Rachel explain her rationale from the other side of the room. If there was a way to make complete bull sound believable, Rachel would find it.

Sometimes Sam wished he could pick Rachel up and carry her off into a different room like he sometimes had to do with Santana. The trouble was that while he only had to do that occasionally with the feisty cheerleader, he knew he'd be tempted to do it all the time with Rachel.

He'd found himself thinking that a lot lately, mainly because he'd noticed that a lot of Rachel's venom seemed to be spewed in Mercedes' direction. Mercedes liked to act like she was a diva, but Sam wasn't buying it. He'd known a lot of kids like that in his old boarding school, kids who would put on the confidence act to pretend like they weren't sad, or lonely or homesick or hurt. Sure, Sam had gone to school with guys, but he figured that the principle was the same. He hadn't known Mercedes long enough to know exactly what it was she was trying to keep hidden, but he still knew that it was there, the same way that he knew that her mask was beginning to slip.

Sam could never understand how no one else seemed to recognise that something was up with the self-proclaimed 'diva', how no one seemed to notice the way her eyes would drop to the ground and her shoulders would stiffen after Rachel said something to her, or Mr. Schue shot down another request for a solo with some half-assed excuse.

Sometimes he wanted to carry Mr Schue off into a different room too.

Sam didn't pretend that he knew Mercedes inside out or anything, he knew that he didn't, but he had his hunches about her. That was why after glee club was over he took a chance and ran to catch up with her in the hallway as she collected her things from her locker.

'Rachel's a Disney Princess.' he told her, trying to look casual as he leaned against the locker next to her. He was starting to worry that his hunch was wrong, especially when she looked up at him with confusion etched on her smooth brown features.

'Huh?'

'Rachel's a Disney Princess.' Sam repeated, continuing before his confidence failed him. 'You know, not everybody knows her name, but pretty much everyone has heard her voice.'

Mercedes laughed and then looked about her guiltily, making sure that the girl wasn't lurking behind the lockers or something.

'Yeah.' she agreed with a sigh, closing her locker and shrugging her bag onto her shoulder. 'But people still wanna hear those Disney girls sing, even if they've heard them a million times before.'

'Yeah…' Sam hedged, worrying that he'd already set the wrong tone. 'But they aren't neglected.'

He fell into step with her as they headed towards the parking lot.

'You know who my favourite animated princess is?'

Mercedes gave him a look as if wondering why he'd suddenly taken an interest in her.

'Who?' she asked finally, curiosity getting the better of her.

'Anastasia.'

Mercedes raised an eyebrow at him but he hastily continued.

'First of all, she wasn't Disney. Second, she had a way cooler villain, and third, she's like really underrated even though she had better songs and a cooler attitude.'

Sam pushed open the door to the parking lot and held it for her as she stepped through, falling easily into step with her again as they walked towards their cars.

'Anastasia was my favourite too,' Mercedes admitted with a shy smile, 'Don't tell Puck, he's hardcore Disney all the way.'

Sam nodded, unperturbed as he accepted Mercedes' advice.

'I don't mean to be rude,' Mercedes began, trying to figure out how best to phrase her question, 'but I don't really see why you're bringing this up with me.'

Oh. She thought once the words were out of her mouth, that hadn't sounded as good out loud as it had in her head.

Sam slowed as they neared their cars, parked only two spots apart in the corner of the lot and bit the inside of his cheek, knowing that he was probably going to sound like a huge dork no matter how he worded his next sentiment.

'Because you're Anastasia, Mercedes.' he told her feeling self-conscious, 'You may not be as famous or as instantly recognisable, but you're better.' he smiled down at her, his eyes entreating as he tried to get her to believe the truth in his words. Stopping short as the sudden image of a murderous Rachel Berry popped into his mind. 'Oh God, please don't tell her I said that.' he added, the plea evident in his voice. It probably wasn't cool to be scared of a girl, but sometimes Rachel got this psychotic glint in her eye…

'I won't tell her.' Mercedes promised, looking up at him with an unreadable expression. 'Why are you telling me this?' she asked him quietly after a moment, her head angled up at him as she tried to read his face. Sam grinned at her, pulling his keys out of his pocket and backing away to his truck.

'Because Anastasia is my favourite movie, Mercedes.'

He turned and unlocked his car door, yanking it open as Mercedes stared thoughtfully at his back.

'But what does that mean?' she asked as he was about to climb into the cab, and he paused with one foot still on the ground to turn back to her.

'Think about it.' he suggested as he hauled himself into the car, the door still open as he added, 'it'll come to you.'

Mercedes seemed to be thinking about it as she unlocked her own car and climbed in, her brow furrowed as she thought about what he'd said. Sam smirked to himself as he watched her, shutting his own door as he fastened his seatbelt and rolled over the engine.

Mercedes gave him a confused wave as she drove out of the parking lot and Sam peeled out after her, the smirk still firmly in place as he drove home. Mercedes Jones was his favourite alright, and one day she was going to figure that out.