Here is a new one-shot, I hope you all enjoy and I hope I did Santana justice.
Disclaimer: I do not own a thing- not the characters, Glee or the song This Love by Taylor Swift off her album 1989 (This is one of my favorite songs off the album).
Mercedes Jones walked through the halls of William McKinley High School with a small bounce in her step. It has been nearly six months since she has last seen Sam Evans and in those six months, her life slowly started orbiting around her again rather than Sam. She was her own sun in the solar system of her life again. She was the leader of a group of fierce singing girls, she did well in school and she had a boyfriend- she was at peace. She could smile again and she could laugh without thinking about Sam for days sometimes week. The few times the lingering memories of Sam Evans would appear would be when she was with Shane...
She met him at church exactly four weeks after Sam left Lima. He and his family moved to town the previous week. The young boy was immediately smitten with her when he saw her and heard her singing 'Imagine' by Kurt Franklin in the Sunday service that day. He approached her casually telling her she had a beautiful voice: 'Almost as beautiful as she was'. At first Mercedes did not know if she should be insulted that he downgraded her talent but she shrugged it off and thanked him before waiting for the rest of her family in the SUV.
Since that day, Shane would try to strike up a conversation with after church as they waited for their parents to bid goodbye the congregation members. Mercedes soon noticed he was flirting with her and in all honesty, at the time it had no effect on her whatsoever.
Somehow, someway he got her number and asked her on a date. She was tempted to tell him no but then she heard the uncertainty in his voice as if he was waiting for her to turn him down. She took a breath and told him she would love to go with him to the movies.
That is how their relationship progressed. They acted more like friends than a courting couple so when he leaned over on their third 'date' to kiss her she nearly had a heart attack but not wanting to hurt his feelings she sat rooted to her spot and let him press his lips to hers...
She felt absolutely nothing.
She did not feel the adrenalin rush through her veins or the rockets exploding in the four chambers of her heart like she did when Sam kissed her. She did not feel warmth spreading from the tip of her toes to the top of head. She did not feel butterflies causing havoc in her belly or a burst of passion in her soul. In all honesty she felt like she was cheating on Sam…
That pissed her off.
The fact that she was still holding on pissed her off and it still hurt so in retaliation she returned the kiss ignoring the fact that her heart was not in it.
Even after months of dating, she still compared Shane's kisses to Sam's at times. She still compared his touch to Sam's at times. But she refused to break up with him; she could see how the boy looked at her with such suffocating love shinning in his eyes and she did not want to steal that light from his eyes. She cared about Shane...yes she did not love him but she cared about him a lot. Things with him were uncomplicated and safe and she needed that. After Sam, she needed a safety net and Shane was the perfect choice.
Clear blue water
High tide came
And brought you in
And I could go on, on and on, and I will
Mercedes unlocked her locker and heard a commotion next to her. She recognized her perfume and with her head in her locker said:
"Morning, 'Tana."
Mercedes and Santana were not really friends until they joined The Troubletones. Before, there was only a mutual respect between the girls. But when Santana joined the Troubletones, the girls became closer and Mercedes started seeing the depth in the Latina. She was more than the frank bitch she projected to the world; under all the bitchiness and manipulating was a sensitive girl...a badass sensitive girl and it turns out Britney was the first to notice what the world did not.
"I heard a rumor." Her velvety voice sliced through the air
Mercedes grabbed her books and closed her locker before giving the girl leaning on the neighboring locker her full attention.
"What?" She asked curiously
"Guess which fish-person jumped out of the lake and is flapping through the halls of McKinley."
Mercedes shrugged.
"Trouty Mouth."
Mercedes' heart skipped a beat as her eyes grew.
"Wait-what?"
Santana grabbed the girl's arm and slowly led her down the hall towards their first shared class.
"The Hobbit and Pasty Pale the tall pastry boy with custard nipples headed to Kentucky and fished him out of the Kentucky Lake to help them with Regionals against us. I can't blame them for getting help 'cause they are gonna need it against us but it's not like Fish-face is gonna magical pull out a win for them. It's not like he has magic fish powers or something." Santana rolled her eyes before turning serious and studying the shorter girl. "Are you okay?"
Mercedes cleared her throat as her chest tightened with emotion. Sam was back. She avoided Santana's eyes.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"You two dated-"
"-For a few weeks, Santana."
Santana stopped walking pulling the girl to her side.
"Look, Wheezy, I know you. You love deep and I know you wouldn't have wasted time with Trouty Mouth if you didn't love him or at least cared for him. I know you don't want to talk about him and I'll respect that; we've only started hanging out for over a few weeks now so I don't expect you to spill your guts out to me. But with that said if you ever wanna talk about it I'll listen and if you want I can get rid of him." She smirked
She started walking ignoring the look Mercedes gave her.
"I won't kill him, 'Retha. I do however have a bucket full of fish bait with his name on it. If his face bothers you I can just attached it to a fishing rod and lead him back into the river to the lost city of Atlantis back to his people."
The words were insulting as usual but Mercedes could hear the sincerity in them. She rested her head against the taller girl's shoulder telling her thanks without words. She took a deep breath trying to ignore the emotions brewing inside her soul.
Skies grew darker
Currents swept you out again
And you were gone, gone and gone.
In silent screams
In wildest dreams
I never dreamed of this
She took mechanical steps as her mind wandered back to the weeks after Sam left. She thought back to the crippling pain when they were pulled apart in the midst of a storm. While he drifted further from her she was stuck in the storm without a life raft in sight. She had to learn to swim through the bone-chilling cold loneliness. She had to fight through the blinding rain and roaring thunder until she could find calmer waters.
This love is good, this love is bad
This love is alive back from the dead
These hands had to let it go free
And this love come back to.
She finally found peace after she let him go and now he was back. Now he was back and making her remember all the amazing times they had- all the secret smiles, all the lingering looks and all the sweet kisses.
Tossing, turning, struggled through the night with someone new
And I could go on, on and on
Lantern burning, flickered in my mind for only you
but you're still gone, gone, gone
This was unfair! She had Shane and he was good to her. Yet still all she could think about was Sam. All she could ever think about was Sam even when she didn't know it herself but she would subconsciously think about his reaction to certain scene in a movie or wonder what he was doing, And it was unfair that he still haunted her and still had such power over her even though she has not seen him yet. It was unfair that her lie of him being a 'summer fling' was unraveling at the seams. It was unfair that her lies of loving Shane whilst a part of her heart still wanted him was creating a tidal wave of emotions inside her and questions floating around her head. Did she still love him; did he still love her; what about Shane?
Been losing grip
Oh sinking ships
You showed up just in time
Mercedes went through the motions the rest of the day telling her that seeing Sam would not affect her at all. She would be polite, smile at him, and then be on her jolly way. She kept on repeating her mantra through out the day that she barely paid attention to her surroundings. Surprisingly she has not seen him yet and she was not sure if she should be relieved or not. She headed to her last class of the day- file in hand. She was so lost in thoughts that she failed to notice Sam waiting for her at the end of the stairwell until she walked past him and he grabbed her hand.
Instinctively Mercedes' fingers laced with his and warmth spread to every part of her. She immediately recognized his familiar touch and looked up at him in shock at his boldness. She did not let go of his hand and frigidly asked:
"What are you doing?"
He smiled at her told her as if it was most natural thing in the world.
"Holding your hand."
She let his hand go as if it was on fire, angry at herself. She had a boyfriend. A nice caring boyfriend and here she was enjoying the warmth and familiarity of her ex-boyfriend.
"Don't," she nearly hissed in irritation at him and herself.
"Sam, look I-"
"I heard about your boyfriend." He stated calmly.
"Then you heard he's built like a bulldozer."
She slowed her pace prompting him to do the same then she walked up in front of him with her hand raised a small sigh leaving her lips as she clutched the purple folder to her chest.
"We had a summer fling." She said with confidence looking into his beautiful green eyes
'Lies, lies, lies!' her heart whispered.
"It was more than that," He said without missing a beat. The certainty in his voice matches the dogma in his eyes.
Mercedes sighed looking everywhere but him before she decided to stand her ground and be a woman.
"I'll always have a special place in my heart for you but I moved on and you need to do the same."
She spun around on the balls of her feet and continued down the hall ignoring the fact that every single cell in her body wanted to turn around and hold on to him tightly.
"I don't care how big and bad your boyfriend is. I'm gonna fight to get you back!" He announced for the world to hear.
And just like that those butterflies returned and rockets went off in her heart.
This love is good, this love is bad
This love is alive back from the dead
These hands had to let it go free
And this love came back to me
This love left a permanent mark.
This love is glowing in the dark
These hands it to let it go free
And this love came back to me
This love, this love, this love, this love...[x4]
Mercedes was the first one at practice. She was so lost in thought she failed to notice Santana and Britney walk into the room. The two girls sat on either side of her.
"Hey, Wheezy!"
"Huh?" Mercedes asked grabbing her chest in shock trying to calm her now erratic heart.
Santana rolled her eyes.
"I see you're thinking about Trouty Mouth."
"What- Why would you say so?" She asked once her heart started slowing down again.
Santana raised a perfectly sculpted brow before rolling her eyes and shrugging.
"I can't blame you though? I saw him earlier when I welcomed him back. He got taller and sexier- whatever they have in Kentucky has been good to him! Plus his hair is shorter now...it's sexy. I can't blame you for wantin' in on that, the boy is looking all kinds of fly."
Mercedes wish she could disagree but that would be a blatant lie. The few moths Sam was away have been good to him. He grew taller, he was muscular and oh soul, the shorter hair was sexy!
"Yip and those lips look mighty fine." Britney threw in next to her bumping her shoulder with a small smile painted on her lips.
'Hmm' Santana agreed crossing her legs. "I used to kiss them guppy lips. You're lucky I don't like guys and I got Brit or else we'll be having another Puck-off."
Mercedes giggled.
"That was sad. What was wrong with us? Puck, of all the people in the world we chose to fight over Puck."
"I know, right?" She rolled her eyes before turning serious:"-But on a serious note, I heard Quinn asked him out again and he declined and later he stood in the hallway declaring his undying love for you."
Mercedes rolled her eyes with a small smile.
"He didn't proclaim his undying love for me. He just said he'd fight for me."
Santana fanned herself.
"Oh, sweet mercy! That's kinda sexy."
Mercedes laughed and bumped Santana's shoulder. Before she could reply, the rest of the group came pouring in.
Mercedes chose to force the thoughts of Sam into the dark corners of her mind until later. Now she had practice so that she and her team could kick ass Friday.
Sam was persistent. He winked at her when he saw her. He would gently graze his fingers over hers when they passed each other causing her heart to flutter. He left tulips in her locker every morning with romantic song quotes- Bieber songs to be exact causing her to smile. The first song choice was of course 'Boyfriend 'causing her to burst out in laughter the first day and causing the students in the hall to look at her like she was crazy. She met Sam's green gaze- he had a cheeky grin on his face and had the nerve to wink at her.
Today though there was a purple lily instead of a tulip- attached was a note with the song of the day on.
'With me, girl, is where you belong.
Just stay right here
I promise my dear I'll put nothing above you
Above you
Love me, love me
Say that you love me
Fool me, fool me
Oh how you do me
Kiss me, kiss me
Say that you miss me
Tell me what I wanna hear
Tell me you (love me)
Love me, love me
Fool me, fool me
Oh how you do me
Kiss me, kiss me
Say that you miss me
Tell me what I wanna hear
Tell me you love me.
-The immortal words of Justin Bieber's Love Me.
(The guy whose garden I stole the tulips from threatened to beat me up so I had to find a new garden (old people are so violent!). Unfortunately, Mrs. Greene doesn't have tulips but she has like millions of purple lilies so I found a new source. Anyway, good luck for tonight I know you'll do amazing 'cause amazing people do amazing things! I'll be your loudest supporter tonight! PS- I'm dedicating my body roll to you, Ms. Jones and you shall be dazzled.)
Mercedes giggled and closed the note. She picked up the lily and sniffed it with a small smile on her lips.
"What's so funny, baby?"
Mercedes started inside her open locker in shock racking her brain for what to say now.
'Crap!'
She painted a fake smile on her lip and placed the note and lily back into her locker. She turned to see her BOYFRIEND staring at her curiously. His gaze shifted to the items she forced in her locker. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried ignoring the guilt washing over her. She had a boyfriend. She had a good, protective boyfriend who supported her and here she was thinking about another boy.
"I-I just read a note Santana left for me. She left me a flower too...for tonight. It's for... good luck." Wow Mercedes your the worst liar in the world...well it wasn't exactly 100% a lie. He asked what was funny and she told him the truth- the note was funny (in a cute way) she just lied about the sender... It was a 50% lie.
"Oh, well, that's nice." Shane said with a small shrug.
Mercedes gave him a tightlipped smile and closed her locker with an awkward nod
"Yeah, you know Santana- always doing nice things for people."
'Shut-up! Shut-up mouth! Seriously, you could not have told a more believable lie?'
Shane raised a brow at that as if to ask 'Really are we sure we're talking about the same person?'
Mercedes gave an awkward smile.
"I gotta get to class, I'll see you later."
She started walking away when Shane called after her asking her what time he should be there tonight and if she wanted to do something afterwards but she pretended not to hear him. She flew around the comer straight into the arms of a muscular figure. She immediately recognized his scent. Her body immediately reacted to his, heating her up from the tip of her toes to the crown of her head. She could feel his strong hands around her waist keeping her steady. She bit her lip and started chanting in her head-
'Please be Chris Pine- please be Chris Pine-'
"I'm not gonna disappear and turn into Taylor Lautner or Chris Pine, sorry babe." His cheery voice washed over her in amusement.
She opened her eyes and stepped out of his embrace- her soul instantly missed the warmth of his presence. She cleared her throat, kept her eyes focused on the ground and mumbled.
"Sorry."
She tried walking past him- he stepped in front of her. She tried going past him the other side- he did the same thing again. She was starting to get irritated now.
"Sorry." He said.
She knew he was not sorry.
"You look pretty by the way. You look pretty everyday. Does Shane tell you that? 'Cause if he doesn't he's blind."
She rolled her eyes and bit her lip as warmth spread to her cheeks.
"Sam, I'm gonna be late for class."
He held out his arm for me to take. "I'll walk you-"
"No, Sam-"
"Something bad can happen along the way. I just want to make sure you get the safely-"
"Nothing is gonna happen from here to my class-"
"How do you know?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Pray tell, what do you think can happen?"
Sam shrugged pulling a face as he thought. Suddenly enlightenment spread over his face.
"You could get attack by a troll."
Mercedes burst out in laugher- her body shaking.
"What?"
"Yeah, you heard me correctly. Rachel is a hobbit and she's in this world- who says she hasn't brought other creatures and monsters with her from The Lord of the Rings universe."
Mercedes could not control the laughter bubbling inside her. She nearly chocked on her own saliva as she laughed at Sam's reasoning. She leaned against a wall for support- her eyes burning with tears of joy. Once she finally had control over her body, she straightened her spine and wiped away her tears- grinning at Sam in amusement.
"I really have to go now and I can protect myself, Sam. Samurai, remember?" She joked and slid past him.
She heard him chuckle behind her causing her to smile. Millions of butterflies fluttered in her belly at the sound of his deep throaty chuckle.
Your kiss, my cheek, I watched you leave
Your smile, my ghost, I fell to my knees
When you're young you just run
But you come back to what you need
This love is good, this love is bad
This love is alive back from the dead
These hands had to let it go free
This love came back to me
They lost- they freaking lost. She expected to walk the halls of WMHS as a winner and a finalist at Nationals that Monday morning. She did not. Shelby was leaving; the Troubletones disbanded... she felt like a failure. However, she refused to look sad- she was a warrior- she led a group of fierce women into to battle against the New Directions-she was awesome. Awesome people do awesome stuff. She smiled at the quote.
She opened her locker on Monday morning finding a note and a dozen tulips staring at her. She smiled and opened the note.
Your lips, my biggest weakness.
Shouldn't have let you known
I'm always gonna do what they say (hey)
If you need me
I'll come runnin'
From a thousand miles away
When you smile I smile (oh whoa)
You smile, I smile.
Mr. Rogers (yeah he has Captain America's surname! Mind blown!) is so gonna kill me for this. If I disappear without a trace, it will be because I stole flowers out of his garden again for you. At least I know I put a smile on that beautiful face of yours.
You guys did amazing! You looked all kinds of H.O.T, Ms Jones, burning up that stage! I had to give a few people the death stare backstage. But honestly, babe, you did amazing Friday night- the epitome of a superstar. I'm proud of you so don't you dare do anything besides smile today because you were epic on that stage.
Mercedes smiled closing her locker feeling a million times better than she did when she woke up this morning. Sam always had a way of making her smile or laugh without doing much. His words- though not Shakespearian- always warmed her heart. That is why she loves him-
Loved
That is why she loved him.
She had Shane now.
"Why are so cheery this morning- we lost or have you forgotten?" Santana asked leaning against a nearby locker. Britney stood behind her playing with the raven-haired girl's ponytail. Mercedes was about to answer when a brave soul asked Santana if he could use his locker Santana was leaning on. The girl glared at him making the poor soul scurry away in fear. Mercedes linked her arm with Santana's leading the girl to the bathroom where she did her morning ritual of making sure her razorblades were well hidden.
Mercedes leaned against the basin waiting for Santana to continue her ranting.
"I can't believe we lost-" Mercedes nodded at the Latina. "-I blame you."
Mercedes raised a brow ready to give the girl a tongue-lashing enough to make the devil's ears burn. How dare she-
"Before summer that damn Trouty Mouth didn't have rhythm much less those moves. You just had to give him some chocolate loving and swag him up, didn't you?"
"Wait-what?" Mercedes was totally confused now.
Santana rolled her eyes and took out her eye-pencil.
"That body roll won the thing for them. I know Fishy fish lips could not have mastered that without some help and since you spent summer with him I'm blaming you."
Mercedes rolled her eyes thinking back to their body roll competition in the tilt-a-whirl line making her heart flutter. She still cannot believe he actually did it on stage and had the nerve to wink at her afterwards.
"Damn that Trouty Mouth with his sexy moves making my lady parts tingle!"
Hers weren't the only...
'Really, Mercedes? Bad girl. Celibate! You are celibate!'
This love left a permanent mark
This love is glowing in the dark
These hands had to let it go free
And this love came back to me.
After contemplating Quinn's offer and finally accepting, Mercedes found herself surrounded by her friends in the auditorium. She missed them... a lot. Yeah, her relationship with Schuester was still on the rocks but she missed her outcast friends and at least now her voice could be heard when the Troubletones had their own song.
Mercedes felt eyes on her; she turned to find Sam's eyes lingering on her. He gave her a lopsided grin that used to make her warm and tingly inside- it still had the effect judging by the wild drumming of her heart.
She gave him a small smile before returning to her attention to Tina and Mike.
This love, this love, this love, this love...
Soooooo, what do we think? Yay :) or Nay :( Please review.