Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or Keeping the Faith or any of its characters.

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MERCEDES

Mercedes was furious at herself as she flew out of the doors of Sam's office building. She had been so sure about everything two minutes ago. She was going to wing it. Mercedes had seen that happy husband and wife and their kids at the park and even though it was crazy, she imagined a future with Sam and she liked it. She suddenly realized how stupid she had been breaking off what they had because of a fear of what would happen when December rolled around. Why not be happy now, in the present?

She felt so bad leaving Puck there, but she just had to get to Sam as soon as she could before she lost her nerve and talked herself out of it. She bolted out of Central Park and up to his office building. On her way there, she had become deliriously happy thinking of them together that night. It never occurred to her that he might not want the same thing.

"Mercedes! Stop!" Sam was yelling at her.

She stopped and turned around. She looked at him and said, "Sam, you need to get back –"

He cut her off with a passionate kiss to the lips. He wrapped her up in his arms and they kissed some more. Finally, Mercedes pulled away.

"Mercedes, we need to talk. There's a little pub around the corner that's quiet and private. Let's go and wait until we get there to say what we need to say, okay?" Sam said looking imploringly at her.

"Okay," Mercedes said softly.

Even though they didn't talk, Sam took her hand in his and Mercedes slightly leaned into his arm as they walked down the street. Mercedes felt happy for the first time in weeks. She had been in a state of disconnect. Floating through the daily responsibilities and obligations, but not living.

Kurt almost booked an early trip out because he was so concerned about her. He kept trying to convince her she had made the right decision even though it felt so wrong deep inside. He also kept telling her to stay the hell away from romantic movies of any sort. And drinking bottles of wine alone.

Sam led her down the street and around the corner to a small pub tucked away from the hustle of the busy sidewalk. He opened the door with his free hand and she walked in still holding his other hand. She didn't want to let go. The bartender called Sam by his name and said hello affectionately and told them to have a seat and let him know when they wanted to order. They chose a small booth towards the back where it was semi private and away from the other patrons.

Sam waited until Mercedes sat down and then he sat opposite her. They just looked at one another for a bit and then Mercedes started to talk.

"Sam, I just have to start by saying I am sorry. I thought I was doing us both a favor by ending things before they got serious, but I was wrong. I have had a lot of time to think about you and me these past few weeks and I'm realizing that right now, all I want is to be with you. And that scares the hell out of me because my life is on the other side of the country, but I feel like we can face that when the time comes. Right now, we make each other happy so why not go with it?"

Sam was quietly watching her and reached out to hold her two hands that were rubbing the table in small back and forth motions. She looked down at their joined hands and smiled as he started to rub the back of her hands with this thumbs.

"I just haven't felt as alive as I have with you here in New York since I was a kid running around with you guys. I guess what I'm trying to say is, yes, I am scared about what happens at the end of December, but I want to live in the present with you and I hope you do too."

She had said the last sentence in one breath and so fast that after it was out there, she took in a deep inhale and looked back up at him with expectant and nervous eyes. She had never put herself out there like this, she felt so vulnerable and that made her scared.

Sam blew a deep breath out of his mouth and leaned forward.

"Mercedes, first of all, are you hungry?" Sam asked.

Mercedes let out a nervous laugh and said she wasn't.

"Okay, secondly, I have missed you these last few weeks. A lot. I want you back in my life. Let's not think about December now, okay?"

Mercedes smiled, but Sam wasn't finished.

"You do realize you have A LOT of making up to do to me, right?" Sam asked.

Mercedes let out a relieved laugh and said, "Yes, I am looking forward to that part most of all."

Sam lifted his eye brows up and down and said, "I can't wait to be treated to massages, getting taken care of in the bedroom, the cooking for me – "

"Don't push your luck, Sam." Mercedes interrupted while giving him an eye roll.

"I'm already getting the eye roll? Damn, our honeymoon period sure didn't last long." Sam said with a chuckle.

"You know you're not right, Sam. You should get something to eat, it's already after 1. I need to head back to the office," Mercedes said.

"You're going to leave me here by myself? Come on, at least sit here and keep me company while I eat."

"Okay, okay," Mercedes said. Then she thought of something, "Sam, there's something else. I think we need to tell Puck. It felt almost deceitful sneaking around last time, but this time, since all of our cards are on the table, I think we should tell him. I think he will be really happy for us."

Sam was thoughtful for a minute.

"I think you're right. I thought it would make things weird for us since I didn't know how things would be with the three of us at the beginning, but now it won't be a big deal. Good call, now come here." He said as he leaned forward and cupped her face and kissed her. The first kiss was light, but then the next turned deeper and their breathing started to become fast. Sam's tongue slipped into her open mouth and she quietly groaned. Mercedes' body immediately reacted to Sam the minute his hand touched her face and then even more so when their lips met. She had missed kissing his full lips so badly and with his tongue stroking her lips, she could take him right here. Throw him back against the booth and ride him – STOP Sam, she said in her head. But he was still kissing her and she was loving it. She needed to tell him out loud to stop, but she just couldn't. He was going to come over to her side of the booth. Oh no, if he got over here, Sam's bartender friend and those other three tables would be watching an X-rated live show.

"Sam," she said breathlessly while pushing on his chest, "You need to stay on that side of the table. I'm not even kidding."

Sam was looking at her with dark hooded eyes and his lips were swelling from all of the blood rushing to them. He leaned back in his side of the booth took a long deep breath.

"Mercedes, how am I supposed to wait until tonight to have you?" Sam said exasperatedly to her.

She wanted him so badly, but this was obviously not the place.

"Sam, you go order your lunch and I will send Puck a message to see if he can meet for dinner tonight so we can talk to him."

"You weren't joking about telling him right away," Sam said as he got up to order his food from the bartender.

Mercedes took out her phone and opened her email, 78 new messages. "Shit," she said under her breath. She would deal with those when she got to the office. She sent one off to Puck to apologize for leaving him at the park so fast, but she would like to explain and wanted to know if he could meet them for dinner at their favorite Italian place.

Sam finished up his meal pretty fast and they caught up on things they had been doing over the last few weeks. Sam told her how he had emailed that woman just that morning to see if she wanted to go lunch and Mercedes listened to him the whole time with a raised eyebrow and arms folded.

Before getting up to go, she checked her email and Puck had written back that he would see both of them at the restaurant at eight and he was glad they would all be hanging out again. Mercedes smiled and told Sam they were on for tonight.

Sam stood up first and held her things while she got out of the booth. Then he passed them to her and they locked hands. It felt so natural and good to Mercedes.

When they got outside, Sam took her in his arms and hugged her very tight to him. With their bodies pushed together like that, she had to break away before they started making out right there in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Thank you, Sam."

"For what, Cedes?" Sam responded.

"Just, for everything. I will see you at Mama's at 8." And she blew him a kiss and turned around to walk away fast before they could touch again and get her all worked up.

She was so happy, smiling like a lunatic all the way back to her office. Nothing was going to break this high she was on. Even when she got back to the office and the unread emails had jumped to over 100, she still tackled them like it was no big deal.

Before she knew it, it was time to go home for the night. She was late, but she still had time to go home and change then head to the restaurant. She decided on jeans and a purple low cut tank to mess with Sam a little before they could get back to his place. She put her hair in a low side ponytail and threw on her strappy sandals and headed to the restaurant.

She got there and looked in the window and saw that both guys were there already. They were sitting on the same side of the table, "That's pretty cute," she thought. When she walked in, their conversation stopped and both of them stood up smiling until she took her seat across from Sam. They all sat down and Puck said with a smile,

"So, what did you want to talk about Mercedes?"