DISCLAIMER: On first chapter.
I received a message letting me know that I've been using "hazel" instead of "brown" for Mercedes' eye color. I want to apologize for that! I'm so used to describing my own eyes as hazel that I let it slip into my writing. I didn't even pay attention to it while I was editing, because I'm so used to it. LOL. I apologize if I offended anyone! It wasn't my intention. My whole family had hazel eyes and I was used to using that to describe things. Sorry about that! Most of the chapters, Mercedes does have brown eyes. I'm fixing it now though. :D
April 24, 2011 (Sunday)
Eternal Baptist Church
Lima, Ohio
10:01AM
Sitting in the pew felt odd to Sam. He had never been to a church service without his mother. He idly fiddled with the collar of his light gray button down. Sam was wearing a nice shirt and a pair of black pants with his worn dress-up shoes. Mercedes had taken one look at him and said that he looked like a million bucks.
Sam had wryly told her that he must be the Goodwill version. Mercedes just told him that you often find the best stuff at Goodwill. That, of course, had made him blush and smile. Mercedes however looked like a 1950s princess.
She wore a Bernie Dexter halter bell swing dress—at least that's what Mercedes had told him it was—that was red and white checkered and a pair of bright red heels were on her feet. She had done something to her hair again, because it was straight at the top and had curls at the bottom. Her bangs fell softly across her forehead. Sam thought she looked amazing.
She had also taken the time to dress Stacey—gifting the seven-year old a lilac colored dress that had purple flowers bloomed along her left side and snaked down to the bottom hem of her dress. Delia had brushed and curled Stacey's long hair. She had been grinning since they left the house.
When they'd walked into the church, Mercedes had taken it upon herself to introduce him and his family to as many members as possible. Everyone was extremely nice to them—it was refreshing to feel nothing but acceptance and open hospitality.
After sitting themselves in the third pew from the front of the church—Mercedes had taken off to the choir room with her father. He sat there for a moment wondering what he should do when he heard his father's startled voice from his other side.
"Lynnette?" he asked and Sam's head snapped up. Lynn was standing there in knee length black dress with cap sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. She had on a pair of olive green heels. Her short hair was curled and she had a sparkly hair clip on the left side of her head. She was wearing her pearl earrings again. Sam thought she looked like a very respectable lady.
She gave them a big smile. "Well, hello, darlin'," she greeted as she patted his father on the shoulder, before turning to look at Sam. He felt her eyes glance over his attire and she gave him a grin.
"Don't you two look handsome," she said, "Hello Sam." Sam saw his father blink in shock and stare between the two of them.
"You remember Sam?" he asked bewildered and Sam laughed at his dad.
"Of course," Lynn replied in amusement, "He drops in to check on his guitar every once in awhile."
Sam blushed, before Lynn opened her arms to him saying, "Don't leave me hanging." Sam grinned before he stood up and stepped into the hug. They let go of each other and Lynn took his dad by surprise when she wrapped him into a hug as well.
"I didn't know you went to church here," his dad told Lynn and she smiled.
"Well, my family goes to church here." She admitted and his dad's eyebrows rose.
"Oh," he replied, "Who's your family?"
Lynn and Sam gave each other mischievous looks. "She's Mercedes' aunt, Dad." Sam said and he watched as his father's eyebrows rose in shock.
The disbelief on his face was enough to send Lynn and Sam into a fit of giggles. He gave them a patient smile when they finally calmed themselves, but Sam could see the redness of his face. His blushing problem had totally been passed down from his father. Damn genetics.
Sam introduced Lynn to Stacey and Stevie. Stacey was immediately captivated by her hair and her dress. Stevie didn't know quite what to think, but he was won over when she responded to one of his comments about Sam's Spiderman comic books and he realized that she actually knew what she was talking about.
Lynn gracefully sat down next to Sam's dad, on his left side while Sam sat on his right with an open seat for Mercedes on Sam's right. Stacey sat on Lynn's left side and Stevie right next to Stacey. They chatted for a bit until the lights dimmed and a hushed silence fell over the entire church.
Mercedes and her father stepped into the spotlight—that rested directly in front of the Eternal Baptist Church choir and the music began.
The piano's melody was as sweet and simple as music could get. Sam watched as Mercedes lifted the microphone to her lips and sang, "I close my eyes and I go to sleep. Knowing that time's not mine to keep—as the morning breaks and I start to wake; trying to make it through; just for life's own sake." Her tone was warm and soothing, but Sam could hear the pain behind it. She was staring directly at him, and her brown eyes felt like laser beams.
Sam felt stripped bare—like there was no hiding anything from this woman. Every time she opened her mouth to sing, Sam just felt all of his emotions battering around on the inside. She was like Pandora's Box for his emotional control.
Sam was taken aback when Mercedes' father took the next verse. His vocalization was like his speaking voice—strong, commanding, and baritone. He could literally hear where Mercedes' talent came from. "I look at life now in a different way. Living each moment of each day; it's the same old sky, but it's brighter now."
Mercedes and David began singing together—their harmonies beyond magical. "I look up and the stars mean much more somehow."
Mercedes started the next verse, "Help me now as I start to fall. Shelter me, I don't ask for much at all." And they harmonized again, "All I need is just one more day giving me hope to dream upon. Don't let me walk this road alone!"
The choir in the background joined in and more instruments adding to the music as the song began building to its crescendo. "It takes some rain to make a flower grow. It's just a simple thought I know," they sang together.
"With your love and care," David sang.
"I will have no fears," Mercedes voiced, her eyes falling closed as she got lost in the music. Sam had never thought there would be such power in performing such a simple action, but he could feel her compassion and love from where he was sitting. She was singing this song for both him, and herself. It was the moment when Sam realized that he had possibly found the most incredible woman in Ohio, if not the world.
"I believe I'll have the life that I hold so dear," they sang, "Help me now as I start to fall.Shelter me, I don't ask for much at all. All I need is just one more day giving me hope to dream upon.Don't let me walk this road alone."
"Help me now as I start to fall," Sam was blown away by the strength of Mercedes' voice as she belted out that line. Her father proved to be just as strong.
"Shelter me, I don't ask for much at all," he voiced before the two of them picked up the intensity by singing together once more.
"All I need is just one more day giving me hope to dream upon. Don't let me walk this road alone!" The final note they harmonized on was so powerful that it brought tears to Sam's eyes. He was on his feet applauding before he'd even realized what was happening. It didn't matter though, because he was quickly joined by countless others.
That song was so amazing. He could feel something inside of him shifting, changing—healing. It was such a relief to know that he wasn't going to feel wounded or scarred forever—especially not with a woman like Mercedes Jones as a friend. Sam felt a hand squeeze his and he looked over to see his father, whose eyes were just as watery as Sam's.
Sam embraced his dad. It was the first time that he had even truly considered how much his dad must be hurting. Jeff clutched him tightly, before letting go and facing forward with a blush staining his cheeks. Sam didn't have time to blush. His attention was drawn to a beaming Mercedes as she made her way into the pew. He smiled back at her.
"You were incredible," Sam whispered as they sat down next to each other. Mercedes grinned at him in return.
"Thank you," she replied. And they both got quiet as the pastor began speaking.
April 24, 2011 (Sunday)
The Jones Estate
Lima, Ohio
1:07PM
"You mentioned yesterday that you liked playing ball," Josh spoke causing Sam to look over at him. He had just walked out of the downstairs bathroom and was heading towards the stairs to the basement when the eighteen year old had caught up with him.
"Yeah," Sam replied, "I consider myself to be a decent player." Josh grinned.
"Well, you up for a game?" he asked, "Dinner won't be for awhile, and I think we might be playing kickball later tonight, but we have some free time on our hands."
Sam's eyebrows rose as he thought about it for a second. Mercedes was currently in the downstairs play room doing craft work with Annabelle, her mom, Stacey, Jasper, and Lynn. And his dad had gone golfing with Mercedes' father right after church. Stevie was with Trey in his room—a couple of his friends had come over to play video games.
So it wasn't as though Sam had anything else to do. He shrugged at Josh. "Sure, man," he said, "Just let me go change."
Josh smiled and clapped Sam on the shoulder. "I'm going to assume that Mercy showed you the courts, right?" he asked and Sam nodded. "Awesome—we'll meet you out there."
Sam watched as Josh loped off down the hall, before making his way up to his room to change his clothes. He put on a pair of blue athletic shorts, his running shoes and a white t-shirt before he hurried back downstairs and outside. He jogged lightly along the stone pathway—past the pool gates and the pool house. He turned left on the pathway and walked towards the basketball court where he could clearly see Mercedes' brothers milling around.
Sam made his way over to them and they quickly sorted the teams out. Jason decided to sit this round out, because he was atrocious at basketball. They agreed to play to ten baskets. So Sam and Josh were paired together against Kyler and Derek. The game started with Sam getting the tip off.
In a small amount of time, the match was going full speed. Sam was ducking and weaving and passing the ball every chance he got. He and Josh played well together. Sam scored the first basket of the game and Josh high fived him. The game got more intense. Within quick succession, Kyler had scored four baskets, but Josh had gotten three more and Sam scored another two.
Sam and Josh ended up winning the first match. "Yeah, good game!" Josh cheered as he bro-hugged a laughing Sam.
They ended up playing four more rounds. Sam and Josh won the second one, but Kyler and Derek took the cake with three wins. It didn't matter though—all of the guys were impressed with Sam's skill. In fact, the most celebrated moment of the game was when Sam faked out Derek and dunked on him.
Sam felt incredibly pleased at the cheers that went up. It had been an awesome play. Tired, sweaty, and happy the four of them dropped onto the pavement. Kyler sprawled all the way out on the ground and Derek was leaning against the fence. Josh sat near Sam with his elbows on his knees. Sam wiped his face with the bottom of his t-shirt and used his hands to brush the sweaty hair out of his eyes as he sat cross-legged next to Joshua.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Derek panted—still trying to catch his breath after all the running.
"I told Josh that I was a decent player," Sam replied, blushing. He was happy that his face was already flushed from the exercise.
He got four incredulous looks. "Decent player, my ass," Kyler muttered as he turned his head to look at Sam. "You may not have won every game, but if we hadn't been running like Satan was chasing us—you would've kicked ass and taken names."
"I haven't played so hard in years," Josh threw in, "All I've got for competition are these sorry excuses for athletes."
"Shut up," Derek tossed back, "You're just bragging because you had the white Michael Jordan on your team."
"Yeah, Josh," Kyler added, "I was watching you running down the court—looking all bowlegged."
"I did not!" Josh protested over a laughing Jason.
"You looked like Dobby trying to chase Lucius Malfoy—your ears flopping in the wind," Derek said with a smirk.
"Don't hate," Josh retorted, "'Cause I know that that's exactly what y'all are doing. I've got some dignity."
"More like some douchebaggery—you can hand it out, but you don't like it when it comes back to slap you in the face." Kyler replied.
"You can kiss my left ass cheek, Ky," Josh replied.
"Why just one of them?" Kyler asked back.
"Because anything right is too good for you," Josh responded. Sam couldn't help but laugh at that one.
Derek let out a, "Da-mn, you just got told," before he cracked up. Jason clapped Josh on the shoulder as he joined them on the ground.
Kyler raised a fist. "Good one, twin." He praised his brother and they shared a fist-bump and a grin. Sam had to smile at the obvious affection between the four of them. They were so close and all of their teasing was good-spirited.
"So, Sam, how'd you get so good at basketball?" Derek asked and Sam shrugged. He honestly didn't think he was that good, but to each his own, right?
"I've been playing since elementary school." He admitted, "I've been on basketball teams since the sixth grade. I picked up football in seventh."
"Nice," Josh asked. There was comfortable silence between the five of them as they relaxed in the sun, before Jason spoke up.
"So what's going on between you and my sister?" Sam glanced in his direction and he wasn't surprised when the others sat up and paid attention. He had been expecting something like this since yesterday.
"We're friends," Sam told them honestly. "There's nothing going on between us other than that."
Jason looked skeptical. "Friends don't interact like the two of you do."
Sam's brow furrowed. He thought his friendship with Mercedes was normal. Thinking back, he could see that they were closer than most new friends are, but there was nothing else there—at least nothing that he could see.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"We all saw the way you were looking at her when she and my dad sang during church this morning," Kyler confessed. "It's not like you were trying very hard to hide your expression."
He blushed, but he could kind of understand where they got their suspicions from. Sam had been incredibly moved by Mercedes' and David's performance. The song had helped reassure him and soothe some emotional wounds. He hadn't thought anyone would be able to tell what he was feeling, but he'd been feeling nothing but gratitude and love for Mercedes and how good of a person she was.
"That was," Sam began, but he fumbled for words. He didn't know exactly how much Mercedes' brother knew about his situation. "How much do you know about me?" he asked instead and their faces saddened.
"We know the basic story," Josh admitted, "Mercedes was a mess after you'd told her what was going on with your mom."
"I've never seen her so pissed." Derek said with a shake of his head. Sam blinked at them.
"What did she do?" Sam asked—he hadn't even thought of how Mercedes would've reacted to his situation.
"She came home ready to bitch slap people." Jason said, "Mom had to call us and have us drive down here just to get her to stop crying and trying to hunt down your mother."
"I've always known that she was a force to be reckoned with when angry, but she was outraged and disgusted." Josh added, "I'm kind of glad that she couldn't find the woman—I'm pretty sure that she would've committed murder."
Sam was shocked. He had never heard anything like that before. Mercedes did all that because she cared for him? He made her lose her cool? Sam couldn't decide if he wanted to smile or frown.
"Well," he started, "That song she and your dad sang today—it was comforting to hear. And she made me feel like I wasn't so alone—like others have been in the same place that I'm standing in and they've come out of it with happiness." Sam looked down at his hands. "I can't tell you exactly what my feelings for your sister are, because they may not be the same five minutes from now. But right now, I just have this feeling of deep gratitude for everything she's done for me."
Sam turned his head in their direction and smiled. "I just know that she's like my best friend right now, but that's all I know at the moment. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer than that."
Jason just smiled. "It was the perfect answer—because it was honest. That's all we wanted." He told Sam, before clapping him on the shoulder. He got grins from Mercedes' other brothers as they all stood up to head inside and shower. A conversation about the upcoming football season started up, and things quickly got rowdy.
They were all laughing by the time they got to the house.
April 24, 2011 (Sunday)
Wagman's Supermarket
Lima, Ohio
4:22PM
"So what are we looking for again?" Sam asked as Mercedes wheeled the basket down the seasonings aisle. He stopped for a moment as she waved a small piece of paper in his face. Sam took it from her hands and looked it over. Yeah, it figured that she would have a list of things to buy.
"When did we get this?" he questioned and Mercedes let out a laugh.
"It was the first thing she gave me after asking me to go to the store." She replied, "Maybe you would've noticed if you weren't playing with the baby."
Sam blushed at the teasing smile on her face. Jasper had crashed into Sam's leg when he'd come down after showering. Sam had lifted the baby into his arms and walked into the kitchen—tickling the kid and making funny faces to get him to giggle. That kid was ridiculously cute. He hoped his children would be as adorable as Jasper was.
Unfortunately, he had walked into a room full of women that were all beaming at him with pride and amusement—Lynn, Mercedes, and Delia just smiled at the furious blush that lit up his cheeks.
Fortunately for him though, Delia had been asking Mercedes to go out and get some stuff for dinner and he'd jumped at the chance to go with her. He had barely seen his friend all day—spending most of his time with her brothers. He felt bad, because she had been the one to invite him over.
"It's not my fault that kids love me," Sam responded as Mercedes tossed a box of bread crumbs into the cart.
"It's not a bad thing," she replied.
"I know, but I feel like a mommy-boy whenever I take care of the kids." Sam admitted, "Puck told me that if I wasn't careful, I would grow ovaries."
Sam didn't believe it, but when Puck had said it, he had felt a twinge of panicked doubt. Hearing Mercedes burst out laughing let him know that his face was giving away his thoughts and he blushed.
"Sam!" Mercedes said with a grin, "I cannot believe that you believed Puck for even a second."
"Well," he protested, "He's not the first one to make fun of me for being good with kids. He's just the first to state his thoughts so bluntly."
Mercedes gave him an amused look. "I'll tell you a secret," she whispered, before she turned to toss five bags of croutons and some ranch salad dressing into the cart. "Puck likes kids too. He just pretends to be a bad ass when he's actually softer than a Pillsbury doughboy."
Sam smiled. "Zizes has him whipped," he told her and Mercedes laughed.
"I'm well aware of that one," she replied, "Anyone who can drive Puck up the wall, and make him be generally nice to other people has him tied up in knots."
"He wouldn't shut up about her when we were hanging out at Finn's house on Friday," Sam confessed, "He's so into her that it's almost sickening."
Mercedes' eyes twinkled as they quickly gathered everything on the list. They were walking down the dessert aisle when Sam saw them. He froze in his tracks. Mercedes continued to move forward until she realized that Sam wasn't right next to her.
"Sam?" she asked in concern, but he barely heard her over his building excitement. There was rushing in his ears as he walked towards the shelf.
He raised his hand and slid it along the plastic package with reverence. "Sweet Avatar," he whispered as he picked up a pack and sniffed. The scent was heavenly. Mercedes was giving him the most confused and disturbed expression he had ever seen, but Sam couldn't bring himself to care.
"Cede," he croaked as he whirled around to face her. "Do you know what this is?"
Mercedes stared at him. "It's a pack of snicker-doodles." She said slowly.
"Cede!" Sam exclaimed in dismay, "This is not just a pack of snicker-doodles." He walked over to Mercedes—the cookies still clutched in his hands. "These are the best things that have happened to the human race."
"Sam, it's a cookie!" Mercedes responded in amusement.
"They're not only cookies, Cede!" Sam protested. "These are dough baked with cinnamon and sugar and full of general awesomeness." His lecture seemed to amuse Mercedes.
"I'm guessing that these are your favorite cookies?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah," he replied as he fiddled with the package. "My mom used to bake them for me every year for my birthday. We couldn't spare the money this year." Sam felt the bottom of his stomach drop to his knees. He hadn't thought of his mother all weekend, but he was just now realizing that he would never have her homemade snicker-doodles again. Was it a bad thing that he would miss her cookies more than he missed her at the moment?
"I'm sorry, Sam," Mercedes told him as she placed her arm through his. They pushed the cart forward. "Wait—when was your birthday?" she questioned suddenly. Sam looked away from her.
"Last Tuesday," he admitted and Mercedes stopped.
"Your birthday was on Tuesday and you didn't say anything?" she demanded and Sam blushed.
"It's not like I was going to get any gifts or anything," he replied, "I didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing."
"Sam Evans!" Mercedes reprimanded and she smacked him on the arm. "Your birthday is not nothing."
"It's just a birthday, Cede," he responded. "I'll have plenty more, but please don't turn this into something that it's not." He would resort to begging if he had to. The last thing he wanted was for his friends in Glee club to try and buy him presents after all they had done for him.
Mercedes looked disappointed. "Why didn't you tell me, though?" she asked and Sam looked down. He didn't really have a good reason for hiding it, but he hadn't wanted to draw more attention to himself. So he said as much.
He heard Mercedes let out a sigh. "Fine," she relented, "but I'm buying you those cookies as a birthday present."
Sam felt joy course through him and he flung his arms around her with a shout of jubilation. "Thank you, Cede!" She could do nothing but laugh at him. Sam just held his snicker-doodles in his arms.
"Why do you think those cookies are so great?" Mercedes asked curiously while they were in the checkout line.
"You mean besides the totally amazing taste?" he responded and Mercedes nodded.
"The name makes me laugh," he confessed sheepishly and Mercedes cracked up. It was such a Sam thing to say that she couldn't help herself.
April 24, 2011 (Sunday)
The Jones Estate
Lima, Ohio
6:08PM
"Get it, Stevie!" Mercedes yelled from the sideline as the seven-year old kicked the bouncy red ball with all his might. It flew into the air over the heads of the outfielders and cheers from Stevie's team went up as the kid sprinted towards first base.
The Jones, Evans, and Lynn had decided to play a game of kickball before dinner began. Sam, Joshua, Stacey, Derek, Jason, David and Lynn were together on one team while Mercedes, Delia, Jason, Stevie, Kyler, Trey, and Annabelle were on the other. Jasper didn't technically count for either team, but he played on and off with Jeff sitting on the sidelines in between.
Stevie barely dodged the ball that was tossed at him, and he made it safely to first base. Mercedes clapped for him and high-fived her teammates as she strode up to the plate. Sam stuck his tongue out at her from the pitcher mound.
She shot him a devious grin.
"Bring it on, Blondie!" she taunted and Sam raised his eyebrow before he rolled the ball towards her.
Mercedes waited until the optimal moment, before she kicked the stuffing out of that ball. It flew straight over Sam's head and she took the time to bolt towards first base, where Stevie had just left.
Sam and Mercedes played hard—they didn't go easy on each other at all. It was a great game—filled with lots of trash talking, teasing, and laughter. Lynn and Delia took turns taking pictures of the game. Sam's team did a victory dance when they won by one. Mercedes watched him laugh and dance like an idiot, before he pulled her into a hug. His joy was infectious and he had her jumping with him soon enough.
At the end—both families took one big photo together, Sam's arm around Mercedes' shoulder and they were both covered in dirt and grass, but they beamed at the camera.
Everyone crowded around Lynn to see all the pictures as she flipped through them on her digital camera. There were a lot of Sam and Mercedes' brothers. The cutest one though was of them during half time. Sam and Mercedes had been joking with each other when Jasper came over. Sam had scooped the baby up into his arms and put him on his shoulders.
The three-year old was leaning over the top of Sam's head to look at Sam's face and Sam was smiling up at the child. Mercedes was standing close by—her hand on Jasper's back to make sure he didn't fall backwards. She was laughing. If Sam or Mercedes had looked older—Jasper could've been their son. They looked like a family. It was slightly disconcerting for Mercedes to see.
She didn't even notice the growing looks of amusement and knowing that were appearing on her brothers' and the adults' faces as she and Sam looked at the pictures together. They were mocking each other and laughing over some of the action shots of the game.
It didn't take them long to clean things up in the yard and start walking back to the house to get ready for dinner.
"So, Mercury," Jason began as he fell in step with her and tossed an arm over her shoulders, "You excited?" he asked.
Mercedes blinked at him. "Excited about what?" she questioned in return and Jason raised his eyebrows.
"Prom," he replied, "its next weekend, isn't it?"
Mercedes' face blanched for a moment. She had totally forgotten—or at least she had forced herself to forget. She forced a weak smile onto her face and said, "Yeah, it is." Jason must've picked up on the pissed vibes she was sending out, because he stopped his line of questioning. Mercedes didn't notice Sam frown at her as she walked inside.
April 24, 2011 (Sunday)
The Jones Estate
Lima, Ohio
9:52PM
Sam narrowed his eyes at her, and she returned the gesture as they stared across the board at each other. Mercedes' family had a weekly ritual—their Sunday night game of Monopoly was a staple in their weekly routine. And nearly every week, Mercedes won, but she had found a worthy opponent in Sam, who was meeting her dollar for dollar on every advance she made.
The game had begun immediately after dinner where Sam quickly revealed his impressive knowledge of all things Monopoly. This was after he'd stopped mentally spazzing over the collector's edition Lord of the Rings Monopoly board they'd pulled out.
They'd been playing for almost an hour and a half now, and they'd cleaned everyone else's clocks. It was just Mercedes and Sam in the game now—and it was pretty much a stalemate.
Until Sam's lucky dice throwing skills finally gave out and he landed on Mercedes' highest grossing property. He lost more than half of his money in one blow, and he conceded defeat fifteen minutes later.
Mercedes tried her best to keep the victorious expression off her face, but Sam just threw a game piece at her. "Go ahead and roar, Nala," he told her, "I know you want to."
Just to get back at him—she did just that. Mercedes let out a loud growl right in Sam's ear. He stared at her wide-eyed, before he started laughing. Mercedes joined him.
As they packed up the game, Sam nudged her shoulder. "This isn't over yet," he said. "I demand a rematch."
"Whatever you say, Blondie," she replied, "If you want to be a masochist, you can go right ahead."
Sam stuck his tongue out at her, and Mercedes rolled her eyes in fond exasperation. They packed up the game in silence and Sam watched as Mercedes put it away. When she turned around, Sam was staring out of the window.
She walked up beside him and asked, "Want to go look at them?" He seemed pretty enraptured with the stars that were shining in the night sky.
Sam turned his gaze to her, before replying, "My family has to leave in a little while, but yeah, I'd love to."
Mercedes gave him a smile as she moved around him to go to the kitchen and through the door to the backyard. They walked together in a comfortable silence. It was weird for Mercedes. She was going to miss seeing Sam all day and just spending time getting to know him. She didn't want to admit it, but she wasn't ready for this weekend to be over. It felt like they had just gotten started.
Mercedes sat down on the lush green grass and she heard Sam plop down beside her. Mercedes admired the stars for awhile, before Sam cleared his throat.
"You know anything about stars?" he asked and she shook her head.
"I'm not usually a stargazer," she confessed, "unless you count me staring at celebrities on Perez Hilton's blog."
Sam laughed and spoke, "At least I'm not the only one clueless." Mercedes rolled her eyes when he winked. For a moment she had been expecting some spark of sheer brilliance from Sam, but she should've known. It was Sam. He wouldn't reveal more than he had to.
"Quinn said you were into Astronomy, though," Mercedes pondered aloud and Sam stared at her.
"I am into Astronomy," he replied, "But I have a hard time reading books as it is—big books with almost unpronounceable words takes me forever—and I end up just giving up."
Mercedes frowned at the sadness she could hear in his tone. Sam really hated being dyslexic. It made him seem like a walking stereotype, he'd told her during one of their auditorium lunches—blonde, football player, and stupid.
Nothing she said seemed to get through that cloud of depression. She would have to think up some plans later. He shouldn't be so down on himself for having a learning disability. It wasn't his fault.
"If it makes you feel any better—it took me forever to learn how to swing." Mercedes told him and Sam gave her a look.
"Swinging?" he questioned.
"Yeah," she replied defensively. "I could never get the hang of the back and forth motion without freaking myself out. I used to be terrified of heights."
"And now?" he responded.
"I love swinging," she stated with a huge grin. And she really did. Once she'd gotten over her irrational fear of falling off, she'd fallen in love with swinging. "It feels like I'm flying—like nothing anyone says or does can hurt me, or touch me. I don't have to think or feel when I'm swinging. It's like I'm that much closer to God's love."
Mercedes could feel Sam's eyes on her. She had been swinging a lot more than usual lately. There had been many feelings that Mercedes didn't know how to deal with on her own, and no matter how much she prayed—it was slowly eating at her. She needed to feel close to something.
"I saw you earlier," Sam admitted quietly and Mercedes looked over at him. He could feel his heart pounding. How was he supposed to phrase this?
"Saw me what?" she asked.
"When Jason was asking you about prom," Sam said. He could actually see her tense and it made him sad, "You just froze."
"I'd forgotten about it," she replied, "His question just took me by surprise."
Sam looked at her skeptically. He may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but he wasn't an idiot. And he knew her well enough now to be able to tell when she was being honest and when she was lying.
"Bullshit," Sam declared. Mercedes' eyes snapped to his and he was surprised to see the redness of her brown orbs. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, before Mercedes turned her head away from him. "Do you remember what I told you yesterday? In the basement?" Sam asked as he scooted closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.
He saw her nod lightly. "I told you that you didn't have to be alone anymore," he said, "And I meant what I said."
He could feel her tremble. "Please talk to me?" he asked, "What is it about prom that has you reacting this way?"
"No one asks me," she replied and Sam's brow furrowed. What did that mean?
"What do you mean?" he asked and Mercedes' shoulders slumped.
"No one ever asks me anywhere, Sam," she admitted, "I've never been asked out on a date, and my only relationship was with Puck—and it was an arrangement; he didn't even really like me. I had the most idiotic crush on Kurt last year. I'd made up this whole relationship in my head when he was clearly gay. I've never been so humiliated by anything when the truth finally came out. And now, he's my best friend and dating one of the sweetest guys ever and I have to watch them be happy in love every time I go see him. It hurts, Sam. "
Sam was upset when he saw the tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Mercedes," Sam whispered.
"I talk big and I pretend like it doesn't affect me when I see my friends jumping in and out of relationships while I sit on the sidelines—wondering when it'll be my turn to be kissed, and held and told that I'm worth fighting for?" she told him, "I'm used to being alone, but that doesn't mean that I want to be. I try so hard to let it all roll off my back and I try to be a good person. Yet all the guys go after the crazy ones!"
"That's not true," Sam said weakly.
"Of course," Mercedes replied, her tone biting, "That's why you went out with Quinn and Santana. They are both civil and sane individuals."
Sam watched her trying to blink away her tears. He felt his heart constrict. A girl as amazing as Mercedes shouldn't be alone and she definitely shouldn't be crying.
"And with all this talk about prom—dresses, dates, dinner," she continued, "I'm just so done with feeling like the ugly outcast. I'm tired of being lonely!" The heartbreak was plain to see on Mercedes' face. "I'm a girl too. I'm a human being who needs love and affection; just like everyone else."
Sam didn't know exactly what to do at the moment, but he let his instincts take over.
He pulled her into his arms and just let her cry out her frustration. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't imagine what that must feel like. This was one issue that he couldn't really relate to, but he would do all he could to keep her mind off of things. He knew that she would be okay once all this prom drama was over and done with. He just hoped that he was enough to keep her strong for the next week.