Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am home again

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am whole again

/

However far away

I will always love you

However long I stay,

I will always love you

Whatever words I say

I will always love you…

Mercedes was charging at the choir room it seemed. She walked there like it had a purpose, because for once that wretched classroom served an actual purpose. She was not going into the room with the intention to impress (exclude Sam) the other Glee members. If she were being honest with herself, Mercedes was done trying to argue with stupid. What she wanted, though, was to prove herself. Vindicating herself as the greatest star and trying to impress were obviously two different situations, but she was done with the latter. She was done hiding behind Rachel's—and even, yes, Kurt's—shadow. It was her turn. And with or without New Directions, she was going to shine.

The thing about being a diva, or rather, having an attitude was that the person exuded a certain amount of confidence. Now, Mercedes was sure Santana could testify her confidence a thousand times over the meager supply Mercedes had, but that wasn't the point. The point was, Mercedes was a shooting star and was tired of being covered up by the moon. She deserved to be admired by others, just like the rest of Glee club.

Mercedes knew there were other girls better than her somewhere, sure. Someone was always better than the next person and that couldn't be denied. She was aware of the talent glee possessed. Santana could hit lower notes than Mercedes had ever, and Quinn had the beautiful harmony thing going on, but Mercedes' voice was a siren. No, a silver flute.

Rachel was talented, yes. Mercedes would give her that. And Rachel's voice was very theatrical and trained, Mercedes would admit to that. But so was hers. Mercedes could sing anything. She could go from singing Beyoncé to Mariah and not miss a beat, only to slide from whistle tones back to the classics like Barbra Streisand and Ella Fitzgerald. No one knew that because they never gave her the chance to sing anything but glory notes, but she was capable of it. Mercedes was versatile, and that's what Rachel wasn't. Rachel wasn't versatile in her voice and Mercedes knew it. If she was, Rachel would've rubbed that in everyone's face by now. That was a fact.

That was why she was charging into that classroom with the intention of singing something no one ever heard her sing before, and better, something Rachel always did. Mercedes was singing Barbra Streisand. But she was different than Rachel because she actually appreciated everything Streisand has done in her career, and not just Funny Girl. She'd bet Rachel didn't know that Barbra went through the disco phase and sung with the late great Donna Summers. No, all Rachel saw were the big luminescent Broadway lights blaring on her idol. It was ridiculous. So even though she had just gotten humiliated, she was boomeranging back right into their faces. Mercedes was pretty sure it had something to do with Sam coming to her rescue.

Him worrying over her was fluffing her ego. OK, so she knew that Sam didn't like her—care for her like he did with other girls. Quinn had him on a leash she was sure, and she had no intention on breaking that up. But his green eyes fueled her. He pumped her up with his words, and wrenched her heart with his concern. Sam was too good for anyone's good. And she wasn't going to lie; she was attracted to him physically. A person would have to be blind in order to not think he wasn't cute, at least.

Sam's appeal had different flavors. When he was with Quinn, he was cute in the way that a puppy was cute. It was no offense to him really, but Quinn de-masculinized Sam. He was an attractive guy by himself, very boyish and smug. And when he was with Quinn he was a cute boy that followed her around because that's what boys did when they were with her. Like how a dog follows their owner. That's just how Quinn operated. She didn't date men, she owned them.

But when Sam was alone, or with Mercedes more correctly, that was a different story all together. Sam's attractiveness was more of a lure than a flavor. When she was alone with him, he was different. He was beautiful in a sexier way, all muscle and plush lips and just-cut green grass eyes. With hair so golden it made the sun jealous. The kind of southern gentleman woman desired for. Sam was absolutely perfect with her. That's the Sam he was when she was around. That was the Sam Mercedes had dreams about and was constantly throbbing over.

Mercedes could think clearly about him when he was with Quinn. He was the infatuated puppy over her, the doting fool. But alone with herself, Sam was dangerous. His smiles were predatory, and every stare into Mercedes' eyes was a pierce into her soul and a dagger to the heart. And his touch, when he touched the weird not-hickey on her neck—Mercedes wasn't going to go there. It was almost like he was teasing her. As if he knew what it was and where it came from. Like, almost like he—no.

The famous throbbing to her core and center and everywhere else internal was back. Not like it ever went away. It made her rub her thighs together and smooth a hand over her shirt to make sure she wasn't nipping. She almost moaned when her hand passed her chest, and then grimaced. This was embarrassing and Mercedes was sick of it. She had never, never ever touched herself before, and she didn't want to, but she knew she was gonna have to take care of it. She was in school, for God's sake and this was happening to her. It was official; Mercedes' body needed some TLC.

She stopped walking and chewed her lip in thought. She was formulating a plan to sing and make a goodbye speech as quick as possible so she could get in her car, go home and have some alone time. Mercedes was halfway through an idea when Sam came from behind her and touched her shoulder.

He must've thought she was distressed because his voice was soft again. "Is everything alright?"

His touch scorched her shoulder and burned right down to her center. She flinched and politely took his large hand off of her. While she personally enjoyed the touch, she removed his warm hand for the safety of Sam's relationship with Quinn. While Mercedes wasn't a home wrecker, she couldn't be sure what she would do whenever Sam was near. "I'm fine, I just need to hurry and get home."

He bit his lip and reached out for her hand. Sam stared at her small womanly hand encased in his. He knew that he was pushing it and for someone smitten with Quinn, this was highly inappropriate. But for the first time that day since touching the hickey he left on her neck, Sam felt grounded. He was home. And inappropriate or not, he wasn't going to deny his feelings about her. So even if it meant being overzealous and coming on too strong and seeming desperate, he was going to do it. He was always going to do it because nothing on planet earth with all its magnificence and beautiful people compared to holding Mercedes hand and looking into her eyes.

"Are you feeling dizzy?"

Mercedes gasped at the feeling of her hand held. It made the slow burn worse. And though she knew Sam was just being friendly, she had a hard time thinking that he was completely platonic as he rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. She sighed. "A bit, but I'm good enough to sing and dash."

"Maybe you should go home and forget this mess until later."

"Maybe those Doritos you bought me were older than my locker and that's why I'm sick."

The corner of Sam's mouth twitched. "Are you saying it's my fault you're dizzy?"

She shrugged. "Maybe not directly…but inadvertently…"

He laughed and tugged her closer to him. "I wanna get you to a nurse."

"Later."

"No, now."

"Sam, I…" The command had Mercedes torn. It was that. That thing that made her squirm internally because she knew that he'd never like her in that way and that he was taken, but the way he looked at her shook that belief. Whenever she was alone with him, he made her feel like anything she felt was real.

He brushed a few curls off of her face that were falling over her eye and onto her cheek. Her hair was getting very long. "Hmm?"

She stepped away before she did something crazy. Like kiss his neck. Or his lips, or anything else she could get to. Why was he doing this to her? Mercedes was trying to be the sensible one. She knew Sam was concerned, she knew he was only there with her because no one else was. She knew it. And yet, she still couldn't shake her obvious attraction to him. Couldn't shake the magnetic pull she felt. It was almost beyond physical, but Mercedes was sure that was just her hormones talking.

"I wanna get this over with. And if I feel dizzy, I'll stop. But we need to get back in there—you need to get back in there, I mean. Quinn is probably wondering where you are. And considering that I'm the enemy, she wouldn't want—"

Sam was shaking his head the moment she said Quinn. She stopped. "What?"

"I don't have any intention on going back in there. Not today." Probably not ever.

"Why?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't grab her hand again. "I don't want to."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why not? No one's mad at you."

"I just don't."

"But Quinn—"

"Will call me later," He interjected, "So that's that."

Mercedes chewed her lip again and looked away. When she looked back his eyes were almost glowing. "Okay then."

They started walking again. He walked a good step behind her, which was best she assumed. Mercedes didn't want to keep looking over at him like a fool. She was two classrooms away from glee club when she stopped and turned to him.

"Will you, will you um…I'd feel better if you—I mean, if you want to, you don't have to—God."

Sam stared at her. "What?"

"Could you stay? I mean, hang around here somewhere so that if, if they start up again I—I mean, it's not like I need a bodyguard but it'd be nice knowing—"

She could tell he was trying to keep a straight face at her rambling. "Whatever you're asking me Mercedes, yes." He said.

She smiled. "Thank you."

Mercedes adjusted her clothes and puffy hair before walking into the choir room with her head held high. He wasn't going back in there with her, and she couldn't blame him. Sam was somewhere behind her watching, and that was all the moral support she needed right now.

The moment she was in glee club the atmosphere changed. She didn't have to look at the entire expanse of chairs to know that all eyes were on her. She didn't care though because she wasn't there for that. And though she knew that some of the members probably didn't intentionally ostracize her, none of them came to her rescue but Sam and that spoke volumes. She didn't expect someone like Santana to come, because she was a selfish bitch. And that wasn't said maliciously. Santana was a bitch like the sky was blue. Mercedes didn't really expect anyone to be honest, but if she did, she thought Tina or Artie would come after her. Or at any rate text her. She was aware that some places in the high school weren't accessible to the handicap, so she wasn't mad at Artie. Not really. Tina didn't have an excuse. And yeah, she got that her and Tina weren't best friends, but if the tables were turned Mercedes would've at least tried.

Mercedes made a beeline to the front of the classroom and stood next to Mr. Schue as he spieled on about having an attitude did not require cruelty to others. She rolled her eyes. Whatever. It took Mr. Schue about ten seconds to register she was standing next to him.

"Mercedes!" He said like they were long lost friends, "I'm glad you came back. We don't really want you gone. Despite what was said earlier."

She nodded halfheartedly and turned to the class like he had. "I understand, Mr. Schue. I get that you all don't want to see me go, but I also understand that you wouldn't really care if I did. And that's why I quit glee club."

The silence that followed spurred Mercedes on. "I'm glad I came back for the purpose of fulfilling my last assignment in here, and I'm even happier that I'm quitting. See, it's nice to have a big voice to help out harmonies and sing the glory notes when the star performer can't deliver them. It's nice when everyone willingly lets their inner light be disregarded for the sake of someone else. And it's real nice when no one challenges you about it. I understand."

She turned to look Mr. Schue in the eyes. "What you and everyone else fail to get is that you can understand something perfectly well and still disagree with it. I disagree with it. That's why I'm done."

The choir teacher shook his head disappointedly. "Mercedes, that's not true at all. I appreciate all of my students, especially the original glee club members." He was giving her a look like he meant she was one of the people he especially cared about. Yeah right.

She waved his empty words away and stepped forward to focus on Rachel and Kurt only. "And no Rachel, you don't have to vouch for my removal, because I'm removing myself. And Kurt, I want you to know that I thought better of you. No matter what you believe from the people in here, I really had respect for you. But it's gone just like our friendship. And whether you believe it or not, you've done me a great disservice as a best friend, and as a human being. You have done me wrong, and don't think you've gotten away with it. Kurtis Henry Hummel, you will get what you deserve."

Mercedes turned away before she started crying and before Rachel could say anything. She didn't want to hear it. Then she looked at the band and quietly told them to play a song she was sure Rachel had given them music to a long time ago. "So Mr. Schue, I give you this as my attitude assignment. I hope you realize, just like everyone else will eventually, that I'm the greatest star in this classroom. And here's why."

Rachel gasped incredulously as she heard the music start. No way.

Listen,

I've got thirty-six expressions-

Sweet as pie to tough as leather,

And that's six expressions more

Than all them Barrymores put together.

Mercedes smirked and let her theatrical light shine. She was versatile and here was her chance to show it.

Some ain't got it not a lump,

I'm a great big clump of talent!

She moved about the room like she was a Broadway star with her stage finally, and forgot where she was. She forgot what she was doing and just felt. That's what singing did to her, that's what singing was to her. It wasn't just about her crazy riffs and runs, it was about feeling. And she could definitely feel it.

I'm the greatest star,

I am by far,

But no one knows it…

That's why I was born

I'll blow my horn

Till someone blows it!

I'll light up like a light,

Right up like a light

I'll flicker, then flare up

All the world's gonna stare up

Lookin' down

You'll never see me,

Try the sky,

'Cause that'll be me!

Mercedes was almost done and she knew her performance was tripping everyone out. Because who would've guess Mercedes Jones of all people to be singing this song? That's why she was singing this, and also to let Rachel know that in glee club or not, she was a force to be reckoned with. And just like Fanny Brice, no one could compete with her. She pointed at Rachel as she sang the last phrase and then turned her finger to Mr. Schue.

Have you guessed yet?

Who's the best yet?

If you ain't I'll tell you one more time.

You'll bet your last dime

In all of the world so far

I'm the greatest, greatest star!

The whole room was up and clapping before she even finished her last note. But she didn't care about their standing O. She didn't care about the fact that she had no idea what she was going to do now since she quit. All Mercedes cared about was the look of utter astonishment on Rachel's face. Because she sang it better than she ever could. That's what kept her smiling as she walked out of glee club with her bag in tow for the last time.

"You were amazing!" Sam exclaimed, wrapping Mercedes up in a hug when she saw him.

"Thank you." She murmured into his chest, feeling a beautiful calm wash over her.

His embrace—hug, had her body heating up considerably. Mercedes should've stepped away immediately when she started reacting the way she did, but she didn't. After everything she had been through that day, it was nice to feel good for once. Yes, he was taken and yes it would never happen, but she allowed herself to pretend. Mercedes pretended for that moment that she was his and he was hers. What a beautiful fantasy. They stood like that until she felt something soft and plush touch the top of her head. And she prayed it wasn't a kiss, because if it was he was in trouble.

"Uh, I'm gonna go home now." Mercedes muttered awkwardly as she moved out of the hug.

"Okay."

She nodded and turned to leave when he grabbed her hand again. "Mercedes?"

He's gotta stop doing that. "Yeah?"

"Can I have your number?" He asked, "So I can check on you later and see if you're alright?"

Her heart almost stopped. "Sure."

It was cool, giving him her number. The thought of it was, anyway. She had given guys her number before and nothing happened. They had her number and she had theirs, but neither ever took the step of picking up the phone. So maybe this was like that and he'd never text or give her a call. She acted like it was because the thought of talking to him and having his voice in her ear had her sweating. She prayed that she wasn't having a heart attack.

Sorry for not updating sooner, but with the tornado drama going on in my state, internet and fanfiction was really not my concern. But know that I haven't stopped caring about this story. I live a couple cities away from Moore OK and I can only pray for their recovery.

THANK YOU: Ladij, TeamSethLover, Oxford, Blackrose, LovesamcedesStory, carebearcaryn21, Haitianm, krazykay23, eowyn, zeejack, Alliecattie3, and Jujubee58. These special people are beautiful creatures that even Elites can't touch.

So, what do you think about the unbearable sexual tension between our favorite couple? You think Sam will call Mercy? What about glee club, and what do you think Mercedes will do now?

Please review!