DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE NOR ANYTHING ELSE MENTION!
Marion Rivers: Dexter Darden
ENJOY :)
"How does it feel to lead your team to a state championship game for the first time in five years?"
"We got to this point as a team. Everyone put in the same amount of hard work, so it feels really good to be here."
"Hard work it was indeed. We just want you to comment on the people who are worried about your performance tomorrow. Your last game you struggled a bit, in fact, this team has been struggling in certain areas since the absence of your co-quarterback, Mercedes Jones. Which, by the way, I was put under the impression would be here but she was missing on yesterday. Can I ask where is she?"
"Wow, you just asked a lot of questions and made a lot of statements." Sam commented a bit irritatedly, watching as the woman laugh, he was beyond over interviews at this point, "Mercedes is under the weather but she is here. She has actually been here with us every step of the way in practices and helping out despite her injury. She's dedicated just like all of us. She's an amazing person, teammate and friend, and we're so grateful to have her. As for mistakes, they are easy to fix. That's all I have to say about that."
"Alright, thank you for your time and good luck today."
"Thank you." He gave a polite, fake smile before walking away, heading over to the bench. He wasn't really feeling this whole media day anymore because his mind was not on it. Everything that Shantel talked to him about last night was weighing down on him heavily and he thought a lot about what he was going to ask his friend, Marion, to do, "Feel free to say no to what I'm about to ask you. You're the only person I can trust to hear me out and not talk me out of it."
"What is it?"
Sam rolled his jaw a bit before sighing, speaking lowly for only Marion to hear. When he was finish, he stepped back and looked at him, trying to gauge a reaction but his face was hard to read.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Marion grabbed the water bottle from the holder, staring at him, "You're putting a lot of things on the line, you know that right?"
"I know and if you don't want to do, you don't have to. I'll just figure something else out."
"I'm in for the simple fact that I've known you since middle school and know that it's something beyond this sport. I get it." Marion said as he squeezed some of the water in his mouth, wiping his lips with his arm before patting Sam shoulder, "Just make sure we get back here next year."
Sam nodded as he walked away, taking a deep breath, he looked out towards the field where they would playing at in a few hours and took it in. This day was all he has dreamed about and wanted for years. Too bad he was about ruin it for himself.
Mercedes followed behind Desmond, one of the student managers, as she helped him lay out the jerseys that the team was going to be wearing in the game this evening. She had wanted to make herself useful since she wasn't able to play. Not only that, she wanted to keep her mind busy and off of what has occurred in the last twenty-four hours. She hated being vulnerable and she really hated that it showed in front of everyone yesterday,
"Desmond?"
"What's up?"
"If I'm not able to play football for the rest of my high school career, I'm coming for your job." She joked as she looked up at the boy, who just chuckled and shook his head.
"No ma'am, you're not. You'll be back in no time. Your place is out there on that field." He gave her a smile, earning one in return. He had shirt in his hand and walked over, holding it out for her, "We...well, more like Sam got you something but we thought of the idea. You know how bossy he is."
Mercedes looked down at the shirt, a smile appearing on her lips as she looked at it. It was just like her jersey but a blue t-shirt version, "Thank you."
"You welcome." He smiled at her, looking over her shoulder, "I'll be back."
"Okay."
"Hey there." He said as he walked to where she was, sitting down in one of the chairs, "I see you got your shirt."
"Yeah, thank you."
"No problem. Can you put these drops in for me?" He lifted the bottle up and shook it, smiling when she nodded and sat her shirt down, "They've been bothering me since this morning."
"Sure." She grabbed the bottle from him, gently tilting his head back with her hand, staring down into his green eyes, "Did you wear your contacts today?"
"No."
Mercedes leaned down and searched them, taking her fingers and moving his eyes lids back, leaning down to where her face was mere inches from his, "It's irritated because you have an eyelash in both."
Sam felt as she gently tried to get them out, blinking as the water started to creep up, grunting.
Mercedes wiped each eye with her thumb, "Almost done."
Leo stopped quietly in front of the door at the sight of them, eyebrows raising as he looked at them curiously. He bit the inside of his cheeks to prevent the smile and comments that was threatening to spill from his mouth.
"Shit." Sam's blinked his eyes a few times after closing them for a minute.
Mercedes took the tissue that she had in her hand, leaning down to wipe his eyes just as he was raising up, causing them to bump heads.
"Ouch." Their voices ran out together, looking at each other as they broke out into laughter, "Sorry."
Leo watched as they stared at each other for her longest, rolling his eyes at the sappiness before making himself known, "This is adorable." He watched as their heads turned his way, Mercedes moving away from Sam, "By all means, don't let me interrupt."
"I have to go do something." Mercedes said as she looked at Sam, "You good?"
"Yeah, thank you." Sam watched as she nodded and walked out as he up from the chair. He threw the bottle at Leo before walking around him, "You're an ass."
"I didn't do anything." He laughed as he turned to his friend, watching as he strip from his shirt and threw it at him too, "Y'all can't keep getting mad at me because y'all ain't discreet with the flirting."
Sam looked at him as he took his jersey off the hanger, rolling his eyes before closing the locker and heading to the back to his shoulder pads, ignoring his further teasing.
The hour passed by quickly and before they knew it, they were running out on the field for the game. Coach has selected his captains, Sam, Marion, Garret and Phelps, before they left home. The boys walked to the middle of the field to meet the other team captains so they could get this game started.
"No Mercedes? I would've thought she would've been a honorary captain."
Sam rolled his eyes at him, face to face with Nathaniel and glad he was, reluctantly shaking his hand, "Let's make something very clear."
"You dating her now?" He cut Sam off, waiting for him to answer his question as he stared at him.
"If I was, that's none of your business."
"Nah, you not." Nathaniel let a crooked grin take over his features before he spoke again, "You're way out of her league."
"Sam, ignore him." Marion grabbed the back of his teammate's jersey as he went forward, pulling him back just in time as the man came on the mic to introduce, give rules and do the coin toss, "Hope you can play as much as you talk shit, Hamilton."
Sam waited patiently as they went on, them winning the toss with the call of tails and deferring to the second half. The refs wished them good luck and told them to shake hands once more. Being petty as usual, he went back and grabbed Nathaniel's hand, a little bit harder than the first one, face still and emotionless, "Watch your back."
Nathaniel smirked at Sam as he snatched his hand away, finding Mercedes standing on the sideline with Leo's arm wrapped around her.
Leo glared at him before he turned them away from his stare. He looked down at Mercedes, who was too busy looking to the side to notice. When he turned, she looked at him questionably, "I thought I had to sneeze."
Mercedes scrunched up her nose playfully, "Don't sneeze on me, please. I don't want your germs."
Leo chuckled as he let her go, smiling at the smile on her face that he's been missing.
Seeing Sam come back up, he excused himself and went over to his friend, pulling him to the side, "What's brewing in your head?"
"Nothing."
"I know you, Sam. A hell of lot more than anyone else do. It's not nothing."
Sam ignored him as he walked around, not wanting to get into right now. He saw Mercedes and started making his way to him.
"Honorary water girl." Mercedes said as she placed the squeeze bottle to the corner of his mouth, "I've accumulated a lot of jobs lately."
"And to be honest, I can't wait until you're cleared to play because you suck at all of them." He joked, laughing when she squeezed the water in his face before pushing him and walking away. He chuckled as he wiped his face, moving to the huddle when he heard his coach calling for them.
Everything was going good until it came to the last two minutes before halftime. Mercedes had a feeling early on that something wasn't right and it was only confirmed when the incident happened.
"What is he doing?" Coach said as he moved the headpiece off, watching as his quarterback and wide receiver switched spots, not being able to call time out because he didn't have any left.
Mercedes sighed in anger once she realized what he was doing, turning to look at a frustrated Garret as he yelled out.
"SAM, DO NOT DO IT!"
Too late.
Once the play was called, Sam ran down the field, promoting Nathaniel to cover him. Once he made got there, he saw Marion throw the ball into the other direction, causing him to do what he intended. He pushed Nathaniel, catching him off guard as he stumbled back.
"What you're problem, Evans?"
"You know what it is."
Nathaniel unsnapped his helmet and went to him, pushing him back, "Why you even going up for her anyways?"
"Why an ass like you putting girls down anyways?" He pushed him once more, getting closer as he stumbled back again. Sam threw off his helmet as Nathaniel did the same, both boys getting into the other one's face, "You think you a man by doing so? Fucking news flash, that ain't how a man treat a woman."
"She's not yours to be worried about nor should she even be worth your time."
Nathaniel pushed him to the ground, only to be brought down when he grabbed his ankle, prompting him to hit Sam in his face, "Should've stayed out of it."
Leo tried to make it in time but he reacted to slow, his pathway getting interfered once the first punch was thrown as the refs swarm to separate them and the coaches staying off to their sidelines up make sure neither team went to join in.
Sam punched him in his mouth just in time before he pulled off by the refs, not having time to say anything further as he was escorted to the sidelines where his coach yelled at him.
"Locker room NOW!"
"Go with him, Mercedes."
Mercedes nodded her head at Garrett, angrily following behind as they headed off the field. Once he pushed his way through the door, she watched as he kicked the chair and stripping from his jersey and equipment, "I should've known something was up when you switched positions. What the hell were you thinking?"
"He came for me."
"Stop lying." She hissed as she stared at him, both not backing down from their stance in front of each other before Mercedes looked away and snatched the first aid kit off the shelf, opening it up to grab what she needed.
"Honestly, why are you mad?" He watched as she rolled the paper angrily before turning to him. He didn't even wince when she rubbed the alcohol pad to clean the blood dripping from nose.
"I don't need you to fight on my behalf, Sam." She whispered as she threw pad in the trash, placing some creme of the end of the q-tip, eyes meeting his as she lifted his head up so she could put it on, "I don't."
"Mercedes.."
"No." She said with finality, hearing him let out a long sigh, she shook her head as she moved her hand down, it lingering to his face a bit before she removed it, "Don't get yourself hurt because of me."
Sam bit down on his bottom lip as he stared at her, "I'm sorry, but if getting ruffed up a bit to get my point about you clear, it's worth it..you're worth it."
Mercedes didn't break her gaze with him as everyone finally made their way into the locker room, silence enveloping around them as they waited for the coach to say something. She broke eye contact with him and moved passed him to get out of the room.
"Is there something y'all need to tell us?"
Sam stared at the door after Mercedes left, hearing the assistant coach speak, opening his mouth to respond but Leo beat him to it.
"Teammate quarrel, that's all coach." Leo spoke up as he gave Sam a look, sitting his helmet down on the bench, not giving him time to react before speaking again, "I know this is a big game y'all but we need to just relax and play like ourselves. We're only down by two."
"Sam, I'm taking you out." Coach held up his hand when he saw him beginning to speak, "Switching plays without my knowledge is unacceptable. You're out."
"Coach."
"It's final. Cameron, you're starting."
Leo turned to the freshman, who stared wide eyed as their coach walked out the locker room. He went over to Sam and grabbed him by his jersey before pulling him to the side, speaking only to where he could hear, "Don't let your love for her blind you."
Sam pushed him off of him in disbelief, his words rubbing him the wrong way, "What the hell is that suppose to mean? I guess football matters more to you than Mercedes ever did, huh?"
"You know I didn't mean it that way." Leo responded to him angrily, hurt at the fact that he was taking it that way, "What I'm trying..."
"Save it."
Leo grunted when he bumped him, closing his eyes and counting down, trying his best not to snatch his stubborn friend up and knock some sense into him.
Mercedes had to get away from Sam at the moment. She didn't know why, but she was upset at him. She knew he meant well, but she wished he never said anything to him. She gasped when she felt someone grab her arm and turn her around, panic leaving her once she saw it was her brothers.
"You better tell me what he did, I'm not playing with you little girl." Jamison said as he stared at his little sister, seeing her bottom lip began to quiver, "TALK."
Nehemiah bumped his brother a bit, glaring at him, "Chill J."
The tears fell from her eyes as she she shut them. There was no way out of this. She sniffled as she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly before completely breaking down.
Jamison's angry features soften as he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around just as she fell into his embrace. He didn't mean to push her but he was upset. He knew something wasn't right. He always had a bad gut feeling when she was dating that boy and when they broke up, but he didn't want to say anything because knowing Mercedes, she hid her emotions well. But what only confirmed his feeling was Sam and the fight he just picked with him. That fight was initiated and intentional.
Nehemiah leaned over and moved her hair behind her ear, staring at her as he swallowed the lump in his throat, "Did he put his hands or take advantage of you, Moonie?" He heard her muffle out a 'no' and he sighed in relief, "What happened?"
"I-If I tell you...you're going to be mad."
"Too late for that." Jamison said as he pulled back and looked at her, frowning at whatever she had to say about homeboy.
Mercedes broke down, her tears not letting up as she covered her face, mustering up the strength to get out everything to her brothers. When she finally told them everything, her tears stopped and she looked at the unreadable faces before her, "Y'all can't do anything about it, okay? If you do, you're going to go to jail. Promise me."
Nathaniel ran his hands over his face, grunting out angrily, speaking through gritted teeth reluctantly, "I promise."
Mercedes felt her brother recoil from her embrace, looking at him knowingly, "J-Jamison."
Jamison rolled his jaw and unclenched his balled up his fists repeatedly before nodding, "I'm not going to touch him."
"I don't believe you."
Jamison didn't say a word, avoiding eye contact as he walked away from his siblings.
Mercedes felt her lips starting back to tremble once he left, putting her head down as she felt Nathaniel pull her to him.
Nathaniel tighten his arms around his little sister protectively, placing his head on top of hers as they stood there, "I'm so sorry I didn't notice. I'm so sorry."
They lost by a field goal. Emotions ran high, a mixture of anger and disappointment. One thing that they always said was that they win as a team and lose as a team, but they couldn't help but point their fingers at Sam for getting in trouble and having to put the pressure on their freshman.
Sam was disappointed in himself, but he wasn't sorry for what he did. When he cared about someone, it wasn't half-assed. He cared with all of him and wouldn't dare let anyone do or say anything bad to them. He was the last one out after coach gave them a speech. He walked back on the field, the stadium seats now empty, "It's my fault, I know." Sam started once he came up to the girl, standing in front of her as she sat on the bench, "But I'm not saying sorry for what I did."
"Didn't expect you to."
"Are you still mad?"
"I should be but I'm not."
Sam sat his duffle bag down on the ground and sat beside her, looking out towards at the clean up crew started cleaning up the confetti and streamers that was across the field, some of the players from the other team still lingering around, taking pictures of themselves with the trophy, "Maybe next year."
"Maybe so." She whispered out, turning her head to face him, "You really meant what you said back there?"
"Refresh my memory because I tend to say a lot when I'm pissed." Sam chuckled a bit, causing her to do the same. He watched her shake her head, mumbling 'never mind', "Ah, I got it." He responded knowingly as he leaned over and moved her hair behind her ear, his hand resting on the side of her neck, not noticing that they were being watched by jealous eyes, "I did, I really did."
Mercedes stared at him for a good minute. She wasn't dumb nor oblivious to his and her own feelings. She simply just was scared to put her heart back out there. She needed time to heal, and when she did, hopefully she'll be able to offer him something beyond a friendship.
"If you ever want to try, I'm ready whenever you are. And if not, that's fine too. As long as you're in my life." He whispered as he responded to her unspoken thoughts, watching as she gave him a small smile and nod before leaning out of his touch and standing up.
"Thank you." She waited for him to stand, watching as he picked his duffle bag and placed it back on his shoulder.
Sam wrapped his arm around her as they began to walk towards the exit, the eyes that was still watching now livid, "How long you think they're going to be mad at me?"
"Probably about a week or two...maybe three." She said matter of factly as she glanced at him, "At least you'll have me to talk to."
"I can live with that." He responded with a smile. He meant it. As long as she was smiling and not upset, that's all that mattered. They may of lost the championship game, but he won something that meant so much more.
A/N. And, we back at it again with another banger! Before I start, our girl Amber is starring in her first feature film. Mark your calendars and save up your coins b/c The List will be in theatre on November 2! Let's support our girl! Anyways, let me know your thoughts on this chapter & which story you'll like to see updated next. Don't forget to follow my tumblr (twrites1) for the latest!