Oh hey! I'm still alive! I don't even know how long it's been since I updated and for that I apologize. The days just go by so quickly that I can't keep track. Here is the Evan's day in NYC. Thanks for all your love and sticking with me :)

I don't own glee. If I did it wouldn't be the Rachel show ;p

"Alright, who's ready to see New York?" Sam said, gesturing towards the doors.

It took them two hours to get through Time Square alone. Every time the Evans girls saw a shop they wanted to go in, even though most of them were the same. They passed the giant Sephora and Sam knew that that would be another hour. Instead of following them around the guys decided to check out a sports store a block away. At first Sam was slightly hesitant to leave Mercedes with his mom and sisters. Partially because she hadn't let go of his hand all day, and partially because he could only imagine some of the embarrassing things his family would say. However when the girls all started to go into Sephora she happily kissed him on the cheek, told him to have fun, and followed behind his sister. He couldn't help but smile, she was clearly comfortable with his family and that made him happy.

Nora and Fiona went straight for the large selection of moisturizer while Mercedes, Lucy, and Molly were looking at lipstick.

"I'm really glad you and Sam are together." Molly said to Mercedes while she tested a hot pink lipstick on the back of her hand.

"I second that." Lucy said

Mercedes cracked a small smile "Thanks, I am too."

"I can tell that you're good for him." Lucy continued, looking up from the lipstick to look at Mercedes. "His last girlfriend was shit." She paused "Not that I'm comparing you two, because I most certainly am not."

"I knew what you meant." She reassured her with a smirk.

"One time he invited her over for dinner and she just sat there on her phone most of the time." Molly said, still kind of enthralled by all of the makeup. "Any time we tried to talk to her we could tell she didn't really care."

"We were never really a big fan of her." Lucy said returning her attention back to the makeup in front of her.

"We weren't a fan of who?" Mrs. Evans asked as she came up behind the three girls.

"Sarah." Molly said flatly

"Oh, I don't like to pass judgment but no I really never liked her either. However, there is no need to bring up the past. Did you ladies find anything you like?"

Molly held up a two pink lipsticks, one was a hot pink and the other as lighter and more of a coral. "I can't pick."

"I think this one would look better on you." Fiona said after inspecting both and handing her the coral one. "And Mercedes I think this one would look great on you!"

The girls finished looking at makeup and decided to head across the street and grab some Starbucks before meeting up with the guys. Right after the girls had gone into Sephora Sam's brother started in on the questions.

"Good job, bro." he said patting him on the back.

"What?" Sam was genuinely confused. His brother just wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "Dude, don't be weird."

"What?" asked Tom "I wasn't being gross. I just meant she's gorgeous and you have somehow managed to make her your girlfriend."

"She is gorgeous." He said with a proud smile. "I got her the same way you got Fiona."

"So sheer luck?"

"Yup!"

Their dad was smirking and shaking his head. "What's so funny dad?"

"I'm just glad you both appreciate what you have." Just then Frankie yelled happily and smiled. "He agrees with me."

"We'd be pretty stupid not to." Tom said

"That's right!"

The guys left the conversation at that. Pete was proud of the way his boys looked at the situation. They both had good women in their lives, and they knew it. He always had taught them to respect women and was very glad that it wasn't something they forgot. Tom had been married for a while and it was obvious that his relationship with Fiona was a good one. What surprised him was Sam. Growing up he had a few girlfriends, nothing serious. When he introduced his family to Sarah he seemed to be completely enthralled with her. Pete knew that she wasn't going to be the one for Sam but was supportive nonetheless. However after their break up Pete was a little weary of what it was going to do to Sam. He hoped it wouldn't change how he looked at love or women and seeing him now clearly it hadn't. He didn't know much about Sam's new girlfriend but she seemed like a perfect match for his son.

The three Evan's men, and Frankie, spent about half an hour in the sports store before Sam got a text from Mercedes.

We're gonna grab some coffee and then come find you guys! X

Sounds good! I hope they're not making you too crazy!

Nah. They're great! : )

The women all ordered their drinks and decided to take them to go. They still wanted to go see Central Park before getting ready to go out to dinner and they realized they should get going. As they left and started walking towards where the guys were Nora linked arms with Mercedes and smiled at her for a second before saying anything.

"I haven't seen my Sammy as happy as he has been today in a long time." She said still smiling.

Before Nora had said anything Mercedes was a little anxious, but as soon as she opened her mouth that was gone. "He was really excited to see all you guys."

"Oh I know he was, but that's not what I meant."

Mercedes just raised her eyebrows, slightly confused about what she was talking about. "I'm a bit lost."

"When Sam moved here he wasn't himself. Well he was but it was like something was missing. I was very worried when he told me he'd be moving so far away. Mostly because I didn't think it would be good for him to be alone because something seemed off. I can tell that whatever it was is fine now. And I think part of that is because of you, so thank you."

"I didn't do anything Mrs. Evans."

"You didn't have to. I think it was just you being you. I know I don't know you very well but I have a feeling that you are just what he needed."

Mercedes just smiled as they continued to walk arm in arm. She really didn't know what to say. She had no idea that she had apparently helped him out of a funk. She made a mental note to maybe talk about that later. After the family all met up they headed over to Central Park. At one point she just kind of watched everyone she started to get a little teary. Sam noticed right away, thankfully no one else did. When asked what was wrong she just shook her head and gave him a sad smile.

"Your family is just really beautiful." Was all she said before she grabbed his hand and continued walking.

After about an hour in the park they decided to go rest for a bit, Frankie was in desperate need of a nap, before dinner. When they got back to Sam and Mercedes street he gave the key to his apartment to his sisters and told him he's meet them up there in a minute. He took Mercedes hand and followed her into her place. As soon as she shut the door he pressed her against it, grabbed her waist, and kissed her hard.

"What was that for?" she asked softly as soon as she regained her ability to speak. He rested his forehead on hers and their lips were still practically touching.

"Well first cause I haven't be able to do that all day and second as a late apology for any weird, annoying, or awkward things my family might have said today. But mostly the first one." he answered with a smirk as he leaned back a little bit to look at her.

"Babe, your family was great."

"Really?" he squinted and looked like he maybe didn't believe her.

"Really." She said more firm as she rested her hands on his shoulders and kissed him softly. "Stop worrying, you're starting to sound like me."

He just sighed and pulled her against him. He didn't know why but it was like things had suddenly switched. He was nervous and she was all laid back. Before they got there he was fine but when it dawned on him that they'd be meeting Mercedes he kind of panicked. Especially when the ladies went off to look in Sephora. He knew they wouldn't say anything to embarrass him on purpose but still. He was really relived when she said they were fine.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he thought about what happened at the park. She looked up at him with raised eyebrows, obviously not understanding what he was talking about. "Why were you upset at the park?"

"Oh. It was just dumb. I'm fine."

They may have only been dating for a month but he had almost mastered her 'don't try to give me that bs' look. "It wasn't dumb. What's up?"

She sighed and gave him a look of resignation. "I was just thinking too much. I don't know what it was, just seeing your family and the way you guys all love each other. I got to me a bit I guess. I'm fine though, really."

"Okay, if you need to get anything off your chest you can tell me."

"I'm okay, but thank you." She said squeezing him gently. "Hey Sam?" She said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Your mom did mention one thing…"

"What was that?" he asked hesitantly

"Well she mentioned that when you came out here you weren't quite yourself, but she said you seemed happier now." She kind of trailed off again.

"Oh, I guess she was right. I hadn't really thought about it before."

"You know if you need to get something off your chest this works both ways right?"

"I know. I'm good. When I left it was about a month after my break up and I was kind of in a bad place. But I think I found what I needed to." He smiled as he finished which made her smile as well. His phone went off and he rolled his eyes knowing it was one of his sisters.

"Go." She said as she kissed him once more and opened the door. "Text me later?"

"You betcha!" he yelled over his shoulder as he left.

Mercedes slumped down on her couch and let out a deep breath. Today had been pretty great. It went a lot better than she thought it would. The Evans were really great people and she felt bad for being so worried. She was even kind of excited to hang out with Sam's sisters again, they were really fun. Then she started to think about what Nora had said to her. Sam had told her about the break up, she knew it wasn't a good one, but she didn't know just how bad it had been. She still didn't fully know but she wasn't gonna push him to talk to her about it. She knew if he wanted to talk he would. She smiled as she picked up her phone to call Maggie and fill her in on what happened. She had texted her that morning and made her promise to call as soon as she could. She only had to wait about one second before Maggie picked up.

"Girl! How did things go? Did they love you? I know they did!"

"Calm down, things went really great!" She was practically beaming as she told her best friends all about the Evans family and the day they had together.