Thank you guys for patiently waiting for me to update. If you follow me on Tumblr you would know that I have been under the weather lately. I didn't want to post a half ass update. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

Mercedes was a mess at work after leaving Sam that morning. She couldn't concentrate on anything and Kurt noticed it from the minute she walked in. He tried to ask her if she was okay or if she needed the day off but she just unconvincingly told him that she was fine. And she was everything but fine. Sam's idea to quit the show had her in a funk. And the new nurse was someone Sam knew and she was pretty, it was obvious that she needed to focus on herself now. She tried to think of how she could launch her career but Sam kept popping up and she would find herself just staring off into space. She knew Rachel had something to do with Quinn being hired but she couldn't see Sam resisting her.

"Mercedes, seriously, are you okay?" Kurt asked as he watched her stare off into nothing. "You've been standing in that same spot for thirty minutes doing nothing." Mercedes looked over at him and pretended as if she was looking at something on the computer. They were supposed to running down all the things they needed to prep for a show Kurt was launching, but instead she was stuck in her head about Sam.

"I was trying to remember something." she lied. She wished she could just open up to Kurt and just blurt out that she was having trouble in paradise. She wished she was more opened to other feedback as most people were. She wished she could call Tesla and tell her everything that was happening but she kind of knew what her bestie would tell her. She'd tell her to just talk to Sam and for some reason she seemed to suck at communicating when she was upset with Sam.

"Maybe you need and extended lunch break, huh? How about you take a two hour break and come back refreshed? Go get a massage or a manipedi or something." Kurt suggested. He felt for the poor girl. Working on anything with Rachel always had someone looking the way she did. Rachel was always self centered and evil without even knowing that she was really hurting someone in her quest for whatever she was after. A few times in high school he'd wanted to slap her into reality.

"Kurt, thanks but no, you need me here. We are short a male model and I was just trying to rack my brain on who we could get on such short notice." she lied again.

"Don't worry about it. I will find somebody. I am sure someone out there owes me a favor." Kurt replied with a smile. "Now go or you're fired." he added with a slight push to her shoulders. She looked at him and then nodded as she grabbed her purse.

"Okay...I guess I can go to Le Cafe and people watch from outside."

"Exactly! And the weather is nice out today so I am pretty sure they opened the patio." Kurt smiled as he watched her turn off her computer then make her way to the door.

"If you need me..."

"Mercedes...just go and enjoy the two hours. Clear your head. I'll be here." Kurt said cutting her off. Mercedes smiled before finally leaving knowing that she really needed the time off. Between all the crap that was flooding her brain, Anthony had been relentlessly messaging her. He wasn't saying much but she just didn't have time to deal with him.

Mercedes made it to Le Cafe and as Kurt said the weather was nice enough that she was allowed to eat out on the patio and watch as L.A. folk walked around and shopped. She couldn't imagine living anywhere else. And if she were to launch her career she would need to be right there in the mix of the rich and famous. She thought being on Millionaire Love would help her find love and launch her career. She was actually starting to believe it but yet here she was, questioning her marriage and wondering how to launch her career. She had been singing on the show for what she felt was every episode, but yet, she hasn't received any offers or calls from any labels. She didn't want her confidence to hit a record low but she was feeling rejected from all about her was making it impossible for her to keep a man and make a great singing career? She was about to call Sam and talk to him about her decision when she received a text message from Kurt about hiring Sam as a model for the showcase. And just as she was about hit the call button on her phone, Anthony showed up at her table then sat in front of her.

"Anthony, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked as she looked around then back at him with annoyance. "Are you stalking me?"

"It would seem like I was...but I was in the neighborhood meeting up with a friend of mine at their studio." he smiled. Rachel had already told him what he needed to say and he knew it would work. If Mercedes was at all like the Mercedes he dated in high school, she would do anything to be in a studio. Rachel also told him that many labels were interested in signing her and gave him the go to setting up the meeting to fulfill his quest. He couldn't believe how easy Rachel was making things for him.

"What friend of yours with a studio?" Mercedes asked as her interest was piqued. Being in L.A. it was hard to befriend a celebrity if you didn't know where to look but if you played your cards right you just might rub elbows with someone that could be your door in.

"You know Usher, right?"

"Usher!" Mercedes repeated in shock. "Your friend is Usher?"

"No..." he laughed. "The studio belongs to Usher and I was talking to my friend, who happens to have been signed to Usher's new label. He was talking about how Usher is looking for female singer and my mind immediately went to you." he added and smiled when he noticed the look of shock still on her face. "You have the best voice I have ever heard and I sent Usher a clip of you singing to that White husband of yours..."

"You mean Sam." she interjected then felt her heart dipping as she had finally gotten him off her mind and now he was back on it.

"Yeah...that guy." Anthony replied. "I explained to Usher that none of that crap on the show was real except for your singing...so he's interested in signing you off rip." Anthony lied again. All of this was discussions Rachel had with Usher. Anthony never got to meet or speak with Usher yet, but Rachel reassured him that he would get that chance once he sealed the deal.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Dead ass, girl! Would I lie to you?" he asked her then watched as she sat back and thought about it. Mercedes wasn't sure if she could trust him but what would she lose if she decided to do this? If he was lying then she'd be pissed at him and move on but if he was telling the truth and she didn't believe him, she'd hate herself. She wondered what Sam would say then if she was offered this deal? Would he want to quit what they had or stick it through? "That's why I've been trying to hit you up. I mean, I was a bit hurt when you removed me from your friend list. Thought we were better than that but I know you did it for that show you're on."

"Yeah...I needed to be committed to the marriage."

"I get it." he said reaching over to hold her hand. "But based off the shows rule, you only need to make it to three months to get a quarter mill. You're almost there. You can leave him after that and we can get back together and launch your career." he added with a smile even though she suddenly looked sad. "That's what you always wanted, right? For us to be together and to have that bad ass singing career. I can already see you on stage now accepting your first Grammy and thanking your real proud husband...me." Anthony added and smiled wider when she looked down at their hands.

"Uh..." Mercedes was beyond speechless. She looked down at her hand and how his was placed right next to her wedding ring. It all just made her think about Sam. Sure, she'd always wanted to be with Anthony and a singer, but he never mentioned marrying her before. Why was he now interested because she was about to be signed with Usher, potentially. If things didn't work with Sam, she was not about to jump into things with Anthony. She needed to know that he was with her because he still had feelings for her and not because she was about to make it big.

"I mean, Mercedes, think about it. You don't really think that guy is really going to want to stay married to you for real, do you? He's only doing it for the money. He's looking out for himself and his little sister, which I get. But who's looking out for you? You have the chance now to make your dreams come true. Don't let this show get in the way of that." Anthony said as he felt her slipping away. He couldn't believe she was really into that surfer guy. He needed to finish off whatever thoughts she had of him. "Look, he's not christian like you, he doesn't share your beliefs and he doesn't understand your struggle. You need to be with someone like you. Someone like me." Anthony said again as he held her hand tighter. She looked down at their hands again then back up at him. He wasn't sure what she was thinking but her next few words came out of her mouth so softly and before he knew what was happening she was hugging him. He held her close for longer than she felt necessary and she wanted to push him back but instead she kept hugging him anyway.

Sam rushed over to Kurt's office unsure of what he was going to say to Mercedes. He just knew from what Quinn said and how Mercedes left that he definitely needed to talk to her. When he got to Kurt's office he ran into Kurt instead. He decided that he could try to get his job back and then show Mercedes that he wasn't losing focus even though he didn't want to work at the warehouse. He just wanted to make a living a different way and working at the warehouse just reminded him of how he was when his mother passed away. And with Stacy up, he didn't want to keep reliving that life again. He wanted to focus on the life he had now, as a husband to Mercedes and a big brother to Stacy with a dog called Hey Hey...without the TVs. He looked over to where the cameraman was that followed him to Kurt office. Based off of Kurt's rules the cameraman had to stop recording while they were there. That was the life he wanted with Mercedes. No more cameras. He was tired of Rachel interfering with their life and if that meant losing out on a million dollars, he was opened to that.

"Did you come here for Mercedes, 'cause you just missed her by thirty minutes." Kurt said as he stepped out of his office to where Sam sat waiting on Mercedes. "She's having a longer lunch today."

"Uh...okay. I came to take her to lunch but I wanted to talk to you about going back to the warehouse." Sam replied. Kurt stopped mid step as he was about to put his shades on then looked at Sam for a minute.

"Oh...I thought you weren't ready with your sister needing you and all." Kurt responded as he looked at Sam. "I know how stressful all of that can be. When I was in high school, my father was in a brief coma and when he woke up I wanted to be by his side every second."

"Yeah, I took the time I felt necessary but I think I have to get back out there. So I just wanted to see if it was okay that I go back to work now." he said. Sam really didn't want to go back to work but if he needed to get the job back like Quinn suggested.

"Hmmm." Kurt responded as he looked at his phone then back at Sam again. He hadn't noticed it before that Sam had very nice features. If he had a better stylist he would have been quite the looker as well. "I have already hired someone to replace you. I figured you were going to need more time with your sister." he watched as Sam frowned but nodded his head as if he understood something that wasn't said. "But, don't fret I have something better for you to do. Have you modeled before?"

"Uh...I was in a calendar for my high school once." he responded with a smirk as they both walked out the door together.

"Good. I will have Mercedes give you the details. You can meet her at Le Cafe, and I will text her the deets." Kurt said as he quickly answered his phone and walked in the opposite direction from Sam.

Sam arrived at the restaurant and noticed Mercedes talking to the same guy that was there when they got Hey Hey. Sam felt a nervous feeling in his stomach as he watched him reach over and hold her hands. The cameraman zoomed in on Sam's face and he could just feel the viewers judging him as he watched Mercedes not move her hand away and he could have sworn he saw her smile at him. What was he telling her? And how long had she been meeting up with him at this cafe. Sam was about to interrupt their chat when he received a notification on his phone that said he had to listen to the message. Sam clicked the message and pressed play as Mercedes and her friend Tesla's voice started to play.

"Oh so y'all talked about having babies together?"

"Well..."

"Didn't see the point in telling Sam about me taking Plan B. Did you tell Matt when you got on birth control?"

"Uh hell yeah! He's my husband. I needed him to know that he ain't need to keep pulling out and spraying me..."

"Overshare! Overshare!" Sam heard Mercedes screaming causing it to be hard to hear her friend Tesla continuing to explain just how freaky her and her husband got. Sam never knew Mercedes took Plan B but it kind of made sense and also confused him. He knew they had unprotected sex a bit early in the relationship but they were married. Why would she do that and not discuss it with him? And what confused him the most was that she was always talking about being a christian so he thought she'd be against doing something like that.

"Just saying...you can't brag about communicating and honesty if you don't tell your husband about something that he obviously would want to know." Sam was shocked to hear Tesla having his back. He continued to nod his head as he listened to the message and simultaneously looked at Mercedes talking to Anthony.

"Well bitch, my situation is different."

"Why? Because your revolution is televised?" Tesla asked causing Mercedes to laugh. Sam was sure she meant that things were different because they jumped into the bathroom and had sex before they built a solid relationship. But he thought they were at least heading in that direction.

"No...but it's because...we're not in love." he heard Mercedes say and at that same moment he watched her hug Anthony with a smile on her face. He felt his heart drop to the ground. He hadn't said it to her without using Hey Hey's body as a shield but he at least thought it was conveyed through their daily activities together. He watched as she smiled and hugged her friend then felt as if he should just leave and not say a word. But he had kept quiet too long and this was not the first time that man had shown up. He was not going to let it go. He placed his phone in his pocket then marched over to where they were as the cameraman raced to keep up with him as if they were on an episode of Cheaters. Sam quickly pulled up a chair and sat next to them.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked causing the two of them to part and look his way. Mercedes smiled at him but her friend glared at Sam as if he had indeed interrupted something.

"Oh hey, Sam, uh...I was just about to call you." Mercedes responded as she moved away from her friend then stared nervously at Sam and the cameras. Sam hated that the cameras were there but he was tired of shying away from what he wanted to say simply because of the cameras. If America wanted to see what happened within a real marriage then they needed to know it wasn't always rainbows, that their were stormy days as well. They needed to see that they could stand the rain and bad times.

"Yeah, I bet you were." Sam retorted as he kept his eyes on the other man at the table. He wanted to punch the smug look off of his face but he first wanted to know who he was and why he was there to begin with.

"I really was...I just got a message from Kurt..."

"Yeah, uh...I'm Sam and you are?" Sam asked cutting Mercedes off as he kept his eyes on the man glaring back at him. "I've seen you around before. Is there a reason why you're always around my wife?"

"Sam!"

"I'm Anthony, a friend of hers and we had a thing before..." he paused to look at Mercedes and smiled. "A real thing." he added before looking back at Sam and cocking his head to the side. Sam hated to admit that him saying that did affect him as he heard Mercedes' words on the recording implying that what they had wasn't anywhere as real as what her friend Tesla had.

"Anthony!"

"I guess the operative word there was had, ain't it?"

"Guys, calm down."

"No you calm down, Mercedes!" Sam responded and stood up pushing his chair back to where it was. Anthony quickly stood to his feet as well and pushed his chair away. "Is this what you've been doing on your lunch hour. Meeting up with your ex boyfriends?"

"Sam, can we talk about this later?" Mercedes asked as she stood up and made her way in between the two.

"Why? Because the cameras are here? They're always here! Always watching and always recording!" he began raising his voice higher. Mercedes looked around uncomfortably wondering why he seemed so mad. She'd never seen his jealous side before and it was a bit sexy and confusing. Not too long ago he was just admitting that he wanted to call it quits on the show and now he was mad because he caught her with an ex?

"Please Sam." she responded softly as she placed her hand on his chest to calm him down. Sam kept his eyes on Anthony as he kept a smug grin on his face that made Sam everything but calm.

"What is he doing here with you, Mercedes?" Sam asked as he finally looked down at Mercedes.

"I had a proposition for her and you were in fact interrupting." Anthony replied then raised his fist up as Sam began to lunge himself towards Anthony. Mercedes tried to hold him back but she couldn't as he was quicker than she was. A waiter from the restaurant came out to try and help calm the guys down. Sam and Anthony were standing chest to chest, huffing and puffing while arguing over each other. It was so loud no one could make out what they were even saying. "She needs a real man in her life!"

"Oh and that's you? Where were you before then?" Sam shouted back as the waiters tried to hold them away from each other. "You weren't a man then and you ain't a man now!"

"That don't mean shit coming from the likes of you, dude!" Anthony retorted. "Yo mama didn't even wanna be around you!" he added causing the bystanders to all look over at Sam. Mercedes couldn't believe Anthony said that as she looked back at him angrily.

"Anthony, what the hell?" Mercedes asked as she tried to stomp over to him. She was going to slap him for saying something like that but before she could she felt Sam pass by her like the Flash and before she knew what was happening they were brawling and she was being carried away from them. Sam knocked Anthony to the ground knocking over a couple tables as they rumbled on the ground. Anthony was a good fighter, he had to give him that as he felt a couple punches hit his face. Sam hated when people mentioned his mother and he hated even more that Anthony thought he could judge her without knowing her. He was fighting Anthony as if he represented everyone that ever talked trash about his mother. He was also fighting Anthony so that he would never question how manly he was and he'd stay away from Mercedes.

Rachel couldn't believe what she was watching. If she knew she could this gold nugget from the recording and having Anthony there, she would have brought the two together a lot earlier. She raced over to the restaurant so that she could pretend as if she was concerned. Once she got there, she watched as cops arrived and arrested both Sam and Anthony while Mercedes cried on the side line. Rachel checked her reflection in the mirror and started to give herself the speech she needed to give herself courage. It was something she always needed to hear to give her the push she needed when she was stressed.

"You are great! You deserve this!" she said to herself before smiling and stepping out of the car. She strutted over to where Mercedes was and put on awarding act of empathy and shock. "Mercedes, what in the world is going on?" she asked as she stood over where Mercedes sat on the curbside crying. Mercedes turned to looked as they placed Sam in the squad car. Sam was looking as if his heart had been broken to pieces by Mercedes in more ways than one and it was just as Rachel hoped he would. She was hoping this was all he needed to call it quits for good. She walked over to Sam and told him that she would bail him out as soon as possible before walking back to where Mercedes was now standing with her arms crossed. She ignored the look Anthony gave her as he waited to hear her say she'd bail him out too. She was not about to ruin her show by letting Mercedes see that he knew her. "Mercedes, don't worry I won't let Sam spend a night in that-" her words were cut short when she felt the back hand of Mercedes' hand hit across her cheek. The slap was so loud that it caused everyone to stop what they were doing and looked her way. Rachel held the side of her face in shock as a tear fell from her eye.

"You manipulative bitch!" Mercedes exclaimed. "This is all you! I know you made all this happen. Now you wanna try and act like you're shocked and concerned. Fuck all of that!" she said then held her finger up as one of the cops came to stop her from hitting Rachel again. "I'm good. I'm good! This bitch has been trying me since day one. Since day one, you've put me and Sam together, knowing, that we were complete opposites..."

"But...but you love each other now...thanks to me."

"Thanks to you?" Mercedes asked before she started to laugh hysterically. "You want me to thank you for bringing us together as you've tried everything in your will power to tear us apart, all for the love of a good show. But what you failed to realize was that if you were more committed to helping us stay together then we might have made an even better show. You thought Sam and I couldn't make it together because I'm a feisty, sassy, christian black woman and Sam is happy go lucky white man with not a care in the world...but you were only looking at the surface. We are more than that. Sam's a loving caring brother and I am an open minded caring black woman...we are more than what you're trying to portray us as on T.V..."

"Mercedes I..."

"If your plan was to make us fall in love then tear us apart...then I guess you won. We're quitting the show." Mercedes said finally as a tear finally fell from her eyes. Rachel had tears in her eyes as well and it was not from the backhanded slap she'd just received. It was the look on Sam's face as he listened to Mercedes speak. The officer must have been a fan of the show because he removed the cuffs from Sam and allowed him to walk over to Mercedes. He slowly stepped to her from behind and from the look on Rachel's eyes, Mercedes turned to see him standing there behind her.

"Did you mean that?" he asked as he continued to step closer to her. She teared up even more as he came closer and nodded her head. "I'm in love with you too...and she didn't win." he said as smile tugged at the side of his lips. He reached up and wiped the tear that fell from her eyes with thumb before pulling her closer. "She can't tear us apart."

"I'm so sorry."

"Me too." he replied before kissing her softly as the bystanders all applauded them. Rachel watched them with a genuine smile on her face. She looked around at the crowd that surrounded them and realized what Mercedes was right. She thought the audience wanted drama but all they wanted to see was an impossible love story have a happy ending. She was suddenly having a change of heart and wanted the two to actually win the money.

"So...does this mean you will stay married on the show?" Rachel asked as they parted ways and looked over at her. The cop was putting Sam back in cuffs and escorting him back to the squad car as Mercedes followed close behind.

"We are staying married..." Sam responded then smiled at Mercedes before looking over at Rachel. "But we are quitting the show. We don't need your money." Sam added before the cop closed the door on him. Rachel stared in shock as she looked at Sam then over at Mercedes.

"Don't do this, Mercedes. If you quit now you don't win anything."

"No, Rachel, you're wrong." Mercedes replied before turning back to look at Sam as they drove away with him. "We'll win everything." and with that she walked off leaving Rachel where she stood. Rachel knew their had to be something that she could do to keep them on the show to at least appear on the finale. Because at the end of the day her research was proven. She paired two strangers and they bonded beyond anything people had just meeting randomly at a club or online. She had to redeem herself. She needed to present Mercedes and Sam with a proposition that even they wouldn't turn away from. And she needed to be able to redeem herself enough to have a second season.

Next episode will be the finale. I want to apologize for how long I took to update. I have really been under the weather with stress and a small war of titles with my publisher. Either way, you didn't come for my excuses.

reviews: you all see the leading trend with these two is their communication issues. They lay it all down in the finale. And a couple of the old characters will return to the finale to answer some questions. If you have a question for Samcedes you can ask in the reviews I will put it in the finale as a question from the viewers(as if you were really a viewer of the show lol)

I put a lil something special in there for those begging Mercedes to smack Rachel lol...and don't worry Samcedes will discuss the recording and everything on the finale. They will discuss everything, including what Mercedes said to Anthony before they hugged...let me know what you all think.