A few days later, on a Friday, Mercedes and Anthony laughed as they made their way inside of Mercedes' apartment.
Anthony arrived in Lima hours ago.
He surprised Mercedes at her job, having taken a taxi there after leaving the airport almost as soon as the plane landed. After they hugged and shared a passionate kiss for a moment, Anthony drove them, in Mercedes' car, to an expensive restaurant that was also his favorite restaurant in the area. They stayed for a while, and had a great time.
"Did you have fun tonight, Mercedes?" Anthony asked as he helped her take off her blazer.
Mercedes nodded. "I had a lot of fun, Anthony." She said with a smile. "Thanks," she said after he put her blazer on the back of the chair that was near the door. "And thanks for tonight."
Anthony smiled as he grabbed both of Mercedes' hands and kissed the backs of both of them before leading her towards the living room.
"How about you?" Mercedes asked Anthony this question regarding whether or not he also had fun, tonight. "You were your 'usual'-self at the restaurant and before we got there, but you were unusually silent during the drive back here. Are you okay?"
Anthony sighed as he and Mercedes sat on the couch. He looked into her eyes for a while before smiling, leaning towards her, and kissing her, passionately. "I'm so much more than 'okay,' Mercedes."
Mercedes smiled too as she continued to listen to Anthony as he spoke.
"…And I'm praying now, as I've prayed for a while, that you'll make me the happiest man in the world by becoming my wife." Anthony said as he got down, on one knee, in front of Mercedes.
Mercedes didn't know what to say, do, or even think, at the moment.
"Mercedes, I love you more than I even thought it was possible for a man to ever love a woman. As soon as we met, I knew that you were someone that I had to have in my life, which is one of the reasons why it is that I'm grateful to actually have you as not just someone that's in my life, but as someone with whom I can share my love. You're everything that a man could ever want in a wife. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Anthony said.
Mercedes stared with a shocked expression upon her face as Anthony reached inside of his inner, chest, jacket pocket, grabbed a ring box, pulled the ring box out of the pocket, and opened the box inside of which was an engagement ring.
"Will you marry me?" Anthony asked Mercedes with a hopeful smile upon his face.
After a while, Mercedes finally spoke. "…Anthony…"
"I know that this seems sudden. We haven't talked about marriage much in the past, we haven't been dating for a very long time, though I've been talking to my supervisor about relocating to Lima, we're still technically in a 'long-distance' relationship, and on top of all of that, you've already got so much going on in your life, regarding Makyira." Anthony said. "I mean it when I tell you that I truly do understand all of that, Mercedes. But, to be completely honest, Makyira's actually one of the reasons why it is that I've decided to propose now as opposed to waiting for a few more months, which was my original 'plan.' After we finished speaking about you wanting me to meet Makyira at her birthday party tomorrow, I came to a realization about the fact that all of this is really happening. She's met you, her biological dad, and as of now she's met everyone else. Now, she's about to meet me. With everything that she has already experienced when it comes to how overwhelming all of this must be for her, being introduced to her correctly is even more important to me now than it was in the very beginning. Besides, considering how well things have been going in our relationship, it was only a matter of time before we got married, anyway."
Mercedes inhaled and exhaled audibly, stood, and walked away from the couch before she started to pace, back and forth. After a while, she turned towards Anthony. "Anthony…we can't get married."
Anthony stood from the spot on the floor where he'd been while proposing to Mercedes. He walked towards her. "Why not?" Anthony asked in a confused tone.
Mercedes sighed. "Because not only am I not even close to being ready for that, but we, as a couple, aren't ready to make that type of transition in our relationship," she said. "I appreciate the fact that you've been thinking about Makyira, but I truly don't think that there's anything wrong with you being introduced to her as my boyfriend. You don't have to worry about her thinking that you are a less important part of my life because you're not my husband."
"I guess that I can agree with you about me worrying for no reason when it comes to what Makyira will think of me because of the fact that I'm just your boyfriend and not your husband, YET. But I don't agree with you about us, as a couple, not being ready for marriage, Mercedes. Besides, like I said, it would only be a matter of time anyway, right? So why wait? What's the difference between getting married sooner rather than a few months later?"
Mercedes slowly shook her head. "I never said that, Anthony," Mercedes said. "As of now, I honestly don't know when I'll be ready for marriage. I've had to grow up so fast, in the past, and if I've learned anything as a result of getting pregnant with Makyira, not to mention everything else that I have experienced in my life since then, it's that there's nothing wrong with simply taking your time when it comes to making decisions. Especially when it comes to making decisions that can affect the rest of your life. It's because of my past that I'm now the type of person that always considers the impact that one decision may have on the future as a whole before I actually make that decision. I'm certainly not in a rush to make any changes, in my life. And as of now, there is nothing in my life that I would like to change, anyway."
An awful thought entered Anthony's mind as a result of him having heard Mercedes' words. Apprehensively, he asked her a question. "Mercedes…Is all of this actually nothing more than your way of telling me that you don't EVER want to marry me?"
"Of course not, Anthony," Mercedes said in a sweet tone. "I told you that I just can't make any promises when it comes to us getting married, especially in regards to when it will happen."
Anthony nodded. "But it will happen, right? That's what you want, right? Though you don't want us to get married any time soon, it'll happen sometime in the future…right? Because we love each other." Anthony stared at Mercedes for a while as she remained silent. She was looking at her feet, she had a sad expression upon her face, and she appeared to be thinking. "Mercedes…do you love me?"
Slowly, Mercedes turned her attention back towards Anthony. "I…I…" She closed her eyes to prevent the tears that were in her eyes from falling. To say that Mercedes felt badly about the fact that she couldn't honestly tell Anthony that she loves him would be an understatement.
After a while, Anthony accepted everything that was now obvious to him as it related to what Mercedes just said, in addition to what she HADN'T said. "…So…That's what this is all about." He said, sadly.
As her tears began to fall from her eyes, Mercedes sniffled. She sighed before she finally started to speak. "Anthony, I'm sorry. I'll never be able to tell you just how sorry I am. You're one of the best guys that I've ever met. I care about you. I want you to be happy. You deserve everything that you want out of life. And I'm honored by the fact that you've fallen in love with me…But, to be completely honest, I don't feel the same way about you. Trust me when I tell you that I actually wish that this was not true. But it is true. I'm not saying that it's impossible for me to ever fall in love with you. I just don't, as of now…But since asking you to essentially 'wait for me' to fall in love with you wouldn't be fair to you, not to mention the fact that, unfortunately, since we're being honest, there's still no guarantee that it will ever happen…I think that it would be for the best if we end our relationship."
Anthony looked at the engagement ring for a while before he closed the ring box. He put it back inside of his pocket before he grabbed Mercedes' hands. He held her hands as he stared into her eyes. Though he obviously wasn't happy with any of this, he knew that Mercedes was just being honest, which is something that he'll appreciate, in the long run. He also knew that she would never do anything to intentionally hurt him. "I understand, Mercedes." He said.
Mercedes gave Anthony a huge hug.
Anthony hugged her too. He rubbed her back with both of his hands while he tried to form a memory of this moment in regards to this hug, since at the moment he honestly did not know whether or not this would be the last time that he'd ever see Mercedes, though such a thought scared him, out of his mind.
They held hands as they walked towards the door.
Before Anthony exited the apartment, he turned to face Mercedes.
They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever.
After a while, Anthony spoke. "I love you, Mercedes," he said.
Mercedes smiled sadly before she put her hands on his shoulders then brought him towards her and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips. "…Goodbye, Anthony," Mercedes said.
"…Goodbye, Mercedes," Anthony said. He exited the apartment, made his way down the hallway, and approached the stairwell. Before he started walking down the stairwell, he forced a small smile to form upon his face as he turned his attention back towards Mercedes. He gave her a wave 'goodbye.'
Mercedes waved back at Anthony.
She closed the door after Anthony was out of her sight. After closing the door, she sighed as she closed her eyes and leaned against the door. Though she knew that she made the right decisions regarding her decisions to be honest with Anthony about her feelings for him as well as her opinion when it comes to them ending their relationship since she couldn't promise him that she ever would fall in love with him, she was still sad. She knew that she'd broken Anthony's heart, though that wasn't her intention. After a while, Mercedes finally decided to start making her way towards her bedroom. At this moment, the only thing that Mercedes wanted to do was try to get some sleep, especially because she knew that going to sleep would allow her to clear her mind.
The next day
7 PM…
Mercedes arrived at a karaoke bar. She parked the car, exited and locked the doors of the car, and started making her way towards the double doors that lead to and from the karaoke bar, inside of which were her friends as well as Sam and Quinn in addition to their friends.
During Makyira's birthday party, everybody got to know each other. They all had such a fun time together at the party that they decided to go out and have some 'adult'-time for a change, after the party ended. Mercedes suggested that they come here because she'd been wanting to visit this place for a while now, and she knew that everybody would have fun. Everybody agreed to meet here after they got ready by changing their clothes, etc., and after Santana as well as Mike took Rosie and Eli as well as Leslie to the Evans' residence. Quinn's parents are going to watch all of the kids while the younger adults are out, and Rosie and Leslie are going to spend the night.
After she entered the karaoke bar, she saw Sam, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Puck, Rachel, Mike, Artie, Tina, Blaine and Kurt as well as Finn. They'd put two tables beside each other and about half of them sat at each table. They were all sitting near the front of the crowded room and close to the stage. They all smiled and greeted Mercedes as she approached them.
Mercedes smiled and greeted everybody before she sat in the seat that Finn saved for her, between him and Kurt.
"Hey, Cedes," Kurt said. "Well, it certainly took you a long time to get here, or should I say 'you certainly took your time getting here,' considering the fact that you said that you would be here before the rest of us."
Mercedes playfully rolled her eyes. "I know, I know. And I'm sorry, my dear Kurt," she said. "But I had to take a call that took up a lot more of my time than I thought that it would."
Kurt heard the slightly sad tone of Mercedes' voice and knew that she was attempting to hide the fact that she wasn't currently in the best of moods. "Is everything okay?" He asked.
Mercedes nodded. "Yeah…yeah, everything's fine," she lied.
"I know that you're lying to me, Mercedes Jones. You and I both know that you lying to me can never be a good thing. Now, I'm officially worried about you. Tell me what's wrong." Kurt said.
Mercedes sighed. She knew that Kurt would never stop insisting that she tell him about what's going on if she did not do so, so she decided to just do it. "Okay…It's not that big of a deal…But…I broke up with Anthony," Mercedes said.
As soon as she said that, everybody turned their attention towards Mercedes.
Sam could not believe what it was that he'd just heard. A part of him actually wanted to smile as a result of having heard Mercedes say that she was no longer in a relationship.
"Really?" Kurt asked. "But I thought that things were going so well between the two of you."
"…He proposed to me yesterday, Kurt." Mercedes said. "He wanted to take that next step with me. As I told him, not only do I want to wait for a while before I get married, I wasn't in love with him, so I certainly didn't want to marry him. But his proposal did bring something to my attention, and that's the fact that fooling him as well as myself by assuming that I'll fall in love with him eventually isn't fair to either one of us. Though he's hurt now, I know that this is all for the best." Mercedes said. "Anyway, he's the one that called me, a little while ago. He has a flight back to D.C., but he wanted to talk to me before making the decision to get on the plane. He actually told me that he would understand and be okay with us just taking a break instead of actually breaking up, if that's what I wanted, and that he loved me so much that he wanted to 'take his chances' regarding the fact that there's no guarantee that I'll ever fall in love with him or want to marry him. But I told him that I didn't want any of that."
Kurt nodded. He gave Mercedes a hug before he kissed her on the forehead. "You did the right thing, Cedes. But I'm still sorry that you had to go through all of this."
Everybody else expressed the same sentiments.
"Thanks," Mercedes said. "Now how about we finally start having some fun?" She smiled as she stood and walked towards the person that was operating the karaoke system. They spoke for a moment before Mercedes walked up the stairs, onto the stage, and towards the microphone stand then stood behind the microphone stand. She began singing as soon as the music started playing and the lyrics to the song that she selected appeared on the screen of the karaoke machine.
Mercedes disconnected the microphone from the microphone stand before she started to sing again.
She danced as she continued to sing the song.
She walked off of the stage, having made her way down the stairs, and started walking around the room, interacting with the crowd.
Eventually, she got to the two tables at which everybody with whom she was here were sitting.
She interacted playfully with Kurt, Blaine, Tina and Artie before playfully wrapping an arm around Finn's neck and singing near his ears. He smiled and reacted to this attention by playfully pretending to faint.
She noticed that Sam was staring at her with a sexy smirk upon his face, so she smiled at him as she continued to sing.
She walked back onto the stage, having made her way back up the stairs, and reconnected the microphone to the microphone stand.
She smiled at Sam again and looked at him as she sang the rest of the song, having noticed that he was still staring at her though the smirk that was on his face now was more than just sexy.
After Mercedes finished singing, the crowd applauded. With a smile upon her face, she thanked everybody before she made her way towards the table at which she'd been sitting.
Everybody told her how much they loved her performance.
"Thanks, everybody." Mercedes said.
"You were awesome, Mercedes." Sam said.
"Thanks, Sam." Mercedes said.
They smiled at each other.
Mercedes had an idea. "So, since you liked my performance so much…how about you sing, now?"
Everybody loved the idea. Especially Quinn.
"Oh, I don't know," Sam said in a shy tone.
"Oh, come on," Mercedes said. "Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam!" Mercedes started to playfully cheer before everybody else started to do so, too.
Sam laughed. "Okay. Okay." He said after a while and before he made his way towards the person that was operating the karaoke system then up the stairs, onto the stage, and towards the microphone stand. A while after the music started playing and the lyrics to the song that he'd selected appeared on the screen of the karaoke machine, Sam inhaled and exhaled deeply then started to sing.
Sam didn't feel nervous anymore, so he looked at the crowd as he continued to sing. He was happy to see that everybody seemed to be enjoying his performance. The people with whom he was here had smiles upon their faces. Quinn was staring at him with a huge smile upon her face as she listened to him sing the song.
He could not help but smile as soon as he saw Mercedes.
He stared at Mercedes as he sang the rest of the song.
After Sam finished singing, the crowd applauded. Sam thanked everybody and smiled as he made his way back towards the table at which he'd been sitting.
While everybody told him how well they thought that he did, he turned his attention towards Mercedes. He laughed after she playfully mouthed the words 'no, YOU were awesome' while looking at him before he responded by mouthing the words 'maybe, but you were better' while smiling.
Throughout the rest of the night, everybody else also sang. Both Mercedes and Sam even sang more than once, because on a few occasions, more than one person performed at the same time, as a group. Everybody had a great time.
About an hour later, Mercedes took a moment to go outside and get some air.
She got up from the table and made her way towards the double doors before she exited the karaoke bar. She observed her surroundings which were that of the bright, boisterous, busy downtown area.
About a minute later, Sam also exited the karaoke bar. He looked around for Mercedes and started walking towards her as soon as he saw her. "Hey," he said with a smile as he stood beside her.
Mercedes looked at him and smiled. "Hey," she said. "Don't tell me that you're done, for the night." She playfully said with a laugh.
Sam laughed too. "No. Honestly, as much of a surprise as this is for me to even admit to myself, I have to admit to you that this has been so much fun that I know that I'll be back. Thanks for telling us about this place and suggesting that we all come here tonight, Mercedes. Tonight's been such a great night."
"Sure, sure. No problem. I'm glad that you've been having fun and that everybody else seems to be enjoying themselves. And you should come back. You're a natural, up on that stage." Mercedes said.
"That means more than you know, coming from you," Sam said.
Mercedes giggled.
"I mean it, Mercedes. I don't think that I would've even considered performing tonight if ever at all had I not seen your performance." Sam said.
"That's sweet of you, Sam." Mercedes said.
Sam smiled. He was silent as he stared at Mercedes, for a moment. He noticed that, though she seemed to be in a much better mood now in comparison to the mood that she was in upon her arrival, she still didn't seem like her 'usual'-self. He assumed that she still had Anthony on her mind, in addition to the fact that she broke up with him. "It'll be okay, Mercedes."
Mercedes turned her attention back towards Sam. "What do you mean, Sam?" She asked, curiously.
"When it comes to everything regarding you and Anthony." Sam said. "I'm glad that you decided to do what you knew was best despite the fact that Anthony might feel hurt because of your decision."
It never ceased to amaze Mercedes how well Sam knew her. A smile formed upon her face as she listened to him continue to speak.
"Not only are you correct when it comes to taking your time as it relates to marriage, and I say that because 'take it from me,' marriage is a serious thing, but you're also correct when it comes to taking your time as it relates to finding someone that you truly love. Anthony might be a good guy, but you are so much more than simply a 'good' woman. You deserve everything that you've ever wanted as well as everything that you ever could want. You're smart, sweet, successful, funny, and more beautiful than I used to think women were even capable of being. You deserve the best." Sam said.
With a smile upon her face, Mercedes looked deeply into Sam's eyes. After a while, she put a hand on his right cheek before giving him a sweet kiss on his left cheek.
Sam smiled. He tried to prevent a blush from forming upon his face, but he failed.
"Thank you, Sam. Thank you so much, for saying that." Mercedes said. "I doubt that you know how awesome you are, but the least that I can do to repay you for all of the nice things that you've said to me is tell you that as often as I can. So…I'll tell you now for the first of what I'm sure will be many times…Sam Evans…You. Are. Awesome." Mercedes said before she hugged him.
Sam hugged Mercedes too.
Though each of them doubted that the other person knew what he or she was currently thinking, the thoughts that were on both of their minds were about how perfect the other person felt in his or her arms. And in this moment, the last thing that they wanted to do was let go of each other, though after a while, they did end the embrace.
They didn't speak as they stared deeply into each other's eyes and smiled. After a moment, Sam put an arm around Mercedes' shoulders and Mercedes rested a hand upon Sam's back, then they both started to make their way back inside of the karaoke bar.