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May 11, 2011 (Wednesday)

Lima Allen County Airport

Lima, Ohio

7:02AM

Sam's stuffed duffel bag dropped onto the linoleum covered floor with a soft thud. The Lima Allen County Airport was small and inconsequential looking—Sam never would've thought that he'd be taking a plane to New York City from such an ordinary place.

He especially never thought that he'd soon be stepping off a plane from this airport and eventually asking Mercedes Jones to be more than friends. He'd never dreamed of being a competitor in a nationwide show choir competition either. Goes to show where small dreaming can get a person.

He glanced around the small space—eying the ticket counters and the small contingent of travelers shuffling wearily towards the escalator that led to the airport security checkpoint; or so the blue sign above the moving stairs said.

For a moment he wondered where his friends were, but he recalled Mr. Schue saying they would meet up after they got through the security checkpoint. Sam took a deep breath and focused his attention on his family.

Stacey was the first to fly into his embrace. She clutched him tightly and he lifted her off the floor. "I'm going to miss you, Sammy," she whispered and Sam placed a kiss on the girl's forehead.

"I'll be back before you know it, Sunshine," he told her and Stacey sniffled into his shoulder as he placed her feet back on the ground. Stacey let him go and stepped back until it was just her hands twisting in the leather of his McKinley letterman jacket. Her bright blue eyes were both sad and excited as she met his gaze.

"Love you," Sam said and Stacey beamed.

"Love you too, Sammy." She hugged him once more, before she stepped away from him. He watched as she walked over to their dad and buried her face in his stomach. Stevie walked up and shamelessly hugged Sam.

"I thought you were too old to hug your brother?" Sam teased and Stevie blushed.

"That rule only applies when I'm around my friends," the seven-year old replied, "And when I'll see you in less than a day." Sam tried his best to bite back his amusement at that, but he knew he'd failed when Stevie rolled his eyes.

"Love you, Superman," Sam told him and Stevie swatted at Sam's hand as he ruffled the boy's locks.

"Yeah, yeah," Stevie groused, "Love you too." Sam laughed as his brother walked away. Jeff let go of Stacey and Sam come closer and hugged him.

"You be careful," His dad said gruffly as Sam embraced him. "Listen to your teacher and you know, sing your heart out or whatever."

It was obvious that his dad didn't really know what to say, but he appreciated the sentiment—even if it was awkwardly stated. "Okay dad," Sam told him before he let go.

"I love you muffin head," Jeff said and Sam gave him a sarcastic quirk of the lips.

"Love you too, dad."

Sam finally reached Lynn—who was standing next to his father. Before she could open her mouth and say anything; Sam had pulled her into a tight hug. She laughed.

"Thank you," Sam whispered, "for everything." He let her go after that and she gave him the softest smile Sam had ever encountered. He looked at them for a moment longer, before he turned around and hefted his duffel bag onto his shoulder.

With one last wave over his shoulder, Sam walked up to the escalator and got on. He made sure he had his driver's license and plane ticket in his hand as he rode to the top. As soon as he stepped off, he could see the Glee club. They were milling around in the small airplane shops, but Mercedes was standing by a huge potted plant sipping what looked like coffee.

He handed his ID and ticket to the security guard on duty and waited impatiently until the guy signed it and gave it back. It was torture going through the check point. Taking off his jacket and shoes and everything felt like it took forever—especially because he really wanted to talk to Mercedes.

As he walked through the metal detector, he finally got a clear view of her. And she looked beautiful. Sam hurried through putting his stuff back on, but he was slowed down by someone suggesting he gate check his bag—due to its size.

It took him a few moments to fill out the tag and slap it onto the duffel strap, but he was finally free to go talk to her. He sped over to her and dropped his bag right next to her. She looked up startled, but she smiled when she saw him. Regardless of the consequences, Sam swept Mercedes into a huge hug.

She gasped a bit before chuckling into his shoulder. Man, she felt so nice.

He pulled back from her and asked, "What are you wearing?" Mercedes blinked at him before she glanced down at her outfit.

"It's my New York inspired outfit," she told him, "You like?"

"Yeah," Sam said, "but why'd you change your look?"

"We're about to go to one of the most famous cities in the world!" Mercedes told him with a laugh, "I can't just wear my normal attire."

"Why not?" Sam asked in confusion, "You're beautiful—you don't need clothes to make you that way."

The look on Mercedes' face was one of disbelief, adoration, and gratitude. "Thanks Blondie," she said softly.

What did he say to deserve a thank you? Sam nodded at her—unable to comprehend what just happened.

Girls; he'd never understand them.

May 11, 2011 (Wednesday)

Flight 1746

Lima, Ohio

8:34AM

Sam had been fidgeting since he sat down in the seat next to her. Mercedes had been surprised to see that they got seats next to each other, but she was happy about it. She watched as he fastened and refastened his seatbelt—tightening the strap more and more each time he glanced out of the window.

He had looked nervous when they first boarded the flight, but now he looked as though he was going to start hyperventilating. She waited to see if he would calm down, but when Sam picked up the emergency flight information card for the fifth time—she decided to interfere.

She grabbed his wrist as he fiddled with the card, and Sam looked over at her. "What's wrong, Blondie?" she asked, "You look like Armageddon is approaching outside of that window."

"I'm fine," he said and Mercedes' eyebrows rose. Normally she would accept that, but Sam's voice was an octave higher than it usually was. And he didn't comment on her Armageddon reference—now, she knew something was wrong.

"Sam," she said," Are you going to tell me what's actually wrong? Or do I have to start guessing?"

Sam's green eyes avoided her gaze and she watched as a blush spread across his cheeks.

"Sam?" Mercedes asked and he let out a puff of breath.

"I'veneverflownbefore," he muttered and she gave him a quirk of the lips.

"Blondie say what?" she questioned and Sam's pink cheeks darkened to a bright red.

"I've never flown before," he admitted—his embarrassment heavy in his tone, "And I'm kind of freaking out."

That made sense. She felt bad that he was so scared. It definitely wasn't Mercedes' first time flying anywhere. On average, she got on about eight flights a year—not including return trips.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," she said softly as she tugged the emergency card out of his hands.

"Then why do they have all these signs and flippin' emergency cards everywhere?" Sam hissed and Mercedes knew she had to calm his panic. "In case of a crash landing, water floatation devices can be used." She grabbed his hand and entwined their fingers as the plane started moving.

"It's just a precaution," she replied, "In case anything does happen they want you to be prepared. All airlines do this. It doesn't mean the plane is going to crash."

Bad choice of words, because she was pretty sure all Sam heard was plane and crash.

He paled and Mercedes hid a wince. "Listen—I've been in tons of airplanes and I'm still alive and kickin'," she told him quickly as Sam's breathing got shallower, "You trust me, right?"

Green eyes stared at her—slight panic blossoming in them, but he nodded firmly. "Everything is going to be just fine, Sam," she said, "You can hold my hand the whole time."

It took him a few moments, but Sam finally said, "Okay." She had never heard his voice so shaky or terse before, but he was still talking so that was good. His breathing had finally returned to normal when the plane began takeoff.

He squeaked and slammed his eyes closed as he tried to bury himself in his seat. Mercedes tried really hard not to be amused at the sheer terror on Sam's face. She had never seen Blondie so out of it before, and his expressions were hilarious.

When he let out a whimper, a snort escaped Mercedes. One of Sam's eyes opened to shoot her a dirty look—which only made her laugh harder. He looked like he was going to say something when the pilot spoke over the intercom, "We're almost at 32,000 feet and it'll be a smooth ride with some slight turbulence when entering New York."

Sam's expression was disbelieving as he mouthed, "32,000?" before he said, "And what the hell is turbulence?"

"We'll be flying over bad weather which may cause the plane to jerk around or bounce," she responded.

"Planes aren't meant to fucking bounce!" Sam stated in absolute horror. The look on his face had Mercedes practically falling out of her seat laughing. She heard some snickers from the Glee club members around them, except for Kurt—he looked like he wanted to puke from fear.

"Sam, look out of the window," Mercedes urged as soon as she could control her amusement.

"Hell to the no," the blond refused.

"Trust me," she said, "It'll be worth it."

Sam looked torn between fear and curiosity, but Mercedes' giving him the puppy dog eyes won him over. He inched his sliding cover open and hesitantly glanced out of the window. Mercedes could tell when he finally caught sight of the sprawling city below, because he gasped.

She leaned over his shoulder to stare out with him as the plane turned itself on a diagonal. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked and Sam nodded.

"I never thought it would look like this," he confessed, "Makes me wonder if this is what God sees every time he looks at us."

"Why?" she questioned—turning her head to look at the side of his face. His green eyes were full of wonder. She hadn't seen such awe in a long time.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Because now I can understand why he would love us so much," Sam replied quietly, "It's not perfect and it has its problems, but there's so much more to it. Something that beautiful would be impossible to walk away from."

She could feel her insides melting and she knew that she needed to step back from Sam before she did something stupid—like kiss him on an airplane in plain view of everyone else.

Blondie may not know it, but he had some intense game. And he'd definitely won Mercedes over.

May 11, 2011 (Wednesday)

Times Square

New York City, New York

11:54AM

Mercedes had never seen anything more beautiful in her life; the lights, the billboards, the buildings, the people. Everything was just amplified here. The sight of Daniel Radcliffe's grinning face on the sign advertising his Broadway show made her heart flutter with excitement.

She could see bakeries and sushi restaurants, concert halls, and huge corporation towers. All of it took her breath away. She stared left and right—unable to find just one thing to look at for more than a few seconds.

Sam's laugh on her right hand side finally attracted her attention though. "You're going to get whiplash if you swing your eyeballs around any faster," Sam quipped causing Mercedes to smack him on the arm.

She shot him a glare before her gaze was drawn to a bus passing by with Katy Perry's face on it. The group had arrived in New York not forty minutes before. It had taken them what felt like forever to get their bags from baggage claim and then escape into New York City by bus.

Everyone had begged Mr. Schue to have them dropped off in Times Square, because the hotel was within walking distance. He had agreed—mostly because they needed a break for lunch any way. A hungry Finn was not a pretty sight.

"Can you believe it, Sam?" Mercedes breathed in awe, "The McKinley High Glee club is in New York City. We're going to perform in New York City!" Her excitement was building so high that Mercedes couldn't help but squeal as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

Sam was staring at her in amusement, but he soon cleared his throat and stopped her with a soft touch on her shoulder. Mercedes paused—watching as the others walked to the sandwich vendor and began placing orders. She wondered why Sam would stop her now as she looked over at him.

Her eyebrows rose as she noticed how nervous he seemed. And for a moment, she wondered why he was blushing. She hadn't seen him do anything embarrassing. But now that she was looking—she realized that Sam had gotten a haircut.

"When'd you get that done?" she blurted and Sam blinked.

"Get what done?" he asked and Mercedes tugged on a strand of his freshly cut locks.

"Oh, my hair," Sam said, "Lynn cut it last night. What do you think?"

He looked hot, but that was probably inappropriate to say at the moment. She searched for other adjectives, but Sam's inquiring look made her rush.

"It looks sexy," she told him and then she was blushing right along with Sam.

Good job Mercy, that was so much better than hot. Damn hormones.

"Thanks," Sam replied with a shy smile, but his green eyes were dancing with amusement. It was nice to know she could give him some confidence in spite of her mortification. She couldn't believe she had called Sam sexy—the fact that he was didn't bother her; she just didn't say stuff like that out loud.

There was silence between the two of them for a few seconds as Sam buried his hands in his jean pockets and shuffled his feet. She was sure that he had stopped her for something otherwise he wouldn't have done it.

"Was there a reason we aren't buying lunch at the moment?" Mercedes teased; still trying to figure out why he'd stopped her. Sam looked surprised for a moment before he spoke.

"Uh, yeah," he stammered and suddenly the nervousness reappeared. "I wanted to ask if you would—go on a date with me? Tomorrow afternoon?"

Mercedes felt her jaw drop. She had dreamed of Sam Evans asking her out on a date since prom and here he was—finally making a move.

"A real date?" she asked and Sam nodded.

Her heart was pounding around in her chest and there was a legion of butterflies doing the mambo in her stomach. The joy and excitement was choking her and she could feel her eyes watering.

Sam, on the other hand, looked like he was about to pass out from panic.

"Yes!" Mercedes cheered and Sam fairly slumped in relief. "Yes, a million times! I would love to go on a date with you tomorrow afternoon."

Sam was bright red, but his green eyes were sparkling with happiness. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening.

It felt like a fairytale, but better because it was real and it was with Sam. And she had the perfect dress to wear!

For a few seconds they couldn't stop grinning like a pair of loons, but Finn called them over and they had to rejoin the group before anyone got suspicious.

Mercedes felt like a Christmas elf on crack as they walked to the sandwich vendor. She was so hyped up and excited that she decided that New York would be the beginning of a different lifestyle.

She wasn't going to hang at the back anymore. She had her dignity and her family and her friends and the greatest not-yet boyfriend ever—it was time she lived her life to the fullest.

Thank you, New York City!

May 11, 2011 (Wednesday)

The InterContinental Hotel

New York City, New York

3:52PM

Sam had been doodling idly on his notepad for the last three hours as he listened to the horrendous attempts at song writing that were being passed around the room. He had been ecstatic when Santana declared it break time and he'd been able to convince Mercedes to move closer to him.

He told himself that it was because of the puppy dog eyes he kept shooting her behind Brittany's back, but he knew it was most likely because of the obnoxious number of texts he kept sending her asking if she would please, please, please sit next to him.

His excitement for their date the next day was driving him to distraction. He and Lynn had stayed up pretty late planning it—and she'd helped him buy everything he needed, but he still had trouble believing that this was actually happening.

Mercedes Jones was going on a date with him—a homeless jock with dyslexia—in less than twenty-four hours. Just the thought of it put an idiotic grin on his face; he'd already gotten some cross-eyed looks from Rachel and Tina because of his expressions.

At first, Sam thought if she was sitting closer to him—it would be easier to concentrate because he didn't have to swing his head around to keep glimpsing her, but he now realized that was a mistake.

She was sitting about a foot away from him on the edge of the bed. And he could smell the lilies and cinnamon.

He was pretty sure that he hated her hat—mostly because he couldn't see her hair and Sam would freely admit that he was slightly obsessed with the way it fell across her neck and shoulders.

He had to put his hands in his lap to stop himself from tugging the hat off her head. It didn't help that her hand was right there.

Damn it.

Sam made himself look away as Brittany started singing. He finally listened to the lyrics of her song and his eyebrows furrowed. She couldn't possibly be singing about a cup, could she? He glanced around the room and saw the same confused and disbelieving expressions on everyone else.

It was the look on Mercedes' face that almost made him laugh though. Her head was cocked to the side and her eyebrows were furrowed. He watched her nose wrinkle and her lips quirked sarcastically. Her whole expression said, "What the fuck?"

He had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep himself from cracking up and hurting Brittany's feelings.

Mercedes glanced over at him and the amusement blossomed quickly on her face. As soon as Brittany turned around they fell into silent fits of laughter. What would he do without Mercedes?

Their giggles continued throughout the ensuing argument between their friends. Sam leaned over to Mercedes and whispered, "How much you want to bet that we're out of here in about two minutes?"

"What's the point of betting when I know it's gonna happen?" she responded and Sam grinned at her. He saw her straighten up and nod when Quinn looked in their direction; she glanced at him afterwards and he smirked in her direction.

She stuck her tongue out at him and he couldn't help but snicker. When people stood up to put on coats, he and Mercedes scrambled to follow them. They walked with the group as they filed out of the hotel room.

"We should check out the shops in Times Square," Mercedes said and Sam glanced at her. From what he'd seen as they came inside—most of those places were designer shops and he was barely able to afford the sandwich they'd eaten for lunch much less anything from those stores.

Mercedes looked up at him when he didn't respond. She must've seen the dubious look on his face because she spoke, "Don't worry, Blondie. I don't want to buy anything."

"Really?" he asked—what girl didn't want to shop?

"Yes, really," she replied with an indignant huff, "I'm not Kurt. I don't buy outrageously priced clothing when I can get something just as cute from Torrid." She nudged his shoulder with hers and finished, "It's not like designers like making clothes for anyone not Santana-sized anyways."

Sam eyed her—looking for any type of insecurity. When he didn't see any—he smiled as he nudged her back. "I prefer beautiful over any particular size anyway," Sam told her and she glanced over at him.

The gratitude in her eyes was enough to make him blush. Feeling her pinky wrap around his only heightened the color in his cheeks as the group stepped outside and onto the streets of New York.

He hadn't even been there a whole day and he already loved this place.

Sam and Mercedes followed the group around Central Park, but the group slowly split into little groups. Somehow—Sam and Mercedes ended up with Mike, Tina, and Artie as they strolled around Times Square—just watching the people, taking pictures in front of statues and cracking jokes.

It was a great way to spend their first evening in New York City, but Sam was incredibly anxious about tomorrow. The date he had planned for Miss Mercedes Jones was awesome, if he did say so himself.

Sam grinned as they made their way back to the hotel.

May 11, 2011 (Wednesday)

Lynn's House

Lima, Ohio

7:32PM

Lynn was in her usual place—sitting on the floor of the living room—but this time she was working hard on knitting a new sweater for Delia. She hummed to herself as she made each stitch—singing old Elvis songs and imagining herself performing one of them on stage.

She wondered how Sam and Mercy were doing. Lynn hoped that they were having a good time in New York. It made her laugh every time she thought about Jeffrey's face when the plane took off.

He had panicked the moment Sam disappeared on the escalator—telling her that his son would be murdered or robbed. It had taken her twenty minutes to stop him from marching up the stairs and demanding that Sam came home.

He acted like such a tough guy, but he was softer than a Pillsbury dough boy. She knew he was freaking out—Sam had never been in a different city than his father before and it was quite the experience for Jeff. She was sure that he would recover his wits soon enough.

That was why she told him to head to the shop and work on the restaurant. Working hard seemed to help him focus and straighten his thoughts out.

Lynn had picked Stevie and Stacey up from school. Stevie—whether he said it out loud or not—was very attached to his brother and she could tell that he didn't like Sam not being at home. Stacey was just heartbroken.

The poor thing made it through school, but as soon as she saw Lynn she burst into tears. She had wasted no time in scooping the child into her arms and trying to calm her down. It had taken her ten minutes to get the little one to sniffles, and she decided to get them home.

After all that crying, Stacey conked out in the car and Lynn put her in bed. She let Stevie do his homework in his room. Around five—she brought him a snack and she hadn't seen or heard from him since then.

She hated to see them so down, but Sam needed to live his life. He would be going to college in a year, and she hoped the kids would fare better than this trip.

Lynn's internal musings were interrupted by the sound of her name being called from behind her. She looked up and saw the top of a blonde head over the back of the couch.

"I'm over here, darlin'," she said and the head turned in her direction. She watched the small figure make its way around the couch. She wasn't surprised to see Stacey—or the fresh tear tracks on the little girl's face.

Lynn smiled at her and Stacey looked at her in confusion. "What are you doing?" she asked and Lynn blinked, before she realized that the girl was asking about her knitting.

"It's called knitting," she replied, "You ever tried it?"

Stacey shook her head. "I've heard of it, but I've never seen it before." Lynn made a snap decision and she patted the floor next to her.

"Come on," she said, "I'll show you." Stacey bit her lip, but she plopped down next to her on the floor. Lynn dug around in her kit and pulled out two knitting needles. It only took a few moments for her to explain the entire process to the small child. Stacey was very attentive.

It took her a few tries to get the stitch correctly, but when she did—Lynn's heart skipped a bit at the bright smile that crossed her face. "I can't wait to show Sammy!" Stacey exclaimed, and Lynn winced when her entire expression crumbled.

"You really miss him, huh?" she asked as Stacey's lips trembled. The blonde girl nodded before the tears started falling again and Lynn pulled the little girl into her embrace.

"How about we give him a call?" Lynn suggested and when Stacey's watery blue eyes looked up at her with hope—her heart fell into her stomach.

She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her phone. Quickly she searched through her contacts until she found Sam's number.

"After we call him, how about we make him a present for when he gets home?" she asked as she handed the ringing phone to Stacey.

Her eyes lit up. "Can we make him a beanie? He loves those!"

And Lynn smiled. "Of course we can, sweetheart."

Stacey looked like she was about to say something else, but Lynn heard Sam's voice on the other end of the line saying, "Hello?"

"Sammy!" Stacey squealed and Lynn had to choke back a laugh at her excitement. She heard Sam chuckle on the other end. "Let me go get Stevie!"

Stacey looked at her with pleading eyes and Lynn nodded. With a shout of joy, the small girl leapt up and took off for the stairs—chattering into the phone the whole way.

Watching her—Lynn's throat constricted. She would never experience that type of childish joy from children of her own. Living with the Evans' children was bittersweet, but she wouldn't change it for the world.

May 11, 2011 (Wednesday)

The InterContinental Hotel

New York City, New York

10:05PM

After getting off the phone with his younger siblings—Sam had been in an excellent mood. He had been a bit annoyed by the conversation between the Glee guys about Finn and Rachel beforehand, but talking to Stacey and Stevie cheered him up.

And as he watched Finn do everything in his power to make Rachel happy—he was glad that he'd found a girl like Mercedes. She didn't ask him to change things about himself to make her happy. She wasn't demanding or jealous—well, she could get jealous but never about dumb things.

She trusted him with her heart and he couldn't be happier with how beautiful and amazing and laid back she was. High maintenance really wasn't his thing. He loved being with a girl who could play sports and video games just as well as a guy yet still rock a dress like nobody's business.

He was just so damn blessed that it made him smile as he watched Finn get burned by Rachel once again. He wiped the grin off his face because he felt bad for the guy, but damn if it didn't make him more excited for his date with Mercedes tomorrow.

He wondered how in the hell a homeless jock from Tennessee could have ever found a woman like Miss Mercedes Jones? But he wasn't about to complain.

Man, he couldn't wait until tomorrow!

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