"I love you." Mercedes murmured sleepily.
"I love you too baby, now go back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow night, okay?"
"Mmmm-hmmm" She moaned out quietly before turning over in Sam's massive bed and falling back to sleep.
Sam smiled to himself as he recalled the memory of Mercedes all warm and cuddly in his bed earlier that morning. He hated to leave her but he knew this deal needed to get done. Thankfully the meeting went by without a hitch and Evans and Evans added yet another high profile client to their roster.
It was around one in the afternoon and he was meeting one of his good friends, Mike Chang, for a quick lunch at a popular steakhouse. Sam and Mike met in college during freshman chemistry and Sam struggled quite a bit with the complicate formulas until Mike became his lab partner. The two of them became fast friends during the course of that semester and they had been close friends ever since. After graduation Mike moved out to LA with his high school sweetheart, Tina, and they were married within a few months. A couple years later they welcomed a baby boy and now they were expecting again. Sam was glad to see Mike again because he was one of the few people that he could genuinely call a friend. After the fiasco with Quinn, Mike was one of the only people Sam felt comfortable talking to about how he felt. Mike didn't approve of the way Sam chose to deal with the fall-out of his relationship with Quinn by jumping from woman to woman but he still had his back regardless. Now, Sam couldn't wait to tell him about his relationship with Mercedes. He knew for a fact that Mike would like her and important to him that he show his friend that he still wasn't the same bitter fuck up that he had been for so many years.
As Sam sat at the table in the restaurant he pulled out his phone and thought about calling Mercedes. It would be around four where she was and she would be finishing up things so that she could leave for the day. He was in the process of pushing one for his speed dial when he heard a jovial voice behind him,
"Sam freakin' Evans! How are you man?" Sam glanced up and turned his head to see Mike walking towards him with a big smile on his face. Sam returned the smile and stood up and grabbed Mike's outstretched hand and brought him in for a quick 'bro' hug. The both slapped each other's backs loudly before settling into their seats.
"I've been damn good, man? How are you? And how's Tina and the kids?"
"Good...good, man. Tina is doing amazing and she's entering into her last trimester, and it's a girl this time. And my lil' man, Drake, is driving me up the wall, but I love him." Mike shrugged helplessly but he could barely contain the look of happiness on his face. Sam couldn't help but envy him because he wanted all of that, and he never realized how much until recently.
"So what about you Mr. CEO? Work still ruling your life or did you find a woman...or should I say women to keep you occupied?"
"Work is good, just cut a deal with yet another great client and as far as that other thing..." Sam trailed off.
"What are their names?" Mike asked, shooting Sam a disapproving look.
"Her name is Mercedes."
"That's it?" Mike asked in disbelief, "you're just with one woman?"
"Don't sound so surprised, I wasn't that bad."
"Uh yeah dude, you were. For a while there you were with a different woman every couple of weeks, so I just stopped trying to keep up."
"Yeah, well, that's in the past."
"Mmmm-hmmm..." Mike will still regarding Sam warily, "how do I know you're not just saying that so I won't be on your case?"
Sam rolled his eyes at Mike before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small baby blue box. He slid the box to the middle of the table and tried to suppress a grin as he watched Mike's eyes bug out of his head.
"What the hell is that?"
"It's an engagement ring."
"I know what it is, what the hell are you doing with it?"
"I'm going to ask Mercedes to marry me."
Mike took his eyes off the box so he could look up at Sam, "are you fucking with me right now?"
"Nope," Sam said simply, "I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her."
"Wait...just...hold on!" Mike practically shouted, "How long have you've known this woman? I know we haven't spoken in a while but it hasn't been that damn long."
"I've known her for a little over two months, and we've been together for about 6 weeks."
Once Sam finished Mike sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest before rolling his eyes.
"So you were just fucking with me then?" Mike leaned forward again and snatched the box off the table. He slid the white ribbon off before unceremoniously jerking the lid off the top. His motions slowed when he looked inside and noticed a black velvet box inside. He shot an uncertain look in Sam's direction but Sam just raised an eyebrow and inclined his head in a silent command to continue. Mike pulled the black velvet box out and slowly pulled up the lid before promptly slamming it shut.
"If this is a joke, you went above and beyond to make it look real."
"It's not a joke," Sam said as he watched Mike put the boxes back the way they originally were. "Like I said, I love her."
"Wow...just wow, man, I mean that's great but it seems kind of sudden don't you think?"
"You told me that you knew that you wanted to marry Tina the first time you saw her in high school, what is so different about me?"
"No offense Sam, but you haven't been the settling down type ever since that bullshit happened with Quinn."
Sam's face darkened briefly at the mention of Quinn but he quickly shook it off.
"Hey, I hear you, I had all but written off marriage and kids for life after what happened but there is something about Mercy...it's just different, ya know?"
Mike started to speak but the waiter and came took their orders and as soon as that was done he turned his attention back to Sam.
"So, how did the two of you meet?"
"Um...well, she kind of works for me."
"Kind of? What does that mean, is she like a client or something?"
"No, she's my personal assistant."
"Sam! You're messing around with your employee?"
"No, we're not messing around," Sam snapped, biting back his anger, "we're in a committed relationship."
"Look man, I'm sorry," Mike said apologetically, "It's just starting up something with your employee, especially one that works directly under you isn't always the best idea."
"Yeah I know, but I couldn't have stayed away from her if I wanted to." Sam said with a laugh, "she's unlike anybody I've ever met and she keeps me on my toes constantly. There is just something about her man...I feel more alive than I have in years."
"Wow..."Mike said again, shaking his head in disbelief, "this woman sounds pretty damn impressive, I think I like her already. Why isn't she here?"
"I wanted her to come but she's moving in a couple of days and she wanted to finish packing up her stuff. Believe me if I could have gotten her on that plane I would have, it's only been a few hours and I miss her...is that crazy?"
"Nah, I'm the same way about Tina and Drake, I hate being away from them, it makes me antsy. So, since I don't get to meet Mercedes in person you got a picture or something?"
Sam smiled and pulled out his iPhone and quickly went through his pictures until he found a cute one of them posing together on his couch. He handed over the phone and he watched as his friend's eyes bugged out once again and he gave out a long, low whistle.
"Um, damn, no offense dude but how in the hell did you pull that?"
Sam just laughed in response.
"No I'm serious, I mean I know you're rich and supposedly good-looking and all that, but this woman is gorgeous...what the hell is she doing with you?"
"Ha, ha..."Sam said sarcastically, "give me my phone back." He reached for his phone but Mike leaned back out of his reach and continued to stare at the picture. After another shake of his head and a low whistle Mike finally handed Sam his phone back. "Damn man, all I can say is congratulations. No wonder you're so damn ready to put a ring on it. You'd be a fool to let a woman like her get away."
"You're preaching to the choir, bro. I know I hit the jackpot with her and frankly I'm amazed every day."
"So what's the plan, you going to head back and plan some elaborate proposal or are just going to drop to one knee the second you land?"
"Sadly, neither," Sam said regretfully, "if it were up to me the proposal would be happening immediately but just a few days ago we talked about moving in together and Mercedes flipped out."
"She doesn't want to do it?"
"Not now, and even though I didn't at first I see her point now. We need some time to get to know each other a little bit better with our 'safety nets' as she called it before we make the plunge."
"Sounds like a smart woman to me."
"She is," Sam smiled, "she's moving from her current apartment to one closer to where I live but she's only signing a 6 month lease. We said that we would discuss moving in together as well as other things at that point."
"Uh-huh...so I'm assuming that's when the ring is going to come into play?"
"Yes, I know what I want and I feel as if she wants the same thing, she just needs a little bit more time to get there than I do."
"Is six months going to be enough time?"
"I don't know, but I hope it is."
Mike gave Sam a big smile before saying, "well, even though I don't know Mercedes personally she seems perfect for you. I wish you guys nothing but the absolute best."
"Thanks Mike, that means a lot." Sam breathed out a sigh of relief, his friend's approval really did mean a lot to him.
"I promise the next time I come out this way I'm bringing her with me, I think she and Tina would make really great friends."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Mike agreed, "but for right now we have more important things to focus on." His mouth started to visibly water as he spotted their waiter headed towards their table with two plates laden down with huge steaks and baked potatoes.
Two hours later Sam patted his full stomach and he got laid back on two pillows stacked against his headboard. He had just made it back to his hotel room and all he wanted to do is kick off his shoes and call his girl. Once he got comfortable on the bed he pulled out his iPhone he noticed that he had 6 missed calls. He cursed himself for forgetting that he put his phone on silent during the meeting and he tried to beat back the panic that was growing in his chest. He pulled up the call log list and found that all of the missed calls were from the office. The panic ebbed a little bit and he breathed a slight sigh of relief because he assumed that it was just Mercedes trying to get in touch with him because he hadn't called since after the meeting. He glanced at the clock by his bed and realized that Mercedes would more than likely already be out of the office so he tried calling her cell phone. After the fourth failed attempt to make a connection he concluded that something must have happened at work and that is why Mercedes was trying so hard to get in touch with him. He steeled himself to hear that some catastrophe had happened as he dialed the number to the office. After two rings the phone was picked up,
"Evans and Evans, this is Glenda Halbright speaking, how may I help you?"
"Mrs. Halbright?"
"Oh my God, Mr. Evans is that you?"
"Yes, what's going on, it's almost 6 p.m. there, why are you still at work?"
"Oh dear, did you not listen to any or my messages?"
"Those missed calls were all from you? Where is Mercedes?" That bubble of panic that Sam thought was gone started to grow.
"I'm so sorry, I've made such a mess of things," Mrs. Halbright started to whimper slightly and the little bubble of panic lodged in Sam's throat started getting bigger and bigger.
"A mess of what? What's going on, and where is Mercedes?"
"Quinn Fabray came by the office this afternoon and she dropped off a letter for a Mr. Evans to Stevie's new assistant. The girl didn't know which Mr. Evans it was for so she called and asked me about it. I know of your history with Ms. Fabray so I assumed that the letter must have been meant for you so I went and retrieved it and brought it up to your office. I was very discreet and I didn't tell Ms. Jones about where the letter came from because I know...well, I know the two of you are close and she might not appreciate you getting mail from your ex..."She trailed off.
"Continue." Sam said gravely as the panic bubble burst and produced a little panic monster that was currently clawing at his throat, "What happened next."
"I took the envelope to your office and laid it on your desk. I didn't tell Ms. Jones anything about it and she didn't seem too concerned about it so I assumed that there wouldn't be any problem. However, Stevie's assistant called Ms. Jones and she told her what had happened and I guess that prompted her to go find out what was in the envelope. I'm not sure exactly what happened in that office but I know that your brother went up there shortly after I returned to my desk and about 10 minutes later Mercedes was coming down and she looked very upset."
"Is there anything else," Sam said through gritted teeth as he tried to control his anger.
"No...no sir," she said chokingly, "I'm so sorry."
"It's fine Mrs. Halbright," he assured her even though it really wasn't, "how long has Mercedes been gone?"
"About an hour and a half, I think...maybe a little bit longer."
"Okay, thank you. I'm going to call her and get this all straightened out."
"Okay sir, again, I'm sorry."
"It's fine Mrs. Halbright, have a nice evening."
"Goodbye sir."
Sam ended the call and rubbed his hands over his face. He couldn't believe that all of this was happening right now. If he had been there he could have intercepted whatever message Quinn left him and everything would have been fine, but no, she had to sneak her ass up there the one time he was away. He knew it was past time for him to come clean with Mercedes already and just let the chips fall where they may. He was sick of trying to cover up his brother's transgressions, especially when it meant being dishonest with Mercedes. He had been protecting his brother and cleaning up his messes for so long that he didn't know any other way but it was now time to break that habit.
Sam pressed 1 on his speed dial again and listened to it ring incessantly on the other end. He tried to keep himself from getting worried but it was unlike Mercedes to not answer. Under normal circumstances it would simply be weird for her not to pick up but now it was freaking him out, especially since Mrs. Halbright said that Mercedes seemed upset when she left the office. He knew his asshole brother had probably said something to her, but what could he have possibly said that upset her to the point that she was running out of the office?
Sam tried to shake the feeling of dread that was creeping up his spine as he continued calling Mercedes' phone. After about the 15th time of alternating between her cell and house phone Sam was about to give up and call the police when the phone began jangling in his hand. He looked down at the screen and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Mercedes' smiling face staring up at him.
"Hey baby," he breathed out in relief, "you had me so damned worried, Mrs. Halbright said—"
"This isn't Mercedes," came a gruff male voice on the other line.
Sam pulled the phone away and stared at in shock for a second before putting it back to his ear and practically shouting, "who the hell is this?"
"It's me, Kurt."
"Oh," Sam said somewhat sheepishly, the gruffness of Kurt's phone voice surprised the hell out him. "Sorry, for yelling man, I'm just worried. Could you give the phone to Mercy?"
"She's busy." Came the curt reply.
"Uhhhh...okay, but could you put her on the phone for a second so I can talk to her? Mrs. Halbright said she was upset and I wanted to make sure she was okay."
"She's fine," Kurt snapped, "She's tired and she's stressed about the move and that's all she wants to focus on right now."
"Okay," Sam said in an exaggerated calm voice and he tried to keep his temper in check, "but can I just speak to her for a second? I'm not trying to talk to her all night, I know she has stuff she wants to get done."
"Fine." Kurt rudely spat out. Sam heard a muffled conversation before finally Mercedes got on the line.
"Hello?"
Sam frowned at the sound of Mercedes voice, it was dull and lifeless and it was practically devoid of all emotion.
"Hey baby, how are you?"
"I'm fine, how are you," came the robotic response.
"Um, I'm good, I was just calling to check up on you."
"I'm fine."
"Mrs. Halbright said something about you being upset..."he trailed off hoping that having to fill in the blanks would make Mercedes talk more.
"She must have been mistaken, I'm fine."
"Baby, are you sure because you sound—"
"I'm fine I said!" She snapped, "I'm just tired and frustrated and I need to finish packing."
"Okay, well I could probably switch my flight and catch and earlier morning one and be home a lot earlier."
"NO!" Mercedes yelled sharply before catching herself and lowering her tone, "no, you shouldn't even mess with changing your flight, what's a few hours right?" She gave a short unconvincing laugh that made Sam suspicious.
"Are you sure you're okay, you're acting weird. Did my brother say something to you?"
"I'm fine Sam. Look, I've gotta go, okay. Have a safe flight and I'll talk to you later."
"Whoa...wait up, why are you rushing me off the phone. I've missed you today, I thought we could talk for a little while."
Mercedes gave a heavy sigh on the other line that made it clear that she was annoyed. Sam tried to ignore his own anger but Mercedes was making it damn near impossible.
"Look, if I'm boring you then I guess I'll just hang up," Sam threatened hoping that it would change Mercedes' demeanor towards him.
"Do what you have to do Sam," Mercedes responded, severely disappointing him, "I have to get back to work so..."
Sam knew a hint when he heard one but he couldn't lie and say it didn't hurt to get the brush off. He wrote off her behavior as moving-related frustrations as opposed to being upset about the Quinn thing. Mercedes never shied away from letting him know exactly what she thought about Quinn whenever she popped up so he didn't think she would start now. All he could hope for was that by the time he made it back home tomorrow whatever was bothering Mercedes would be a thing of the past.
"Ok, I'll let you go then. See you tomorrow."
"Goodbye Sam," Mercedes said brusquely with a sad tinge to her voice.
"Bye Mercy, I love yo—"
Click.
Sam pulled the phone away and stared down at it in surprise. Mercedes had never hung up on him, and she had never not said I love you back. Maybe he was wrong and she was pissed about Quinn leaving that note after all. Sam called his brother to see if he would fess up to what happened in the office but he wouldn't answer, so Sam focused his attention on Quinn. After listening to her phone ring non-stop for the fifth time, Sam finally had enough and he flung his phone across the room. He was beyond frustrated and he knew the feeling wouldn't go away until he was able to get home and get to the bottom of what happened and fix whatever messes his brother and Quinn caused. He briefly considered calling the airport to see if he could get bumped to an earlier flight but he decided against it because Mercedes was right, what was just a few more hours.
12 hours later, Sam found out that a few hours are everything.
After getting off of the exhausting flight from LA to NY, the next morning Sam quickly went home and dropped off his luggage before jumping in to take a quick shower. A part of him had hoped that Mercedes would have been at his place waiting on him since she knew what time he was supposed to be home but he guessed she decided to go on in to work instead. Sam prayed that Mercedes' weird mood from yesterday would be a thing of the past because he really missed her and he didn't like being at odds with her.
Once Sam got the office he was a bit disturbed to find that Mrs. Halbright wasn't manning the front desk. She was usually perched on that thing like a hawk so Sam was surprised to see she wasn't there. He was still a little pissed at her for her poor decision making skills when it came to the Quinn letter situation so he hoped she kept her fuck-ups to a minimum from now on because he would hate to have to reprimand her.
As Sam rode in the elevator on the way up to the 110th floor he tried to tamp down his excitement at seeing Mercedes again. No matter how they ended things the night before he still couldn't control the wide smile that was spreading across his face. As the bell dinged announcing his arrival, he stepped out into the office ready to call out a greeting to his girl but he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a busty blonde sitting at Mercedes' desk.
"Who the hell are you?" Sam asked harshly, "How did you get up here, and why are you at Mercedes' desk?"
"Uh..." the blonde looked terrified, "My name is Mindy Reed, I...I...I'm a temp...I was called in to work today."
"WHY?" Sam yelled out.
"I...I ...don't know...it was a last minute...I.."
"Just be quiet!" Sam shoved opened the door to his office and looked around in angry disbelief. What the fuck was going on? He needed some answers and he needed them now. He stalked around to his desk and slammed himself down in his seat. He yanked his phone of the receiver and began to dial when his eyes shifted to a piece of white paper on his desk.
Dear Mr. Evans:
I hereby tender my resignation from Evans and Evans Advertising effective immediately.
Sincerely,
Mercedes Jones
As Sam stared down at the name at the bottom of the letter he could feel the blood drain out of his face. She resigned? Mercedes quit? Sam kept rolling the words around in his head but he couldn't make them make sense. There was no way she quit, Sam refused to believe it. There was no way Mercedes would do something like that to him unless...
Sam picked up the phone that had dropped when he read the resignation letter and he started dialing again. It was much harder this time with the trembling in his fingers but he managed to get the right number plugged in. Sam clenched and unclenched his jaw as he waited impatiently for the person on the other line to pick up just when he was about to give up he heard a groggy response on the other line.
"Hello?"
"What the fuck was in that envelope?" Sam yelled.
"What...who...who is this?"
"It's Sam, Quinn. What the fuck was in that envelope?"
"How did you know about that?" Quinn asked in surprise, "that envelope was for Stevie, not you."
"You don't say?" Sam spat out sarcastically, "Maybe next time you want to leave a delivery you do a better job of specifying who it's for. Since you were my ex-fiancé the receptionists thought you meant me instead of Stevie. And why wouldn't they? What reason would you have of passing notes to your ex's brother-in-law to be?"
"Oh God...did Stevie not see it?"
"I don't care if he saw it or not, I'm worried about whether or not Mercedes did."
"Why would Merced—"
"WHAT DID IT SAY?"
"Jeez, calm down. It was just a sonogram picture."
"That's it? No note or anything?" He asked impatiently.
"No," Quinn said in an annoyed voice, "I didn't put anything about you on that envelope so I don't know why Mercedes would be...oh no."
"Oh no, what?" Sam said as he could feel the icy chill of dread creeping up his back.
"It's not bad...if you know the situation."
"Which Mercedes clearly doesn't, so what did the envelope say?"
"It said that the baby was a boy and that I hoped that by seeing the baby Stevie would change his mind about us being together .Then I said something about things being weird between us because of my past mistakes and that I hoped we could get past it for the sake of the baby. Then I said that I knew he loved me as much as I loved him and we should stop fighting it and be together."
"I'm assuming you never once used Stevie's name did you?" Sam asked through gritted teeth.
"No...but oh wait! I added on there that I thought of a name so that the baby could have the same initials as his daddy, Sean Elijah Evans."
"Oh God..." Sam groaned out, "Mercedes doesn't know my middle name! Fuck! You could have been talking about me for all she knew."
"Oh, Sam I'm sorry. I never intended for any of this to happen I just wanted for Stevie to see the baby. Do you know if he saw it?"
"I gotta go Quinn, Mercedes is gone and I just...I can't deal with your stuff right now."
"I understand," she said softly, "I hope everything works out with you and Mercedes."
Sam hung up the phone without giving Quinn a response. As the phone was in the cradle he jumped out of his chair and went barreling towards the door to his office. Once he got out he found Mrs. Halbright standing by Mercedes' desk and comforting the distraught temp. She shot Sam and accusatory glance but he couldn't find it in his heart to feel bad.
"I'll triple whatever they are paying her for the day," Sam said as he brusquely walked by the desk. Mrs. Halbright continued to glare at him but the blonde temp's teary eyes immediately cleared up and she sat up straight in her seat.
"Will you be needing me tomorrow?" She asked hopefully.
"No." Sam barked as he stepped into the elevator. "Mercedes will be back tomorrow." As the doors closed Sam looked at the sad look on Mrs. Halbright's face and he prayed that he was right.
The second Sam got downstairs to the parking garage and jumped into his car he started calling Mercedes' cell and every time it took him to voicemail he just hung up and called back. With every ring of the phone he became more and more desperate. She was ignoring him on purpose just like she did yesterday, only this time he assumed he didn't have Kurt to act as a bridge between them.
Sam felt like beating his head against the steering wheel for being so damn stupid. There had been something off about her last night and he knew it. He should have pushed for answers but instead he let her blow him off because he didn't want to push too hard and end up in Quinn territory. Now all the lies and half-truths about Quinn were coming back to haunt him. If he had just been honest from the get-go none of this would have ever happened. Quinn could have brought 100 sonograms with cheesy love notes written all over them and Mercedes would have never batted an eye. But because he had been so busy protecting Quinn's scandalous secret he might end up losing the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Sam tried his best to get himself out his negative headspace by focusing on calling Mercedes yet again. At this point he had to have called her cell phone over 20 times now and it was clear that she wasn't going to answer. He was only a few blocks away from her house so he gave up on the cell phone and tried the house phone instead. He debated whether or not to leave a message when the answering machine kicked in, but the debate was a pointless one because as soon as Sam heard her voice on the answering machine words came spilling out of his mouth.
"Mercedes…Mercedes? It's me, Sam. Baby, I know you're there….please be there. I got your letter and I don't accept your resignation. You can't leave, do you hear me! You can't leave! Please…please don't leave me. I love you and we can work this out, it's all a misunderstanding. The baby is not mine its Stevie's. Just let me explain. Please? I'm almost there, just let me explain. I promise it will be okay. Mercedes…are you there?"
Sam didn't even care that his voice was cracking by the time he finished the message. Minutes later he pulled into Mercedes' parking lot and he barely had the key out of the ignition before he was bounding up the stairs two at time to get to her apartment. Once he got to the door he banged on it for a few seconds before pulling out the key that Mercedes had given him a few weeks ago and trying to unlock the door. His trembling hands made the easy task abnormally harder but after a few tries he managed to get the door open.
He rushed inside and immediately starting shouting Mercedes name but he could tell by the unusual stillness that Mercedes was no longer there. Sam walked through the apartment and he took in the starkness of the once vibrant space. When he had left the previous morning they hadn't even gotten half of her stuff packed but now everything was packed up and stacked in neat boxes by the door.
What are a few hours…Sam bitterly replayed Mercedes' words in his head. She wanted him gone so she could run. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that she didn't do all this speed packing so that she could move to her new apartment. She was leaving and she didn't want Sam to know where she was going. She knew last night when she talked to him on the phone that she was going to try and leave without a trace and that is why her good-bye sounded so final.
As the puzzle pieces started to fall in place Sam found it harder and harder to breathe. He felt as if some massive weight had landed on his chest and was crushing him. How did it all go so wrong so quickly? He knew he fucked up with the whole Quinn thing and it was nothing but bad decision after bad decision, but did it really warrant all of this pain? Sam buried his face in his hands as he tried to blink back the tears that suddenly popped into his eyes. He thought about the little blue box that was still in his suitcase back at home and his heart clenched at the idea of that symbol of his love never resting on Mercedes' finger.
He shook off the heavy depression that threatened to overtake him and decided to do one more run through of the apartment before he left. He checked in the kitchen before looking in her bedroom and the guest bedroom. Nothing of any worth caught his eye and he was heading towards the living room when the closed door to the bathroom caught his eye. He didn't think he would find anything in there that could help but he was desperate so he went inside anyway. When he pushed the door open he found the bathroom to be completely bare and he breathed out a big sigh of frustration, it appeared the bathroom search was a waste of time just like he thought. As he started to back out of the bathroom but the half-filled wastebasket caught his eye. Normally he wasn't the type to go through garbage, especially bathroom garbage, but the large purple box with EPT emblazoned on it with large black letters caught his eye. He felt his heart start to beat faster and faster as he moved closer to the wastebasket. He peered inside the waste basket but all he could see besides the box was a couple of crumpled up tissues. He reached down and picked up the box and when he did he heard a scuttling noise as the item inside was jostled about. Sam shook the box back and forth a couple times more and he knew he was only doing it as a stalling tactic. Whatever was in that box had the potential to completely change his life and he was terrified to look at it. Mercedes should have been at his side and they should have been reading that test together. He didn't want to do it alone, he wanted to share it with her but she took that choice away from the both of them so he was on his own now.
With trembling fingers he grasped the ends of the white stick and pulled it out of the box. He closed his eyes tightly for just a moment before opening his eyes and reading the word in the little circle.
Pregnant
Sam sat down heavily on the toilet and clutched the test in his hand. Mercedes was pregnant…he got her pregnant…they were going to have a baby.
Sam couldn't help the smile that sprang on his face at the thought of a child with Mercedes but his expression quickly changed as he remembered his current situation. Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket to start his incessant calling again when he heard the front door open. He jumped up from the toilet and shoved the test and his phone into his back pocket before rushing into the living room. He prayed it was Mercedes but he was sorely disappointed when he found that it was just Kurt instead and judging by Kurt's expression he wasn't too happy to see him either.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Kurt asked angrily, slamming the front door behind him.
"Look, Kurt, I don't have time to listen to you bitch at me. I need to find Mercedes, now and I know you know where she is so tell me."
"Fuck you, Sam."
"Kurt cut the bullshit, I know why she's pissed at me so if you'll just tell me where she—"
"Pissed at you? PISSED AT YOU?" Kurt screeched, "You think Mercedes did all of this because she was pissed at you? You really are an ignorant bastard aren't you?" Kurt asked disgustedly, "She's not pissed, she's heartbroken. You broke her fucking heart and now she's gone. So, you can go fuck yourself for all I care."
"Kurt," Sam said in a steely voice, "Mercedes is a big girl and she doesn't need you playing bodyguard. Tell me where she is so that we can fix our relationship."
"No."
"Kurt…" Sam said with a warning note in his voice, "I don't have time for your games, where the fuck is she?"
"I'm not tellin—"
"WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?" Sam's face was beet red as he yelled out the words. He could feel himself losing the grip on the situation and he was starting to panic. The answer was right there in front of him and it was killing him that Kurt wouldn't just tell him.
Even though Kurt first flinched at Sam's outburst he quickly recovered his poker face as he regarded Sam coolly, "do you remember what I told you the first time we met? Huh, do you?"
"Kurt, I don't have time for this bullshit," Sam said wearily, "just tell me where she is so I can fix this."
"I told you," Kurt continued on as if he hadn't heard him, "that if you ever hurt her don't come asking me for help because I would never give it. You broke her Sam, I mean really broke her, and I'll be damned before I lead you to her so that you can do it again."
"Kurt please…" Sam asked pathetically even though he knew his last hope was slipping through his fingers, "you have to help me find her she's…she's pregnant."
"I know," Kurt whispered quietly with a sad look in his eyes. "And I don't agree with what's she's doing but she has to do it for herself and like I said before I'll always have her back, even if I don't agree with her choices."
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Sam asked angrily, "she is out there somewhere with my unborn child and I have no idea if or when I'll ever see them….what the fuck am I supposed to do?"
"Wait or pray or search for her…I don't know," Kurt shrugged helplessly, "Mercy is scared and she's hurt and when she's like that she doesn't think she just acts. You and your ex and your shitty brother really fucked up her head and she needs time by herself to think. Time without you trying to shove your side of the story down her throat every chance you get."
"She deserves to know—"
"She deserved to know a long fucking time ago!" Kurt spat out, "I could spot the holes in the whole Quinn debacle from a million miles away but she couldn't. She was too close to the situation and too emotionally invested and she couldn't see what was really going on. Stevie's the baby's father right?"
Sam gaped in surprise at Kurt's quick assessment of the situation, "how did you know?"
"I've suspected for a while, it was the only thing that made sense and after hearing about the mix-up at the office I was sure."
"Well then why didn't you tell Mercedes?"
"I did! But she wasn't trying to hear it, once Mercedes has made her mind up about something it's almost impossible to change it. She may see the light in a few days but for right now she's not trying to hear it."
"So I do nothing but wait around and hope that she has a change of heart? That's fucking bullshit Kurt!"
"You know what Sam, I don't care if you think its bullshit or not, it still is what it is. Unless you have a crystal ball lying around with a fantastic GPS navigation system on it then I promise you you're not going to find her."
"Bullshit. I'll find her." Sam promised vehemently.
"You know what, what you need to do is clean up your mess first before you start threatening to drag Mercedes back into it kicking and screaming. Go handle your shit with Quinn and after that go do something about your sorry ass brother. Because after what he said about Mercedes I have half a mind to—"
"Hold up, what did he say about Mercedes?"
"I'm not sure, but whatever it is was the thing that fucked her up the most, she was damn near hysterical when she was telling me about it."
"That fucker…" Sam clenched his eyes shut and ran his hands through his hair, "there is no telling what that bastard said to her."
"Yeah, well like I said you need to go fix that shit. The last thing Mercedes needs if/when she comes back is your nasty brother stressing her out. Being this upset so early on in her pregnancy is not good for her or the baby as it is and I don't want to see her have to deal with anymore stress later on."
"Don't worry about my brother, he's not going to be an issue for much longer." Sam said dangerously.
"And Quinn?"
"Quinn is it bit more complicated but she will be handled as well."
"We'll see." Kurt grudgingly remarked, "I hope you're a man of your word because this is the only way you're going to get Mercy back for good. She made the mistake of blindly trusting you before, she won't do it again."
Sam nodded slowly at Kurt's words before making his way to the front door.
"Where are you going?" Kurt asked worriedly.
"I'm going to go have a chat with my brother." Sam answered in a steely voice, "It's a talk we should've had a long time ago."
"Good luck, I guess…I mean, I hope you fuck him up for hurting Mercy but since he's your brother I guess I'm not supposed to say that."
"Oh trust me, you can say it." Sam replied coldly, "Stevie just burned his final bridge with me, I can forgive a lot of things but I won't forgive him for hurting her."
"Can you forgive yourself?"
Sam stopped in the doorway at Kurt's head and hung his head, "I don't know," he replied softly. I know I don't have the right to ask for favors and you probably won't do it anyway but if you see her or talk to her tell her I love her, and I miss her, and I'm so happy we're going to have a baby together."
Sam turned to see Kurt blinking rapidly and fanning his hand in his face, "yeah, I'll tell her," he choked out, "but I don't know how long it'll be before she's ready to hear it."
"I'll wait for as long as it takes."