Mercedes nodded, her heart heavy as she sat back in her seat.

'Okay.' she repeated, her voice soft.

'But I have conditions too.' Sam continued. 'I've known every single one of those eligible court women since I was a child,' he explained. 'If you want me to consider you and this court woman fairly, then I'm afraid you're already at a disadvantage.'

Mercedes' eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she listened to Sam speak. His voice was calm, measured even, and not for the first time, Mercedes caught a glimpse of the man he could be as king.

'What are you talking about?'

'I already know them.' Sam clarified, 'And you say I don't know you, so you, my Lark, have some catching up to do.'

The words repeated in Mercedes' head, but she still couldn't figure out what the prince was trying to say to her. Finally she let out an exasperated sigh and fixed the blond with a pointed look.

'What do you want, Sam?'

Sam settled back into the soft leather of his own seat and regarded his girlfriend coolly, one eyebrow raised in answer to her question.

'You know exactly what I want.' he pointed out, the low rumble in his voice in the quiet intimacy of the car making Mercedes feel suddenly too warm.

'But failing that,' Sam finished. 'I want to go on dates with you.'

Mercedes didn't mean to let out a half-nervous, half-relieved giggle at his response, but it escaped her lips anyway, forcing her hands to her mouth to try and stop any further errant sounds from escaping.

'You want to go on a date with me?' she queried, the relief soaking through every syllable. 'That's it?'

'Nope.' Sam smiled, allowing the 'p' of the word to pop with satisfaction as he watched Mercedes' cheeks take on an ever-so-slightly rosier hue. He'd always been told that he wouldn't be able to tell when someone with dark-skin blushed, but Sam knew every millimetre of Mercedes' face better than he knew his own, and he could tell. Better yet - he was enjoying it.

'I said 'dates'. Plural.' Sam clarified, his eyes firmly on Mercedes as she blinked a reaction to his words.

'Six days a week, for the entire three months.' Sam added, his lips quirking into a slight smile.

'Gotta save one for the other lady.' he shot her a wink as Mercedes' eyes widened.

'Six dates a week for three months…' Mercedes sounded dazed as her brain struggled to calculate what that worked out as. 'That's… that's a lot of dates.'

Sam nodded, unperturbed as Mercedes' brow furrowed again.

'But Sam… I work. A lot. Plus I have friends, and, ok, not much of a social life but I can't just abandon them… I mean, I love you, Sam, but I can't let you become my entire life any more than I can let you make me yours.'

Given what she'd just said, Mercedes hadn't expected the huge smile that broke across the young royal's face, but when she looked up he was beaming at her like a child who'd got exactly what they wanted on Christmas morning.

'Sam, did you hear what I just said?'

Sam nodded and slid himself closer to her on the bench seat to take her hands in his own.

'You said you loved me.'

Mercedes stared at him for a moment feeling exasperated. She hadn't really meant to tell him she loved him, that had just sort of… slipped out, but of course Sam would have picked up on it. Even if that meant apparently missing everything else she'd just said.

'Sam…' Mercedes tried to sound annoyed, but she couldn't keep the smile of her face, especially when he leaned over and cupped her face, gently stroking the pad of his thumb across her cheek.

'You. Love. Me.' Sam repeated, leaning closer to her with each word until his mouth hovered bare millimetres from hers.

'We're having a discussion…' Mercedes protested weakly, her breath turning heavy as she tried to resist the urge to close the gap between them.

'Later.'

Sam's hand wrapped possessively around Mercedes' waist as his lips met hers, softly at first, but rapidly getting hotter and more insistent as they clutched at each other, desperate to be closer. Sam tipped his soft goddess backwards until he hovered above her, his lips leaving hers to trail kisses along her jaw, her neck, and daringly along her collarbone. The way Lark was sighing his name was pushing him to the edge of his own resolve, but reluctantly he moved back up to her pillow-soft lips again, and let himself drown in the blissful sensations she awakened in him.

A knock on the driver's partition of the limousine had them both springing apart like naughty teenagers, and Sam scowled at the barrier until Mercedes' tickled him to make him smile and hit the button to lower it.

'Sorry to interrupt, Your Highness.' The driver began, shifting uncomfortably in his seat with a nervous cough, 'Ma'am.' he gave Mercedes a polite nod. 'I was just wanting to know if, since you've missed your dinner reservations, you might be wanting to go straight on to the Opera House? The show starts in 30 minutes, and it's a fifteen minute drive.'

'The Opera House?!' Mercedes' voice squeaked in excitement. 'That's where we're going?'

Sam sighed and shot his driver an irritated glare. 'Yes, that's where we're going. If you want to, that is.' he added quickly. 'I've heard you singing O Mio Babbino Caro, and Agnus Dei to yourself, and I took a chance. If you don't want to go then…'

'I want to go!' Mercedes interrupted quickly, her eyes shining with eagerness. 'I definitely want to. You made a good call.'

Sam grinned back at her feeling elated and proud that he'd managed to choose correctly. Turning back to the driver he offered the man a small shrug. 'You heard the lady.'

'Very good, Your Highness.'

It wasn't until Mercedes was lying in bed later that she realised Sam had managed to completely avoid finishing their '6 dates a week' discussion. 'Sneaky jerk.' she thought fondly. 'Sneaky wonderful jerk.' she muttered to herself before falling asleep with a smile on her face.

Meanwhile, across the kingdom in the palace, Sam was having far more difficulty sleeping. He was plagued by the thought of losing his Lark, and on the rare occasions he did sleep, his dreams were full of his anxieties at the prospect of having to marry someone else.

'This is ridiculous.' Sam told the darkness as he stared up at his ceiling. He'd thought his six dates idea was inspired, but Mercedes had been right to point out that she had commitments she couldn't ignore. Truth be told, so did Sam, but he'd been prepared to try if it meant staying with Lark. The problem was, Sam realised, that his Lark didn't have the luxury of any of that. She lived in a very inexpensive part of the kingdom and, according to Sebastian, she was working three jobs and still barely managing to scrape by. Obviously, Sam would have to bring up the need for a national minimum wage with his father, but that wasn't really the point. Mercedes' life was so far removed from his own that Sam literally had no idea what her life was like on the days when she didn't see him. It didn't help that Mercedes never seemed to want to talk about it, but shouldn't he know these things about the woman he wanted to marry?

Lifting an arm to drape over his head, Sam groaned inwardly at the realisation. Mercedes knew his world, and her own, but what did he know? Once again, his Lark was right, Sam didn't know her at all, because he didn't know her world. He'd never even been to her apartment - although that was mostly because Mercedes did everything in her power to stop him from going there.

Sam's eyes widened as a sudden and unpleasant thought occurred to him. Was Mercedes ashamed? Whether she was ashamed of him or ashamed of where she came from, she definitely seemed to want to keep things hidden, and if his Lark was feeling that way at all then it was a problem, and one that Sam saw it his duty to try and fix. Mercedes had made such a big deal about not fitting in with the Court women, but Sam had assumed all those things were to do with knowing the bizarre rituals that came along with the territory, like knowing which fork to use at dinner. Even having heard her talk about not being 'good' for the kingdom, Sam had never fully processed what that meant until now.

Sam lay in the darkness for a while longer as he let that information sink in and settle in his body. He drifted asleep at about two in the morning, and by the time he woke up four hours later, he had an idea.

/

Kurt answered the door with his toothbrush still held in his hand. He could have left it in the bathroom, of course, but he wanted whoever it was at the door to know that they were calling at a ridiculous time in the morning… but he didn't want to say it.

'May I help…' Kurt began as he swung the door open, stopping mid-sentence as he caught sight of who was on the other side. He inhaled deeply in surprise, which proved to be a mistake as he accidentally breathed in his own saliva and ended up having a coughing fit on the doorstep.

'Kurt!' Tina yelled as she padded out of her bedroom and into the living room to get some breakfast. 'Out, or in! We don't have enough money to heat our apartment let alone the hall-' Tina cut herself off as she came around Kurt and stared, her eyes going wide. 'Well, shit.'

Mercedes came out of her room tying the short apron of her diner uniform around her whilst simultaneously scanning the room for her keys. Catching sight of her friends stood staring out into the hallway she chuckled as she threw her hair up into a messy bun and secured it with some hairpins she found on the counter.

'You guys, I know we had to get rid of our TV, but I'm sure there are better forms of entertainment.' Mercedes teased, finally locating her keys and shoving them into the pocket of her apron.

'No there aren't.' Tina answered without turning, her gaze still fixed out into the hallway.

'Um…'

Mercedes stopped in the middle of sliding her feet into her shoes when she heard it. Just one word -not even a word really, more of a sound - but she still recognised it. Recognised the voice, which was one she definitely shouldn't have heard here. Feeling her heart skip into panic mode, Mercedes scanned the dismal apartment she shared, forcing herself to see it with an outsiders perspective. The place she called home was a home because of the people in it, but when you looked at the place itself… it seemed meagre and embarrassing. Mercedes felt tears of shame prick her eyes as she forced herself towards the door, her limbs like lead as she propelled herself forward in time to hear Sam clear his throat and say, 'Is Mercedes home?' in the most uncertain tone she'd ever heard him use.

'I'm here.' Mercedes volunteered, gently pushing Kurt and Tina out of the doorway when they continued to stare dumbstruck at Sam. Staring up at Sam standing in the unfamiliar setting of her hallway, Mercedes felt her world being pulled sharply into focus. It really was no wonder Kurt and Tina couldn't stop staring, Mercedes thought as she drank in the sight of him, he looked unreal in such mundane surroundings. He was too clean, too polished, too… expensive to look like he belonged there. He was practically radiating it, and Mercedes felt a momentary panic before a quick sweep of the hallway confirmed the presence of one of Sam's bodyguards.

'What are you doing here, Sam?' Mercedes asked finally as she stepped through the door and pulled it to behind her. The action didn't go unnoticed by Sam, who frowned slightly before letting his eyes roam over her body one more time. He knew he shouldn't, but that uniform his Lark was wearing was doing all sorts of things to him and his imagination.

'Uh…' Sam began unintelligently, and then cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away from Mercedes' curves to look into her glistening eyes. 'Have you been crying?' he asked instantly, stepping forward to cup her cheek in his hand. 'Who upset you?' he demanded, already prepared to make whoever it was regret it in the most sincere ways possible.

'No-one.' Mercedes wrapped her arms around herself as she stepped away from Sam's touch. 'What are you doing here?'

Sam's eyes narrowed for a second as he studied her. He knew that something was wrong by the way she chewed at her lower lip, but he could tell that she didn't want to talk about it yet.

'I have a new proposition.' Sam began, 'Instead of the six dates.'

Mercedes sighed and readjusted her arms around herself as she looked up at him. Maybe it was the flatter shoes she was wearing, but he seemed so much taller in her hallway than he had before.

'Sam…' Mercedes looked as if she was going to say something else, and then thought the better of it. 'I have to go to work.'

'I'll drive you.'

'I walk.'

'Then I'll walk you.'

Mercedes licked her lips and nodded. Sam had that steely expression in his eyes that meant he was going to be stubborn, and she didn't really have the time to argue anyway.

'Let me get my coat.' she acquiesced, opening the door a crack to slip through and reappearing a moment later with her coat and her purse in her hands. Sam took the coat from her wordlessly and helped her into it, his hands lingering on her shoulders as he smoothed the material out beneath his fingers.

'I get the impression you don't like that I showed up here.' Sam offered as they made their way down the four flights of stairs out of her building. 'I'm really sorry if I upset you.'

Mercedes nodded, pulling her coat tighter with one hand as they walked. 'I-' she started, and then decided to just tell the truth instead of the placating lie she'd been about to tell.

'I don't like it.' she admitted quietly as Sam held open the door to the street for her. 'For a lot of reasons. One being that it's dangerous.'

Sam nodded as his hand interlaced automatically with hers. 'I figured you'd say that.' he acknowledged. 'Which is why I let the bodyguards tag along this time.' he gave an answering shrug to her dubious expression as they continued walking. 'I've had extensive military training, you know - it comes with the crown. The bottom line is that I can take care of myself, but I figured you'd feel better knowing there was someone watching my back.'

Mercedes nodded, both surprised and touched that he'd considered her feelings so thoroughly.

'But,' Sam added, 'me being here is also part of my plan.'

Mercedes nodded again, her earlier apprehension seeming to dissipate with every step they took.

'Right. Your proposition.' she prompted, and Sam grinned at her in response, nudging her slightly with his shoulder.

'Ok, hear me out.' Sam insisted already guessing that she wouldn't initially like the sound of his idea. '…I'm going to spend a month living here.'

It took Mercedes a few paces to absorb what Sam had just put forward, but when she did she stopped dead on the street and fixed him with a hard stare.

'That doesn't seem-'

'I need to know where you come from, Lark.' Sam insisted, that stubborn look back in his eyes again. 'This world is part of who you are, and if I'm going to get to know you, then I'm going to have to know this.' He extended a broad hand to gesture at the drab grey architecture around them. 'I don't want you hiding from me anymore.' he added softly, bringing his hand up to Mercedes' chin and placing a quick, gentle kiss on her lips. 'Not a single part.'

'I'm not-' Mercedes began to protest, and then thought of the way she'd hidden her apartment from Sam earlier. Sighing, she nodded her head in agreement. 'Ok.'

'Thank you.' Sam pressed another kiss to her mouth before squeezing her hand gently to get them walking again. 'I realised last night that I was asking a lot of you, wanting you to enter my world without seeing yours. It seemed only fair that I do this.' he paused for a moment to move some of the hair the wind had whipped into his face away again.

'Then the next month, I want you to come stay with me.' Mercedes' eyebrows shot up at this unexpected twist on the twist, her head already shaking her rejection of the idea before she'd even thought of the reasons why not.

'It's the only way I can think of to introduce you to my world and give you the best chance.' Sam admitted. 'It won't be easy. There'll be etiquette lessons and politics and elocution classes… I don't think you need them, but I understand that these are the skills that would make you feel the most comfortable at Court.' he shrugged. 'If you're serious about this being fair, then that's the best I can do to make it so in the short period of time we have. You can start before you take up residence in Court if you'd like,' he offered, 'but I don't know how busy you'll be with your jobs.'

Mercedes nodded slowly, realising, as Sam had, that although it was terrifying, this was the only way she'd really be in with a fighting chance of proving the Queen wrong.

'And the last month?' Mercedes asked tentatively, her steps gradually slowing down as they neared the diner.

'The last month will be wedding preparations.' Sam said, wincing. 'I know it seems really soon, but we don't have a lot of time and I figure that we'll know by then, right?'

Mercedes chewed her lip thoughtfully. 'What about the other woman?'

'I'll still see her.' Sam agreed, hating the fact that he'd have to go through that charade despite the fact that his choice was already made. 'Once a week, same as before.'

Mercedes was silent for a long moment as she weighed up the pros and cons of this new idea in her head.

'I'd have to get some guarantee that I can come back to my jobs after the month with you.' she insisted, calming when Sam nodded.

'I'll have Puck arrange it.'

There was another moment of silence and then Mercedes held out her hand for Sam to shake.

'Ok.'

'Ok.' Sam couldn't help but grin as he took Mercedes hand in his, shook it once and then raised it to his lips for a kiss.

'You better get to work.' he told her quietly, leaning in to give her another lingering kiss on her mouth before she left. 'Have a good day, Beautiful.'

Mercedes smiled and shook her head at the domesticity of the moment before she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

'You too, Kermy.' she murmured into his ear before she turned and headed across the street to the diner.