Seven years later…

Flashback:

Mercedes took a step backwards. The guy wasn't being creepy, he was just being persistently all up in her face.

She looked round behind him to see Stacy and Stevie playing obliviously on the slide.

The short guy with the 'badass' swagger followed her eyes, shrugging when he couldn't work out what she was looking at, before turning his attention back to her. "So how about it shawty?"

She sighed with frustration. This fool was probably even younger than she was but he wasn't taking no for an answer. In a way she knew she should feel flattered by the attention but she wasn't. And she couldn't just walk away because of needing to keep the kids in sight.

"How about simply NO!" Her diva voice was starting to creep in.

"Aw come on! Don't leave a brother with a broken heart! A fine girl like you needs to be treated right and I sure know how to do it!"

Now she really was getting angry. She felt her spine stiffen and her fists clench. Having an older brother had its advantages in making her far less intimidated by men. "Treating me right would be backing off when I say I'm not interested!"

"Is this guy bothering you Sugar?"

She felt a strong arm drape leisurely around her shoulders and pull her close. She looked up to see Sam looking at her, concerned.

Where the hell did he just appear from?

He absently kissed the top of Mercedes' head before turning to glare at the guy who was annoying her.

"S-sorry I didn't realize she was your... Damn!" Luckily the kid quickly weighed up the situation and knew the best thing was to back off. Sam was taller than him and wearing a shirt that clearly showed how well built he was. Knowing he was defeated the small guy turned and mumbled as he swaggered away with his best hip-hop walk, his jeans barely staying up.

"Uh - thanks Sam!" He was still looking at her with that intense expression of concern. But it was the fact that his arm was still slung across her shoulders that had caused butterflies to start breakdancing in her stomach.

She'd never been this close up to Sam Evans before and he was way cuter up close than he was from a distance. His chest felt solid and strong against her and his arm made her feel safe from the world. He smelled of pepperoni and cooked cheese which, to her, equated to pretty damn tasty!

"Looks like I got here just in time!"

"Hey I was handling it!" She pouted at him.

His chuckle was deep and it didn't help with the butterflies. "Yeah, I'm sure you were!"

They walked towards the small play area where Stacy was chasing Stevie and he was allowing himself to be caught. Sam seemed to suddenly realize that his arm was still around her and he nervously removed it. Mercedes instantly missed the feeling of it being there. It had felt good. More than good. 'So this is what it must feel like to have a proper boyfriend!' she thought to herself. The kids quickly caught sight of Sam and squealed happily, grabbing their things and running towards him.

"I thought you'd be at work 'til much later!" Mercedes was struggling. How was she supposed to make conversation with Sam Evans? All she knew about him was that he'd dated Quinn and Santana, currently lived in a motel room and had the cutest younger siblings on the planet! He was never really around when she babysat so she hadn't had too many direct dealings with him outside of Glee.

"I was supposed to. But it turns out the double shift I was supposed to be working was only a single so I'm out early." He held up the pizza box in his hand, "Fancy joining us for dinner? And maybe a movie? It'll have to involve cartoon characters but I'm sure you won't mind too much." He grinned at her with his most charming smile. "Who can resist when there is such charming company on offer?"

Mercedes looked at him and fought a smile of her own. The pizza box wasn't the hugest. She was sure that Sam would be able to polish it off alone and he'd already be sharing it with his siblings. The last thing she wanted to do was take food from them.

She shook her head slowly even though the idea of spending more time with them was incredibly appealing. "Thanks but I should go. My mom'll be pleased that I'm back in time for my own dinner. But what I can do is offer you all a ride back to the motel so that your pizza doesn't get cold!"

A brief look of what she imagined to be disappointment passed over Sam's face before he was tackled by his siblings and he kicked out at them playfully, his hands already full keeping the pizza upright. "Okay. Today we'll just take the ride. But you'll have to join us another time. You owe me for rescuing you!"

She nudged him playfully. "You bet!"

Flashback ends

Mercedes zoned out of her memory and back into the present. She looked at her watch. It had been twenty minutes since Shelly had stepped outside to take a call from her 'sort of ex but not quite' boyfriend and she was not happy to have been left alone perched at the bar for that amount of time. She would never normally sit at the bar, but tonight they were together and just waiting for a table to become available.

But now she was stuck here alone at the bar. Keeping an eye on Shelly's bag and trying to keep her stool free was using every ounce of her energy and her patience was wearing thin.

Out of nowhere another guy appeared to try his luck and she debated just taking their stuff and moving somewhere else. She had no respect for girls who sat alone at bars and yet suddenly here she was doing it herself!

"So what are you drinking honey?"

Mercedes resisted the urge to smile sarcastically. The guy was old enough to be her dad and clearly wearing a wedding ring. He must have been working on the theory that if you ask a hundred girls, at least one of them would have to say yes. Well she wasn't going to be that one. She turned her head and didn't even dignify him with an answer. That was, until he clumsily tried to climb up on Shelly's stool. What was it with her and short men?

"I'm sorry but my friend is sitting there."

"But he's not here now is he?"

Again, she wasn't going to dignify that with a correction.

"Barman, same again for the lady."

The young barman looked at Mercedes and she shook her head for the millionth time that evening. She'd already told him not to make any drinks for her unless she herself was doing the asking. Nobody was going to be buying her drinks. And in all honesty, after being sat alone at the bar for so long, she would never be stepping foot in this establishment again considering the evening's turn of events. Shelly was going to be in so much trouble when she eventually found her way back.

The old guy, not content to have taken the empty stool, was now drunkenly leaning forward into her personal space. After having already fended off two fools, she was starting to run out of the energy to fight.

"Go back home to your wife and sleep the alcohol off on the couch where she's bound to send you!"

"Is this guy bothering you Sugar?"

Seriously, she had to stop zoning out and daydreaming like this. She needed her full mental faculties for brushing off these pathetic losers.

But actually no… this time she wasn't daydreaming! She was very much still in the bar!

But that voice… And those words… Surely not…

The chances of...

She turned her head and her eyes widened in shock as she took in Sam Evans standing next to her, dressed with a license to kill, and with a huge grin on his face. She could tell by the expression in his eyes that he was having an internal debate with himself as to whether putting his arm around her would be too much in this particular situation. In all honesty it would have been perfectly welcome.

She recovered herself quickly and went along with the rescue. "You sure took your time Sam!"

"It took me a while to find my way back to you, but you always knew that I was coming!" He turned to the old guy who was clearly trying to make sense of their interaction. "That's my seat!"

The message was clear and the seat was vacated in seconds.

She still stared at him, stunned.

"So what are you drinking Mercy?"

The barman sighed and again he caught her eye. But this time she nodded. He did a small double take of surprise before saying, "The lady will have a Long Island Iced Tea." Sam nodded and the drink was made.

Seeing Mercedes was still speechless he put on his best Rick voice. "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world she has to walk into my one!"

The grin that was now on her face made it all worthwhile. She looked thoughtfully at him for a moment, before raising her refreshed glass and saying, "Play it again Sam!"

His grin matched hers. "You know that's a famous misquote, right!"

"I do and I don't care. It just felt right."

And it did. It had been years but she still missed stupid 'quote' conversations with Sam. She was still drinking him in. Sam Evans. He was in a freaking tuxedo for heaven's sake! It really didn't get much better than that. His hair was slightly darker, definitely shorter and his features more refined and manly. His body... Well that was still all kinds of hotness. She flushed at the thought, then flushed at the realization that Sam knew that she was blushing. He just smirked slowly, drinking her in as much as she had him and clearly looking pleased with what he saw. She knew she looked good. She was dressed up the nines in burgundy galaxy dress, her hair was freshly done and even her nails had been given special attention. She and Shelly had planned a night of glamming it up and hitting the town, Mercedes being perpetually single and Shelly in the midst of drama with her boyfriend, and trialing time apart from him, which in reality simply meant more time on the phone with each other rather than in person.

The last time she'd set eyes on Sam was at her hotel in Nashville more than nearly seven years previously. When neither of them had actually used the word 'goodbye' during their parting.

When they had agreed to be friends.

Various factors however had caused them to eventually lose touch, when Facebook was no longer the social networking method of choice, falling the way that MySpace had done years before. She had also had to change her number due to a freaky fellow student in college. Sam had gone to college then travelled while his family moved house when his grandpa died and his grandma moved into a nursing home. But during all the events in their lives they had never forgotten each other. It just became harder to seek the other out without looking like it was to try and start something.

Mercedes continued her admiration of Sam. How the hell had she ever been in a relationship with this guy? He was beyond gorgeous! Yet somehow it had happened. And now, after all these years, fate had finally turned her attention to them yet again. Here he was, sitting next to her at a bar, staring at her as if she was covered in whipped cream, cherries and chocolate sprinkles and he was just waiting for someone to hand him a spoon before he got stuck in.

She finally pulled herself together enough to ask the big question before he did.

"So how come you're here?"