DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE NOR ANYTHING ELSE NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH UCLA OR USC.

Brandon Jenkins (BJ)-Tom Williamson

Mercedes moved her hair behind her shoulder as she walked into the restaurant, giving the host a smile. She gave her the name and watched as she grabbed a menu, leading the way. Yep, she had decided against better judgment to meet Santana for lunch. She didn't know what possessed her but she felt like she needed to get some things off her chest. Seeing her texting on her phone, she cleared her throat and watched as she lifted her head up.

Santana stood up and gave her a old friend a smile, "Hi."

"Hey." Mercedes said as she stared at her for a moment, watching her come in for a hug. She didn't want to be rude so she gave her one. It was awkward but she didn't let it show. Pulling back, she placed her purse in the empty chair and sat down. Her eyes met Santana's again and she was still not over how different she looked. Her face was fuller and she was now sporting a short, blonde hairstyle. She snapped out of her amusement when she heard the waiter come by and introduce himself, asking if he could get her anything. Just ordering herself a water, she smiled at him before leaning back in the chair.

"Thank you for coming." Santana started as she placed her hands in her lap, "I know I'm the last person you ever expected to hear from again."

"Yeah, you are." Mercedes sat up and stared at her, "Not to be rude or anything, but why am I here? I haven't seen or spoken to you in over a year."

Santana nodded softly as she played with her fingers, "I am really sorry about what I have done in the past. I realized how crazy, disrespectful and hurtful I was. Honestly, I was so embarrassed by my actions, I just thought it would be better if I wasn't in your life." She said sadly as she picked up her wine glass and took a long sip before putting it down, "I've been getting a lot of help, focusing on my work and just starting over fresh with my life."

"Where do you live now?"

"Arizona." Santana said, watching her eyebrows knit in confusion, she laughed as she fiddled with her bracelet, "Yeah, I-umm..I met someone at a work conference last year and we connected. Eight months after our first date, I moved to Arizona and we're now engaged."

To say Mercedes was shocked was an understatement. She did not expect to hear any of that come out of her mouth. From the forgiveness to her being engaged. What in the actually hell?

"I know it's a lot to take in." She chuckled lightly as she looked at her sadly, "I really wouldn't have the guts to be here today if Sidney didn't encourage me."

"Sidney?"

Santana nodded as she unlocked her phone and went to a picture of the two of them, handing it to Mercedes.

Mercedes grabbed the phone and looked at the picture of the two sitting in what looked like their living room, "Oh wow, she's beautiful."

"She is."

Mercedes let a sincere smile take over her lips before looking back up at her, handing the phone back, "I'm honestly happy for you Santana."

"Thanks Ced..Mercedes." She caught herself as she put her phone on the table, sighing, "I really miss my friendship with not only you but Sam as well. I just want us to all be good."

"I'm going to be honest with you, unless my husband magically turns into a different person, that's not going to happen with Sam." Mercedes said as she crossed her ankles, chewing on her bottom lip.

Santana nodded sadly, "I kind of figured that. I hurt both of you but especially him. I ruined the best friendship I had over my own stupidity."

Mercedes didn't know exactly what else she could say about the situation. She knew Sam would never want Santana back into his life after what she did and honestly, she understood why completely. But something about her old friend was making her think that she deserved another chance.

"I'm here for another week and I would love for us to have dinner..all of us." Santana said as she sent the woman a sad smile, "I know it's a long shot but.."

"Let me think about it first and talk to Sam, okay?" She watched her nod, sending her a smile. She opened up the menu and looked over it. Surprisingly, their lunch date went well. The two friends fell back into their old ways, laughing and catching up. It was going to be a long road back to repairing their friendship but this was a great start.

Sam chuckled as he watched Ari look at his phone curiously, turning her head to the side once the dog filter came onto her face. He had decided to bring his little Cookie Monster with him to work and they have been having quite an adventure today.

Arianna's eyes went wide as a gasp escaped her mouth, looking up at Sam with a smile while pointing to his phone, "doggie."

Sam smiled at her and nodded, "That's right. You're so smart, Ari." He snorted when she turned back around and moved her face closer to the screen. He looked up when he heard a knock on his door, seeing majority of the team at his door and outside of his windows.

"Excuse us coach..can we talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, but all of you are not going to fit in here so I'll come out." He watched as they nodded and he stood up, placing Ari to her feet so she could walk. Ari held onto his phone tightly as she walked on the beside him, looking up at the young men curiously as he stepped out into their film room, "What's up guys?"

Dylan looked at his teammates before looking back at their coach, clearing his throat, "We decided as a team that we're going to forfeit the game Friday."

"And before you say anything, hear us out." Anthony spoke up as he uncrossed his arms, Terrance nodding at his friend before speaking.

"We're not playing against them because of what happened two weeks ago." Terrance shook his head in disgust, "We deal with it people calling us out of our name all the time on the field but we know how to use our anger in our contact. But when you say some s-h-i-t like that to a girl or woman of color, you're asking for a trip to the emergency room."

"He not only disrespected your wife but also your daughter, our moms, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins.." BJ spoke up quietly, causing his teammates to look at him in shock. The freshman was always quiet so him speaking up definitely caught them off guard. He felt his eyes starting to water up as he looked at the little girl before going back to his coach, "I have a four year old sister. I would do anything for her. I'm pretty sure I would be in jail if anyone say or do anything to her."

Sam leaned against his door, taking in what they were all saying as the silence loomed in the hallway. Without a word, he stepped back into his office and went straight to his phone.

Arianna watched him leave before her eyes went back to the players. She smiled as she walked over to Brandon, holding up the phone. Every since the beginning of the year, Ari has been with her daddy for some of his practices and she took an instant liking to BJ.

BJ smiled as he picked her up, looking at the phone, he chuckled when he saw that she was playing with the Snapchat filters, "Pretty girl."

Sam stepped back out after a few minutes, scanning the confused faces. He waited patiently in silence until he heard the door open.

Mercedes closed the door behind her, walking over towards her husband. He had caught her just in time because she was just about to pass his way. Moving her hair back behind her ears, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at them, "You're playing the game Friday." She held her hand up when she saw them open their mouths, shaking her head, "Listen. I know you're p-i-s-s-e-d, I am too but you guys need to finish your season off strong. This is your last game. You not only owe your coaches but you owe it to yourselves. Take the anger and let it out on the field. Let it be known that when you play us, we're going make you wish you stayed where you came from. Make them know, your words will not be taken lightly on or off the field. This just doesn't go for UCLA, this goes for all the teams. You guys are not going to let them get the best of you by giving up, go out their and kick some butt. Am I clear?"

Sam watched them closely as he stood beside his wife. One of the reasons why he wanted her to come talk to them is because they needed to hear this from her. Mercedes was like this short, beautiful ball of inspiration and she gave speeches like a true queen.

"Yes ma'am."

"You'll understand why you need to do this, I promise you will. And when you do, you're going to be glad you did."

Sam draped his arm around her neck and pulled her to him, placing a kiss on her forehead before turning back to his players, "Go get ready for practice."

Mercedes watched them sigh and nod their heads, smiling when BJ came up and handed Ari to her. Mercedes kissed her daughter's cheek as she hugged her, turning around to head into Sam's office, "I spend more time down here than I do my own office. They should hire me as the team's personal speech giver."

Sam chuckled as he sat down on the couch, "You pretty much have the job already."

Mercedes smiled as she straighten the bow up on their daughter's head, "I understand why they wanted to not play though. I would want to do the same but they need to go out and make it be known not to mess with them."

"You don't realize how much of what you said is going to play out in future games. Their mindset is completely different after these past two weeks. I don't think they're going to let anything else slide, which is a good thing." Sam said just as Ari handed him his phone and climbed in his lap. He smiled as he placed a kiss on top of nose, turning to his wife, "Where have you been all day anyways?"

"I met Santana for lunch." She said, seeing him roll his eyes, she let out a defeated sigh, "I have to admit, I wasn't going to go at first but I'm glad I did."

Sam bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from saying something because he knew for sure it was going to come out the wrong way and he did not want to have a fight with his wife because of it. So he decided to keep his mouth closed and listen to what she had to say.

"This time, her forgiveness, I felt was really sincere. She has changed and matured a lot, Sam. She even found love and is engaged." She watched him stare at her in disbelief, rolling her eyes, "It's true. Her name is Sidney, she four years older than us and she's a physical therapist."

"Well, that's great for her, I guess." Sam shrugged as he looked away from his wife, picking up their daughter and lifting her in the air, causing the little girl's giggles to sound out through the room.

Mercedes played with end of her sweater, staring at him for a minute, "She wants us all to have dinner and a civil conversation to see if we can get build a new friendship."

"You can if you want to but I'm just letting you know, I have no intentions of trying to be friends with her." He said as he sat Ari down, watching as the little girl climbed down and heard over to the little play area he had sat up for her in his office, "Not after all the shit she did to us. That's one person, I don't want back in my life."

Mercedes bit down on her bottom lip, eyes going to Ari, who was happily color on large piece of paper. She knew he was going to react this way and she also knew that it was nothing she could do to change his mind. She got up from the couch, sticking her phone into her back pocket and walking over to Ari. She picked her up and kissed her cheek, grabbing her bag from his desk.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked softly as he watched her turn around as he stood up, frowning, "Don't leave."

"I have a few errands I need to run before I go home." She raised her eyes to look at him, seeing the frown on his lips, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to them before walking away.

Sam watched Ari waved her hand as they disappeared out his office. He sighed as he ran his hands over his face, walking back to take a seat in his chair. He knew she was upset with him but he couldn't help it. Santana was the cause to a lot of their problems in the past and he wasn't going to let it go ever.

Mercedes leaned over and pulled the beanie down on a sleeping Ari's head, making sure her jacket was all the way zipped up. Stepping back, she looked up at Josh with a smile, "It feels like I haven't seen you in forever."

Josh looked down at her with a smile as he swayed the little girl, "I know. I've been so busy with work. I went from just painting a few paintings for the gallery to having people wanting to buy my work."

"I'm super proud of you." Mercedes said as she fixed the scarf around his neck. For it just being the first week in December and in California at that, it sure was freezing, "How are things with you and Lexi?"

"About that.." He started with a sigh, shaking his head, "We decided that it's just best that we stay friends. We have completely different pathways we want to take with our future."

"She doesn't want kids." Mercedes said knowing exactly why, seeing him nod, she pouted as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a side hug, "Aw babe, you're going find the perfect girl one day, I can guarantee that."

"I sure hope so." Josh smiled sadly, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "Why are you and Sam fighting?"

"We're not fighting."

"Something's going on because you're not acting like your normal Sam and Mercedes selves."

Mercedes crossed her legs as she watched the people across the field, "Santana's in town. We had lunch the other day and we talked." Well that explains it. Josh thought, looking over when she started speaking again, "I don't know Josh. I really feel in my heart and from what I saw, she's actually being genuine. I understand why Sam is mad and I'm not saying he doesn't have a right to be. I just want to move on and I'm in a wonderful place in my life that I'm willing to give her another chance."

Josh eyes went toward the field, hearing the band starting to play, "As long as you keep your guard up Mercedes. I don't want to see her hurt you again."

Mercedes nodded to herself, hearing the crowd cheering loudly, she watched as the teams both came out onto the field for a quick warmup.

Sam placed his headset around his neck, thanking one of the mangers when he handed him his board. He was so focused on the board, that he didn't notice anyone coming up to him until they cleared their throat. Looking up, he raised a brow when he found the head coach and a few of his other coaches in front of him.

"Coach." The man nodded into direction, catching attention from some of the USC coaches, "We just want to come over and apologize. We don't want there to be any bad blood between us, just our friendly rivalry."

Sam gave them a blank stare, blocking out Derek's cussing at them through his headset, "Let's get something straight here. I am the new kid on the block so here's two things you need to know about me. Don't ever in your like fucking question me like y'all did. When I say it's none of your business, I mean that shit. Two, don't ever come for my family or you're going to end up like your friend." Giving them a hard stare before walking off, leaving them standing there in shock. Hearing the whistle blow, he saw the referees get the boys off the field and ask for the captains for tonight.

Anthony, Terrance, Dylan, and Wes went up to the middle of the field. Hearing the refs go over the rules, they nodded as they listen on and shook hands when asked to. Before the ref flipped the coin to see who gets to ball first, the cornerback from the other team just had to open his mouth to say something.

"Can we just play the game and leave our personal feelings off the field? What was said was wrong but he was drunk out of his mind and that has nothing to do with us"

Terrance balled up his fist, "So in other words, you're taking up for the ass?"

"Gentlemen, we have a game to play." The referee tried to interfere but his words fell death on their ears.

"Listen, it's done and over with. Let's just play the damn game."

Sam squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what was taking them so long. Handing the one of the managers his headset and clipboard, he started making his way out towards the field with the defensive line coach, Chuck, as well.

"That's not something you can brush under the rug." Dylan angrily said as he pushed him hard, causing him fall to the ground. Terrance saw the other boy coming for his teammate and he got there just in time to grabbed the front of his face-mask and throw him down, causing collective gasps and cheers to run out the stadium. The game haven't even started yet and they were already fighting.

"What in the hell?" Josh asked with wide eyes as he looked at the brawl in the middle of the field, seeing all the players from both teams coming off the bench but was stopped by their coaches.

Mercedes placed her hand over her mouth as she looked on. Maybe they had a point on why they didn't need to play today. Seeing that the referees, Sam and Chuck had literally get on the ground to break them apart made her realized how serious this was.

Sam grabbed Terrance and Dylan forcefully by the back of jersey, pulling them to the side.

The referees threw their penalties flags out, the head one gesturing to the eight boys and their coaches, "They're out."

"That's not fair, they're the ones who started it."

Terrance tried to get out of Sam's hold but he had a tight grip on him.

Sam turned around and pushed them towards their side of the field, "Go." He made sure they went to the bench before turning around, pointing to the other coaches, "That was your warning." He picked up Terrance's gloves, walking away. He heard the boos when the announcer announced that four of their players were being ejected.

"I was not expecting that."

Mercedes winced before turning to Josh, giving him a guilty look, "I think I kind of provoked it."

Josh faced twitched up on confusion, "Oh..ohhh...oh damn." A smile began to twitch at the corners of his mouth when it dawned on him, shrugging, "In that case, they should beat their ass."

"Josh." Mercedes tried to be serious but she couldn't help but giggle at him, shaking her head. She turned back around and that's when she caught Sam's eye, mouthing, "I'm sorry."

Sam smirked at her before shaking his head, putting his headset back on. He walked over to BJ and gave him a smile, "You ready?"

"No."

"Too bad." Sam said as he wrapped his arm around the freshman, watching him put his helmet on, "It's just like we're in practice. You're going to be fine."

"I don't want to screw up, coach." He said quietly as he stopped and stared at the man.

Sam placed his hands on his shoulders, staring at him, "You're not and if you do, oh well. It's not the end of the world. I know you're nervous, believe me, I was in your position a lot of times. You're not out there on your own, your teammates are going to be with you the whole way. Just breathe and stay calm." He smiled when he saw one of the senior running backs, Bronx, come behind him and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

"You got this man." Bronx reassured him, "Coach's right when he says we got your back out there."

Sam listened to what Derek was saying through his set, hearing the whistle blow, he huddle up the offense, "Play clean enough to where you don't get thrown out of the game." He watched them send him a smirk, giving a warning look before walking off. This game was going to be one for the books.

Mercedes sat on the edge of the bed, sticking her apple slice into the peanut butter and raisins. Sighing, she watched as Sam came out of the bathroom dressed for bed, "57 to 10. Not bad at all for the last game of the season, coach."

Sam smiled as he came and sat beside her on the bed, grabbing one of her apples and biting it, "That's what happens when you piss off my players. You get your ass kicked in more ways than one."

Mercedes chuckled as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek, "Well, I'm proud of all of you." She smiled as she sat back, sticking another apple in her mouth, "Especially you."

"Thank you." He said softly, watching her with a smile, "You know I love you right?"

"Of course."

"And I'm sorry for how I've been acting this week." Sam moved her hair back from out of her face, "I didn't mean to take anything out of you. I-I just don't trust Santana at all and I can't ever forgive her for what she did. She has hurt us way too many times and I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I understand Sam, believe me I do. I'm not trying to make you forgive her at all. All I was asking was to just hear her out, that's all." Mercedes sighed as she picked up another apple slice, sticking it in her mouth.

Sam watched her closely, his fingers dancing on her spine. He loved his wife to death and would do anything for her..even this, "Fine. We can have the stupid dinner but don't expect me to say anything."

Mercedes gave him a small smile, she put the plate on the dresser before turning to him, "I love you."

"I love you too." He pouted as he laid down, pulling her on top of him. He placed a slow, long kiss to her lips, moving his way to her face and down her neck, mumbling, "Now let's practice on making another baby."

Mercedes laughed out loud as she kissed him back, hearing his groan when the doorbell rung only made her laugh harder, "Later, I promise."

Sam watched her get up and head out the room with a frown on his face, huffing, "Who the hell is it this time of the night?" He got up from the bed and came out of their bedroom. Walking down the stairs, he saw her standing with the door open but she wasn't talking or moving at all, "Baby, who is it?" When he got closer, he felt his jaw starting clench tightly, "What the hell are you doing here?"

To be continued...

A/N. Don't worry, there's a part two! Hope you guys enjoyed this update. :)