Happy Thanksgiving, for those who celebrate it! I'm thankful for all you readers, and especially you reviewers!

Finally posting this chapter... It's been done for a while but I hadn't finished editing until just now. Here you go!

Chapter 25

The next morning, Mercedes and Sam woke up as slowly as the blaring alarm clock would allow, did their morning rituals, and made breakfast. Mercedes couldn't help but notice that Sam fell in step with her routine nearly seamlessly. It gave her visions of a future where they really were living together and she hoped that Sam made it out to LA even more fervently than she ever had before. The couple cuddled together on the couch drinking coffee while Sam flipped through the channels. Mercedes noted the time on the cable box.

"Ugh," she groaned.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"Time for me to head to the studio."

Mercedes attempted to get up from the couch but Sam pulled her back down while letting out a matching disappointed groan. He kissed her deeply before releasing her.

"I'm disappointed that we can't spend the day together, but at the same time it's pretty awesome that you get to spend your days in a recording studio." Sam's green eyes shone with pride.

The couple left the apartment and made their way down the hall to Puck's apartment. Mercedes knocked on the door and waited a moment but heard no movement. She sighed and searched her key ring.

"I hate using my copy cuz I feel like it encourages him," she explained, "but he's taking forever."

She opened the door to reveal Jake still in a deep sleep, one leg hanging off the couch, and snoring loudly. Sam laughed softly at the sight. Puck slowly shuffled into the room from his bedroom.

"Hey Mama, hey Evans," he greeted in a raspy voice while rubbing the sleep out his eyes. "Good night?"

Sam bumped fists with Puck before smirking. "I don't kiss and tell."

Mercedes rolled her eyes at the blond. "I'm running late. Promise me you'll grow up before you get to the campus."

The boys just laughed at her frustration. As she headed out Mercedes whispered a prayer.

"Please, Lord. Have them take this seriously."

/

A burnt-out administrative assistant shuffled down the hall of the college, mumbling her memorized tour spiel while making half-hearted gestures at the facilities. The trio of young men followed behind her. Jake was mildly interested in the campus while his brother was obviously more interested in the female student body. Jake turned to see Sam glancing around with a glum demeanor.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

"This is nothing like the TV show."

Jake paused with an expression that asked, "Is he serious?" When Sam gave no hint that he was joking he said, "Dude, you know Community is a fictional TV show, right?"

Sam rolled his eyes and sighed. "Of course I know that! I just mean that I thought it would be a little more exciting. You know, the maturity of being out of high school without the seriousness of a four-year college."

Instead, there was a mixture of roughhousing students who seemed to be carbon copies of McKinley students and a handful of older students who were working intently.

"Dude, you don't get it," Puck interjected without taking his eyes off his surroundings. "Community colleges have two types of students: the ones who are trying to graduate and move on as soon as possible, and the ones who are there to get someone off their back. The first give the school a graduation rate and the others keep paying for courses so the school can pay their bills."

"Amen," their guide mumbled.

Jake frowned at his brother's pessimistic perspective. Soon the tour ended back in the admissions office and he noticed his friend's expression had only worsened.

"Well, that was really interesting," Jake said with fake enthusiasm. He grabbed one of every pamphlet with course information. "I'm sure you'll find some awesome classes here."

Sam shrugged. Puck slipped his phone number to the receptionist with a wink before turning back to his companions.

"Let's go guys, we're meeting Mercedes for lunch in Hollywood and traffic is a bitch."

/

Meanwhile, Mercedes was at OceanView Records annoying everyone in the studio with her giddy behavior.

"Divette, what is going on with you?" Day'jon asked from his seat at the control panel. "You've been cheesing too hard and it's starting to creep me out."

"Nothing," she giggled.

Rhesa rolled her eyes at the younger woman. "Her boyfriend surprised her by flying in last night. They haven't seen each other in about a month."

"Mhmm," Day'jon hummed knowingly. "Well I need you focused when you step in my booth. Can't be wasting time."

His tone was strict but he couldn't help but smile fondly. The OceanView employees had become a family and they were often concerned for their youngest member. Most of them were born and raised in California, and the ones who weren't didn't move there alone at Mercedes' young age.

"I'm just hoping she can still sing and didn't wear her voice out last night," Damon smirked.

"Why you gotta be so messy?" Rhesa asked through laughter.

"Anyway," Mercedes said over her friends' teasing, "my friend Puck's little brother is visiting too so we're bringing him and Sam to Shorty's for open mic night tomorrow. You should come through."

Damon let out a short laugh. "Ask me again two years ago."

"Huh?" Damon asked.

"I've got a baby at home; there's no way I can go out. Especially on a week night like you youngin's." Day'jon wasn't much older than the trio of singers, but he had ten years on Mercedes. The young diva shrugged in understanding.

The singers got to work; taking turns recording harmonies for a track one of the lead artists started recording a few days prior. While Mercedes was in the booth, the door to the studio opened and Thomas entered carrying files and electrical equipment. From the noise-proofed booth Mercedes watched as his mouth moved soundlessly. From the looks of it, Day'jon and Thomas were talking shop, gesturing to the monitors and knobs on the switchboard. Mercedes waited patiently for her next directive until she saw Damon get up from the couch where he and Rhesa were socializing. She watched curiously as Damon tapped Thomas on the shoulder and started speaking. Though Mercedes couldn't lipread, she did notice a mischievous smile playing on his lips as he gestured to himself, Rhesa, and then in her direction. That action spurred Thomas to look her way and wave enthusiastically.

All this prompted Mercedes to finally ask, "What are you talking about? What are you saying?"

Her slightly paranoid tone filtered through the speakers in the studio. Damon reached over Day'jon, who was smiling amusedly, to hold down a button on the controls.

He spoke into a small microphone, "Divette, I was just inviting Thomas to join us to Shorty's tomorrow night."

Mercedes tried to school her deer-in-headlights look off her face, but judging from Rhesa's hands covering her mouth and shaking shoulders, the teen knew she was not doing a great job of it.

Thomas bent his tall frame to use the mic. "Sounds like fun! I never get to make it to any of your hang-outs."

It was true, but that was mostly because he was rarely invited.

"Um, yeah," Mercedes tried to regroup. "Yeah. My boyfriend's in town so we wanted to go out." She emphasized "boyfriend" to tamper his excitement and possibly convince him to change his mind, but she had no luck.

"That's cool. I'll see you tomorrow!" He collected his paperwork and started to leave.

"Yeah, tomorrow." Mercedes repeated unenthusiastically.

Damon smiled, pleased with himself, Rhesa barely contained her laughter, and Day'jon just shook his head.

As soon as the door closed behind Thomas, Mercedes spoke. "Y'all ain't shit."

/

It took half an hour longer than it should have, but the boys still beat Mercedes to their lunch destination. They lingered in a parking lot until they saw Mercedes' pale blue hybrid park in a spot across from them. As soon as he saw her, Sam's face lit up. He still couldn't believe he was able to visit her. Mercedes jogged over and greeted him with a hug and kiss.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic," she said as a greeting. "Let's go, I'm starved!"

Mercedes led her guests out the lot and down the block to the restaurant she picked: Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles.

"Chicken and waffles?" Jake asked incredulously.

"It's amazing, trust me," Puck replied and led the way in.

"It's basically the best southern food California has to offer. It's iconic," Mercedes praised.

Sam, ever the southern boy, was looking forward to trying it out. They followed their server through the crowded dining room to a small table and quickly started perusing the menu. As soon as their orders were placed, Mercedes asked,

"So? How was the tour?"

Sam's mood dampened immediately. Jake rushed to answer first to take the pressure off.

"It was pretty cool. They've got a ton of courses. I left the pamphlets in the car, but they've got stuff that will help Puck run his business and they've got a couple drawing classes for Sam."

Mercedes smiled broadly at her boyfriend and he smiled back. In her excitement, however, she never noticed that Sam's smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Oh, and I got a little info on their engineering classes too," Jake continued.

Mercedes was confused. "Engineering?"

"Yeah, I know we didn't discuss it but I thought Sam might be into it. I took my car to Burt's cuz it was acting up and Sam fixed it by himself!"

Mercedes' eyes lit up. "I can't believe I forgot about that! Baby, don't you think that's a great idea?"

Sam chewed slowly before answering, "Sure. So how was work?"

Mercedes was suitably distracted by the question and began telling the boys about her day at the studio including their plans for the next night. Puck found it hilarious that Thomas would be joining them.

"Who's Thomas? What's so funny?" Sam swiveled his head back and forth eager to hear whoever could produce an answer faster.

"Mer-Mer-Mercedes's b-biggest f-fan." Puck laughed with an exaggerated stutter.

"Who? I'm her biggest fan!"

"Thomas is the producer's intern. He asked me out that one time. I told you about him."

Oh, him."

"I'm sure he's s-s-super excited to hang out." Puck continued.

"Boy, stop. He doesn't even have a stutter, he's just a little awkward."

Puck ignored her and continued with his bad impression, to the table's amusement.

When they had finished their meal the group went outside to enjoy the weather and see the sights. The group wandered along the Walk of Fame, passing by the unfamiliar names, arguing the validity of some star's inductions, and taking photos with their favorites. As their energy waned, the group headed back home.

/

When the teens returned to the apartment building, they split up again: Mercedes and Sam stopped at her apartment while Jake and Puck continued to his. The couple lounged around, watching television in a mostly content silence.

"Sammy?" Mercedes said after a while.

"What's up, MJ?"

"I wanna Skype your family. It's not too late is it?"

Sam glanced at the time and did some quick math.

"Nope, if we do it now, we can catch the monsters right before they go to bed."

Mercedes rushed to set up her laptop, anxious to see her surrogate family. When she came back to the living room, Sam was talking on his cell phone to set up the call with his parents. Moments later, the Evans family crowded around the web camera and greeted couple excitedly. They all chatted animatedly, filling each other in on various happenings, as it had been a while since they all saw each other together.

"Mercedes, honey, how did that salmon recipe work out?" Mary Evans asked.

"Oh, It was great! Thanks for the pointers."

"Recipe?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I called your mom cuz I'm working on my cooking skills and I remember you saying her recipe was delicious."

"You should cook for me tomorrow," Sam suggested playfully. He always loved her cooking. But even more so, he loved that his mother liked Mercedes well enough to give out her recipes. Mary Evans— like the women in her family before her— refused to entrust people outside of the family with any of their recipes. If there had been any doubt, this proved that Sam's family was well on board with Mercedes being his future wife.

"Maybe I will," Mercedes replied. "After the CalState LA tour."

"Please let us know how it goes," Dwight directed to Sam. "It seems like you liked that community college just okay, I'm curious how it will compare."

"Sure, Dad."

Their conversation continued for some time but after a while Dwight had to cut it short so that Stevie and Stacey could go to bed. The two youngest Evans children were obviously tired and didn't bother complaining as their mother ushered them to their rooms.

"And what about you two?" Dwight asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mercedes tilted her head slightly in innocent confusion, but Sam understood what his father was referring to.

"I'm staying with Puck. His apartment is just down the hall."

"Mhm," Dwight hummed with his face fixed in a pointed expression.

They said their goodbyes and after they disconnected Sam turned to Mercedes saying he was going to get ready for bed.

"I thought you were going to Puck's?"

"Why would I want to do that? You're here. And what my dad doesn't know won't hurt him." Sam flashed a grin before heading to the bathroom. Mercedes laughed and went to find her pajamas.

Once they had settled in, holding each other close, Mercedes asked into the quiet, "Sammy? Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did your dad say you 'seemed' to like the school 'just okay?' I thought you guys said the tour went well?"

Sam was quiet as he tried to figure out the best way to explain his feelings.

"Sammy?" Mercedes tried to turn to look him in the eyes, but Sam kept his grasp tight with her back pressed against his front.

"Mercy, I— it just didn't seem like a good fit. I can't explain it. It just didn't click."

"Your dad could tell through a video chat that you weren't feelin' it, and I've been with you basically all day, with no idea." Mercedes sighed dejectedly. "I'm the worst girlfriend ever."

Sam chuckled lightly and kissed her on the temple. "Don't worry about it. You were excited. I'm not gonna lie, it was a little annoying when you started picking out possible classes for next semester, but I know you meant well." Sam shrugged, "Maybe I'll like CSULA, or a different community college. You guys have a ton."

"I hope so." She snuggled deeper into his warmth and after a moment she added, "I'm sorry I got carried away. I just really want you to be out here with me."

"Me too," he said lowly. More than anything.

Hope you enjoyed it! Sam meets Rhesa, Damon, and Thomas next... should be fun! Please please review and let me know what you think. It really helps shape everything to come. Also, yayz and congrats to Amber for her DWTS win! (As if there were ever any doubt)