Well, here I thought I'd update Dancing with Dreams first, but then here came this one, ready to be written. I'm not sure how many parts this epilogue will be - I know everything I want to write, it's just a matter of getting it done and seeing how long it turns out to be. So for now - enjoy!

About two months later

"Jeez, babe, what did you pack? Rocks?" Sam asked as he picked up Mercedes' suitcase and went to set it by the door, ready to leave in the morning.

"Sam…" Mercedes replied in a tone that was mostly a warning one, but with the tiniest hint of tears and he instantly regretted his dumb joke.

They were on an early flight to LaGuardia the next morning for Santana and Brittany's wedding weekend – but only Sam had a return ticket to Nashville. Mercedes was due to report to a New York recording studio on Monday morning and unfortunately, Sam had yet to find a job in the City, so he was going to be in Tennessee for a least a little while longer. Kurt and Blaine had graciously offered up their guest room for Mercedes until Sam had a new job and they were ready to fully move their household to New York. So her suitcase was packed as full as it could possibly be.

"I'm sorry," Sam said. "That was a dumb thing to say."

Mercedes sighed, waving a hand at him as she went into their bathroom to start her bedtime routine. "It's okay. I know I'm being a big giant baby about it."

"Hey, c'mon," he said from the bathroom doorway. "It doesn't exactly hurt my feelings to know that you're really gonna miss me."

Mercedes let out a slight snort of laughter at that. "Funny, since you haven't mentioned that you're going to miss me at all."

There was silence behind her for so long that she finally turned to look at him – and she could see it all over his face.

"I can't even think about how much I'm going to miss you," he finally said in a low voice and that did it – she started crying and abandoned her routine as she went to him, burying her face in his chest as he held her, cursing himself again for setting her off.

"I know this is so stupid," Mercedes said with a watery, hiccuppy laugh, voice muffled from where her face was still pressed against him, "it's not like we're getting divorced or anything and I know you're going to find something and be there before we know it, but it just SUCKS. It's not FAIR. We already spent four years apart. And that was different – it was college, we were younger, we weren't married yet – we're supposed to be stable adults now. Married people aren't supposed to have to live in two different states."

"I know, I know," he said, trying to sound soothing. "At least we don't have kids yet?"

"I guess," Mercedes grumped. "But what if we don't ever have any because we only see each other once a month?"

Sam wasn't really sure how to respond to that, but before he could even try, she took a step back from him and declared, "I'm not going."

"To the wedding?" Sam was confused now.

"No, of course I'm going to the wedding. But I'm not going to the studio, I'm not staying in New York. I'm coming back home with you." She crossed her arms across her chest and gave him that look, the one that practically dared him to argue with her.

Sam sighed inwardly. He would have to tread carefully here. "Mercedes. Baby. Of course you're going to the studio and staying in New York. This is your dream, this is what you've been working for ever since I met you." He reached for her hands, tugging gently, trying to get her to uncross her arms.

"So?"

"So, you are too damn talented to turn down this opportunity." He pulled her back towards him, putting his arms around her again. "And I am so fucking proud of you." He grinned. "I'm also not above saying I told you so."

She rolled her eyes but didn't respond for a long minute. "I don't know if I can do it without you," she finally said quietly and Sam shook his head.

"I know you can," he said firmly.

Mercedes sighed. "Okay, I don't want to do it without you there."

Sam grimaced at this statement. "I get that. I really do. But I'll be cheering you on from here, just as much as I would there." He paused, studying her face, trying to ascertain where she was at emotionally at this point. "There's another thing, too."

She eyed him warily. "What?"

"You signed a contract, babe. And we can NOT afford the legal fees if you decided to break it."

Mercedes stared at him, speechless for a moment before finally a small giggle escaped her lips. "You would be the practical one about this."

"Ha!" he replied. "Excuse me, ma'am, might I remind you what you said when I said I'd just quit and we'd live on our savings until I got a job?"

"That we'd burn through it way too fast and we couldn't do that," Mercedes muttered reluctantly.

"Right," he said, cradling her face in his hands and using his thumbs to swipe away the lingering tear tracks on her cheeks. "And at least we're gonna have this absolutely amazing weekend together with our friends and I don't fly out till Monday so I can see you off to the studio on your first day and then you'll be back here for the weekend in two weeks. And with any luck, I'll have a job by then. And we'll get through this, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay," she agreed quietly, bringing her hands to the back of his head and pulling it down towards her own.

"Okay," he said again as their lips met, the kiss slow, gentle, tender at first, then turning more intense, Mercedes pressing her body against Sam's, pushing him back out of the doorway into their bedroom, both of them pulling at the other's clothes as they moved towards their bed.

Sam found himself thinking later that he wasn't sure if Mercedes had ever looked so intently at him during sex before, almost like she was trying to memorize every bit of him. In some ways, she was, wanting the image of him burned into her brain to get her through the upcoming weeks apart.

They were lying there afterward, curled together, Mercedes' back to his chest, his chin resting on her shoulder, his arms around her waist, her hands on top of his, her thumb idly rubbing over his wedding band.

"I'm sorry," he said, so quietly she almost didn't hear him at first.

"For what?" she asked, trying to twist her head around so she could see him.

He shifted a little, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "That we're not moving together, that I can't find a job yet…" his voice trailed off before he said, quieter still, "I feel like I'm letting you down, like I can finally understand how my dad must have felt when everything went down in high school…"

His words, and the tone he said them in, made Mercedes feel like a cold hand had reached into her chest and was twisting her heart in its grip. She quickly rolled over in his embrace, her hands going up to either side of his face, forcing him to meet her gaze.

"Oh, baby – honey, no. You're not letting me down, I really am just being a big whiner. It's not your fault – the right thing will come along. I know it will."

Sam nodded, his eyes still not really meeting hers and she sighed. "Baby, look at me. I'm sorry too. I never meant to make you feel bad."

He nodded again, green eyes meeting brown this time, and she put a hand through his hair. "I love you," she said, quietly but fiercely. "So much…"

"I love you too," he replied, even as she was kissing him again and then neither of them said much of anything for the remainder of the evening.