DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE NOR ANYTHING ELSE.

ENJOY :)

Mercedes was so happy to be in the comfort of her own bed. She had spent the weekend in the hospital due to the fact that the doctor wanted to make sure she was one hundred percent before sending her home. Over the course of the weekend, she was shocked to have so many visits from her peers from school, teammates and coaches, who brought by candy, cards and flowers. It honestly made her happy that they even took out time of their day to come see her. The only person who she hasn't heard from or seen was Sam, and that had her feeling some type of way. She came out of her thoughts when she heard her brothers talking. Although they wanted to stay, Jamison and Nehemiah had to get back to school and football.

"Dad had to remind us countless of times that we are grown and that we can't beat up a kid, or anyone else for that fact because we will go to jail."

"And no matter how much I love and want to protect you, I have to listen to what they say."

"Well, I appreciate you guys always wanting to protect me, especially in this situation, but dad was right." Mercedes gave them a sad smile before she looked around her room, "Please thank your teammates and coaches for all the flowers. My room literally looks like a garden."

"Will do. Everyone told us when we speak to you again to wish you a speedy recovery."

Jamison nodded his head, "Yeah, Herrington said he'll even come down and make you his famous door room brownies."

Mercedes snorted as she gave both of them a look, "I don't want anything that comes from that boy and y'all know why."

Nehemiah and Jamison laughed loudly as they caught the knowing look, nodding in agreement, "We know." Hearing the whistle being blown, they both sighed as they looked at her, Nehemiah speaking, "We have to get back to this morning workout, but we'll call you later. Love you, Mercury."

"I love you guys too. Bye." She said as she smiled before hanging up. Locking her phone and dropping it in front of her, she watched as her little brother came trotting into the room.

"I can't believe mom and dad are letting me stay home this week." Moses said as he came into his sister's room, going over to the other side of the bed to get in.

Mercedes chuckled as she laid back against the pillows and turned her head to look at him, "It was either have mom or you to help me out for while, and I'd rather it be you. I love mom but she can be a bit overbearing at times."

"True." Moses laughed as he moved closer to her, watching as the TV changed to a different movie. He was happy that he could skip school and be here to help his sister with whatever she needed but he hated that this even happened to her to begin with, "Cedes?"

"Mhm?"

"You were really high off of those drugs."

"I know. Y'all want let me live it down." Mercedes chuckled at the memory of them telling her how she was acting.

"It was something that we didn't tell you though." Moses started before clearing his throat, "You mentioned that you've been depressed a lot. Why didn't you tell us?"

Mercedes sighed as she tore her eyes away from him and stared down at her blankets, "Honestly, I didn't want anyone to know. I had to force myself to be strong on my own. I couldn't let anyone see me the way."

"You have feelings like any other person in this world. You don't have to be strong all the time and you don't have to go through this on your own. You have us."

"I know and I promise I won't ever keep anything like that away from y'all again."

Moses stared at her for a minute before looking away, moving closer and laying his head down on her left shoulder, "I love you."

"I love you too, kid." Mercedes gave him a soft smile as she laid her head down on his. She was thankful for her family and she wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

After everything that happened on Friday, both school had taken necessary actions that needed to be made. Today was the day of the disciplinary hearing for Eric. He was already suspended from the team for a couple of games but Langston High was putting up a fight for Mercedes. They didn't see that as enough, and quite frankly, Mercedes' parents didn't either.

Garrett paced in front of his teammates, trying to his best to calm down, "Mercedes should be able to press charges. This was obviously more than a dirty play."

"Yeah, she should but she's not." Leo spoke up as he looked at him, "I asked and she told me last night when I went to her house that she wasn't."

"I know tension is still very high but try not to get into it with them."

Leo stopped short and turned to look at him, "He hurt my friend on purpose. With all due respect, don't count on it happening, coach."

"No, y'all are not going to do anything and if you can't control yourself, do not come in." Coach Mac stared at them seriously, "I'm not playing with you. No matter how much the situation pisses us off, we need to not add on to this mess."

Sam turned his head when he heard commotion down the hall, seeing it was Mercedes' parents being escorted through by security. The new reporters were in heavily and making it hard for everyone to come in. Seeing them go into the room, he saw one of their assistant coaches come out and nod his head, letting them know they were ready to start.

Once they all walked in, you could immediately fell the tension between the two teams and Langston made it known, that they were not here for keeping the peace.

"If you can't conduct yourselves, you will be removed from this room gentlemen." The superintendent spoke once he saw silent, deadly exchanges from them, "We are here today for the incident that happened on Friday, October 24. We reviewed the footage on yesterday. Due to doctor's orders, Mercedes Jones will not be attendance. This is not going to be long, but we will hear out both sides and we'll start with Langston."

"No matter how much people may want to downplay, you can't." Principle Saturn started as she addressed the board then looked at the audience, "This was a malicious attack on one of my students and simple suspension from a couple games will not do."

The principal of Hornelake stood up, straightening out his tie, "We are sincerely sorry for what happened but we have already taken necessary actions regarding this situation. Eric has been suspended and he has issued an apology to Ms. Jones."

"A bullshit, non-sincere scripted public apology."

The audible gasp for everyone spread throughout the room as their eyes found the source of the outburst. Seeing that it was Sam, Mike leaned forward and look at him, shaking his head for him to be quiet.

"No, I'm not going to be quiet and I'm not going to let them sit up there and let this slide like they let everything do." He said as he stood up from his seat, looking at the board as he started again, "If anything he needs to be in jail. Mercedes could've died from the hit, but thankfully she didn't."

"Mr. Evans.."

"Y'all are not about to shut me up. You're going to listen to what I have to say. We are here to make sure he pays for what he did to her. No one deserves that, especially not Mercedes. All she wants to do is be treated like any other person and instead she get punished for it not only by peers but adults. I'm not going to lie, our team was so against her playing, me being the main and most ignorant one. But I can say that I have never wanted anything bad to happen to her." Sam said as he took a deep breath, keeping his eyes trained on the people in front of him, "Disgustingly, we treated her with no respect and wanted to do our best to get her off the team. She stood firm and didn't let us or anyone else stop her from doing what she loved. My teammates have all came around to the idea of a girl being on the team and even has more respect for her. It was taking me awhile because I was so caught up in feeling less of a man because a woman could do my job better." He admitted out loud for the first time as he shook his head, "I...we want to protect her and make sure she okay. She is our friend, our teammate and she's our quarterback."

Vivian stared at the young man throughout the whole time he was talking, seeing nothing but pure honesty, admiration, and respect coming from him. She wasn't surprised the see the whole room stunned into silence because they weren't expecting anyone to do what Sam just did.

"Although you went about it the wrong way with that outburst, thank you Mr. Evans for bringing more light onto the situation at hand." The man spoke as he fixed his glasses, sighing, "This really is a complicated decision that we as a school board have to make because we have to make sure both parties are treated fairly."

Sam rolled his eyes at that as he sat back down, feeling like this was not about to head into the right direction like it should.

"Sexism, bullying, and assault are few of the problems in America today. Mr. Thomas, you made a very terrible decision on Friday night. You intentionally hurt someone without any remorse for doing so. This type of behavior is unacceptable in our school district, therefore you should be punished for it. Your school did proper protocol for suspending but that's not enough." He looked down at his papers again before raising his eyes back to him, "We made two decisions yesterday. You are suspended from school until the new year. You will no longer be able to play any sport in this district for the remainder of your years left. Hopefully you will learn from your actions and be grateful that you're not sitting in jail instead. Let this be a lesson to all of you to play football the right way."

Quinn smirked when she saw Eric's face fall and tears began to form in his eyes before he stormed out the room, his flunkies following right behind him. Karma was a bitch and she was grateful that she was.

Duncan squeezed his wife's hand before turning and giving her a hug. He didn't get away with what he had done to their daughter and he was thankful.

Leo got up from his seat and went over to where Quinn was sitting, staring at her for a minute until he finally opened his mouth, "Sam likes her..like relationship likes her."

Quinn rolled her eyes as she patted his shoulder before standing up, "And here I though you was oblivious just like everyone else."

"You knew? How?"

"He's my cousin for one. Two, I know that look he has on his face a mile away and three, you boys are so easy to read when it comes to us women." Quinn placed her purse on her shoulder, watching as Sam fiddled with his tie before getting up out of his seat and heading over to Mercedes' parents.

Sam nervously walked up to the Jones', not knowing what to expect from the couple because the last time they even spoke was that disaster dinner.

Vivian studied his face for a good while before she leaned forward and wrapped him into a big hug with no reason needed.

Sam didn't know why but he wasn't going to question it. All he knew that at this moment, it was something that they both needed and it honestly felt really good.

"You're a good person, Sam Evans. Don't let anyone tell you different." Vivian whispered as she gave him a tight squeeze before pulling back, giving him a smile as she ran her hands down his face, "Thank you for what you said for my daughter."

"It's nothing but the truth ma'am. I regret ever treating her the way I did and I hate that I ever did." He said softy as he stared into those familiar piercing brown eyes, "I'm sorry to both of you. I've never purposely meant any harm."

"We all have to learn from mistakes, son." Duncan spoke up as he glanced over at the young man, "My daughter playing football is unrealistic to a lot of people and they don't want to see it. As much as I hate it, it's reality. But I'm glad that you and the rest of the team saw what we have been seeing in her."

Sam nodded at their words, putting his head down in shame as he spoke lowly, "I don't think she'll ever forgive me."

"You never know unless you speak to her." Vivian said as she stepped back and gave him another look before placing her purse on her shoulder, "And she's waiting." And with that, they walked away, leaving Sam to think about what they just said.

Mercedes leaned back in the chair in the kitchen, watching as their house keeper, Gloria fixed a late lunch. It hasn't even been a whole week yet and she surprisingly wasn't tired of being in the house. Her friends have been coming by everyday to see her and she couldn't be any more grateful for them. Her parents had informed her on what happened the other day at the hearing and she could honestly say that she was happy that he didn't get away with what he did. Hearing the doorbell ring, she slid out of the chair and groaned in protest when Gloria and Moses told her to sit back down, "Let me do something." She pouted before heading out in the direction of the foyer. Her steps slowed down a bit when she saw the familiar face through the see through glass window. Once she got to the door, she unlocked and opened it slowly, her brown eyes connecting with his green ones.

Sam opened and closed his mouth repeatedly. He had worked up enough courage to come and see her and now his words wouldn't even come out. He cleared his throat, internally shaking his nerves off so he could get himself together, "H-Hey."

"Hi." Mercedes responded softly as she leaned against the door, taking notice to how nervous he was and her still being in shock that he was here.

"I'm sorry it has taken me so long to come." He started as he rubbed his hands together nervously when she didn't say anything right away, "Maybe I should just.."

"Would you like to come in?" She cut him off, seeing him raise his head and nod, she moved aside so he could come into the house, closing and locking the door back.

Sam faced her again and watched as she shifted her arm in the sling, "How are you feeling?"

"Still sore and a little pain from time to time but I'm doing better."

Moses was making his way to the front to check on his sister when she didn't come back, seeing her in the foyer with Sam, he stepped back and turned back around to go back into the kitchen, "Oh boy."

"That's good. How long until you come back to school? Are you here alone?"

"The doctor said I can go back next week if I want to, if not, he wrote me a note for two more weeks. And no, I'm not. Our housekeeper and my little brother has been babysitting me." She let out a light laugh as she shifted on her feet, not knowing why all of the sudden she was getting nervous, "Let's go sit in the living room."

Sam followed behind her as they headed into the large family area, looking around for a moment before he took a sit on the same couch as her. Once they got settled, they sat in silence for a few minutes before he worked up the guts to began, "Mercedes..I just want you to know that I'm sorry for what happened to you."

"Don't. You tried to warn me but I didn't listen." Mercedes shrugged as she looked down at her hand, "At least it worked out in your favor. You get to go back to being the full time quarterback."

Sam stared at her in disbelief, obviously angry and hurt that she would even think he cared about that at the moment, "I don't care about that anymore and if I did, I wouldn't want to get it like this."

Mercedes studied him for a while before she spoke, "Why do you feel so guilty?"

"This is my fault. I treated you bad enough for you not to believe that I was only looking out for y-you." Sam's voice cracked as his sad eyes looked into hers, "I'm so sorry that I've been such an ass to you. I can't take back what I did but I'm asking you to please give me a chance to start over."

Mercedes heard and saw the sincerity and she didn't know how to react to it. Here was the boy sitting in front of her who didn't like her from the jump and now all because she got hurt, he wanted to turn over a new leaf.

Sam could see the doubt in her eyes and he would never tell anyone this but he felt like his heart was breaking. It was one thing for her to be mad at him but to think he was lying just so he could get rid of his guilt, that hurt him. He took the hint as he stood up from the couch, trying his best to not let his emotions run wild in front of her, "I should go."

Mercedes watched as he walked out the room, prompting her to get up and follow him, "Stop running away from me, Sam."

Sam stopped and turned back to her, "I can't sit here and let you think that I'm lying because I'm not."

Mercedes winced as pain shot through her shoulders causing her to shift uncomfortably.

Sam saw the strap of her sling somehow come loose and he walked over and stood in front of her to fix it back.

"I know you weren't lying, Sam. It's just a lot for me to take in right now, that's all." She whispered as she lifted her head up, seeing him focus on the getting the strap back hooked, "Thank you."

Sam dropped his hands and stared down at her, seeing her eyes began to water up, "I know it's a lot to take in and I know it's going to take you some time to forgive me, but it's worth the wait if that means we can build a friendship."

Mercedes chewed on the corner of her mouth as she nodded her head, "I do forgive you, and I hope this can be the catalyst of us building a friendship too."

For the first time months, a genuine smile took over his lips as a relived breath left his mouth. This was something he didn't know he needed or wanted until now. He wanted to learn more about this girl who has come into his life and turned it upside down. Hearing someone clear their throat, he turned to the side when he saw a woman with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised, it was then he realized how close he was to Mercedes and stepped back.

"Niña, almuerzo está listo and bring whoever this boy is too."

Mercedes rolled her eyes knowing that she had a double meaning to that, watching as she went back into the kitchen. She looked at Sam and gave him a small smile, "Would you like to say for something to eat?"

"I'd love to but I have to get back before they call my parents for skipping. But before I do.." He started as he went back and grabbed the abandoned medium sized bag he left at the door, bringing it back to her, "Quinn told me everything you like, so I hope you don't mind."

Mercedes leaned forward and looked in the bag, seeing that it was a variety of chocolate, sour gummy worms, word search books and a big pack of ranch flavored sunflower seeds. But there was something else that caught her eyes. Taking her hand and grabbing the small stuffed bear, she looked at it and couldn't help but smile.

"Ansley told me to get that for you. She said that it would make you feel so much better."

Mercedes took her eyes off the bear and looked at him, seeing how red he had got, she chuckled, "She's right, I'm starting to feel better already. Thank you for all to this Sam, it means a lot."

"No problem." He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets as he stared at her, "I should get going."

"Thank you for stopping by and checking on me." She thanked quietly as she walked him back to the front, seeing him nod as he opened the door and stepped out.

"See you soon, right?"

"Yes." Mercedes leaned against the door and smiled, watching as he headed for his truck, "Sam?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Thank you for taking up for me on Friday and at the hearing."

Sam sent her a smile, "No need to thank me at all."

Mercedes smiled as he gave her nod before getting into his truck. Sending him a small wave, she closed the door to her house and let out as breath. This was something she was not expecting at all but she was glad it happened.

A/N. Let me know your thoughts. Have a great weekend!