DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THAT SHOW JUST LOVE SOME OF ITS CHARACTERS.
Alyssa Lanson- Linda Cardellini
The weekend had flown by before anyone had noticed. The girls had a wonderful time at Quinn's place and couldn't wait until they linked up together after the holidays to do it again. Mercedes flipped through the playbook as she sat next to Sam on the bench. She had been helping him this week going over and changing some things up with the plays as her feet dangled while everyone was in front of them warming up, "I think we did good with revising these. It's good we switched it up and have new plays because I know the opposite team is banking on us to run the same ones so they can take advantage."
"Yeah, we did good." Sam said as he took his eyes off the book and looked at her, "How are you feeling?"
"Better. I actually start physical therapy tomorrow." Mercedes said as she looked at him with a smile, "Don't mean to sprint this on you last minute, but would you like to come if you're free? My parents and friends are completely busy and..."
"I would love to. I was actually going to ask if you wanted me to come with you so I could show you where it was." He said as he sent her a smile, putting his head down, "If you want, I can take you to all of your appointments and before you say it, I won't be going out of my way. Plus it will give your parents a much needed break."
Leo watched with a smirk on his face, hearing the whistle for them to switch positions, "You know, they make a good looking couple."
Garret stretched his arms over his head, glancing over to where Leo was looking when he heard him speak, chuckling, "They honestly do."
Mike stared at his best friend and he had to admit that he was glad that the two were getting along. At first, he wasn't too fond of Mercedes, not because of her personality but because she was a girl playing football but he got over that. For one, it was a big shock to him at his own reaction. He didn't once think he was sexist until this happened. He was honestly ashamed of his actions and he was glad that he leaned from them. He was also beyond grateful that Mercedes forgave him for it.
Mercedes smiled at him before closing up the book and handing it to him, "Thank you. I really appreciate this."
"That's what friends are for, and plus, this gives us a chance to.." Sam drifted off when he saw a man coming up with a bouquet of flowers in his hands, which also caught the attention of everyone else.
"What?" Mercedes asked when he stopped mid-sentence, turning to see what he was looking at and found the man with a vase full of colorful flowers.
"I have a delivery for Mercedes Jones."
"That's me."
The man gave her a smile, seeing that she was injured, he handed them to Sam, who was standing beside her, "These are for you. If you could just sign your initials right here, I'll be out of your hair."
Sam looked at the flowers confusedly, watching as Leo came and took the card from the flowers.
"Hey, gimme that."
"Take this as the last part of your hazing" Leo smirked as he opened the card, beginning to read it, "Mercedes, I heard about what happened and I just want to say that I'm sorry and you didn't deserve this. Hope this didn't cause so much attention at school, but I didn't have your home address and unfortunately didn't get a chance to get your number when I was down. Anyways, wishing you a speedy recovery and hopefully the next time I'm in town, we can go out for some food or something. Bryson."
"Awwww.."
Mercedes rolled her eyes at the teasing of her teammates, pursing her lips as she stood up, snatching the card from him, "Shut up."
"Looks like someone has an admirer." Garret continued to teased, watching as the girl shook her head, his eyes going over to Sam as a smirk began to appear when he saw the obvious jealousness taking over his friend's face, "You should definitely call him up."
Leo decided to add more fuel to the already lit fire that was Sam's jealousy, "Yeah, he maybe the one."
"Mhm, and I must say, y'all would make some adorable milk chocolate looking kids."
Mercedes let out a small, uncomfortable chuckle as she shifted on her feet, "You guys are truly asses."
Sam rolled his own eyes at them as he sat the vase on the bench, picking up his helmet and heading over to where he needed to be, not realizing how hard his jaw was clenched.
Mercedes watched as he walked away confusedly before turning around and putting the card back into the flowers, picking up and placing the vase in the crook of her arm, "I'll be back."
Leo watched as she headed to the locker room and turned around, making his way over to where his friend was, "You might as well admit it bro because we all know."
"Admit what, Leo?"
Leo took note of his frustrated tone and how he spoke unknowingly through clinched teeth, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Sam saw him smirk before walking away. He gritted his teeth before placing his helmet on his head. He knew exactly why his mood went from one hundred to zero, but he wasn't going to let anyone else know why.
After they were finish with their classes the next day, Mercedes met Sam at his truck so he could take her to her appointment. On the way there, the two just laughed, talk, and shared stories from their childhood, very excited to be getting to know more about each other. Much to Mercedes' dismay, Sam was a little too amused to find out she did beauty pageants when she was younger.
"It's really not that funny." Mercedes side eyed the laughing young man as they walked into the building, which was much like a gym.
"It is because it's unexpected, that's all." Sam let out a chuckle as they came to a stop, smiling down at her, "I'm going to have to ask your mom for pictures."
Mercedes winced at the thought of him seeing those pictures, "Please don't."
"I bet you were adorable." Sam said quietly, watching as she let out an adorable, awkward giggle, "I'll take that as a yes."
Mercedes snorted as she shook her head, turning around when she heard her name being called.
"Mercedes Jones?"
"Yes ma'am."
Alyssa smiled as she came up, holding out her hand, "I'm Dr. Lanson and I'm going to be your physical therapist."
"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Lanson. I've heard such great things about you from this young soul right here." Mercedes gave Sam a small nudge before she grabbed ahold of her hand and shook it.
"I'm surprised he hasn't told you anything bad. Apparently, I was a little bit too tough on him when he was here for his twisted ankle."
"You were, but I sucked it up because I knew that you knew what you were doing."
"Damn right I did." She gave him a side eye before turning back to a giggling Mercedes, "I won't keep you long today. I just want to see where we are. We're going to ease into this. I don't want to put too much on you because your injury is still fresh." Dr. Lanson spoke as she began to take her sling and wrap off, "Your doctor sent over your file and I took a look at recent x-rays. It's actually healing quite fast and well. Some people with this type of injury doesn't start to recover that quickly. You're a tough young lady, Mercedes."
"That she is." Sam commented as he raised his eyes to look at her, giving a small smile when their eyes met.
Mercedes smiled at him as she looked away from his stare shyly, watching as Dr. Lanson begin to move her shoulder slowly. She continued to do so for five more minutes and Mercedes had to admit that it hurt a little at first, but as she kept doing it, the pain started to decrease a bit.
"I'm going to stop because I don't want to put too much pressure on there right now." Alyssa said as she as threw away Mercedes' old wrap and sling, picking up the new ones, "How it's looking right now, therapy two times a week for thirty minutes, you'll be all set to go in eight weeks."
"Sounds good to me."
Sam watched as she finished up with Mercedes, his eyes moving to the older woman as she began walking away, "Can I get a treat too?"
Dr. Landon pursed her lips, rolling her eyes at his pouting as she opened up the drawer, "Absolutely not. You didn't even do anything."
"Hm, actually I did. I recommended you and brought my friend here." Sam smirked when she saw her cut her eyes, turning to Mercedes, "Did I forget to mention that Dr. Lanson is also my aunt?"
Mercedes chuckled at the interaction between the two before she stood up from the chair, taking note to how she now saw the resemblance, "Yeah, you kind of left that out."
"As a thank you to all of my patients, every month that you're here, you get a twenty dollar gift card to Smoothie Factory." She smiled as she walked back and handed the card to the young girl, plucking Sam upside his head.
"Hey!"
"Thank you." Mercedes said sweetly before turning to Sam with a smile, "I guess as a thank you for bringing me, I'll buy you a smoothie."
Sam shook his head and waved her off, "You don't have to repay me. I wanted to do this."
Alyssa raised a brow Sam, looking between the two teenagers, smiling widely before stepping back, "Alight Mercedes, I'll see you next week right after school."
"Yes ma'am, thank you."
"Bye Auntie A." Sam chuckled when she waved him off, turning to Mercedes and asking if she was ready. When she nodded, he went over and opened the door for her, letting her got out first.
"Can I at least buy you a thank you dinner, please?" Mercedes asked as he helped her back into the truck, giving him the puppy dog eyes.
"That look is not going to work on me." He said as he leaned over and buckled her down, their faces were mere inches away from each other, "But I can just buy you dinner though."
Mercedes stared at him for a moment, seeing that he wasn't going to let her do it, she rolled her eyes and leaned back in the seat, "Fine."
Sam smirked as he stepped back and closed the door, wrapping around his truck to get into the drivers seat. He put on his own seatbelt and cranked up the engine, smiling to himself as he pulled out the parking lot, happy that she agreed to let him treat her to dinner.
Five year old Mercedes sighed intently as she sat on the kitchen counter, looking out the windows at her dad and two older brothers outside playing baseball. She wanted nothing more than to go out and play with them, but her mom was making her stay inside to help her with dinner.
Vivian had her two year old son, Moses propped on her hip while she got some things out the refrigerator, sitting them beside the little girl.
Mercedes turned back around and looked at the woman, pouting deeply, "Mommy, can I please go outside?"
"No." She said once again before sitting her son on the floor, grabbing the bag of carrots and handing them to Mercedes.
"Why not?"
Vivian began cutting up the onion, raising her brown eyes to hers, "Because I said so young lady."
Mercedes put her head down, sighing even harder than what she was earlier, pulling the long carrots out the bag and laying them on the plate so her mom could cut them next.
Duncan had spotted Mercedes staring out the window and chuckled to himself, knowing that she was itching to get outside with her brothers. He could officially say his baby girl was a tomboy and there was nothing wrong with that. He told his sons that he would be back, heading inside from the cold, he took off his jacket and went to her.
"Daddy.." She whispered, eyeing her mom carefully, seeing that she was on the other side, she looked at him, "Mommy won't let me go outside. Can you please let me?"
"I'm going to have to agree with mommy on this one. You just got over a cold, you don't need to go back out and get sick again." His heart sunk when he saw her hopeful eyes turn back into sad ones, "Don't be sad, baby girl. I promise that we can do something fun inside. In fact, how about we have a movie marathon after dinner?"
Mercedes eyes lit up at the thought of that, a smile creeping on her lips, "Can we have extra buttery popcorn and sour gummy worms?"
Duncan smiled as he nodded his head, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "Now, help your mom with dinner, okay?"
Mercedes nodded excitedly as she carefully jumped from the counter, turning around and picking up the plate of carrots to take over to her mother. Even though she was still upset that she couldn't go outside and play with her brothers, she was happy to know that her dad was going to let her eat her favorite snacks and watch movies all night.
Mercedes came out of her memory with a smile as she sat back in the booth, still admiring everything around her. Sam had brought her to a restaurant, which she came to find out that it was his family's. It was a very cozy, intimate family friendly setting, if that made sense. They were sitting outside on the patio, enjoying their conversation as they waited for dessert. Mercedes had beef roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, which brought back that memory from her childhood, "Seriously, wow. My mom definitely has some competition with this meal."
Sam chuckled at her as he leaned back, pushing his empty plate to the side, "I'm glad you liked it. All the food here is recipes that has been handed down from my great grandma."
"Amazing, just amazing." Mercedes breathed out just as their waitress came back with their sweets for the night.
"Two cherry pies with one bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream." The waitress placed the plates in front of them before picking up their others, smiling as she leaned over and whispered to Sam when Mercedes wasn't looking, "You never bring girls here. She must be the one."
"Goodbye Liza." He whispered harshly, feeling his face flush when she chuckled lowly and stepped back, giving him a knowing look.
"Okay, seriously. I don't know where I'm going to put all of this." Mercedes laughed as her eyes came from off the dessert to him, playfully glaring, "Are you trying to fatten me up some more?"
Sam scooped him up some ice cream and placed it in his mouth, "There's nothing wrong with having meat on your bones."
Mercedes snorted in an almost dubious way as she picked up her fork, slicing a piece of the warm pie, "Glad to know that there are some guys in this world who have your mindset."
Sam eyebrows furrowed at her comment, seeing a flicker of sadness mixed with anger cross of her face but it quickly left. Without really knowing but going with his gut, he knew that it probably had something to do with her ex. He didn't know why, but he all of a sudden got pissed. Mercedes must of noticed to because she leaned over and placed her hand on his, snapping him out of his daze and bringing his attention back to her.
"You okay? You spaced out on me." Mercedes asked in concern, her curious warm brown eyes staring intently into his tensed ones.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something." He cleared his throat as he tried to muster up a smile, feeling the coolness come back to him when she moved her hand, "How is it?"
"Delicious like everything else." She laughed as she picked up her spoon and went to scoop up some ice cream, "Thank you for bringing me here. I most definitely want to come back."
"We're actually having a pre-Thanksgiving dinner here two weeks from now, which falls on the day of championship game. If we don't make it, you and your family can come out if you want."
"Thanks for the invite, but I think I'll have to catch it next year because we are for sure getting to the championship. I'm speaking it into existence."
Sam laughed as he nodded his head in agreement, "We got it."
"Of course we do..especially you." Mercedes responded softly as she sent him a smile, "And I'm glad that you're going to be able to fully showcase what you've worked so hard for."
"It won't be the same. You deserve to be out there just as much as I do."
"And I will. I'm just going to be right there on the sidelines. It'll be like I never left." Hearing her phone ring, she looked down and saw that it was a text from her dad, letting her know that he was outside, "Well, my ride's here."
"I could've taken you home." Sam said as he watched her slide from the booth, standing up when she did so.
"No, it's okay. My dad and I actually have an errand to run." She said as she smiled, sliding her purse onto her good shoulder as she stepped closer to him, "Thank you for everything today, I really appreciate it and you."
"Anytime.." He barely got the word out before he went completely numb, watching and feeling her pressed her lips against his cheek before saying her goodbyes. Holy shit. She kissed me on the cheek he thought as his heart began to beat rapidly in his chest, her soft lips leaving memorable sensation to his face. This was not how he was expecting the day to end, but he didn't mind it one bit.
A/N. I'm sill here y'all! So sorry for the long wait, but I have 18 hours this semester + keeping a social life + football season, I'm slammed and passed exhausted. I will update as my free time get more available Hope you guys enjoyed this sweet little update, can't wait to see your reviews! :)