*PLEASE READ*

AN: Hey guys, this is more aimed for my Our Story readers. I know you guys are waiting for an update and I am sooo sorry for the long wait. I just don't feel inspired when it comes to that story. I sit in front of my computer for what feels like hours waiting for some inspiration to strike and the result is the same- nothing comes.

I really need you guys to be patient and bare with me. I write whenever I feel inspired and thus far, I have inspiration for this story that's why I update it regularly. But after Jan I am going to take a hiatus for a while. I'm starting my first year of university so those first few months are gonna be hectic, all work and adjusting to campus and dorm life.

And then I also need to work on Oh Brother and Run, two stories of mine on another website. I also have to edit one of my finished books on said website that I started writing when I was 16 or something and the writing is cringe worthy. I cannot believe people actually read it…so I need to rewrite that as well.

I sometimes wonder why I do these things to myself. I spread myself way too thin and you guys come asking for updates I wish I could give you but can't yet. So I really need you guys to be patient with me; I'm only one person with one brain and my creativity just randomly decides to take vacation breaks without my consent.

Anyhow, let us get back to business.

Disclaimer: Glee and its characters belong to their creators and FOX. I do not make a cent off this. I am writing merely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.

"I can't believe it," Mercedes whispered astounded as she looked at the score. Her 'ever humble' boyfriend was smugly smirking next to her.

"I'm the Dance Revolution king, Merce."

Mercedes rolled her eyes stepping off the arrows on the small dance floor.

It was Sam's birthday and being the amazing girlfriend she is she decided to take him to the arcade- a place neither of them had been in since their tween years. Neither could deny that it was enjoyable; playing their childhood games and smack talking.

"Sam, you don't have an ounce of rhythm in your body. You cannot dance. This thing is broken. There is now way you beat me." Mercedes said.

"I resent that. I got mad moves." He said doing the moonwalk and throwing his arms in the air in victory.

"If that lie helps you sleep better at night-"

"Hey!"

Mercedes grinned taking his larger, much warmer hand in hers. She loved how her body reacted to his; her senses were in overdrive when they were together. Her heart would skip a beat; his scent would make her mouth water. She could feel every nerve in her body on fire when their skin touched.

She was in…deep.

She was irrevocably in love with Sam Evans. She loved his soft skin, his cologne tattooed on her skin. She loved large soft lips sweetly whispering their way over her jaw as soft as cotton candy. She loved his green eyes that shone with child-like joy when he smiles. She loved his dorky jokes that not a lot of people understood. She loved his optimism. She loved resting her cheek against his chest and feeling it rumble when he speaks. She loved the fact that he trusts her enough to let her know his embarrassing fear of butterflies. She loved the fact that they could talk for hours about the most random things. She loved the fact that everything with Sam felt right.

Maybe she was persumpeous but Mercedes Jones was sure she found her soul mate. Yes, at the age of 18 she found her soul mate. She usually rolled her eyes when she heard teenagers in her high school refer to their other half as that, mainly because they used the term 'soul mate' and 'love' so loosely. But Mercedes was sure that this was not just some teenage fling…this was real. This was the kind of love she had been praying for; it was deep, real and beautiful.

She placed a soft kiss on his knuckle before asking:

"What you wanna do now?"

Sam shrugged.

"Let's go count our tickets and get out of here. I'm cold and I have a few ideas for things we can do to keep warm," he said with a smirk resulting in an eye roll from his girlfriend.

Mercedes sat behind the desk watching her friend. She sighed resting her forehead on her arms as Kurt dressed the mannequins in his boutique whilst his assistant hung various new clothing items.

"You do realize sighing and groaning won't help, right love?" Kurt asked as he pulled the shirt over the mannequin.

"I don't know what to do, Kurt. What do I say? How do I act? What if they hate me?" Mercedes asked.

She was not looking forward to this visit in two weeks. It was going to be tense and it was going to be awkward. They were going to ask her questions she just did not have the strength to answer. She just wanted to crawl under a rock and died.

"Well, you did hide the fact that they have a grandchild from them for four years," Kurt said placing a fashionable scarf on his work of perfection before standing back and admiring the outfit.

"You're not helping, Kurt," the young woman groaned.

Kurt sighed before choosing to walk over to his friend of 5 years and offering her comfort by rubbing her back.

"All you can do is be honest with them. I think they'll understand-"

"Yeah, I don't think they're gonna take my hurt feelings as a valid excuse," Mercedes said her voice ringing with sarcasm. She sighed looking up at Kurt as she rested her chin on her folded arms. Her mind drifted back to place she wish she could forget. "They won't understand. No one understands, Kurt."

The man gave her a sad smile.

"Mercedes, I love you but I am going to be blunt; you are not the only person who has had their heart broken before and you won't be the last. You need to forgive Sam so you can truly heal and move on with your life. You've been carrying around this pain and anger for years now."

She listened in silence feeling hot unshed tears swell beneath her eyelids.

"I don't know how, Kurt," she admitted closing her eyes. "I don't know how to forgive him, Kurt." She opened her eyes fragility, pain and anger shinning in their dark depth. "I gave him everything, Kurt. I gave him my soul, my body…everything. I built dreams with him and I-I-" She could feel a warm teardrop slide down her cheek. She quickly swept it away. "I just lost who I was. I was consumed with all this love for Sam I guess it was in itself just so unhealthy. It's like he gave my life meaning. He saw me and he wanted me. I wasn't the girl William Schuester ignored in Glee club or who was invisible in school. I wasn't expected to be the perfect little pastor's daughter. I was just me and it felt like I could only be me with him," she could another assault of emotions and tears overcoming her. "So when he said all those things…when he did the things he did…it felt like I was lost. Because who was…was tied to him."

Mercedes wiped away her tears closing her eyes and took deep calming breaths. She could feel the grasp of painful memories tightening around her heart. She could feel her emotions choking her lungs as a painful ache tightened her chest.

Kurt sat next to his friend in silence waiting for her to compose herself. He rubbed her back until she took one last breath and straightened her spine wiping away the remainder of small tears resting on her dark wet lashes.

"Mercedes, Sam is only human. You cannot expect him to be your savior. You cannot expect him to be perfect. He made a mistake and he let you down and it hurt but he is not your everything and he never was. You need to accept that maybe you expected too much and put him on an unrealistic pedestal. You need to forgive him for hurting you and you need to find that whole and perfect love in yourself because no person on earth is going to give it to you because no person is perfect. After you make peace with the past and with pain…after you realize that, you need to love yourself…only then can you expect somebody else to love you without it consuming you."

Mercedes let his words wash over her and realized he was right. As much as she wanted to blame Sam for everything, she could not. She was too in love too enthralled. He became her everything. She was at fault too…

She hummed under her breath gently shaking her hips as she washed the plastic plates in the sink. The hot water gently brushed over her skin as moved the sponge over the plate.

Miguel and Sam were busy peeling vegetables for tonight's dinner. There was an awkward silence between the three of them. Mercedes decided to drown it out that silence by humming under her breath. She could feel Sam's gaze on her from time to time but she decided to ignore it.

Her aunt entered the kitchen.

"Miguel, have you ordered the meat and dairy yet?"

"No, I-"

"Why not?" Esther interrupted. "Get to it."

Without a word, she turned on the balls of her feet.

"Why is she in such a bad mood?" Miguel asked once the woman was out of earshot. He wiped his hands clean on his apron so he could go do what he was told.

"She and my mom had a fight. They pulled my dad into it and he said he was not going to choose sides. Now Mom and Aunt Esther are not only pissed at each other but him too."

"Why did they fight?" Miguel asked.

Mercedes shrugged and watched Miguel leave the kitchen with his inventory list in hand leaving only her and Sam behind. She continued washing the dishes in silence until Sam spoke up.

"My parents can't wait until next week."

Mercedes nodded without looking at him.

"Mmm."

"My license is still suspended so I'm flying to Louisville. I'm going to book our tickets tonight."

"That's not needed," Mercedes said. "Aria and I will be taking the bus; it's better for the environment. I am trying to go green." She said with straight face even though it was a blatant lie.

She did not want to sit next to Sam on a one-hour flight.

Sam seemed to notice this and raised an amused brow.

"So you'd rather sit on a bus for what- five hours with a jumpy four year old?" He asked.

"We all have to make sacrifices for the earth," she said not taking her eyes off the dish in her hand and ignoring his gaze. "Air travel creates the most carbon emissions per passenger mile. They also emit carbon dioxide directly into the earth's upper atmosphere. Even though driving takes more time its an necessary sacrifice if I want to preserve the earth for my daughter. That is what good parents do. I am doing it for the next generation."

Sam tried keeping smile off his face but failed. He's always found her random ramblings endearing.

"Well, maybe I'll join you on that bus. I also wanna do my part for the environment," Sam said humoring her.

"Mmm," was all she said as she nods.

Not getting the reaction he wanted from her, he sighs.

"So, I was thinking on taking Aria to the pet shelter tomorrow for a dog. Maybe we could go to the mall to the arcade. I haven't been in one since my 22 birthday."

"Mmm."

Sam placed the half-peeled potato on the chopping board.

"Seriously, is 'mmm' all you are gonna say to me?" Sam asked exasperated.

Before Mercedes could reply with her now infamous 'mmm' a figure walked into the kitchen cutting her off.

"Where's my munchkin at?"

Mercedes immediately let go of the plastic plate she was busy washing. She paints a smile on her face as she wipes her hands dry on her jeans before making her way to the light-skinned man holding Aria on his hip.

"Oh my gosh, when did you get back from Iraq, Matt?" She asks totally forgetting Sam's presence.

The man put Aria down before wrapping his muscular arms around the short woman and lifting her feet off the ground ignoring her disapproval.

"My flight arrived last night. I thought my Mom would have told the whole congregation I'm coming home." Matt said placing her back on the ground.

"Me too, you know how proud Mrs. Delia is about her 'baby who is in the army'." Mercedes joked.

Matt rolled his eyes; he was far from a baby. He was a grown man of 27 who has witnessed things in his short life that could rival horror movies. He chose to bury those thoughts away for another day and gave his friend another long hug.

"I really missed you my little coco munchkin."

"Boy stop," Mercedes said gently punching his chest once he let go of her.

Matt then moved his attention to Aria again and picked her up.

"I missed you more little Cinnamon Bun," he said placing a kiss on her cheeks eliciting a giggle from her.

"Uncle Mattie, did you bring me stuff?

Sam stood in silence watching the exchange in front of him. He did not like it. He did not like it at all. He could feel red-hot jealousy coursing through his veins as he watched some random guy not only captivate the mother of his child but also his daughter.

Aria was giggling as 'Uncle Mattie' showered her in attention and it did bad things to the 'Papa Bear' in Sam. His testosterone levels became more elevated as Mercedes giggled- yes giggled.

"-dinner at my place?"

No!

Sam wanted to scream and take his daughter and the love of his love as far away from the man.

"Yes."

Mercedes gave him a blinding smile.

"We can get the gang together and I can't wait to introduce you to Puck's girlfriend. Joe was away on a missionary thing with his Dad's church in Africa and he came back a few nights ago so we will all be together again. It is going to be so fun having my squad back in action; the three amigos and the girl who can handle them all."

Sam noticed Matt's smile wavering when she mentioned the other two guys. He did not like it. He did not like his eyes shinning with puppy love aimed at Sam Evan's girl.

Yeah, she was his girl. They both were his girls and he would be damned if some rugged, muscular soldier who just returned from war steals them away…

Sam *groans*: 'Cedes!

Aria *hoarsely whispers as rolls over to her dad with Barbie following*: Mommy my neck hurts.

*Mercedes enters the room with medicine for her two babies who both had the flu and who were bossing her around.*

Sam: Merce, feed me *looks up at her with watering pathetic eyes and a red nose*.

Mercedes: Sam, you are a grown man.

Sam: Mercedes, I'm dying.

Aria *groans as Mercedes sits down next to her on the bed*: Mommy, my heart is in my head.

Sam: Merce, I'm cold.

Aria *kicks duvet off her*: Mommy, it's too warm.

Sam *groans*: My throat is sore.

Aria: Mommy, my arms and legs hurt

Sam *dramatically places hand on forehead*: I'm seeing the white light.

Mercedes *rolls eyes and places a pouting Aria on her lap*: Okay, baby, mommy knows it hurts but if you and Daddy take the medicine Uncle Blaine gave you, it's gonna go away.

Aria *rests head on Mercedes chest*: But it tastes yucky. Like Mommy's veggies.

* Mercedes chose to ignore the insult aimed at her infamous vegan vegetable casserole*

Sam *moans as he rolls into her side*: Mercedes.

Mercedes: You're old enough to take your medicine by yourself, Samuel.

Sam *groans burying his face into her hip*: Merce

Mercedes *sighs and whispers under hr breath*: Wow, you two are so dramatic.

Aria *sits up with a groan staring at her mother with foggy eyes*: Mommy, too warm

Sam: Mercedes, my head hurts and I am hungry.

Aria: I'm hungry too.

Sam: Everything hurts.

Mercedes *rolls her eyes as she gets to her feet*

Sam: Just don't make you vegetable casserole, I think that's what infected us with disease in the first place.

Mercedes * glares at Sam *:You're lucky you are sick or else I would have made you make your own food. Don't you two dare insult my cooking or you both are gonna starve.

Hope you enjoyed. Review? Oh and happy holidays