Standard Disclaimer: This work contains content that belong to Lanee Lane and the creators and producers of Glee.

Oh well, I lost most of my edits to this chapter just a minute ago. I should have hit save. Thanks for reading and being so smart you reviewers; this a short chapter I will post before going to sleep. Please forgive all my mistakes...

CHAPTER EIGHT

"So, who's this Jake guy?" He looked down at her to gauge her reaction.

"He's one of Roderick's step cousins or something by his aunt's second husband. He gave me his number. We're going to meet up and have dinner or coffee maybe. I don't remember what he asked to do later if I am being truthful."

The look on her face didn't give anything away about how she felt about the Jake guy. Her voice was pretty neutral as well.

"Are you interested in him?"

"What's with the third degree, Sam?"

"Nothing, I'm just asking. He does look pretty young, and we're friends. Friends talk about relationship stuff."

She eyed him skeptically.

"I don't know if I am interested in him. We just met. He seems like a nice guy who is very gorgeous and sweet, and he showed interest in getting to know me better, so I figured why not?"

Sam could think of a few reasons why not, but she'd had a few too many drinks for him to even go there with her tonight. He didn't understand his objections himself, but he knew they were there. He did not want Mercedes going out with this Jake person.

Sam looked down at Mercedes whose eyes were closed. It looked like she'd fallen asleep while dancing. He rubbed his hand up and down her back and whispered her name. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him. She was about two seconds from sleep.

"Do you want to go to bed?"

"I want to keep dancing, but I'm so tired," she mumbled.

A yawn escaped her mouth, and she buried her head into his chest. Sam had to admit that he liked seeing this side of her. She didn't have her guards up. Sober and awake, Mercedes wouldn't be so cuddly with him.

"Come on, Cedes, let's get you to bed. We are having brunch with my family tomorrow, so you can see some of these people again in the morning."

"If you say, so," she relented.

Sam hadn't planned on staying the night at his parents, but it was late. He didn't feel like driving home. He had a few to drink himself and thought it better to be safe than sorry. Mercedes followed him to his bedroom. It was his official bedroom whenever he stayed with his parents, but he knew that his mother kept the sheets changed and the room cleaned for any guests that stayed over in the house. He did keep clothes there for when he stayed over in the summer and for the holidays, so he didn't have to pack every time he came to visit. It was mostly his informal hanging around the house clothes.

"Hey, I don't have anything to wear. You didn't tell me we were staying here overnight."

"It wasn't in the original plan, but you are asleep on your feet. I don't much feel like driving. I'd have to come back in the morning, anyway."

Sam rummaged around in his dresser looking for old t-shirts and shorts for them both to wear.

"Here," he handed Mercedes a t-shirt with his college's name printed on the front and a pair of basketball shorts, "the bathroom's right through that door."

Mercedes went into the bathroom. He heard the toilet flush and water running. Fifteen minutes later, she came back out wearing the clothes he'd given her. She deposited her clothes on the desk chair. Sam could see that she'd taken off her bra. He wanted to avert his gaze, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away. Lucky for him, she was tired and oblivious.

"You can go ahead and get in the bed. I'm going to go shower and change too."

Mercedes just nodded and walked over to the bed. Sam used the bathroom and showered quickly then changed into his shorts. He usually slept in just his boxer briefs, so he compromised. He wore the shorts but decided against a shirt.

When he walked back into the bedroom, Mercedes was already snuggled under the covers. He slid in behind her. Mercedes turned to face him.

"What are you doing, Sam?"

"Going to sleep; the same thing you're doing."

"We can't both sleep in this bed. Can't you sleep on the floor? Isn't there another room you can sleep in?"

"All the other rooms are taken by my siblings and other family members. No, I can't sleep on the floor when there is a perfectly good bed right here. It's a queen size bed. There's plenty of room for both of us."

Mercedes didn't look satisfied with that answer. He thought she would argue, but instead she took two of the pillows and placed them in the middle of the bed.

"You stay on your side. No funny business, mister."

"Yes, ma'am." He would never take advantage of someone who had been drinking, but he couldn't help but smile at Mercedes thinking a couple of pillows would protect her virtue if he was a cad.

Mercedes felt the sun shining on her face. She didn't want to open her eyes. The bed was comfy, and she was still tired. Her body felt heavy. She assumed it was from all the drinks she had the day before. Her head hurt, and she wouldn't be surprised if she ended up nursing a hangover for the better part of the day.

Pulling her eyes open, she drew in a huge gasp of breath when her eyes focused on what was in front of her. Sam's face lay inches from hers. Her head rested on his shoulder, and his other arm was draped around her and cupping her butt. No wonder her body felt heavy.

Before she could move his arm and shake him awake, there was a knock on the door. Mercedes began to panic. She didn't want anyone, especially his parents, coming in and getting the wrong idea. Another knock sounded at the door.

"Sam, are you in there?"

It was Stacie. Shouldn't she be on her honeymoon or something? Why the heck was she knocking on Sam's door at, well, she didn't know what time it was, but still. Sam started to stir. When he opened his eyes, a smile crossed his face. She wanted to wipe the smile off of his face. He shouldn't be smiling when they were two seconds from someone walking in and getting the wrong idea.

"Morning," he said to her. He didn't move his arm from around her.

"That's all you have to say? Your sister is on the other side of the door, and we are in bed together."

"We aren't naughty teens, Cedes, and all we did was sleep." Not that he wouldn't have minded doing more if she hadn't been drinking.

"Sammie!"

"What, Stacie? Good grief, why are you yelling?"

"Are you decent?"

"Yeah."

Mercedes tried to pull away from him, but he wasn't letting go. She gave him a dirty look, but he just smiled in return. He was going to pay for this. He wouldn't know what hit him.

The door swung open, and Stacie stood there in a white off the shoulder sundress and tan wedge sandals.

"Mom wanted me to wake you up so..." her words trailed off.

"So what?" Sam prompted.

Mercedes wanted to pull the covers over her head and hide. Instead, she only waved at Stacie.

"This isn't what you think it is, Stacie. We just slept; nothing else. Your brother refused to sleep on the floor."

Stacie looked between the two of them for a moment and then grinned. "I knew it," she said more to herself than to them. "Mom wanted to make sure you made it to brunch on time."

"What time is it?"

"It's ten-thirty right now, and brunch is at eleven."

"Ok, we'll get showered and changed and be down there."

Stacie gave them one last grin and headed out the door.

As soon as Stacie was gone, Mercedes pushed his arm off with force and sat up.

"Why didn't you tell her that nothing was going on between us?"

"Because it's none of her business, and you made it pretty clear. You sure know how to bruise a guy's ego."

"Yeah, but some backup would have been nice. I'm sure your ego will be fine. It's big enough to withstand quite a bit."

"It doesn't matter what I say anyway. She's a romantic, so she will believe what she wants to believe."

Mercedes just crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him.

"I don't have anything to wear for brunch, Sam."

"Just shower and put on your dress from last night."

"Ugh, that's like doing the walk of shame right in front of your family."

"It's not the walk of shame if there was no sex, and you are clean underneath the clothes."

"Sam, I'm not going down in that dress that I sweated the night away dancing in after a shower."

"Fine, I will go and ask my mom or Stacie for something for you to wear while you are showering."

Mercedes rolled her eyes at his man logic. She didn't have much choice, so she showered, glad she had found a disposable toothbrush to brush her teeth in her purse along with her emergency period panties that she kept with a tampon just in case her cycle came on. Once clean, she finally put the borrowed one size fit most maxi dress that Sam had gotten from Stacie on and headed downstairs with Sam.

Everyone was seated at the table when Sam and Mercedes walked in. Mercedes could feel her cheeks heating. Once again, her brown skin came to the rescue; hiding her embarrassment.

"Morning everyone," Sam said in a sing-song voice as he pulled a chair out next to Stacie and motioned for Mercedes to sit.

She slid into the chair and mumbled her own greeting to the table. Sam sat in the chair on her other side. He grabbed the plate of bacon and started to pile it onto his.

Glancing over at Mercedes he said, "Go ahead, and dig in."

Mercedes chanced a look around the table, and she saw Sam's mom smiling at the two of them.

Crap, she thinks we did more than just sleep last night. She averted her eyes back to her plate. Sam passed her the bacon, and she placed a few strips on her plate.

"Mercedes, how was your stay? I hope you were comfortable. I apologize that my son was so rude and didn't have you bring anything with you. I swear I raised him better, but sometimes it's hard to tell."

His mother gave Sam a disapproving look, but Mercedes swore she saw a hint of a smile.

"Everything was great. Thank you so much for having me."

"They looked pretty comfortable to me when I walked in on them earlier," Stacie said.

Mercedes wished the floor would open up and swallow her. Could this day get any freaking worse?

"We were very comfortable. I slept like a baby. I may need to sleep with Mercedes more often, it seems like every time I do, I get the best sleep ever." Sam said and shoved a fork full of French toast in his mouth.

Mercedes choked on the sip of water she'd taken. She started to cough to clear her throat. Sam patted her back, which was no help, while Stacie snickered beside her.

"It-it's not what you think. We have never slept together. I mean we have fallen asleep before on my couch and slept in the same bed, but we didn't sleep together. I put a pillow in the middle of the bed. There was nothing but sleeping going on both times."

When she finished her explanation, Mercedes glanced around the table again. Sam's dad read his paper oblivious to Mercedes' embarrassment. His mom grinned like her son hadn't just implied he had sex in her house. Stacie and Roderick gave each other knowing looks. Steven smiled at Sam, and he smiled right back like they were sharing a secret. Was the whole family crazy?

Somehow, Mercedes got through the rest of brunch without any more embarrassment. The conversation turned to yesterday's wedding, and she was thankful. Stacie was excited to leave with Roderick on their honeymoon and talked non-stop about their plans.

When brunch wrapped up, Sam and Mercedes got ready to go home. Mercedes was happy to get home, so she could take a nice, long bath and change into her own comfy clothes. They said their goodbyes to Sam's dad, Steven, and Roderick. His mother and Stacie followed them out to the car. Stacie hugged Sam and then turned to hug Mercedes.

"I'm so happy you came. When I get back from my honeymoon, we have to get together! You can come with me to my monthly book club. It's an excuse to talk about our book crushes and drink tequila," Stacie said.

Before Mercedes could answer, Sam piped in, "Cedes prefers red wine; I think tequila is much too strong for her."

Stacie smiled ear to ear and looked back and forth between the two. "Duly noted, bro."

"I'd love to join you at your book club, Stacie. Goodness knows I love a good book, and a fabulous hero."

Sam rolled his eyes behind her.

Mary Ellen pulled her son into a hug and spoke quietly, so only he could hear. "I really like her. I'm glad that you finally realize that you do, too. She's good for you. You treat her well, and don't go embarrassing her and scaring her away."

"How did you know?"

"I'm your mom. No matter what you think, I know you better than anyone."

Mary Ellen released Sam and walked over to hug Mercedes.

"We loved having you. You make sure that son of mine brings you back soon, alright?"

"I enjoyed myself. I will see what I can do. He doesn't like to listen to anything I have to say."

"I think you have the power to make him listen more than you think."

With a final squeeze, Mary Ellen released her.

Mercedes shook her head. She knew that Sam didn't comply with anything she said.

When Mercedes and Sam finally made it to their building, she told him she was going to go home and relax. They were riding the elevator to their floors when Sam moved closer to her and wrapped her in a long hug. She was a little surprised at first, but she hugged him back.

"Thank you for coming with me. I hope you had fun. I was happy to have you as my date."

"I am glad that I went. I really did have fun. Your family is great. Plus, I got a potential date out of it."

Sam frowned and Mercedes wondered what was wrong. When the elevator reached his floor, he stepped out and gave her a quick wave before the doors closed. Sam's mood had done a one-eighty. She was halfway surprised he didn't try to push himself into her apartment. She was thankful because she needed time to decompress.

After Mercedes took her much-needed soak in the tub, she called Tina and Jane to tell them how things went. Tina wanted a play-by-play in person, so they were all sitting in Mercedes's living room with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills playing in the background while they talked about the wedding.

"I met a great guy at the wedding. We exchanged numbers and are supposed to get together soon."

"Yes, it's about time you go out with a normal guy. If you play your cards right, he might put out on the first night."

Leave it to Tina to always take it there. Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"I'm not giving it up to him on the first night. If that were the case, I could've done that at the wedding."

"That would have been kind of rude, since you were there with Sam," Jane said.

"Oh please, Sam wouldn't have cared. It was just a fake date. It wasn't a real date."

"If you would have spread those thick thighs with Sam-"

"Tina!" Jane yelled.

Jane never yelled.

"What? I'm trying to help her get some from Sam, too. She is in her prime. She doesn't have to limit getting her back thrown out to only one guy. Sam at the wedding and this new guy after the wedding."

"Tina, it sounds like you are trying to pimp me out."

There was a knock on the door. They all looked in the direction like they would be able to see who it was through the wood. Mercedes didn't need superpowers to know who it was. She opened the door without bothering with the peephole.

"Hello, Sam, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Sam was standing in her doorway with Steven in tow. They both looked nice in button up shirts, jeans, and boat shoes.

"We came to take you out for the night. We're going to a place with a live band and drinks."

"No can do. Tina and Jane are here, and we're hanging out."

Sam walked past her into the living room. Steven gave her a little smile and followed after his brother. Mercedes fell in step behind them knowing there was no point in arguing.

"Hey, beautiful ladies," Steven said.

"What are you two doing here?" Tina said.

This time Sam spoke up. "We came to see if you ladies wanted to go out with us. We're going to a bar that has live music."

"Hell yeah, we're down!"

Curse Tina and her big mouth. Mercedes looked over at Jane to see her reaction. She gave Mercedes a knowing look and just shook her head as to say 'what are ya gonna do?'. They both knew they were headed out to some bar with the Evans brothers.

Tina and Jane rode together, but Sam insisted Cedes ride with him and Steven because they would be going back to the same place. When they walked into the bar, a band was already playing on a small stage in the corner. It sounded like they were doing covers of the top hits from the 80s and 90s.

"Want to grab a drink while they find a table?" Sam asked in her ear.

She nodded, and he placed his hand on her lower back as he guided them to the bar.

"What'll ya have?" the bartender asked.

"Jack and coke for me and," Sam looked at her for her order. "White wine spritzer," she supplied.

The bartender handed them their drinks, and they made their way through the crowd to find the others. They had snagged a small, four-person table and were gathered around with drinks. The bar was full, so there was only one seat left at their table and no other available chairs for them to grab.

"We can share," Sam offered.

"How are we going to share that narrow chair?"

Sam sat on the chair and then motioned for Mercedes to come closer. When she did, he grabbed her drink and sat it on the table. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her down onto his lap.

"There, perfect."

Mercedes struggled to try to get up from his lap.

"Sam, let me up. I'm too heavy to sit on your lap."

"Quit acting crazy. You aren't too heavy to sit on my lap. You feel just fine to me; relax."

What must people be thinking seeing her on his lap? They weren't a couple, but she imagined it probably looked that way to someone that didn't know any better. Sam picked up his drink and took a sip. He started talking to Steven about something. Mercedes looked at Jane and Tina for help, but Jane gave her signature shrug and Tina was making lewd gestures basically telling Mercedes to ride and grind Sam's pony. No help at all.

The band was pretty good, and the girls decided to hit the dance floor after they finished their drinks. They danced to song after song. Between Sam, Steven, and random guys they always had a drink in one hand. Cedes took her time nursing just one extra drink brought to her by Sam who knew what she was drinking. She'd had plenty to drink at the wedding and her body wasn't used to a lot of alcohol.

"We need to come out with them more often," Tina yelled over the music.

Mercedes didn't know how many songs passed before they retired from the dance floor. When they reached the table, the guys were standing up.

"You ladies ready to get out of here? I have to work in the morning," Sam said.

The trio all agreed they were ready to go. Mercedes hugged Jane and Tina and then headed to Sam's car. Back at their apartment complex, Steven hopped into his car to go home. Mercedes and Sam made their way into their building. On the elevator, Sam pushed the button to Mercedes's floor.

"I'll make sure you get in your apartment safely."

Mercedes bobbed her head in acknowledgment. She was too tired to do anything else.

At her door, she fished for her keys in her purse. As she unlocked her door, Sam caught her hand before she could open the door. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his body. He only had one drink at the start of the night, but Mercedes could smell the faint scent of whiskey on his breath. He was so close. He looked down at her for several moments without saying anything. He looked like he was trying to work something out in his head. She was about to ask when his lips pressed into hers.

Instinctively, her arms laced around his neck. His hands moved down her back to cup her butt. His tongue licked the seam of her lips before parting them. She let out a soft moan. Her brain couldn't fully process that she was kissing Sam, but it felt good. Too good. His mouth was even softer and his lips were just so biteable even more than she had even imagined. She didn't ever want to stop kissing him. She didn't know if it was the alcohol from the two wine spritzers she had consumed or not, but she had never felt like she was going to melt in a guy's arm before from just a first kiss.

After several more seconds, Sam broke the kiss. His breath was coming out heavier than before. He stood behind her and turned her toward her door. He then reached around her and pushed the door open. Battling himself, he knew he had to do the right thing. Cedes was not a booty call. She wasn't a hit it and quit it piece of meat that he could screw and leave without ever wanting to see again. She meant too much to him.

Leaning down close to her ear he said after gently biting the fleshy part of her ear, "You taste even better than I imagined. You always smell like chocolate and orange after we have been drinking. It's intoxicating and addictive. I want to see if you taste like this all over. Believe me when I tell you that this isn't over but, for the sake of my self-control, it is for tonight. Goodnight Ms. Pretty."