Mercedes wrapped the towel around herself, staring at Quinn. "Again, I am wondering who you are?"

She stared at the shorter brunette. "I am Sam's fiancee', and by the way, your jaw just dropped. I can see that he never told you he was engaged?"

Mercedes laughed bitterly as the door opened. Sam walked into the room with a smile, and Mercedes walked straight over to him and punched him dead in his face. "Engaged! We talked about everything, and you said there were no more lies."

Sam's eyes widened as he stared at Mercedes and Quinn, both standing there in towels. His eye throbbed as Mercede stared angrily at him like she was going to throttle him again. "Merce, please."

"Please? Really? Are there more lies that you want to tell me?" She asked angrily.

Sam reached for her hand. "I can't explain everything…just let me explain, please."

She shook her head. "Go Fuck yourself, Sam or Cameron or whoever the hell you really are!" She said, moving past him and walking towards the door. Sam didn't even hesitate to follow her as she walked around in nothing, but a towel, determined to go to her room.

"Baby, please….just listen."

"Listen?! Sam, you have a whole ass fiance'; what the actual hell? Like, for real, you didn't think that was something important to tell me?!"

"I wanted to, but I was scared…I didn't want to lose you."

Quinn scoffed. "This isn't happening, and you aren't sitting there trying to convince this woman that you don't want to lose her. Sam, we have been together for years!"

Mercedes pushed Sam away from her and walked out of the door. Sam watched her leave and frowned; seeing her room key and phone sitting on the end table, he grabbed it and followed after her. "Merce, please wait; you aren't even dressed; where are you going?"

"To my room! And then getting the hell off of this island. I came all the way here just to find someone as big of an asshole as Finn!"

She rushed out the door, and Sam followed her. "I am not Finn. I wouldn't hurt you as bad as he did; this was just…it was a mistake."

"A mistake?" She laughed. "Sam, when I first met you, you lied about your name; that was strike one. Now I find out you are engaged. "Strike two…I won't let there be a strike three. My heart, it can't take it." The elevator door opened, and she walked inside; Sam tried to follow her but held up her hands. "If you come in here, I will punch you again."

Sam stared at her, debating if he should take the risk; the look on her face made him question his sanity, but he couldn't let her walk away, so last minute, he hopped in.

Mercedes cut her eyes at him, pressing the button to her floor, opting to ignore him.

"Merce, please. I am so sorry I never meant to hurt you."

She folded her arms across her chest, refusing to cry over him. She should have known it was too good to be true. Sam kept staring at her as she waited for the door to open. Once it did, she made her way to her room, only stopping when she realized she didn't have her key.

"Damn it!"

Sam held up her key and phone before handing them to her. "Here."

She eyed it, taking it from him and opening the door. Sam moved to follow her, but she stopped him. "No. Sam, I just…no."

"Mercedes, when I met you, I didn't think that…."

"That what? I was worth anything." she spat!

"I didn't think someone like you would even give me the time of day. Bold and beautiful."

"And when I did, you lied to me. I don't want to see you anymore, Sam. Leave me alone."

She slammed the door, and Sam frowned. "You don't mean that! You can't mean that!"

Mercedes walked away from the door; she didn't want to hear Sam knocking, begging her to open the door. Which he did for 30 minutes. When he finally stopped, she lay on her bed, feeling foolish. Her phone rang, and part of her wanted to ignore it, but she couldn't.

Seeing it was Sebastian, she sighed, answering. "Yeah?"

"Merce, what's wrong?"

She closed her eyes, he was her best friend, her brother, he knew when she was upset. He knew her. "I am heading back home tomorrow…I hope."

"I thought you were enjoying your time there? Wasn't your sexy man trying to convince you to stay longer?"

She laughed bitterly. 'He's engaged. He lied to me."

There was silence on the other end for a moment before he spoke up. "I need you to tell me what happened."

"It's simple; I was taking a shower in his room when some naked blonde came in thinking that I was him. Turns out, she is his fiance."

Sebastian sighed. "Well what did he say?"

She sighed, staring at the ceiling. "Nothing, I mean he tried, and he ran after me telling me he needs to explain, but I don't want to hear it."

"Wait, he left her to chase after you?"

"So?" She countered.

"I am just saying when a man finds himself in a bad situation like that, he goes after the one he cares about first. The fact that he came after you, while it doesn't excuse what he did, you should at least try to talk to him.

"I have nothing to say to him!"

"You are running," Sebastian said silently. "It's what you always do."

"Look, when my fist met his face, that was the extent of the conversation I wanted to have with him."

Sebastian sighed. "Look, I know you made up your mind. Just before you leave, please hear him out. You have never been as happy as you've been in these last few weeks, and I just want to see that continue."

There was a long silence on the line before she sighed. "I will let you know what time to pick me up from the airport."

"Okay. I love you, Merce."

"I love you too," she said softly before hanging up. She was torn as to whether she should talk to Sam or not; for now, she was going to stay calm and really think out what she needed to say.

Grabbing her robe, Quinn walked to the door and opened it annoyed already with Sam. "What?"

Sam sighed. "Quinn, I'm sorry for walking out on you; I just needed to try and talk to Mercedes."

She folded her arms. "Oh, and let me guess, you guys made up?"

Sam frowned. "She wouldn't even open the door after slamming it in my face. I shouldn't have lied to either of you."

Quinn moved to the side and let Sam in. He walked in, going to the chair and sitting on it. "I screwed up. I messed things up with you by not being honest with you from the start, and I screwed things up with her for the same reason."

"Sam, excuse me if I really don't care to hear about how much your girlfriend hates you."

Sam looked at her. "You cheated on me, and I didn't even realize it. I mean, we were supposed to get married right out of college, and yet we both had no problem waiting…Quinn, let's not pretend that we were more than content to just coast by in our relationship."

Quinn rolled her eyes, knowing he was right; they weren't pushing for more; they were just there.

Sam sighed, looking at her; his hand went to his face, wincing at the bruise he forgot was forming. "Why did you cheat on me? And why didn't you just tell me and move on?"

She looked at him and shrugged. "I was in denial at first. I thought we could work through it. I knew I wanted to tell you the moment it happened, and I just couldn't. I came back determined to change, determined to make things better for us, be it together or apart. And then I talked to my parents, and they were afraid you wouldn't be understanding. They were scared you would hate me and refuse to marry me, so they told me not to tell you. I am sorry I listened to them. I am sorry I let this go on for so long."

Sam ran his hands through his hair. "I'm not."

She looked at him, confused as he continued.

"Quinn, you are my best friend, have been my best friend since we were 8. You are this beautiful and smart woman, but you are just not the woman for me, and I am not the man for you."

"I don't understand why you aren't mad then?" Quinn stated.

"Because, if we would have broken up, I probably would have been even more miserable. And if none of this happened, I wouldn't have found real love, true love, I wouldn't have found Mercedes. She's my complete opposite, and I would have never thought I could have fallen head over heels for her in such a short time, but I have."

Quinn shook her head, going to the icebox in her room and grabbing some ice for Sam. "Here. Pretty sure you are gonna have a black eye. That woman you are in love with, she pulls no punches…unless you count the punch she gave you." Quinn giggled.

Sam laughed himself with a sigh. "Yeah, walking into my room and getting clocked in the face, not what I thought I would be walking into. Then seeing you both practically naked, I mean, I won't lie, I thought it was my birthday, Christmas, and Valentine's day all in one. I mean, it was a fantasy I wouldn't mind coming true."

Quinn blushed as she thought about the dream she had. Swallowing, she took a breath. "Well, if you are here with me and not with her, I can assume she didn't want to talk to you?"

Sam sighed. "I was outside of her door for an hour, and she refused to open it. I decided to have security notify me when she left her room and came to talk to you. Because no matter what, I owe you an apology. I started things up with Mercedes before you confessed to cheating. I tried to stop myself. I did, but I was weak, and she is perfect."

Quinn frowned. "Why, because she's beautiful and sexy?"

Sam shook his head. "No. because she's not afraid to be herself, and she knows who she is for better or for worse."

"So what does this mean for our future? Are we just done?" She asked, having mixed feelings about it.

"Quinn, we have been done for years. You wanna know why we didn't get married after school? It's because I just didn't care too. And neither did you."

Quinn sighed. "Sam, maybe we wouldn't have been a love connection, but we could have been happy."

"No, Quinn, we would have been a lot of things, but happy, that wouldn't be one of them. I can only hope Mercedes forgives me because I can't imagine my life without her. I screwed up Quinn, and all I can do now is beg her for forgiveness."

Quinn looked at him and frowned. "Then what are you still doing here? You need to go to her… it's your hotel, get a key to her room and tell her how you really feel."

"I don't want to get punched again."

Quinn laughed. "Yeah, well, that's the price you pay for love."

Sam sighed, moving to kiss her cheek. "Thank you for understanding."

"You are still my best friend Sam, I want to hate you, but in truth, you probably just did me a favor."

"I think Mercedes did us both a favor by coming here. And I am not letting her go without a fight."

Sam had been waiting for hours to talk to Mercedes. She hadn't left her room or called for any services all night, and by the morning, Sam was a wreck. Artie walked into the office, staring at him. "Sam, you look like hell; you got a black eye… What happened?"

Sam laughed bitterly. "Well, let's see. Quinn showed up while I was here with you yesterday, fixing that problem. She walked in on Mercedes in the shower, and I got to my room, and they were both in their towels."

Artie's eyes widened. "Are you telling me that Mercedes and Quinn…"

Sam shook his head. "No, I guess Quinn was trying to be spontaneous and thought it was me in the shower. When I got there, Mercedes was so angry she punched me in the face."

Artie shook his head. "I take it you haven't fixed things?"

"I did with Quinn; we officially broke things off…but Mercedes won't talk to me. I don't know what to do, man; I can't lose her."

Artie laughed. "So what you're telling me is that you care more about Mercedes than Quinn, which I am not shocked about considering she basically has you sprung."

"I'm not sprung! I just… I think I am head over heels for her. And getting to finally come clean with Quinn, all he needed was to finally talk to Mercedes and clear the air.

"I just hope I didn't ruin things with her because I don't know if I could ever forgive myself for hurting her."

Artie looked at him and nodded. "Soooo, can I holler at Quinn cause she's freaking sexy, and if you not gonna keep her, I wanna shoot my shot?"

Sam laughed, shaking his head. "If she wants you, I say go for it, and she deserves some fun."

Artie shook his head. "You really are over here, aren't you?"

Sam was about to speak when a text came through letting him know that Mercedes had ordered room service.

"Hey, I gotta go; wish me luck."

Artie smiled. "Good luck."

Sam made his way to the kitchen and picked up her order before heading to her room. He prayed she wouldn't slam the door in his face.

As Sam knocked on the door, Mercedes opened it, freezing. "Sam…I should be surprised, but I'm not…thanks for bringing my food. Have a nice day."

She went to pull her tray inside, but Sam held firm. "Five minutes…please. I know you don't owe me anything. But I would appreciate you just talking to me."

She hesitated, taking a deep breath as she looked at him. "Fine, five minutes."

Sam exhaled probably for the first time since last night and followed her in the room.

She looked at her food and frowned at the extra plates.

"On the off chance that you said yes, I had the staff add something so we could maybe eat together."

Mercedes laughed bitterly. "Sam, why are you here?"

Sam ran his hand through his hair. "I was wrong; I am ashamed that I didn't come out and tell you about Quinn; if you let me, I can explain it better."

Mercedes shrugged. "What's to explain you cheated on your fiancee, and I don't get it; she is beautiful, seems outgoing I mean, the chick hopped in a shower with me."

"Yeah…not gonna lie. I spent last night wondering what would happen if the three of us actually enjoyed each other."

Mercedes snorted, shaking her head. "Should have put it on your list."

Sam stared at her. "If I am adding to my list, there is only one thing I would add."

"Yeah?" She asked. "And what's that?"

"For you to forgive me. Mercedes, I have never met a woman like you. You challenge me to grow; you give me the strength to do more with my life. I am sorry, so very, very sorry I wasn't honest. Things with Quinn were confusing, and things with you were so easy, so perfect I was scared to man up and tell the truth. So here it is…."

He sighed, taking her hand in his and leading her to the bed so they could sit down. "I have known Quinn since I was 8 years old, and our families basically told us that we were destined to be together. I didn't fight it because I wanted to make my parents proud. My father is Senator Dwight Evans, and I have been groomed to follow in his footsteps. My whole life, I have followed one straight path, and I have done what I was supposed to do."

Sam glanced at her. "You were like a fresh breath of air; you proved to me that just because I am a hard worker because I have responsibilities doesn't mean I can't enjoy my life."

Mercedes shook her head. "Sam, I was just a distraction; I see that now."

Sam fell to his knees in front of her, making sure she could see his eyes. "No, baby, you showed me what real love feels like, and I am in love with you."

Mercedes tried to get up, but he held her on the bed. "Listen to me, Mercedes, I am in love with you. I can't imagine my life without you. I know you are hurt, it's my fault, but if you let me make it up to you, I promise to prove to you just how real my feelings are."

Mercedes closed her eyes. "Sam…"

He leaned in and kissed her gently. "SaI was wrong, but I didn't expect you, Mercedes. I never knew my life could be filled with so much real love. You showed me what real, soul-stirring love is. And I am not ready to let it go."

Noticing a few tears escape her eyes, he wiped them away gently. "I love you, Mercedes." He said barely above a whisper. "Let me prove it to you. Give me a chance to earn your forgiveness."

She opened her eyes, staring at him; she wanted to believe him, she wanted more than anything to believe that he loved her, but he had this whole situation scared the shit out of her.

Staring back at her, Sam leaned forward and kissed her deeply, wrapping his arms around her and moaning as she kissed him back. Moving closer to her, Sam laid her back on the bed, hovering over her as he kissed her.

"I love you… I am so sorry, and I love you." He whispered.

Mercedes shook her head, putting her finger to his lips. "Shhh, just kiss me, Sam." She said.

This was their last time together, she knew it, Sam didn't love her, and she knew that. She also knew the woman he needed wasn't her. She had to leave, had to go before her heart was in so deep she couldn't recover. Sadly for her, she was already in too deep.