DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE NOR FRED CLAUS. Everything else is mine but the fight scene definitely belongs to the movie with a slight of my touch.


The next morning, Nicholas walked down the hallway from checking on Sam, glad that he was busy being productive at work instead of harassing everyone. He had told him about his little run in with Mercedes and he decided to go check in on her. Getting word that she was in one of the offices downstairs, he made his way there, finding her on the floor crocheting some hats.

Mercedes glanced to the side when she saw the man at her door, giving him a smile that didn't reach his eyes as she put a pause to her work, "Hey, you need something?"

Nicholas came fully into the office, scanning her face, "I was just checking in on you, seeing how things were going."

When she heard that, she sighed and put her head down, "If it's about me snapping off on your brother, I apologize. He just hit a sore spot and I reacted terribly."

"I know and there's no need to apologize. I'm the one who should be apologizing." Nicholas admitted as he looked at the woman sadly, "I know my wife thinks I'm always making excuses for him or trying to save him every time he gets in trouble but I'm only doing what I feel is right. He's not a horrible person at all. He's just hurting in a way."

"I know and there's nothing wrong with doing the things you do for him, at least to me it's not. You see the good in people when others don't. I can honestly see that Sam is a great person."

"He really is." He turned his head slightly when he heard his name being called, rubbing his fingers along his forehead, "I don't think I can take it this year."

"Hey, try not to get stressed out. Everything is going to be fine. You're going to be okay, this place is going to be okay and your relationship with your brother is going to be okay."

Nicolas looked at her and sent her a tired, but grateful smile, shaking his head, "And here I am suppose to be checking up on you and making sure you're fine."

"I'm always am, you know that." Mercedes sent him a reassuring smile, watching as he gave her shoulder a squeeze before heading out.


Annette circled around headquarters to make sure everything was running smoothly, along with helping where she could. This year was a hard one, and she for one was going to do everything in her power to make sure they had everything in order. She decided to check in on her brother-in-law and his progress, but also get an explanation for what had happened yesterday while bringing him something to drink. Seeing him busy reading one of the folders, she knocked on the door before walking in, "I brought you some coffee."

"Thanks."

Annette watched him closely for a second before speaking again, "Nicolas told me told me about what happened with Mercedes."

"Yeah, I guess everyone isn't included in the friendly bunch around here."

Annette looked at him before leaving the cup on the desk, making her exit just as quickly as she made her entrance, "North Carolina house fire. That should be enough for you to figure out."

Sam watched as she walked out of his office, prompting a frown to play on his lips. Why couldn't she just tell him? House fire? How...oh God. He learned forward and did a search in his laptop, an article immediately pulling up and reading as followed:

HOUSE DESTROYED BY FIRE, KILLS TEN, ONE SURVIVOR.


Later that afternoon, Mercedes had made her way back to her desk. She had been crocheting all morning and she was as beyond. She was about to call it a day until she heard footsteps on the stairs, seeing that it was Sam.

Sam stared at her and guilt washed all through him. Not only for the simple fact that he didn't know but also taking a look at himself and how he took everything in his life for granted. Before he could even open his mouth and apologize, she beat him to the punch.

"You didn't know and I'm sorry for how I responded. It wasn't right." She told him, that all too familiar look on his face was enough for her to know that he knew. She placed her purse around her and stood up from her seat, circling around her desk as she stood in front of him, "It's okay."

"I'm sorry. I'm such an as-butthole." He said, getting her to show a small smile on her face. He was about to say something to say something else but stopped when she began talking.

"I went down a path of destruction. Binge-drinking, destroying property, mine along with everyone else. I was at an all time low." She admitted as she shuddered at the memory, sadness filling her, "I was hopeless and at one point, I wanted to just put an end to my life and be with my family. I tried and that's the night I met your brother. He listened to me. A complete stranger standing on top of a bridge. He let me cry and rant, but he didn't leave me alone and he stopped me from going through with it. I didn't want to be there anymore, North Carolina I mean, it was too much, so he offered me a job. I was in skeptical of him at first but what did I have to lose?" She finally looked back at him, wiping the tears from her eyes, "This place, these people, they healed me. I will never forget what happened, but I will not let it negatively impact myself anymore."

Sam was speechless. What could he say after all of that? He looked at the woman in front of him and couldn't help but feel her pain, but it was overcome with her strength. He opened his arms wide, eyebrow raised questionably, "Want to hug it out?"

Mercedes giggled a bit as she didn't hesitate to walked into his embrace, laying her head down on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She loved hugs, so she definitely wasn't going to deny this one but something about his hug brought a different kind of warmth and a feeling that everything was truly going to be alright.


The next two weeks flew by like a breeze and the atmosphere at the North Pole was definitely a jolly one. Sam for one had done a complete turnaround, arriving to work early, helping out where he could while staying on top of his own work and even spending time outside of work with Mercedes. Mercedes. He would just smile at the thought of her. They have been hanging out and getting to know one another better since that day they had that heart to heart. Everything was going so good for him, but it was unfortunately about to turn sour.

Sam was walking along the sidewalk, making his way to his brother's house when he saw the man outside of the steps. He had got a call from him asking to come to house for dinner. Thinking nothing of it, he put his jacket on and headed over, "Hey, I ho-"

"Mom and Dad are here." He interrupted, wincing a bit when he saw the look on his face.

Sam glanced over at the window and shook his head violently after seeing their parents, "I'm not going in there."

"They're our parents, Sam. You can't ignore them forever."

"Just like they can't do the same." Sam responded as he looked at his brother, who only sighed and put his head down. He knew he meant well but nothing was going to change, "Fine, I'll do it for you for a little while. That's it."

"That's all I'm asking for." Nicholas gave him a grateful look before opening the door, gesturing for him to go first.

Sam rolled his eyes as he walked into the house, taking off his coat and hanging on the coat rack before going into the dining room. His arrival caused everyone to look at him, prompting him to speak, "Hey."

"Wow, what a shocking surprise."

That was all that was said, the words coming from his mother, Janey, as he went and took a seat on the other side of Annette.

Annette handed Sam a bowl, giving him a small smile when he thanked her. The tension was so thick in the room, it was unbearable. Deciding to try to break it, she had begun to speak only to be interrupted by her mother-in-law.

"So, Samuel, I truly wasn't expecting to see you here." Janey said as she cut up her steak, looking over at him, "How did Nicholas persuade you to come?"

Sam cleared his throat, opening his mouth to speak but Janey cut him off.

"No, don't answer. I know what it was, money. It's always money with you." She scoffed as she took a sip of her wine, looking at her husband, "I'm surprised he didn't call you."

"Me either. It must be real bad this time, Sam." Their father, Dan, countered. Sam and his father's relationship wasn't as nearly as bad as him and his mother's, but it wasn't as nearly as good as it should be either, "You need to get help for this addiction, son."

Janey laughed an unfunny laugh as she shook her head, "Be more like your brother, Samuel. The good that he brings into the world, you should strive to want to do the same."

"Sam doesn't need to be like me. He's his own person and he just as great."

"Honey, you're seriously too nice. Your brother is a low life. He can't keep a stable job, gambles away his savings, he's nothing. Stop trying to get him to be something when he's not interested."

Sam has had it. He's been taking blows left and right all his life, but this was a new low for his mother. Low life? Really? He got up from the table, the anger violently running through him, "I'm leaving."

"Sam." Annette started but stopped when he shook his head.

"No, I'm going home. My actual home."

"Then go, Sam. That's all you're good for is running away from your problems."

"Mom, stop."

"No, it's okay. Seriously. I'm not dealing with this anymore. I'm done. I'll be gone by the morning."

Nicholas stood up to follow him, but stopped when he heard what he said.

"And don't follow me. I don't want your words or you trying to convince me to stay." He slammed the door behind him, groaning loudly before he headed out, not knowing that his feet was taking him to headquarters. Once he finally got in, he went to his office and shut the door, heading to pack up his things. As he was getting them, he saw the stack of files he had yet to complete. He sat down and grabbed the stamper, angrily stamping "NICE" on all of them without even reading.


Mercedes had promised Sam that they would get an early start to their work day, so she got up super early just for that. By the time she had made it in, she went and sat her things down on her desk before making her way to his office. When she got there, she was surprised at the scene before her. There wasn't a single folder on his desk and he wasn't in there, confusion spreading across her face. She turned and walked out into the center of the building, finding the man with his bags, "Sam."

"Here's the box you asked for." He answered, handing it over without looking at her, "I'm leaving. I have some things to care of back home."

She wanted to ask him if it could wait but by the looks of it, it couldn't. She looked at him and spoke softly, "Sad to see you go."

"Yeah." He grabbed his bags, still not looking at her, "Take care of yourself."

Mercedes stared at him for a minute as she hugged the box to her chest, turning when he walked passed her and out the door. When he didn't turn around, she admitted that it hurt her for whatever reason. He had been nothing but persistent, confident and funny since he's been here, she didn't know this side of him and she didn't know the reasoning for it.

Sam didn't mean to be so cold but he couldn't say bye to her. His emotions were all over the place, and he knew if he faced her, it was going to be harder to leave. He walked down the steps and to the snowy road, coming to a slight halt when he heard his name being shouted.

"SAM! What in earth have you done?"

It was his brother. He turned around and looked at him confusedly, "What?"

"You stamped every naughty kid as nice. Are you out of your mind?"

Sam eyes turned into slits as he glared at his brother, "I didn't find anyone that met my requirements of being naughty, Nicholas."

"Really Sam? You never ever see the ramifications of the things you do, do you? I thought that you'd learn while you were here but you still didn't." Nicholas stressed as he walked came off the last step, "Three days, Sam. Three. We can't make enough presents and most certainly can not deliver that amount with the time allotted. There is no way that we can do this now."

"Go ahead, blame it all on me just like our parents do. It's all my fault. How convenient that is, huh?"

Nicholas was so mad. Something he has never been to this extent, which prompted him to snap, "Annette was right about you and it honestly my fault I've sugarcoated your behavior this long."

Sam let out a humorless chuckle as he shook his head, "Save it, Nicholas and while you're at it, keep stuffing your face with gingerbread...fat boy."

Nicholas mouth dropped, watching as his brother turned away from him. His anger was boiling as he resulted in the only thing he could think of, mumbling as he gather some of the snow in a ball, "Slick talking, fast talking punk."

Sam was over it and he was ready to leave immediately. He came to a stop when he felt something cold and icy hit the back of his neck, turning around and finding his brother yelling at him.

"You know I've been battling weight problems for years, Sam. That is not funny."

Sam smirked in anger before he started yelling back, "You know what? You can shove it, thunder thighs." Before he knew it, they had begun to have a frustrated filled snowball throwing match, Sam ducking and dodging most, prompting to throw more at his brother as he moved closer, "I couldn't miss you if I tried because you're so fat."

"You throw like a girl. Like a big leather jacket wearing girl."

"How did you get to work today, did you roll?"

He dodged the snowball, rolling one up quickly in his hands and throwing it at him. He moved forward too quickly, both of them slipping on the snow, Nicholas going down harder than Sam.

The two brothers laid there breathlessly, looking up at the sky as they tried to get themselves together. Nicholas spoke up after a prolonged silence lingered between them, whispering, "You hate me, don't you?"

Sam took a deep breath as he continued to look up at the sky, "I don't hate you, Nicholas...I just wish you was never born."

Nicholas closed his eyes before trying his best to get up but the pain was unbearable. He managed to as he stood, looking at his brother with sad eyes, "I didn't only want you here to keep you out of trouble but to actually spend more time with you. Also, the extra help was needed because I'm one violation from being shut down."

Sam didn't know what to say. He watched as the man left without another word, limping. Closing his eyes, he laid back in the snow for a moment before getting up. What could he do anyways when he screwed up everything? His best bet was to hightail on out of there and that's what he did.