DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE.


"I'm glad you decided to come out tonight."

"You really didn't leave me a choice."

"Mercedes, please." The man said as he stared at her, "I've been willing to do whatever I needed to fix us. I know I made mistakes in the past but I'm trying to fix it now."

"Yeah, okay Justin." Mercedes hummed out, rolling her eyes as she sipped from her glass of wine. Seeing the waitress come back, she gave her a smile and nodded her head when she ask if she wanted some more wine, "Please, thank you."

Justin watched as she poured the content in Mercedes' glass, shaking his head before he looked at her, "Can you tell the Chef that I would like meet him and make it quick.

The waitress gritted her teeth before heading to the she headed to the back. She went over to the window, seeing the man drizzling the sauce of the pork, "Table 57 wants your presence."

Sam rolled his eyes as he placed the plate in the window as the server came and got it, looking at her, "No thank you."

"He insist, Sam and quite frankly, I'm going to cuss his ass out if I go back out there right now. He's an asshole and he doesn't deserve that woman with him. She's beautiful and sweet too. Cheating asshole. I've seen him here too many times with different girls."

"Fine." He pushed back, taking off his apron and gloves, seeing the smile widen on her face as she got done with her rant, "You can run it until I come back."

"YES!" The girl yelled out as she rounded the wall, smirking as she grabbed some gloves and looked at the next tickets, "Alright people, I need four salmons and two ribeyes on the grill, olive oil in four pans please. I'm going to attempt to beat Sam's time."

Sam laughed as he was walked out of the kitchen and headed to the middle of restaurant, speaking to people along the way. He found the man, who had waved him over when he noticed his chef's coat. He approached the table, plastering on a smile as he looked at the couple, "I'm Chef Sam Evans, is everything okay?"

"More than okay, it was delicious. My girlfriend and I are celebrating our four year anniversary and we heard about this place from a friend."

Lie.

Sam eyes traveled over to the woman, who was staring back at him, "Congratulations."

"Thank you." The man answered for her as she took another sip of her wine, "It was hella good. I'm not really surf and turf kind of fella but you've exceeded my expectations."

Lie numero dos.

Sam nodded and turned to the woman, "Was your food okay, ma'am?"

Mercedes gave him a sweet smile as she stared into his emerald eyes, "It was lovely. It's only a few people in my life that can make brussel sprouts good and you've earn yourself the top spot."

Sam let out a toothy grin, "I'm glad that I was able to please your taste buds."

"In more ways than one...the steak, really flavorful and cooked to perfection." Mercedes' eyes lingered on his, watching as he broke contact and looked back over to Justin and spoke.

"Is there anything else I can do for you or your lovely girlfriend tonight?"

"I believe we're good, but I will be keeping in contact. Might needs food catered for special events."

"Duly noted." Sam as he plastered on a smile s again, "I'll get these plates out of your way while I'm here."

Mercedes watched as he picked up the plates, her hand brushing against his for a spilt second as she handed hers to him.

Sam took his eyes off of hers, clearing his throat before speaking, "I'm glad that you two enjoyed everything. Congratulations again and I hope you come back to see us."

Mercedes watched as his left, her eyes going back to the man in front of him when his phone went off, seeing him check it and getting out of his seat.

"I have to take this call. Let the waitress know we're ready for the check."

Mercedes rolled her eyes at him once more, downing the last of wine before getting up herself. She grabbed her purse and placed the long strap on her shoulder before she started to make her way to the back. Seeing where the kitchen was, she slowly stepped in to where the servers come and grab the order, watching as a certain brunette was at the sink washing his hands. She smiled at the man as she looked him up and down, coming out of her amusement when a voice interrupted.

"Excuse me, you can't be back here."

Mercedes turned and found a boy, who looked like he was no older than twenty-two and just stared at him, watching as he started to fidget underneath her harden gaze.

"She's fine." Sam responded as he dried his hands, walking over to the woman with a smile when the boy nodded and left, "How can I help you ma'am?"

A smirk tugged at the corners of her lips as she grabbed him by his coat, pulling him into the corner by the stock room where no one could see or hear them. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, her lips pressing against his lips.

Sam wrapped his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss as he walked her backwards to wall, his hands drifting down her backside.

Mercedes let a moan surpass her lips and that's when she knew they were headed to a point of no return. She pulled her mouth away from his, breathing heavily as she stared back at him with a smile, leaning forward and placing a kiss on his lips before moving out of his grasp, "You deserve an Oscar for that performance, Samuel."

"And you deserve not to be in this situation, Mercedes." Sam retorted seriously as he tried to even out his breathing, watching as she ran her hand through hair, "Seriously, what are still doing this with this ass? I haven't seen you in a whole month and these phone calls aren't enough anymore."

Mercedes sighed when she took in the seriousness of his tone, eyes still focused on his frustrated and hurt ones, "I can't get into right now, please understand."

"I don't, but for whatever reason, I trust you." Sam ran his hands over his face before he hovered over her, staring down as she looked up at him through her lashes. He bent down and placed a lingering kiss to her forehead, whispering, "I just want you to be careful and know if you need me, I'm one phone call away and you know where I live."

"And work." She smiled as she caressed his cheek for a moment before stepping back, moving her hair behind her ear, "I'll be seeing you."

"You look beautiful by the way." Sam watched as she turned smiled and sent him a wink, before turning on her heels and walking away. He shaking his head as he returned back to the kitchen, letting out a defeated sigh while simultaneously slamming a frustrated hand down on the counter, causing everyone to get quiet and looking at him, his sous-chef ushering for them to get back to work.


Two Weeks Later

Sam had just pulled the longest shift he has had in months. As soon as he got out the shower, he dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist and headed straight to bed, flopping down and almost immediately going to sleep. And he slept hard, his snores loud, which was a big reason he didn't hear his door being opened to his house or the footsteps coming up the stairs about three hours later. He also failed to feel the dip in the bed. What did stir him was the feeling of someone's hand on his chest, prompting him to open his eyes and jumping a bit when he saw her, "Christ." His heart was beating fast as her loud giggles were bouncing off the walls of his room, "You scared the hell out of me."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to surprise you." She pouted at the look on his face, still giggling, "I know you're exhausted because I took a shower and you didn't bulge at all the noise I was making."

Sam finally adjusted his eyes and took in her appearance. Her hair was tied up tightly in a bun on top of her head and she was swaddled in her robe. He looked at her and smiled, "You're finally done with him, Mercedes?"

Mercedes leaned down and kissed him gently, mumbling, "It's just you and me."

"Thank God because I didn't know how much longer I could've lasted without beating his face in." So yeah, truth was, they did have an affair but it was something they both didn't regret. Sam and Mercedes met exactly two years ago at a mutual friend's party but a year ago, one thing led to another that night at that same friend's barbecue, and the two have been seeing each other since. Mercedes was unhappy in the relationship and her interest definitely decreased when she found out her ex was cheating. The only reason she had stayed because she was approached by some detectives wanting her to collect evidence on her ex, who was being looked at for several counts of fraud. Mercedes couldn't tell Sam that part, and it hurt her to the core.

Mercedes straddled his lap, bending down and pressing her lips against his, feelings his hands go up her back, chuckling as he flipped them over to where she was laying flat on her back.

"No more of you feeling like you're not enough, no more of you not getting what you rightly deserve, no more of you not being loved the way you should be. No more." Sam told her seriously, bending and capturing her lips for a slow kiss, pulling back as he stared down at her, "I love you and I know if you're not ready to say it back, that's fine but I just want you to know how I feel. I truly do love and adore you, Mercedes Jones."

Mercedes stared back at him, her eyes filling with tears. This was the first time in a long time she felt the sincerity in those three words. Her and Sam met and got together in the craziest way, and haven't been really together but a few weekends throughout this whole ordeal, but that didn't matter because she felt the love he was giving, that he was showing and that she knew was always going to be there, "I love you too and I'm not just saying that. I really, truly do."

Sam smiled as he wiped her tears away, leaning down and kissing her as he untied her robe, seeing the smirk she had, "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Hope you're calling into work tomorrow."


A/N. Yeah, this was intended super short & straight to the point lmao. And yes, I'm definitely ignoring the reviews I've been getting from y'all. I feel like y'all collaborated to do this badgering.