Hi everyone! Double chapters again today! Thanks for the reviews and as always, enjoy!


At first, Mercedes struggled to pick her jaw off the floor, but she had to put on the dumbfounded act. "What are you guys talking about? Also, Santana," She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "'The Hormone Monster'? Still with these mouth jokes? What gives?"

"Um, I'm sorry," Santana said in an offended manner. "The man has an utterly humongous mouth. I don't know what any of you expect me to do about it other than make fun of it every chance I get."

"Nothing, Santana. We expect you to do nothing about it. We expect you to ignore it the same way that we all do because his lips are a very normal size."

"Okay, enough about Sam's big mouth. And don't try to change the subject!" Tina caught Mercedes in the act.

"I'm not trying to change anything. I don't know what you're talking about. I already said that," The singer stated simply.

"There's no way you expect us to believe that," Quinn said. "You two rode here together."

Hearing that they had actual evidence for their claims pushed Mercedes to harden her stature. "I mean, my parents' house is practically on the way here from his. Is no one else committed to saving the planet?"

"Okay, so how do you explain your bags in the back of his car when I know for a fact that you flew in last night, hmm?" Santana crossed her arms and got into her friend's personal space. "Where'd ya stay last night?" She whispered.

Under Santana's gaze, she almost cracked. Mercedes was hanging on to her tough resolve by a thread, but she had to stay strong. "This doesn't make any sense. Seriously, you guys?" "What makes you think those are even my bags?"

None of the other women said anything, they all just gave her a knowing look.

At this, Mercedes couldn't ward off the confirmation any longer. Her face and posture softened to one of defeat. "How did you know?"

Santana smiled sickly. "Well, when you consider the fact that between the three of us over here," She gestured to herself and the other women, "two of us were his entire girlfriends and the other totally made out with him and was a part of the weirdest platonic threesome throughout his senior year, then combine that with the fact that he's apparently used the same tired ass teakwood mahogany cologne for the past ten years, then combine that with the fact that all three of us smelled that same scent all over you when we hugged you before we even got a chance to see him, it shouldn't really come as a surprise that it was easy to figure out."

Mercedes' jaw dropped to the floor again as she looked at the others. "Is that how you two noticed this too?"

"Well," Quinn tucked her hair behind her ear, "we weren't going to put it that bluntly…"

"But yeah, pretty much." Tina nodded. "It wasn't that hard to pick up on."

Mercedes sighed and rubbed her temples. "Does anyone else know?" She asked.

"I doubt it," Tina said. "You know we're the only ones who could really pick up on something like that."

"Okay." Mercedes let out a breath. "Could you guys do me a favor and not say anything? Sam and I are trying to keep it on the down-low for a bit until we can figure things out."

"Why?" Quinn asked. "You two are practically perfect for one another. Why would you want to keep that a secret?"

"We just want to make sure that we're going to be able to do it right this time," Mercedes said. "We've been getting our hopes up each and every time, thinking it was going to be different, only to find ourselves heartbroken and disappointed when we realized that it wasn't. We think that especially now, considering our current circumstances with me being in L.A. and him being here and whatnot, that we should take the time out to understand how our relationship is going to work."

"We?" Santana raised her brow. "Because that sounds a hell of a lot like something you'd say."

"Will you four come on already?" Kurt asked from the entrance to the restaurant. "Melissa gets cranky when you keep her waiting."

Santana rolled her eyes. "She's always Daddy's girl, that one!" She yelled sarcastically as she started strolling towards the door. She turned her head back and whispered to the three other women. "How in the hell does she even know she's being kept waiting? I mean, what is she, 2 months old?"

"You've been keeping Kurt waiting which, I think for him, is the same thing." Mercedes quipped.

"Oh, so he's projecting onto the baby now," Quinn smirked. "None of us saw that coming at all."

They all laughed.

Mercedes checked back in before they came into earshot of anyone in the restaurant. "But seriously, you guys. Let's keep this relationship thing between us, okay? Sam and I want to be able to tell people on our own time."

Santana shrugged. "Fine by me. Just try not to give one another googly eyes across the room all day and keep the palpability of the sexual tension to a minimum. It gets nauseating after too long."

"Mercedes, wait." Tina grabbed her friend's wrist gently and all the girls stopped walking. "Your secret's safe here, but just so you know, we love you and want to see you happy. And we love Sam and want to see him happy—"

"Even if his lips are the same size as Kylie Jenner's."

"Santana." Tina shot her daggers. She turned back to Mercedes. "We also love you two together and want to see both of you happy together. And when it comes down to it, there's no group of friends who is going to love and support you like us. So, even if you get our hopes up and we get invested in your relationship all for the both of you to be heartbroken and disappointed in a few weeks, months or even years, we're still going to be here for you and we're still going to have your back."

Quinn agreed. "Our entire glee family has always been about helping one another through difficult decisions and times. So whatever it is that you're scared of or still trying to figure out, just know that sometimes, it can help to have more than two brains on the situation."

Mercedes offered a close-lipped smile. "Thanks guys. We'll tell this group before everyone else, that's for sure. We just want it to be a little more cemented first, that's all."

"Alright." Santana nodded satisfyingly. "This has been a very productive and affirming conversation. Now, let's get inside because those blueberry pancakes are calling my name."

Mercedes laughed and pulled out her phone, sending a text to Sam.

Bathroom. Now.

Sam walked over to the family bathroom and was pulled into the door with a quickness.

"We've been made," Mercedes said.

"What?" Sam frowned for a moment before going in for a kiss.

She scoffed as she put her hand to his chest, stopping him, and tilted her head back. "What in the hell is wrong with you?" She said with wide eyes.

"Sorry, I got distracted. You look really pretty," He muttered embarrassingly.

"Okay, Sam. This," She gestured toward him, "is what you need to refrain from today. They know."

"Who knows what?"

"Santana, Quinn, and Tina. They deduced that we hung out last night. And then no matter how hard I tried to deny it, they coerced me into telling the truth."

"Whoa." Sam narrowed his eyes in both amazement and confusion. "How did they figure it out?"

"Because you still wear the cologne of a teenage boy. That's how," She cracked. "Look, I explained the situation to them and they agreed to keep it hush hush until we're ready."

"Were they happy for us?"

"Yeah, of course. So just try not to be so…" She searched for the word, "reckless. And that includes kissing me when you could rub some of my lipstick onto your lips and then we'd have to explain that."

"Okay, I mean I'm hearing you I guess?" Sam tried to align himself with her, but he was stuck on one thing. "But, if they found out and were happy for us, shouldn't we be glad that they know? Shouldn't we want to tell the rest of them?"

"Are you joking or are you being serious?"

"Baby," He held her hands, "they're our best friends. Who can we tell if not them?"

"Um, have you met literally any of them?" Mercedes asked ridiculously. "They can't keep their mouths shut for anything. Hell, knowing Santana, she'll still probably have this up on The Blade Room faster than you could say 'blueberry pancakes'."

"Oh, I've been really craving blueberry pancakes. I might get those." Sam tilted his head in thought as he inadvertently abandoned the topic at hand. "Okay so I'm really stuck between those then and the huevos rancheros. Do you know what kind of ranch is in those? Like if it's the Hidden Valley bottled ranch or the kind you make from the packets or their own original recipe? Because they all taste different and I only really like one of them—"

"Uh uh." Mercedes snapped her fingers in his face. "Hello?"

This brought his attention back to her.

"Hi, Sam." She smiled and waved, hiding her impatience. "Your girlfriend. Right here." She pointed at herself. "Babe, I need you to keep your head in the game here. Especially today. So just keep the staring or whatever it is that you do to a bare minimum. Got me?"

"Yeah, no totally. Got you." Sam nodded.

"Okay. You can go. I'll be out in a minute or two." Mercedes bid him farewell but not before staring at him and those lips.

Sam grinned. "You want to kiss me, don't you?"

"No," She lied. "Get out." She started pushing him toward the door. "And don't sit beside me. Or even across from me. Sit at a diagonal. Four seats down."

Just a couple feet from opening the door, Sam turned back to look at her. "You're sure you don't want to lay one on me?" He asked.

Mercedes paused and bit her lip a little. "I've got to invest in some better lipstick. You need to go. There will be plenty of time for kissing later." She resumed pushing him toward the door.

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

"Go!" Mercedes laughed as she shoved him lightly out of the bathroom.


The brunch and dedication were great. Sam ended up getting the huevos rancheros (which he would be shocked to find out that there was no ranch anywhere to be found in) and everyone had a great time remembering and honoring their friend. After the reunion, some of them were going out for drinks, but Mercedes was still really tired from the jetlag, so Sam took her back to his house to get some rest.

"I still don't know why you won't just go home already," Sam said from the bed as his girlfriend took her makeup off in the en-suite bathroom. "You do realize that the longer that you wait, the more on your case your mom's going to be."

"I do." She sighed. "But at least if I wait until I get some good sleep and re-orientate myself to Eastern Standard Time, I'll have the energy to put up with whatever mess she decides to be on. Even if it's a little extra mess." Just as was finishing up her routine, her phone vibrated. It was a text from Santana.

Well, damn. You and Trouty did a great job of keeping it on the DL today. There was no more sexual tension than usual between you two. Nice job.

Mercedes laughed to herself as another message came in.

Also, congrats. Whenever you're ready to break the news to the masses, I better get the exclusive. Happy for you guys ;)

She smiled and felt her heart warm. She sent a simple reply.

Will do. 3

She walked over to where Sam was at the foot of the bed and stood between his legs. "Plus," She held his hands and placed her forehead against his, "It's not going to be long before she finds out about us and most likely tries to rain on our parade. I want to stay in our bubble of bliss for liiiitle bit longer." She brushed her lips against his.

"The bubble is nice and all, but at least if we told people other than your mom, then her bursting our bubble wouldn't be as bad as you think."

"I'm not going over this with you again, Sam." Mercedes fought the urge to let her agitation seep into her voice. "Too many people know already."

Sam fought the urge as well. "But they're our friends."

"I'm not going over this with you again," She repeated

"Do you even want to tell people?" Sam asked, not caring about his tone. "Because not wanting it to be released to the masses and on social media, fine. Not wanting to tell your mom, I get that. But our high school teacher? Our high school friends who are still our best friends to this day? That doesn't make any sense, Mercedes. How long are we going to go without being able to be in public or even talk about our relationship with our people? At some point, we have to-"

"What part of 'I'm not going over this with you again' do you not understand? You already pushed your way into talking to Mr. Schue about it. I'm not wavering on this. So stop trying to disrespect the boundaries that I've very clearly set. It's a non-negotiable, Sam." She all but yelled. "Is there anything else you wish to talk about? Because I'm about to go to bed. Because I'm tired. Something you're not helping with right now."

Sam sucked his teeth. "Fine. I'll be in the living room if you need anything." He left the room, closing the door behind him.

Huffing, Mercedes wrapped herself up under the covers and tried to ward off her irritation so that she could get her much needed rest.

In the living room, Sam was texting someone.

The Eagle has been fed, reunited, and is currently resting. The Eagle will soon be rejuvenated.

A few minutes later, he got a response.

Thanks for the updates, Sam, but you don't have to keep doing that every time something happens. Now, all that's left is to get her home.


*sigh* Sam's really not with this whole secrecy thing. What do y'all think about it? Do you think maybe Mercedes is feeling a little more than she's leading on? Next chapter, we get to meet more of the Jones family and this mother that Mercedes wants to avoid so badly. Reviews are always read and appreciated!