Sam sat down in a chair in front of the office desk. "Are you ready for this?"

Mercedes stood in front of the mirror she had installed on the back of the door, smoothing down her fitted pencil skirt. "As ready as I'll ever be. Are you sure I look okay? This skirt isn't too tight?"

"It's not. Neither were any of the five others you tried on this morning." It was her first day as an official employee at McKinley and she had insisted on dressing up for her first week. Sam always dressed up for the first week of school and while they were much closer to the end of the semester than the beginning, she wanted to do the same.

"I just want to make a good impression. Not just on the kids, but on everyone else who thinks that I only got this job because of my status." She shifted her weight back and forth on her skin-toned Louboutin Hot Chicks. "God, I freaking hate these things. People think that because heels are so much more expensive they're automatically comfortable; they're not. They're the same death traps they've always been."

He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Your skirt looks amazing." He kissed her on the cheek. "Your shoes look amazing." The other cheek. "You look amazing." He moved her hair to the side and kissed her neck. "You're going to be awesome out there today."

She placed her arms on top of his and leaned back into him, smiling gratefully for a few moments. Then, she looked back at her attire and her smile fell. "I look like my mother," she said dully.

Sam backed up from her and scratched the back of his ear. "Can't help you there."

Mercedes fixed her hair and tried to will away the thought. From the shoes and even down to the determined look she had worn a few minutes prior to stepping into the school, she was a shorter, curvier spitting image of her mom.

"Have, uh, have you talked to her at all since Thanksgiving?"

Still looking at herself in the mirror, Mercedes pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"Have you talked to your brother about her since Thanksgiving?" He asked cautiously.

"Sam," she warned him softly with her voice. He gave her about a week off, but for the past week, he's constantly brought up her relationship with her mom.

"I'm not trying to push you or anything. It's just that Christmas is only a couple weeks away and—"

"You do know this is because of you, right?"

"What?"

"I'm not avoiding my mom because she pissed me off one too many times. She has an issue with you, the man I plan on spending the rest of my life with, and she wouldn't even admit to it when I called her out. She insists that you're a good guy and then treats you like crap. I kicked her out because I'm not willing to let her do that to you anymore. I did that to protect you, to protect us and what we have. Which is why it's so bizarre to me that you want us to make amends so badly." She smiled out of disbelief. She wasn't angry, just wildly confused.

"Because I can see that it's hurting you." He made his way back over to her and took her hands. "I know how much you love her. I would never make you choose your mom over me and I hate that you felt you had to."

"But I did, Sam. And I can't choose her over you anymore knowing that she doesn't care about you. God, I did that for so long."

Sam nodded understandingly. After a series of conversations about their past, Mercedes revealed that her mother was the reason that she never told anyone about them, among other things. Sure, she was scared of ending up brokenhearted, but she was even more scared of disappointing and embarrassing Michelle.

Mercedes had been racking her brain since her talk with Mary, trying to understand Michelle's issue with Sam. After a few days, she thought she finally figured it out: Both the Jones couples were childhood sweethearts. Michelle and Marvin met in middle school. When they got to high school and Michelle's parents moved, they were separated before they could develop a serious relationship. But in a miraculous turn of events, they ended up going to the same college and fell in love all over again, never leaving each other's side since. Mason and Devon were best friends in elementary school and stayed that way for years before they finally got together. They got married just after college. Both Michelle and Mercedes had dreamed of her having that fairytale love like her brother and parents. She felt that that was her best shot at explaining it. Her relationship with Sam had been anything but a fairytale, but she couldn't bring herself to want anyone else the way she wanted him. As a result, Michelle resorted to pushing Sam away and while Mercedes loved him dearly, she was also determined to keep him at arm's length so as not to upset her mom. Mercedes was still apologizing to Sam nonstop about it. She couldn't believe that even when her mom wasn't getting what she wanted, she had so much control over her that Mercedes was afraid to live her life with him.

"Plus, my mom only wants me to be happy on her terms. But you, you want me to be happy on my own. Now that I think about it, it kind of makes your reaction to all of this make sense." She chuckled a little. "Of course it hurts that I had to make a choice between my mom and my happiness, but I would do it all over again because it means a lifetime with you. So can we just let it go? I'll talk to her when I talk to her. And until that day comes, let's just be disgustingly and painfully in love." She smiled wide.

"Just one question," he said.

Her smile faltered.

"Just how disgusting and painful are we talking? Like making other people queasy or being that couple that's so in love that people just hate us for no reason?" The corner of his lip turned up.

Her smile returned. "Both of those and then some."

He bent down, kissing her with a little more passion than was probably appropriate for school grounds.

Her hand reached up to his neck, pulling him closer to her. She squealed as he quickly hoisted her up onto the nearly empty desk, letting out a moan mixed with a laugh when his hands started roaming her backside. She pulled away breathless. "No macking on the job, Evans."

He continued though, moving down to her neck and thanking God that the doors were locked and blinds closed. "I'm not macking on the job; I'm macking on the desk."

"This is definitely not allowed in the employee handbook. I can't get caught in an act of sexual misconduct on the first day."

"Then we just won't get caught," he said.

She bit her lip. Before today, they hadn't gone further than second base but now, everytime he put his hands on her, she felt her resolve withering. She believed Sam could feel it too, hence why he was so riled up. She wasn't waiting until marriage anymore. She knew she couldn't wait that long. With that out of the question, she didn't really know what she was waiting on.

A knock at the door interrupted them.

"Oh, come on," Sam groaned quietly.

She laughed at him.

"Who the hell even is that?"

Mercedes shrugged. "Beats me. I'm meeting with some of the kids throughout the day to go over their Sectionals performances, but the first session isn't until 9. Will you move so I can go to the door?"

"Oh, no. You're going to sit right behind the desk and I'll open it for you. I won't be home until late today, so I'll only be able to massage your feet for so long. We're keeping you off of those puppies for as long as possible."

She smiled sweetly as he led her to her chair. She hadn't even mentioned a foot massage and he was already all over it. He knew what she needed before she even asked and was always willing to oblige. How did she ever find him?

"How may I be of servi-" Sam stopped as he opened the door and saw who was on the other side. "Coach Baker."

"Coach Evans." Dani shot him a smile. "I've been sent to fetch you. The athletic heads are having our end-of-season press and we've decided to bring you into the fold today."

"Bring me into the fold?"

"Oh, yeah." She leaned up against the doorframe. "The high school sports world is abuzz with excitement for your new position and since you're going to be coaching some of our highest performing teams, we thought the press could feature you in our spreads today. Just to go over what we've accomplished so far this season and what we hope to accomplish in the Spring. Should be fun."

"Oh, wow." Sam tried to sound excited, but the fact that it was her delivering the news dampened the glow a little.

"'Wow' is right. Let's hit it. They need us in the gym stat." She pushed herself off and started walking away.

"Yeah, you go. I'll meet you guys there."

She frowned as she turned around. "Meet us there? What's with the secrecy, Evans?"

"Dan- Coach, I said I'll meet you there. No secrecy."

"Really? Then why are your blinds closed?"

Mercedes rolled her eyes. Why couldn't this woman just leave him, leave them alone?

"For no reason. My blinds are closed for no reason," He stammered, hoping that she would just back away.

"I don't think so." She squinted at him with a smile as she continued stepping closer to him.

"Coach."

Before Sam could react, she poked her head in the room. "What are you hidi- oh." She finished making her way into the room and clasped her hands. "Ms. Jones."

Mercedes, now standing on the other side of the desk, didn't even bother to smile. "Coach Baker."

"Didn't expect to see you here." She scanned her, stopping at her shoes. "Nice pumps. Louboutins?"

Inside, Mercedes smirked. She wanted to be standing when Dani inevitably came into the office for a couple reasons: first, she wasn't going to be caught dead sitting and allowing her to think that she had some sort of power over her, second, she wanted Dani to see the shoes, and third, she looked damn good in the shoes. She had many awe-inducing features, but Mercedes was particularly proud of the calves she had gotten from the constant cardio that was her world tour. "Christian custom made them when I was in Paris. You should've seen the atelier," she said with a perfect French accent. "Maybe you could take a trip there sometime when you're not busy with, I don't know, trying to steal my man."

Sam gulped audibly.

"Well, that sounds wonderful, but I must say I'm not a fan of heels. Death traps, those things. I'd rather be caught barefoot as a yard dog than stuff my feet into those."

"Okay, so this has been great, no?" Sam stepped in before either of them got the chance to say something else. "Coach, I'll meet you in the gym."

Dani smiled cooly. "See you there, Sam. Oh, and Mercedes—"

"Humble yourself, Baker." Mercedes warned her. "Just because you complimented my shoes and started a cute little conversation doesn't make us friends and it doesn't miraculously put us on a first-name basis."

"Then let me mind my manners, Ms. Jones." Dani began to close the space between them. "Just so you know," she said softly, but menacingly, "you can't steal somebody from someone they don't belong to, darlin'." Dani's own accent dripped extra sweetly onto that word.

With Dani in her personal space, Mercedes had had enough. As she pushed herself off the desk and stepped to her, something took over her. She couldn't control what came out of her mouth next. "You know what, bitch? I will—"

"My goodness!" Dani clutched her pearls. "Sam, are you going to let your girlfriend talk to me like that in your office?"

Sam shook his head. He hadn't moved from his spot. Partially because he felt Mercedes could handle her own, but also because he was scared of getting between the two women. "It's not my office, Coach. And it's Coach Evans now."

Dani turned to look at him, surprised to hear this. "I'm sorry?"

"Oh you haven't heard?" Mercedes smiled for the first time since Dani walked in. "I'm an official employee now. Today's my first day."

"And even if it were my office," said Sam, "let's not act like I'm your friend or advocate anymore."

"Damn," Mercedes cursed at Dani again, now invading her personal space. "Sucks for you, I guess. Now, where was I? Oh, that's right. Get the hell out of my office."

Without so much as a word, Dani started for the door. But she wasn't going down without a fight. As she reached the threshold, she turned around to eye Mercedes. "I would be careful in how you speak to your colleagues, Ms. Jones. Now that you're an employee and all. Don't want a workplace harassment suit on your hands! I wonder what Mr. Louboutin would think of you then."

Once she left, Mercedes promptly returned to her office chair and began rubbing her temples.

Sam closed the door and went over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Fine."

He pulled up a chair beside her. "I can talk to her if you want. Just to make sure she doesn't mess with you. Better yet, I'll talk to Mr. Schue. Put him on high alert."

"You don't need to do that," she said, failing to conceal the irritation in her voice.

Sam winced hearing her. He stood behind her and started to massage her shoulders. "Okay. So tonight for dinner, I was thinking we could—"

She rolled closer to her desk, out of his grasp. "We can talk about it later." She began filling out some forms on her computer.

"Yeah, no, totally. I was just thinking that if you wanted, I could make that fancy tomato soup that you like. The one where we make the gourmet grilled cheese with the artisan bread."

She kept all of her responses short, but not so sweet. "I'll probably be too tired and just order takeout."

"Oh, that sounds good, too." Sam was trying his hardest to make normal conversation. "Maybe we can get it from that new place across the street from—"

"Don't you need to get to the gym? They said they needed you stat." She tried not to sound naggy, but she just wanted to be alone.

Sam sighed internally. She was really upset. "Yeah, they did. But we're still on for lunch today, right? Off-campus?"

"Sure, if I have time. Lots to do on my first day." She looked up and offered him a quick smile.

Sam smiled back. She was smiling, that was good. Well, she was sort of smiling. Okay, it was that awkward smile, the kind you would give when you accidentally make eye contact with someone on the street. But he was going to take it. "Okay, yes. First day! So exciting. Good luck," he rambled as he neared the door.

Mercedes' gaze was back at her desk. "You too."

"I love you," he said.

"Love you, too. Close the door on your way out."

Sam hit himself lightly against the head when he was on the other side of the door. "Stupid, Sam. Why did you let that play out like that. Now, she's mad at you. Dammit." He immediately marched in the direction of the gym. When he saw Dani, he gently took her by the arm and led her into a vacant classroom.

"And here I was thinking you didn't still have feelings for me," she said sarcastically. "Sneaking me into an empty room? How high school of you."

"Look, I don't know what your problem is and frankly, I don't care. You're not coming in between me and Mercedes anymore. Do you understand that? This ends today."

"Sam, what the hell are you talking about?"

"It's Coach Evans and you know what I'm talking about. You need to get this through your head. We are not friends. We are coworkers. Full stop. I don't want you to keep trying to get with me, I don't want you to try to be friendly with me, I don't even want you to greet me when we see each other in the halls. And whatever you're trying to do to Mercedes, it stops right here, right now. Because you're not doing anything but pissing us both off. You're the reason I almost lost her and I'll be damned if I let you bully and provoke her just to get to me."

"Are you done?" Dani sounded bored. "Look, if Mercedes doesn't like me, that's fine. But you and I both know you can't make silk from a sow's ear. The longer that you keep holding onto her, the worse it's gonna be when you have to let her go."

"I'm not letting her go. Now, I'm going to say this one last time: whatever we had is over. No more. And you're going to leave Mercedes alone."

"Where was this fire when we first met? Our relationship would've gotten started a lot faster if I knew you had this in you."

"Daniella, I'm serious!" Sam said sternly. His mother had taught him never to raise his voice at a woman or get aggressive with her but with Dani, he was reaching the end of his rope. "Otherwise, she won't be the only employee at this school dealing with a harassment suit."

Dani scoffed. "Are you threatenin' me, Coach Evans?"

"If that's what you want to call it, then fine. But your reign of terror ends today."

She stood with that for a moment. She smiled to herself before leaving the classroom. "Got it, Sam."


Sam decided to give Mercedes her space for lunch. He got food for her and brought it to her office. While eating her food, Mercedes made a phone call.

"Sup, Wheezy?"

Mercedes smiled sarcastically. "Santana. A gem as always. One day you're going to stop calling me that."

"Don't hold your breath. What's got you calling me this early?"

If there was one thing you couldn't say about Santana, it was that she wasn't in control of her own life. Even though she wore a billion different hats, the woman was determined never to get out of bed until 10:30 most mornings. Seeing as how it wasn't even 1 in Lima, she was definitely still laying down.

"I need someone to talk to."

"Isn't that what your boyfriend is for? You guys didn't break up again, did you?"

"Not since a few weeks ago, no," she said. "But I can't talk to Sam when he's the person I need to talk about. And I think that you're the person best suited to talk to about this."

Santana sighed. "Okay. Lay it on me."

Mercedes took a deep breath. "So, I think I'm ready to have sex with Sam."

A gasp on the other end. "You're lying."

"I'm not, but—"

"Hold on. Give me five minutes. Actually, you know what? Screw my dental hygiene. Facetime. Now."

"Tana, I wasn't going to," Mercedes's phone rang against her cheek, "and she's facetiming me." She answered the call with an annoyed look.

Santana hadn't even bothered to throw on any clothes. She sat straight up in her bed, wrapped only in her sheets. "Okay, what's this I'm hearing? You're finally giving up your v-card?"

Since she obviously wasn't going to be able to eat in peace, Mercedes set her phone up against her computer so that she could eat. "I think so. It's just that ever since I've come back to Lima, I've felt like such a different person than the last time we were together."

"Have you talked to him about it at all?"

"When I first got back. We agreed to wait on my terms. But the moment I finally told him that I was ready, we were… interrupted."

"By?"

"My brother. Telling us that my dad was in the hospital."

Santana blinked, taken aback. "Oh, shit."

"Yeah," She huffed. "Since then, we were so busy with that and then his work and my work and that Dani fiasco, which is still a situation of its own somehow. Then we broke off the engagement, and—"

"Wait, back up." Santana put her hand up. "You're still having issues with Sue Sylvester Jr.?"

Mercedes nodded. "She is…"

"She is what?"

"Honestly, I have no clue. Let's just say she's made it clear that she's not giving up, even after everything that went down."

Santana looked at her knowingly. "Well, you know what you have to do about that, right?"

"No, I don't. Tana, you know me, okay? You know that when it comes down to it, I protect mine, but I can't fight her or anything like that. That's just not me."

"Who the hell said you had to fight her?"

She shrugged. "I just assumed that was what you meant."

"Okay, absolutely not." Santana sat up further in her bed. "You just have to get in her ass. Whatever game she's playing, you play it back. And you win."

"One, I have no idea what that means. Two, this isn't what I called you for!"

"Oh, relax." Santana waved her off. "We'll get to you and Trouty's maiden voyage in a second. To win her game, all you need to do is figure out what she's doing and just, you know, do it better."

"Well when you put it that way, it totally makes sense," she said sarcastically as she pushed around the food Sam bought her.

"Jeez. Just let her know that whatever she's trying to do, you're not oblivious to it. Whenever she tries to make you look bad or whatever, tell her off the way she deserves."

"I tried. She threatened me with a workplace harassment lawsuit."

"Then threatened the bitch right back. Call her bluff, Mercedes. Make sure she knows that you're not gonna take it lying down. Now, back to you and Sam. What prompted you to call me about this today?"

Mercedes felt her cheeks get hot. "We… kind of had a moment this morning."

Santana frowned. "When?"

"I don't know. A few hours ago."

The corners of her mouth lifted. Not enough to constitute a smile, but enough to show that she was catching on. "Like, in the school? In your office?" Out of nowhere, she gasped deeply. "Did you guys go to town on your desk?" She smiled wide and laughed loudly, throwing her head back. "Wanky! Oh, my god. So you're a freak, huh?"

Mercedes took her phone and lowered the volume, hoping no one heard that through the cinderblock walls. "Okay, for the love of God, will you stop? Will you please stop? No one went any town anywhere," she hissed. "But there was some kissing and some other stuff. And to tell the truth, if we weren't at work, I can't say that we wouldn't have gone further."

"So what are you calling me for? Sounds like you're good to go. The deed is written and signed. Now you just do it." She shrugged.

"I mean, you know Sam is a big gesture guy. Lately, I've been trying to pull off some big gestures of my own. I want to make that night special, and not just because I'm losing my virginity, you know? I just wanna do something that screams 'I love you and this is what you mean to me'. So can you stop being horny for a second and help me with that?"

She gave her a careful look. "I can. But Mercedes, you're going to have to be ready to do it. It probably will be far from easy for you. How about to start, I just tell you what I'm thinking and after listening with an open mind, you tell me what you think. Cool?"

Feeling a gnawing in her stomach, Mercedes nodded. "Cool."

"Okay. So here's what you're going to do."


And we're back! Thanks to everyone who congratulated me on graduating and things! My schedule's starting to clear up a little, so hopefully updates will be more often and more regular for a bit. So… Dani's back (I know Dasheni has a bunch of haters in y'all. I love it lol). What do you think Santana is going to tell Mercedes? We'll see in the next chapter! Till, then, hope y'all enjoyed and please leave me a review to let me know you're still with me!