"Why are you sitting out here by yourself?" Kurt walked over to Mercedes in the courtyard during lunchtime. "You do know we haven't moved from our usual designated spot, right?" He sat his tray down and sat beside her.

"I know. I just wanted some alone time," she said.

"Oh, ok." He motioned for the rest of their girlfriends to join them,

Mercedes groaned, "Kurt."

"Gosh, what has been going on with you? Ever since homecoming you've been all weird. Even more than usual."

"We're starting to think you don't like us anymore," Tina joked, smiling as she sat down.

"Is there nothing wrong with wanting to be alone every now and then?"

"Nope, but there's no room for that today," Quinn said as she and Santana sat down. "We have things to talk about and you have to be there."

Kurt nodded. "Exactly. We have to talk about birthday plans."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. Her birthday was two weeks from today and even though she wasn't normally a fan of extravagant celebrations, her friends always planned something for her. She never said anything because she always ended up enjoying it more than had she not done anything. But this week, she just wasn't up for it. "Honestly, guys, I don't think I'm gonna do anything this year."

"That's ridiculous," said Kurt.

Even Tina, who wasn't much of a partyer herself, saw an issue. "Cedes, it's your 17th birhday. The last one before you become an adult. You HAVE to do something."

Mercedes shrugged and shook her head.

"Okay," Quinn put down her fork, "I'm going to echo Kurt and ask what's been going on with you? I thought we all had a great time at homecoming? You and Noah definitely had a great time."

Mercedes pushed her food around on her plate.

"Hello? Earth to Cedes?" Tina waved her hand in her face.

Mercedes looked at her other friends before looking at Santana, who looked back at her with a wary face. They hadn't told anyone else about what happened homecoming night, especially not Quinn. "It's nothing."

"Did Noah say something rude to you?" Kurt clued in. "I will shove my foot so far up his—"

"Noah didn't do anything wrong. I'm the only one who messed up."

"So something did happen?" Tina caught her.

Before she could answer, a group of guys was walking their way. They turned their heads to see the football team coming out for lunch. Mercedes was turning her head back to her food when she saw Mike and Sam veering off from the group.

Mike got there first, kissing Tina on the cheek and scooting in to sit beside her.

Sam followed right after him.

Mercedes looked at him, hoping to catch him glancing over at her. Then, she could at least give him a salutatory smile.

He ignored her, smiling as she sat directly in front of her, beside Quinn.

Then out of nowhere, she felt a presence beside her and looked up. "Noah." He must've veered off with Sam and Mike. She hadn't noticed.

"I'm hoping this seat ain't taken?"

She put her things on the ground, allowing him to have the space, and smiled at him as he sat. Despite everything that happened, they had had a great time at homecoming a couple weeks ago. He was a gentleman all night and made good on his promise to spend the night with her. Since then, they had hung out almost every night they were both free, sometimes taking their breaks together at the bakery, but nothing more than that. Still, they were doing pretty well.

Sam, on the other hand, was a different story. He was barely being cordial with Mercedes. He didn't speak to her unless absolutely necessary, stayed out until curfew every night just to avoid being home with her, and wasn't even riding with her to and from school anymore. The kicker was that whoever he was riding with didn't pick him up at the bakery. He would walk somewhere to meet them for whatever reason, meaning Mercedes didn't even know who it was. She was dying to find out.

Just before Noah left, he asked Mercedes if he could talk to her in private.

"Sure," she said, following him out of earshot of her friends.

"So, things between us have been going pretty well, huh? Now that you're okay with being seen in public with me and all?" He joked.

A grin lit up her face. "Yeah. Yeah, they have."

"I know we've been kind of all over the place since we met, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to try this whole thing again."

She frowned at him out of confusion.

"I, this. Us," He stammered and gestured in between them. "I want to go on a first date." He tilted his head back as he thought about his words. "Second date. Third? I'm not really sure if the other ones really count."

Mercedes let out a laugh as her gaze slowly drifted to her feet. "Noah…" Had this been any other time, she wouldn't have hesitated so. But she couldn't just say yes. Not with everything that was going on. Sam already wasn't talking to her and there was no way that dating the guy she rejected him for would help. And if she was honest, even after homecoming, it wasn't Noah that she couldn't take her mind off of. It was still Sam. She was still into Noah for sure. But how much?

"You still there?" Noah asked, a soft tilted grin on his face.

Her head shot up. "Yeah, sorry."

"Thought I lost you for a minute. So, what do you say?"

"Um, can I have some time to think about it?"

His grin fell. "Oh. So, my chances aren't as good as I thought?"

You said it, not me. "No, that's not it at all." She put her hand on his arm. "I just have a lot going on right now and—"

He could see where this was going. "Kind of like the last time we stopped dating." That was the same reason that they never went much further than hanging out before. She said she had a lot going on, but he could tell that she really just wasn't that into him.

"No! I'm not trying to make up an excuse, I swear. Trust me, if you knew about my life right now, you would agree. When were you thinking? For our date?"

"Next Friday. There's no game and I don't have to work."

She nodded. "Why don't I give you an answer by Monday? Just give me 72 hours and I'll get back to you."

He agreed, albeit halfheartedly.

They said goodbye and Mercedes went back over to the table, where Mike and Sam were leaving. As Sam left, she heard him say something to Quinn.

"We're all set for next Friday, right?"

"I sure hope so." Quinn smiled sweetly.

That weekend, the girls gathered at Kurt's house for a sleepover and movie marathon.

In between movies while they were all in the kitchen refilling snack bowls and microwaving yet another bag of popcorn, Mercedes decided to ask the question that had been on her mind for the past 24 hours and counting.

"Hey, Quinn, the other day at lunch, Sam said something about next Friday? What was that about?"

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Kurt smirked.

"How could she? She's barely hung out with us in the past two weeks and doesn't even listen when we're talking," Tina quipped.

"Guys, chill out, jeez." Santana looked at Mercedes. "It doesn't matter."

She frowned suspiciously. "Well now, I really want to know. What is it?"

Kurt went into the pantry for more potato chips, his personal favorite movie snack. "Q, why don't you do the honors?"

Across the bar from Mercedes, Quinn leaned in and smiled wide before saying, "Sam and I have a date."

Santana's eyes studied Mercedes for her reaction.

As Tina and Kurt celebrated along with the cheerleader, Mercedes froze.

Sam didn't tell her about any date.

Actually, Sam hadn't been telling her about anything lately.

"Wow," was all she said.

"I know right? When he left super early at homecoming without a word, let me tell you, I was pissed. Mike told me he wasn't feeling well, but he couldn't have told me that himself? So I thought, 'well, the proof's in the pudding Quinnie, he's just not that into you.' The day after, I was prepared to send him a strongly worded text on how inconsiderate he was but he asked if he could buy me lunch to apologize. Then, he explained that the whole night brought up some things for him from his past and he just had to get out of there. So, I gave him a second chance because even I'm not that cruel. We've talked like every night since then and he's been really sweet, walking me to class and everything."

"And riding to school with you. Some mornings and evenings those must be hmm?" Tina wiggled her eyebrows.

Mercedes, shocked, looked over to Santana, whose face was in her hands. Quinn was who Sam had been catching rides with? How had she not known this? More importantly, how had Santana not told her?

"And we've just been having a lot of fun together." She blushed. "He's a really nice guy."

"Maybe this time, your man-friend will stick, hmm?" Kurt teased her. "You know you don't have the best track record with anything more than a situationship."

"That'll all depend on him. I just hope he doesn't try to get too involved too quickly."

Mercedes was beyond bewildered. "But you just said that he told you about how homecoming brought up something from his past. Seems like you're already pretty involved."

"Yeah, because he was explaining why he stood me up. But don't get it twisted, I'm neither his keeper nor his therapist. I mean, you know how the nice guys are. One minute, they're buying you lunch. The next, they're inviting you to have these deep revealing conversations. Too much too fast."

"Isn't that kind of the point of meaningful relationships though? To have those deep conversations to get to know someone and bond with them?"

"Sure, when you're 30," Quinn laughed. "But we are too young and too hot to become so heavily involved with one person. All five of us. Plus, we're in high school. None of our relationships are meant to go the distance in the first place. That's why I like to have a little fun with mine. I haven't checked the 'nice guy' off of my bucket list yet and this feels like my chance, so I'm going for it."

She wasn't sure what she was hearing, but Mercedes was sure that she didn't like the sound of it. "So, what? You're just letting him take you out to check some box? Do you even actually like him?"

Quinn stood up, not appreciating the accusatory nature of the conversation. "Christ, what's with the third degree? He's just a guy, Cedes. They come and go like the tide whether we like them or not. Chill."

Hearing Quinn say that only quenched the fire that had been brewing inside of her. "Have you ever thought that all guys aren't created equal? Some guys are different than others and deserve not to be a part of your romance scratch-offs."

"Whoa, okay." Kurt zoomed over to Mercedes' side.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Quinn raised her voice.

Realizing how bad this looked, Mercedes' demure nature immediately returned. She looked around at her friends and muttered, "Nothing. I'm going to go to the bathroom." She quickly left the kitchen and darted up the stairs.

When alone in one of the upstairs bedrooms, she wasted no time in sending Noah a text.

Yes to next Friday.

If Sam was going to date Quinn, then there was no reason to hold out for his sake. She deserved to get on with her life just as much as he did. If he was going to go on a date with one of her best friends and not say anything to her about it, then his teammate was fair game, too.

Santana followed her. "This doesn't look like the bathroom." She joked.

Mercedes turned around. "I'm mad at you."

"Clearly I'm not the only one. You left Quinn within an inch of her life back there."

"You knew about this and didn't tell me? About their date or the fact that she was the person he's been spending all of his time with?"

Santana shrugged, helpless. "What was I supposed to do? You've completely checked out and even if I did tell you, it's not like you would've listened."

"So you just decided not to tell me?"

"Okay, let's say I told you. What would you have done? Gone back to Sam and begged for forgiveness? Told Quinn to 'back off your man'?"

Mercedes didn't have a response for her.

"Exactly. You don't have any claim over either of them, Cedes. If they want to date, that's their business."

"But Quinn doesn't care anything about him!" She yelled but stayed quiet enough for no one else to hear them. "She doesn't know what he's been through or what he wants in life. And she doesn't care about learning about any of it. She just wants to use him like she uses all the other guys she dates."

"And what's wrong with that?" Kurt appeared in the doorway. "Sure, you make fun of her for it, we all do. But since when do you actually care about how she lives her dating life?"

"It's nothing, Kurt."

"Will you stop saying that? Ever since homecoming you've been off. It's obviously not nothing. What's really going on?"

Before Mercedes could answer, Tina showed up just as abruptly as Kurt a few minutes prior. "Quinn's mom called and she had to leave. Family thing."

"Good," said Kurt. "Now, we can give Mercedes our undivided attention while she explains what just happened."

Looking at the only friend who knew her secret, Mercedes asked for help with her eyes.

"2 seconds ago you were mad at me. Now you want my guidance?" Santana asked.

Keeping her gaze, she nodded silently.

Santana rolled her eyes. Bless her friend and her debilitating introvertedness. After this whole debacle was over, they needed to work on her social skills. "Remember how I told you the shit had already hit the fan at homecoming? This is it disgustingly swirling down on top of us. Might as well tell them yourself before things blow up any more than they already have."

Mercedes took a deep breath as she prepared to give her friends the rundown of homecoming night.

Mercedes and Quinn didn't talk for the rest of the weekend. That Monday, Mercedes stood at her locker watching on as the football team celebrated last Friday's victory. Even though she and Sam were still at odds, she was really proud of him. He was really proving himself, not that he needed to do so with her. She believed in him the moment he told her what he wanted to do with his football career. But she had to admit, him winning game after game for the Titans was something she didn't know would feel so good to witness.

"I know," a voice said from behind her.

She jumped. "Quinn, hey. You know what?"

"I know what's been going on with you." She leaned up against the locker beside Mercedes'. "I also know why you flipped out on me the other day and why you've been so out of it since homecoming."

"Why is that?"

She tilted her head toward the athletes gathered in the hallway. "Because of him."

She wasn't supposed to find out. Especially not like this. "I think you may be mistaken."

She shook her head. "I may be blonde, but I'm not dumb, Mercedes. You really like him. Kurt and Tina told me."

That was a private conversation. How could they? Mercedes gulped. "I, I what?"

"Sam is your family now and you have to look out for him. Realizing that you like someone a lot more than you should doesn't make that easy." She redirected her eyes to the team. "We all know you like him. It's easy to see. You and Noah have been—"

"Me and Noah?"

"Yeah." Quinn smiled, thinking it was obvious. "You two have been spending much more time together than before. You obviously like him more than you did when you two went out the first time. When Sam showed up and you were supposed to be protecting him, you dedicated a lot of time to that. But having a new beau means you can't spend as much time doing that."

For the first time, Mercedes looked to see Noah a few inches over from Sam. She hadn't noticed he was there. She sighed a sigh of relief, "I do really like him."

"And Sam and I have also been hanging out, which makes it harder for you to keep tabs on him to make sure he's okay. Since we're best friends, it's easier to just grill me and make sure my intentions are pure so that he doesn't get hurt. Kurt and Tina explained it all. Well, mostly Kurt." She chuckled. "Bottom line is I understand."

Mercedes had to remind herself to thank them. "I'm really sorry, Q. It's just that Sam has been through so much, you know? I just want him to be happy."

"You don't have to worry about him, Mercedes. Not with me. I know that I have a reputation for stringing guys along, but—"

"I mean, it's more than just a reputation, it's kind of what you do." And she wasn't going to let her do it to Sam.

"Okay, fair point. But all the guys I date are always lowlives, cheaters, or sometimes both. Sam is different and I plan on treating him that way. So can we call a truce? I need my friend back."

Mercedes gave her a smile. "Sure." She hugged her.

"And maybe, if both of our dates go well, we could do a double date sometime soon! What do you think?"

Dear God, I hope not. "Sounds like a great idea."

As they walked off to class together, Mercedes didn't feel much different than before. Quinn had said those exact same words about the other guys she'd dated shortly before she ended up breaking their hearts or ghosting them altogether. As far as she was concerned, Quinn was still not good for Sam and she needed to do something about it. Fast.

"Okay, no. Absolutely not. This is totally wrong!" Sitting on her kitchen counter, Mercedes booed as she watched Noah's 3rd attempt at 7-Up cake. He was preparing for some bakeoff fundraiser his parents were having and it was going less than stellar.

"What?" Noah laughed. "I started with cake mix and you said to cut that out, so I made it from scratch. Then after the batter disaster, you said my lemon to lime ratio was off. What did I do wrong now?"

She smiled at him.

"It's the soda, isn't it? Does it need to be cold or something?"

"Nope. Not even close."

"More flour?"

"Uh uh."

"Eggs too room temp?"

She giggled, "That one doesn't even make sense."

He shrugged. "Then I'm all out of guesses."

She hopped off the counter and put her hand on his shoulder. "You're not having fun," she said softly. "If there's one thing Grandmother has taught me, it's that whenever you do something for someone, you have to enjoy doing it or it means nothing. Whether it's making food, buying a gift, or even holding the door open as someone walks in behind you, you have to put the love into it You have to have fun."

He shook his head. "I've never heard that in my life."

She squinted at him. "How did you grow up in the South and not learn the importance of a labor of love?"

"Ahh," he held his finger up at her, "see, that's where you messed up. I grew up in the South, but my parents left when they were teens."

She shook her head at him. "Okay well, let me show you how to do it." She went to wash her hands when she heard someone walking past the kitchen. It was Sam. "Hey, can you give me just one second? I'll be right back." She left Noah without waiting for an answer.

"Sam, can I talk to you?" She called out as followed him.

Sam continued walking and ignoring her.

"Sam."

He ignored her all the way to his room, where he shut the door. Or so he thought. He actually shut her foot that she stuck in at the last second in the door.

"Sam we need to talk." Mercedes crossed into the room, closing the door behind her.

"There's nothing for us to talk about," He spat.

"You can't go on that date with Quinn on Friday."

"Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do and who I can and can't go out with?" He turned around, anger already in his eyes.

Mercedes took a breath. "Sam, Quinn is a great friend to me and I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world, but she's not the person you think she is."

"That makes two of you," he said as stone-faced as when she came in.

She tried to avoid thinking about how much it hurt her to hear him say that. "She's just not the type of girl you need to be with right now."

"What makes you think you know what I need?"

"Because…"

"Do you want to know what I need, Mercedes? I need someone who won't be afraid to be seen holding my hand in public or caught staring at me for a little too long across a lunch table. More importantly, I need someone who can actually be there for me. You've made it very clear that that's not you, so why can't you just let me be?"

"Look, just because you're upset with me, it doesn't mean I'm not still there for you. I told you we couldn't be together because I wanted to make sure you could be happy here."

"Oh, so that's why you're also going on your own date this Friday? With Noah? To ensure my happiness?"

She frowned. "How do you know about that?"

"So it's true? We're teammates, Mercedes. We have a locker room. We talk. Actually, Noah talks and I eavesdrop because I'd rather walk on hot coals than hold a conversation with him. But he starts talking about you and," he shrugged, feeling his anger wear off as he looked at her, "I can't help myself."

"This isn't about me and Noah. It's about you and Quinn. There are better girls out there for you than her."

His anger returned. "Well considering the fact that she won't talk about how much we've bonded, kiss me, and then take another guy's hand right in front of my face, she'd still be a hell of a lot better than you so far. From where I stand, someone who won't toy with me just because they can is enough."

Mercedes shook her head. "Please, Sam. Don't do this. Quinn doesn't want to get to know you, she doesn't want to be there for you, and if you let her, she will toy with you and it'll feel much worse than what I did."

He let out a mirthless chuckle. "Why do you even care? It's not like this is going to change anything between us. You'll still be going out with Noah and we still won't be able to be together."

"That doesn't mean I don't still want what's best for you. Sam, I'm begging you."

He made his way over to her, slowly wrapped one arm around her waist, the other across her upper back, and pulled her in for a lingering kiss. "This," he whispered, "this is what's best for me. This is what I need, Cedes. But pretty soon, you're going to be dating Noah and I'm going to have to deal with seeing you two together every day. So I'm begging you now. Please just let me be with Quinn. Even if she does end up hurting me in the end, at least I'll have had something that didn't make me feel awful for a while. Please."

She stared up at him, feeling that same spark she felt when they first met. Even after all this time not only was it still there, but it had gotten harder and harder to ignore. She barely resisted the urge to take back everything after their first kiss and collapse into his hold. She couldn't tell why or how she knew it, but this was what she needed too. She never wanted him to let go of her, but she knew he had to. She breathed him in, feeling that this would be the last time they would ever be so close, and parted ways with him. On the other side of his door, she sunk down to the floor in a failed attempt to gather her thoughts. She sent Noah home shortly after, not in the mood to help him anymore.

That night, as she lay awake in her bed, she talked to the only person she felt would understand.

"Mom, I think my life is spiraling out of control." She had to stop herself. Even she could tell that that was the dramatic teenager in her talking. "I don't know what this is, but I've never felt it before. I think that I might need Sam just as much as he needs me. He's already taught me so much and it feels like every time we're together I can do anything. Be anything. He makes me feel… whole." A tear slipped down her cheek. "He reminds me a lot of you. And for the first time since you left, it feels like I finally have someone who… It's like he's helping me become the person I would be if you were still here. If things hadn't gone so horribly wrong. Without him, it's like I can feel myself drifting back into this dark space. And Mom, I don't wanna go back. Not now that I know what it feels like to really live. I just wish I could understand what's happening to me. None of it makes sense and without you here to help me figure it out…" She stopped her rambling. It clearly wasn't doing her any good. "I guess I just wish that you were still here. Then, this would all be so much easier. I miss you." She sniffed. Even though she knew her mom wasn't physically there, saying this always felt like losing her all over again. "And I love you. So much. More than anything. Goodnight."

So, if you read my other story, Dreams Come True, you know where I've been (and if you haven't, check it out!). I graduated and I'm in the middle of moving and getting ready for grad school, so I've been all over the place. Hopefully, things will be somewhat back to normal for me soon. Until then, I can't wait to read what y'all think as always and I hope you enjoyed this update!