A/N: Okay, y'all! Here's another chapter for you! I tried not to make this one too heavy, as the next few may put you through the wringer (fair warning lol). I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, I've started a new series of sorts called The Playlist. It's going to be (hopefully) a bunch of songfics based on different versions of Samcedes. I'm going to be updating it soon with another story, so give it a read if you've got time! Lastly, thanks to everyone who left a review (including the one person who asked for an update a few hours ago, haha) and feel free to do so again for this chapter! Enjoy.

Sam checked his teeth in the mirror after brushing them for the third time.

"How are your gums not bleeding yet?" Mercedes asked from the doorway.

He looked to the side. "I don't have gingivitis. That's how."

She chuckled. He was meeting with a football recruiter from Alabama today and he was making sure every part of his appearance screamed, "sign me!" His teeth were no exception. "Are you excited?"

"Over the moon. Today's the day, Cedes. I can feel it in my bones. And when I feel something in my bones, I'm never wrong." He whisked past her and into the kitchen. "I've even been studying the history of the team and its alumni so I can brown-nose a little. Recruiters like brown-nosing."

"I hope you've had some time to study for your chemistry exam next week in between those sessions," she said.

Since coming back to school, it had been a lot harder for him to retain information. His doctor said that it may have had something to do with the long-term effects of his concussion. Sam hadn't been great at school to begin with, but now, he was really struggling. He needed to keep his grades up for a good chance at a good school, but his courses this Spring, particularly chemistry, were already making that difficult for him.

"I've got that under control, trust me."

"Sure you do." She then followed him to his room. "What are you doing? Why are you going to so many places so fast?"

"Maybe I have a little too much energy." He smiled as she jogged from side to side. "I'm so pumped about this, Mercedes. I can't even explain it. " Truthfully, he was also probably still a little pumped from his success at the banquet the weekend prior.

She gave him a small grin. "I'm really happy for you, Sam. I just want you to know that."

He stopped jogging. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She nodded.

"No, you're not," he said matter of factly. "We can sit here all day, recruiter be damned."

"I'm fine, Sam. Really." She sat beside him and interlocked their fingers.

He'd let it go for now. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

She sighed. Tomorrow, they were going to tell Abeline about their relationship. Hopefully, she wouldn't flip out on them and they'd be able to officially start dating, if not now, whenever Sam went back home to his mom. "Yeah. It's now or never, right? Before I change my mind yet again." She joked.

He chuckled.

"Grandmother's probably never going to see me the same again. Not in a bad way, but just in general."

"She may not be phased by it. She might even be happy for us." He nudged her with a smile. "Wanna hear something funny?"

"What?"

"I walked in on her and Harry yesterday."

She gasped and jumped to face him. "No way! Doing what? Actually, wait." She held her hand up. "Don't tell me. I don't want to know. That would be so weird."

He laughed. "Not like that! I mean, sort of like that. But it wasn't dirty or anything."

"Oh." A part of her felt relieved. "So what was it?"

"Remember that time we walked in on them with the wine? When we bailed on my surprise party? They were downstairs in the bakery doing the same thing at the prep table. And they were holding hands."

"Holding hands?" She was definitely surprised, but still expected more.

"It wasn't just holding hands, though." He turned to face her, scooting a little closer. Then, he snuck his fingers in between hers, both their palms grazing the floor, and started orbiting his thumb around hers slowly. "It was like this. And then," he tilted her chin so she had no choice but to look at him, "they were looking at each other just like this. Well, almost just like this."

She hadn't heard a thing he said since he touched her, so she just mumbled, "I see."

"So really," he said just loud enough for her to hear, "she's probably so deeply in love that she'll be okay with us being deeply in love. Hell, she might even be happy for us." He looked at his watch and jumped up. "Crap, I've gotta get downstairs. Wait for me to get back? I want you to be the first person to hear after your grandma, whatever happens."

She nodded with a closed-mouth smile.

"Okay. You're sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, babe. Go." She pushed him gently.

He beamed. "Alright." He went to leave but swung back around for a kiss.

She chuckled, "Minty fresh."

"Hell yeah." He kissed her again, then once more, "For good measure," before leaving.

Mercedes' smile fell slowly as she walked back to her room. She stood looking at herself in the mirror. How was it that she looked so much like her mom? Sure, she was her mom's child, so it was a given, but the resemblance was uncanny. It made things much harder on days like this.

Abeline knocked on her door quietly. "Hey, Sunshine." She walked over to her and placed her hands on her shoulders, also looking at her in the mirror. "Look at you, with your pretty self. Just as pretty as ever."

"Thank you, Grandmother."

The older woman laid her head on her hands where they rested. "How ya feeling?"

Mercedes' shoulders rose and sank as she slowly filled and emptied her lungs. She pressed her lips into a tight line she shook her head. "I don't really know to be honest."

Abeline moved one of her hands to work circles on her back. "That's okay. You get to feel however you want today, even if you don't know what that feeling is, hear me?"

Her brows drew together and tears pricked her eyes. She nodded in response.

"You're up and moving today!" She tried to encourage her. "That's something. And you look better than usual. That's more than we've gotten before. Have you talked to Moonshine today?"

She wiped her eyes free of the tears that pooled but never fell. "First thing this morning."

"Have you two decided what you're going to do today?"

"She wants to watch The Princess Bride. I told her we would have to wait until she was old enough and now that she's officially 8 years old, it's practically all she can talk about." She smiled a bit.

"Good, that's good. Well, I'm getting ready to take Sam to meet with the recruiter. But before I go, there's something I want to give you." She went to pick something up off the nightstand behind her.

Mercedes turned to see her holding an envelope. "What's that?"

"From your mama. She gave it to me a few weeks before she passed and told me to hold onto it for you. I guess she didn't trust your daddy to take it seriously." Abeline looked down at the envelope. "She told me to wait until you were grown, at the very least 18, but I think that whatever's in here, you've earned the right to at least have it in your possession if nothing else." She offered it to her. "You're 17, so close enough, but you've also gone through too much to not be ready."

"Do you know what's in it?" Mercedes examined the envelope, pristine as if it had just been used, but with her mom's handwriting on it:

To my daughter, Mercedes

From Mom

Her grandmother must've kept it in a really safe place.

"No clue. She asked me not to look at or show it to anyone and I obeyed her wishes. You're free to open it whenever. Could be today, could be tomorrow, could be three years from now. But you should have it. She'd want you to have it."

Mercedes gave her a hug. "Thank you."

"Sam Evans." Coach Luke Madison smiled as he greeted him.

Sam stood and shook his hand. "Coach Madison. It's nice to finally meet with you again."

The coach nodded. "It's about time, isn't it?"

Sam agreed. "You know Coach Beiste, obviously. My mom couldn't make it today, but this is Abeline, Ms. Abby, she's my guardian right now."

"It's nice to meet you, Coach Madison." Abeline stood, gave the man a hug, and whispered, "anyone interested in giving this boy a full scholarship can call me Ms. Abby."

Coach Madison laughed. "Well, don't be surprised if you hear me calling you that sooner than later."

The four of them sat at a roundtable in Coach Beiste's office.

"So, Sam, you've had a pretty interesting season." Coach Madison took some papers out of a folder and started looking over them. "Your rushing yards as a quarterback are particularly interesting. 319? That's more than most running backs at your level."

"He's one of the best runners we've got." Coach Beiste patted Sam on the back. "More rushing yards than any member on the team."

Madison nodded. "And when considering your limited time on the field this season, one can only imagine what you would've done had you been in it from the get-go. I'm seeing you also won big at the sports banquet. MVP, Rookie of the Year? Those are important to us at UA. And your rushing yards definitely qualify you as a running quarterback, which is something we're hoping to have more of in the coming years. Now, let's get to the meat, shall we?" Madison closed his folder and looked up at Sam. "I'm not here because you don't want money from us."

Sam laughed. "It would be nice to get a scholarship, yes, sir."

"Truthfully, Sam, I think we may be able to help you out with that. In terms of scholarships, especially outside of those awarded by the athletic department, UA is one of the most generous colleges in the country." His expression took a bit of a turn as he re-opened the folder. "I do want to talk to you really quickly about your grades, though. Scholarships at UA, even athletic scholarships, aren't just about your athletic performance. There are also extracurriculars and community service, leadership and interpersonal skills, things like that. Your grades are an addition to that. 2 Bs and 3 Cs isn't horrible, but in terms of money, it's generally not gonna get you a bunch."

Beiste took a piece of paper out of his own folder. "About that, his transcript has been updated to explain that this semester was led by some pretty extenuating circumstances from the start. But he's a solid B student, as you can see in the years before."

"I also had a concussion toward the last couple of weeks, so my exams were a little off, too."

Madison took the transcript and gave it a once-over. "That's nice to know, but you're still gonna have to do a bit better this semester and the next. I want you to really focus on keeping your grades up. My advice? Nothing below a B+, strive for As. That's going to put you in the best position academically. I see you're in the glee club. Have you had any other extracurriculars or community service hours?"

Abeline was quick to Sam's rescue. "He works about every day in my bakery without even being asked. Free of charge." She winked at him when Madison took a note of it.

Sam smiled. She'd made sure he knew that working in the bakery was mandatory from the day he got here and she'd been paying him under the table, so neither were true. But he would take whatever he could. "We also donate our leftovers in the bakery to people in need in the neighborhood. And at my old school, I was a part of Yearbook Club and Model UN."

"Even after he got his quarterback spot," said Beiste, "he still volunteered for helping with management. Even now."

Madison nodded, impressed. "All of that is fantastic. Keep up what you're doing and see if you can continue some of what you were doing at your old school here. This coming week, if possible. You want to show that your involvement is something you take seriously. I'd also suggest another sport or two to show your varied interests. Okay, that's all I have at the moment." He closed the folder again, propping himself up on his elbows. "Tell me about yourself, Sam. Who are you? I'm all ears."

Sam took a breath. He'd practiced this. "I'm a very responsible person. I'm good with all sorts of people, too. I—"

"I'm gonna stop you right there and ask you to start again, this time with something that you didn't rehearse." Madison shot him a look that told him he'd seen this before.

Sam laughed nervously. "Yeah, sorry." He thought about what he could say that wouldn't totally embarrass him. "I'm a momma's boy."

You idiot. What happened to not totally embarrassing yourself?

"By that, I mean my mom and I are really close."

Madison held back his laugh. "I know, I saw your MVP speech. Real sweet."

"Yeah… she's always supported me. But football for me isn't just about her, you know, it's also about Ms. Abby and Coach Beiste and everyone else in the town who's supported me. Everyone's been so welcoming and I play football not just because I love it, but because I wanted to make everyone who supports me proud." He nodded with self-satisfaction. "I'm someone who doesn't like letting people down."

"Seems like a lot to put on yourself, what with you being so young. You're what, 16?"

"17 in April. And if we're being honest, putting the hopes and dreams of everyone around me on my back is the least of my problems." He was the only one who laughed. "Uh, I guess what I really mean to say is, I'm so used to moving around and being let down myself, football helps me not to do that with other people. And it's just kind of always been there." That came out wrong. "Not like in a boring way! What I mean by that is that it's been the one constant in my life. And I- I always want it to be." Finished, he smiled as if he hadn't just said multiple different things that weren't in any way connected while three pairs of eyes studied him doubtfully. "So it would be really great to get into UA on a football scholarship and- and do that there."

"Have you heard of our Crimson College Camps?" Madison asked after an awkward silence. "We have a one-day and a one-week residential camp."

Sam nodded. "Of course, yes. But I can never get transportation for the one-day camp and as for the one-week, I can't afford it."

"Okay." He made more notes in his folder. "I'll tell you what, I'm gonna see if I can't get you on a scholarship for the one-week camp. It's going to be in July. We can't cover transportation, but if you find a way to work that out—"

"He'll have transportation," Abeline said confidently. "Don't you worry your head about that. You just get him that scholarship and he'll be there."

Madison chuckled. "Alright. There are a few other camps that I'm going to be sending to your coach, Sam, and I'll see if I can't at least get a registration fee or two waved for you."

Sam frowned. "You can do that?"

"Friends in high places. Plus, most of the camps are going to be from July to August, and by then, the list of the state's top 100 players will be out, so that will absolutely help or hurt your chances."

"Any idea which one?" Abeline asked. "Helping or hurting?"

The coach sucked in some air and shook his head. "I can't say. Coaches can't comment or interfere with stuff like that for players we haven't signed. NCAA rules."

They went over a few more things before their meeting ended. Coach Madison shook hands with Sam and Beiste before going over to Abeline last. But Sam had to rectify his earlier statements. He couldn't send the coach away thinking he was a nutjob who couldn't form coherent thoughts.

"Uh, Coach?"

"Yeah, son?"

"About what I said earlier, when I was telling you about myself, I want to clear something up if that's okay."

He nodded for him to go ahead.

"Football keeps me grounded and sane. And despite what I said, I do mean that it's always been there. Even when I'm moving from one school to the next or foster home to group home to temporary placement. Usually, when I move I feel alone, or I am alone, or I have to start everything all over again. But not when it comes to football." He shook his head. "Because no matter where I go, everyone plays football the same, and no matter where I go, I'm always good at it. It always connects me to people and tradition and… stability. And when you've lived a life like I have, even when you're just 16, that's not something that you take for granted ever. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to hold onto football for the rest of my life because as someone who loves the game and is also so good at it, I kind of owe it to… it? Football. I owe it to football," he said it more confidently this time. "It's like those things, what are they called?" He thought for a second before snapping. "IOUs! Basically, my whole life, I've just been handing football IOUs over and over and over again and I won't pay it back in full until I help lead my team to a Superbowl win for the first, second, or even fifth time. So, if you want to know who I am, I'm a foster kid who talks a little too much and is also currently in an everlasting debt to football. And paying that debt starts with you," he pointed at the coach, "and it starts with UA. Or at least I want it to." When he finished this time, he didn't smile awkwardly or feel anxious or embarrassed. That was a good sign. He could feel it in his bones.

With a smile, Coach Madison said, "Thanks for that, Sam."

He then turned to Abeline to shake her hand, but accepted her second hug with a chuckle.

"Nice to meet you again, Coach Madison."

"You too, Ms. Abby." He winked at her.

But as Madison went to leave, he pivoted. "You know, in an official capacity, I can't comment on whether or not I think you'd make it on that top 100 list. But I could say, in the most unofficial capacity, meaning you didn't hear it from me, that there are people talking about you all over the country, son. And they only talk about you when you're really bad, which it could be inferred that you're not, or really good." He turned toward the door for leaning back quickly to say, "Like, top 50 good. Maybe top 25. I'll be in touch."

"CEDES!" Sam screamed out her name as he ran up the stairs. "CEDES?! WHERE ARE YOU?" He ran straight to her room and found her standing in front of her closet, her head turned toward the door. He closed the door behind him, ran over to her, and twirled her around much like he did at the banquet. "You wouldn't believe it!"

Mercedes laughed as she held onto him for dear life. Picking her up and swinging her all over the place must be his thing now.

He gave her a celebratory kiss before planting kisses all over her face. "Muah! Muah! Muah! Muah!"

She laughed again, not caring that someone may hear or walk in on them.

"Cedes, oh my god. You honestly wouldn't believe it. You wouldn't believe it!"

"Will you tell me what I wouldn't believe already?" Even though the day had been hard, she couldn't not smile at how happy he was.

"The recruiter! Holy crap. Holy crap!" He went on to tell her every single detail of the meeting in about 30 seconds, not even slowing down as Mercedes tried to follow his words with a more confused smile. But as he finished, he noticed the same thing he'd noticed this morning. "You're not happy. Why aren't you happy?"

"I am happy," she said, not knowing where he got the idea. "I'm smiling, ain't I?"

"Yeah, but you're- you're not-" his smile faltered. "What's wrong?"

"Sam, I'm happy for you. Really, I am. Today's just been…" She looked away from him, but when she saw him reach for her hands, she found his eyes again. "Can I take you somewhere?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sure. Can I put my things up first?"

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll be in the car."

The car ride was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. When they pulled up at a cemetery, Sam frowned. "This isn't scary at all." He joked.

She grinned. "Come on." She got out and retrieved flowers from the back seat.

Hand in hand, she led him to a headstone, where he palmed his face.

"Shit. Oh, no."

She laughed softly as she squatted in front of the stone, removing the old flowers and replacing the fresh ones. "It's okay, Sam."

"No, it's not. How could I not have known?" How had he learned so much about her Mom and never learned the actual date of her passing?

"Maybe because I never told you." She brushed off the headstone and kissed it. "Hi, Mom. Hard to believe it's been 8 years, huh?" She stood back up, talking to Sam now. "I honestly have no idea how I made it this far."

Sam looked at her and then back at the grave. "Maybe it's because she's been watching over you. And listening when you talk, like you said."

Mercedes smiled hard, rolling her eyes. "Jeez. In case I never told you this, you two would've gotten along so freaking well."

He smirked. "Really?"

"Hell yeah. God, she would've fucking adored you. You're both strange and quirky and just happy for no reason. Always smiling over something. Just like that!" She pointed at him, laughing when his smirk spread. "Both of you also knew me like the back of your freaking hand." A chuckle, "If she were alive today, you'd probably spend hours talking about how frustrated you both are with me. How much you wish I'd just do stuff instead of just thinking about it or talking about it."

"Makes sense. I have been really feeling the need to vent about that to someone lately."

Her laughter echoed in the empty open air. "Shut up. She probably would've fought my grandmother tooth-and-nail to allow you to stay with us instead of her because she just thinks you're so cool. We probably would've gotten together a lot sooner, too."

"Even if we were both living under her roof?"

She nodded, affirming his surprise. "She was weird like that. She'd also find a not-so-nice way to tell us to get over ourselves and get our shit together. She'd sit me down and say, 'stop pushing him into that girl's arms and grab him by the face and tell him you love him!'"

They laughed.

"Then, she'd sit you down and say something like, "'stop fantasizing about running her boyfriend over with a monster truck! Just take her and drive off into the sunset!' She was a hopeless romantic, though. So it kind of makes sense when you think about it." She took a deep, cold breath. "I was going to come while you were gone so that I could have my time with her and not be distracted in case you came back from the recruiter with bad news."

"Why'd you wait?"

Another breath. "I come here every year on my own like clockwork. For the first few years, my grandfather would bring me. He'd stand under that tree over there," she pointed to the bare oak tree on the other side of the cemetery, "while I sat with her for a bit. I'd just sit and spend some time with her. When I started doing it, I may talk to her, but mostly I don't say anything. Then when he passed, my brother took his place. Same deal; we'd take the bus or he'd drive and stand there while I had some alone time."

She got strangely quiet and Sam felt her energy shift beside him.

"The past couple of years, I've just driven myself. My brother had started med school, I felt like he had better things to do." Still, she was able to smile some. "Don't tell my grandmother I took her car when I only had my learner's license."

"Why, I'd never." Sam pretended to be offended at the thought.

"Saying all of that to say, I'd been thinking a lot about something my grandmother said and my therapist said and you said time after time. About me doing things on my own and feeling like I have to brave everything by myself. I also realized that I've never let you in on anything good about me if that makes sense? I wanted to find something good to open up to you about. Then, my therapist gave me a homework assignment to share something good with someone. And this all just came together."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Sounds kinda quacked, I know."

He shook his head rapidly. "No, no it doesn't. Cedes, that sounds amazing. You should be really proud of yourself for that."

"Thanks. But yeah, I figured, much like my therapist did, that I should talk about things when they're good in addition to when they're not. And that may be the best time to talk about things is before I've used them to push myself to the margins of society for 8 years."

"Makes sense. Well, I'm glad you're opening up about this to me."

She fell silent again. Sam could tell she was having her time with her mom and he wanted to give her that. Then it hit him; he was the person she'd chosen to come with her and keep her company. He should be going toward the oak tree. But in the split second that it took his brain to tell his feet to move, she gently interlocked their fingers. Then she laid her head on his arm.

"Thank you for being someone I could open up to. Thank you for not leaving me."

Later that night, Sam was in his room waiting on his mom to call him so that they could talk about what Coach Madison said. She'd been saying she would give him a call since he'd got back with Mercedes, but it'd been over three hours and nothing. With Mercedes and Amaiya busy watching The Princess Bride in memory of her mom, Sam decided he would ask Mike if he wanted to hang out, maybe talk about Winter Formal plans, since it was next Friday. He went to the kitchen to grab something to drink and heard Abeline call his name from across the room.

"Do you think I could talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?" He sat down at the table.

He waited for a response as her gaze shifted away from him.

"Ms. Abby?"

She pulled it together. "Downstairs, if you don't mind. There's someone here to see you."

Sam stood back up. Abeline looked at him with… something he couldn't place. Was it worry? Sadness? Pity? He couldn't tell.

When they got downstairs, he followed her to her office, where he saw the last two people he expected to see.

"Mom? Shelly? What are you guys doing here?"