Revised Chapter (6)

Sam sat in the dentist chair awkwardly kicking his legs back and forth as he studied the familiar walls of Mercedes' dad's office. He sat waiting for Dr Jones to perform a routine check up on him with nervously coursing through his veins. The man entered the white room clutching Sam's medical file under his arm.

"Morning, Sir," Sam said a little too eagerly. Sam never knew if he should call him, Sir or Doctor so he usually called him one or the other at a given time. But it would be a bit awkward calling his someday father in law doctor once, not if, he married Mercedes as it seemed too formal.

"Morning, Sam. Let's get your teeth clean so I can start my examination," the man said with friendliness seasoning his words.

Sam nodded as the older man adjusted the chair before pulling a tray of clean instruments to the side of his head as he asked routine questioned.

Sam opened his mouth allowing the man to perform his duty wordlessly. The vibrating sound of the instrument filled the small room. The seeds of a comfortable silence sprouted between them but before it could grow the dentist decided to speak.

"Sam?"

Sam who couldn't move his mouth could only over a 'Hmm?' as saliva built up in his mouth.

"It's time you and I have a man-to-man."

Why Mercedes' father wanted to do it now with his hand in Sam's mouth and dangerous instruments surrounding him, Sam would not understand. It's not as if he would be able to answer any of the man's question even if he wanted. He grew worried; Dr Jones could easily cut his tongue off or shove something down his throat from his position. He knew her father was far from a murderer but fathers could sometimes get a bit overprotective of their daughters. Sam had once watched a movie in which a gangster killed a guy for merely looking at his daughter. Maybe he was overacting but he did not like being at a disadvantage.

"I talk; you listen?" The man suggested as if Sam had a choice in the matter.

'Hmm." Sam agreed.

"Mercedes is my only child thus it is only natural for me to be overcritical of whomever she brings home," The man explained. "I like you, Sam. I do. I also see you make her happy." His playful demeanour disappeared to be replaced with seriousness. "I make a lot of jokes, Sam, but what I am about to say I want you to take to heart. You look after Mercedes like she is made out of platinum. Mercedes' is soft and she's fragile. She has gone through things these past few years that I am not even fully aware of. So I need you, Sam, to look after my daughter because as much as I like you, it's hard for me to trust any man especially after what I've witnessed she had to go through. If you fail me and most importantly her, I will cut off the blood supply to your penis."

Instinctively Sam pressed his knees together as violent images played in his mind. Clearly something traumatic had happened to Mercedes while they were separated and clearly, it left a lasting effect not only on her but also her family. The thought of anybody hurting Mercedes sent him into a frenzy. He wanted to leave this office now and ask her what happened; who had hurt her so badly that it even worried her father. There was a time a few years ago when Mercedes just stopped talking to him for a few months; yes, Sam thought it was strange but he presumed she was doing it out of loyalty to a boyfriend or something. He chose to respect her wishes, as painful as they were.

"You weren't there, Sam. It was bad." David Jones said as images of his frail daughter lying in a hospital bed with red and purple marks burned across her skin. His baby girl who had shared so many things with him before refused to tell him or anyone what had actually happened that night.

He asked a question that no father ever wanted to ask his little girl; his voice broke with each word he said. He asked her if she was raped and waited for her to answer with bated breath as blood rushed to his head and his stomach dropped. She looked at him and with earnest yet pain-ridden eyes said 'no'. The doctor's examination thankfully echoed her words but there were marks on her tights indicating that her words were a few inches away from being a lie. She did not speak about it only pretended that nothing happened; she had a career and fans to think about there was no time to work through whatever had happened so it was swept under the rug.

"Just look after my daughter, Sam. I beg you to look after Mercedes." David knew that he would kill any man that hurt his daughter like that again. Though he was protective of Mercedes he knew that she also wanted the love of a man, thus he compiled a list of men that could be worthy of her; Sam was on the top of said list.

The rest of the appointment continued in silence. As curious as Sam was he thought it better to ask Mercedes directly what had happened rather than her father for he could see the pain in Dr Jones' eyes as memories ripped through his mind. Sam's mind concocted scenarios that no man would wish on his worst enemy. He needed her to tell him what had happened and he needed her to tell him now or else he would go crazy thinking of all the possibilities.

He knocked on the front door of her childhood home, he was a man on a mission. Today she would tell him everything: she had to. After his appointment with her father, he immediately sped over to her home. He waited for a few minutes until the door finally open to reveal the horrified face of Mrs Jones. In a matter of milliseconds, Sam's resolve evaporated only to be replaced with dread.

"Is Mercedes okay?" he asked.

"Have you been online today, Sam?" Mrs Jones asked ignoring his question whilst making way for him to enter.

Sam had forgotten his phone at home so he had not been on any social media site for the day.

"No, what happened?" Sam asked confused. Mrs Jones pressed her Smartphone in Sam's hand leaving him to do his own study. Sam read the website's news about Mercedes feeling all colour leave his body. If he weren't in the presence of a woman or raised by God-fearing parents, Sam would have probably used every curse word in existence.

He looked at the woman afraid of what her gaze would hold after reading the things they had said about him: some were truths others were fabricated. Unfortunately, the truths regarding his short career in adult entertainment were just as scandalous as the lies. Sure Sam would usually laugh it off when his friends joked about it but to him, it was a dark time he never wanted to relive. Having hormonal ladies old enough to be his mother feel him up was not as wonderful as Puck thought it was. Unlike Puckerman Sam did not want to get into the pants of the mother's of his friends.

"Ma'am…those things they said about me-"

"Are not true," she interrupted. "She told me the story years ago, Sam. And it does not make me look at you any differently."

To prove her point she threw her arms around Sam pouring as much motherly affection into the hug as humanly possible. She pulled away from him to cup his cheeks.

"Neither will your parents."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

"Because, I'm a parent and though no parent wants to make their child feel they need to choose that particular career, they will never love you any less. I can't help but be proud of you. Of course no parent wants to have their child use his body to help provide but you decided to man-up and do whatever you needed to do to provide for those you love. That is something to be proud of and as the mother of your girlfriend it just reassures me that you would do whatever you have to, to ensure that she is safe and happy."

Sam let out a small breath feeling some of the tension leave his body. He needed that. He needed to hear from someone that he wasn't the person the media painted him to be. He gave the woman a small smile thanking her.

"Thank you. Ma'am."

She patted his arm encouragingly.

"Go speak with Mercedes; she's been locked up in her room since the news broke this morning. You're the only she'll speak to now."

Sam nodded before doing what she asked of him. He ran upstairs and knocked on her door. He tried making his voice as gentle as possible.

"Mercedes, it's me. Please open the door, babe."

He heard shuffling and her disembodied voice coming from the other side of the door. The door opened to reveal her in an oversized shirt and leggings, her eyes were red and swollen from crying and her voice hoarse but that did little to stop her from continuing the conversation she was engrossed in over the phone.

" 'Mercedes, the good girl of RnB, seems to have it bad for the bad boys' the article reads. The curvy diva who dated the bad boy of RnB- All Grey Skies- for three months has been getting quite cosy with a blonde named Sam Evans. Get this; Blondie is an ex-prostitute. What does an ex-male prostitute want with a multi-millionaire singer, you may ask. The answer my dear reader; money. Blondie wants a sugar mama-"

"Ava, that's enough," Mercedes whispered to her publicist keeping her eyes downcast.

This was all her fault. She dragged Sam into this madness and now his dirty laundry was out in the open for all to see. He wasn't a prostitute- he never had sex with any of those women. There was a huge difference between being a prostitute and an exotic dancer. When Sam returned to McKinley it was common knowledge that he worked at a ladies club and in all honesty, it didn't look like it bothered him much. But years after during one of their late-night Skype chats Sam told her that stripping was the thing he felt most ashamed of. He told her how disgusted he felt having random women touch him like that.

'What would his students think...Oh hell...What would his parents think?'

Sam never told him and he never wanted to. Now all because of her fame, they would find out.

"Oh honey, that's not all. Pictures of you and your new boy toy are all over tabloid magazines- US weekly. I even have a People mag here showcasing a picture of the two of you kissing in front of a grocery store. Seriously, Mercedes, we built you an image! You're the good girl. The girl everybody loves! You're the freaking Whitney of your generation before she met Bobby! Sam whatever the hell his name is, is your Bobby!" Ava ranted. "Look, when you dated Grey, it was bad enough in the beginning but now this guy? An ex-stripper! What the hell?! Mercedes, you are my client, it's my job to protect you from bad publicity. We need to make a public statement about the nature of your relationship with Mr Evans- I have already had three publications, as well as E!News, call me for a comment-" "

Mercedes' could do little to stop her tears from falling. Sam moved over to try and offer her help but she shrugged him away. Sam, however, refused to obey choosing to invade her space and grab the phone from which shouts were coming from. He ended the call ignoring Mercedes' protest as he wrapped his arms around her body. The comfort his presence gave caused her to broke down sobbing against his chest not for her but for him.

If they were judging and criticizing her; she could have taken it, yeah maybe she would cry in a ball in the corner of her room in the dark where nobody could see her, but still, she would have taken it because she knew judgement came with fame. But they were judging Sam; her beautiful Sam. They were painting him as some shallow disgusting human being while he was far from that. They did not know Sam and now they were judging him like they knew him or even had the right to.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered against the wet material sticking to his chest. "It's all my fault."

Sam gently pulled away but still held her close by keeping his hands on her waist.

"It's not. How could you think that?"

"Sam, I can't claim to love you and pull you into this mess with me. People are spreading lies about you as if it is gospel. Have you read the horrible things people have said about you online?" She swept away tears staining her cheeks to no avail as only more followed. "I think it would be for the best if we broke up."

Something in Sam snapped; he was tired of the same song and dance when it came to them. Every time things started getting difficult Mercedes would jump ship: it happened in high school and it happened in New York. It was tiring. Sam could only pour so much of himself into her- there was a limit to what he could give without receiving.

"I'm a grown up, Mercedes. A damn grown up," Sam hissed. "Stop making decisions for the both of us- it's tiring. You do it so much, you don't notice it anymore! You're constantly telling me what you decide what's best for our relationship and I'm sick of it." Sam fisted his hand trying to control his frustration swelling up in his veins. "I don't need you telling me what I can and cannot handle, I'm a grown ass man, Mercedes, I can handle people throwing a few words my way. Do you want to know why?" He asked but he did not allow her to answer as he was the one who replied to his own question. "Because what we have is worth all the snide remarks and dirty looks the world gives us."

He took a deep calming breath as he ran his hand through his hair. He then threw his hands in the air in surrender

"You always do this, Mercedes and in all honesty it's tiresome. Every time when things start getting tough and people start having opinions, you bail. You look to other people to validate your choices; you did it when we broke up the first time in New York because your backup singers were worried about you dating a 'white guy' and you did it when you let Kurt and Rachel talk you into breaking up with me before you went on tour. You're doing it now too; you are letting other people's comments on something they don't know nor understand drive you in your wrong choices." He gave sad laugh casting his eyes to the ceiling as if searching for the face of his Maker. "I thought that after all these years that would have changed, I guess I was wrong." He shook his head sadly.

"I'm all in, Mercedes, I've always been all in. But I can't take this anymore. If you want to end it-" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "if you want to end this time, then we're done for good. I've been waiting on the side for you all these years but I'm not doing that anymore no matter how much I love you. I need you to show me you are all in because I want to marry you and have children. If you can't handle a few bumps in the road as a couple how are you going to handle them when you're married?"

Mercedes could only stare at Sam in silence with her arms wrapped around her body to keep herself from falling apart. She was half-blinded by fat tears welling up in her eyes as his words washed over her but not blind enough to watch him walk out of her room to leave her alone with her suffering as company.

The unruly knocking on his front door forced Sam out of bed after what was probably a half-hour of sleep. He rubbed his swollen eyes that were burning from lack of sleep and of course crying. Sam had always been an emotional child- heck, his whole family was emotional, so of course, the conversation he had with his parents led to an hour of crying. After the phone call, he tried falling asleep but his anger, disappointment and sorrow over Mercedes and the situation did little to help lull him into the arms of a sweet slumber. He spent hours staring at the ceilings as dried tears stained his cheeks.

Sam knew not everybody would be supportive of their relationships but the things people were saying about him and about Mercedes was just plain cruel. If they weren't referring to their racial difference it was either their body types or socio-economic backgrounds. It was hard reading those things, but still, he would take a million more of those tweets and messages than lose Mercedes. He just wished Mercedes felt the same.

Sam switched on the living room light causing him to immediately wince as the white fluorescence painted his bright coloured furniture with another layer of blinding brightness. He opened the door to find Mercedes' short figure nervously swaying back and fro. She bit her quivering lip as she stared at him with big brown wet eyes lending her the appearance of a child and not a woman of 25. Tightened his letterman jacket he had given her high school around her shoulders as she swallowed the lump of emotion threatening to suffocate her.

"May I?"She asked- her voice barely audible.

Sam made room for her to slip past him into his small home, before proceeding to lock the door. When he turned around he found Mercedes sitting on his couch kicking off her limited edition Gucci slippers, his jacket rested on his coffee table allowing him to see that she was still wearing the clothes she wore when he arrived at her house earlier.

Sam wordlessly joined her on the couch waiting to hear what she had to say after the ultimatum he had given her. Honestly, it was more lip than promise as he was caught up in the heat of the moment; Sam Evans would never, no matter how hard he tried, get over Mercedes. He would never be able to call it quits with her. She was the moon and he was a helpless wave pushed and pulled by her. He needed her: plain and simple. But that did not mean that he was going to make things easy on her. Though he was inebriated with anger at the time what he had said about her need for validation was true and she honestly had to deal with that if they wanted to progress as a couple.

A heavy silence filled the atmosphere as neither party spoke, choosing rather to stare at the caramel wall in front of which the television stood.

"I'm sorry," Mercedes said pulling her knees to her chest but kept on staring at the wall in front of her. She rocked back and forth slowly as she thought of words she could use to explain to Sam the thought pattern that led to her wanting to break up with him earlier that day.

"It's hard, Sam." She admitted after a short pause.

Sam looked at Mercedes like really studied her to find that she, for lack of better words, looked like a mess. The definition of 'mess' in this instance did not mean 'ugly' but rather a bit emotionally drained. Her hair was in a sloppy bun, with loose tendrils hanging in her face. Her eyes were swollen and red and in their depths there was pain. She looked like she was a few minutes away passing out from exhaustion

"I can't lose you, Sammy. Not you." Her voice broke but her eyes remained focused on the wall as she continued rocking back and forth. It was something she did when she needed comfort; it always took her back to her childhood in which her mother would hum songs in her ear while lulling her to sleep. "It's hard being famous."

She gave a humourless laugh sweeping away loose curls tickling her skin. To Sam, it sounded crazed, defeated, sarcastic.

"The funny thing is when I was a teenager all I wanted was the fame and attention that I was starved of in high school because of the Rachel Berry Show. I wanted the world to see how special I was."Mercedes snorted. "I sure got a rude awakening, though.." She wrapped her arms around her legs. "People are so mean," She whispered her voice sounded as if it was in physical pain. "They say whatever they want to you as if you aren't a human being with feelings. They break you down and you have to pretend that it doesn't hurt; 'they are just haters' and you just have to shrug it off and be brave and inspiring. There are a bunch of good people but it's the criticism that rings loudest."

She looked at Sam for the first time allowing him to see the torment she was going through.

"You get good people, but it's criticism that rings the loudest; it stays with you." She rested her cheek on her shoulder looking up at his perfect face. "I love you, Sam, I love you more than you can possibly imagine. So much so that it's hard for me to just sit by and allow the person I care for the most in this world be dragged through the mud by people who don't know you."She took a deep breath. "I am all in. I know I have the tendency to listen to other people and deprive myself of my own happiness."

"I can look after myself-" Sam began but Mercedes interrupted

"I know but I still don't like it. But, I'm going to try care less about what other people say," she said before her eyes turned to the most heartbreaking shade of vulnerable he had ever seen. "Please, just don't- don't give up on me. Don't leave me because if you leave me, I don't think I'll ever be able to recover."

Sam leaned towards her and rested his forehead against hers immediately stopping her back forth rocking motion. The comfort it gave failed in comparison to the comfort found in Sam. She closed her eyes as a wave of light-headedness washed over her causing her to fall forward slightly before catching herself. Deep within her, she could feel her tormented soul finally breathe.

"I would not be able to, even if I tried," Sam whispered against the tip of her small nose before snaking his arms around her waist and pressed her to his chest wishing that she could feel the love and adoration he had for her in his heart.

I hope you all enjoy; please review