A.N. - Thank you for the amazing response to the last chapter! I'm so glad that you are all enjoying my writing style, it really means a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story. Sorry it took a while to update, I've been having some computer issues, but I should be able to write a lot more next week.

Chapter Two

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind."

The phone calls soon became a weekly occurrence and before long a nightly occurrence. It seemed a little insane to Mercedes that she was spending half of her pay check on her ever mounting phone bills that these lengthy conversations resulted in. Her conversations with Sam were what kept her sane though, in the month or so they had been talking in; she had told him more about herself than she was sure anyone else knew about her. He listened to all of her musings about becoming a singer and she in turn listened to him talk passionately about character ideas and plots for the comic book he wished he could write. Mercedes knew the reason that it was so easy to be open with Sam was because they had never really met; it was easy to talk to someone that you barely knew because they didn't have past memories to judge you by, and they only knew what you told them.

Over the last couple of days they had discussed the possibility of meeting one another; it only seemed like the natural course of action to take since they spent most of their days talking to each other. Sam still hadn't asked to see a picture of Mercedes, he wanted to keep that element of mystery between them, but since she had been the one to bring up the idea of meeting in person, he decided that becoming friends with her on Facebook was a pretty good idea. He licked his lips nervously as he moved the cursor over the 'add friend' button; he pressed it quickly before he could change his mind again.

Mercedes phone made a low buzzing noise and started to flash its red light intermittently. Before she had the chance to pick it up her roommate and general annoyance, Santana grabbed it from where it was resting. "Ooh, it looks like someone's got a friend request on Facebook" she told her friendly smirking, before she accepted it for her friend. "You know, even I can see the appeal of this guy. Those lips would provide full coverage."

Mercedes elbowed her friend in the ribs before grabbing her phone back; she knew that Sam would eventually decide to friend her on there. She bit her lip as she scrolled through his photos. He was this oddly appealing mixture of cute and gorgeous, he obviously worked out but he didn't do any of those embarrassing t-shirt lifting poses, although she really wouldn't have minded seeing them. His dark blonde hair was falling into a pair of dark green eyes in the most of the pictures; Mercedes could imagine having to constantly move it for him. She shook herself; she was getting way ahead of things here. He hadn't even seen her before so who knew what he was going to think when he saw a picture of her. It wasn't like she'd had a massive amount of success in the past with guys.

Woah, that was the first thought that entered Sam's mind as he looked at the pictures of the girl he had spent weeks talking to. She was so beautiful, she had long dark hair and deep brown skin, and a figure that Sam wouldn't mind getting to know better. He immediately picked the laptop up and carried it into the living room.

Tina was sitting across Mikes lap while they watched the latest episode of some mindless teen drama that Tina was obsessing over. "What's up?" Mike asked looking at the excited expression on his friends face.

"I was just wondering if you guys wanted to see a picture of the really hot girl that I've been talking to on the phone." He said shrugging nonchalantly a tiny smirk appearing on his face.

Tina's mouthed curved into a grin; ever since she and Mike had started dating she had tried to set Sam up with various friends of her, not that he ever wanted to be, she was curious to see the girl that had finally made Sam Evan's want a girlfriend.

He turned the laptop toward them, "Wow. She is hot. Are you sure can handle that?" Mike asked his friend with raised eyebrows.

"Shut up Mike" Tina said "She's got amazing skin; I wonder what moisturizer she uses."

Sam looked at his friends, the things that they came out with "I'll be sure to ask her that next time we talk" he muttered sarcastically, "Do you think that she might be, like, too hot for me?" he asked them. Sam was not that confident about his appearance and that was part of the reason he spent so much time in the gym, he had been bullied pretty badly when he was at school, mainly about the size of his lips.

"Probably man, but that's the best part of having a girlfriend they are always too hot for you" Mike told him as he rubbed his nose against Tina's in a sickening manner.

Sam heard the noise of The Avengers theme song coming from inside his room; he put his Mac on the coffee table and jogged into his bedroom to grab his phone before he missed the call. Mercedes flashed across the screen, he smiled, usually he always called her first, they had a system where he'd call for an hour and then she'd call him for another hour, and they'd keep swapping until they ran out of things to stay. Sam was always the one to call first, so he was happy to see her calling him.

"Hey you" he said as he accepted the call.

Mercedes felt a grin tug at the corners of her mouth "Hi. Some random dude added me on Facebook" she said, her tone light as she fiddled with a loose curl in her hair.

Sam chuckled "Oh yeah?" he asked "Well I just friended this really hot girl on there" he told her.

Mercedes enjoyed it when Sam got a little bit cocky with her, sometimes he was a little nervous it seemed as if he was saying something embarrassing, but there were other times when he was full on with his flirting. "Really?" she asked, her own voice sounding a little nervous.

"Yep, she's really hot and probably the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I can't wait to meet her in person" he told her earnestly.

Mercedes heart was beating faster as he complimented her, "So when do you want to do that?" she asked.

"As soon as possible, it will only take a few hours of driving" he told her. All he had to do was get a few days off from work, which wouldn't be that hard as he hardly ever used his vacation time. "So what about next weekend?" he asked her.

"Sure. That sounds really great. You don't have to come to me though Sam, I can drive to you if you want" she offered.

"You can come to me next time. It's not like we won't be doing this again" Sam didn't care if he was being a little cocksure, he knew that this visit would go perfectly, how could it not? He felt as if he knew Mercedes better than he had ever known any other person in his whole life. He knew the difference between her fake laugh, and when he was actually make her cry with laughter. He knew that she cried for three days when Whitney Houston died. More importantly he knew that if she'd let him, he'd fall in even more in love with her than he already had.

The brunette smiled warmly, "Okay, well next week would be perfect" she said "I better go Santana is giving me the evil eye because she wants me to help her choose her date outfit" she told him. It was weird that someone she never met knew so much about her life and her friends and their personalities.

Sam understood that Santana giving her the evil eye usually led to a verbal abuse being shouted down the phone to him, that girl sure seemed interesting "Well I hope she returns the favour when I'm in town" he told her his voice low.

She grinned "I'll call you later" she assured him.

"Bye 'Cedes" he whispered, as he put the phone down. It always left him with a feeling of sadness when he had to hang up, but at least this time had the idea of meeting her to make him happy. He just hoped she wouldn't be disappointed by him.

"I really don't understand why you brought me here guys" Mercedes said feeling both grumpy and embarrassed as her friends pulled her into Victoria Secret.

Quinn flashed her friend a smile "This isn't about looking good for your long distance lover; it is about buying pretty underwear that makes you feel good. I haven't had a boyfriend in years and I still buy new underwear all the time" she told her.

"I don't need any more underwear, I already have plenty" she moaned, folding her arms.

Santana rolled her eyes, judging by her expression she was becoming slightly irritated "From Wal-Mart, you got your underwear in what is basically a large supermarket Mercedes. That's like buying clothes from a person's washing line. Wanky."

Mercedes didn't have the words to answer that one. What was wrong with well priced comfortable underwear? Still buying something new wouldn't be a bad thing, just because she was wearing nice underwear doesn't mean that Sam would get it to see it.

"Are you nervous?" Brittany asked her, the blonde was Santana's girlfriend. She was quite a revelation considering Santana had been a little bit slutty before she met her, but Brittany had managed to keep her faithful.

"A little bit. I don't know it feels like we'll get along really well, I just hope that the spark is there. You know? Usually when you meet a guy you know it's there because you've felt it. I know that I like Sam, and I love talking to him, but what happens if we meet and...nothing, what if we don't have chemistry?" Mercedes had been struggling with the idea that she and Sam would lack that initial spark you got when you met someone for the first time. What if they were just supposed to be friends? Sure she'd like to be his friend, but she felt in her heart that it was meant to be more, but what if the some great power had decided that it wasn't.

Quinn placed her arm around her friend's shoulders "Well if it doesn't happen just flash him the underwear. I'm pretty sure that'd be enough sparks to light a fire" she told her.

Mercedes giggled "You guys are a bad influence on me."

Santana grinned at her "Thank you for the compliment Wheezy."

Sam's mom had turned up at his apartment for one of her surprise visits and was very surprised to see her son packing his suitcase. "Where are you going?" she asked him, her forehead creasing with unease, that her oldest son had told her he was planning a trip.

He looked at her, "I'm going to visit a friend" he told her, not a total lie, but it was going to lead a lot more questions from her.

"A friend, you didn't mention making a new friend to me" she said, giving her son 'the look'. The look was something that his mom had been using since he was a kid, when he knew that she was going to annoy the crap out of him about something.

Sam sighed "It's not that important" he replied.

"But important enough to go out of town."

"Mom please, I just want to go and see my friend, I didn't think you'd be that interested" he told her.

His mom patted his arm "I just worry about my little boy. Where does this girl live?"

Sam shook his head "She lives in Lima Ohio,"

"That's a long drive Sammy" she remarked looking at him with a worried face.

"Mom, I'm twenty two years old, I can handle the drive and I will call you when I get there. Now what is the reason for this visit?" he asked her, giving her an expectant look.

His mother shrugged "Just wanted to check in" she replied.

"Stacy told you that I met a girl through work didn't she?" he asked.

His mom frowned "No" she mumbled "Okay so she might have mentioned it to me." She relented.

Sam shook his head; this is why you didn't tell your twelve year old sister anything, because she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "Look mom, I'm sure Mercedes isn't some crazy woman. You don't have to worry about me anymore."

Sam's mother had started worrying about Sam more and more since his dad had passed away just over a year ago. They had been close, more like best friends than father and son; they went fishing together and talked about Sam's comic books. His death had been part of the reason that Sam had let that dream drop; he didn't want to do it without his father. His mother was worried that Sam would spiral out of control, and sure he had thought about doing just that but he knew that he couldn't. He knew that it was more important for him to be strong for his family than to let it destroy him. Sam wished his mom would spend more time worrying about herself and Stacy and Stevie.

His mom gave him a sad smile "I always worry about you Sam and I'm sure this girlfriend is wonderful" she ruffled his hair. "Don't forget protection Sam. I am far too young to be a grandmother" she told him as she left his apartment.

Sam's expression was horrified as he stared at the door which his mother had exited by. His mother had just suggested that he take protection, he prayed that they would never have to have an awkward sex conversation with her again.

"So I'll leave early tomorrow morning and I should be there by midday" Sam said as he shoved chips into his mouth.

Mercedes wrinkled her noise "What the hell are you eating?" she asked him, Santana had insisted on painting giving her a manicure so she was struggling to keep the phone in between her ear and shoulder.

Sam swallowed quickly "Chips" he mumbled licking his fingers "Sorry" he added.

She laughed "No it's okay, I was just wondered, because you sounded like a cement mixer for a second" she told him.

"So where are we going to meet?" he asked her.

Mercedes thought for a couple of seconds, forgetting that Sam had never been to her apartment before. They had been speaking so much that it felt like he was there all the time. "We can meet at this restaurant called Breadstix" she told him.

"Breadstix?" he repeated with interest.

"They're obliged to keep bringing you bread sticks" she informed him, Santana made this cheering noise. "Tell him about the wheel barrow thing" Santana said. Mercedes shook her head quieting her friend.

Sam frowned before asking "Wheel barrow thing?" he asked.

Mercedes made a face "It's not as weird as it sounds" she told him.

Sam laughed "I'm sure it isn't. So are you excited?" he asked her.

She smiled "Yes I am" she whispered, "Ouch Santana that really hurt" she said, forgetting she was on the phone.

"You sound busy" Sam said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow" she murmured softly.

As Sam hung up he finally allowed himself to be overwhelmed by the nerves that were coursing through his body. Talking about meeting Mercedes on the phone was fine, it was easy, but now that it was actually happening he was starting to freak out. Was this a terrible idea? I mean what if they spent the weekend together and hated each other by the end of it? What if they lost their entire friendship because they were meeting too early? Sam tried to turn his brain off, he needed to calm down. He walked into his living room and saw that Mike was playing FIFA. Maybe he just needed to unwind.

"Can I play?" he asked his friend.

"Sure."

At least this would take his mind off tomorrow for a little while.

"You look amazing 'Cedes" Santana said smiling as she admired her own handiwork.

Mercedes smiled "Thanks. You sure it isn't too much?" she asked.

Santana made a shocked face "You can never be too much Mercedes Jones. You should get some sleep, you don't want puffy eyes when lover boy arrives, besides I doubt you'll be getting a lot of sleep the next few nights, so you better get it now" she said cheekily, winking at her friend.

Mercedes shook her head and laughed what if Santana was right though? What if Sam was coming with the sole intention of having loads of sex with her? It wasn't like she was virgin, but she didn't really want this weekend to about that, she wanted it to be mean more than that. She wanted it to be about really getting to know each other. She climbed into her bed, more worried than ever now. Flicking the switch on her bedside lamp, she lay down and closed her eyes, pointless really; there was no way she was going to be getting any sleep tonight.

A.N. - Let me know if you liked it! Also any suggestions or ideas are welcome.

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