***Sorry about the cliffhanger y'all but I wasn't completely done with this chapter so I had to release it early. This is Sam portion with a little bit of Mercedes. Hope you all enjoy this and all that jazz. I want to say a shout out to all my Ghost readers. Even if you don't review I see you hitting the follow and favoriting this and I really appreciate it. I want to give a special shout out to Quickitsamcedes on Tumblr for reading all 16 chapters in one sitting as well to get caught up. Anyway, samcedians keep yall heads up and thank you for reading this story.***

Since I have to give a quick grammar lesson (not saying that I have no grammatical errors but ) please understand that exclamations points aren't only used when ppl yell... So here's to u anon... but if the exclamation points bother you to the point that you can't enjoy the story... I'm sorry and thanks for reading:

An exclamatory sentence, or exclamation, is a more forceful version of a declarative sentence. In other words, an exclamatory sentence makes a statement ( just like a declarative sentence), but it also conveys excitement or emotion. An exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation mark (!)

Sam dropped down on the bed inside his hotel room, exhausted after the day's events. Having time to only shower he wanted to do nothing else but call his lady. He was worried about her because after they spoke on the phone last night she left him wondering if something was wrong. She wasn't her happy perky self instead he found himself asking her constantly if she heard anything he had said. She explained that she was really tired so he allowed her to go to bed. And then that morning when he sent her a good morning text she never responded and it was nearly ten o'clock by then. Grabbing his cellphone he slid his finger across the screen then tapped his finger on the only face that was an icon on his phone's home screen. He smiled as he listened to the phone ring a couple times just preparing himself to hear her voice. Just the sound of her voice was enough to give him energy to take on yet another meeting to finish off everything. The phone went to voicemail which shocked him. He knew there was no way that she was asleep so he decided to leave her a message just as there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, babe, it's Sam! Um I haven't heard from you all day. I hope you're doing better…guess I'll call you back later." He felt awkward as he hung up the phone wanting to say more but instead went to open the door.

"Yo, turn on your TV and check out what's on BET right now!" Artie stated rolling in. Sam closed the door behind him and followed shaking his head. He really didn't want to stay up watching videos or any shows that Artie was always trying to get him to watch at the moment. Sam wanted to sleep and try calling Mercedes once more.

"Artie, we have an early meeting to go to tomorrow and you want me to watch videos with you?" Sam asked as he followed behind and watched as Artie took the remote and turned on the TV.

"No…not videos." He replied before fixing his glasses on his face and changing the channel. "This is what I want you to see." He stated. Sam looked at the screen then rolled his eyes as he watched Finn Hudson answer questions. Finn Hudson was most definitely the last person he wanted to see.

"…so yeah, the show starts filming next month and I've been trying to be a part of Mixed Love & Football for a while now. And when I finally got the call that they wanted to have me on the show. I was totally siked!" Finn responded and smiled at the camera. Sam looked over at Artie and then back at the screen unsure why Artie would think he'd be interested in it.

"That's cool…and another thing that's cool is finding out that you're 1/16th black. How long have you known that?" the interviewer asked him. Sam looked over at Artie again ready to laugh because he knew that was a bag of lies. There was no way Finn was any part black.

"Not long actually. I just did one of those ancestors searches and found out one of great gramps married a beautiful black woman who gave birth to the man that became my grandpa." Finn replied. Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. He needed to call Mercedes so that she can watch this with him and laugh. He pulled out his cell and redialed her number and waited on it to ring.

"Well I guess that's where your love for black women came, huh?"

"Yeah I guess you can say that! My fiancée is definitely a black woman…and a beautiful one at that." He replied. Artie turned and looked over at Sam noticing that he was paying attention then. Sam hung up the phone and walked closer to the TV turning the volume up as if he couldn't hear him clearly.

"Let's talk about her for a bit. There were rumors that she left you but you're saying now to clear the air with everyone that you and Dr. Mercedes Jones are still planning on being married?" Sam turned the volume up again pressing the buttons so hard that he almost pressed them in.

"Yes, she never left me! We are good and we will be getting married on the show." Finn replied and smiled at the camera. "We even have a ship name I think the fans are already calling us Finncedes or something like that." Finn added.

"Oh I didn't know you already had a fan base for the show."

"Yeah like I said it's been in the works for a while now."

"Well there you have it folks. Look out for Mixed Love & Football coming to BET soon…" Sam turned off the TV and threw his phone down on the bed. Artie shifted unsure what to say or do at that point. He could tell Sam was upset.

"Look Sam…it's probably a misunderstanding. You told me yourself he was kind of a crazy ex of hers." Artie tried to reason. "Call Mercedes and see what's going on."

"She's not answering her phone. She hasn't replied to any of my text messages." Sam replied as he paced. He couldn't get his brain around it all. How could she do this to him? Why didn't she just tell him?

"That doesn't mean anything. Don't jump the gun till you speak to her." Artie rolled over to Sam and handed him his cellphone. "Call her!" Sam looked at the phone and took it unsure if he was even ready for what she would say when he calls her. And if she answers what does that say about her, about him, about them?

"Alright!" Sam dialed her number. Each number he pressed he felt his heart drop down an inch. After pressing the final number he excused himself into the bathroom and left Artie so that he could have some privacy. He felt as if his world was crashing around him. Suddenly everything was making sense. The way she was acting on the phone last night, the way she ignored his text messages all of a sudden and his calls. And if she answered this call then he would know she was ignoring his calls as well.

"Hello?" he heard her voice and it killed him and excited him at the same time. How was it that just the sound of her voice could make him have all these emotions? And he wasn't sure which to go with. "Hello?"

"Hey Mercedes." Sam managed to say and listened as she gasped. He closed his eyes trying hard not to tear up over this without knowing what was going on. "I've been trying to get in touch with you all day."

"Oh really, I didn't see anything from." She lied. He knew she was lying that was not making matters better. He needed to know what was going on.

"I was worried because of how you were acting last night…and then not to hear from you all day…"

"I am sorry, Sam." Then they both fell silent, him, because he was trying to figure out how to ask her about all of this. Her, because she had no idea how to explain what was going on. "Sam, we need to talk."

"Talk? What's going on Mercedes?" Sam asked but he feared what she was about to say. Whenever a woman says "we need to talk" it's never a good thing. He walked over to the toilet and placed the seat down before sitting down bracing himself for the blow.

"I don't know how else to say this…so I'm just going to blurt it out." She paused briefly then took a deep breath. "I have decided to…" she paused again. "I just…um…look I'm really sorry, Sam."

"Just say it, Mercedes! I can take it." He replied. He was lying there was no way he was ready for her to actually say what he already knew she was about to say.

"I have decided to… take Finn back. I just think that three years is a lot to throw away on a child that wasn't really his and my family had already put a lot into the wedding, ya know." Sam shook his head as if she were in front of him. There was no way he was going to accept that.

"Mercedes, this doesn't sound like you. I don't believe this is you saying this. Why are you saying this?" Sam asked as he stood and began pacing. He knew her. They may have only known each other for a short period of time but he knew Mercedes and this just didn't sound like her.

"Sam, you knew from the start that this wasn't going to work. I crossed the line with you and I should have put a stop to it long before things got out of hand like this."

"You can't stop what is meant to be! You and I, we're meant to be!" Sam felt his voice begin to rise and had to calm himself down. "You know this, Mercedes." She fell quiet and that further showed him that she knew it too. "Mercedes don't do this! Whatever it is that's going that has you scared, we can work it out." Again there was silence.

"Sam…I can't…I'm sorry…" and then she hung up. Sam looked at the phone noticing a tear drop on the screen. He didn't realize he was crying until she had hung up. He dialed her number again and it went straight to her voicemail again. "Damn it, Mercedes! ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE!" he shouted and threw the phone at the door shattering it into pieces. Artie opened the door and looked down at the floor and noticed his phone shattered and on the floor.

"Yoooo that was my phone, Sam!"

"To hell with your phone right now, Artie!" Sam replied barging past him then stopping and turning around running his hand through his hair. "Sorry man, I'll replace it."

"Look, don't worry about it. That was the company phone anyway." Artie replied and rolled over to where Sam was. "Hey, how about we go downstairs and have some drinks? No point in sitting up here in this hotel room feeling sorry for yourself when there are drinks downstairs and beautiful women!"

"No…I'm not in the mood to be around anyone right now." He sat down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling to help stop his eyes from tearing up. Artie sat for a moment then nodded before turning and leaving. He hated seeing his friend like that but there was nothing he could do about it. Not to mention he left Brittany in the hotel room and he didn't want to leave her too long.

After Artie left, Sam continued to pace and rack his brain trying to figure out what exactly happened. What did he do to make Mercedes leave him this way? Nothing was making sense. And he found himself calling her again and again until he finally gave up. He got up and took Artie's advice to go down for some drinks. Once he reached the lobby he sat at the bar and started drinking and scanning the crowd. There were a lot of sexy women in L.A. but even with the alcohol in his system he wasn't getting aroused by any of them. He had way too much on his mind.

"Keep the drinks coming…I can still hear my thoughts!" he shouted to the bar tender. She smiled at him and brought him another drink.

"So what's your story?" she asked smiling at him. Sam noticed she was cute and compact and flirting hardcore with him.

"None of your business …just keep the drinks coming!" he replied turning away from her. Had this been two months ago he would have flirted with this girl and then taken her to his room to make her scream his name but he was different now. He wanted more. She made him want more. She changed him. She changed him and then left him for Finn Hudson just like Quinn. What was it with Finn that had all the women going crazy? It must be that damn football jersey. It makes all the woman go crazy.

"Sir, are you sure you want another drink?" the bartender asked him as she poured another round for him and placed it in front of him. Sam rolled his eyes taking the drink to the head and then standing up to reach into his pocket realizing he left his cash in the room.

"Charge it to my room." He responded then made his way back to his room. He saw no point in losing everything at this point. He had a meeting tomorrow before he would fly back to Ohio. Right now, all he needed was a good night's rest.

The next morning things didn't get better as he found himself sitting in the meeting with a horrible hangover. He was happy that this was the last meeting and the day that they would sign everything to get Sig2 ready to hit the market by the first quarter as Penny intended. Artie kept looking over at Sam but he tried his best not to show that his mind was still on Mercedes. At the end of the day, he had a business to run and he couldn't place it on pause because he was lady trouble.

"You okay, man?" Artie asked. Sam ignored him and flipped through the pages as he signed the documents Brody had looked over. "Look, I was talking to Brit last night about what happened…" Sam glared at Artie. "Chill, she's not as ditzy as she may look." Artie stated raising his hands to calm Sam down. Sam looked across the table where Brittany and Penny were talking about the different features in the tablet and from where he sat he could hear her talking about a cat that she owned. "Seriously, she stated that none of it made sense and that your best bet is to talk to Mercedes face to face."

"Artie, she left me for her ex-fiancé. What's there to make sense out of? She played me and that's that. I guess that's karma, right?" Sam asked as he signed the last page.

"Sam, you can't go out like that man. You need to go straight to her house like you did last time and lay the pipe down till she takes you back." Artie added nodding as he spoke. Sam would have been lying if he said he didn't think about heading over to her place but he was all the way in L.A. and after his drinks last night he finally admitted defeat. Of course Artie didn't let this go as they made way to the airport. The entire flight back to Ohio he was helping Sam plan a way to get Mercedes back. And midway, Sam was actually on board and starting to feel a bit optimistic. "Whatever you do, Sam, don't let her go!" Artie stated before they parted ways.

Sam drove over to Mercedes house and thought of the exactly what he would say to her. In his mind, he couldn't see how she could possibly say no to him. He remembered the way she looked into his eyes the last night that they were together. There's no way that she didn't love him. There's no way that she wanted to marry Finn. There's no way she didn't mean what she said when she told him nothing could make her leave him. So what happened between then and now that has her running scared? He tried to think about their last conversation over the phone and wondered if maybe something he said planted a seed of doubt in her mind. Whatever it was he was going to apologize like he did before without even knowing what he did wrong. He was going to get his woman back.

He pulled into her driveway and parked his car beside hers. He was happy to see that she was home alone. Things would have been really awkward if Finn had been there. He took slow steps towards the door and hesitated before knocking. He waited a minute and knocked once more than gave her a moment to get to the door. He heard her shout that she was coming and smiled knowing he was moments from seeing her face again after not seeing it for a week. Even though she could possibly be angry with him he was happy with seeing her period. He stepped out of view so that she wouldn't see it was him until she opened the door.

"Hey." He greeted. For a split second he could have sworn he saw a smile creep on the corner of her lips before it turned into a frown.

"What are you doing here, Sam?" she asked him. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair and then smiled at her.

"I came to see you, so that we can talk."

"We have nothing to talk about, Sam."

"Yes we do…I must have done something to have you shut me out like this." He replied and took a step forward. She stepped back and looked up at him nervously. "May I come in?" he asked noticing that it was about to rain. She sighed and stepped aside allowing him to come and closed the door behind him. He took a few steps toward the living room then turned around and hugged her tight. Mercedes didn't hug him back even though everything in her wanted to hold him and tell him exactly what was going on. He looked so hurt and unsure of what was happening. "I missed you so much, babe!"

"Sam…"

"I know…I'm sorry…I just don't understand why all of sudden you don't want anything to do with me. I thought we were fine when I left."

"Sam, my choice to marry Finn has nothing to do with you and you did nothing wrong." She replied as she moved away from him and leaned on the couch. "It's just…we have chosen to give it another try."

"You don't want to marry Finn, Mercedes. I know you don't!"

"You don't know anything!"

"I know you're lying." He stated shocking her to the point that all she could do was shake her head. "You don't want to marry Finn. You want to know how I know?"

"You're going to tell me anyway."

"Because you don't love him, Mercedes. You don't love him because you love me and I know this because I see it in your eyes." Sam stated looking at her. She chuckled and looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. "You can deny it all you want."

"Sam, I am going to marry Finn. Whether you believe it or not." She replied finally stunning him. He was hoping she'd break and agree but instead she shot him down once more. He wasn't going to let her go without a fight.

"You don't even believe yourself."

"Sam, look we weren't right for each other, okay! I did what I did to help you with your issues with love and intimacy. I have been with Finn for three years and he's good…" she paused and licked her lips before sighing. "…he's good to me, okay."

"That is fucking bullshit! All of this is bullshit! I was just here last week with you. Don't you remember the time we've shared together?" he asked as she turned away from him again as if she couldn't bare look at him. "There's no way all of that was just to help treat my urges…no…Mercedes…look at me!"

"Sam, I think you need to leave." Mercedes said and pushed away from him. She walked over to the door and held it opened. At this point it was raining really hard outside and the chilly wind was blowing some of the rain in but she held the door for him as she blinked away tears.

"Mercedes, what about what you said to me? You said you'd be here for me when I got back, remember? You said nothing could take you away from me, am I making this all up?" he asked as he walked over to her. "I fell in love with you, Mercedes! Do you hear me?" Rain was hitting both their faces at this point and he couldn't tell if they were crying or if it was the rain falling hard on them. "You're telling me all of that wasn't real? The love we shared wasn't real?" he asked again and watched as she looked in his eyes and then looked down at the ground. "If this isn't love, what the hell is?" They stood in silence until Sam finally stepped out into the rain and she slowly shut the door. Sam stared at the door trying hard to believe what had just happened. With the rain falling on him still he reached for the doorknob and turned it opening the door. Mercedes was still standing near the door way when Sam pulled her to him kissing her like it was the last time, as the rain fell on the both of them. At first, she kissed him back and then she pushed him away shocking him as she stepped back into her house.

"I'm really sorry, Sam." She apologized again and closed the door. This time he heard the sound of the door locking and felt his whole world crashing around him. He stood in the rain for what felt like an eternity before he turned going to his car and driving away.

Mercedes leaned on the door with her hands on her lips, where she could still feel and taste Sam's lips on hers mixed with the rain and her tears. She slid down to the floor and cried the moment she heard his car start and him driving away. She should have just told him that she was doing this to help him. To help them, but instead she hurt him. All his fears that she had successfully helped him get over she probably just intensified them. She was crying still moments later when she heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. She smiled internally at his persistence as she stood up and opened the door. Unfortunately, it wasn't Sam.

"Girl, are you okay?" Unique asked as she ran inside the house and hugged her friend. Mercedes cried into her shoulder. "It's going to be alright…trust me…it's going to be alright."

So every time you hold me
Hold me like this is the last time
Every time you kiss me
Kiss me like you'll never see me again

Every time you touch me
Touch me like this is the last time
Promise that you'll love me
Love me like you'll never see me again
Oh oh oh

How many really know what love is?
Millions never will
Do you know until you lose it?
That it's everything that you were looking for

Alicia Keys Like You'll Never See Me Again