If It's For Her Chapter 6: The Blessed Road, a glee fanfic

If It's For Her,

Written by WickedSong.

Disclaimer/Note : In first chapter. 3x10 spoilers are still floating around here, in the form of Rachel's song, Without You (David Guetta ft. Usher) which she's singing in the Yes/No episode, a song I do not own, obviously. Other than that (and it's a small section in the story with Rachel's song), this still is deviating from canon. I don't own 'Bless The Broken Road' by Rascal Flatts (which, like Falling Slowly, is NOT being used in 3x10) and I also don't own 'The Notebook' by Nicholas Sparks which is quoted in this chapter. In addition one of my reviewers, Princess976, is quoted in this chapter from her previous review because the description she used of Santana was too good not to use(hope you don't mind me using the line, haha).

At McKinley High it appeared that it didn't matter whether you were a star of the football team or involved in synchronised swimming. If you had a letterman you were deemed important and turned a few heads. It wasn't as if Sam was a stranger to this attention from the girls around school. When he had been on the football team he had been targeted by them but he had been with Quinn and then Santana at this time. He would sometimes talk to the girls who stood by his locker but in the end he would always let them down firmly but gently, stating in no uncertain way that he was taken.

And this time was no different. Mercedes hadn't been the only one to notice the jacket but she was the only one to not be impressed by it. Other girls had been looping their arms through his all day. He remembered one particular Cheerio who didn't seem to understand the word no. She had been trying to convince him to go out with her the entirety of the previous day and she hadn't stopped in her campaign the day following his locker chat with Mercedes, the locker chat which had ended in she and Shane walking away.

It had been then that he realised how in over his head he really was. Shane had been with Mercedes for four months, a full three longer than Sam had. She may have not been over him, that much was clear, but how invested in her relationship with Shane was she? When Santana had been organising her plan she had assured him that Shane was a rebound but did rebounds really last four months?

"So, I was thinking, you, me, Breadstix, eight o'clock?"

Sam rolled his eyes. His patience was wearing extremely thin with this girl. How many times did he have to say no for the message to sink in?

"Look, I'm not interested," he repeated for what he felt was the millionth time as he turned a corner, and she kept in step with him. "I have feelings for someone else and I intend on following them."

"Yeah, so you'd best keep walking, Alice," Santana declared before the girl could argue as she walked up to them. Sam turned, relieved to see the sharp-tongued girl, folding her arms at her fellow Cheerio.

Alice sighed, but didn't argue with Santana, and walked away.

"Thanks, Santana," Sam said to her as they walked down the hall towards the cafeteria.

Santana shrugged. "That girl wasn't taking no for an answer. Someone had to step in. One obstacle in Operation Chocolates White and Thunder is out of the way, Auntie 'Tana doesn't need another."

"One obstacle?" Sam asked, daring to believe that she was about to tell him what he suspected and hoped.

"Congrats, luscious lips, she broke up with the moustache," Santana revealed, giving him a thumbs up and a bright smile.

Sam couldn't help the smile that his face broke out into but his joy was short lived. Again, he knew nothing about the relationship. Would Mercedes need time to get over Shane, would she still want to be with Sam, was this all a part of cutting them both out and being by herself? To stop himself from focusing on the negatives that floated around his brain he asked another question, something he had been wondering about for a while now.

"Wow, you didn't like that guy, did you?"

Santana shrugged her shoulders and looked confused that this was what Sam was wondering but answered his question anyway. "He was one of the main reasons the Troubletones were formed, I'll give him that. But no one really saw him around and he was super competitive. It even scared me to a degree," she stated matter-of-factly.

Sam nodded. "Well, just because they're over doesn't mean that she's going to get back with me."

They were in the cafeteria now. "Are you kidding me? You do all this and this is when you start having doubts?" She stopped him as he picked up a tray.

"It's not called giving up or having doubts. It's called giving her time. Look, I have a plan for glee today."

"We didn't make a plan-"

"I made this one up. Chose a song and everything."

Santana looked stumped and then looked down. "Looking forward to hearing it then."

She walked away and Sam sighed, as he began to get his lunch, hoping his plan would go well, all the while noting that Santana was nothing less than cupid, a fiery and mean cupid but cupid nonetheless.

Stuffing his jacket into his locker just before glee, Sam noticed Quinn approaching him from the corner of his eye. She took one look at the discarded letterman and leaned against the locker beside him, looking at him knowingly.

"Didn't work?"

"What? Synchronised swimming?"

"The jacket?"

Sam closed his locker and began walking with the short haired blonde to class. "No, it didn't. I didn't think it would and I was proved right."

"Then why'd you do it?" she asked. "To show you could be the jock again? The golden boy? I've been down that path of trying to regain what you had." She looked down and added. "It is not pretty."

He shook his head. "It was more than that." He stopped in the middle of the hallway, not wanting to continue this conversation in the choir room where everyone could hear. "It was about that at first I think but along the way it became showing her what I would do."

"Which is anything, right?" He only nodded which made Quinn nod her head and continue speaking, "I'm assuming you heard about her breaking up with Shane." He nodded again and Quinn took this as another cue to continue. "You may be feeling defeated right now. For what reason I don't know because I know for a fact that she still loves you."

"Seriously?"

That had been his fear. His biggest fear. Perhaps it had been an irrational fear but it was something he was afraid of regardless.

Quinn nodded smiling. "We both know this isn't going to stop you. She means more to you than I did and you formed a Justin Bieber tribute band for me." She laughed, which made Sam smile. "You're a good guy though. You're waiting until you're sure she's over Shane. There's not a lot of guys who would do that."

Sam didn't look as if he really believed her pep talk but he smiled anyway. "Come on, we're going to be late."

Before Sam could carry out the last stage in his plan (what this was was unknown to everyone in the room apart from himself of course) Rachel had commanded the floor, dedicating a ballad to Finn, something to do with the problems they had been facing. No one exactly knew what was going on with the couple but as Rachel sat on a seat, took Finn's hand and belted out the last couple of lines of her song, something in Sam clicked.

"I can't take one more sleepless night without you, without you."

"I won't sob, I won't cry."

"If you're not here, I'm living life without you, without you."

He looked along the line to see Mercedes with her head bowed, in deep thought. And he couldn't help but be in deep thought himself. What would his song achieve? Would she finally see what he had been saying. He hoped so because it was the one song that was coming from his heart. He had sang to Quinn last year but that hadn't been with a song that so accurately described everything he felt, that was so stripped down and bared his soul.

"I can't look, I'm so blind."

"Lost my heart, I lost my mind without you."

"Without you."

Everyone clapped for Rachel as she wiped a tear from her eye, and Finn gave her a hug, both arms tightly around her as he kissed the top of her head and whispered something to her. They sat down and Mr. Schue got up.

"Well guys, I just thought, since it's the end of the week, and I'm now an engaged man, I should say thank you on behalf of myself and Ms. Pillsbury."

Everyone clapped yet again at this and there was even a few whoops and cheers around.

"Alright, alright, settle down." The teacher grinned. "Now I know that we have Regionals coming up but the wedding will be planned quickly. We don't want to wait-"

"Wanky," muttered Santana, to the snickers of those around her.

Mr. Schue chose to ignore this. "-and we'd really like the club to perform, you know, like you did at Burt and Carole's wedding last year."

Kurt was the first to clap his hands together joyfully. "We'd love to, Mr. Schue. We should start brainstorming ideas now. I have so many-"

Sam stood up. "Mr. Schue, if I may?" he asked. When the teacher nodded and sat down, everyone snapped their heads to Sam, who stood in the middle of the room and took out a piece of crumpled paper from his jeans pocket. "You all know that since I came back I've been trying to get a special someone back. Someone who meant a lot to me over the summer and still has - if not my whole heart - then a very special place in it." He gave a small chuckle, as he looked around awkwardly. He really didn't know if this would work in making her see but it was worth a shot, wasn't it?

"What is he doing?" Sugar questioned out loud.

A warning look was given to her by the rest of the group and she put her arms up in surrender.

"I know, what am I doing? I'm not good with words." He held up the sheet of paper. "But this is a quote that really stood out to me from a movie I saw this summer."

Now it was Santana's turn to look concerned. "What is he doing?" She was quieter but no one paid attention to the interruption this time.

"Summer romances begin for all kinds of reasons, but when all is said and done, they have one thing in common-" he began, reciting the words he had written down.

"Wait a sec, I recognise-"

"It's from The Notebook."

"Is Puckerman crying?"

Ignoring the glee members and the commentary from Quinn, Kurt and Santana he continued, "-They're shooting stars, a spectacular moment of light in the heavens, a fleeting glimpse of eternity, and in a flash they're gone." Sam looked at Mercedes as he finished. "I don't want us to be finished, gone. I don't want us to be a 'fleeting' glimpse of eternity."

It was silent until Santana cleared her throat, and even her voice wavered ever so slightly. "He's totally crying."

"Look, I'm not crying. It's just dusty in here, alright." Puck looked down, doing something that looked suspiciously like wiping his eyes with his thumb.

Mercedes, the one person he needed a reaction from didn't do anything so he went on to the next part of his plan. Grabbing his guitar and a stool he strummed the instrument gently. "This song is for you," he told her, only those simple words being needed.

He nodded to Brad who joined in with his piano.

Sam began to sing as he played his guitar.

"I set out on a narrow way, many years ago, hoping I would find true love, along the broken road. But I got lost a time or two, wiped my brow and kept pushing through, I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you."

"That every long lost dream led me to where you are, others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars, pointing me on my way into your loving arms, this much I know is true, that God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you."

This song was so true to what he felt and had been thinking about. At first he had thought he had been lucky to end up with her. And then when he thought about it further he realised it probably wouldn't have happened if his Sophomore year had been his vision of perfect. If Quinn hadn't cheated on him, if he hadn't started dating Santana who then went on to Karofsky, if he hadn't turned Rachel down for prom and then went with both her and Mercedes...

Yeah, his family losing everything was one of the worst experiences of his life but without it how close would they have become? Would they have spent late nights watching his siblings in that motel room, falling asleep beside each other until Stacy's giggling alerted them to the fact that she and Stevie were watching them intently. Would they have had dates which consisted of nothing but talking, getting to know each other so much better if he had enough movie to go to the movies? He would always, always wish that his brother, his sister, his mom and dad didn't have to go through that again but he would always remember that she had been his light through it.

He would never know what would have happened but he would also never regret how anything turned out. Except their goodbye. That would always hurt.

"I think about the years I spent just passing through, I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you but you just smile and take my hand, you've been there, you understand, it's all part of a grander plan that's coming true."

By this point he could feel tears in his eyes but he continued. In front of him he could see that yet again all the couples in the glee club were snuggled up to each other closely, something he chose to ignore as he strummed his guitar. He wished with all his might that he and Mercedes had had more time. A month. That wasn't very fair and it was such a short space of time to explain how he felt about her that he found it hard to describe.

He just kept looking at her however and when he did it all rushed back and so every lyric he sang had that special meaning. She knew it was about her. He had always told her that all the crap he had been through had been worth it, that he would do it again, just so that they could have what they had again.

"Now I'm just rolling home, into my lover's arms, this much I know is true, that God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you."

"That God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you."

By the time he finished he was shaking, from just giving every feeling he could away in that song. It was draining to say the least. He noticed that Mercedes wouldn't stop staring at him and he couldn't stop looking at her either.

Mr. Schue walked up beside Sam, putting a hand on his shoulder as he took the guitar off, not once breaking his eye contact with Mercedes. It wasn't until he broke his eyes away from her that he realised the entire glee club was standing up clapping for him. An hysterical Santana was hugging Brittany who soothed her, Puck was mouthing 'that was so beautiful' over and over again while Sugar put her head on Rory's shoulder and had an arm looped through his.

Quinn gave him a thumbs up while Rachel nodded in approval, as did Finn. Artie, Tina, Mike, Kurt and Blaine all clapped with happy smiles on their faces.

Mr. Schue said something about it being an emotional performance and wondered aloud if Sam would consider doing it for the wedding. The younger boy only gave a weak smile and nod in reply.

"That was really beautiful, Sam," Mercedes finally said to him.

"Well, I meant it, you know that."

The entire glee club looked at them, wondering what they were going to do next but when Sam sat down and nothing came of their long intense looks there were sighs of disappointment all around. A still tearful Santana cursed in Spanish but it must've not been inappropriate because Mr. Schue didn't reprimand her for it. Like Sam had thought earlier, just like cupid.

The period ended and Sam left quickly. This was all about giving Mercedes distance and time to really think about what she wanted. He just had to hope that in the end it would be him.

And this chapter was going to be short! Can you believe that. I'm laughing at myself for thinking I could keep to that. It seemed short in theory with only three sections but section three wanted to be really long, didn't it? So, important facts about this chapter? It's the second last one. I know it's not been long but if you think about it it was originally a oneshot so it's much longer than it was going to be. But I've been off school due to the holidays so it's nice to have something to do.

I had to put in that quote from The Notebook. Their summer, in my mind, was some sort of wonderful mixture of The Notebook and Grease. The Grease aspect has been in this story so it was time for The Notebook. That quote always reminds me of these guys, especially when Chord wasn't on the show anymore and more so now with all the speculation over what the hell happened that summer, you know.

As always thanks for the reviews/favourites/alerts. You have no idea how much they mean to me. Please leave a review if you liked this. Next chapter should be up before the end of the week!

WickedSong x