Sadly, I don't own Glee. If I did, my entire writing staff would probably be comprised of fanfiction writers.

So this is it. This part is kind of short but it took me a while to write for some reason. I'm sad to see the end of this story but I want to thank everyone for coming along and sticking around throughout all of it. I just want everyone to know I try and read, and in some cases respond to, everything you all take the time to post. I appreciate all of the support and I couldn't have done it without you all. I won't say too much else because I'm sure you just want to see how it ends. So, thanks again and I'll see you in my next fic!

She was going in the wrong direction.

When Mercedes left her apartment that morning after a quick breakfast and talk with Kurt and Santana she was supposed to be heading to work. She worried her lower lip as she navigated the walk she had taken countless times before.

She cheated, sort of. 48 hours didn't mean that she couldn't talk to him, right?

As she walked steadily down the pavement of the bustling street, she thought of the night before when she sat huddled in her closet, whispering into the phone with Sam on the other end. She had only called him for a moment, to hear his voice, to know that whatever was between the two of them hadn't died in the course of a day. Luckily, she couldn't have been more wrong.

She was supposed to be getting back to normal, living her life the way it was before the trip, but she faltered at every step. The funny thing was, she didn't feel normal without him.

"Can I ask you a question?" she whispered into her cell phone.

"Sure," came his sleepy reply.

She poked her head out of the closet quickly when she thought she heard a noise. Her best friends were surely asleep but she couldn't help feeling slightly jumpy as she hid amongst her clothes, making her secret phone call. She didn't have anything to hide from Kurt or Santana but she simply was not ready to face their "I told you so's" and smug smirks.

She initially relaxed at the sound of his voice but soon found herself tensing up again as she asked a question that had been nagging her the entire day. "How do you feel when I walk into a room?"

She heard shuffling on Sam's end of the phone, she figured he was sitting up in bed. His cleared his throat and his voice sounded crisper when he spoke again. His voice slow and steady he said, "Like everything else around me disappears; all I can concentrate on is you. I feel my heartbeat pounding in my ears and it doesn't calm down until I see that smile of yours."

She couldn't stop the smile that was currently tugging at her lips and threatening to part her face. She bit it back and asked, "How do you make it stop?"

"I don't try to stop it. I just accept it. I know I can't just will it away or pretend it's not happening, so I just let it take me."

"Doesn't that scare you, just a little, to be so out of control?"

"Of course it does. But why fight it? It's just my body telling my brain what it already knows. I want to be with you, Mercedes, and I see no point in trying to convince myself otherwise."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, magnifying the darkness around her. She found comfort in the stillness and the steady breathing on the other end of the line. He didn't urge her to speak and instead waited patiently as she gathered her thoughts. She could have ended the call there, claiming she needed more time to think, running away from the issue just a little longer.

There was no use in telling herself otherwise; she wanted this. Late nights where she didn't have to have a reason to call, comfortable silences and knowing what the other person on the end of the line was doing without having to ask. She wanted him. And though they made her slightly uncomfortable, she wanted the feelings that went along with being with him. Why fight it?

Slowly, finally, she breathed out, "Be with me, Sam."

A slight chuckle and what she could tell was a lopsided smile came through with his response."Darlin', I already am."

Her heart jumped as she spotted a very familiar blond head of hair and excited green eyes through the crowd of people. He was coming in her direction, walking just as fast as she was. Not once did she think of turning around, of attempting to think of an excuse as to why she was obviously on the way to his apartment, of lying and saying that she had some other business in that direction.

A large smile graced his face as he approached her. She imagined it being the same one he wore the night before as they spoke quietly on the phone. "Hey, babe," he beamed as he stopped in front of her.

She returned his smile and his greeting. "Don't you work in that direction?" She claimed, pointing in the opposite direction that he was walking."

He glanced quickly down at the ground and she could see the blush threatening his pale cheeks. "Yeah, but I had a stop to make before I went. Don't you work that way?" He mirrored her point in the area in the back of her.

"I had a stop to make too," She stepped closer to him and captured his lips as he leaned down to kiss her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he pulled her closer to him.

He leaned back slightly from their kiss, "Can you be a little late today? I kind of want to hold my girlfriend for a little while."

She leaned against his chest and nodded. "I can be as late as you need me to."

24 hours had killed him. Sam found himself counting the minutes and by the time four or so hours had passed, he was no longer sure that there were 60 of them in an hour. He pulled up the arm of his suit jacket, checking the time for probably the tenth time in the past ten minutes.

"You ready for this, man?" Puck asked slapping him on the shoulder and disrupting his minute-counting.

"Ready as I'll ever be. How about you?"

"Honestly?" He brushed off Sam's shoulders and began to straighten his tie.

"No, I think today is a good day for us to start lying to one another," Sam mocked with a laugh.

"Just checking; well, honestly, I couldn't be more ready if I tried. Everything feels right - hell, it feels perfect." He left Sam with a firm pat to the chest and a sublime smile.

"It's show time, fellas," Kurt announced, walking through the door of the dressing room the two were in. "Let me see you guys one last time before we go out there." Puck and Sam stood next to one another and allowed Kurt to straighten and fix any aspect of them that he deemed out of place. "Once we walk out that door, we're not coming back. So is everyone ready?" Both men nodded and followed Kurt out of the dressing room where they were joined by Blaine.

The four men made their way down the aisle, passing polite nods to the seated guests. Each took their place once they reached the altar and waited for the music to begin that would signal the arrival of the other half of the wedding party.

There she was, stunning in a dark gray dress that formed perfectly to her figure. The vintage-inspired dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and featured a wide, ruffled, skirt. Her outfit was completed with a pair black peep-toe pumps, red lipstick, and her hair falling over her shoulders in large curls. Sam had to take the time to openly appreciate her and couldn't help but smile at the nudge in the ribs he received from Puck and a whispered hello from Mercedes as she took her place. For the past 24 hours, she had been at Tina's side, fulfilling all of her last minute maid of honor duties and since Sam was a busy best man, keeping the groom from seeing his bride, he hadn't had time to see Mercedes. Now, as she grinned at him, he no longer wished to chastise himself for missing her so much. It had only been a little more than a day since he'd last seen her, but why should he want to go without her? He was unable take his eyes off her as everyone in the building rose and turned to watch the bride make her entrance. Noticing Sam watching her, Mercedes pointed ahead and encouraged him to look toward the vision in a sparkling white wedding dress.

Tina looked magnificent as she made her way down the center of the church. Her dress shone in the sunlight coming through the large windows and gave her an angelic glow. Her gown was strapless with a lace bodice, massive asymmetrical skirt made of several panels of sheer fabric that billowed out around her and a modest train. Her red pumps matched the lipstick she wore and the dark gray bow around her waist matched her bridesmaid's dresses. She wore her hair back in an intricate bun with a veil covering her minimally made-up face. Flanked by her parents in tasteful outfits, she was soon released into Puck's waiting hands where they turned toward the two religious officials responsible for officiating their inter-faith ceremony.

Sam was anxious about following Mercedes' maid of honor toast. After their hostess Brittany's sweet introduction, Mercedes spoke at length about her relationship with Puck and Tina, how she Tina, Brittany, and Santana, who sat next to Mercedes in a matching outfit, had all become fast friends over the last couple of years, about happiness, and about love. Sam met her eyes at several times when she looked in his direction and couldn't help but feel that some of the words she said had been inspired by their own blissful relationship. Mercedes was crying by the end of her speech and Sam quickly offered his handkerchief after she hugged and kissed the newly-married couple.

Sam stood up to give his speech, taking a deep breath and letting the somewhat prepared words flow from him freely. "Honestly," Sam began with a wink in Puck's direction, "I never thought I'd be here. Two years ago if anyone had told me that my best friend would be getting married I would have laughed in their face," he waited for the soft laughter in the crowd to die down before continuing. "But then I met Tina and I knew that she was perfect for him. I knew that they were perfect for each other. That's such a strange word to use, perfect, because it's hard for anything to be perfect, for it to be without flaws or without mistakes but I see Noah and Tina together and I honestly can't think of a better word to describe the two. I know I'm supposed to stand up here and tell some embarrassing stories about Noah, and trust me I have plenty, but I'll save that for the anniversary party. For now, I'll just say that if you find a love, or have already found a love, that is as honest and as perfect as what Noah and Tina have, you should never let it go." With a bashful smile in Mercedes' direction, Sam raised his glass to the happy couple and finished his toast. "Puck, T, I hope you two never let each other go and remain just as happy and just perfect as you are today. I love you guys."

It wasn't long before Mercedes found herself back in Sam's embrace. After tearing up during Puck and Tina's first dance, she was soon swept into Sam's arms as the bridal party was asked to join Mr. and Mrs. Puckerman for a dance. She paid no attention to the cameras flashing around her or the awws coming from every direction. She glanced around to the other bodies moving on the dance floor, Tina with Puck, Santana with Kurt, and Blaine with Puck's little sister Nicole. She noticed everything around her, noticed everyone around her, but the only person that had her attention was the man whispering 'I love you' against her cheek as they danced closely, barely moving, only swaying slightly in one another's arms.

"I love you too," she whispered into Sam's ear.

He inched back slightly and looked into her eyes. "You're a really good friend, Mercy." He stated. "I never got the opportunity to finish that statement in the way I wanted to but that doesn't make it any less true. You are a really good friend and an amazing girlfriend. I love you and I couldn't imagine myself having better luck."

She sniffed back her tears as he applied loving kisses to each of her cheeks. He pulled her flush against him and she stiffened at the bump she felt in the front of his pants. "Sam,-" she began, looking down at the lack of space between them.

He let out a short laugh before responding to her accusing stare, "It's not what you think it is, Mercy. Though I have to admit that you do look amazing in that dress," he flirted.

Mercedes swatted his chest playfully and urged him to continue, "So what is it?" she asked.

"It's just this thing that I've been carrying around for months now - this little, sparkly, ring-shaped thing. I won't ask you now. I know there's kind of a lot going on; we still have to get through Blaine and Kurt's anniversary party and Brittany and Santana's housewarming. I just want you to know, it's coming. You just have to let me ask you when I find the right time."

"You are terrible at keeping secrets, Sammy."

"It's no secret that I love you. It never will be; never again."

"Well, babe, ask me whenever you're ready. I'm sure you already know what my answer will be."

There was nothing else to say, nothing left to express, and the only thing left to do was place a promising kiss on Sam's waiting lips. They danced with one another until the music stopped, after which, they continued to sway to a rhythm of their own, perfect and in love.

So that's all, folks. Let me know how you feel in the reviews. I've already begun my next Samcedes fic. It is called "I am Sure I Imagined You" and can be found on here. Hopefully, I'll get to update that one today as well.

If you're really itching for more of writing, you can find some Samcedes one-shots/drabbles on my tumblr (vivamsmolly).

Thanks again for seeing me through this and for allowing me to write for you all!

xoxo,

Molly