Hi. So I want to start by saying thank-you to everyone who took the time out to reveiw the first chapter of this story. I got some great feed back and I'm happy you guys liked it so much. I also want to thank everyone who faved and followed this story and me as an author. It means a lot to me that you guys enjoyed it enough to want to check in to see where it goes.

So if the first chapeter is only about the physical nature of their relationship, this chapter is all emotion. Sam's emotions and feelings for Mercedes in particular. So I hope you guys enjoy it.

I didn't put this in the first chapter but I don't own Glee, or any other song, movie, show, or trademarked piece of work mentioned in this fic.

So as always: Read, Enjoy, and Review...

Steady as she goes.

As Sam stared at the oddly blob shaped stain on the ceiling of the motel room above his cot, he openly admitted to himself that he had fallen completely in love with Mercedes Jones.

Sam was always considered as rushing through things. No matter the subject, people constantly were telling him one thing: Slow down. In first grade he remembered his teacher telling his mother that he was a bright boy, but if he could learned how to slow down while doing his work, he could advance better. In third grade, his teacher would constantly tell him to slow down while reading out loud to the class as he stumbled over words. Later that year he was diagnosed with dyslexia. It appeared that all of the wrongs in Sam's life could be corrected if he could learn how to slow down. According to the adults in his life, his life would be charmed if he could just accomplish this seemingly simple task. His mother was no exception to this, however she constantly asked him to slow down when it came to the fairer sex in particular.

It started in second grade, when Sam first laid eyes on Suzie Davis. She was a strawberry blonde who was new to his class. That day, on the way home from school, all he could talk about was her, and how pretty and smart she was. His mother Mary found it cute, enduring even, that her little boy had fallen so fast for the new girl. However, when Mary saw that he was willing to spend his allowance the get her attention by buying her favorite candy, a twinge of concern nagged at her. But she sat quietly as he purchased the young girl her gift. She watched intensely the next morning, when Sam climbed out of the car excitedly as he ran to the young girl after spotting her heading into the building. She watched him eagerly hand the girl the candy, saying something in the process. Her heart then dropped as the girl threw the candy back at her son, running off into the school, leaving Sam standing there, sad and heart broken.

Then in third grade it was Tonya Manson, a brunette with freckles. Sam that day sighed and informed his mother about his new interest in lanyard creation, because Tonya was really good at it. He even had her go to the hobby shop that day to pick up supplies in hopes that he could create one for her. As they rang up the threads, Mary asked if Sam was sure he wanted to spend his money in such a fashion. Her answer was an adorable crooked grin with a nod of assurance that he was positive that he was doing the right thing to win the affections of his new love interest. But that proved to be incorrect when he came home with tears in his eyes explaining how Tonya exclaimed that his project was the ugliest thing she'd ever laid her eyes on, laughing loudly and embarrassing her sweet natured son in front of the rest of their classmates.

In seventh grade, the awkward young boy fell hard for Sarah Geilner. She was a firry red head that stole his heart during a game of co-ed kick ball. She was into Digi Pets, the electronic pet that you had to care for like a real pet, through virtual commands. That day, Mary, Sam, Steven and Stacy, rushed to Toys R Us to get the latest version of the toy craze for Sam's new crush. When Mary questioned if giving a girl he hadn't even spoken to such a gift, Sam reassured her that he had a plan of action that was fool proof. However when he came home from school empty handed explaining that Sarah happily accepted her gift early that morning, then decided by the end of the day to date another classmate named Matt, that her son's plan had once again backfired.

So it was a relief when Sam was admitted into his all boys' boarding school. Mary would miss her eldest dearly, but she was left with the reassurance that his academic pursuits would be the main focus of his day, and not the opposite sex. Sam's grade, although never stellar, improved and he even seemed to get a handle on his dyslexia. It seemed to Mary, that Sam, during his first two years of high school, had matured into a reasonable young man. However, puberty had done Sam a ton of favors, and with no one there to remind him to slow down, his interests turned from the female form to his own. He trained and exercised relentlessly, in an effort to get his mind off of girls. In return, his shaped his body into one that would easily get the attention of any female his age.

By the time the Evan's moved to Lima, and enrolled Sam at McKinley High School, Mary was sure her sweet son, who was still the same Sam who took a summer to learn a language from the movie Avatar, and read comics at night, had grown out of his girl crazy phase. That was until Sam came home from school one day, talking constantly about joining a singing club at school, and a certain new blonde named Quinn Fabray that he'd just met. In that instance, all Mary could hear was the love sick first grader she watched have his heart handed to him. She finally decided to pull her son to the side and advise him against falling for a girl so fast. "Slow down" she advised, as she prepared dinner for the family while he sat at the table, doing his homework for the evening. "If it's meant to happen, it will for the both of you, but going head over heels for a girl you just met is not the wisest thing to do."

However her advice was met with reckless abandon as he dove head first into everything Quinn. After he purchased a small gold promise ring for the green eyed girl, who she found out attended the same church as they did, she knew Sam was determined to go at his own pace. She figured maybe he had possibly learned to be a good judge of character while he was away at boarding school, and that maybe his relationship with Quinn would end differently then his previous failed attempts at love. That was until he came home one afternoon upset, not wanting to talk about Quinn, or why he was in such a foul mood.

However, unlike the past girls who took weeks for him to heal from, Sam seemed to recover quickly. Mary was surprised to come home early one day, to find her teen son making out fiercely on the family couch, with a spicy Latina girl by the name of Santana Lopez. Sam grinned widely as he announced her, and not Quinn, was his girlfriend. Mary sighed as she wondered why he only took a few days to move one from Quinn, when she was his whole universe only a week prior. Mary again, asked her son to slow down to his approach with Santana, especially since she had found them in such an "adult" situation such as his hand under her cheerleading skirt. Sam reassured Mary of two things. First he explained calmly that he was not a kid anymore, and two, that he knew what he was doing when it came to Santana.

By the time his latest relationship dissolved, Sam's whole world had collapsed on itself like a black hole. All of the stability, and safety Sam grew up with was taken away, when his father lost his job and family's new home was foreclosed on, forcing the Evans to move into a one bedroom motel. Whatever little time he could donate to his pursuit of the fairer sex, went to delivering pizzas, and helping his family stay afloat. Mary slowly watched as the days of hard work and worry forced her little boy, to become a man. Gone was the talk of girls, dates, and other teen concerns, for questions about budgeting, employment, and other adult endeavors. Sam became even more responsible, rational, and even paternal as he assisted with his younger siblings. But with these new traits came a sadness and anger that she never wanted to see in her son's eyes, a loneliness that the island of homelessness caused him among his peers.

That was until a short brown skinned girl in a fuchsia gown drove up to the motel the night of junior prom. That night when Sam returned home from the dance, a glint of his former cheerful, and easygoing personality shown brightly in his eye as he recalled his evening of dancing and celebrating with his classmates. And the more time he spent with the girl, who his mother later learned was named Mercedes, more of her teenaged son returned. Although Sam insisted that he and the girl where just friends, the tell tail sighs of him falling for her manifested themselves early. Sam constantly babbled on about how well she could sing, or how nice she was, or how Mercedes had said something really funny or understanding. These signs, to a non insightful mother, may have seemed like a new admiration of their son's new friend. However Mary saw straight through Sam's insistence of friendship, to the truth: Sam was falling for Mercedes, and falling fast.

So one night, after Sam returned to the room after walking his new friend to her car, with a large grin on his face, and his hair slightly out of place, Mary requested that her son sit down and talk to her. She explained that she understood that he like Mercedes, even if he wasn't' willing to admit to it. She also explained that she noticed the smile he seemed to wear whenever they spent even the smallest amount of time together. However, Mary found it necessary to plead to her son to "take things slow with Mercedes. You really seem to like her" she reasoned, quickly adding "And I know you insist that you two are just friends. However if you do want to be something more with her, then I suggest you take things slowly with her and savoir the relationship. Because a relationship is at its best when it happens organically, in its own time" she sighed. "And if you rush through it, you might miss it"

Sam looked across to his mother and sighed. He thought that he and Mercedes had been careful in their interactions around their parents to prevent any hint of their budding relationship. He wished he could tell his mother how much she meant to him, despite the small window of time they'd been together. However he and Mercedes agreed to keep their relationship private, until they could figure out exactly what they were. He adored everything about Mercedes, and wanted this particular relationship to last so he sat silently, allowing his mother's words to finally sink in.

Sam found it ironic that he did attempt to take things gradually with Mercedes. With the knowledge that he was her first official boyfriend, he knew that she would not be used to the pace that he normally set for girls he wooed, and decided to take a gentler approach with her. So before he would see her, Sam would always play his mother's voice in his head as she would always plead for him to "slow down". However all of his planning would instantly go out of the window whenever he laid his eyes on Mercedes. The way she would put on a fresh coat of lip gloss, knowing he couldn't wait to take it off with a kiss, or the way he could physically feel her shudder as his slightest touch, always caused him to physically rev his engine, while mentally he knew he should be moving at a snails pace. He could never understand why she could cause him to instantly forget what he told himself about their pace. But her smile, her skin, her smell, her laughter, would all cause him to forget his promise to himself. Once she was in his arms, pressed flush against his body all bets were off.

But Sam wasn't positive he had fallen in love with her. He just knew that she made him feel differently. It wasn't' until his he began having a reoccurring dream, where he was a young Jedi Knight. He and his family where crossing a barren sub arctic land, when a Sith came out to attack them. His family's stayed back, holding on to their Taun Tauns while Sam pulled out his light saber to battle with the evil force that threatened the lives of his family. He fought bravely and was winning, until the Sith threw a handful of snow in his eyes, and then quickly slicing Sam's arm with his saber. Sam stumbled to the ground, frantically trying to clear his vision, feeling his opponent stand over him, with his saber raised high over his head, readying himself to strike a final and fatal blow. He readied himself for his impending death, when he felt the presents of another Jedi. He opened his eye just enough to see the Sith being cut with a purple light saber, taking his left hand. The Sith startled, quickly turned around, to do battle with this new Jedi. He vigorously fought with his right hand, as the new hero battled him. After a few moments, the Sith, exhausted and worn down was to be met a saber to the chest, slicing him in two. As the body fell, Sam's vision was filled with a beautiful Mercedes Jones, her hair in two buns like Princess Leia, and in full Kabuki like make up like Queen Padmé Amidala. She was dressed in an all white Jedi pants outfit, with boots. She rushed to his side, kneeling down to hold his head in her lap, gently caressing his face. He smiled, amazed that even through all of her make up she was still astonishingly beautiful to him.

"Are you alright, young Jedi?" she questioned scanning his wound concerned for his health.

"Yes" he smiled. "Thank you beautiful one, for saving not only me, but my family"

She smiled kindly but confusion coursed through her large brown eyes as she remarked "I know we have just met, but I feel a strong attraction to you, young Jedi. It's a feeling I can't explain"

"I feel it too" Sam smiled as he allowed the force dictate his emotion. "It is rather… strong"

"I agree" she sighed "I know we don't really know each other but some how I already know… I love you" she smiled shyly as she ran her small hand down his cheek.

"I love you too Mercedes" Sam mumbled loud enough to stir him from his slumber.

Suddenly his eyes shot opened. He looked around the room, to find himself back in his motel room, on the extra pull out cot he now called his bed. He quickly sat up, to take survey around his room. The rest of his family was fast asleep, his parents in one bed, his siblings safely tucked in the other. He glanced at the bed side digital clock and read 4:45 am. He lay back down happy his early morning ramblings hadn't woken anyone else up.

Sam's blood was coursing through his veins, as he took deep breaths in an attempt to slow his heart rate down. He stared up at the brown stain above his section of the room he dubbed his thought cloud. Although to most it would appear as an ordinary mark from a faulty roof that stain had helped him work out some of his toughest questions, such as why he and Quinn crashed and burned in such a dramatic fashion, and why he didn't read the signs of Santana's real sexuality before he agreed to date her. He stared into its light brown core and darker edges and asked himself did he really love Mercedes. Rationally he understood they'd only been together close to a month and a half. He honestly counted it as two months factoring in Prom. But was that enough time for him to fall in love?

He then began to focus on how she made him feel complete when they were together. The way his heart twitched when he thought about her, how he would smile at the mere mention of her name, the way his eyes focused on only her, in a room full of people, and how he could tell exactly what she was feeling without her saying a word, and vice versa. In that moment Sam determined it had to be love, because he could honestly admit he had never felt this way for any of his pervious girlfriends. She not only allowed him to be himself, dorky thoughts, Navi speech and all, she never once made him feel like he was stupid when he didn't say the right thing, or slow if he stumbled over his reading. She never made him feel like a charity case due to his financial situation. She laughed at his jokes and appreciated his imitations. She did something that none of the other girls in his past ever tried to do, she got him. She got that he was awkward and didn't like him despite it, but because of it. And for that he loved her the most.

But was she ready for love? And did she feel the same way? He knew and readily accepted that he was in love with her, but was she in love with him? And would she freak out if he told her that he loved her, or will she return the emotion? She had never dated anyone before and he didn't want her to feel pressured into saying something she wasn't ready for or didn't fully mean. Nor did he want their relationship to burn so hot, that by the end of the summer, they had burned out with nothing to show for it but another broken relationship. So Sam decided as he drifted back to sleep he would continue to love Mercedes, but hold on to the information figuring they had the rest of the summer to determine where they were, and where they wanted their relationship to head. "I have time" he drowsily sighed as he allowed the hypnotic pattern of his though cloud lull him to sleep. "I can slow down"