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Disclaimer: Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.
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Chapter 7
Sam and Mercedes were in their own little world, topic after topic they were getting to know each other better and better. They were revealing information that not even their closest friends knew about them. The comfort they felt around each other was undeniable. For Sam, getting to know Mercedes more thoroughly made him feel like he was meeting his match made in heaven while Mercedes felt like she was meeting a completely different Sam. In Mercedes' case, she was happy to see this different side of him. It made him look like a real human being with real feelings instead of the arrogant and spoiled southern brat she first met.
"Tell me about you, Sam."
Sam smiled. "There's not a lot to say about me. As I told you before, I am from Nashville. I spent most of my childhood and adolescence at different boarding schools and my relationship with my family is weird but I love them all deeply."
"Every family has issues."
"Mine is just special sometimes."
Mercedes laughed and Sam thought he was in heaven. Mercedes' laugh was the nicest and sincerest laugh he had ever heard and it made him feel peaceful. "What are your plans for the future?" She asked.
"Well… I am studying Political Science as well so... I'm guessing law school is my best option." He said half-hearted.
"You don't seem enthusiastic at all." She pointed out.
"That's because I really wanted to be something else." He whispered.
"What was it?" Mercedes asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing!" Sam said. Nobody, not even Mike, knew about his long lost dream and honestly, he was not ready to share it with Mercedes. He did not want her to know he had a dorky side. He tried his best to divert the conversation they only way he knew. "Can I tell you something?"
Mercedes looked at him skeptically. "Sure."
"You are really pretty."
"Umm… Thanks." She replied in distrust.
"I mean it, Mercedes. You are beautiful in every conceivable way and I want you to believe it, ok."
"Ok."
After another long awkward silence, Sam said; "If I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh?" Sam said. The only way for her to believe that he was being honest was to open up himself completely to her.
"I promise I can try."
"Mercedes, there's something that I need to confess you. When you got mad at me because I used you as my work reference and I told you that I did it because I needed the job because my parents cut me off. I kinda lied." He said ashamed.
She looked at him and smiled. "Sam… I knew you were lying. So, don't worry. No hard feelings."
He chuckled at her honesty. "About your question… I always wanted to be a comic book illustrator." He said running his fingers through his hair. "I know it's dorky, ok!"
"Actually, I think it's cute."
"Cute?" He asked in confusion.
"Yeah! Because it shows a side of you that never in my life, I thought you had." She explained.
"People can surprise us."
"I agree."
They stared at each other and Sam knew he was falling deeper for her with every passing second but he knew that even though she seemed invested in their coffee date; she did not think about him that way. Trying to put all his thoughts and feelings aside, he concentrated in the reason that led them to that moment: her literature class.
"So, about your literature class; when and where do you wanna meet?"
"We can meet tomorrow after you get off from work, if you want. You can come over to my place since it is not that far from here."
"Sounds like a plan."
They had a really good time at their coffee date and after almost three hours of different conversations, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. For the first time since they met, they were genuinely courteous to each other.
XXXXX
The next day, Sam looked everywhere for Finn and he finally found him at the campus' main cafeteria with Rachel Berry in tow. Sam rolled his eyes at the sight of their PDA, it was horrifying. After waiting for around ten minutes, Sam finally approached them.
"Hello Finn!"
"Oh my god! Look who has decided to stop playing the poor boy game. How've you been my friend?"
Sam laughed somberly. "You knew her? You knew her and didn't even care about telling me."
Finn stood up from his chair, wrapped his arm around Sam's neck and said, "I thought you loved a good challenge. Did you fuck her already?"
Sam broke himself from him and looked at him in disgust, "What is wrong with you?"
"I'm just a carbon copy of who you are." Finn casually said.
"I think you meant, who I was." Sam clarified.
"Who you were? Sam, tell that story to someone else. Old habits die hard and as soon as you get bored with her you'll be back to your antics."
"I know I won't."
Finn laughed but as soon as he saw that Sam's facial expression never changed, he understood Sam meant every single word. "You're in love with her?"
"That's none of your business."
"Sam, that's social suicide?"
"What's social suicide, Finny?" Rachel said as she approached they guys.
"Our friend Sam wants to date a loser. Some waitress he met."
"Oh no! Finn is right, you can't date someone from outside our circle."
"What is wrong with both of you? This is the 21st century for heaven's sake."
"Look, about Mercedes… I never told you because she is part of a past I want to forget and we were never friends, anyways."
"I'm very glad of that last part."
"What is happening to you? It seems like someone switched brains with you."
"Talking to you is pointless. Have a nice life Finn." Sam spat as he walked away from Finn and from what his life was. After that unfortunate meeting, Sam actually felt liberated. He finally felt like himself.
XXXXX
"Thanks for coming, Sam. I bet you are exhausted." Mercedes greeted him at the door. "Come on in."
"Nah! It's ok. It was an easy night." He replied as he walked by her.
"Do you want something to drink or maybe something to eat?"
"No… It's ok but, thanks!" He said. "Let's get down to business."
"Sure." She said as she looked for her literature book and handed it to him.
"So, sonnets!" Sam said as they walked to Mercedes' futon.
"Yeah." She said in a dreadful tone. "My ordeal starts in page 109."
Sam finds the page right away and reads the first lines of one of the sonnets on the page.
"O me! What eyes hath love put in my head
Which have no correspondence with true sight
Or if they have, where is my judgment fled
That censures falsely what they see aright?"
He looked at her lovingly, while she looked at him as if he had just spoken another language. "It's beautiful." Sam said.
"For me, it's just gibberish. I have no idea what he's saying." Mercedes insisted.
"Let me break it down to you. He's saying that love is like this magical thing and that love makes people look at each other without any kind of judgment." Sam explained.
"Why doesn't he just say that?" Mercedes argued.
Sam thought about how to answer her question without giving himself away because he thought that the lines he just read were meant for them. "Mercedes the problem is that people rarely say what they mean."
"I do." Mercedes rebutted.
"Then you are the exception to the rule."
"Maybe I am."
"You know what's interesting about the sonnets… They make you think. They make you look for what is going on underneath the surface. Try this line."
Mercedes looked at him in horror. She was intimidated by his vast knowledge of literature and how dumb she felt next to him. She wondered about how he could portray himself so differently from who he really was to the outside world, instead of showing this Sam to them. For Mercedes, this Sam was actually very likeable.
She read the line aloud, "The sun itself sees not till heaven clears."
"What come to your mind when you read this?"
Mercedes took some time to gather her but came out empty-handed. "Nothing, Sam. It's confusing."
"Think a little bit harder." He insisted.
"The only thing that comes to my mind is this; the sun can't shine when it's cloudy."
"Mercedes, you're being too literal. I know you can do better than that." He said as he grabbed her hand but she rapidly pulled it away. "Look, all these words have meanings; multiple meanings, actually."
"You've got to be kidding me."
She pouted in frustration and he chuckled at her cute facial expression. "You have to explore the possibilities. For example, in this case, the sun could mean reason or light and heaven could mean a state of being, like being happy or in love." He said looking at her thoughtfully. "Now, read the line again, thinking of what I just told you."
Mercedes read the line silently and thought about what Sam told her. "I think it could mean that love blinds you." She said staring at him fixedly.
"What else?"
"When you're in love you can't think reasonably. Like you are willing to do whatever it takes to be happy with that person."
Sam was happy she understood what the line meant but also he was hoping she understood that the line describe him perfectly. "Do you agree?"
"Yeah, but I mean it's just a poem." Mercedes answered oblivious to everything that sonnet meant.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's just a poem." He said defeated.
A/N: Mercedes is a fighter... She's not going down easily. Not even Shakespeare words can make her open up to new things. Sam in the other hand is a goner. What is he going to do to win her heart? I sense a little surprise!
***About You Belong With Me, I decided to take a little break from that story because everything that is coming to my head is for Perfect Strangers. I'm sorry for all of you that are waiting for an update. *Praying Circle for me, please! I need to finish that story.*
Until Next Time,
XOXO