Mercedes didn't see Sam anywhere on Monday until Glee club after school. Not that she usually did but she wondered if their paths would cross today and if he would speak to her. Something had changed between them and she was still figuring it out. Whatever she had rationalized this into, whatever this was, she was still looking forward to having him as a friend. They didn't share any classes on a Monday but she wondered if their paths might cross at any random point like the lunch room.

When she walked into the rehearsal room at the end of the day there was no sign of him. Everyone was mostly early and still buzzing about prom, and it would have been nice to have shared the buzz with him. Feeling slightly sad, she took a place at the back next to Kurt and Tina. Mike had a doctor's appointment and Tina was looking bereft sitting without him. It suddenly seemed like prom was already a long time ago and it was an age since she had seen him and the other Gleeks apart from Kurt.

She, Kurt and Blaine had met in The Lima Bean the night before and talked through what had happened at prom. Luckily, the fact that she'd gone with Sam didn't even factor into the conversation as they spent the entire time discussing what had happened to Kurt. And there was definitely plenty to muse over such as who might have been behind it and why on earth as Principal, Figgins hadn't simply taken matters into his own hands and refused to read the name from the card. Although she and Blaine had given him as much reassurance as they possibly could, she knew it was still a struggle for Kurt to come to school and hold his head up knowing the prom queen vote had been rigged.

He smiled at her and took some deep breaths to calm his nerves. Of all the places to feel safe, Glee club was the best of them. But an entire day's tension doesn't disappear in five minutes and she placed a comforting hand on his leg. She was well aware that his defence shields were still set to maximum. She'd promised she would be there for him on his first day back at school and she had been. It had been the focus of her entire day and a welcome distraction from her thoughts of Sam. She'd even forgiven Kurt for the endless looks to his iPhone, clearly counting down the minutes of the day until he could go and meet Blaine again.

Sam eventually came in late. Scanned the seats looking for her in the group, and shot her a lopsided grin before taking a seat at the front next to Puck. Lauren hadn't been seen all day. Mercedes suspected she'd crawled into a hole somewhere to vent her rage on not being voted prom queen.

All the same, Mercedes was happy that Sam had smiled at her. A small part of her had worried that Saturday would remain firmly in history and that come Monday morning the fairytale would be over. This was high school and there was a food chain. He would return to being a jock, she would return to the lower end where she dwelled in contentment and nothing would ever be mentioned between them again. But she hated herself for thinking like that. She really wanted Sam to prove that he was different. The way he'd acted on Saturday had let her to hope that he might be.

Mr Schue started the class by thanking them for their performances at the prom, with special commendation for Rachel's use of emotion in her voice while singing Jar of Hearts. She beamed proudly while Finn hung his head in embarrassment and Quinn looked positively ill. It hadn't been a great night for either of them and Quinn was regretting parading around with Breadstix with him at the beginning of the night. Her plan for being prom queen had backfired spectacularly and she only had herself to blame. But despite the drama everyone agreed that it had been a pretty amazing song. Mercedes caught Santana's eye. Because of course Mr Schue would never give any commendation to their rendition of Dancing Queen, just as their rendition of Riveer Deep Mountain High had been everyone else's first choice but his. The assignment he set for the week was 'TV Theme Songs' and she quickly became lost in thought trying to come up with an inspired selection. It made the time pass more quickly and before she knew it Glee was over.

As she headed out after class she noticed Sam fall into step behind her. Maybe he wasn't avoiding her after all. He hitched his bag higher on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I fell asleep before I could reply to your text Mercedes."

She smiled. "Don't worry. I thought that's what had happened."

"I share the phone with my parents now so I don't have it with me all the time."

She understood what he was trying to say and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "You already thanked me on Saturday. And we both had a great time."

He appeared to want to say more but have no idea what so he shoved his hands into his pockets, shot her a lopsided grin and said his goodbyes.

"Do you want a ride?" The question was spontaneous and caught her by surprise as much as it did him.

"Actually I was just going to walk..."

Suddenly she knew how her offer sounded but she wasn't doing it out of pity. "It's not far out of my way and in case you hadn't notice its started raining."

Mercedes sounded like she wasn't going to take no for an answer and Sam was not about to argue. He was starting to realize what it was that people found scary about Mercedes Jones. Once her mind was made up it was made up! Plus he didn't particularly want to walk home in the rain if he really didn't have to. He hadn't realized that it was going to rain and had forgotten to bring his Letterman jacket.

They ran quickly to the car, Mercedes protecting her weave with her science folder. Once inside the car they again fell naturally into conversation. She was pleasantly surprised when the first thing he did ask her how Kurt was doing. She hadn't expected him to show such an interest as it was such an unlikely friendship, but after a few moments she remembered that Kurt was helping him even before she had been, so really she shouldn't have been so surprised at all. Before she knew it, the short drive was over and they were pulling into the motel parking lot. She could see his shoulder slump as they pulled into a free space. It really did have such a depressing atmosphere, and the rain just made it seem even more grey and stark. There was nothing homely about the place.

"Mom says you're coming to babysit tomorrow afternoon." He seemed to be having a little trouble with the seatbelt.

"Yeah. Just for a short while."

"Cool. Maybe I might see you before I go to work." Finally he'd managed to work himself free and seemed embarrassed that it had taken him so long to work it out.

Reluctantly Sam jumped out of the car, turned his head, made the Vulcan symbol with the fingers on his right hand and whispered 'Live long and prosper' before running to the front door of the motel room. Mercedes couldn't help but shake her head and grin at his cheesiness. That boy really was something else.

As she pulled away, he stood and waited for her car to turn out of sight before sighing and going in.