She was gone.

Sam looked around his penthouse in disbelief. She had actually left, even after she promised she wouldn't. His chest suddenly felt tight but he couldn't quite place the emotion. He didn't know if he was hurt, pissed off, or a little bit of both.

She left him. She snuck out like a thief in the night the second he had his back turned. She didn't even have the decency to tell him to his face. She just left.

The more he thought about it the more he realized he wasn't confused about his feelings any longer because he knew exactly what he felt. He was pissed off. He was so pissed off that he could literally feel his blood starting to boil. Who did she think she was? Nobody left Sam Evans hanging without an explanation. If she thought that she was going to walk out on him and not have to explain herself, she had another thing coming.

He went back into the bathroom and jerked open his medicine cabinet. He reached in and grabbed a bottle of Aleve. He was tempted to take the whole bottle in hopes of making the pounding in his head go away but he settled for three. He went into his bedroom and grabbed a bottle of water out of the mini fridge by his bed. He threw the pills in his mouth and downed half the bottle of water. He then moved on to find a suitable outfit for his unintentional day off. The first thing that he came across that wasn't a suit was an old pair of faded jeans and a black t-shirt. After he threw those on he called his office to talk to his brother.

"Evans and Evans Advertising this is Glenda Halbright speaking, how may I help you?"

"Glenda, this Sam is my brother in?"

"Oh, Mr. Evans! No, sir I'm sorry, you're brother left a little while ago."

"Figures." Sam muttered under his breath.

"Did he say when he was coming back?"

"Actually sir, I got the impression that he wasn't coming back. He had a...um, lady friend with him and he told me to have a nice weekend."

Sam rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew he shouldn't be surprised but sometimes the total lack of respect that Stevie had for their father's company astounded him.

"Will you be coming in sir?"

"No, Glenda I won't be. I still feel a little bit under the weather."

"Do you know if Ms. Jones will be coming back?"

"Uh, no. I decided to give her the rest of the day off as well."

"Oh, okay sir. Can I do anything else for you?"

"Yes, could you connect me with human resources?"

"Yes, sir."

"Once you get done with that you can also take the rest of day off."

"Thank you very much, sir."

"It's my pleasure. Have a good weekend, Glenda."

"You too, sir. I'm connecting you right now."

Sam only had to sit through two rings before someone picked up.

"Hello, this is Anna how many I help you."

"Hello Anna, this is Sam Evans I need you to pull a file for me."

"Uh..okay, I mean, yes sir. Who's file did you need?" Anna asked nervously.

"I need to get the address of one of my employees. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, sir. What's the name?"

"Mercedes Jones."

"Just one moment, sir."

Sam listened to the click clack of the computer as Anna pulled up the information.

"Mr. Evans?"

"Yes?"

"Miss Jones lives at 1500 Meadow Lane Drive in apartment 34B. Do you need any other information?"

"No, Anna that will do just fine. Thank you and have a nice day."

"You too, sir."

After Sam hung up he tried calling his brother but the sorry son of a bitch wouldn't answer. More than likely he was balls deep inside of his latest 'lady friend' and couldn't be bothered to pick up with phone. Instead of stressing about what or who his brother was doing he decided to turn his attention back to Mercedes. He thought about calling her but he figured a sneak attack would be better.

He grabbed his phone, wallet, keys and the scrap of paper that he wrote Mercedes address on and left his apartment. Once he got downstairs he gave the doorman a quick wave before heading across the street to the parking garage where his car was housed.

It took him over an hour to find the apartment complex because he got in a traffic detour that completely through his GPS off. When he finally got to her apartment the headache that had begun to fade was back with a vengeance and he was thoroughly frustrated. If this had been anybody else he would have given up a long time ago and just chewed them out at work on Monday, but he couldn't do that with Mercedes. He wanted to talk to her and he was going to talk to her today no matter how frustrated it made him.

He looked around but didn't see her car so he assumed she wasn't home yet. After walking up the two flights of steps and knocking on her door without an answer he realized his guess was correct. Because he was not in the mood to walk down two flights of stairs just to walk back up them when Mercedes arrived he decided to just park it on the top step and wait. He hoped she came soon because he was in no mood to sit on the ground for a long period of time.

Luckily for Sam somebody was finally on his side for the first time in over 24 hours and in only a few minutes time Mercedes was slowly walking up the steps with her head down. The frustration and anger all came to a head as he watched her take her sweet time coming up the stairs.

"So from now on when you promise to do something I should just assumed you mean the opposite?"

The shocked look on Mercedes' face when she popped her head up would have almost been comical if he hadn't been so pissed off.

"Wh...why are you...how did you find my apartment?"

"I had human resources pull your file and give it to me."

"Isn't that illegal?"

Was it? Sam didn't know for sure and he didn't exactly care at the moment.

"Probably, but I run that company, they aren't going to tell me no."

Sam watched as the shocked look on Mercedes face slowly melted away into one of anger. She was clearly not impressed with his attitude but in that moment he didn't really give a damn.

"Can you excuse me please? I'd like to get to my apartment."

Did she really think she could just blow him off? Or did she honestly think he came all this way just so they could have a quick chat on her step? Sam knew Mercedes wasn't stupid so it was clear she was trying to push him aside again but he wasn't having it.

"By all means, Miss Jones. Lead the way."

"No," she snapped, "I'm going to my apartment, you can go to yours."

"No," he snapped back, "you promised me a talk and if you don't want to do it at my place then we're doing it at yours."

Mercedes looked like she wanted to argue but he guess she thought better of it because she said,

"Fine, but we're just talking."

"Absolutely. I promise." He said in return sarcastically.

Mercedes rolled her eyes at him but she didn't say anything more as she made her way to her front door. Once there she fumbled with her keys before finally shoving them into the keyhole. Sam knew he was crowding her space but it didn't care, it had been too long since he felt her body against his.

Once the door was unlocked Mercedes practically flung herself into the room and away from him.

"I apologize for the mess."

Sam quickly surveyed the room and the most predominate thought he had was purple. It was everywhere there wasn't a surface in her apartment that wasn't either purple or had something purple on it. Even though he wasn't a particular fan of the color itself he had to admit that somehow it all worked. Mercedes' home even in all of its purpleness seemed like a very inviting and homey place to be.

After getting a quick rundown from Mercedes on how her friend Kurt brought a purple bomb from the City and let it blow up in her apartment she then went straight into a snarky list of beverages that she had to offer. He had to laugh at her choices but he decided to stick with water for now and probably forever after that considering how he felt at the moment.

Once she went off to get the water Sam sat down on the couch and his eyes were instantly drawn to a photo album that was on his kitchen table. When he opened it he found Mercedes' smiling face pressed up against a man's face. He couldn't contain the instant jolt of jealously he felt at seeing her so happy with another man. The feeling didn't quite go away even though with the more pictures he looked at the more he started to realize that the 'other man' was more than likely just her friend Kurt. It wasn't until he saw a picture of the guy dressed like the woman on the Chiquita bananas that he was a 100% sure.

He was just getting into the section that looked like it was all taken at a wild party when he saw a bottle of water hurtling at him from the corner of his eye. Luckily for him he had quick reflexes otherwise that bottle would have clocked him right in the eye. He gave Mercedes a knowing look as her eye darted nervously towards the album.

"We need to work on your arm, your aim is horrible."

"Really? I thought I threw that right at you." Clearly they needed to work on her lying as well because she sucked at that too.

"Mmmm-hmmmm..." Sam muttered and his eyes went back to the album. If Mercedes was willing to assault him with a water bottle there must have been something juicy in it.

"How about I move that out of the way?" He saw her small brown hands reach for it but he snatched it back just out of her reach.

"Why can't I look at the album?"

"Because it's private."

"Do you normally leave private things on the coffee table were anybody can see them?"

"No, because most of my guests are invited or give me a head's up that they are coming. You just showed up."

Sam raised his eyebrows at her, she certainly had him there but he wasn't going to let her know it.

"Well, if I remember correctly if you hadn't run off we would have been at my place and I never would have come over here."

He saw he narrow her eyes slightly and he knew he had her.

She sighed and looked down at the album regretfully, "fine, but in my defense I was 21, I was drunk, and I can't be held responsible for what I do after a few tequila shots."

Sam's mind went immediately to the gutter as he thought of all the things he could get her to do. He smirked up at her and said, "That's good to know."

She told him that she wanted to change into something more comfortable, which did nothing to help get his mind out of the gutter because his first thought went automatically to lingerie.

Once she was gone he turned back to the album and he quickly found that Mercedes wasn't exaggerating about her warning. She wasn't falling over drunk or showing off her breasts but she was clearly feeling no pain. There was a looseness about her that he had never seen but dearly hoped he would one day. He liked the sexy, straight-laced, secretary look that she pulled off so well but he couldn't wait to see her completely undone.

He didn't have to wait long.

He heard her pad lightly back into the living room before plopping down on the love seat across the room.

"So, are you ready to talk Sam?"

He glanced at her almost absent-mindedly but he did double-take when he took in her appearance. Her hair was haphazardly on top of her head with a clip, leaving her neck exposed. Her face was devoid of makeup with the exception of a little bit of dark berry lipstick that faintly stained her lips. And from what he could tell about her outfit from the little bit he would see from the enormous pillow blocking her she was wearing a very large t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants that had seen better days.

She was gorgeous.

Sam didn't want to freak her out but going on about how beautiful she looked when it was obvious that she had actively tried not to look attractive so he settled for playful instead.

"You look cute."

"Wait...what?"

"I said you look cute, I'm used to you being all done up and sexy, it's nice to see you laid back and natural. I like it."

"Oh, well thank you."

Sam couldn't help but smile when he saw Mercedes trying desperately to keep her smile hidden. He felt like he was finally making some headway with her so he decided to press his luck. He pushed the album aside and patted the seat next to him on the sofa.

"Why don't you come over here?

The tiny smile on Mercedes' face quickly evaporated.

"I'm perfectly comfortable over here."

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Get over yourself Sam. Just because I like my space doesn't mean I'm afraid of you."

"Liar." He whispered. The slight tremor in her voice was a dead giveaway, she might not want to admit that he affected her but her body didn't lie. He wanted to push further but he decided to give her a little break...for now.

"So what happened? Why did you miss the meeting?"

Sam's thoughts immediately darkened at the reasons why he missed the meeting. He knew that he told Mercedes they would talk but the last thing he wanted to talk about was that.

"Like I said before, I got some bad news and I didn't handle it well." He said abruptly.

"Ooookay...and?"

"And that's it. I fucked up by letting my emotions get the best of me but in my defense I was blindsided, it won't happen again." Sam mentally cursed himself for trying to explain himself to Mercedes. This conversation shouldn't be happening and if he let it continue he would end up spilling his guts about everything.

"Sometimes emotions getting the best of you isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"Like in the private room?"

Sam finally saw his opening and his salvation. He could bring up what he really wanted to talk about while simultaneously getting out of the quicksand that was the current conversation.

The tension in the room was heavy after his whispered comment.

"That wasn't emotion that was..." Mercedes' voice faded away as she clearly tried to think of something to say that would diminish what they had in that room. Since Mercedes couldn't find any words, Sam provided some of his own.

"It was need. It was want. It was lust. It was emotion."

"It was a mistake, is what it was. It was unprofessional and...and it should have never happened!"

Sam knew that Mercedes was lying but hearing her say it never should have happened still hurt.

"Do you honestly believe that?" He asked quietly "Did it honestly mean nothing to you?"

"I..I...I don't know. This talk is not...Sam, maybe you should just go."

Sam watched as Mercedes got and made a move towards the door but before she could walk past him he grabbed her hand and forced her to stop. The feel of her soft hand in his was so enticing that he slowly started to rub circles on the back of it with his thumb.

"Please stop Sam." Mercedes said with a strangled voice.

"I can't." He whispered back. It was the truth even if he wanted to let go of her in that moment he didn't think he would be able to.

Sam felt Mercedes looking down at him so he looked up and met her gaze. The confusion swirling around in her dark gaze was the same confusion he felt inside. Neither one of them understood the attraction but as far as Sam was concerned it was time for them to stop analyzing it.

He stood up until he was standing over Mercedes' short frame and he tugged her ridiculously large t-shirt until he could feel her entire body pressed against his. Sam wanted to remember this moment so he took his sweet time bending towards her mouth before slightly brushing his closed lips against her. After a few passes back and forth Sam pulled back to look down at Mercedes. Her lips were slightly parted and her eyes were closed, she looked so inviting but Sam decided he wasn't going to make another movie until she asked for it. Thankfully he didn't have to wait too long.

"Sam please..."

The soft pleading tone in Mercedes' voice was Sam's undoing. He wrapped his right arm around Mercedes and pulled her so close it was impossible to tell where one of them ended and the other began. They both groaned loudly when their lips met again and neither one of them wasted any time opening their mouths so that their tongues could get reacquainted.

Sam sat back down on the couch and pulled Mercedes down on top of him. The feeling of her on top of him was one that he had every intention of feeling as many times as possible as long as he could. He shifted her so that her warm heat was directly above his dick. He thrust upwards experimentally one time and groaned into her mouth at how perfect she felt. He was just about to do it again when he felt her pushing at his chest and trying to get away. At first he was confused and thought maybe he misread her and was going faster than she was comfortable with. But the confusion quickly turned to anger when he heard why she wanted to get up.

"No, I gotta get up, I'm too heavy."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked angrily. He grabbed Mercedes hips to hold her still so she would stop trying to get up.

"You feel perfect to me, you're not too heavy."

Sam watched as Mercedes rolled her eyes at him. She was putting up a sassy front but it still didn't completely hide the self-doubt underneath. She pulled his hands off her hips and stood up.

"Thank you for the compliment but you don't have to lie. I know I'm a big girl, and I'm cool with it but I don't expect you to be."

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was well aware that Mercedes wasn't a size 2 but that made her even more appealing to him. Why would he want sticks and bones when he could have curves?

"When have I ever said anything about what size you are? I think you're fucking gorgeous and you're perfect just the way you are."

Mercedes' face slightly crumpled at his words and she turned her back to him.

"Hey, don't do that. Look at me."

She refused to turn around so Sam stood back up and turned her around and grabbed her face between his hands.

"You're beautiful and I know you know it. You wouldn't be strutting in the office in all of those sexy outfits if you didn't. You know you're beautiful so why don't I get to know it too?"

Sam's heart clenched as he watched her try and blink back tears. He hated seeing her sad, especially over something that she had no reason to be sad about. He pressed his lips softly to her forehead, then to her nose, and finally her lips.

"You're beautiful Mercedes Jones."

Sam swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt Mercedes tears on his fingertips. He kissed her once more before sitting back down on the couch and settling her on his lap. He whispered "you're beautiful" into her hair over and over and he prayed that she heard him and believed it. Finally after what seemed like forever to Sam he heard her whisper, "Thank you," softly into his neck. He smiled and pulled her closer, and before long his eyelids became heavy and he realized that Mercedes' breathing on his neck had become deep and even.

Sam laughed to himself softly, he had never had a woman fall asleep on him before but he was starting to realize that Mercedes Jones was unlike every other woman he had ever been with.

With some maneuvering Sam was able to get stretched out with Mercedes so that they were both able to lie on the couch somewhat comfortably. As he lay behind his sleeping beauty he ran his finger up and down her arm. Her smooth skin had the effect of an Ambien because after watching the sixth or seventh pass of his finger against her brown skin he was out like a light.

Hours later when Sam awoke he was instantly discombobulated. It was almost pitch dark, aside from a few beams of light, so he knew that he wasn't at home but for a second he couldn't remember where he was. It wasn't until he heard a slight moan and felt something rubbing against him that he remembered that he was at Mercedes' apartment and they had both fallen asleep on her couch. Now that he knew where he was he could go back to focusing on the incredible sensation that was currently going on in his pants. The gentlemanly side of him knew that he should probably wake Mercedes up because it was clear that she wasn't aware of what she was doing. The not so gentlemanly part of him was more than happy to let her continue with what she was doing for as long as she wanted to. Unfortunately for him the little sub-conscious joyride that he was getting from Mercedes was not meant to be because she woke up.

It was clear that she had the same 'where the hell am I' reaction that he had when he first woke up, but she quickly shook it off. He watched in silent amusement as Mercedes tried her best to turn towards him without waking him up. He knew he was being an ass for not telling her he was already awake but she was so cute he couldn't help it.

Once she got all settled he whispered to her, "You are the worst sleeper."

She jumped a little bit at finding out that he was awake before whispering back, "I am not!"

He chuckled softly, "yes you are, I'm surprised you didn't fall off the couch with all the rolling you did."

"Well, why didn't I roll off?"

"Because I had you and I wasn't going to let you fall. Besides, I can think of worst things to do with my time than have you moving against me."

Sam gulped a little as the words left his mouth. After what had happened earlier he swore to himself that he would keep the seduction at a minimum but here he was already hitting on her.

Sam was just about to apologize when he felt her lay her head down on the arm he had outstretched above them. She brought one of her small fingers up to his lips and Sam had to close his eyes at the little tingles he felt as she ran her index finger lightly back and forth over his lips.

"You know these are not normal, right?"

Sam's eyes popped open, "Stop talking about my lips!"

"Awww, did I hurt your feelings?"

"Yes, now kiss them and make it better."

Mercedes laughed, "Damn, you're bossy."

"That's how I get shit done."

Mercedes laughed again before leaning forward and giving Sam a tiny peck, but he wasn't having it.

"That's not good enough, you really hurt my feelings."

"You poor baby."

Sam played along and stuck his mouth out in a pout. When Mercedes leaned forward again he was expecting the same type of tiny peck he got before so he wasn't prepared in the least when she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and licked it.

"Fuck, Mercedes..." Sam groaned.

All thought of going slow evaporated into thin air as Sam quickly rolled Mercedes onto her back. He had that instant thought again that maybe he was going to fast but it was quickly gone once he felt Mercedes wind her leg around his back. They began kissing again but this time it was messy. There were lips and tongues everywhere and the slurping and sucking noises were driving Sam insane with lust. He began grinding his pelvis into Mercedes and he knew that she could feel every inch of him because it wasn't long before she was clutching and grabbing and pulling his hair and murmuring,

"Sam...oh god...Sam, I need you...God please...you have to...uuugghhh..."

Mercedes' leg was now wrapped around him like a vice grip and Sam could feel himself hitting the sweet spot even through four layers of clothing. He had never been one for dry humping but in this case there was nothing dry about what they were doing at all. Even though it wasn't the real thing he knew he would be satisfied if that was all he got tonight.

Mercedes, on the other hand, did not agree.

Before he knew it she was tugging on her shirt and while Sam wasn't a rocket scientist he wasn't slow either. He grabbed the hem of the enormous shirt Mercedes was wearing and flung it across the room. Next, he reached behind her and quickly ripped her bra off and sent it sailing in the same general direction as the t-shirt. He sat back on his knees in and took in the sight of Mercedes topless and laid out on the couch for him. His pants tightened painfully and he knew that he couldn't take too much more. Mercedes obviously agreed because she sat up and pulled off his shirt and ran her hands lightly down his abs before lying back down in a clear invitation to come get some. Since Sam was never one to turn down an invite to a good time he quickly positioned his body back on top of hers. At first his plan was to devour every inch of her but once they got settled and really started to feel each other they both slowed down and just savored. For what seemed like eternity there was nothing but soft kisses, soft words and soft caresses. Even though Sam continued to move against Mercedes it was just a gentle wave instead of an intense rocking motion.

Once again the feeling started to become too much so Sam sat back on his knees again to give himself a minute to calm down. He wanted to go slow for her but he had no reached the point where he wanted to be as deep inside of her as he could possibly get. As he continued to look down at her he could almost make at Mercedes' soft smile before she reached towards him and said,

"Come here."

Since it was becoming very obvious that he couldn't deny her anything he was back on top of her in a second. He hoped her words were an invitation to finish this because that was exactly what he was going to do.

He began kissing her again but the time for savoring was over. He moved his lips roughly over hers and she responded in kind. He began to kiss down her neck before moving down to her chest and on to her stomach. Once there he gave a quick kiss to her stomach right above her waistband right before grabbing it with both hands and ripping the pants and the panties from Mercedes' body. She gave a squeak of protest but Sam didn't pay attention. He gave one long lick to her pussy and he felt her thighs tighten underneath his hands. He went to work and alternated between licks and tiny nibbles to her clit. By the time he stuck two fingers inside of her she was writhing all over the couch and crying and begging him to finish. Sam almost thought of giving into her but he decided against it and started to kiss his way back up her body.

Once he got to her mouth Mercedes tried to turn away. Sam held in his chuckle so that he wouldn't further piss Mercedes off, it was clear that she didn't like being teased.

"Taste how good you are baby."

Mercedes looked at him doubtfully for a second but he just raised a challenging eyebrow back at her. She glared up at him for a minute before grabbing his head and bringing closer to hers. She licked her tongue lightly over her lips and then gave Sam a surprised look. He smiled back down at her and told her not to be so surprised that she tasted so damn good.

She laughed back in obvious delight before once again sucking Sam's bottom lip into her mouth and making his toes curl. She continued to bite and lick at his lips while she ran her hand down his body towards his jeans. Once she was at the waistband of his jean she popped open his buttons and managed to slide her hands over the throbbing bulge in his boxer briefs.

"Fuuuuck..." Sam hissed out between clenched teeth.

Mercedes was rubbing him slowly but it was clear that between the size of his swollen dick and the tightness of his pants she wasn't able to do much. She ordered him to take his pants off and he was happy to oblige.

Once he was completely naked he looked down to find Mercedes staring at his dick in amazement.

"I don't think that's going to fit."

Sam was going to make sure it fit if it were the last thing he ever did.

"Don't worry about that baby, I promise we'll make it fit."

He reached down to where his pants where on the floor and quickly got his wallet out and pulled out his 'emergency' condom. He rolled it on and positioned the head at Mercedes' dripping wet entrance.

He looked back up at her one more time because he needed to be sure, he needed them both to be sure. He didn't know why it was so important to him because it was never important before he needed to know before they started this thing between him.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Because there will be no going back and I know that this one time won't be enough for either of us. If we start this...I don't know if we'll ever be able to finish it."

Sam held his breath as he waited and he let out with a whoosh of relief when he heard,

"I'm sure. I want you."

As far as Sam was concerned no other words were needed so he slowly started to slide into Mercedes. She was so tight Sam worried for a second that he might not fit, but with a little agonizing work he finally made his way in. Once he was as deep in her as he could go he collapsed on her chest.

"God you feel so good," he murmured in her ear.

He felt her smile into his neck as she rubbed his hair. Even though she seemed okay she still hadn't said anything and Sam was starting to get worried.

"Are you okay?"

He felt her nod against him and he took that as a sign that he continue. He got up on his elbows and slowly started to pull out and push back in. He watched Mercedes' face carefully and the first few times he did it she winced but the more he did it the more he could tell the pain was fading and the pleasure was building.

For a while the kept a steady, rhythmic pace but soon Sam's thrusts became uneven and erratic and Mercedes slow rubs became frantic clutches. It was clear that neither one of them was going to last much longer but Sam was determined to hold out until Mercedes came first. The feeling of her milking him dry was almost more than he could handle but he didn't care if he had to pull out completely and take a breather, Mercedes was going to get her pleasure before he got his.

Thankfully for him Mercedes could feel his pain because she grabbed his hand and pulled it down to where they were joined. She whispered breathlessly in his ear,

"Finish it..."

Sam wanted them to do it together so he intertwined his fingers with hers and pressed them against her clit. Within seconds she was moaning loudly as her pussy clenched on his dick. Watching Mercedes finally lose all control was the thing that finally put Sam over the edge. He roughly called out her name one last time before collapsing on her body.

They both lay there breathing harshly and trying to collect their scattered thoughts.

"That was..."

"Yeah, I know."

They both looked at each other and laughed. Sam couldn't remember the last time he laughed like this or even who he did it with. Everything in his life seemed to be stressing him out lately so it was nice to relieve some of it.

Sam could feel his eyelids growing heavy again when Mercedes' voice snapped him out of his imminent slumber.

"I think we need to move to the bedroom because if we stay her then we'll regret it in the morning."

Sam was shocked, he thought she would ask him to leave before she'd ask him to stay.

"Are you inviting me into your bedroom?"

"You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"I'm just giving you a head's up because earlier you made such a fuss about me not being invited. I just want to be sure I'm wanted." Sam couldn't resist the cheeky dig.

"Oh believe me, you're definitely wanted." She said huskily, "now get your ass in my bedroom."

"The boss thing looks good on you."

"Mmmmm." Mercedes hummed, "it looks good on you too."

Sam couldn't help but smile at that.

"Alright, Miss Jones lead the way."

She grabbed his hand and led him into her very loud and purple bedroom. She pointed him in the direction of the bathroom and quickly cleaned himself up and disposed of the condom. While he was in there she had pulled back the sheets so while she handled her business he quickly crawled in between the sheets. A few minutes later Mercedes was crawling into bed and they shared a sweet but quick kiss. Everything about their interaction was very domestic and it made Sam feel happy but he didn't want to dwell too much on that because it was too much too soon.

Sleep quickly claimed Sam and even though he had slept for hours before already on the couch he still got a full night's sleep and woke up more rested than he had in longer than he could remember. The bright light from the sun streaming in his face was the thing that woke him up, but his growling stomach was the thing that forced him out of bed. When was the last time he ate? The sushi restaurant? As if Sam had directed that question to his stomach it growled in response. Sam wanted to lay in bed for a while with Mercedes but the ache in his stomach was actually painful—he had to get up and get something to eat. He glanced over at Mercedes and thought about waking her but she looked too peaceful. He decided to just go find something to eat and make enough for both of them and serve her breakfast in bed.

Once Sam left the bedroom he made a beeline straight for Mercedes' kitchen and as he rummaged through the refrigerator and the cabinets he made a depressing discovery—Mercedes had no food. What did she eat? Air? She had cereal but no milk. She had peanut butter but no jelly, or bread, or crackers or anything else to put it on. She had a cabinet full of seasonings but no actual food to season. He wondered briefly if he wasn't paying her enough and he was actually worried that she didn't have enough to survive. That worry quickly evaporated when he opened her refrigerator and found it stuffed with TV dinners and frozen pizzas. Sam shook his head and chuckled lightly, Mercedes continued to surprise him because he didn't take her as the frozen food type.

Although Sam was tempted to just pop a frozen pizza in the oven he wanted something fresh. He had passed a farmers' market on his way to Mercedes' place yesterday so he decided to go back there to pick up some items to make breakfast.

He made his way back into the living room and he was in the process of pulling up his pants when he heard it. There doorknob to the front door was wiggling and he could hear somebody cursing on the other side. He grabbed the first 'weapon' he could find, which just happened to be a long purple umbrella, and he waited for the intruder to make his way in. After what seemed like 5 minutes the person on the other end was finally able to force the door open.

"I told that girl that she needed to get this damn door fixed." The intruder mumbled to himself, "what if some killer is chasing her up the stairs and she needs to get in her house quickly? She won't be able to do it because of this damn doo-AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Sam almost dropped his umbrella at the ungodly noise that came out of the assailants' mouth. All of a sudden he felt himself get pelted by little round objects that were sort of hard but not really. He looked down at one that had hit him square in the chest and realized that they were just bagels. He was being pummeled by a bunch of bagels.

"HELP! HELP! HELP!"

Sam was brought back to reality by the smoke alarm like quality of bagel thrower's scream. After getting a good look at the person he realized that it was the guy from Mercedes' photo album on the coffee table. Once he realized the guy wasn't an actual threat to Mercedes' safety, or anybody else's for that matter, Sam lowered the umbrella.

"HELP! HELP! HELP!"

"Please stop screaming." Sam tried to be calm.

"MERCEDES? Oh God...MERCEDES?" Kurt looked around frantically, "You killed her didn't you? SHE'S DEAD ISN'T SHE?"

"Oh God." Sam rolled his eyes. His perfect morning was officially shot to hell and the raging headache from yesterday morning was back in full force.

"I'm calling the police!"

"Mercedes isn't dead, she's sleeping."

"No, she's not."

Sam and Kurt both looked over to see a sleepy and annoyed Mercedes watching them from the hallway.

"Why in the hell are there bagels all over my floor?"

Before Sam could open his mouth to explain Kurt pushed past him and grabbed Mercedes and pulled her to him.

"I thought you were dead. I thought this intruder had come in and killed you!"

"Kurt, stop being so damn dramatic all the time. Why would he come in here and kill me?"

"What other reason would he have to be here?"

Sam felt himself getting pissed off, one because they were talking about him like he wasn't standing right there and two, because Mercedes' asshole friend wouldn't even consider the possibility that they were together.

Mercedes rolled her eyes and pushed Kurt away.

"Kurt, this is Sam. Sam, this very loud and dramatic person is Kurt.

Sam held out his hand towards Kurt to shake but he didn't get a response.

"Sam...where have I heard that name...OH MY GOD. SAM?"

The look on Kurt's face was comical but the slight blush that darkened Mercedes' cheeks was what he was really focused on. So she had talked about him with her best friend? That was interesting...

Sam held his hand out to Kurt again to shake but he was surprised when Kurt's whole demeanor changed and the look in his eyes became downright chilly.

Without acknowledging Sam's outstretched hand Kurt turned back to Mercedes and told her that she should probably go get dressed. Mercedes looked like she wanted to argue but she glanced down at the flimsy robe she was wearing and with one last scathing look at Kurt she headed back to her bedroom. Two seconds after the door shut behind her Kurt turned back to regard Sam coolly.

"What are you doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"What are you doing with Mercedes?"

Sam was taken aback by the fierceness in Kurt's tone. How could that man go from screaming like a 12-year-old girl to looking like he was ready to kick Sam's ass?

"What Mercedes and I are doing is none of your business."

"That's where you're wrong Sam. I've been through thick and thin with that woman and if you think you're going to stroll in her and break her heart then you are sadly mistaken."

"I'm not going to break her heart."

"Yes you are." Kurt said sadly. "I told her to go after you but I never thought she'd actually do it. Mercedes doesn't put herself out there like that unless it's something really important to her."

Sam tried to ignore the weird feeling in his chest when Kurt talked about the possibility of him being important to Mercedes but it was getting harder and harder to ignore that feeling.

"I'm not going to break her heart." Sam reiterated again.

"Maybe not on purpose, but you will."

"Stop saying that! You don't know anything about me."

"You're not some special snowflake, Sam. I've met plenty of guys like you and guys like you break girls like Mercedes' hearts. This thing between you was just a roll in the hay for you but I guarantee it was more than that for Mercedes. She may play it off, but it was more."

There was that feeling again.

"Look, we can't keep going back and forth about this. What can I do or say to convince you that I won't hurt Mercedes?"

"Nothing. You'll hurt her and I'll be there to pick up the pieces. End of story."

Sam started to get angry, he wasn't going to hurt Mercedes and he didn't need her overly dramatic friend telling him that he was.

"What is your problem with me?"

"I've watched my best friend moon over you for two weeks but I seriously hoped she would be strong enough to resist you. I see now that at the first sign of weakness you swooped in and pounced."

Sam turned away and searched the floor for his shirt. Had he really done that? The night they shared was obviously something that was mutually decided on between the two of them but he couldn't deny that he pushed her a bit.

"I care about Mercedes."

"As what? Your hot secretary that you can get a few good fucks out of?"

Sam whirled around to face Kurt, "I don't care if you're her best friend or not, don't talk about her like that."

Kurt's eyes widened a bit at Sam's outburst but he didn't back down.

"It's real sweet that you want to defend her now but are you going to feel the same way in a month or two when you get tired of her?"

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"My problem is that my normally, smart and level-headed best friend is having sex with a guy that she barely knows."

"We know each other."

"Barely. You've been playing a cat and mouse game for weeks now but you've finally caught her. How long before you get bored?"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"No? Like I said before you're no special snowflake. Guys like you enjoy the chase and then eventually you lose interest."

Sam was officially done with the conversation. At this point they were just going in circles and he would be damned before he kept trying to defend himself to Mercedes' judgmental friend.

"Think what you want to Kurt, but stay out of my relationship with Mercedes."

"Your relationship?" Kurt scoffed, "you two fucked once, I hardly call that a relationship."

"Whatever it is, it's our business not yours. Stay out of it."

Kurt's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I'll stay out of it for now but the second Mercedes comes crying to me about you hurting her all bets are off. I may be dramatic but trust me, I'm not being dramatic in the least when I saw I will kick your ass if I find out you've hurt my friend."

"I've already said that I wouldn't hurt Mercedes."

"Yeah, I heard what you said, now you listen to what I have to say. If...no, when you hurt her remember this, I am on her side no matter what. Don't ever come and ask me for help with her because you won't get it. Do you understand?"

Sam nodded, "you won't have to worry about that."

"Yeah, we'll see." Kurt murmured in return.

The two men finished their conversation just in time because Mercedes came back in the living room looking around as if she expected them to be fighting.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yep, it's all good...right, Sam." Kurt shot a fake smile in Sam's direction.

"Yeah...we're all good."

Mercedes looked between the two of them for a few seconds later before directing her attention back towards the floor.

"Seriously, why are there bagels all over my floor?"

"Umm...Sam startled me so I threw them at him."

Mercedes started to laugh and the two men joined in while eyeing each other warily.

"Even though I chunked quite a few at him I still got plenty of them as well as a few other goodies for our weekly Saturday brunch!"

"Um...actually Kurt...I was thinking that me and Sam..." Mercedes trailed off as she saw Kurt's face fall.

"You and Sam could what? Saturday morning brunch is tradition!" Kurt spat out angrily.

"I know, but that's only because we never had anything else going on Saturday mornings." Mercedes said apologetically.

"So you're going to blow your best friend off for some guy?"

"I...Kurt, that's not fair! How many times have you blown me off?"

That shut Kurt right up but he still looked upset and while Sam wanted nothing more than to spend Saturday morning with Mercedes he needed some time to think.

"Hey, it's okay, you two should keep your tradition."
Mercedes pouted slightly at him while Kurt continued to regard him suspiciously.

"You don't have to go Sam." Mercedes said in a small voice.

"It's okay, we'll talk later. Spend time with your friend...its fine, I promise." He leaned down and gave her a chaste but lingering kiss on the lips.

He looked around the floor again and was finally able to locate his shirt. He pulled it on and scooped up his wallet before sliding on his shoes. He gave Mercedes one last kiss before meeting Kurt's distrustful eyes and giving him a solemn nod.

Once out of the apartment Sam breathed a sigh of relief to be away from Kurt and his judgmental gaze. He missed Mercedes already but he knew they needed a little space from each other. Even though he thought Kurt was dead ass wrong about him eventually hurting him he did agree that things happened really fast between them. Before it couldn't have happened fast enough because in Sam's mind it was just sex and he felt like if they had it then they would get each other out of their systems. He couldn't have been more wrong. The sex was just as amazing, if not more so, than he'd imagined but now there were feelings wrapped up in it too. They were feelings that he wasn't ready to define quite yet but they were feelings all the same.

As Sam climbed in his car he spared one last glance up to Mercedes apartment. He laid his head back against his headrest as he replayed Kurt's last warning in his head,

If...no, when you hurt her remember this, I am on her side no matter what. Don't ever come and ask me for help with her because you won't get it. Do you understand?"

Why did he have the sinking feeling that those words were going to come back and haunt him?