She was here.

He finally found her.

She was beautiful and it took everything in him not to hate her.

As the driving rain settled into a soft sprinkle he stared down at the mother of his child and the burst of joy that he initially felt at finding her was quickly smothered out by the bitterness, anger, and sorrow that had taken residence in his heart. He watched with barely concealed anger as the look on Mercedes' face changed from shock to horror as she realized who was standing in front of her.

"I must say Miss Jones you sure know how to play a mean game of hide and go seek."

The comment was light-hearted but the look on Sam's face was anything but. Mercedes hiding skills were no joke and he had the sleepless nights to prove it. He hadn't gotten a full night's sleep since she left him and he was exhausted. Every time he closed his eyes it seemed that every worst case scenario possible would flash across his mind until he was forced to open his eyes. The only 'sleep' he got nowadays was provided to him by Jack Daniels. Passing out in a drunken stupor may not be anyone else's idea of a good night's rest but it was the only one he could count on. Ironically enough, the only sense of pleasure he got out of it was knowing just how much Mercedes would hate him drowning his sorrows in Jack.

"Sam...wha...how in the hell did you find me?"

Mercedes tone was sharp but it still didn't hide the slight tremble in her voice. Her eyes darted around anxiously as if she were searching for an escape and seeing it broke the seal on Sam's tenuously held anger.

"It doesn't fucking matter. Get your shit together, we're leaving." He barked.

Mercedes stopped frantically searching for a way out and instead leveled an incredulous look in Sam's direction.

"Um, no. You can do whatever you want to but weare not going anywhere.

Sam knew getting Mercedes to come back to New York with him wouldn't be easy but even still hearing her deny him made him even angrier.

"I don't come all this way to argue with you Mercedes. I came to bring you," he glanced down pointedly at her stomach, "and our child home. This bullshit has gone on long enough."

"Unless you plan on kidnapping me, then it's not happening. If I go back to the city, it's not going to be until I'm good and damn ready."

She snatched her worthless umbrella out of his hand and pushed past him to go the few remaining steps to her front door. He watched as she fumbled with her keys and cursed under her breath repeatedly until she was able to shove the right key into the keyhole. He may have found the whole thing amusing if it weren't for the fact that Mercedes was trying to run from him yet again. Sam had had enough, he didn't want to pull out the big guns so soon but she had left him no choice. If he didn't find a way to get her to go back home now he had no doubt that she would slip right from under his nose again.

"If you don't come with me today then I'm suing you for custody."

Mercedes fumbling hands immediately stilled at Sam's cold words. She turned around slowly to look at him and if looks could kill then he would be a goner.

"What did you just say?" She hissed angrily at him.

"Come with me now, or the second that baby is born I'm suing you for full custody."

Mercedes anger started to melt away and was immediately replaced by a look of stark fear.

"You're lying, you wouldn't do that."

"After the hell you put me through...don't underestimate me, Mercedes." He said coldly.

"No court on earth would—"

"I have more money than you, I will hire better lawyers than you, and given your erratic behavior over the last few months I'm sure it would be a breeze to convince the judge that you're an unfit mother."

Mercedes' eyes instantly filled with tears and Sam felt like the worst kind of bastard but he refused to back down. He was getting her and their baby back to New York today by any and all means necessary.

"I will not be an unfit mother!" Mercedes voice shook with pent-up emotion, "how dare you even say something like that?"

"Why should I think differently? What have you done in the last three months that disproves that theory?"

"I've done the best that I can—"

"YOU RAN!" Sam shouted, "You left a stable job, a nice home, and all of your support based off of some bullshit that you didn't even bother to verify!"

"Bullshit? I don't call finding out that the man you loved knocked up his fiancé and lied about it just some 'bullshit' that I ran from."

Sam rubbed at the sudden blinding migraine that was pounding in his head. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with Mercedes but she was so damn frustrating and after all this time she still believed the lies that Stevie told her.

"Quinn's baby is not mine. There is no possible way it's mine."

"But I saw…I don't have time for this." Mercedes confused expression at Sam's words quickly evaporated into one of anger. She turned her attention back to the keys still stuck in the keyhole and this time she had success the in unlocking the door. She opened it but paused to look back at Sam.

"We can talk about the baby at a later date but as of right now I have nothing to say to you and I don't want to hear what you have to say."

Sam stared at Mercedes in disbelief. Did she really think that she was going to dismiss him as if he were nothing but a pest? She wasn't the only one upset and disillusioned by this whole mess and he would be damned before he let her try to form some force field around his child that he couldn't get through.

She walked through the front door but before she could close it behind her he slammed his palm against the door and forced his way in.

"Sam!" Mercedes yelled in shock, "you can't just force your way into this house!"

"Apparently I can," He replied smugly as he slammed the door behind him. "All the running and hiding is over with, we're both adults here Mercedes and it's about damn time you started acting like one."

"Go to hell, Sam." Mercedes spat out bitterly, "I don't want you here…I'm not ready…" Her voice broke and she turned her back to him.

Once upon a time the sight of seeing Mercedes so distressed would have brought Sam to his knees but now it only served to feed his anger even more. She brought this on herself and at this point he didn't have any more sympathy left to give.

"I don't care if you're ready or not Mercedes," he snapped harshly, "I wasn't ready for you to run off and leave me but that didn't seem to bother you at all."

Sam's anger only seemed to ignite Mercedes' as she spun back around on her heel and practically growled at him, "shouldn't you be back at the penthouse setting up the nursery for you and Quinn's bouncing baby boy? I figured you'd be excited that your American Dream was coming true."

"IT'S NOT MY BABY!" Sam roared, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you so determined to hate me that you would believe the very worst thing about me without question?"

"You've been playing me practically the entire time I've known you!"

"Playing you…what the hell are you talking about?"

"Matt warned me and so did Kurt and I didn't listen."

"MATT? Are you fucking kidding me? Matt spent your entire 'relationship' trying to fuck you so he could get back at me for some bullshit that happened in college but you want to take his word over mine?"

"Was he wrong? He told me to stay away from you but I basically told him to fuck off because I could take care of myself. He dropped the issue but not before telling me not to be surprised by how all of this ended. Well, needless to say I'm not surprised to find out that you turned out to be a lying, heartless bastard."

"Unbelievable…" Sam laughed harshly, "I cannot believe this conversation right now."

"Why? Did you think just because you showed up on my doorstep I was going to fall all over myself and beg for your forgiveness? I left for a fucking reason and I'm not going to apologize for it! You may have played me for a fool but I'll be damned before I let you do that to an innocent baby. My baby is going to be loved and wanted and he or she isn't going to play second fiddle to some other—what the hell are you doing?"

Sam pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and snatched his driver's license out and thrust it into Mercedes' hands.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"

"READ IT!" Sam shouted, "You talk about being played a fool and you're right you are a fool but it's not because of me."

Mercedes glared at Sam before glancing down at the small card in her hand.

EVANS, SAMUEL, J

"I don't…I don't understand…" Mercedes muttered quietly.

"James. My middle is name James. Samuel James Evans."

"Oh God…Oh God…Oh God…" Mercedes staggered back until her knees it the back of the couch and she sat down. "Quinn's baby, she said she wants it to have the same initials as his Daddy."

"Steven Edward Evans."

"Oh God…"

"Stevie fucked my ex-fiancé to get back at me but now the joke's on him because he got her knocked up."

Tears were spilling unchecked down Mercedes' face as she stared down at the small laminated card.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"When was I supposed to tell you, after you skipped town the first time or after you left your mother's house like a thief in the night?" He asked bitterly.

"We were together for over 6 fucking weeks Sam! At no point did you think it might be a good idea to mention that your brother knocked up the woman you were going to marry?"

"It wasn't any of your business!"

Mercedes recoiled back and her large brown eyes reflected her hurt.

"You knew what I thought…you knew I had issues with Quinn and you could have cleared it all up with one tiny explanation. None of this would have happened if you had been honest!"

"So this is my fault now? You run because you're a coward who can't be bothered to ask a simple fucking question but it's my fault? Maybe I should have told you about Quinn sooner but it wasn't my secret to tell. Quinn came to me for help because my worthless ass brother refused to claim their baby, and she thought I could talk some sense into him but he's too far gone to be reasoned with. She's in love with him. That 'American Dream' you keep bringing up? She wants that with him, not me."

"But Stevie told me…he told me that you were playing me. He said I was nothing more than just a challenge you needed to conquer before you settled down with Quinn. He said I couldn't compare—" Mercedes' voice cracked and Sam's heart broke for her. He was still angry enough to spit nails but the idea of his brother filling her head with terrible lies crushed him.

"My brother was pissed at me for not backing off the Quinn thing. He wanted to sweep the whole thing under the rug but I wouldn't let him so he decided to get at me through you. I'm truly sorry for whatever Stevie said, none of it was true and none of it was about you. Stevie has been holding on to a lot of hate and anger for years and unfortunately you caught the brunt of it. I'm sorry."

"I'm so stupid." Mercedes whispered softly, "I was so worried about you playing me that I was completely blindsided by your brother."

"You weren't the only one blindsided by Stevie. I knew he had issues but I never knew he could be so malicious."

Mercedes sat on the couch with a faraway look in her eyes. Sam sat in the love seat across from her and regarded her quietly. The minutes ticked by and the silence stretched until it was broken by Mercedes' small voice.

"My dad...my dad didn't want me."

Sam looked up in Mercedes in shock. The entire time they had been together she had never once mentioned her father. He gotten a little information about the man from Kurt and Marilyn but this was the first time Mercedes said a word about him.

"He was around when I was a baby but of course I don't remember that. The first memory I have of my Dad is from when I was eight. He showed up a couple of weeks before my birthday with this huge bouquet of balloons and a bag full of candy. My mom was not happy but I didn't care because my Daddy was there." Mercedes smiled softly but the faraway look didn't go away, "It became a running joke after that, my dad would always show up around my birthday but he'd never get the actual date right. Back then I thought he did it on purpose, ya know, to be funny...it wasn't until later that I figured out that he simply didn't care enough to figure out the real date.

Mercedes features darkened and big, fat tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"My mom would never admit it but I knew she was lonely. Whenever he would show up she would act pissed off but without fail within a few hours he would have her eating out of the palm of his hand. He would make us all these huge promises and he didn't keep a single one of them. The last one I remember was on our last Christmas together he gave my mom a ring. She thought it was an engagement ring but he told her that it was just a promise ring-a promise that he would be back soon and they would finally be together. I think she knew then that it was over but I foolishly still hung on to the idea that my mom and dad were finally going to get together." Mercedes shook her head from side to side as she laughed bitterly, "A few months later my 16th birthday rolled around and my dad surprised the hell out of me by actually showing up on the right day. He took me out to lunch and after we were done he handed me a check for a thousand bucks. He told me that it should be enough to take care of all the rest of my birthdays."

Mercedes voice broke and she buried her face in her hands. Sam reached forward to comfort her but pulled his hands back at the last moment, he didn't know how Mercedes would react to him touching her and he didn't want to upset her any more than she already was.

"He told me that I was a mistake," Mercedes choked out in a strangled voice, "he said that he tried for years to have a relationship with me but it was a waste of time. He said I was a great kid but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't see me as his child. He told me he that he liked me but he didn't love me."

"Oh wow..." Sam whispered in horror.

Mercedes continued on as if she didn't hear him, "He said the money would help with college or if I wanted to put a down payment on a car someday. He told me all of that as if he were doing me a favor. Can you believe that? He broke my heart-shattered it into a million pieces and he thought a thousand dollar check would make it better. I told him to go to hell and left the check sitting on the table."

"Was that the last time you talked to him?"

"No...I saw him again when I was 19. I had come back home from college and I was walking by the park. I looked up and there was my Dad with a woman and he was pushing this little girl on the swings. Something told me to keep on walking but foolishly I went over to talk to him. As soon as he saw me he stopped pushing the little girl and he rushed over to stop me. He told me that he would prefer it if I didn't interact with his family. I remember being so confused because I was his family."

"Mercedes..."

"The woman came over," Mercedes continued on, ignoring Sam, "she asked my dad what was going on. He told her that I was a friend's daughter and I was coming over to say hi. The woman introduced herself...her name was Traci and she was his wife. The little girl came bouncing over soon after and she was the cutest thing and she looked so much like me when I was that age. My dad bent over and I remember him scooping her up and kissing her and tickling her until she was literally screaming with laughter. He never did anything like that with me...ever. He never looked at me the way he looked at her. I remember him calling her baby girl and in that moment I realized he never had a nickname for me. He always just called me Mercedes, I was never sweetie or honey or baby-just Mercedes. I was never anything special to him, I was just a mistake he was stuck with until he found something better. I had been in denial for years after my 16th birthday. I just knew that he was going to come to his senses and realize what he was missing out on but it never happened. It didn't happen because he had his family and I was just a mistake from his past that was messing up his perfect life. I walked away and I never looked back...that was the last time I ever saw my father. I thought I was over it but it's obvious I'm not. The second I saw that sonogram and read that note it was like the park all over again only this time I didn't see myself I saw our child watching you and Quinn and your kid in the park and wondering why he or she wasn't invited."

"I'm not your father Mercedes."

"I know that, Sam."

"Do you? Because it seems like I'm paying for mistakes that he made." Sam tried to keep the anger out of his voice but it was so hard to do. He understood Mercedes' reaction to what she thought was true but that still didn't erase the fact that she jumped to conclusions because of something her father did.

"I panicked! When I read the note I freaked out because it was like all of my worst fears had come true, and then Stevie came in and drove the nail in the coffin."

"Stevie was playing you!"

"I know that now but I didn't know it back then! Stevie, for the most part, never gave me a reason to doubt him. You, on the other hand..."

"What?" Sam snapped, "What did I do that was so damn bad that you automatically jumped to the conclusion that I would deny my child."

"Nothing...there was nothing you did."

"Then what?" Sam whispered painfully, "I've been going out of my mind wondering what I did that was so bad that you couldn't even consider giving me a chance to defend myself?"

"It was everything-the sonogram, the note, your brother, Matt, Kurt...all the warnings, all the secrets, and all the half-truths. It was too much and I couldn't handle it so I ran. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to be stronger than my mother was. When I faced you again I wanted to be able to handle it when you told me that you were with Quinn and you were having a baby. I wanted to be strong enough to be gracious. I wanted to be strong enough so that when I had to raise this baby on my own I could do it. I wanted to be strong enough so that when you walked away I could handle it."

"So you found me guilty without giving me a single chance to defend myself?" Sam asked hoarsely. "You know, now that I think about it you're not too much different than your father."

"Excuse me?" Mercedes asked angrily, "I am nothing like that useless son of a bitch!"

"No? He cut you out of his life just like you were planning to cut me out."

"That isn't what I was doing Sam! I was just protecting myself and my baby-"

"OUR BABY!" Sam roared, "It's our baby, not just yours! You had no right to take our child away from me! Did you even intend on telling me? If I hadn't found out were you going to tell me? Ever?"

"Yes!"

"When?"

"I was going to tell you when the time was right."

"And when was that? When YOU decided? Why should I believe you?"

"I'm not the liar in this relationship." She hissed.

"No, but you are the coward."

Mercedes head snapped back and she gave Sam a glare that was filled with anger and hurt.

"I am not a coward. I did what was best for this baby."

"No, you did what was best for you. You just used that baby as an excuse."

"No, I didn't!"

"You have unresolved Daddy issues and you took it out on me."

"Shut up, Sam!" Mercedes screamed.

"You were so worried about being abandoned again that you ran before it could happen. You weren't thinking about anybody but yourself. You hurt me, Kurt, and your mother and you refuse to admit it."

"Please...stop." Mercedes choked out.

"No! You are going to hear this! What your dad did to you is fucked up and I wish I knew where he was so that I could personally go and kick his ass because he deserves it. I'm sorry this happened to you and if I could fix it I would. I know what it's like to carry bitterness around, I did it for years after what Quinn did. You won't ever be truly happy if you're constantly living in the past or waiting for somebody to screw you over in the future. I am not your father, I would never deny our child. I loved this baby when it was just an idea and I'm over the moon now that I know it's a reality. I know I'm not a perfect person but I promise I'll be the best Dad I can possibly be, but you gotta meet me halfway.

Mercedes face crumpled halfway through his speech and by the time he finished she was a blubbering mess.

"I'm so sorry!" She wailed, "you're right I was only looking out for myself...I didn't want to get hurt again. I was scared, I'm so sorry. I messed everything up."

Sam exhaled a whoosh of air as he got up from the love seat and went over to the couch and gathered Mercedes into his arms. They had a long way to go but he still felt as if they had finally knocked down the first-and biggest wall.

He rocked her back and forth until her sobs quieted down to soft sniffles. Mercedes started to rub her stomach in small circles and Sam watched the motion enviously. He wanted nothing more than to touch her belly but he didn't feel as if were the right time to ask.

"Do you want to feel?" Mercedes asked quietly.

"What? No...I mean, sure...it's...whatever you think."

Mercedes gave a short laugh and Sam couldn't help but smile in return. His grin got larger when she grabbed his large hand and placed it on her small bump.

"Wow..."He said huskily as tears sprang in his eyes, "that's incredible."

"Yeah, it is..." Mercedes smiled sweetly up at him and for a moment all the hurt, pain, and anger from the past 3 months melted away. His eyes drifted down until the rested on her full lips, he licked his own on a reflex and he heard her sharp intake of breath. He raised his eyes back to hers and he was met with the same hungry expression that he had seen so many times before. He leaned forward slightly and he could see her face tilting up to meet him. He was just about to close his eyes when he heard the unmistakable jingle of keys followed immediately by a loud voice.

"Well, I see the two of you worked out your issues pretty damn quick."

Mercedes jerked back guiltily and she scurried out of Sam's arms at the sound of her roommate's voice. She looked around in confusion at Sam's slightly amused expression and Santana's smug one.

"Wait, hold up, how do you know who he is?"

"It could be a lucky guess?" Santana said evasively.

"Oh."

"Or it could be because I invited him here and gave him the address."

"WHAT? You called him? How...wha...how do you even know who he is? I never told you his name!"

"Calm down Mercy, I didn't rat you out. Boy Wonder over here got in touch with me, and after hearing the story I had to help."

"I don't understand...that doesn't make any sense." Mercedes turned her attention to Sam. "How in the hell did you find me?"

Sam gave Mercedes a sly smile before turning to Santana and saying, "Did you happen to get what we talked about?"

"Yep." Santana walked out the front door and came back in with a stack of flattened boxes under her arm and a roll of packing tape in her hand.

Sam walked over to her and grabbed the material from her before turning back to look at Mercedes.

"I'll tell you the whole long story on the road."

"The road?"

"Yep, I wasn't joking around before Mercedes. We may have had a good talk but my feelings about the situation haven't changed. We are going back home as soon as possible, so here..."

Sam leaned the boxes up against the arm of the couch before unfolding one of them and taping the bottom.

"Whatever you can fit in these boxes we'll take but everything else Santana has graciously offered to ship to New York."

"Sam I can't just leave, I have a job and I need to give notice-"

"It's not like you haven't done it before-"

"It's already taken care of," Santana interrupted, glaring at them both, "I talked to my friend and she said they have someone who can start immediately. You are free to go Mercedes and I think you should."

Mercedes looked back and forth between Sam and Santana before slowly nodding her head.

"Okay."

Sam let out an audible sigh of relief and Santana went forward and hugged her friend. She whispered something in Mercedes' ear that he couldn't hear but whatever it was it seemed to brighten Mercedes spirits a bit.

Sam handed the box to Mercedes as headed towards what he assumed was her room.

"Do you need any help?"

"No, this shouldn't take very long I don't have very many things here. Most of my stuff is in storage in New York and the rest is still at my mom's."

Sam gave a small noncommittal nod but he didn't say anything because he wasn't sure how Mercedes would react when she found out her things weren't in either of the places that she thought they were.

Sam watched as Mercedes walked in her room before turning to see Santana's brown eyes regarding him coolly.

"You didn't tell her did you?"

"Tell her what?"

"Don't play dumb with me Blondie, she doesn't know does she? She has no idea what to expect when she gets to New York."

"Nope."

"You're one sneaky bastard, you know that Sam Evans?"

Sam gave Santana smug smile before saying, "Well my dad always told me that you fight fire with fire. Mercedes didn't play fair so now I won't either.

Next up…road trip time! We'll find out what Sam's been doing for the past three months and we'll find out the mysterious person that led him straight to Mercedes.