So... What Next?
Sunday morning, Mercedes began to pack all of her things away, after a long, hot bath to try to soothe the painful aching from her fall. The previous night, she and Sam stayed in while their friends played freeze tag. By the rowdy way that everyone came back in, she presumed that they had a lot of fun. After a while, the noise died down. After a longer while, she could hear pretty much everyone in the house getting it on. "That is so distracting," she heard Sam say from behind her as she lie on her side, pretending to be asleep. He grunted and tried to shield his ears with a pillow. He knew that she was in pain and it had gotten a bit worse. She took some pills and was kinda drowsy, but the pain was still there. She might have to go to a doctor.
If she did, she would just say that she fell out of the shower. That was what happened. But, what if the doctor asked her how she fell? Did doctors do that? She shut her eyes tightly and waited to fall to sleep. She woke up this morning with Sam wrapped all around her, again. Now, after washing up, she was packing. "Overall, it's been a good weekend," Sam said. He had been virtually living out of his bag, so he didn't have to pack up.
"It's been great," she said. "Aside from the whole shower incident."
"You caught a cab here, right?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. My car is problematic. It overheats and sometimes stops, so I didn't want to make this 45 minute drive here. Sugar footed the cab, though – so I was cool with that," Mercedes told him.
"You can ride back, with me," Sam said, trying not to sound too intense about the possibility. But, he knew he was blushing and he felt how hot he was in anticipation of whether or not she would let him take her home.
"That sounds good. Are you leaving tonight or in the morning?" She asked.
"I think that I'll leave tomorrow, unless you have to be at work early, or something," Sam said.
"No, I took off tomorrow, just in case," she said, smiling.
"Excellent. Maybe we can do something tomorrow, together... alone," Sam suggested, gulped, and held his breath.
"Maybe. I'd like that," she told him, unable to force herself to make eye contact with him as she fought off a cheesy grin.
Mercedes sat on the couch and Sugar came to her and rested her head on her lap, "Mercedes! I feel horrible!" Sugar whined.
"What do you need me to do, Babycakes?" Mercedes asked her.
"Baby me!" Sugar said, with a pouty face. That settled it. The others were pooped, anyway and some of them were heading home tonight, because they had to work in the morning; but Sugar was making no effort to leave Mercedes' lap for the rest of the time there. Sam was slightly annoyed, but not TOO much, because he would have her all to himself tomorrow, and if he made the right moves, for some time to come.
This had not been his plan. He wanted to come out here for a weekend of fun and games with his friends and maybe a hot short fling with a gorgeous lady... how could he turn away from her, now, though? She was just so beautiful and her level of shyness yet curiosity made him want her more and more the more time he spent around her. Artie was right. He did fall fast and he fell hard, but hell – life was too short not to seize moments. When he became familiar with new women that he might like to have a deeper connection with, he always thought about that opening scene of Meet Joe Black. It could happen that way, so he preferred to do all that he could in all of the time that he had.
Mercedes could feel a pair of eyes on her and she turned her head to see Sam staring lovingly at her. His gaze was intense and made her feel flushed. She wrapped her arms around Sugar and stroked the smaller woman's hair. Mercedes faced the TV again. "The best things about Troubletones sleepovers was Mercedes cuddles," Sugar croaked. "I'm never drinking again."
"And by never, I suppose you mean not until the next party?" Mercedes taunted.
"Check," Sugar said with a little laugh, then groaned in pain.
"Shut up and be still," Mercedes said, "and you better not throw up on me!"
"Oh my God, Cedes, that was one time!" Sugar said.
"That's one time too many for me to be getting threw up on!" Mercedes fussed right back, though she was still stroking her little buddy's hair. Sam watched enviously. Maybe at some point he would get some soft, plushy, hair strumming cuddles from Cedes, himself. He smiled at the thought and was caught by Mike.
Sam straightened up when he noticed Mike looking at him in amusement. "Hey, Mike. You and Tina heading out tonight, or in the morning?" Sam asked, avoiding the obviousness of him staring at Mercedes like she was a wonder of the world.
"We're gonna leave in the morning. Matt's gone. Lauren's gone. I think that Puck and Quinn are leaving tonight. Kurt and Blaine are leaving this afternoon and I think that Jesse and Rachel are getting ready to go, now."
"So, that leaves you and T, Sugar and Artie, Mercedes and me..." Sam tilted his head, to try to remember who else was still there. As though on queue, Santana entered the kitchen, in a big shirt.
"If I didn't know any better, I would swear the two of you were gay together. You're always in each other's faces with the googly eyes, meanwhile, your girls are solo in the wind," she said upon entering the room.
"If I didn't know any better, I would swear that you hate your life, because you're always being unnecessarily rude," Sam said.
"Oh, that's not because I hate my life, Trouty. It's because I just don't care for other people, that much." She shrugged and opened the refrigerator. "Where's Wheezy? I need me somebreakfast."
Mike answered, "Sugar's already obtained her services for hungover cuddling."
"Hey, Mama Cedes! You got starving sisters in here in need of eggs and bakey!" Santana called out.
"Mama's got a sick baby on her chest, right now, Tana. You're big sister, do some big sister things and make your own breakfast," Mercedes called out. Sugar winced at her loud voice and Mercedes rubbed her head and said, "Sorry, Sugar."
"You know I can't cook for shit!" Santana snapped, slamming the fridge. "One of you wanna make me some eggs or something. Sam – your family's from the south, doesn't everyone down there know how to cook, even if it's roadkill?"
"Not the best way to convince me to help you," Sam said. "So, why is it that all of y'all always turn to Mercedes for your service needs? Is she here to be cooking breakfast and babying sick people who shouldn't have drunk that damned much, in the first place?"
Santana grunted at him and began to fix herself a bowl of cereal. "She's here because she needed to unwind and we thought that a wanky old time with you might help her in that department." She sat down next to Sam at the counter and began to eat, "But, even we can be wrong, at times. Hooked our girl up with a crooked stick that lets her fall out of the shower," Santana shook her head in genuine disappointment. Sam got up and stormed away, to her amusement.
"Sam?" Mercedes called when she saw him pass by. "Tana, what did you do?" She called out.
"I did what I do," Santana called back. "Next time, you fix me breakfast and I won't trample the Hunchdick of Notre Dame's feefees."
"Stop being a bitch!" Sam heard Mercedes scream at Santana, but he didn't leave the room again. He paced it, trying to calm himself down. He'd almost called her that and his momma raised him better than that. Even if she was being one, he never called a woman something like that. After a moment, the door opened and he looked up to see Mercedes' concerned face. "I'm so sorry about her."
Sam shook his head and smiled, "I don't worry about people like that. I don't know why I let her get me so worked up. I seriously don't get easily angry about stuff like people picking at me..."
"I have some of the most infuriating friends alive. I already know how they are." Mercedes walked over to him and stopped in front of him, unsure of what to do next. Should she hug him? Or put her hand on his shoulder? This was so much easier with people who had not seen her bust her ass buck naked... "Um..." she reached for his hand and squeezed it while looking away shyly. Sam smiled, pulled her by the hand to himself and hugged her. Then, he kissed her. Then, he kissed her deeper. Then, he began to move her towards the bed... "Sam?" She said, softly. He gave her a little nibbling peck and looked into her eyes. "I was just coming to check on you. I promised Sugar I'd come right back."
He nodded his head, kissed her again, and let go of her. "Your friends seem to kind of depend on you a lot," he said as they headed back into the living room.
"It comes from when we were in high school. As Troubletones leader, I took a lot of responsibility for them – making sure they were alright and able to practice and perform. Now, they kinda expect the Momma Bear or Mother Hen or whatever the hell I was to be there."
"And you never tell them no?"Sam wondered.
"What can I say? My babies are spoiled, but if I ever gave a problem – they quickly rush in, ready to tackle it."
"Really? Because everyone knows that fell last night and I know that you're still hurting, but instead of your friends asking you how you were today, they just began barking orders and setting expectations for you, like it's your duty to wait on them..." Mercedes paused and looked at him and he could tell that he had said too much. "Sorry, but I think that they take advantage of you and that's not right."
"I'm not going to thank you for an unwanted opinion that I don't care for," she said. "I know who my friends are. You only know Sugar from the few times that you actually still get together with Artie and you just met Santana last week. The only right that you have to say anything about either of them is Freedom of speech..."
"I'm just concerned," he said, with a shrug, a little agitated with her response to him. She shrugged too and went back to her seat on the couch for Sugar to roll into a ball on top of her.
Mercedes woke up by herself on the couch. There was music and she smelled barbeque. She got up and went outside to see Tina, Brittany, Santana and Sugar playing Monopoly. Santana was taunting Sugar with, "I need to have a long talk with Mr. Motta about leaving you his legacy!" She made her way to the table and Sugar smiled and gave her a hug. "Well, well... if it isn't our own Esmerelda," Santana said. "You must have been tired as hell. You slept through a classic Quick argument, before they left."
"What were they arguing about?" Mercedes asked, grabbing a big bag of open chips off of the table.
"Cheating vs Threesomes," Sugar boldly announced. "We all know that Puck loves both and Quinn's not down for neither, but he keeps trying to tell her the difference between them, like that'll make her want to bring another chick home with them..."
"How'd they get on that topic?" Mercedes asked. Santana and Sugar glanced at each other and Mercedes rolled her eyes, "Why do you two always cause problems?" She glanced around and asked, "And where are the guys?"
"They went for a trip to get stuff to go along with the barbeque and condoms, I'm sure," Sugar said. "I mean, I know Artie better get some, because we've used all of ours..." Suddenly, she seemed quite alarmed as she fumbled with her phone to make sure that Artie came back with the this necessity.
"So, Cedes... Sam gonna be buying condoms, too?" Tina asked, with a smirk.
"I don't really want to get into any talk like that. We're both pretty private people and after my mistake of asking about his form, and of course Santana's bitchy taunting, he'd be really upset if I had another conversation concerning our..."
"Fuck buddy status?" (Brittany)
"Wanky weekend romp party?" (Santana)
"Operation Devirginize?" (Tina)
"Dorky dicking down?" (Sugar)
"Personal business!" Mercedes finished her statement with the other ladies laughing about it.
"But, did you say dorky dicking down?" Santana asked Sugar.
"Asperger's," Sugar commented.
Santana shook her head, "Oh, I approve of that phrase. I found it creative on the spot thinking and I'm impressed, Sugar. It's way more impressive than this bullshit Monopoly game that you play."
"When I was little, I always paid people to make sure that I won," Sugar said. "I don't know how to play a lot of board games. But, in college, I learned how to play cards, because all of the artists would target me for being a gullible little rich girl, and I got tired of losing money." Mercedes found a chair and pulled it up to the table. Sugar said, "Since Artie and I are taking you home, you're gonna help me clean up tomorrow."
"Oh, I'm gonna ride with Sam," Mercedes said. "I meant to tell you earlier, but you weren't feeling well." All of the ladies looked at her and smirked. "It's no big deal."
"No, it isn't, yet," Tina said. "But, this is Sam Evans. He told Quinn that he wanted to marry her some day after dating her for a few weeks."
"In high school," Mercedes defended. "I seriously doubt that he's like that, now. But, that's not anyone's business and I am going to stick with the practice of not spilling things to you." They say at the table talking until the guys came back, then Sugar elected Mercedes to take over making the sides. She frowned, but got up. Better she submit than have to worry about somebody ruining the damned potato salad.
Sam followed her to the kitchen and told her, "I got you some stuff to put on your back. It's like that rub on pain reliever stuff that smells like mint." She smiled and went to hug him. "I approve of this response," he told her.
"I'm sorry for how I was acting earlier when you were just looking out for me. You are a super sweet guy, Sam. What's wrong with you? What's your damage? Why aren't you with anyone?" She asked, looking into his face.
Sam smiled softly and offered, "Want me to put some of this stuff on your bruise for you?"She nodded and lifted up her shirt enough to give him room to assist her. While he was working on that, Mike and Artie came into the kitchen. Mike smiled and Artie tried not to, but it was hard. Those two were so damned cute! Sam even had his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth and kept flinching as he rubbed on the cream, worried that he might hurt her in the process.
"Sam, you helping out with the sides, or me?" Artie asked.
Sam threw him a surprised look and admitted, "I can't cook. The best that I can do is make food that looks really awesome."
"Looks like it's you and me, Mercedes," Artie said, taking some things out of the bags.
"I'll handle the potato salad," she said. Sam lowered her shirt, carefully and she smiled at him. "Thank you, Sam. You're so considerate." He shrugged his shoulders and blushed.
"I care," he admitted and kissed her on the forehead.
Mike asked, "We taking off, Sam?"
"Naw, I was gonna hang out in the kitchen. Kind of didn't get much of a chance to hang with Mermaid today," Sam answered and hopped to sit on the deck, out of the way. Really, he didn't know if Artie might ask Mercedes questions or try to warn her not to hurt him or something like that. He just didn't need any additional help with shaking her faith in his feelings of interest in her.
He had tortured himself all day about this and he was going to ask her to date him. The worse that could happen was that she could tell him no and hurt his feelings by doing so. But, if she said yes- they could spend more time together, getting to know each other better and becoming comfortable with each other. He swung his legs and simply watched as Artie and Mercedes cooked and sang together. "You know something, Cedes? You could've been a wonderful addition to New Directions. My voice and your voice were intended to sing together," Artie told her.
"I never would've made it with New Directions. Everyone knew how things were with you all. The entire Glee club revolved around Rachel Berry. I never would've made it as a recurring backup singer. I was a front woman."
After dinner, everyone seemed tired, for the most part. Sugar had elected to have someone come in to clean the place up after they left, and the friends all went to bed fairly early. Sam applied more of the pain relieving cream on Mercedes back after she washed up, and when he went to wash up, she waited in the bed for him. When he came out, she smiled and fiddled with her fingers. "So, um... the cream is really helpful. I can't feel any pain, right now."
Sam smiled brightly at her and climbed into bed. "Good. I hated seeing you hurting like that."
"Did you buy condoms?" She blurted out and quickly covered her face with a hand, now unable to see his green eyes widen significantly at her question.
"I did not," he told her.
"It's just that I'm not sexually active, so I don't carry anything with me because I generally never have a good in case moment and even though people were plotting on us this weekend – I still didn't imagine it happening. I'm not on the pill, because I don't need it. But, I want to do it... with you." She blew out a breath through puckered lips.
"That's very good to hear, but I didn't presume you would want that, so I don't have anything. I could try to borrow from one of the guys if you really want..."
"No, no, no..." She said, shaking her head. "I am in love with our practice of keeping them out of what's between us."
"Me too... But, Mercedes, what is between us?" He asked.
"Common ground, similar interests, mutual attraction... hopefully a romantic future?" She answered and looked at him. "I don't know if we're at a place that we can find an accurate label, but I do think that we're at a place to go ahead and admit that we want each other around for a while."
Sam moved closer to her and collected her into his arms to kiss her. "I've been waiting all day to get back into bed with you. Tomorrow, when we leave, since neither of us have anything that we need to do, we can get condoms and if you still want me..."he pressed his forehead against hers and pushed into her so that she could feel his erection pressed against her body. "I'll be ready for you," he whispered, hoarsely.
"That sounds like a good plan, Sam. Tonight, I think it's also a good plan to continue getting used to each other's bodies," she whimpered as he rubbed his erection against her, making her wet, beneath the thin material her night gown was made out of.
"You are full of the best made plans tonight, Miss Jones," Sam whispered against her collarbone before kissing it. He left her for a brief moment to turn out the lamp, then collected her again, removing the entire night gown from her body, so he could properly kiss her all over.
Next chapter: Condom shopping, newbie confusion, and Mercedes meets Sam's pet monkey. Lol. Much more awkward coming up in the next chapter, so please stick around...