First Date

Well, if this wasn't some awkward stuff... It probably shouldn't have felt that way, but it did. How do you go about having a "first date" with somebody that you've been playing house with for the past two months?

She thought about that night that his friends stopped by. Of all the damned times to stop by, they do so on the night where there are panties and peach syrup on the kitchen floor. There had been a practice in place in which if the guys were too drunk, they could crash at Sam's.

One of their favorite bars was a couple of blocks away from his apartment, but even if they were elsewhere, they could get a cab to Sam's and crash there, as opposed of waking their ladies up in the middle of the night. Sam had a spare key – everyone knew about it. But, it had been the only time since she had been sleeping there that the guys did so, so she was unprepared. Yet, it was not as embarrassing as she would have thought, because she was able to get into the bedroom, quickly, while they made so much noise getting into the apartment and they were all so drunk!

Now, she knew that they knew and her friends had an idea, and she was going to go on a real date with Sam and it simply seemed a bit overwhelming. Especially because her girls had to take her on their ritualistic predate panty shopping trip. Sugar was the worse person to go panty shopping with, because "you have to get" everything that she saw. "Oh, Mercedes! You have to get these!" She said and picked up a sultry pair of red, crotch less panties and a half cup bra. "If you guys are not a couple by the time he sees this, then there is no reasoning with him. Then, I mean, what is his life?"

"I don't think that those are really me and wouldn't it be uncomfortable to wear those beneath my clothes all night? I vote on some simple, plain undies, a bra and a nice bottle of perfume, maybe some matching lotion." Mercedes picked up a bottle, removed the top and took a sniff. She winced and replaced it, "Not that one, though." Her eyes widened when she saw a purple, glittery bottle and she rushed to pick it up.

"Is there a theme to this date? I mean – are you two going to one of those nerd festivals where you dress up and meet a bunch of other nerds or anything?" Santana asked, holding a set in one hand and pressing another set up against Mercedes' body. "Because if it's like that; you could probably get away with hero underoos."

Sugar cheered, "Underoos for the win!"

Mercedes nodded and said, "I could definitely rock underoos."

"I was being facetious," Santana said and placed one of the sets back on the rack. "We all know that they don't make underoos to accommodate your assets, Wheezy." She patted Mercedes twice on the back and handed her a plain white bra and panty set. "Plain Jane, just the way you like it."

"Actually, I think I like the gold one," Mercedes said, pointing to the same set in color.

"I think that's champagne," Tina commented. Whatever color it was, Mercedes switched it out for the white one and threw it into her handheld basket, which she'd just noticed had all kinds of other stuff inside of it, as well. She sighed as she heard Sugar gasp at something.

"Oh! Cede, you HAVE to get this!" The woman cheered, throwing a dazzling green one piece into the basket. It had a sheer covering over the breast area and open crotch... What the hell was it with Sugar and open crotches?

"Sugar, I still have drawers full of lingerie that you've forced me to get that I have never had the chance to wear!" Mercedes complained.

"Not my fault or problem. Besides, I paid for them all," Sugar said. "And today's little trip is on me, by the way."

"My favorite part of pre-date panty shopping," Tina said, with a broad smile. Sugar smiled at her and handed her something.

"This – just perfect for you and Mike. Perfect," Sugar said.

Tina smiled and nodded at the risqué outfit, "It sure is."

When they got to the counter, Sugar announced to the clerk. "One ticket, separate bags, please?"

"Of course, Miss Motta," the girl behind the counter said, with a bright smile. Then she smiled at Mercedes and asked, "Oh – did he like that peach one that we picked out?" Mercedes felt her entire face go hot as her friends turned to face her.

"The peach what?" Sugar wondered. "MerMAID! Have you been panty shopping without me?" She teased. "And whoever could you be doing that for?" Mercedes sighed and set her basket on the counter.

"He loved it, thank you," she said shyly and softly.

So, she went with jeans instead of leggings – gold stretch jeans with sporadic rips and an off of the shoulder red blouse with sparkling gold stars on it. She stared at the mirror, wondering if she went too far with the make up? She didn't have on a lot, but she didn't really wear makeup these days. However – this was a date. "Ugh!" She groaned and cleaned off her face to just apply some mascara and lip gloss. She let her hair fall into loose curls over her shoulders, then wondered if she needed to put it up, or something. "You are putting entirely too much thought into this!" She fussed at herself, then heard a knock on her door. "The hell?" She asked and wiped her hands on a towel before going to answer it.

Mercedes peeked out of the peep hole and saw Sam, looking pretty much like Sam – nothing special or different about him. She had put too much thought into it. She smiled and opened the door for him. "Hey!" He cheered when she did and he paused and looked down at her. "Whoa. You look really pretty this evening."

"You look good too," she said, moving aside for him to enter.

"I look the same way that I always do," he said.

"Exactly," she agreed.

"You flirtin' with me, Miss Jones? I know that you aren't gonna try to get fresh with me on the first date! You're a lady. Might have to take these back where they came from," he said, pulling a bouquet from behind his back. She gasped and placed her hands over her mouth. "Realized that I never got you flowers before. I think that maybe I was waiting on us to go on an actual date. I had no idea how hard it is to pick out the flowers." When she made a confused face, he explained, "Flowers have meaning and stuff and the girl at the shop was all like 'Do you just want a pretty bouquet, or is your lady special enough for you to want her bouquet to tell her something?'"

She laughed as she reached out for the flowers and noticed it was in a purple and black marbled vase. "And you got them in a vase!"

"Yeah – I didn't know if you already had one or not, and if I'm gonna be taking you on dates, I'm probably gonna be bringing you more flowers. I wanna be able to tell a whole story. There's just so much that flowers got to say to people." Sam smiled and rocked on the balls of his feet.

"So, what does this bouquet tell us?" She wondered.

"Well, the lavender hibiscus is for your delicate beauty and can also mean nice summer – which I totally have had with you. The purple lily represents royalty, because you're sort of my princess. The white gardenia means secret love, purity and joy – which well, we've kinda been a secret for a while, but I am glad that's about to change. And the sunflower represents the sun itself, and expresses warmth and happiness, adoration and longevity... and I hope that we have all of that."

Mercedes' eyes were threatening to spill with tears. "This is very thoughtful, Sam."

"I totally spent the time that I probably should have spent making myself handsome memorizing those flower meanings. Hence, the reason that I look like I always do."

"You made a good choice," she commended and set her vase in the middle of her table. "Guess it's never too early to start with the gushing!" She grabbed her phone and proceeded to take a photo of the bouquet and post it to her Facebook. "Besides, you look hot, as always." She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck for a short, sweet kiss. "Thanks for the flowers, Sam-Monkey."

Sam was tempted to deepen the kiss, but decided that it was best to simply move on. "Oh, I also made this, to go with your bouquet. It's the paper version of what I told you that the flowers mean. I drew 'em, in case you don't know the difference between them. I know I didn't know before the florist told me." She placed the little booklet atop her bouquet, like a card, reached for his hand and grabbed her purse. "I like your new perfume," he said, with a grin.

She grinned right back. The fact that he noticed that really did something to her, but hey – everything that Sam Evans did always made her react. That bouquet was beyond anything that she'd ever expected for a first date, and it hadn't even really gotten started yet.

Going to the movies was fun. It had been years since she did the whole all night hand holding thing and Sam had the best hands for that. They were big and strong. She couldn't help herself from bringing them to her lips, throughout the night, sometimes with kisses, sometimes just to brush them across her lips. Every time, Sam smiled to himself. Every. Single. Time. He had an arm wrapped around her in the theatre and she snuggled up to him. That was new, too. For her, being at the movies was simply sitting there with a friend and watching the screen. With Sam, there was cuddling and a few short kisses. It was nice.

Afterwards, they went to dinner and laughed and talked about the movie, about how nervous they had been before the date, and about what show they were going to marathon watch, next. When Mercedes went to the ladies room, before dessert, she saw that she had several notes on her flowers. She wasn't ready to read them yet. She simply, threw the phone into her purse, reapplied her lip gloss and left the restrooms... where she was quickly surprise attacked with kisses. "Oh!" She yelped, then laughed.

"I wanted some of that fresh lip gloss. That kind is totally boss, by the way. I am here for passion fruit flavored Mermaid lips," he said, took her hand and led the way towards the exit.

"What about dessert?" She wondered.

"Got some to go. We'll have it with the wine when we go stargazing. You haven't forgotten about stargazing have you?" He smiled at her and she smiled back. It was extra contagious tonight. She could hardly stop smiling, and when she did, he did and vice versa. "Is it weird that I'm happier tonight than I have been in a long time, including how happy that I usually am when we're together?" He asked with a goofy wide grin.

"If it is, then I guess we just have to be weird together," she said. "Because, this is the happiest that I have been in a long time, period." Sam pulled her tightly to himself and kissed her, this time, deeper and harder than he had kissed her all night. Then, he dragged her back to his truck to drive out to the lake.

"Just so you know, you will eventually go hunting with me," he said.

"I am not going into the woods to shoot at animals with you when I can go into any major food chain and have them do all of that hard and brutal work for me," she said. They were lying on a blanket that Sam had packed, after having dessert with an insect repellant candle burning next to them and Sam's guitar resting on the grass.

"Well, then – you'll have to sing a song for me, at least," he said. She sighed, hard. "You were destined to be a star, Mermaid. The fact that you pretty much refuse to even hum a note is such a disappointment and a tragedy. Voices like yours were meant to sing songs that inspire people and personalities like yours were meant to be shared with an adoring public. If you sing me one song, I promise not to bother you about hunting, again."

She sighed and cleared her throat, then went right into it, "One summer night. We ran away for a while. Laughing, we hurried beneath the sky, to an obscure place to hide, that no one could find..." Mercedes flawlessly belted out an entire Mariah Carey song, acapella, lying on her back and finished it off with, "I hope you appreciated that."

"Babe, that was beautiful!" He said and rolled over to scoot closer to her. He wrapped an arm around her middle and put his nose into her neck. "I don't suppose you'd indulge me with another? I could listen to you sing all night. I could listen to you, for the rest of my life." She smiled and stroked his hair.

"There's a boy I know, he's the one I dream of. Looks into my eyes, takes me to the clouds above. Oh, I lose control – can't seem to get enough. When I wake from dreaming, tell me is it really love..." She completed the song, feeling Sam's heartbeat thudding through his chest, rapidly as she did. When she stopped singing, his lips crashed against hers and she moaned into his kiss. She was singing that song to him, and he knew it. He knew it, and he was answering her. This is how you know... He couldn't fake these feelings, if he ever tried, and he never would. She was who he wanted and this was love, for him.

He paused to breathe and fell over on his back, staring up at the sky. "That was a Whitney song, right? So, you can just sing Whitney and Mariah without batting an eyelash and you don't see the problem with settling for managing a comic book store part time?"

"I'll be a wonderful choir teacher, or music coordinator. I'll have a career in music. I just won't be the next big thing." She sat up and rested on her hands, looking down at him in the moonlight, "And I am fine with that. I gave it a shot and it didn't work out."

"Give it another shot. Give it as many as it takes. Babe," he sat up, too, now and looked deeply into her eyes, "Stars are meant to shine. YOU are gonna be a star. You deserve it. I want you to try again."

"I can't. Even if I wanted to do it, I can't get back to LA. I don't have the money to go back there and my parents would never help me out again after what happened last time." She leaned forward and told him, "But the fact that you believe in my ability so much warms my heart and heats up other stuff," she said and pressed her nose against his.

"Welp! Sounds like it's time to get home," he said and kissed her quickly, before gathering up their stuff and bringing it to the truck.

Mercedes stood for a while, staring up at the northern star. Since seeing the Princess and the Frog, she'd thought about wishing on that thing. Hell, Tiana did it and got a prince and her dream. She looked towards Sam. She already had her prince, and by the way he spoke, he would help her to get her dream, if she wanted it bad enough to chase it again. "I don't know what the hell to do," she whispered and shut her eyes. Soon, Sam's fingers were intertwined with hers and he guided her back to the truck to bring her home.

Sam's hand tightly held hers on the way to her door. She opened it and he came inside for a night cap. "I hope that I didn't bum you out with all of the singing talk. It's just that I believe in you and what you could become. I hate that you aren't pursuing it anymore, because I can tell that you're still passionate about it."

"Actually, I don't want to discuss it anymore," she said, politely and kicked off her shoes. "I'm going to go freshen up a little." He sat on the couch with his hands between his knees and nodded. He hoped that he hadn't ruined their night. She had been quieter since his goading, but he really was passionate about the fact that her voice was a gift and a blessing. He was serious about it needing to be out there. He got up and wandered into her room, to settle on the bed and wait for her. He took off his shoes and socks and over shirt and went to knock on her bathroom door.

She opened the door, with her hair now pinned up and she had on a bathrobe. "Sorry, was I taking too long?" She'd washed her face and brushed her teeth and both were now beaming.

"No. I'd wait however long it takes for you," he said and planted a kiss on her forehead. She smiled and leaned forward, making her forehead press against his chest. "So, this is the last time that I'll do this and afterwards, I'm just gonna wait on you to come to me about it, but, about that whole being my girlfriend issue..."

"Yes," she said and nodded her head. His green eyes widened and he put his hands in his pockets and blew out a whistle and shook his head. When he pulled his hands out of his pockets, he had something in one of his hands.

"You didn't even give me the chance to be all fancy with the ask," he said.

"You've had so many chances before. I didn't want you to waste your time asking me when I already know what my answer is, this time."

"But still," he said, presenting a box to her, "I wanted to show you this cute little promise ring that I got you – two shades of purple gems and crystals..."he flicked the box open with his thumb and showed it to her.

"I love you, you know that?" She said, with a faint smile... then widened her eyes, shook her head and waved her hands, "I didn't mean it like that!"

He nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I know. But, I love you too." She smiled and sighed. "Can I stay tonight, or is that not a good idea considering that this is our first date and we just became official?" Mercedes pursed her lips, took his hand and guided him to the bed.

"Not until you put your ring on," Sam said and took her little hand into his to put it on her. "Fits perfectly," he said. "And not because I borrowed one of your other rings to make sure, or anything." She playfully hit him across the arm and he wrapped both of his arms around her and kissed her. "Bed time?"

"I wanna talk and cuddle. I always thought that'd be the perfect ending to the perfect date."

"Is that what this was?" He asked, taking off his shirt. "The perfect date?" He started removing his pants, too.

"That's what this has been," she said, taking off her bathrobe. She had beneath it a sleek, thigh length white nightgown and boy shorts. She placed the robe aside and climbed under her covers. "And I know that things'll only get better."

He smiled and climbed in after her, "Yeah, it will." When they were both in bed, looking at each other and smiling, he asked, "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"I have no idea. It seems like everything that needed to be said has already been. Maybe we can just lie here and hold each other?" She suggested.

"Or... you can sing to me again," he suggested.

"We can sing together," she said.

"Even better."