Thanks to everyone for the reviews, alerts and general totally awesome response to this! In this AU the Rumors episode happens AFTER prom. (Otherwise I would not have been able to make this a multi chapter.)

Sam had blown it for real this time with Mercedes.

As soon as he had stepped through the school's main entrance, a random cheerleader had flung some paper into his hand then rushed back into the huddled group of red and white clad giggling bimbos. It was a school newspaper called the Muckracker. He didn't even know they had a school newspaper at McKinley. Initial curiousity turned to a feeling of complete dread when he realized that he was the top story.

After his mind blowing session with Mercedes, he'd been gutted to have to cancel seeing her the next day, but both his parents had secured interviews which meant that he had to watch the kids straight after school because Mrs Jensen next door was also going to be out. She'd looked bitterly disappointed but accepted his half baked explanation and promise to spend time together at the weekend. Quinn had come over with some dresses for Stacey and stayed to do her hair and play for a bit. Since the one time that they had fucked, the day she had shown up at his door gagging for it immediately after Finn had dumped her for the first time, their relationship had become like an uneasy truce, she refusing to ever let her emotional guard down again around him and he wanted nothing at all to do with her emotional baggage. That crazy shit was all Finn's problem now and the poorly co-ordinated giant was more than welcome to it.

He immediately balled the paper up in his hand, knowing he had to find Mercedes and do some damage limitation. But it was already too late. She was stood at his locker, eyes blazing, a copy of the paper in her quivering hand.

"Look Cedes, it's not how it-"

Her hand went up to stop him. "Save it Blondie!"

"But we were babysitting!"

"I know. I get it! Babysitting, tutoring... it's all the same difference!"

"Merce-" Her name caught in his throat as he saw the diva briefly fall from her face, to be replaced by the expression of someone totally crushed.

"I was a fool to let myself believe that you would ever really want me." Her eyes turned glassy and her voice faltered.

He wanted to reach and touch her, to tell her it wasn't true and to reassure he that he did want her, but she took a step backwards, as if knowing that was what he wanted and refusing to allow it to happen. As quickly as it had disappeared, the diva returned.

There were lots more students starting to mill around and her voice lowered to a hiss. "This stupid cycle of you making me feel amazing then ripping out my heart ends right here, right now! Go fuck Quinn like a cheap hoe in sleazy motel rooms like a pimp. I don't care! It's none of my business. I'm sure you'll end up having beautiful blond babies together!" She spun on her heel and sped away from him, knowing he wouldn't try to catch her in public. He stared after her, despite himself his eyes drawn to her ass in the black skinny jeans that she was wearing. Even angry she still made him hot. Scratch that, especially when she was angry.

Fuck it! Sam slammed his locker shut and raked his hands through his annoying hair, not knowing how on earth he was going to fix this, and realizing things could only get worse fore they got better.

He wasn't stupid. He knew people were saying things behind his back. He had been having the shittiest week of his life since the school paper had resorted to publishing lies about him. Lies that Mercedes was struggling not to believe. And he couldn't blame her. To cancel going to her place after school only to be photographed the same afternoon at the motel with Quinn looked bad whatever angle you took it from. And it had thrown all her insecurities right back in the open. There was no way that she was going to let him in again. And it wasn't as if he could explain it to her anyway. She was the best thing in the clusterfuck he called a life at the moment and he was losing her yet again. It all sucked big time!

And to make matters worse, somehow, during the course of the week, Kurt had also been dragged into the fray. Sam felt terrible for that. The guy had been nothing short of brilliant to him and he didn't deserve to be dragged down into his mess. Especially as he was being so damn honorable about it.

Now the week was ending and he was having to sit in Glee club feeling the tension. They were his worst accuser of all. The football team had been pretty proud of him. The atmosphere in the chior room could have been cut with a knife and he wasn't entirely sure why he had even bothered coming. He didn't care that the others were mad at him. He only cared that Mercedes had selected the available seat furthest away from him on the back row when she had arrived. Her expressions alternating between livid and tearful, the latest issue of Muckracker clutched accusingly in her hand as she had walked in.

Rachel had opened the class by singing a pretty decent version of 'Go Your Own Way', except the whole time she'd been making eyes at Finn while he played the drums. Quinn was not impressed and he knew the queen bee wouldn't stand for it for long. As she started to rip in to Rachel he zoned out, thinking of more weightier matters, only to be brought back to attention by the mention of his own name.

Rachel was pointing a jabbing finger accusingly at Quinn. "You're a cheater who cheats at cheap motels with Sam!"

Quinn finally bit back. She sounded fed up. "Nothing is going on with Sam and I!"

Sam fixed his eyes on an speck of dust in the far distance and wished more than anything that there really was such thing as a cloak of invisibility.

Mr Schue raised his hands. "Okay, that's enough guys." His voice didn't even have any command to it. Like that's going to stop this inquisition!

"You know, I blame Sam for all of this," Santana was saying. Sam turned and glared at the firery Latina, trying to work out what the hell it was that he ever saw in her. Oh yeah, she was a great fuck. But a total bitch outside of the bedroom. Being in a class with his two exes was the worst idea in the world. But she wasn't finished. "Rachel too. I blame her!"

Rachel's face was a complete picture of shock and her mouth gaped open. "What did I do?"

Santana shook her head, doing her non-commital I don't really give a shit facial expression. "I'm sure you did something."

Lauren nodded. "See, I'm with Santana. I mean, why doesn't Sam have anything to say about all this?" What the hell had he ever done to Lauren?

"Guilt!" A voice from somewhere in the room. He was already too mad to be able to work out where. The last time he had gotten this mad in the choir room was when Santana eye fucked him during Trouty Mouth.

Puck was next to jump in then. "Seriously dude, what you're doing is not cool. They both have boyfriends!" Sam's hands balled into fists. Of all the people to say a line like that! Puck was throwing stones from the biggest fucking glass house in Lima! And he just couldn't take this shit anymore…

"Shut up!" He spun in his seat to address everyone. And by everyone he meant Mercedes who was staying silent and staring at her feet although he could tell she had stopped breathing and was listening avidly to every word that was being banded across the room. "Look, I'm not messing around with Quinn or Kurt or any one of those guys. They're just helping me!"

"Oh is that what we're calling it now?" Her eyes met his briefly before shrugging as if unconcerned and turning to listen to Mr. Schue. Sam felt as if she had stabbed him through the heart and felt the back of his eyes prick. How the hell was she managing to evoke such a reaction in him? And why the hell was it so important that she understand he was not fooling around?

"How were they helping you out?"

Sam took a moment to answer the question. He was still rendered speechless by Mercedes' flippant statement, knowing that to her it was nowhere near as flippant as she had made it sound. He sighed, pulling his thoughts back to the question in hand. There was no point hiding the truth anymore. "Kurt was bringing me some clothes and Quinn was helping me babysit my little brother and sister." He saw Mercedes glance back to Kurt for reassurance on that statement and Kurt looked back at her with an expression he couldn't make out.

Finn was the one to finally ask the question he had been dreading for weeks. "Then why were you in that motel?"

His head was suddenly pounding. "Because that's where I live now!" He could hear that his voice was not as strong and as sure as it could have been. Mercedes had been refusing to look at him but now her head snapped up and her eyes were wide. His next words were to her. "My dad lost his job a few months ago, then we lost our house, so now we live in that motel in one room."

The room fell silent. He could see Mercedes' mind working furiously, connecting all the dots. It was all too much for him. He stood from his chair and spun to face the rest of the glee club. "Are you all happy?" he asked bitterly. He could feel Mercedes look up but couldn't bear to meet her eye. "The truth's finally out!"

He couldn't stay in there with them one more second and stormed quickly out of the room.

Sam knew it was stupid, but part of him slowed down when he got out of the door, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Mercedes would come running out after him. A few seconds later, he realized how stupid he was being and picked up the pace again. Nobody was going to come after him. Why would they? He was just some dumb homeless jock with nothing to offer. After the dust settled they would all start looking down at him with pity. And that was probably even worse than the rumors of him cheating. He didn't want to be pittied with by anyone. That's why he hadn't told anyone. The Evans family didn't need pity and didn't need charity.

He retrieved his things from his locker and started to heading out of the school, his head bowed. He needed to take a walk and clear his head. That motel room was the most claustrophobic place on the planet.

Then there was Mercedes. It didn't matter that she now knew he hadn't been cheating. He had no money so he couldn't date her anyway. He would never be able to compete with the other guys who were interested. Marcus was a douchebag and he still fucking wins.

It was pointless liking a girl when there was nothing that could be done about it.

It hurt like hell.

And he was resolved never going to make that mistake again!