"Well we said the L word" he said after a pause in the conversation
"You mean Love Sam we said we loved each other"
"Well yes we said we loved each other, I didn't want to say just in case you done it for effect or something, actually I'm passing bricks waiting for you to come back with something on this" he said making her laugh
"Sam" Mercy said as she stopped walking and looked up into his eyes "I love you, I have since maybe our second conversation and definitely by the end of our first night together in your flat, where has all this doubt come from? I've never lied to you"
"It's not doubt I think it's more disbelief, I mean when we met I had like four female friends all at the same time, you've come here and seen that I'm like the world's biggest whore and you still have the confidence in me to trust what I say, I just have to keep checking if this is real cos I've only ever imagined this kind of relationship I didn't actually know it existed" he said looking at her "Maybe I'm expecting you to disappear in a puff of smoke or something" he said followed by a nervous laugh
Mercy carried on walking saying "I'm not about to tempt fate by not doing what my heart is telling me to do Sam I've lived that way all my life my grandmother taught me that"
"Thank the lord for your grandmother" he hugged her in saying "So we're in love I like this feeling correction I love this feeling" he shouted as they carried on walking down the road afterwards in silence.
"Sam let's talk about sex" she blurted out
"It's fun, we'll like it when we're ready, it can get messy and it produces babies if we're not careful oh and STD's too, next subject"
"Sam" she stopped to look at him with sad eyes
"What?" he asked looking back at her with a smirk on his face
"I meant when will we be ready and everything"
"We've already had that conversation, when we're married and that is going to happen I need you to know that, but we have a bit more to work out first"
"Okay" she huffed "I can see this needs spelling out Mr. Evans" she said stopping him from walking
"Mr. Evans is a bit strong considering we just fell in love" he said with a smile
She ignored his flow and carried on "I'm not about to let you bust my cherry until we're married but I expect other things to happen you know" Mercy said searching his face for a light to come on but none did "Oral sex Sam" she said with a bit of a blush
"Oh; oh okay" he said sounding like he'd been slapped in the face "I didn't think you'd know about sucking dick and that have you done that before?" he asked
"No I haven't but, I've seen it on TV and DVD's so I know enough to know it's not penetrative sex and, it's not just about sucking dick is it?"
"Well I guess not, but I've never been into a girl that much to do anything like that to her if you know what I mean" he said coyly
"So you don't think that much of me then?"
"Oh yes I do actually, I'd love to try that with you so you're saying we can have like oral sex?" he asked for clarification smiling at her nod "And how far will you go with that, serious heavy petting or what?" his voice saying excitement
"Down boy" she said laughing "I want nothing in my back passage thank you very much and I mean ever, and no fingers inside me but anything else goes"
"Okay so massive make out sessions for us, I'm going to suffer with blue balls for a while then"
"Hopefully it's encouragement for you to make an honest woman of me"
"Shit" Sam said rubbing his trousers zip yet again "Too much excitement for me I could do with some of that now, but I want our first time anything to be special so I'm going to control myself"
"Thank you Sam" she said grabbing his hand and carrying on walking "Where are all these sights you supposed to be showing me?"
He swung her round to face him "There are loads but right now this is the only one I want you to see" he said looking into her eyes as they went into a way too passionate kiss for right there on the street
"Evans and his black lady what are you doing, don't you know you can get locked up in these parts for PDA?" Someone shouted from a car driving past
He stuck his two fingers up making the car stop "Shit Sam they stopped" she said grabbing hold of his hand "Do we run?"
"From what? No we don't" he said half not understanding why she would say that, as the car backed up and her grip got tighter
"Still invincible Evans" the driver said as they levelled up to where Sam was standing
"Might have guessed it was you Jessie, talking about my girl like that, still living off the bank of Mom and Dad I see?" he said as Jessie jumped out of the car to give him a hug
"No offence Miss just trying to rattle his cage my apologies for my comment" Jessie said holding his hand out to be shaken "I'd normally kiss pretty girls but as your with Sam, which is a rare sight, I don't think I'll even ask permission for fear of being decked" he said looking at Sam who confirmed that hugging was not allowed "Jessie St James is the name" he said as Mercy gave her hand for shaking after Sam smiled at her giving the Okay"
"Jess what's happening for you?" he asked
"Married Barbara although I don't know if it's love but the family connection is a good one and the children are beautiful"
"You have children with Barbara?"
"Yes, 2 girls and just had a little boy all look like their mothers family so much I wonder sometimes" he said laughing "You around for the weekend, you must come see us"
"Will do" he said shaking Jessie's hand and walking away
"Tell me you didn't sleep with his wife too" she said laughing as they watched him drive away "Sam at this rate our children will never know where their grandparents came from because we'll be too scared of them meeting up with your old haunts we'll ban them from Texas
"I didn't sleep with her but, we had a make out session just before I left Texas and the thing is she told me she was getting married I didn't know it was to Jessie he's a sort of friend"
"How can you have sort of friends Sam?"
"Well we spent time together as children because our families are of the same money pot you know and Barbara's Family the Mason's are another one of us money pots along with the Anderson's who you'll meet tomorrow evening because Blaine was or still is really my best friend"
"Sam my patience is running out there are too many women I can't fight the world"
"I don't need you to fight any of them Mercy just believe in me. I told you I slept with four girls the rest weree kisses or hangers on, there is absolutely nothing any of them can do to split us up. I'm never, I need you to look at me for this" he said grabbing her chin "Never do you understand me, going to go with anyone else until the day we get married and then we'll totally belong to each other"
"Okay Sam I'll work with that but this girls jumping out the woodwork thing is only a joke for so long" she said before she carried on walking
"I'll sort it Mercy I will" he said following her down the road
It was early hours of the morning when they finally got back home, Sam's parents were in bed already. "We won't share a room Mercy I don't want my parents thinking the worst of you"
"Your Mom knows I'm a virgin and we're waiting, she has ways of getting information from me" she laughed
"I'll take you round the grounds tomorrow and in the evening as I said we're going to Blaine's they have the biggest Ranch in these parts by about 5 acres ours is the second biggest" they stood in the kitchen, him making hot chocolate and her sitting at the table as they talked
"I love this house Sam it's like the house above all houses isn't it?"
"I didn't really get the chance to love it as a child, I suppose it is nice but, my memories keep me guarded"
"Now we're here together maybe we can make new memories?" she asked, he nodded
"Do you want to go for a swim, I found that relaxing when I was growing up?"
"You have a pool?" she asked excitedly "Not skinny dipping right?" she frowned making him laugh
"No in underwear or you can go get your swimwear, up to you" he said still laughing
"Where's the pool?" Sam pointed to the door leading outside
"Just across the way just a minute walk away you'll see the water shimmering as you open the door" he said, she left her seat to open the door and look out
"Yep I'm going to get me some of that" she walked through the door saying, Sam left what he was doing to follow her, once in the pool room she kicked off her shoes, unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor before jumping in the pool "It's great not too cold, what you waiting for come on in" she shouted back at him, he didn't hesitate he stripped down to his underwear and jumped in
"It's freezing Mercy" he shivered catching his breath, they played about for a while before doing some lengths and calling it a night on the swimming. He jumped out of the pool, got two robes, wrapped her in one before putting the other around himself "I think we've earned our hot drink don't you?" he said doing a shiver and hugging her into him to get warm
"Please" she said bending down to collect her belongings before leaving the pool
"Someone will pick those up in the morning"
"Like who?"
"We have staff that do everything, Mom was cooking this morning because she wanted to not because she does" he said laughing while opening the door for her
Mercy looked at him to see if he was joking, and saw he wasn't "Why weren't you scared of that guy in the car tonight?" she asked while Sam pulled out a chair for her to sit on, before going back to making the hot drinks
"Because I'm Sam Evans and around here everyone respects the name, I'm the safest I could ever be round here Mercy and so are you now everyone knows who you are" he said looking at her "And I don't mean to sound big headed about that, it's just what my parents have built up and, those girls all just want a piece of it and, I suppose that's why I've had those opportunities to disrespect the way I have in the past, because they and I, know the game"
"So Sam how rich are you I mean I don't know I can handle more money"
"We don't handle money babe we live in LA in a flat that we pay our bills on, my parents handle money"
"Okay wobble over" she smiled as Sam handed her the hot drink and put a plate of cookies on the table
"So I don't get it how comes your family have a good name and you have a bad one? I know it all started with a wicked witch and all that, but there must be something else to it I mean your money, and surely if the people around here respect money they would be scared of treating you badly but those girls today they didn't seem to care who you were, why is that?"
"Everyone round here is money"
"Okay so why the respect?"
"Well think of money as in tree yeah but not just any tree an old oak tree say so you'll have the root which is where everything else comes from" Sam said nodding
"Yeah and Sam I'm not a baby I'm just not into understanding your money thing so no more baby steps"
"Sorry babe, well my family planted the tree and everyone else has come to look at it"
"Okay so how did these other people come to be dipping into your family business?"
"Well the business used to be gold back in the day then it changed to oil and it's been oil ever since but there's always a buck to be made in the industry so people buy land near us and hope for the best some have found oil and some haven't but my great great grandfather had the nose for it and passed it down the generations. Dad got bored with the oil business he said he was spending too much time away from Mom and started the cattle trade which is making big bucks right now but he still has his hand in oil"
"So how do you know so much when you've been away for like 9 years?"
"I love my singing and DJ job I love being around people and interacting and everything but my first calling was business and first rule of thumb keep an eye on your pennies"
"So do you hope to take all this on in the future?"
"I'm not too sure yet"
"What's holding you back?"
"Well I have to be honest I've just met the person I want to spend all my life with, and it very much depends on her life choices as to whether I live here or somewhere else"
"No way is this up to me Sam Evans no fucking way" she told him shocked
"It's up to us Mercy you've just started out in the music business it may well be your calling and we'll have to follow it" he said "Don't worry about this place it will always be a family business I have no intentions of selling it too much blood, sweat and tears to let it go. I was thinking to make part of the big house a holiday home and half for us as a holiday home or I might just use it all as a hotel and make us a holiday home somewhere else on the land"
"Have you really been thinking about this?"
"Babe you don't know how easy decisions have been for me since I've met you"
"I bet I do babe there really easy for me too I just want to be where you are, that's easy enough"
"Hey its been about 5 hours since I last told you and we haven't been to sleep yet that's bad form don't you think?" he said
"Since you said what?"
"I love you I really do it, was scary to come to that realisation, but I couldn't fight the feeling and I hope I haven't scared you off in telling you this because that's the last thing I want to do"
"I know it's only been a few days for us Sam but I feel exactly the same way, I've gone past freaking out about it I'm just rolling with the punches because it feels right and I do love you with all my heart" she said looking up at him
SATURDAY
"It's 3 in the morning we need to get to bed you can sleep in my room if you want no funny business but you can" he said Putting the cups away and putting the leftover biscuits back in the tin. "Let's go up" he took her hand and left the kitchen. They'd reached the first step when the doorbell rang "Who the hell is that?" he asked a blank looking Mercy, shrugging her shoulders. He let go of her hand and walked towards the front door the same time as the butler came out of the side room to answer the door
"I'll get it Master Sam" he said and Sam let him pass to open the door
"Good morning Miss everyone in the household is asleep how can I help you" he asked a blond lady standing at the door
"Well tell Master Evans to get up, I heard he was back in Dallas and thought I'd be the first to jump on, it's Miss Anderson just say Swifty's here he'll know who I am" she said as Sam emerged from the side of the door.
"Jenny it's so fucking late, what are you doing here" he said laughing and hugging her hello "Come in we were just going to bed but I'll give you like 10 minutes come meet Mercy the love of my life" he said looking towards where he'd left her only to find she wasn't there "Oh she must of carried on up" he said to Jenny "I saw Blaine earlier today and we're up to yours tomorrow evening, you've sprung up you were a squirt the last I saw you"
"It's called growing up big bro from other parents, everyone does it you've got face hair and apparently in love and it's not; shock, with me" Jenny said pretending to be stunned
"This could have waited till the morning Jen, what is it?"
"I was sent by the clan to check out the new Mrs. but she's not about so the plan has been squashed, I told them she's going to be all that if our Sam's fell for her but, they don't believe me. I always knew you had class, there was just never any class in Dallas, told them but, they are going to feel it. Tell her to bring it tomorrow when she comes but, it's not right you guys shouldn't have to prove yourselves; who the hell do these bitches think they are" Jenny said
"Thanks for the heads up but, I've got to get out of here these girls are doing a good job of making me look bad, some of them just about got a friggin kiss and they are going on as if we were about to get married. Mercy doesn't even know that most of them are living on a kiss or the promise of one" he said "Love to stand and chat Jen but I've got to be up in the morning, we've been swimming so I need a shower first too I'll see you tomorrow evening" he said walking her to the door and letting her out after hugging her.
He took the stairs three at a time to get to his bedroom and his heart sunk when he opened the door to an empty room 'she did say it was getting tedious all this woman stuff' he thought about going to her room to apologize but decided to let her be, she may not be in the best of moods at the moment. He sat on his bed thinking how a perfectly perfect evening ended with them in different room without having even said goodnight and held his head in his hands reliving the doorbell scenario.
"That water was colder than the pool" she said coming out of his bathroom with a towel on her head and PJ's on to his surprise
"Oh that gage has always been funny I should have showed you what to do" he replied "I thought you'd gone to bed" he said sheepishly "alone" looking at her "My heart was sad"
"Babe sorry I was just being a child and racing to the shower" she said laughing "I'm not going to leave you Sam for a start I wouldn't know how to get back home and secondly I just told you I love you, are you not comfortable in that?"
"I'm aware of all these frigging girls keep coming at me, but that wasn't one, that was Jen my best mates sister she's always been random, and what you said earlier about it all being too much"
"Showers free I want to get some cuddling going on so hurry up" she said ignoring his comment, as he got up to go to the bathroom "And Sam" she called after him "Please don't mention other girls in the bedroom this is our place"
"Okay" he said; understanding why his comment went unacknowledged, he came out of the bathroom about ten minutes later in PJ bottoms and bare chest "Is this too much I can put something on if you want?" he asked as he walked towards her
"I'm almost tempted to say take something off" she said laughing "that is a joke" she followed with as he stood not knowing what to do.
"Another time another place and I'd have said you had too much on too" he said laughing "Do you want to watch something until we fall asleep" he sat on the bed asking
"Yeah"
"Okay" he said getting up to go turn on the TV, when she pulled him back
"I want to watch you" she said looking him in the eye, picking the duvet up and slipping under it "Which side do you sleep on?"
"The same as you" he said laughing and flicked the TV on anyway
"How do you know that?"
"Because I just do but we'll sleep on each other anyway so it doesn't matter" he jumped into the bed saying snuggling behind her before she turned round to face him
"So it's our first sleep together how do you feel" she asked
"Like I'm not going to get any sleep tonight"
"Blue balls yeah"
"Yep" he said "But hopefully it will get easier especially when we start with alternative sex"
"Just remember I'm suffering too" she said turning her back to him so he could spoon her
"Sleep, we're up in like 5 hours max" he said "Hey" he said nudging her for attention, she turned to look at him "I love you"
"I love you more, Goodnight Sam"
"Goodnight Mercy"
That morning he woke up with Mercy in his arms 'this is home' he thought bringing a smile to his face, 10 minutes later she stirred and sunk back into his arm pit smelling it as she moved "Smells like home" she said "I could live here Sam"
"Funny that, I was just thinking this felt like home too" he said smiling before bending to kiss her nose
"How do you feel about morning mouth?" she asked making him bend further down to kiss her on the mouth
"I feel turned on by your morning mouth" tasting his lips as they laughed
"Come on let's get up before Mom comes up for us everyone in this house wakes up at about 4am, it's about 9am now she's itching to come up" he said laughing as she jumped up and ran to the shower
"Don't fancy getting caught in bed with your man!" he shouted after her laughing
"My man? Last night you were talking future husband today it's my man" she said popping her head out the door
"Hey I am your future husband and your man, I'm yours whichever way you want me!" he shouted back
"Good to know future husband because you got me the same way" she said popping her head back round the door with the biggest smile on her face that lit up the world for him
"You're beautiful you know" he said going towards her and giving her another kiss
"Shower" she said before the kiss got any further and closed the bathroom door, she finished her morning ritual and he his within the hour and they were down in the kitchen having a late breakfast when his Mom asked the question
"Where did you sleep last night Mercy?
"In Sam's room we were watching a movie and talking till late when I fell asleep" she said nervously
"Oh it's just I came in to see you this morning and thought maybe you were an earlier bird than me but then Dan said the bed hadn't been slept in and I sort of guessed" Rose said
"Is there a problem?" Sam asked his Mom
"No son it's just, as you know, Mercy's a virgin and she wants to stay that way until marriage and if you defile her I'll never forgive you"
"Don't worry Mom I'd never forgive myself we have boundaries that I live by"
"How did you get him like that Mercy?" Rose asked
"Trust me Mom he feels the same as me, it wasn't anything I had to talk him into"
"Mom?" Sam said with a laugh
"Problem?" Rose asked her son
"Not really you are going to be her Mom someday soon it's just after one day you two are so, I don't know, close I love it" Sam said hugging his Mom in "Thanks Mom, because you know this was a deal breaker"
"I know you love her Sam, we love her, and yes it happened just like that so we know its right we didn't have to try at this feeling it happened to us and I know you understand that"
"And I love you both too Mom it's the most natural thing in the world to me" Mercy said hugging her new found family member
"What's the plan for today" Rose asked
"Well I'm going to take Mercy to see the oil wells and cattle market and I might take her into town to see the offices and have lunch and then this afternoon we might spend here I'll do anything Dad wants me to help with so you two can have some time and this evening we're going over to Blaine's to meet his Hubby and family and chill"
"Sounds like a plan" Rose said as they got up to leave to start their day
"Bye Mom" Sam said giving her a kiss and a hug
"Bye Mom" Mercy said "See you later" giving a hug
"You will" Rose replied
"Dad I'm here later if you need any help with anything these two are going to be attached at the hip by the sounds of things" Sam said man hugging his Dad as he said bye
"Bye Dad later" Mercy said giving him a kiss on the cheek as they left the house for Sam's jeep
As promised Sam took Mercy to see the oil rigs and the cattle markets on their land gave her a bit of a tour around the land itself and looked at some of the holiday homes they had to offer. She met some of the families that lived on the land, some were new so, Sam was meeting them for the first time too. Old Man Hutton offered them some lunch and Mercy accepted, she was having so much fun which impressed Sam, then after lunch they went into the town to look at the offices
"Dad doesn't get out here much any more and he's asked if I'm interested in looking in on it for a while till he gets someone to manage it for him, I can long arm manage so I've said yes the commitment is about 2 weeks every 6 months or so what do you think?" he asked on their way to town
"What do you mean?"
"About me being here for 2 weeks every 6 months" he said "What is it about our life together that you don't understand?" he asked
"If you're doing something for your family Sam there is no comment it's your family, actually from what I've heard since I've been here it's our family" she said laughing
"I like the sound of that, but you must say if you think I'm doing wrong"
"I will and I have remember?"
"Here we are" he said as they pulled up to a very tall building with about 6 gold front doors
"Very expensive building" she said as he dropped the car keys in the valet's hand and opened the door for her to exit the car
"We're on the top floor too" he said as they entered the foyer
"Impressed" she said looking around
They got in a lift with several others, at the 34th Floor most of them alighted leaving just them and one other person in the lift
"Top please" he said to the man as he grabbed hold of her round her waist and pulled her in front of him to whisper in her ear
"I used to stand in here as a child and think I'm never going to get to the top"
"What floor's the top?" she asked him not so quietly
"60th Floor" he said, noticing the man in the lift turn around
"Mr. Evans Jr I presume" he said
"Yes Sir I am" he said back to the man
The man held his hand out and stated "I'm the Manager of Mr. Anderson's business which is just below yours Sir Mr. Jenkins" Sam smiled and shook his hand
"Nice to meet you Mr. Jenkins" he said before turning to Mercy and saying "This is my friend Blaine's family's business he's talking about, Mr. Jenkins this is Mercy my girlfriend soon to be wife" he said smiling at her while he said it
"Nice to meet you Miss Mercy" he said as the lift pinged and then he was gone
So they looked at the offices and Sam looked at some of the books before they left to get back home. "Can we stop for a drink" Mercy asked as they started out of town
"I suppose so I know a place but it's frequented by all us young ones, I don't really want to take you there because I know what's going to happen if certain people are there, but it is the best place around and the smoothies is to die for"
"We must go then" Mercy said "And be damned with the consequences"
So Sam took them to the Texan Hut, they went in and took a booth rather than chairs as they were more private "Smoothie?" he asked, she nodded, as he reached the counter the door opened and one of his ex- girlfriends and a group of girls walked in. Mercy feeling the tension looked at him, followed his line of sight and saw the girls come in, she sat watching them for a short while until they approached him saying hello 'he'll handle it' she thought relaxing back in the chair waiting "Those people are so fucked up" he said sitting down "Can we just drink this and leave?"
"No, no one is forcing me to leave anywhere I give as good as I get" she said touching his hand
"I don't want you to get involved in this Mercy you shouldn't be involved in …." Sam didn't finish his sentence because the duke box came on extra loud making everyone in the café look in its direction to see the girls taking their coats off and walking towards their table
"Listen Girl, he never sticks to one woman you need to learn that, I mean I was it for him" the blond said "he's already had the best" one of the others said pointing at the first girl that spoke as the burst into song singing "Best days of your life' by Kellie Pickler as Sam sat going red faced and seriously angry at the performance. When they finished Sam just looked at Mercy
"Did you say damn the consequences?" he asked her when they'd finished
"Okay Ladies" Mercy said to the six women standing at the mouth of the booth they were sitting in "I'm not saying I don't believe you got hurt, but come on you see me sitting here and talk about him already having the best days of this life, I take offence at that" she said cutting her eye "no self-respecting woman would run around blaming the man for the reason they couldn't keep him interested. Why would you want people to know that happened to you? How you going to get a man to respect you after throwing your business all out like that?" she asked the main singer
"I didn't think of it like that" she answered
"Well .." Mercy said waiting for her to give her name
"Drew" she answered humble like
"Well Drew, you may have been the best Sam had at that time in his life but rest assured, he's had better" she said smiling at her
"Okay erm" she said shame faced
"Mercedes" Mercy said
"Okay Mercedes, I'm sorry" She said clicking her fingers, as all her friends walked off
"What was that?" Sam asked
"Some truth, hopefully it done the job" she said laughing "Drink up and remember to shut your mouth" she said still laughing
"You are crazy" he said as he started laughing too
"Crazy about you" she said making him stop and look at her for a minute
"I love you"
"I love you more"
"Is that our thing the more bit?"
"It's my thing but I don't mind sharing it with you"
"Okay" he said taking the last sip of his smoothie before they left for home, Mercy had time with Mom and he spent some time with his Dad, both doing things around the house in a fashion spending quality time, after dinner Sam announced they were off to Blaine's for maybe a musical evening taking his guitar and Mercy.
"What's Blaine like?" she asked as they drove to the house across the field
"He's cool, I love him like a brother and he'll love you"
"And his house is bigger than yours"
"No, just the land"
Ten minutes of rough driving and they were sitting outside a large brown stoned house which looked somewhat newer than Sam's family home "It's a new house" she said
"Well newish after the fire they rebuilt with all mod cons" he said letting her out of the car and shouting up to the house
"Sam how rude"
"It's not he's my bro really" he said looking back towards the house as the door swung open
"I'd know that knock anywhere" Blaine came out running towards them shouting, giving Sam a hug "I so missed you Bro" he said when they parted
"I missed you too bro and I didn't really know how much until I saw you yesterday" he said stepping back
"And this is…."
"Merc!" a voice squealed from behind Blaine
"Kurt" she screamed back giving him a hug "Twice in one week, what are you doing here?" she asked while Sam and Blaine looked on
"This" Kurt said grabbing back for Blaine and pulling him forward to stand beside him "Is my husband"
"And this" Mercy said looking up at Sam now standing beside her "Is Sam my boyfriend" "Sam Kurt's my best friend from school we went all through school together he came out to me first and I must admit, he came out because I had a crush on him but we've been besties ever since" she said hugging into him again
"Hi Blaine" she said as Kurt grabbed hold of her and started towards the house
"You know you've lost your girl for the night yeah?" Blaine asked Sam as they walked in behind them
"I know you'll be spouseless if he don't give my girl back when I ask nicely" Sam said making Blaine laugh "Dude I'm serious" he said making Blaine look at him hard
"You are aren't you?"
"As a judge dude"
"What's so special about this one?"
"Did you look at her bro, I mean really look at her? I'm saying nothing ask your hubby"
The children were standing at the door waiting when they got to it "Daddy who's this" the older one asked
"This is Mercy Daddy k's best friend and that is Sam Daddy B's best friend and they're together; Sam, Mercy this is Randel 7 and Rebecca 5 a real handful" Kurt said rolling his eyes and the children came forward and offered their hands for shaking
"So Cute" Mercy said as she bypassed the hands and went in for a hug
"Go back with Grandma now we're going to have adult time" Blaine said shooing the children off
Sam and Blaine followed Kurt and Mercy into the den, Blaine set about getting the drinks sorted "Kurt these two are a new relationship so don't be thinking you're going to keep them apart all evening because I know Sam and that is not going to happen, be warned"
"Warned?" Mercy asked looking at Sam who was massaging his guitar looking anxious
"Blaine just told me that Kurt thinks he has you for the night and I just told him not really if it's left to me"
"So why the word warned?" she asked
"That's Blaine's word not mine" Sam said
"Dude" Blaine said looking at him "the code" widening his eyes at Sam in disbelief
"Sorry dude I can't lie to her"
"Shit man you are fucking whipped" Blaine said
"Blaine!" Kurt shouted "ladies present" he said pointing at Mercy
"Sorry Mercedes" he said waving it off
"Hey don't mind me I swear more than Sam" she said laughing "he's pulling your leg"
"No I'm not what happened to church Missy?" he asked
"It's still there in Richmond where it always was but I'm in Los Angeles now Nana finally let me go and I'm flying high" she said spreading her arms in a flying motion
"Flying so high you got men all up in your business and slack ones at that, you need to get fixed up girl before Mr. over there fixes your business for you" Kurt said with sass
"Sam ain't fixing nobody's business he's a kitten" she said laughing "Come on I got to go touch my man" she said pulling Kurt with her
"Hey" she said as they got to the other side of the room where Blaine and Sam sat talking all things comic book, and Sam opened his arms to welcome her in, she sat on the sofa next to him and kissed him lightly on the lips
"PDA?" Blaine said surprised
"Lots of" Sam said pulling her in for another kiss
"So what you doing in sunny California Merc?" Kurt asked
"Singing what else" Mercy replied "just jumping out of church and into the clubs I have a regular spot in a night club and I spend a lot of my day time in the studio"
"So where did you meet Sam?
"At the studio he sings too, on my first day"
"What does he sing?" Kurt asked
"Anything you want him to"
"So you're a singer Sam, I'm up for that challenge, let's have a little singing competition" Kurt said
"Sam can sing you know?" Blaine told Kurt "He sung country when he lived here but he has lots of music out now"
"Throw down your gauntlet any song and genre I'm up for it" Sam laughed
"Who can I say Merc?" Kurt asked "That woman Megan, she was just starting to kick it our last year at school Mercy, Blaine get that song up of hers and then we can see more" he finished
"You mean Megan Trainor" Sam said looking at Mercy
"Are you sure about this Kurt, I only know the one I sang at school?" Mercy told him
"Yeah you and Sam against Blaine and me" he said jumping up "one song, one chance go for it. We have sheet music and I know you can follow that" Kurt said laughing
"You still collect sheet music Kurt?" she asked
"Yep I don't get much chance to sing now a days with all the fashion stuff taking priority so to keep up with Blaine, who's in the business I tend to buy almost everything"
"I tend to sing classical" Blaine said laughing "So I really don't know how Megan whatever comes into this"
"She's a good singer come on let's get this in the bag, this is a happy one what about 'Walkashame' by Megan Trainor" Kurt said to Blaine looking through the sheet music "We've all done that" he finished as Blaine started the music and they started singing. Blaine with the sheet music as Kurt jumped about acting some parts of the song out. Mercy was up dancing, while Sam was sitting shaking his leg at the song and doing guitar chords to parts, till the song came to an end and everyone clapped
"Yeah everyone's done that for sure" Blaine said as he went to the bar to get more drinks and a few snacks
"Walk of shame well, I beg to differ never have and I hope never will" Mercy said
"Oh yeah, that pink elephant is still in the room then" Kurt said looking at Mercy with a smirk
"Has pride of place" Mercy replied
"Who are you trying to fool?" he asked laughing
"She's right it is still in the room as you said, we're waiting for marriage" Sam butted in
"What's that Dude, what did you just say marriage you two getting hitched?" Blaine asked walking back with refreshments
"Well yeah but not right this minute like I plan to do it soon but we need to talk some more about that so it's not up for discussion just yet" Sam said
"Oh he's planning on being your future husband is he?" Kurt said to Mercy again with a smirk
"What is it with you and this smirking thing?" she asked him
"I've listened to Blaine's stories about this man, although some of them are funny, a lot of them are around disrespecting women, and I wouldn't be your best friend if I didn't tell you that"
"I know all that Kurt, but thanks for caring about me that way" she said looking at Sam "But you know when I look into his eyes, I see it, I know he means everything he says to me and Kurt I actually love him" she said taking Sam's hand and placing the back of his hand on her cheek.
"Oh Merc that is so sweet" Kurt said turning to Sam "I love you cos my best friend says your cool and that carries weight but you mess her around Sam and I know people I mean seriously, I know people" Kurt said looking up into Sam's face
"Ditto" Sam said pointing at Blaine "And believe me I know people who your people don't want to know"
"Now we have the testosterone in the place sorted can we have a drink and get on with enjoying ourselves?" Blaine said
"Well said" Mercy shouted going over to Blaine and grabbing his arm "We need to have a conversation nothing that harsh" she said looking back at Kurt and Sam "Blaine I just want you to know I love your bestie with all my heart and his heart is safe with me, I would never knowingly do anything to hurt him and I hope you believe that"
They got to the door before Blaine responded "Sam is very complex Mercy, I know he is totally smitten by you everything he's doing is alien to him, I can see he's trying really hard to be the person he thinks he needs to be for you, I wish you both all the very best, I hope you find what Kurt and I have, I truly do" he said as they hugged turned around and came back to their significant others.
"I've found another one Blaine" Kurt said "Even better than that one we could have won with this one" he said as Blaine hugged him in
"PDA?" Mercy said surprised at Kurt's actions
"He's my husband it's different you get married to do those things don't you?" he stated, Mercy and Sam looked at each other and said nothing
"You ready babe" Sam said getting up off the chair and pulling Mercy up "Well I'm a bit of a cheat really because I know Megan very well actually, she spent the entire album life at the studio in LA so I know all those songs and more and there's a song that she thinks is going to be on her next album that I had something to do with" Sam said looking at Mercy's shocked face "Although since I heard Mercy sing, I was wondering whether I'm still going to sign it off to her but, I'll see" Sam finished
"Babe I don't know the song" she said
"We're better when that happens Babe and I've got the track and the words on my phone" he said plugging it into the system and logging it in
"So here's the song and be honest, I'll sing the first verse then you can come in" he said, the music started playing Mercy stood reading the sheet music and humming while Sam strummed along on his guitar then started singing "Marvin Gaye" by Megan Trainor & Charlie Puth. As soon as the first bar dropped Blaine and Kurt were up dancing, Mercy was rocking and following the song she was familiar with the chorus it was Marvin Gaye after all, she loved it, everyone did
"That was a good song Sam" she said as he pulled her in for a kiss
"PDA?" Kurt said with a smile
"Couldn't wait" Blaine and Sam said together
"I could see that couldn't wait Bro" Blaine said laughing "You are whipped"
"I'd have to say that one was the winner" Kurt said
"Okay so what does the winner get?" Mercy asked
"To hear you sing another song" Sam said "Will you?"
"I'd be honoured" she said as Sam got up and fetched his phone, selected a song and handed Mercy the device with the sheet music on it
"Do you need time?" he asked
"Just a few minutes to get the bridge I can work the rest out as I go along" She said studying the sheet "Okay I think I got it and some of it needs changing so I will and you can feed back to me" she said giving Sam a nod to start the music, he picked up his guitar and started strumming
"I'll do the obvious deep parts and join in with the chorus a bit" Sam said as he got into the song on his guitar while Blaine and Kurt looked on excited as Mercy started singing "Close your eyes" by Meghan Trainor everyone laughed when Sam done his bit and in the second verse Blaine and Kurt joined in
"Hey babe that was sensational" Sam said
"Hope you write me something even more spectacular if that's possible" she said
"Okay, will do" he said leaning in for a kiss
"Wow that was... that was" Blaine said
"Oh it's your first Mercedes full on experience or do we still call you Amber when you get into your Zone" Kurt asked
"Yes Mercedes you have a gold nugget right there girl is he helping you do something with that?" Blaine said pointing to Sam
"Well since we met we've sang a lot together if that's what you mean" Mercy said looking at Sam
"Yeah Bro we have sung a lot together" Sam said trying to divert the conversation
"Is Bigga still down there with you" Blaine asked
"Yeah he's still there heading things up he's a good boss, puts up with my shit anyway and he still lets me go in with new sounds and do my thing so I'm happy" Sam said feeling like he'd answered all of Blaine's questions present and future and going in for another kiss from Mercy
"Leave her alone Evans" they heard from the doorway looking up to see Jenny standing at the door
"Jen" Sam said walking towards her "squirt you've grown, I couldn't believe it was you when you came last night and I still can't" he said hugging her before bringing her over to Mercy "This is Jen, Mercy, Blaine's little sister not so little any more" he said laughing "She came over last night to suss you out for the girls apparently but you'd gone to bed; Jen, Mercy the love of my life soon to be wife" he finished saying as he got to Mercy.
"Guys I'm sorry but some of the girls talked their way into the party tonight, my fault I let it slip I was coming home to see you sorry" Jen said giving Mercy a sorry look
"No problem" Mercy said quite bubbly making Sam look a bit concerned
"Did I hear party?" Kurt said
"Oh gosh you're in your element now Kurt" Mercy said laughing "forever the host"
They sat about getting familiar again and talking about old school days and clubs they attended and why, having a laugh "I think I'd have liked going to school with you guys always some drama going on" Blaine said
"Oh the unholy trinity" Kurt said
"Oh my God I wonder what happened to them" Mercy said looking at Sam "Right up your street, they would have been fighting over you Sammy" she said noticing him take a deep breath at the conversation "Sorry Sam" she said touching his hand as Kurt frowned "used a trigger" Mercy said and carried on the conversation "They were cheerleaders top of their tree slept with everything that moved and if another girl wanted him or her in some cases they wanted them
"You know Mel and Kate got married in the end" Kurt said laughing "the same day as us we saw them on our hen do night"
"Wow after all that bitch fighting they got together" Mercy said laughing "I'm pleased for them, Mel always loved Kate; endgame and all that"
"Which one of those girls would you most hate to come back to haunt you?" Blaine asked Sam
Sam looked at Mercy uneasily but answered Blaine "Maybe Janet Soul" he said looking at Blaine as if to say stop now
"Why?" Mercy asked
"Maybe because my Granddad caught her head in my pants in the barn just before he died and every time I think of him I see that image so I wouldn't want her standing in front of me bringing that image back to me like real time if you know what I mean and I told her I loved her" he said quickly trying to mask it
"Your granddad?" Mercy said holding her cheeks
"Yeah" Sam said laughing hoping that was all she caught
"And you loved her?" she asked
"I told her I loved her and at that point I guess I think I did, I don't remember much, another mask" he replied laughing it off
"Don't do that" she said angry
"Okay" Sam said rubbing the back of his neck "Yeah at the time I think I thought I did babe but…"
"Who broke up with who?" she butted in
"She broke up with me" he told her "Mercy can we talk about this another time" Sam said looking around the room, thinking why did he miss the opportunity to tell her about Janet fucking Soul
"I'd love to" she said
"You better watch out Sam that's definitely coming back to you, I think it was the weak attempt at masking it that did it" Kurt said looking at a fuming Mercy
"Hey" Sam said unsure how to deal with this situation he'd just created "Mercy" he said, she looked at him and he saw the anger in her eyes "Guy's you got to excuse us a minute I have to sort his shit out like now" he said to Blaine, Kurt and Jenny grabbing Mercy's hand to get her up, when she didn't come willingly he turned to her "Will you come with me please babe?" He asked and she got up, they walked outside and got in the car he drove a short distance away from the house, just near the stables before he stopped the car "Babe I.."
"Don't babe me" she said putting her hand up to stop his conversation "I asked you before we got here if there was anyone I needed to know about and you omitted to tell me about erm.."
"Janet"
"Yeah Janet why? And then to find out that, you told her you loved her and, she finished with you Sam you see this girl as a threat, otherwise you would have told me about her, you led me to believe that I was safe with you when, it's clear I'm not"
"You are safe with me babe I mean Mercy"
"Amber will do right now Samuel, I feel as far away from being your friend as I could possibly feel right now"
"Shit" Sam said grabbing his legs till his knuckles were white with the force he was holding his anger in "I am so mad with myself right now" he said through clenched teeth "I'm sorry I didn't forget about her I just didn't want to tell you I was ever thinking about loving someone else I didn't want that in our relationship it was stupid of me to think I could keep it to myself, you see right through me. I know this is a big ask but, just this once will you forgive me for not telling you that one thing and, at the same time I promise you with all my heart, which you have, that I will never hold anything back from you again. I can't promise that I'll always tell you everything but if you ask I won't tell you a lie or omit anything no matter how painful I'll always be honest just give me this chance to prove it to you" he said looking at her angry face before saying "please"
"Sam I've accepted a lot from you since we met and I don't need thanks for that I accept you, slut features and all but, I draw a line at being lied to or kept out of the loop if we don't have trust, respect and communication we have nothing and I want something with you, I don't understand why you keep trying to mess this up"
"Seriously Mercy I don't I'm treading on egg shells trying to keep you from hating me, I'm under some serious pressure from these fucking tricks, they are coming out of the woodwork I mean I don't even remember half of them they must have just joined on, I told you I slept with four girls and that was the truth, I kissed a few more and made some promises, yes I was very loose with my promises then granted, but I never had anything I was scared of losing till I met you"
"Sam, I'm jealous that you told someone else you loved them and meant it, I don't want to be your next Janet and if I'm honest before I invested so much in you I wouldn't have minded hearing all this, but now I have I feel like you've been cheating on me, keeping that information to yourself like you're thinking about her or something, while you've been with me"
"Babe I thought about her once for a split second when I decided not to tell you and never again I swear"
"What did you think about her in that split second?" she spat at him
"That I'd told her I loved her"
"But it wasn't just that thought though was it Sam, you visualized where you were, what she looked like, what you were doing, what she said all in that split second and you were talking to me" Mercy said getting out of the car and slamming the door obviously still upset walking towards the stables, the lane dark and lined with trees
"Fuck" Sam said banging the steering wheel in anger "What the fuck Evans this just gets fucking worse, why is this happening" looking up to see Mercy walking down the dirt road 'I really don't know how it was Mercy' he thought as he jumped out the car and went after her "Mercy please hear me out" he said touching her arm
"What?" she said still walking
"How can I fix this tell me how to fix this?"
"I'm walking Sam what's to fix?" she said looking up at him for a short while
"Mercy, this is so inappropriate right now but, I'm so turned on I .." he said she stopped to look at him
"I just thought that too" she told him, he couldn't help it he pulled her to him kissing her hard, his hands wondering, surprised that hers were too "We're arguing"
"Let's carry on" he said attacking her lips again, backing her onto a nearby tree
"Sam don't lie to me again or hold anything back it hurts my heart to be disconnected" she said looking into his eyes
"I promise it will never happen again, you'll never have anything to be jealous, even if she turns up again nothing" he assured her "Shit can you feel that?" he asked rubbing up against her
"Yeah" she laughed "I'll have to sit on your lap when we get back I'll wet the chair" making him laugh too "Not a joke Boyfriend" she said walking back toward the car "That thing is making my insides pulse" she said nodding at his bulge
"The thought of that is making me jump" he said laughing as they got in the car, she leaned over and kissed him
"Let's go back to the party" she said tapping the dashboard
"Are we okay Mercy?"
"This time we are but I can't guarantee it will be like this the next time Sam I'm not a mug" she said looking at him as he drove
"I know you're not and I don't intend on this happening again" he said as he reflected on what just nearly happened giving him a cold sweat
So they got back to the house and there seemed to be a party going on as the noise had increased dramatically "What the fuck is going on in there" he said as they neared the house and realised the door was open "It's a real party Mercy" he said half happy half concerned
"Whatever is in there we'll face it Sam" she said grabbing his hand as she opened the door