Love writing Samcedes banter...

Chapter 50

The dutiful wife act was unnerving. A little while ago she barely wanted to let him in the door, and now she was feeding him his favorite food and talking about having his back. She was probably trying to poison him, he wouldn't put it past her. She had almost killed him before. Sure she nursed him back to health for months, but now that he was recovered and taking control of his life and his bank account, she was probably wishing he was out of commission again. Also she knew about the meeting with Judge Leery, she didn't seem very pleased, yet another motive for her to plot his demise. Sam looked down at his burger. How odd for her to have one just waiting for him, she hadn't even known he was coming over.

"I forgot to get ketchup for your fries," she announced pulling her hand away and going toward the fridge.

"I don't need ketchup," he said putting a fry in his mouth. If this was going to be his last meal, he at least needed to enjoy. It had been so long since he had a burger and fries. "I need you to talk to me," he said through his chewing.

"There's nothing to talk about. Quinn is in the hospital for a reason." Mercedes leaned over the counter, giving him a clear view down the front of her skimpy pink top.

Sam snapped his eyes back up to her face, trying to maintain his focus. The goal was to get her to understand about Quinn. Once he did that it would be smooth sailing. "She doesn't need to be all the way up there, she can get help here, close to Beth and all of her friends."

"Quinn can't be near Beth. She lost all access to her."

"I think my father was behind that too."

"He wasn't. Quinn lost Beth all on her own."

"We'll have to help her get her back. You want what's best for Beth right?"

Sam already knew the answer to that question he could tell she truly loved his daughter. Might have been a tad underhanded to use her ties to Beth to sway her, but all was fair when it came to something so important. Quinn staying out of the hospital was his top priority and without Mercedes on his side, Quinn would be doomed.

"Yes I do. Which is why I want Quinn to stay upstate and get the treatment she needs."

"I just told you she's better now."

He knew depression was a serious condition, but his family was acting like Quinn was suffering from something far worse. His parents, Mike, Mercedes, even Puck got all weird whenever Quinn's name was brought up, over the top reactions to a relatively common illness. Millions of people functioned in the world while battling depression. Quinn could too. At this point, Kali seemed to be the only one that agreed with him, thank goodness she was Quinn's doctor and had the authority to vouch for her sanity.

"Sam what is going on? Why are you talking like Quinn getting out the hospital could happen?"

"What if it did?" he asked getting up from the table to stand across from her at the center island. "Would you be on my side and accept her back into our lives?"

"You act as if we actually have a life together. We live in separate households, you barely speak to me and you spend all your time daydreaming about your perfect baby mama."

She was angry and going in for an attack. He hadn't known Mercedes that long, but he had learned a few things about her in that short time. First lesson, Mercedes bites back, but she wasn't the only one with teeth, Sam could give as good as he got.

"And you spend all your time hanging out with college boys," he spat back, his temper building as he thought about that Finn kid.

Actually Mercedes having another guy could be the answer to his problems. She could go be with Finn Hudson, or whatever random guy she picked up, and he would be free to be with Quinn. It was almost perfect, except for one thing, his father. Sam had a feeling that his father wouldn't see things the same way and still would force him to try to make his marriage work. His father seemed to get off on making his life miserable, but maybe if Sam got his father to understand that Mercedes didn't want him, he would forget about his deal and just let Quinn remain free. It was a gamble, but Sam never was one to shy away from a challenge, so maybe he should attempt that route.

"Stop acting like a jealous husband. I know you don't really care what I do or who I see. I could have just had sex with Finn in our bed this afternoon and you wouldn't care."

Oh hell no!

"Is that what happened here? Is that why you're wearing only underwear and have that bed head going on?"

With one hand she tugged on her shorts, as if there was actually a way to make them less revealing, and her other hand went to her hair, smoothing it down. "I put these curls in myself," she said, still messing with her hair.

"Answer me Mercedes. Did you just sleep with that guy?" Sam didn't care about her attire or her messy hair, he wanted answers, his patience evaporating by the second as she just stood there smirking at him.

"What if I did? Would you be mad? Would you be jealous?"

She was egging him on and he knew it. She was trying to provoke a reaction. Mission accomplished, she was going to get one.

"Hell yeah I would be mad. No man touches my wife," he exploded. There was a porno playing in his mind and it starred Mercedes. He could see her with another guy, doing all the things she had done with him that night they spent together. "Just fuck no. I'm gonna kill him." Sam ran his hand through his hair, pacing in circles, trying to figure out how he could've married a woman that would cheat on him and just flaunt it in his face.

"Why are you mad Sam? You don't want me, why can't someone else have me?"

It was completely irrational, he didn't even want to be with her, he wanted Quinn. He loved Quinn, but the idea of Mercedes kissing some other dude's ring, of being with him in a bed they shared, made his head pound.

"I'm the only man that can have you," he said walking around the counter to stand directly in front of her. "You're married to me."

"That doesn't work for me. You think you can just have it like that?" she asked, shoving him back. "Me here, with your baby on my hip, and Quinn upstate for conjugal visits? You don't want me. Stop pretending like you do."

"I do want you," he blurted out. Mercedes looked completely stunned. Shit! Now she's going to get that look, like a puppy hoping to be let in from the cold.

"What?" she asked, looking less like a puppy and more like a pit bull.

"I mean…" He needed to cover his ass fast. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea, he wasn't about to throw her down on the kitchen table and have his way with her, but he also needed her to believe he wanted to give their marriage a shot. "I don't know what I want."

"Which is it Sam? Either you want me or you don't."

Sam took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "I need to find out who you are, see what things were like between us."

"How are we going to do that when we have completely separate lives?"

"I want to move back in, here to this house, with you, and Beth."

That hadn't been the plan. He was going to tell her they needed to take things slow, that he would visit and spend time with her while still living with his father, but finding out that she was sleeping with another guy threw him off. He hadn't been prepared to have to deal with another man.

"Are you for real?" she asked, clearly skeptical. Sam had his work cut out for him.

"Yeah that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Going to see Quinn made me figure some things out."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Things like what?"

"Like I married you for a reason and I need to figure out what that reason was. I've just been ignoring this huge part of my life because I didn't understand it and I realize now how wrong that was."

"Sam I don't know. I'm really starting to think it might be better if we just cut our losses right now and move on."

It felt like she kicked him, swift and hard in the gut. She had said exactly what he wanted to hear, and it knocked the wind out of him. Had to be some sort of record, rejected by two women in less than twenty-four hours. He put his heart on the line for Quinn and she didn't want him, now his wife, the woman who sat by his bedside for months, was just letting him go. Sam didn't even know why he bothered, he always had the worst luck in his romantic life, and clearly nothing had changed in the past three years.

He probably didn't have a shot in hell at keeping Mercedes, she was already trying to leave him and he'd only been out of the coma for two months, not to mention the fact she had some other guy already lined up, but he had to try. Quinn couldn't go back to the hospital.

"Don't say that. I don't want you to give up on us. What about those tingles you felt on our wedding day?"

"I used to get them almost every time you looked at me," she said smiling down at her feet.

"Maybe I can make you feel that way again," he said running his hands over her bare shoulders. She shivered when he touched her, giving Sam a small boost of confidence.

She shook her head, backing away from him, but the center island stopped her escape. "You don't look at me the same Sam."

Sam moved closer, both hands on the island, trapping her between the counter and his body, but careful not to make contact. He wanted her close, but not touching. "Not yet, but maybe one day."

"Sam what is really going on here? What really happened when you went upstate?"

The phone rang and Mercedes reached behind her to the counter to pick it up. Sam read the display as she held the phone between them. It was Mike.

"Don't answer it," he said putting his hand over hers, covering the phone.

"I have to. I've been trying to get in touch with Mike since yesterday."

The phone continued to ring, but Sam didn't drop his hand or move away.

He lifted her chin, caressing her cleft, making her look him in the eyes. "Forget the phone. This is too important. It's about us."

"Fine," she agreed, putting the phone back on the counter. "What about us?"

"I think you know." Sam lifted her hand to his lips, kissing it softly, never letting his eyes drop from hers.

Mercedes couldn't talk to Mike, not yet. He had to be the one to tell her about Quinn or it would never work. Mercedes had to believe he cared about their marriage before he sprung the news or she'd leave him for sure.

Sam could tell Mercedes was hesitant, debating her options in her mind. Slowly she moved closer, stepping into his space, putting her arms around his neck, tugging on the lapel of his jacket to pull him closer to her face. He watched her, trying to figure out her next move. She just held him there a moment, one hand around his neck, the other stroking his suit jacket. Sam gripped her waist, rubbing his thumbs against the exposed skin on her back where her top didn't quite meet the waistband of her shorts. He opened his mouth to speak, to fill the silence that made him think things were starting to head south, when she kissed him. Full soft lips, brushing over his, once, then again, lingering the second time.

"Should we take this conversation to the bedroom?" she asked as she hovered just above his lips.

Sam opened his mouth to respond but no words came out, his mind a complete blank as he stared down into her eyes.

"Sam." She whispered before kissing him gently on the cheek, pressing her body against his as she wrapped her other arm around his neck. "Do you want to?" she asked again.

Um. What?

Mercedes led him out of the kitchen, into the living room, and up the stairs by the hand, something she had done so many times before, something she had lost hope of ever doing again. Asking Sam upstairs had been a test. He claimed to want to figure out their marriage, pleading with her to give him a chance, turning on the charm, completely out of the blue. Mercedes didn't trust his sudden interest in his past life. Sam was definitely up to something. So she called his bluff, turning up the heat, capitalizing on the one thing she knew hadn't been lost in the accident, his attraction to her.

She glanced at him periodically over her shoulder, as they climbed the stairs, watching him take it all in. Photographs lined the walls of the hallway, mostly of Beiste's family through the years, but there were some of Mercedes's family as well, such that it was. A photo with Puck at the BreadStix, one with her dad last spring, a couple of candid ones with Sam before they were married, and a new one, just taken last week of herself with Beth. Sam spotted it right away, pausing in front of the framed 8x10.

"Is this new?" he asked pointing at the picture.

"Yeah."

Kurt had taken it, Beth on her lap in her new Tennessee Titans onesie with matching bow in her hair, a gummy grin with lips just like her father's.

"Do you have any with Beth and Quinn?"

His first thought, probably his only thought was about Quinn. Not when did you and I take this picture together? Or how is her dad doing? But about Quinn, and why she wasn't on display in their home.

"Not on the wall."

"Well I meant do you have any period. Something I could show her?"

Barely back a few hours and already he was thinking ahead to his next visit upstate. Mercedes wasn't sure which hurt worse, being forgotten by her husband or that he unabashedly wanted someone else.

"There aren't very many. I took some at Christmas."

She'd taken a number of shots on the day of their impromptu visit to the Lima Hospital Psych Ward inspired mostly by Beiste and too much spiked eggnog. Playing photographer kept her away from Quinn, any excuse not to talk to her. Really Mercedes had nothing to say, she could be civil for Beth's sake but she never was going to like the woman. Not even Christmas cheer could put a happy face on cheating.

"She really has been away a long time," Sam said sadly, still staring at the wall of photos.

"Even when she was here, she was away. Quinn didn't spend that much time with Beth."

Sam really needed to be told the truth, he was acting like Quinn was away at a spa for botox treatments. The seriousness of Quinn's condition was not relayed to him and it should have been. For the future safety of his daughter, he needed to know what Quinn was capable of.

"You act like she didn't want her." He sounded outraged at the mere thought.

"I'm just stating the facts."

She wasn't going to be the one to tell him, she couldn't be. There would be no way she could do it without her personal bias seeping into the mix. Will should just sit Sam down with Quinn's police file and let Sam be the judge, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Dwight was adamant about that. Dwight didn't want Sam to know about what happened to Beth until he was 100 percent recovered. Mercedes wasn't really sure what Dwight was so afraid of. Did he think Sam would burst a blood vessel when he heard the news? Break a limb while trying to go after Quinn for what she'd done? If that was the case, Dwight didn't know his son at all. Sam wasn't going to react that harshly to the news, Mercedes knew that now. He was going to blame everything Quinn had done on her postpartum depression, and he was going to forgive her completely for everything, probably with a hug and a kiss to soothe her frazzled nerves. Sam was too enamored with Quinn at this point to see anything she did as wrong, even if it was against his own child.

"Well your facts are wrong. Quinn was happy she had my child."

Sam was smiling, she could see the sparkle in his eyes, his chest was even subtly puffing out with pride, he was happy he made a baby with Quinn. On the one hand, Mercedes was glad to know Beth was loved and wanted by both her parents, every child deserved that, but for Sam to just put it out there like that, completely disregarding how it would make her feel, completely proved how little he actually cared about her. All his words in the kitchen were meaningless, part of some angle she had yet to determine, because Sam's real emotions were revealed right now. He was pleased to have a love child with Quinn and he didn't care who it hurt.

"She told you that?" Mercedes asked, quite surprised. Even before her hearing everyone thought Quinn resented Beth because he wasn't Puck's daughter and that was what led to her depression.

"When I saw her yesterday. She told me that she secretly wanted Beth to be mine all along."

"Oh so much for her apologies and claims about loving Puck, that bitch wanted you the whole time," Mercedes said bitterly.

"Quinn and I have history."

"I'm well aware," she snapped.

"I didn't mean to upset you. I probably shouldn't have said anything."

His insincerity was palpable. Sam brought all this up for one reason, to put her in her place, to let her know that Quinn was the chosen one. Quinn had his child and his heart.

"Doesn't matter, deep down I knew it anyway. I always thought she slept with you to prove a point."

"What point would that be?"

"That she could. That you weren't mine and never would be."

She never once said anything against them, openly supported their engagement, the only one on team Sam and Mercedes. It was a load of bull, just as Mercedes had suspected back then. She was good at reading people, could usually smell a phony from miles away, and everything from her bright smiles to her weak hugs was fake on Quinn. While Mercedes did think Quinn was happy with Puck, at least happy she had him trapped, she also thought that Quinn would have liked it better if she still had Sam hanging on too. One man clearly wasn't enough for Quinn Fabray. Sam had been her number one fan for years, once he was married and his focus turned to his own life, she lost him and that didn't sit well with her. Now all those heart to heart talks, meetings for coffee, late night chats made more sense, Quinn was trying to keep Sam attached, caught up in her life. Then when the opportunity presented itself and Sam turned up on her doorstep drunk and miserable, she did what any selfish skank would do, she screwed him on the living room floor and got herself knocked up with his child. Quinn had played the game well, she'd found a way to keep Sam in her life forever, and have access to his bank account to boot.

"You make her sound so calculating and devious. Quinn's not like that."

"Sam, you don't know what Quinn's like. You are clouded by her eyes or her boobs, or whichever body part she's showing off."

All the men were. They fell for Quinn's act time and time again. That woman needed to come with a warning label attached. 'Harmful if touched.'

"You are actually going to talk about flaunting body parts while you're wearing that?"

What the hell was his issue with her clothes? She had on shorts and a cami, pretty standard stuff.

"I'm in my house. I wouldn't wear it outside." She actually would wear it outside, just not in the dead of winter.

"In your house with a man."

"With my husband."

"Before I got here."

"Oh then? I wasn't wearing this I was wearing a towel, then later a robe."

He deserved that visual image. She hoped he had nightmares about her with Finn. It would serve him right after he had the nerve to come into their house extolling the virtues of Quinn Fabray, as if she gave a shit.

"This was a bad idea," said Sam heading back down the stairs.

"I couldn't agree more. Did you actually think you could con me into believing you cared about our marriage?"

Sam needed to man up and flat out tell her what was going on, she was tired of his manipulations. Mercedes was too smart to fall for his lines anyway. Never again.

He stopped mid descent, turning to face her. "I wasn't conning you. I do care, but you make it so damn difficult. Why can't you just…"

"Shut up and let you wax on about your beloved mistress?" she asked cutting him off.

Sam took a deep breath, and leaned back against the wall. "It got to me okay. I liked that she actually wanted to have a child with me, no one has truly felt that way about me before, not even my ex-wife Brittany, and we had talked about planning a family at one time."

Tears burned in Mercedes's eyes. "You are such an idiot."

"What did I say now?" he asked looking completely lost.

"I loved you and I married you. Don't you think just maybe I wanted a family with you?"

Mercedes swiped at her tears. She hated she was crying over this. She needed to just get over all of it and let him go. Not every dream came true, Mercedes knew that going in, knew it all her life. Why should she have believed that this would somehow change because she thought she'd found her prince?

"We weren't married very long before the accident, but I guess we had plans."

"Those plans mean nothing to you now, because you don't remember."

They'd talked about having kids a few times, nothing serious, just that dreamy ramble that lovers do when the happiness is overflowing and it only naturally feels like it should be given to a child. They both wanted a family, a chance to create a stable home, a place to put all the love they had to keep bottled up because there was nowhere else for it to go. He told her had wanted ten babies with her, the night of the accident. Sam was cold and bleeding, but his mind was dreaming of building a life with her. She couldn't have loved him any more in that moment, still fighting for their family even when hope was fading and the odds were not on their side. His last thoughts were about them, before the unthinkable happened and he was captured by the dark. Sam was back now, a second chance, a wish granted, a walking miracle, but he no longer wanted them, their dreams of a family forgotten, his hopes already fulfilled by Beth and Quinn.

"You act like I'm doing this on purpose. I can't help that I lost my memory."

"You are doing it on purpose, psychological amnesia. It's all you making this happen."

It felt deliberate, like he only erased the parts of his mind with her in it. Medically speaking she knew it was more complex than that, some trauma, probably the car accident, had triggered his mind to shut down, but why did he choose to forget those parts? His mind conveniently had sent him back to the place he always wanted to be, with Quinn, making Mercedes feel like perhaps he did only marry her because Quinn had moved on. Would he have even noticed her if Quinn had been interested in him back then?

"Maybe so, but it still feels very much out of my control."

It was hard to find sympathy for Sam and his memory woes lately, especially since he seemed so content with how things had turned out. He'd awakened to a strange world, filled with new faces, but it had been a dream come true in some ways as well. He'd come back to a family, the girl of his dreams finally wanting him with a beautiful baby in her arms. No wonder Sam didn't seem in a rush to find the missing pieces of his life, everything he always wanted was right in front of him.

"What does Kali say about all this? Making any headway in figuring it all out?" Mercedes asked trying to push down the small hope lingering within her. If Sam could get his memory back, all of this could go away, he'd love her again and they could be together like they planned.

"Kali's no longer my therapist."

"Why not? What happened?"

"I fired her," he replied with a satisfied smirk.

"Who did you get to replace her?"

"No one. I don't need to waste time sitting around talking about my problems. I just need to get back to my life."

So much for that hope. Sam didn't care about getting his memory back at all.

"Which life Sam? The life you left behind, that you clearly don't want to remember or some new life where you replace me with Quinn?"

She had already been replaced. He just had yet to say the words. Sam made his choice and his intentions clear when he sped through his recovery at record speed, so he could make the trip to see Quinn. Mercedes got that message loud and clear. One woman was important in his life, and it wasn't the one he married.

"I'm not trying to replace you. I need some time," he said, clenching his fists at his side. "Stop making me feel like it's wrong that I don't remember you or that it's wrong I care about Quinn."

"Stop making me feel like you hate the fact I'm your wife."

Sam was treating her like he'd lost a bet and landed the ugliest girl in high school. Sure he was all over her behind closed doors, flirting and then some, but when all eyes were on him, he shut down, wishing another woman was wearing his ring instead of her.

"I keep telling you I don't hate you. I just don't know you yet."

"Really? That's all it is? You don't know me?"

Mercedes didn't believe him at all. He made no attempts to get her to know her since getting out of the hospital. The one day they tried to spend together, he shut her out halfway through, opting to throw a tantrum and destroy their photos rather than talk to her.

"Yes."

"Interesting. I can remember just a few weeks ago when you were saying something all together different. Telling me how you never felt so close to someone so fast before, how you felt like you knew me already, how it must be destiny that we had this amazing connection."

He'd wanted her that night, for more than just a sexual release, Mercedes had felt it, in his every word, his every touch. There was something still between them, not even the coma could steal their connection. It persisted even when everything else had vanished.

"I didn't know we were married then."

"I know and yet you couldn't keep your hands off me, wanted me always around, kept telling me you liked me so much. Finding out I was your wife, should have been a bonus if you felt that strongly. Unless you were just feeding me lines…"

"I meant what I said. I felt those things then."

She looked up, surprised he'd revealed that much. Their eyes locked, unspoken words surfacing in the green of his eyes. There still was something real, buried deep, but it remained.

"Why did it all disappear?" she asked tearing her eyes from his. "You can't even stand to be around me now."

"That's not true. I'm here with you now." He came up the last few steps to stand in front of her, holding both of her arms. "I told you I want to figure this out. You're the one stalling, why are we standing in the hallway? I thought we were going to the bedroom."

"I've got to finish getting dressed. It's getting late." Really she wanted to get away from him, she couldn't think clearly when he got so close, her emotions took over and led her down impulsive paths.

"Hot date?" he asked, smiling down at her.

Mercedes didn't dare meet his eyes, she'd be in trouble if she did. "I wish. The only man I want isn't interested."

"Maybe he doesn't think he stands a chance with you. The male ego doesn't do well with rejection."

Sam traced the edge of the thin pink strap of her top with his finger. A touch so light, and yet it sent warm tingles throughout her body.

"I think he knows I want him. I've made it very clear."

She focused on his chest, the creamy white buttons on his pale blue shirt, in stark contrast with the deep navy of his jacket. He wasn't wearing a tie, so the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, exposing a bit of skin.

"Are you sure? Men can be very slow on the uptake."

"I realize that. The plan is that he is so blown away by my ensemble tonight that he will find me irresistible."

"Let me help you pick something out. I have great taste."

Damn! She made the mistake of glancing at his face, he had his lips in that crooked smile, now she couldn't look away.

"I was thinking short and tight. Doesn't take much to turn the head of a twenty year old man," she said, smiling when his face contorted in reaction.

"I'm 28."

"Who said I was talking about you?" she asked looking up at him innocently.

"You better be." He was almost growling, stepping closer as if he wanted to physically enforce his threat.

"There you go again with that temper. I think you're getting off on being mad at me."
She put her hands flat against his chest to keep him from getting closer, one more inch and his body would be touching hers.

"And I think you're getting off on pushing my buttons."

His eyes were on her mouth as he spoke, she could feel his hand tense up on her arm, as he held himself back. Maybe she wasn't the only one struggling to maintain control.

"What buttons could I possibly push? It's not like you're really jealous. You don't even want me, you want Quinn," she said, feeling triumphant when his hands covered her bare shoulders, gripping them slightly. She knew that would get him.

"I don't like the idea of my wife being with another man," he said against her ear, only his hands were touching her, but Mercedes could feel him all over her skin.

She rose up on her toes to reach his face. "I don't like the idea of my husband being with another woman, but I don't have much choice in the matter. Do I?" she countered, against his ear.

"The only woman I'm interested in being with now is you." Last inch gone, Sam pulled her against him, purposely making sure she felt how physically interested he was. He clearly was up for finishing what they started in the hospital. "Show me our bedroom."

"Good thing Beth's not here, pretty sure she'd interrupt us." She giggled nervously, trying to ignore the fact that his hand had moved under her cami to stroke her back.

"Where is she?" Sam asked, backing up slightly.

"She's at your dad's house with Marcel. She was so cranky this morning, just wouldn't let me put her down, but Marcel comes and suddenly she's back to being a little sweet princess."

"She likes Marcel." He let go of her to stand next to her against the wall. Mercedes was relieved, her head immediately clearer with Sam at a distance.

"She does. I was thinking maybe Marcel could be her nanny. Not to assume that she was going to have a nanny. I didn't hire her one all this time because I thought since she didn't have either of her parents, she shouldn't spend most of her time with a stranger. Your dad wanted to hire one though, this woman, fluent in like ten languages, nanny to royalty. He had her on retainer for like months," she said, finally taking a breath.

"Where's she now?"

"Some Eastern European royal family lured her away. Your father was not pleased. I like Marcel, but it's completely up to you of course. I didn't want to make a decision without talking to you about it."

"Marcel's a nurse though, does he have experience with children?"

"His specialty is pediatric nursing actually."

"You hired a pediatric nurse to take care of me?"

"I thought it was appropriate." She chuckled.

"You're cute," he said smiling at her.

"How cute?" she asked, caressing his cheek, unable to stop herself from touching that face she missed so much.

"Cute enough not to want to share," he said putting his arms around her waist and moving her to stand in front of him between his parted legs.

Mercedes rolled her eyes, but couldn't contain her smile. She loved being this close to Sam. "Are we back to that again?"

"I don't think we ever left."

"I'm so over you and this macho possessive act."

"I think you're the one that's acting. Your heart has been pounding since I put my arms around you. You're not over me at all."

She could feel herself blushing, losing even more composure. She had to stop letting him get to her, she needed to be back in control.

"You're making me nervous, invading my personal space."

"You're not nervous. You ramble when you're nervous. This is you very excited to be so close to me."

"Get over yourself Sam," she said pushing out of his arms and retreating to the opposite wall.

Sam didn't pursue, he just watched her from his side of the hall. It was almost worse to contend with those eyes, mysteriously slanted, never quite revealing everything. At least his hands were more direct, touching their exact target without hesitation.

"Why else would you invite me upstairs if you didn't want to be with me?"

"You said you wanted to figure out our marriage. I thought you might like to see where you lived, see your room. I was trying to help you out."

"Oh so this was all for my health?"

"Exactly." She crossed her legs at the ankles, and pressed her back into the cool yellow wall. I'm trying to jog your memory. Anything coming back?"

"Maybe if we actually went into the room and got into the bed…"

Holding up her hand stopping him mid sentence, she said. "I'm not sleeping with you."

"Did I even suggest that? Interesting how your mind went straight to sex."

"I know what you're doing. You're trying to throw me off. You think if you bring up sex I will get all flustered or hot and bothered and you can get me where you want me."

"And where exactly do you think I want you?" he asked moving closer, stopping halfway between his side of the hall and hers.

"I'm not sure yet. It has something to do with Quinn that's for sure."

"You're right it does have something to do with Quinn. I want to help her. Beth needs her mother." Sam reached for her hand, never moving from his spot, and Mercedes stupidly took it.

"I agree. When she's better…" she said letting herself be pulled away from the safety of her post on the wall.

"I also want something else." He looked down at her, brushing the curls from her face, suddenly serious.

"What's that?" Mercedes asked, practically in a whisper.

"I want to get to know my wife, because I finally figured out that I need her in my life."

Oh he was good. Sam never even flinched or looked away when he said that.

"Sam I don't know…" Mercedes looked down, biting her lower lip to keep herself from telling him what she really was thinking, that he was full of it. She needed to stay cool, and let it all play out.

"I don't want to fight it anymore. We've had something between us since I met you in the hospital and you're right I have been pushing it aside, but no more. I can't ignore what I'm feeling." Sam shut his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers, hugging her close.

Mercedes frowned as she watched Sam turn on his emotional side. If she didn't know him so well she might have actually fallen for it, but she'd gotten pretty good at reading Sam Evans over the years, and she could tell this was nothing but crap.

"I can't ignore how I'm feeling either and I'm feeling a little sick from all this bull –"

"Twenty-six," he said abruptly.

"What?"

"Twenty-six times I traced the outline of your lips. I kept count while you were asleep that night we spent together in the hospital."

A chill ran down her spine. Was he remembering that was something he used to do?

"You counted them? Why would you do that?"

"I couldn't take my eyes off you. I was just in awe that I could wake up and find someone so special in my life."

"So you traced my lips?" Mercedes asked again, pulling back to look at him. There was no hint of recognition on his face. It had been a coincidence. He hadn't truly remembered that he used to trace her lips with his fingers.

Sam grabbed her hand and rushed through the nearest door, dragging her behind him. "I'm tired of talking, let's check out the bed."

"Sam wait, this is not…" He stopped suddenly, and Mercedes had to brace herself against his back to keep from falling.

"This is Beth's room," he said dropping her hand.