Both my parents were gone for the weekend, and I was home alone. Sam was on his way over just like every weekend my parents weren't home. He would be arriving in less than 10 minutes, but instead of the usual greeting, immediate oral cavity interaction followed by going to my bedroom, I was sitting on the couch in my sweats and t-shirt waiting to get things straightened out about what was really going on with him and Quinn. More importantly, I wanted some answers about what, or rather, who, I was to him.

When he walked in, his face was skewed; he didn't get what he was expecting. It's understandable; who wouldn't miss being welcomed by my sensuous lips. I would. Of course this signaled something was wrong, but he ignored it and joined me on the couch leading with his fat lips.

"Stop. That's not why you're here." I had to push his soft lips away from my face, which in that moment required all of the strength I had not to pull them back to me.

"Huh?" I nearly burst into laughter at the way his face scrunched up. He is so cute, but I meant business, I couldn't allow him to intoxicate my mind with his charm.

"No, we're not doing anything today." His confusion quickly turned to disappointment at the knowledge of knowing I was not giving him what he wanted. I was fine with disappointment. I could work with disappointment.

"Aww, come on. Why not?"

"Let's see…is it because you have been dating Quinn for the past two weeks…or…is it that you didn't tell me you were dating said skank…oh wait, here's a better one, is it because you are not with me at the same time that you're with Quinn…or…is it all of the above Sammy?" I grew more livid as I listed off all of the things he had done wrong, while he stood from the couch looking more confused than when I told him I would never watch Avatar with him. Ever.

"I-I'm not really dating Quinn."

"So that's what you come up with. Seriously Sam? I shouldn't even be wasting my time with this. Just go." I had given up. He was clearly lying, something he doesn't readily do, and that was it for me. I wanted it to be it for me.

"No, Mercedes, I promise you, I am not lying. I'm not going with Quinn for real. It's fake, you know, like what you had with Puck. That's all I swear." Sam has the most genuine eyes; I like to think that I can tell if he's lying by his eyes.

I had to think on this for a minute. Who knew more about being in a fake relationship than me? I had a fabricated relationship in my head with Kurt for a while, and then there was the pseudo-public relationship I had with Puck that only benefited him from appearance in the end. I really wish I was aware of that back then because that was really stupid of me to be in a relationship where I wasn't getting my fair share in the relationship. But I digress. Could I believe what Sam was telling me? I wouldn't have to stretch my imagination that far to accept it. The lingering question looming in my mind was would Quinn actually do something like that.

"Sam I don't know if I believe you. Why didn't you tell me?" I needed him to reassure me, to make me believe what I didn't.

"Well… I just- I guess I didn't think I needed to. Before you go all crazy, let me explain. It isn't real. Quinn is dating me for the popularity. I'm the quarterback now, and she's a cheerio. It just makes sense."

"Okay so it makes sense that still doesn't explain anything. It's not real; but you are with her more than you are with me." The hurt I felt was finding its way to the surface, and try as I may, I couldn't keep it from overriding my anger.

"Only in public. It is just for looks. We don't talk or kiss or anything else. We just hold hands and hug. That's all I promise, Mercedes, and we just do that stuff for looks only." Looking at him the doubt that I desperately wanted to evade easily slipped away. I wanted to believe him so I did. It also didn't hurt that I knew Quinn wasn't putting out. So what we had wasn't in any real jeopardy as far as that was concerned.

"Okay I believe you. I don't like it. But I understand."

The problem was that we weren't anything. Not anything that was at risk of being abolished. I had no idea what I was to Sam, and I wasn't sure if he knew what I was to him. We weren't what we were by definition so where did that leave me.

"Uh, Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"I know we haven't really talked about it, well listen to that, correction, we haven't talked much at all since we became what we are now." I was kind of talking more to myself than him as the realization slapped me in my face. "Anyways, what I was saying is, we haven't talked about us …what we are."

"I can't say what we are. I mean it's only been like three weeks since we kind of made up, and I care about you a lot, but I'm just not over what you said to me. It hurt a lot. I just know that I don't want to be without you. That's the best I can do for now; I just hope that you can wait on me to come around." I couldn't believe what he had just said. How could he not be sure of what we were? It's not like we were taking things slow, yeah, we weren't talking like we used to, but we were doing everything else.

"Wait for you to come around?"

"Yeah, Mercedes, you gotta know that I love you. It's just that I get so angry sometimes thinking about what you said to me."

"I think I know you love me."

"I do. I really do, Bambs. I just need time." He wanted time. Did I need to give him time? Definitely not, but I love him so much that I couldn't deny him his time. Time for what; how was I supposed to know. It wasn't like we were a normal couple that did stuff together before, so, I assumed time was needed for him to get back to our normal. I didn't have a problem with our normal before; why would I now.

"I love you too."

He gave me the biggest smile I had ever seen. It pulled me toward him, and I followed willingly. However, nothing prepared me for what was going to happen next.

AN: Bambs is short for bambi because mercedes has bambi-like eyes

nakala