TMW CHAPTER 26

Kurt's pov

I told her. I told Mercedes to leave Sam alone. Entirely. But no, my little chocolate diva had to step her stubborn feet into the muddy waters that be Sam.

She wasn't ready for the extra drama that came Sam. I'm sure deep down she knew things were not going to end well with that date dressed up as a friendly outing. But she had to do it. She wouldn't be my 'Cedes if she didn't.

That's why when she called me crying and mumbling incoherently, I couldn't refrain from departing with those four words that I know were the last thing she wanted to hear. Yes, I told her so. Because I had told her so. She needed to hear it.

Sam destroyed Mercedes after he took her away from me. What made her think that this date was going to be anything different from that charade she likes to call a relationship that Sam tricked her into? When she settled her moaning over boy wonder-less, I let her know that she asked for it. I told her Sam was going to try some funny business, but she had to give it try anyway. I had to get that out of the way before I could be the shoulder she needed. Sometimes tough love is the best love.

But boy did the kiss with the devil do a number on my poor girl. It's her story to tell, but I can tell my side of it.

I think that I have failed Mercedes, in a way, because now she's hesitant to listen to my sound advice. I'm not saying that my opinion is the end all be all, but I make some pretty valid points more often than not. I remember a time when what I thought meant something, but now it's almost like all she hears when I open my mouth is judgment. I'm only to blame for this. That tater tot speech affected us more than either of us are willing to admit. It's easy just to pretend that things are back to normal, but damage has been done that I fear is irreparable. Some of that damage due to her losing herself in Sam. Because of him, we lost us. I don't place sole responsibility on Sam, sure 'Cedes and I both hold our own fault, but the brunt falls onto Sam's shoulders. He drew her away from her friends through the secrecy. He made her feel like they were more than bed buddies when he wasn't really ready for the type of love that Mercedes had to offer. It was that love mixed with her insecurities that allowed her to accept being hidden in a Janitor's closet for Sam's convenience.

I wish with all my Streisand loving heart that she would have confided in me about this secret tryst. Maybe then, she wouldn't have been stranded on a deserted island being visited by Sam when he wasn't spending time with his other real girlfriends. Instead, she did and permitted someone as unworthy as Sam into her heart alienating her and leaving her to deal with all kinds of garbage on her own.

She has us now. Me and Puck. She listens to him, sad to say, more than she listens to me. Though, the stupid lug doesn't realize it. I'm sure she would have reconsidered that crazy date-thing had he told her not to go, instead of shutting her out. He's the reason me and Mercedes started speaking again in the first place, but Puck is so dense he probably has no idea how much he…well that's his story to tell. If he even knows himself, but I see those eyes.

But because he couldn't get over his own issues and be a good friend, our friend went on a date that may have set her back a little. After her initial outburst, she calmed down, but once I said the dreaded 'I told you so,' she started up again and cried for literally two hours. When she settled again, she sounded so defeated, so crushed that I had to rush over to her home. The phone thing wasn't working. When I got there, she cried some more, but I was there holding her, which I think helped her get herself together. She wasn't alone. She had me.

When she could talk coherently, I finally understood her distress.

As she spoke, I gathered that she seemed more upset with herself than anything involving Sam. A plus I guess. She wasn't dehydrating herself because she was scared of falling back into Sam's arms. It was a much different issue, and for that, I am so grateful because for so long she was constantly fighting the battle of keeping away from Sam. Every other day she was calling in near tears about how much she missed him and wanted the boy back in her life. That faded after he showed up on her porch and I'm glad I don't have to sit through that anymore. It was infuriating to hear a girl with as much chutzpah as Mercedes so broken up over some philandering hole.

Fortunately, for Puck and me, we don't have to worry about that or putting her back together this time. She's not broken. No she's okay, and she'll be just fine, once she stops being so hard on herself. She made a mistake, this time it didn't involve nudity, and it doesn't make her stupid or weak.

It makes her human.