Don't You (Forget About Me)

To live is the rarest thing in the world, because most people just exist, and that is all.

Relationships can be hard, messy, easy, fun, demanding, maddening and even sex focused if you're lucky enough, as the school reporter I saw it all, the good, the bad and the absolute toxic. Sometimes the match ups baffled me, I found it hard to imagine, let alone see, but love happens for all sorts of people from all walks of life I've learned. I once read that during our lifetime, we fall in love for some reason with whoever takes our fancy, actual or fictional, and it's only blissful for us if the other person isn't aware of it, or in total contrast they fancy us back.

I've seen that within relationships where lust fuels them, and love complicates things, I've witnessed individuals become possessive, jealous, controlling, abusive and even violent. These behaviours don't even have to be in the person's DNA, it's that feeling called love that turns individuals into people they or the person the supposed to love, into the worst version of themselves.

I've witnessed some couples, no matter how hard things got, trying to hold on for dear life, their hearts won't allow them to even consider the possibility that the person they've taken the time to fall in love with, might not be the right fit for them, one sided love is a confusing thing, if you've acted on it. But the one that intrigued me so much it led me to really get into focusing my time on relationships, was the one I witnessed between Sam Evans and Mercedes Jones

It was nearly two years ago I was sat in the sports hall along with the other geeks, talking about what we were all doing for summer break. Sam and Mercy had just got together, so while all the other couples were talking holidays, and getting ready for college, which most of them were doing as couples, I really didn't get a grip on what they were talking about, or what their plans were. The fact that they were all aware that whatever they said in my presence was going to find its way into the school paper, probably worked against me, but I was persistent if nothing else.

The one thing I noticed about the Samcedes relationship as I'd grown to call it, was that it was genuine from the start, she'd never been one to mess about when it came to feelings and although he'd shown himself in a bad light in the past, it seemed once he'd found the real thing, he got serious real fast. Within the group they soon became relationship goals, maturity, commitment, honesty and even communication was the cornerstone of their relationship, of course it helped that they both followed the same faith too.

There's this quote I read in some book once, when I had a crush on someone, it was written by some person who's name I don't even remember, I just remember they wrote some meaningful stuff about relationships. They said something like knowing the difference between necessity of suffering allows us to keep what is meaningful and throw away unnecessary hurt or something like that, I know it felt profound when I read it, because it stuck with me. That crush taught me about asking permission, you can't love someone and not let them know, otherwise you won't know how to control those feelings, anyway I digress.

Back to the sports hall, everyone was contemplating having a sing off, that was just what we did when we had time to just be, when suddenly raised voices made everyone jump to attention. It wasn't that there were raised voices per say, it was more because it was Samcedes exchanging those verbal negative vibes with each other. It all happened so fast, it was seconds after the shouting that Sam got up and walked off, leaving Mercy crying, some of the crew went to her mostly to find out what was going on, but she didn't give a thing away. I went into investigator mode when Blaine and some of the usual cheerleaders got up to follow Sam, there was surely going to be some snippet for the paper on this one, I headed to the piano room, that was always were conversations that meant anything took place.

I rushed to catch up with Quinn and Blaine "I can't believe what I've just witnessed" Quinn whispered to Blaine as they walked fast through the corridors to find Sam

"If a relationship like theirs can break up, what hope is there for ours" I heard Blaine reply shaking his head in disbelief

"What do you think...?" I tried to get some dirt of the situation, I don't think anyone had taken in what had been said, it was just the shock

"Get lost gossip monger" Blaine hissed at me "And if this ends up in that school bull shit you print every month there will be hell to pay"

"I don't control the news; I just print it" I held my hand up at him refusing to stop following them, I was rushing just as much as them but when we got to the piano room I kept my distance, I needed to hear not be seen. I got my trusted notepad out and waited for something, anything, that might shed some light on what breaks the best of relationships, I'd already got my headline on the way there 'Is it really worth it' that should attract attention I smiled.

"Dude" Blaine walked up to Sam; he was sat at the piano motionless "What happened?"

"We're done" he looked up at Blaine and Quinn walking towards him, he looked broken

"Why?" Blaine sat next to him asking

"I got into NYADA"

"That's good isn't it, it's what you wanted?"

"I was stupid" he snapped hitting his thighs "Freaking stupid"

"What happened?" Quinn asked

"She got signed on some label she's going to LA"

"Well, that's what she wanted too isn't it?" Quinn smiled

"Yeah" he stood up sharply "We got what we wanted" he climbed over the bench and walked away from them

"I don't understand" Blaine looked at Quinn

"Sam" Quinn shouted after him, not willing to let things go like that. Neither was I actually, all I'd got out of that was that they'd both got what we knew they were always going to get after school, I really couldn't see the big deal, there was no story. "Hold up" she shouted perking my ears "It doesn't make sense, what happened, why were you two shouting at each other?"

"We split up" he snapped

"Shit" I stepped closer, my headline was right 'Is it really worth it' if it was happening to them it could happen to anybody

"You two are solid, I don't get it" Quinn looked at him puzzled, as Blaine walked towards them

"I can't breathe, I need to get out of here" Sam looked around the room and made for the exit, they didn't stop him, even I wasn't going to be that insensitive right now, I could see the guy wanted to cry. I made my way back to the sports hall maybe they were getting more out of Mercy, I couldn't leave any stone unturned.

"She wants to be alone" Tina walked up to me whispered "And you better get gone, she's in a foul mood" of course that was like a red rag to a bull, I didn't stay in eye shot but I stayed, and low and behold Sam turned up again, he sat next to her so it seemed like they were ready to talk about whatever it was, I crept closer and lay between the stalls with my microphone on the chair two rows behind them

"I know you said it made sense, but it doesn't to me, why can't we just follow your dreams?" he asked

"Because you have dreams too Sam"

"We can deal with those once you've done yours"

"You mean after you resent me for not allowing you to pursue your dreams, I can't do that, I don't want you to put everything on hold" she grabbed his hand, I saw that much

"And I don't want us to split up, so I guess we have a dilemma" he huffed dragging his hand away from her "Because I'm not losing you"

"Sam" she moaned "You're not believing in..."

"I'm being this difficult because of our love Mercy" he looked at her "I just wished you'd fight as hard as I am for us"

"I..." she looked at him hard "Sam" she huffed calming herself down "Babe" she grabbed his chin to get his attention "There will never be anyone in this world that I'd love the way I love you, I believe in our love, it's two years, we can do this"

"Everyone else is..."

"Everyone else applied while they were together, we couldn't have known we were going to happen back then"

"This situation sucks"

"I know" she leaned in and kissed him

"I'm not giving up yet, I've got two maybe three more ways to change your mind"

"Sam" he smiled at the frustration in her voice

"I'm flipping some No Guidance on you" he stood up

"What?"

"They sing" he laughed

"Never heard of them, you've been holding out on me" she squinted her eyes at him

"I always need a backup plan" he grinned "Listen to this"

I don't know which rock I'd been under, but I'd never seen such a tame break up, I just know that wasn't the end for them, they were about to get intimate I could tell, and I really didn't feel like laying there to watch, but then he broke into song. We were in the glee club, so I shouldn't have been surprised, I'd heard everyone sing all the time, but this type of thing was reserved for one of the other couples

Tell me nobody can't take my place, tell me that it's mine put it in my face
Tell me if I cheat that you're still going to stay, and you'll never go away
Tell me when I leave you'll be feeling lonely, telling all the boys, I'm your one and only
Tell them I'm on the only one that make you horny, that's why you're such a freak for me 'Lie To Me' by No Guidance

"Reality for me isn't any fun"

"Me neither" she smiled pulling him close "And it won't be cheating, because we're splitting up"

"If you're allowing your body to do something you know is wrong, because of the way your heart feels about someone else, it's cheating"

"Sam" she moaned again "I told you, I'll understand, and I will"

"I don't need you to understand Mercy, I need you to not break up with me"

"Babe you're not listening to me" she rested her hand on his arm "I know that you hear me better when I sing too" she smiled

"Don't" he sat next to her "If you do that you're going to win"

"I mean to win" she grabbed his hand and started singing

Can I take you hand, in your eyes I see a future, big, bright and beautiful, it's written in your soul,

You have everything you need in sprit and demand to guide you on this journey till the end

Beautiful, beautiful boy have you not seen the world, there is more out there than we have to prepare

Oh, beautiful boy, beautiful, beautiful boy. 'Beautiful Boy' by Kaea Hills

"Okay stop" he held his hand up

"What?"

"You're saying goodbye" he snapped

"That is the point babe"

"And I'm actually a man, don't say you haven't noticed" he laughed "Just, while you're off being whoever the hell it is you're destined to be, don't you forget about me"

"And don't you forget about me" she warned

"I won't, and I won't allow you to forget me" he grabbed her hand

"Tell you what, make us a song, I'll have it on repeat, so you know I won't forget you"

"You're still talking like this is the end"

"It might be" she frowned at him "Sam, we're going on our own adventures, who knows what's out there for us, we might just be completely different people by the end of this, I can't promise anything, and I don't want you to promise either"

"You keep telling me what you want, what about what I want?"

"Babe, right now I want you, I know what you want, but clearly this isn't our time"

"You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

"No"

"Okay" he stood up "This isn't the end of us, and when you're ready I want to know about it" he snapped walking away, of course she was crying, and I could tell in his voice he was just plain angry.

I lay there for a while considering what to do with the information, how I was going to write it up suddenly the heading I'd planned didn't quite fit the situation I needed something like 'Sacrifices we have to make' something that told people about true love and how hard, messy, easy, fun, demanding, maddening it really was.

There was only a week or so left of school and I'm not sure about what happened behind closed doors, but when we were together Sam and Mercy seemed distant, always watching each other but there was no communication, nothing meaningful anyway. Summer was different to our previous ones, people were heading off all through it some settling in before studies, we seemed to be meeting at the station every week, the week before term started, everyone had gone their separate ways and social media had become our main source of communication.

At first the socials were on fire everyone had something to say about their new homes, people they'd met, things they'd done, or just how daunting everything seemed, but it slowed with time. By the middle of year two there were just birthday wishes and holiday cheers, it seemed the crew had spread to the four corners of America, and maybe grown up.

True enough we were all geeks in one way or another and if we weren't we were labelled by association, but every one of us reached our full potential at college, some got work before they left college, some insisted on finishing before taking up offers and one, maybe two were still hopefully waiting. I was a junior in the local news firm, not really something I'd had to really work for, my dad was the chief whip of the printing department, so I just slotted in and got thrown a story or two, learning the ropes until he decided to retire, and that was heaven for me.

"Is this one of your crew?" dad shouted across the shop floor "This is young Sam, isn't it?" he pointed at the TV

"Gosh yeah" I laughed because if seemed the guy had finally got a break, he'd been on the circuit since he'd been at college, he got signed for an album which he'd sent out just after he'd left college and then there'd been silence, until today "What's he saying?"

"Something about a song, he's waiting for someone to agree to sing it with him, this guy's guessing who"

"Oh, I know who" I smiled "I think I've got my next story" I tapped my head trying to find the right headline

"So, you're not giving us the gender of this person, the title of the song, or the release date, which you add may not happen if this person refuses to sing it with you" the guy asked him, I stood watching Sam shake his head confirming the comments knowing exactly who he was waiting for, after all he did say he wasn't going to allow her to forget about him

As I stood listening to the chatter knowing Sam wasn't about to give anything away, I thought about that quote, the one about us humans knowing the difference between necessity of suffering that allowed us to keep what's meaningful and throw away unnecessary hurt, he'd done the necessary suffering having been away from Mercy for just over two years, and now he was saying to hell with the unnecessary hurt, he wanted his girl back good on him. I wanted to go ahead and write the end of a true love story, I didn't know what was going to top this in my career, but it would have to be something big, the best I got from the small town was some idol gossip about poaching or a bar brawl. Alternatives were advertising either about the latest book for the book club, Piano lessons from Mr James, or Mrs Morgan's knitting classes, I was getting paid, but it wasn't keeping me interested, this stuff I had to think about was.

It was nearly a month before I got anything else, Sam wasn't answering calls, I think he'd changed his number, if he was still anything like he used to be, and he'd have left his phone at some fast-food place or dropped it in the shower, he was crazy like that. Mercy's phone was, like nearly everyone else's, constantly on message which they never responded to, how did they expect me to get the story right. Then there was a marriage announcement and the lines got busy again Mike and Tina had decided to tie the knot, with my coverage it soon became the biggest event in the town, no one had officially been invited, but everyone had something ready.

It wasn't going to be for a few years but the opportunity to meet up again forced them to organise an engagement party, so exactly two years and six months after they'd all left, there were plans to return, it was exciting. For me my friends were coming back, for the school the students that had made them proud were returning to the fold, and for the younger kids, these people were icons, everywhere was buzzing.

The day quickly came when nearly everyone returned, the place was buzzing I had eyes and ears everywhere, I was hearing about temporary break ups, unwanted pregnancies, infidelities, it was all coming out as we sat catching up, then Sam appeared, and the room went quiet

"Hey" Blaine and Quinn got up at the same time

"Hey" he smiled

"Great to see you" Quinn tapped his stomach smiling

"Great to see you guys too" he looked beyond her at the others

"She's not coming" Quinn whispered to him

"You spoke to her?" he asked

"Tina said she didn't respond to the invite"

"Okay" he smiled walking towards the others, congratulating Mike and Tina first, I watched him speaking to everyone in turn until he got back to Quinn

"So" I stepped in before anyone had a chance to strike up a conversation that wasn't focused on what I wanted to hear "What's with this song, we all know it's for Mercy"

"I sent it, I text her saying today's the day, it's up to her"

"What are you going to do if she doesn't turn up?" I asked trying to get some juice for my story

"Send another message I guess, I'm not about to let her forget about me"

"Good luck with that" Mike grabbed Sam's hand and shook it "Now can we get back to the Tike of it all"

"Please" Sam laughed

They sat talking about the proposal, their lives and what was next for a while before Mike moved things on "We thought we'd go back to our roots, you know we've got to sing and dance, I thought we'd go to the sports pitch, I've cleared it"

"Old stomping ground" Sam frowned "Memories" he looked at Mike

"You'll be fine, you need to start making new memorise dude" Mike laughed at Blaine jumping on Sam's back

"Haven't done that in years" Blaine laughed jumping down

"Sam, you can come with us" Quinn smiled grabbing hold of Joe's arm

"It's fine, my ride's outside, I'm good"

"Come on" she insisted

"Okay" he rolled his eyes "But I'll need to drop my car off at home"

"It's on the way" she dragged him by his jacket

Quinn had been the girl next-door ever since he could remember, there was a time she'd been overbearing, almost obsessive about their relationship, which was purely plutonic. He'd drawn a line for her when she thought she had some right to give input about his feelings and relationship with Mercy, and he could tell she didn't like it, but he didn't care. Eventually she got with Joe, he was a cool guy, very laid back which complemented her personality and they seemed to understand each other enough to have a long-standing relationship.

They dropped his car off and made their way to school, to do as Mike and Tina requested. When they got there everyone was already sitting around, he assumed they were thinking up songs "What are we doing then?" he asked clapping his hand trying to lift the mood

"We thought some Abba" Blaine laughed, knowing how much Sam would protest

"How about this?" Tina raised her hand and smiled as the music started

"Where did you get this?" Sam asked listening to the familiar tune

"We have our ways" Mike smiled handing him the microphone "It's your song, you should sing it"

"It's not my song" Sam told him trying to hand him back the microphone "I wrote if for her"

"Come on" Blaine encouraged him

"I still want to know how you got the song" he warned

"Sing it and I'll tell you" Mike told him

"Okay" he looked at the guy playing the guitar and nodded for him to let him start

Sam: Raising, feelings I'm through hiding, overwhelmed but I'm trying to find the words

Describing how you came in perfect timing, kind of love that's so worth fighting for

Our souls keep aligning so blessed to be finally yours,

"What?" he gasped his head turning to see Mercy walking towards him singing

Mercy: You left a trace I'm finding my way, hold my heart in exchange for the day

Feels like you're floating, I Savor every moment, and it feels like there's air left to breathe

All he could do was send a smiled back to her and carry on singing, because she'd finally answered him, and he wasn't letting her go again, they both knew that

Chorus X 2

Both: You're my treasure to love you is my pleasure the kind that you can't measure, lets fall into forever

Baby you're my treasure, diamonds on my necklace, but you're still way more precious

Yeah, you changed me for the better

Mercy: Falling, no clue when it started, but the heart knew what it wanted, your name's my favourite calling

Our souls intertwine, I'm yours your mine, till the end of time, oh

Sam: You left a trace I'm finding my way, hold my heart in exchange for the day, feels like we're floating

I savour every moment not it feels like there's air left to breathe

Chorus

He couldn't wait any longer he pulled her to him and kissed her "It's been thirty whole months" he pulled away to tell her while the others sung the last chorus

All: You're my treasure to love you is my pleasure the kind that you can't measure, lets fall into forever

Baby you're my treasure, diamonds on my necklace, but you're still way more precious

Yeah, Sam & Mercy: you changed me for the better 'Treasure' by CLEW & PAME

The music finally stopped; he looked around puzzled by the silence "Sam" Mercy's voice brought him to attention "I've learned something" she smiled "Yes I know I think I already know everything" she laughed "But there was this one thing I didn't know"

"Just one?" he asked laughing "You don't have to say this"

"I think I do" she smiled up at him "You told me once if I don't trust anyone in life, I need to trust that the things I leave behind I do so to make room for the unexpected" she grabbed his hand "I stand here in faith, courage, hope and of course love" she giggled nervously "Knowing that the path we took to end up here, right now in this place, was exactly where we supposed to be"

"What are you saying?" he looked into her eyes

"I'm saying I don't know how straight our path will be, but I don't want to carry on just existing, I want to live, and I want us to do that together, because I'm ready to make us whatever it is we're meant to be" she looked at Tina walking towards her "So" she smiled before grabbing the box from Tina and kneeling in front of him "Sam Evans, Mercy Jones is finally ready, and is asking you, the love of my life, will you marry me"

"Yes" he gasped hugging her, then watching her take the ring out the box "Where did you get that from?" he looked at the familiar ring "My mom" he rolled his eyes, he'd brought that before college and his parents had talked him out of it, telling him to give it time, he took it out the box and put it on her finger "You didn't forget about me?"

"Never" she looked at the ring on her finger before kissing him, again, we were all elated, and right there and then I had my headline 'Don't you forget about me'

"Jacob" Sam called me "I actually give you permission to write this headliner"