A/N: Only one part left!

The Cabin: 3

Mercedes took a deep breath and looked at the ring again before closing the box and placing it on the bed. Sam was looking at her intently and she just cleared her throat.

"Excuse me." She said softly fighting back tears as she quickly got out of the bed and ran into the bathroom.

"Merc-" Sam started but she slammed the door too quickly. "Fuck!"

Mercedes turned on the faucet and let out a heavy breath, she couldn't breathe and the more she thought about it, the more her heart crumbled.

The tears started streaming before she could shake them away and her only thought was to start singing. "Th-this old hh-eart of m-mine been bro..broke a th-thousand times…"

Sam leaned against the door, listening to her. "Merce, we need to talk."

Looking at herself in the mirror she frowned as she continued singing. She needed to calm herself down, she didn't have the right to be upset if he'd moved on but a piece of her wished he would have wanted a future with her like she wanted with him.

"Mercedes, just give a few minutes to explain okay?" Sam said. He hated that this was the way he got to hear her singing again, he wasn't too prideful to admit that her voice still made him weak in the knees.

Mercedes moved to the door, but couldn't unlock it, she couldn't open the door, there was no way she could face him for what she had to say.

"Sam…I know that you have moved on, I just didn't know it was to this point." She wiped her eyes. "Finding that ring was the wake up call that I needed."

"Don't shut down Mercedes… it's not what you think. A lot happened that we never talked about, there's a lot of things that just kept happening."

"Sam, I don't need an explanation…what you do with your life is up to you. I'm… I'm clearly no longer a part of it therefore have no say in that." She said, feeling her heart breaking again.

Sam sighed. "You do have a say… we need to talk Mercedes."

Mercedes stayed quiet for a moment, not wanting to break, she couldn't. Taking her final breath she opened the door and pushed past him knowing he was going to be in her path. "Sam, we don't need to talk. We don't ever have to talk again."

Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. "We need to talk, I'm not asking." He said looking down at her intensely.

She looked away from him knowing she would cave if she looked into his eyes. Sam had a power over her, over her body that no man ever had, and he knew it. "Sam…I can't…a man carries a ring with him for only one reason…"

"A man carries a ring with him when his heart is broken, a man carries a ring with him because he wanted to propose but his girlfriend never showed up… a man carries a ring because he doesn't have the heart to take it back because somewhere deep down he wants time to reverse so he can still ask the woman he loves to marry him."

Mercedes froze, before finally staring up at Sam. "You-that's why she isn't here? I was wondering if she was running late or coming later but you actually are going to propose to that wh-that…I can't." She pulled away from him. "I have to get out of here rain be damned."

Sam shook his head. "No, she's here… she's always been here." He replied looking at her longingly. "She doesn't even know it either."

Mercedes was running their entire conversation through her mind. It made her realize just how much she loved him still. More than she thought. She thought they would get married, have kids. She walked to the patio needing to get away from the crushing weight of their relationship.

She couldn't even tell their friends that her ex dumped her because she refused to sleep with him after calling him Sam on more than one occasion. He said he couldn't compare to the ghost of her past and if she was being honest she only dated him because he, like all of her exes, were there just to ease the pain of missing Sam. No matter how many years they were apart, he was still a part of her.

Taking a breath as the rain hit her, it still didn't take the sting off of Sam being in love. Why was it so hard for her to move on, but Sam was okay? It wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

"You still think I would choose someone who isn't you to have my last name?" He asked, standing beside her looking forward.

Mercedes hadn't even noticed he had come out there, she turned to him, wondering if he was just trying to make her feel better, but she was too scared to look him in the eyes to find out.

"Did you even look at the ring?" He asked placing it on the railing, sliding it over to her.

She looked down to the ring box for a few beats before reaching over and opening it. "Sam…" She said softly. "It is really beautiful…very…" Her voice broke as words failed her.

Sam turned to her. "Look at it again, really look at the details." He said.

She hesitated before taking the ring out of the box a familiar feeling coming over her. She knew this ring, 2 carat, princess cut, platinum ring. Turning it over she noticed the inscription. "To Honey bee, the love of my life…" She put it back into the box and closed it shaking her head handing it back to him, as more tears fell.

"Now you know why I was so angry when you never showed up and I went to explain but you just seemed so over it. I have my faults in this too and I know I said some things that were horrible, there isn't any excuse for it. I was just… broken. I knew I had to let you leave or it would become unrepairable… that it is unrepairable."

"Unrepairable? You wanna talk about unrepairable things? Sam you called me broken! You told me I wasn't good enough…those are some harsh words for me missing one party! And you were the one who said it wasn't a big deal if I made it! My job…it was a lot but Sam it wasn't me choosing it over you! It was me just trying to make our future better!"

Sam looked at her and nodded. "Your job wasn't why you weren't there. I left the party and you were having drinks, that's why I called you broken because even if it hadn't been a big deal, a phone call would have worked… our future was fine. Our future was going to be bright because it was going to have the both of us in it. You chose your job every single time and you can stand here saying otherwise but I was there. I saw you pick work over going out, hanging out with family and you think I wanted you to give up something you loved when all I wanted was for you to see that I was still there… that I was still an option." He said, clearing his throat when his voice began to break.

"What you saw was me turning down a promotion because I chose you! But you didn't bother to ask, or even see what we were talking about, what I was doing! Sam I am not going to feel bad for doing my job! I am not going to feel bad you thinking you know everything!" She turned away from him and walked back into the cabin.

"STOP WALKING AWAY FROM ME!" He shouted. "You always walk away from me, you never… you don't fight. I don't want you to feel bad about anything but you ignored half of the things I just said! I was starving in our relationship and you thought I wanted you to compromise or change but I just wanted you to include me. I didn't even know you were up for a promotion!"

Mercedes turned to face him. "You wanna talk? Fine! You were starving in this relationship? That's why you spent most of your time with the guys? Did I stop you? Did I judge you? No! I encouraged it because I just wanted you to be happy! God Sam I have been in love with you since I was sixteen years old! You were my first everything and it seems like you don't even get how hard any of this was for me! My example for love was a father who left me when I was ten and a mother so starved for attention she slept with anything that walked!"

"I'M NOT HIM MERCEDES!" Sam shouted. "You compared my love for you to a man that hurt you over and over again. I never walked away from you, I never would have left you and if things aren't clear I wasn't the one that did walk away! Did I let you leave? Yes but I never left. I never moved on. I kept that ring and I held onto it because whether I wanted to admit it or not, there is no one else I want. Can you say the same? Can you say you didn't move on without me?"

"I KNOW YOU AREN'T MY DAD! I AM!" She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Sam I worked so hard trying my best to not be my mom and my dad and then I realized that I was them. They were together when they were in high school and then we just…He's my dad, his DNA runs through me Sam, I couldn't leave you but I would…I would end up hurting the only man who ever…" She shook her head. "I can't do this… I can't!" She turned away from him.

"Coward." He said angrily.

"What did you just call me?" She asked, turning towards him.

"A coward. You're blaming everyone and everything except yourself. I've stood here and taken accountability just like I did last time, you want to walk away then do it but I won't wait this time. I won't be here ever again, I won't beg you to tell me you love me." He replied, taking a step closer to her.

"I do love you! God Sam you talk about me not listening to you! And you wanna talk about the last time we did this? I left to get some air! Because you hurt me! You said things that… I just needed a minute Sam, but I wouldn't have left had I known that would have been the end of us! I was wrong, I know that and I regret losing you everyday… and I would have said yes, but it would have killed me if I hurt you more." She confessed.

Sam shook his head. "No you wouldn't have said yes." He said softly, feeling tears burning. "We both know deep down you wanted more than I could give you and I wanted what you weren't ready for… I bought a house in the country. You would've settled."

"Sam…" She sighed heavily, moving closer to him. She took his hand in hers. "Is that what you really think? That I would have settled for you?"

Sam looked at her. "Mercedes, look at the life you lead and look at mine. You are in corporate business and I'm a small business owner, I work from home… I travel when I want, I have a dog… I have nothing to offer you, never did."

"Sam I-" She stopped unsure how to voice exactly what she was feeling. She shook her head stepping away from Sam, but Sam pulled her back to him.

"Stop running!"

Will she stop running?