We Need A Little Christmas

When we strive to become better, everything around us becomes better too

Sam had finally took the plunge, he'd been with Mercy all through college, and although she'd never asked and he'd never mentioned it, they both knew there was something wrong with the fact that he'd been all up in her family since month two and she hadn't even met his. They'd left college now and Mercy was about to take on her Junior Assistant role at the local law firm while he was about to start his internship at the local broadcasting network. The next step for them was finding a place together once they'd saved enough, and he'd decided they were getting serious, now they'd started talking about the future, so he set the meet up.

Today was the lunch and he couldn't lie he was nervous as hell, not for Mercy meeting them, she was cool, it was the impression his dad was going to give off as if they were above the rest of the world, plus she was going to get a glimpse into where all this pressure to be better he put on himself was coming from.

His parents loved him no doubt, as an only child he didn't have room to doubt it, he'd been spoilt in the best and worst ways, with his dad being a very successful warehouse distribution manager, heading up the whole south side of the supply chain they were comfortable. That in itself came at a price as not only did they earn the money, but they also had to be seen to be living the lifestyle that afforded, so his mother never worked, even though it was something she'd always wanted to do, and he went to a private middle school until he rebelled.

Sam & Mercy

"How do I look?" Mercy let go of his hand and tugged at her skirt "Do you think it's too short?"

"You're fine, you're beautiful"

"I think you have bias" she giggled grabbing his hand again

"My dad's a dick take no notice" he mumbled as they walked through the restaurant "Mom, Dad" he stopped abruptly at a table "This is Mercy" he turned to smile at her "Mercy my parents Ann and Mark"

"Pleased to meet you Mr and Mrs Evans"

"We go by that as well" his dad laughed holding his hand out for shaking "But as Sam's brought us all the way here to meet you I think we can jump straight to Ann and Mark" Mercy said nothing she just smiled

"Pleased to meet you Mercy" Ann smiled offering a nod rather than a handshake, she was still hanging onto her son as if he were her prize possession "Sit down please" she half smiled pulling Sam to sit next to her "So" she settled into her chair "How long have you two been together?"

"Mom" Sam hissed pulling Mercy to sit in the chair next to him

"It's a simple enough question son" Ann looked at him smiling

"Just over two years" Mercy replied looking at Sam puzzled

"Funny, he's never mentioned you" Ann smirked

"He's never really mentioned you either" Mercy politely replied

"Fair comment" Ann smiled, obviously warming "So what did you study at college?"

"Law"

"And what's next?"

"Sweetheart, give the girl a chance to breathe" Mark Gently touched his wife's hand

"It's fine" Mercy smiled "I've got an internship at Johnson's as a Junior Assistant"

"Well done you" Ann smiled "And of course you know our Sam will be joining the LA News team as a trainee broadcaster" she grinned "We pulled some strings"

"What?" Sam asked concerned "What strings?"

"That doesn't matter" Mark smiled at him "When you get there just ask for Hiram Berry, he'll sort you out"

"Great" Sam slammed back in his chair

"Babe" Mercy rubbed his arm, she really didn't care how inappropriate it seemed to them, it was clear to her he'd been hurt by that information, and so was she actually, they'd both put some hours into getting their grades good enough to get those jobs, and to find out it was all a waste of time felt like shit.

"He's alright" Ann twisted her nose at the contact "Let's order, I'm starving"

"I'm fine" Sam grabbed her hand and smiled at her "Lets eat" he watched his dad waving for the waiters attention

"Salad all round?" Mark asked watching the waiting getting closer

"That sounds great" Mercy smiled at him; it was already apparent she was going to have a better relationship with his dad than is mother they all listened to him ordering their food

"Could we get some water please?" Sam asked

"Water?" his mom huffed "How are those roommates of yours?"

"They're good" Sam smirked, choosing to answer the latter question, he wanted to cut his eye at his mom, but with Mercy sitting there he knew better. Her parents weren't strict as such, but you felt you had to be on your best behaviour around them. Her dad's favourite words were 'come correct' which meant you were being rude, if he'd ever listened to anything Mercy had told him before that first meeting, it was he didn't want to hear those words from her dad, and moreover, she'd be pissed if he said them to him.

"I thought they'd be around"

"You're meeting Mercy, why would they be here?" Sam asked stunned at the comment

"You guys never go anywhere with out each other"

He smiled, it might have seemed like that to her because whenever he came home, which was generally three times a year over the past two years, Blaine and Mike were never far behind him. They lived like three slobs in the already broken down dump they'd managed to turn that way with all their parties at the beginning of the first year, but when they finished studies they'd moved into a fresh apartment together and treated it much kinder. For all he knew she probably thought they had girl phobia, but if she'd have ever taken the time to get to know any of them, she'd have known that Mike was dedicated to Tina who was studying in DC and Blaine was one hundred percent gay and totally in one sided love with a guy who still hadn't paid him the time of day.

"Mikes teaching dance at Kingsbury primary, and Blaine's trying his hand at stocks, I don't think that's where he'll end up, but it's a start" they watched the food being delivered

"Thank you" Sam smiled at the waitress when she put Mercy's food in front of her, they all sat eating and talking surprising Sam when Mercy started asking his parents questions, and even more so when they answered

"I like you" Ann smiled at Mercy as she put her fork down "I really like you"

"That's good because I like you too" Mercy smiled; Sam looked at his dad happy they'd made it through the lunch

"Son" Mark slid an envelope across the table "This is just to get you started" he tapped it before moving his hand "Use it wisely"

"Thanks" Sam slid his hand over it and took it off the table the afternoon ended differently to it's start Mercy had planted herself in Ann's heart so much so there was a hug at the end of their meal

"Don't leave it too long before you bring her home" she whispered in his ear as she hugged her son "She's a keeper"

"I know" Sam looked back at Mercy smiling, he grabbed her hand and left his parents talking, obviously about them

"That went well" Mercy commented as they waved for a cab

"More than well, mom really took to you" he pulled her to him and hugged her before grabbing the cab door for her to get in

"You didn't mention the new apartment we're saving for" she sat in watching him fasten her seatbelt while he gave the driver her address

"Baby steps with my parents babe" he laughed "We start our new jobs tomorrow let's get through that before we tell them our long term plans"

"Okay"

Mercy lived in a shared house with three other girls, through the two years they'd been living together they'd been strangers, friends, best friends, sisters, nemeses, housemate and now they were somewhere between wishing the others didn't exist, and being unable to afford anything else, so they settled with the devils they knew. The most they positively engaged with each other was passing in the corridor to visit the bathroom and then that wasn't all of them.

"I know you can't wait to get out of there, but I promise we'll make it happen, and maybe this will help us get there faster" he showed her the envelop his dad had given him

"You'll need all sort of stuff to get you started, use it for that and if anything's left then we can put it in the pot"

"You sure?"

"It's your money"

"Okay" he moved in to kiss her

"I'll see you later you're coming aren't you?"

"Sure" he smiled "I never miss your performances"

"Okay I'll see you later" she kissed him again and got out the cab

Sam

"How did it go?" Blaine asked before he could even shut the door

"Better than I thought it would" Sam smiled "They loved her, and she seems to like them"

"So, they took the move okay then?" Mike asked

"We didn't get round to the move thing but…" he held the envelop up "We got some change"

"They gave her money?" Mike asked shocked

"No" he laughed "They gave me money but it's for us"

"So, she nabbed it already?" Blaine rolled his eyes, there'd always been some sort of thing going on for him where Mercy was concerned

"No" he chuckled "She told me to spend it on what I needed" he looked at Blaine "And how long are you going to blame her for not getting you that conversation with that Kurt dude?"

"She could have forced him to say yes"

"And you could have just gone up to him" Sam snapped "Leave off her"

"I've got it" Mike jumped into the conversation

"Got what?"

"The money, you said everyone at work rocked up in a car, you should get yourself a car, look the part"

"Mercy would kill me" he laughed

"I bet Mercy wouldn't mind when you rocked up every morning to drive her to work" Blaine added

"Mmm" Sam smiled thinking that really wasn't a bad idea

"We could at least go and have a look at something" Mike suggested

"Say yes" Blaine jumped up off the couch

"Just look?" Sam smiled excited at the pending trip

Of course, they got to the car dealers, test drove a few around the block, and Sam fell in love with a cute red Mazda he thought Mercy would just love, she had a thing for red cars, a while ago they'd test drive a Mazda and she loved it so the purchase could only be a win

"Celebrate?" Mike asked as they drove home

"Mercy's got a gig"

"We can catch that up later no worries" Blaine assured him

"I can't be late"

"It's what, two drinks before we head over there, you won't be late" Mike confirmed

"Okay, two drinks" he finally agreed, putting his foot down to get home, they parked the car, changed off caught a cab and went out to get something to eat, and have those two drinks Mike had talked about earlier "What the fuck?" Sam looked up at the club they'd fallen out of the cab in front of "Do they do food?"

"Food and fun my friend" Mike tapped his back as they pushed him into the strip club "Fun and food"

"Just point me to the food I'm not up for this shit" Sam shook Mike's hand off his back and walked to the bar to order food and those two drinks they'd promised. Tina was thousands of miles away and it wasn't that they had an open relationship, but he did get a bit lonely sometimes and it's not that he ever did anything with that either, but it presented in shit like this. Blaine was here for a completely different reason; he was looking for his person finding little bits of Kurt in anyone he could and trying to make them into his perfect person. "Trust you guys" he rolled his eyes sitting at the table right in front of the stage Mike and Blaine had found

"Views good" Mike rubbed his hands together ready for the show

"Food better be good" Sam sat in the chair furthest away from the stage, he was eating his food unconcerned with what was happening on stage when one of the dancers grabbed his food off him and jumped in his lap "Hey" he tried to push her off "I have a girlfriend"

"Your friends paid for his as a Christmas present"

"It's April" he huffed

"Come on" she turned her back and continued to rub her ass all over him "We all need a little Christmas"

"I had mine thanks" he pushed her off him and stood up "I don't fucking believe you two" he snapped at his friends before walking out.

Sam & Mercy

Even when he got to the club Mercy was performing at he was still angry "Hey beautiful" he smiled kissing her before he sat down to tell her the story, all she did was laughed at him "It wasn't funny, I'm still starving"

"I'll get you some food" she giggled leaving the dressing room to get him something, she came back a while later with a brick sandwich, some fries, and a beer, making him smile

"Thanks"

"So" she watched him eating "Did you get everything you needed?"

"Yeah" he shuffled uncomfortably "About that" he put the sandwich down "I sort of invested in our future"

"What did you do?" she looked at him worried, his hair brain ideas rarely bore good fruit

"I brought us a car"

"A car?" she gasped shocked

"Yeah, so I can pick you up for work every morning and fit in with everyone at work, we'll have those long drives we've always wanted, and when we move it's one less thing to worry about, travel I mean"

"So how much is left?"

"Just over twelve hundred" he frowned "And we'll get paid big bucks the end of the month, it's manageable"

"It better be manageable" she smiled "What car did you get, please say a Mazda"

"A red one" he smiled

"Can we go on one of those long drives tonight, find us a spot?" she wiggled her eyebrows at him

"Are you suggesting car sex babe"

"In it, on top of it, outside of it" she laughed "It's our first car"

"Hurry up and get this gig done" he grabbed his sandwich to carry on eating

For this gig he didn't mind sitting on the front table, lapping it up while everyone else dreamed about what they were going to do with the woman singing romantic songs on stage he was planning his reality. He got excited as her final song of the evening came into play knowing they were getting closer to their evening of pleasure, and only god knew what she had in store for them.

I hate it when you call me beautiful, cause that kind of language is working on me…
…So take me back to Florida, what I would do just to hold you
Think of all the love that we make, tired of feeling heartache, take me back to Florida…'Florida' by Camille Trust

"That was a good night" he smiled as they jumped in the car, and he fastened her belt

"It's going to be" she laughed laying back to listen to the music as the car took them somewhere quiet "Where are we headed?" she asked seeing them going further out of town than she thought they needed to

"If we're getting caught it's not going to be by anyone we'll ever have to see again" he laughed "Here looks good" he turned off down a dark dirt track, there were a few trees at first, but they quickly disappeared leaving them in the middle of a secluded field.

"Here will do" Mercy looked around smiling, opening the door for him to slide over to her seat, while she took her underwear off, and watched him pull his trousers past his knees, "Ready?" she got back in the car and sat on him without much more warning

"Fuck" he gasped before her lips covered his, even if he'd have wanted to be, he wasn't in control of this situation, she had all the power, controlling his every move while her tongue moved just as randomly in his mouth. He held onto her hips and tried to make her move to his rhythm, but she wouldn't let him, she knew him and stopped when she knew he was close

"Wait" she gasped, allowing his lips to grab hold of her neck, while his hands found her covered breasts,

"Babe" his voice begging for her to move again, letting out a sigh of relief when he felt her legs relax as she lowered onto him again, he grabbed her hips and demanded control it seemed like an age before he felt her muscles puling at him, there was nothing to do but surrender.

"Seriously" Mercy gasped brushing her hair off her face "I'm not even joking when I say this" she looked him in the eyes

"What?" he looked at her concerned

"I can't imagine us not doing this for the rest of our lives" she smiled at his face breaking out into a smile "I'm so in love you"

"I'm in love with you too" he leaned in to kiss her "And this isn't the first time for this place"

"Definitely not" she giggled

"Are you finished with me now, can we go home?" he laughed

"Not totally, but we can go home" she laughed opening the door to get out

"Work tomorrow remember?" he pulled his trouser up and shuffled back over to the driver seat

"Oh" she smiled jumping back into the car "Rain check till tomorrow?" she watched him clip her seatbelt on before speeding off, the music blasting again

"I'll see you tomorrow morning ready for work" he smiled as the car stopped outside her apartment "Seems funny saying that"

"We're working folk now" she giggled kissing him before she got out the car

The next day he pulled up outside her apartment more than an hour early, both eager to start their new jobs. He stopped at a nearby café to grab a coffee and shake off their nerves before he dropped her off outside her building and watched her nervously walk in, smiling at the receptionist before taking a breath and walking off in the direction she'd been told "Day one" he smiled, driving a few blocks to park his car and get to work

Sam

"Morning Sir" the young receptionist smiled at him as he pushed the large glass doors open

"Good morning" he smiled "I'm here to see a Mr Berry"

"Oh" she looked up sharply before nervously ruffling through the papers in front of her "Mr Berry?" she said slowly as she ruffled

"Yes a Mr Hiram Berry" he confirmed watching her quickly pick the phone up

"Have a seat Mr…"

"Evans, Sam Evans" he smiled looking at the vacant seats, before he sat looking around the retro reception area, people busily going about their business, the bustle of the start of his first working day exciting him, he felt smug at being a part of it.

"Mr Evans?" a young woman walked towards him, he jumped up and held his hand out confused because he was expecting a man

"Miss… Berry?" he asked

"Yes" she half smiled "I understand you asked for my grandfather?"

"I did" he smiled "I'm starting broadcasting training today…"

"…About that" she looked at him nervously "Gramps passed last week, he was heading up the trainee program, unfortunately today the company have decided they're stopping that with immediate effect"

"But…"

"…I know" she butted in "I'm so lost" she looked like she wanted to cry, Sam stood stunned, looking for help from the receptionist "Sorry" she brushed tears off her cheek "This is just such a horrible thing to have to do"

"So, what about my…"

"…They've gone with another company you can interview I suppose" she butted in yet again "Sorry, I was overwhelmed" she explained, looking at the receptionist shaking her head disapprovingly "Ask at the desk"

He wasted no time in doing that, he had a girlfriend that was going to blow a gasket, a car to maintain, a deposit to save for, and rent to pay, he walked back over to the receptionist to book an interview "Mr Tinsley will see you at 11am on Thursday" she smiled up at him

"Mr Tinsley?" Sam asked

"Yes Mr Tinsley" the receptionist pointed to a small picture behind her of the man Sam was hoping it wasn't, he left the office knowing the job wasn't his. That man's son and he had been at loggerheads from day one about Mercy, he'd said some hurtful things to Shane in the battle and laughed at him when he finally got the date. No way was Shane going to see his name up there and ask his dad to give him an easy ride, he was doomed. He spent the rest of the day searching the internet for a job, any job, all he knew was that he needed a job by the time he picked Mercy up from work.

Sam & Mercy

"Hey beautiful" he smiled at her getting in the car, stretching over to grab her seatbelt and kiss her "How was your first day?"

"Brilliant" she giggled before telling him details "So, how was yours?" she finally turned to ask

"There's no training program, the guy died" he frowned "Apparently the firm's stopped the program and they sent his damn granddaughter down to tell me"

"What are we going to do?" he could hear the upset in her voice

"I have an interview on Thursday, with Shane's dad of all people, he's taken over the program, I don't hold much hope" he frowned "I've been looking for jobs all day, I'm ready to sell the car if we need to, I'm trying…"

"…I never said you weren't trying babe" she touched his leg "Don't get stressed, we'll work something out" her hand moved up his leg "We could change this mood for a start" she smiled

"Do you think of anything else?"

"Do you?"

"We're not talking about me" he laughed for a second before looking into her serious eyes "Your place or mine?"

"Yours" she smiled

"I'm thinking because we've got the evening we could deal with some of our fantasies?"

"You want attention?"

"I want attention, but I said our fantasies" he smiled

"Which film?"

"I thought we could play out that nine and a half weeks" he raised an eyebrow hopefully

"I guess, seeing as it's you we're trying to cheer up" she smiled

"Yes" he banged the steering wheel happy

Thursday

"Mr Evans" Mr Tinsley bellowed at he walked into his office, as soon as he heard the man's tone he was ready to give up but those words Mercy whispered to him last night kept playing on repeat in his head "She needs me to step up, be the bigger man" he whispered to himself

"Mr Tinsley" he walked towards him with his hand out, determined to make an impression

"Have a seat" the man's voice sounded more like he was getting ready to have an argument than conduct an interview "Shane tells me you two have history about some girl"

"Yeah"

"I heard you won fair and square"

"I didn't really win, she chose me"

"I've read your résumé" he finally smiled at him "Very impressive, Mr Berry held you In high esteem"

"I think the question is do you?" Sam smiled

"Why do you want to be on this program Mr Evans?"

"I can't explain the feeling too well" he looked out the window "I've felt this feeling maybe three times in my life so far" he laughed thinking about exams and his girl "It's like when you find another piece to the jigsaw that makes you complete, you just get this drive to need to make it happen" he smiled "I just know that this is part of my completion"

"That's passion" Mr Tinsley stood up with his hand out

"Is that it?" he asked shocked he was being dismissed

"Unless you don't want the spot"

"I want the spot" Sam jumped up laughing "I really want the spot" he shook hands "Thank you Mr Tinsley, you won't regret this" he backed out of the office, and got outside before he punched the air

"I'm assuming it all went well?" Mercy was sat in their car waiting

"I got in" he grinned jumping in the driver seat "I fucking got in"

"Presents at yours?"

"Presents?" he looked at her puzzled

"I thought we'd start with The Best Man Holiday and work our way through the year" she giggled "Afterall someone did say we all need a little Christmas" she gave him that naughty look he was familiar with

"Presents" he turned the engine on and drove off