A/N: You'll notice they both get a lot of flashbacks. For the most part these flashbacks jump around a lot because it's how their train of thought works when they are vaguely reminded about something about their past. We're back to some Samcedes interaction! Hope you enjoy! (Oh and a shoutout to all of my reviewers so far! You're awesome!)

Mercedes tried her best to hold back a really loud laugh as she entered the campus cafe. She knew that she'd probably scare everyone in there if she let it go. "Stop it, Tiff... Oh lord, you're crazy! Stop it!" She snickered behind her hand.

Her first month at Richter flew by and yet it seemed like a long time already passed. Right from the beginning, she instantly bonded with the other members of the Goldtones. They were such a strangely diverse group and yet it just worked. It was that chemistry that helped them blend so well musically and it was how they were able to have such a great time together. In just one month, she made new friends she felt like she had known for years. They reminded her so much of the New Directions... but without all of the high school drama.

If she thought about it, Mercedes knew that she grew as a person in her years after high school. She took the friendships that were broken, and she managed to mend and make them stronger. Besides her family, Kurt and Quinn were her foundation. Mercedes still talked to them regularly. She felt a little lost without her regular video chats with them. She also kept in touch with the others once in a while, maybe meeting them for dinner on their breaks.

Mercedes still kept her headstrong "diva" attitude, but she learned a little lesson in humility. The world didn't revolve around her. As much as she would love to drown in her own problems, she knew that she was blessed. She had a great family, great friends, and a passion for music. While she knew that she had to take the initiative to fulfill her own dreams, she knew that she shouldn't bother others with her own selfish needs. A diva was only truly a diva if she knows how to use her attitude the right way.

She taught herself to keep her eyes on the future and not to dwell too much in the past. She was a girl on the move, and she couldn't be bothered by problems that already took their course. Her last year in Byrnes definitely taught her this lesson and that was why she found herself in a new school. Whenever she talked about college with her family or adults from church, they would always tell her to work hard and have a plan. She took that advice very seriously. She wasn't in college to wander around aimlessly without a goal.

This semester she started exploring her options in a career in music. Performing was her passion so her main goal was to find her way into the music industry. She got into contact with local studios in hopes that she could record and she looked for possible venues to perform in. Success in that industry had a lot to do with luck, but it also involved hard work.

Mercedes Jones was a woman with a plan and nothing could sway her.

She laughed a little more quietly as she stood in line and looked through her agenda. "Okay, Tiff, I'll see you later at practice okay? You and Valerie need to stay out of trouble til then! Listen to me, woman!...Alright, see ya, pretty girl!" She hung up and threw her phone into her bag. She looked over at the sitting area to see if she could get a table. She was going to get a head start on her homework. That small table in the corner seemed fine. She turned back to the counter. It was almost her turn to order. She didn't need to bother looking at the menu because she always ordered the same thing.

"Grande mint chocolate chip mocha, right?" A deep voice spoke from behind her.

Mercedes quickly turned around, surprised that someone basically read her mind. She nearly gasped.

Sam.

He grinned with a hint of laughter in his eyes. There it goes, her chest clenching again. Mercedes fought to give him a response but couldn't think of anything at the moment. "Yeah, I remembered. Turns out, it ended up being a favorite of mine too." Sam looked down at his feet and then brought his eyes up to meet hers. With the light beaming from the window, she could see those green eyes bright and clear as day. They hadn't changed one bit.

Before Mercedes could muster up another response, Sam looked up over her head and called out to the barista. "Two mint chocolate chip mochas. Grande." Mercedes turned around and reached into her bag for her wallet but Sam quickly stepped around her and handed the cashier a twenty dollar bill.

"You didn't have to..." Mercedes said quietly.

Sam turned to her with a small smile. "I owe you one."

Mercedes was taken back to that day when they decided to get a cup of coffee together. Their relationship was really new and they were really careful about not letting the others know about them, but they just wanted to go to the Lima Bean together like any other couple. After stumbling through some lies to get away from Kurt and Blaine, they managed to get in line.

"Do you think they know?" Mercedes looked back at the pair nervously.

Sam smiled reassuringly. "I don't think anyone knows." They turned back to the front and naturally held hands. "So what are you getting?"

Mercedes smiled proudly, "A mint chocolate chip mocha."

"Really? I can't imagine how mint and chocolate together could taste good..." Sam wrinkled his nose a little.

"Hey, don't knock it until you try it." Mercedes nudged him with her shoulder.

Sam laughed and shook his head. "Well I'm going to order a caramel macchiato."

"Fine but I will get you to try it!" Mercedes smirked at the challenge. That day she won two battles. She managed to pay for his drink since he barely had enough to pay for the groceries he had to buy later, and she convinced him that the flavor of mint chocolate wasn't so bad. It was mostly because the taste lingered in her mouth after she finished the drink.

Mercedes snapped out of it when he realized that Sam was holding out her cup of coffee. She took it and mumbled a thanks. She wasn't sure if she should part ways with him, but it didn't seem like Sam was making a move to leave.

"You did amazing last week." Sam took a sip of his coffee and leaned on the counter.

"Thanks. It was really fun performing with those guys. I really love the Goldtones." She looked down at her cup.

Sam nodded. "And your solo... it blew me away just like it did years ago." He gave her a warm smile.

Mercedes suddenly felt the familiarity of his compliment. "You blew me away with your singing just now and I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who thinks that when they hear you" She took a breath as the memory hit her all of sudden. She hadn't thought about these memories in years, but all of a sudden it was just so vivid. She tucked a stray hair away from her face, blinking as she vaguely remembered the touch of his fingertips against her cheek.

Snap out of it, Mercedes... Past is past.

Mercedes shook her head. "It was nothing. Just trying to do Otis some justice." She laughed softly, trying to anchor herself back into the conversation.

Sam chuckled. "Of course... How is everyone back in Ohio? Well, if they're still in Ohio that is." Without much thought, they both walked to the sitting area and sat down at one of the open tables. Mercedes could sense that they were going to play catch-up.

She put her bag down and started turning her coffee cup in her hands. "Well... Kurt, Blaine and Rachel went off to New York, no surprise there. A few of them stayed in-state, like Finn went to Ohio State, Puck is in some community college, Artie is in Camden, Brittany and Santana are in Kissinger. Tina and Mike went to California, but Tina is in UCLA and Mike went to Berkeley. I'm not really sure what they're up to. Quinn didn't go to college. She just started her own vintage dress shop in Columbus."

Sam nodded slowly. "That's great... I really miss them all." The tone of his voice showed his sincerity. Guilt suddenly washed over Mercedes. Once he moved back to Tennessee, none of them really kept in touch with him. She especially didn't make an effort to form a long distance friendship but, of course, that had it's own complications. Moreover, maintaining a friendship was a two-way street. He never bothered contacting any of them. She still couldn't help but feel bad about it.

"Maybe we'll have a reunion some day." Mercedes spoke reassuringly. She wanted to stray farther from that slightly uncomfortable topic so she decided to change it. "So... how's your family?"

Sam opened and closed the lid of his cup absentmindedly. "Well, we're doing much better. That's how I could afford to pay for your coffee." They both laughed. "Mom and Dad both have had steady jobs for a few years now. Stevie is 12 and Stacey is 10."

Mercedes hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my god, Stevie and Stacey!" She suddenly remembered her fondness over those two kids. "It's been so long! I bet they are so grown up now!"

Sam threw his head back as he laughed. "I guess so. Stevie is almost thirteen and going through that phase where he wants us to call him Steven because 'I'm not a kid anymore!'" Mercedes laughed at Sam's whiny impression of his little brother. "Well, I'm not listening to him! He'll always be a little brat to me. And as for Stacey." He shook his head as he reached into his backpack. "I don't think she's changed much since the last time you saw her. I mean, she's gotten a little taller but" He opened one of his notebooks. "she still doodles on my stuff."

Sure enough, the inside of the front cover of his notebook was filled with little drawings in purple and pink pen. There were rainbows, princesses figures, flowers, and an attempt at drawing Sam with a football helmet.

Mercedes laughed as she rested her head in her hand and looked down at Stacey's creation. "I must say, she improved though. They aren't stick figures any more."

"She had a great teacher." Sam smirked at her as he leaned forward.

He was right. Mercedes remembered those nights when he was away at work and Mercedes thought it would be a fun idea for Stacey to practice her drawing skills in Sam's notebooks. Mercedes would also add in her own little doodles that were their own little inside jokes. At the time, they weren't dating so it was like her subtle way of flirting.

One night Mercedes was helping him with his English homework. When she looked in his notebook, she noticed a heart with "Sam + Mercedes" scrawled in it. She looked up at Sam with a smug look on his face.

"I didn-" Mercedes began.

"I know you didn't. That's not your handwriting at all." Sam laughed. "Seems like Stacey likes playing matchmaker." He bit his lip to try to hold back a laugh as Mercedes tried to scold Stacey about it. He knew she was blushing madly.

Mercedes was actually trying to fight a blush now. She knew that Sam would be able to see it regardless of her dark complexion. She tried to hide her face as she took a sip of her coffee. From the smile on Sam's face it looked like that might have failed. It was time for a topic change. "So, I hear you're a killer QB. Not fighting anyone for that position any more, are you?"

Sam shrugged. "That's right, no Finns threatening my spot- Shit." He suddenly flinched and checked his watch. "Speaking of, I'm late for practice." He took a big gulp of his coffee and stood up. "It was great catching up with you. I'll see you around?"

Mercedes smiled, she was a lot more relaxed around him after their conversation. She was relieved that they were definitely on good terms, over the pain of that sudden separation years ago. "Yeah, I will! Be careful out there." She was suddenly caught off guard when he walked to her side, bent down, and gave her a short but tight hug.

His scent was exactly the same... she remembered those warm nights by her car in the motel parking lot when she would hug him goodnight.

Sam pulled away. "Bye, Cedes." Their faces close enough for her to be frozen once again by those green eyes.

"Bye, Sammy..." Her old nickname for him fell naturally out of her mouth. She could see him smile a little brighter before he turned around and walked away.

Once Sam was out the door, Mercedes finally felt like she could breathe again. She let out a sigh, dropped her elbows on the table, and rubbed her temples. This was all too much. As much as she would like to say seeing Sam again was good, his sudden return into her life was bringing so many memories back from the past. While none of them were bad memories, it was so overwhelming.

Later that evening, Mercedes was having her weekly video chats with Kurt. She sat on her bed with her laptop propped on her pillow. All of her nail supplies were scattered all around her as she painted her toenails. On the screen, she could see Kurt in his silk pajamas starting his nightly moisturizing routine.

Kurt slammed his lotion jar on his vanity. "And so I said 'Do not mess with me or you will be kicked out of this production faster than a Nancy Grace nose flare.'"

Mercedes chuckled, "Boy, you tell 'em."

"Well, enough about my problems," Kurt started rubbing lotion over his nose. "How is my Mercy doing?"

"Nothing much here. Busy as usual with classes, working the Goldtones' fall concert, I'm procrastinating big time on a paper, I caught up with Sam over coffee, I might have a performance at that jazz club I told you about, I-"

Kurt leaned back in his chair. "Waaaaaait, back it up. Sam?"

"Sam Evans." Mercedes said quietly.

"Yeah, the same Sam Evans that you dated but kept it a secret from me and I didn't find out until Blaine pointed it out to me, THAT Sam Evans?" Kurt gave her a dark stare.

Mercedes cringed a little and pouted, "I'm sorry... for the record you would have been the first to know."

"Okay, whatever. Start from the beginning. Tell me about this little reunion." Kurt leaned closer to the camera.

"Well, I saw him the first day I got here..." Mercedes started.

"Wait. Hold it right there." Kurt put his forehead down his desk for moment before whipping it back up again. "You did it again." He said exasperatedly.

Mercedes raised an eyebrow, "Did what again?"

Kurt sighed, "What is with Sam and you not telling me about him weeks later?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal." She nervously picked at her nails.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Sure. Meeting an ex-boyfriend for the first time in three years isn't a big deal."

Mercedes bit her lip. He had a point. He always had a point.

"Is he still hot?"

"What kind of question is that and why does it matter to you?" Mercedes nearly raised her voice. It was probably because she was so close to giving him an enthusiastic 'Um, YEAH, he is!'

"It's a good question and it matters to you." Kurt tilted his head.

Mercedes sighed, "Kurt, stuff like that shouldn't matter to me now... That was all in the past."

"Yeah, that was all in the past but who says the past can't have something to do with the present? You two never actually had closure. It ended because he moved away, not because you guys wanted it to end." Kurt flicked a hair away from his face.

"We drifted apart... literally. And feelings change." Mercedes said softly.

"Did they change or were they just put away from the time being? You could very well find it again."

Mercedes wanted to tell him firmly that her feelings for him changed but she stopped. Did they change? She may not be feeling like that lovestruck teenager years ago but what if those feelings did come back?

That honestly scared her.

"Kurt, I think it's getting late. I need to finish up some of my homework." She started picking up all of the nail polish and nail files on her bed.

One of Kurt's eyebrows quirked up. "Okay... you're right. I need to get to bed now. Bossing around freshmen is tough work."

Mercedes laughed, "Don't kill any of them."

"You're right, they're still useful. Night, Mercy. Love you!" Kurt blew a kiss.

Mercedes returned the kiss. "Love you too! Night!"

She closed the window but before she started to shut down her laptop, she noticed that another chat box appeared.

"Hey. Wat up grl?"

She saw the name at the top and she suddenly felt a chill. She thought she deleted this from her chat contacts... she thought she deleted it from every piece of technology she had. She quickly deleted the name, turned the laptop off, and nearly slammed it shut.

That was why she wasn't bothering with the past...

A/N: Reviews keep me going! Please take the time to tell me what you think! They are seriously appreciated!