Enjoy!
Song Inspiration: Weak by SWV
How it started.
It was evitable. How things started between the two of them and it was almost like a raunchy rom-com until it wasn't. Mercedes Jones had just gotten home after a long day of being around her very boisterous family. She was exhausted and felt sweaty from all the endless activities they had done. She forced herself out of her car to the trunk when her neighbor from across the street stepped out of his place and waved.
She waved back with a smile then began unloading the things she needed from her trunk.
"How are you?" She heard and looked back over her shoulder seeing her neighbor still standing there.
"I'm good, you?" It was an automatic response, nothing she figured would turn into a full blown conversation.
"I'm great, I just landed a big contract." He answered and she smiled, not entirely what to say back.
"That's great! Congrats." She said before returning to her task.
She didn't hear him walk up or even notice that he had gotten so close. "Do you need some help?" He asked and she jumped before letting out a nervous giggle. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, no, I'm just a little out of it." She said, taking a breath and looking up at him.
He was handsome. Tall with a toned body, she guessed because his shirt fit him perfectly and he had chiseled jaws but what she noticed most was his lips and eyes. His lips were full and pink, his eyes were a beautiful shade of green and he had an inviting smile.
"Can I help you with that?" He asked again and she looked over everything before nodding.
"If you don't mind." She replied and he nodded.
"I don't. I'm Sam by the way." He said grabbing one of the crates she had and she grabbed the other, thankful for the help and not having to do two trips.
"I'm Mercedes." She looked at him and smiled, closing the trunk and nodding over to her place. "It's this one right here."
Sam nodded. "I know… we're neighbors." He teased and she couldn't help laughing.
"Yeah… it's been a long day."
"Care to share?" He asked following her to her door, waiting for her to unlock it.
"I'd rather not bore you with my day to day." She replied, opening the door and walking inside with him behind her. "You can just put it right there." She pointed at the couch and he placed it on the floor next to it.
"Well it may be boring to you but it might be exciting to me." He countered and she smiled.
"I spent the entire day running behind my nieces and nephews playing countless games in the heat while dodging questions about why I'm not married or at least have a child."
Sam smirked. "You have one of those families huh?"
She nodded. "I basically used my nieces and nephews as my scapegoats which is why I'm all sweaty." She answered and noticed him looking her over before smiling.
"If it helps you feel better, I have to go to a family dinner tonight with my oh so successful sister and her equally successful husband and let's not forget my overachieving littler brother who fell in love, got married and is now expecting his sixth." Sam replied and Mercedes couldn't help laughing.
"Well I have the luxury of being the oldest of four girls. All of my sisters are married and all of them have at least three kids, are successful and basically living better than me." She quipped.
"Seems we both have failed our parents." He joked.
Mercedes giggled. "Seems so…" She said looking at him and he just smiled.
"Well, let me go get ready to jump into the lion's den." He gave her another smile before heading out with her behind him to close her door. She was just about to close it before she didn't.
"Hey!" She said, making him stop and turn around. "Wanna mess with your family?" She asked with a smirk.
Sam walked back to her steps with an intrigued look. "How so?"
"Well, if they're anything like my family, they're expecting you to show up alone right?" He nodded. "Then show up with me."
Sam thought it over before smiling. "You think you could handle a night like that?" He asked.
"Well, I do have some insight… you know, considering my family sounds a lot like yours."
"Can you be ready in an hour?" He asked and she smiled.
"What are we going for… power couple? Sexy seductress? Or the cute girl next door?"
"Hmm… cute girl next door with a mix of seductress." He answered.
"I'll be ready." She said and Sam smiled before thanking her and heading back to his place to do the same.
Sam should've only picked the girl next door. When he drove over to pick Mercedes up, he only half expected her to wear something cute and flirty. He was wrong. Very wrong. When she walked out of her place she was wearing dark red, cut out one shoulder ruched bodycon dress with a pair of black strappy heels and her hair was in loose wild curls, he knew he was in for an interesting night.
She smiled as she walked up to the car and if Sam wasn't so stunned he would've opened the door for her.
"Is this okay? I grabbed a bottle of wine to bring." She asked once she got into his car and he just nodded. "Are you okay?"
Sam blinked before clearing his throat. "Oh, yes. You look…amazing."
She blushed. "Thanks, I took a risk… this thing had been hanging in my closet for months. So we should probably get our stories together."
Sam nodded. "Okay where'd we meet?"
She giggled. "Well I am your neighbor, so that part can remain true. How long have we been dating?"
"Six and half months, my parents will want to know why I never mentioned you."
"Okay…. We can just tell them I'm shy." She replied. "What are things I need to know?"
Sam thought for a minute before looking over at her. "My brother will flirt with you, don't take it personal, he's a whore. My mother will either embrace you or she will interrogate you and my father will most likely not even notice you're there until we actually sit down for dinner."
"And your sister?" She asked and he smiled, impressed that she remembered.
"She will be too busy wrestling with her kids." He said. "Okay, what should I know about you?"
"My parents are lawyers, umm… I'm the oldest of four and my favorite color is purple."
"Nothing else?" He questioned as they pulled into a long driveway. "No secret quirks or talents?"
Mercedes sighed. "Okay… this will probably not be brought up unless your family is from here but I won like twenty-five Little Miss Ohio contests because of my singing." She said and he shot her an amused look.
"Twenty-five?" She nodded. "See, I need to know more because how did you win that many?"
"I was entered when I was three months old and when I turned two, my parents found out I could sing and… the rest is history."
He leaned over smirking. "What do you do for a living?" He asked and Mercedes groaned.
"I'm a music teacher." She replied and his eyes grew wide.
"Holy shit! I've been living next to Little Miss Supreme Ohio this whole time? My sister took that title away from you, you know?"
She let out a nervous giggle. "Well that stays between us, if you want this to be a good experience." She said teasingly.
Sam raised three fingers. "Scouts honor, come on. My mother is peeking at us through the blinds." He said and she started to look. "Don't. She thrives on witnessing stolen moments, hince me leaning in."
Mercedes nodded and leaned in too. "So she probably thinks we're whispering sweet nothings and she's getting a first look at us as a couple then?" She asked caressing his cheek and Sam smiled.
"You're good and yes. She'll be running out in three, two, one."
Sure enough a petite blonde woman came out of the large house waving a washcloth and they both shared a laugh before Sam got out first then walked around to open the door for Mercedes. He grabbed her hand and walked her towards the woman.
"Nice of you to join us, Samuel." His mother said, smiling at her son before turning her attention to Mercedes. "And who's this beautiful thing you have here?"
"Mom, this is my girlfriend Mercedes. Mercedes, this is my mother Mary Evans."
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Evans." Mercedes said, extending her hand for the woman to shake. Mary smiled and shook her hand before looking at her son suspiciously.
"I wasn't aware you were even dating, sweetheart."
"That's my fault." Mercedes said leaning into Sam. "I'm a little shy and he was sweet enough to let me decide when I was ready to meet you all."
Sam smirked. "Can we go inside now?" He asked and his mother hit his arm playfully.
"Of course, I'm sure everyone else would love to meet you." Mary said, guiding them inside. "Everyone, Sam is here and he brought his beautiful girlfriend." Mary announced.
"Probably should've warned you about that." He whispered and she just laughed.
"If you ever meet my folks, it'll be ten times worse." She whispered back right as the rest of his family appeared.
"Mercedes, this is my sister Stacey and her husband Jake and their two kids Micha and Lily." Sam said introducing them, Mercedes smiled and greeted them.
"And that is-"
"I'm Stevie, the more attractive and successful brother." His brother said, grabbing her hand and kissing it.
"And that is his wife, Penny and their five kids, Jackson, Taylor, Faith, Erin and Judith." Sam replied, smacking Stevie's hand away from Mercedes' making her laugh. "And in here is little Nichalos." He added running his hand over Penny's very pregnant belly.
"Hi, nice to meet you all. Hopefully I'll be able to remember all of you guys' names." Mercedes said and they laughed.
"And this is my pop, Dwight." Sam said and his father simply nodded at her.
"Alright, let's eat!" Mary said.
"Wait! You have to make them do the threshold tradition!" Stevie said and everyone rolled their eyes, including Sam.
"Threshold tradition?" Mercedes asked and Sam shot her a nervous smile.
"Every new couple has to kiss before crossing the threshold… it's for good luck." He answered and Mercedes realized then she hadn't even thought about PDA.
"Oh." She said looking at everyone who was waiting patiently for them to kiss. "So we just kiss in front of everyone?"
"Oh honey, don't be shy. I'm sure you two kiss all the time and it's tradition." Mary said encouragingly.
Mercedes nodded before facing Sam who shot her an apologetic look before leaning down and giving her a quick peck.
"There now we can go-"
"NO! You made me put my tongue down Penny's throat, you're gonna need to do better than that." Stevie said and everyone else nodded.
"Sorry big bro but I'm with Stevie this time, there was no spark in that kiss." Stacey added and Sam sighed.
"Fine." He said, wrapping his arms around Mercedes and pulling her close before kissing her deeply. Mercedes blinked a few times before melting into the kiss and kissing him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening it before he slowly pulled away.
She looked up at him trying to gather her witts and not look like this was the first time they'd actually kissed. She had to contain her breathing and managed to force a smile.
"Well, now that's done we can eat." Dwight said and the other nodded before walking away leaving Mercedes and Sam frozen in that spot.
"That…" Sam started but stopped when she nodded.
"Intense." She finished. "Should we go in there with them now?"
"Yeah, we should." He said but didn't move and neither did she. Sam wanted to kiss her again but didn't have a legitimate reason. He looked at her lips then back at her and he could see her cheeks were slightly flushed.
She let out a shaky breath. "You want to lead the way?"
"Mhm." He said and this time he took a step back before grabbing her hand and leading her into the dining room.
They both sat having the same thought.
This was going to be a long dinner.
:)