Home is where the Heart is

Old Friends

"I'm sorry, Mercedes. These songs are not what I'm looking for." The boss used little words but broke Mercedes's huge dreams.

"Are you sure? Did you read all of them? Is there anything I can change? Are you sure you didn't like the most recent one I wrote?" The boss put her songs down as if they were ancient.

"Look, it's tough to write your own songs and make it in the industry. Your voice is so stunning and anything sung by you will be amazing, but I'm just not sure about these. They lack...emotion."

"Oh...I understand, thank you anyways." Mercedes grabbed her notes and walked into the recording studio where she felt most at home, ready to sing a song written by others. She desperately wanted to tell Sam what happened, hoping his smile would make things better. When finished her work for the day, she went outside to be called from a familiar voice, one that she missed dearly.

"Kurt?" She called. It looked like him from the usual scarf, but she had trouble believing it.

"Mercedes!" He called over again, coming closer with every step. He finally made his way over and brought her into a hug that cooled down the city air.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise. Kurt pulled away from the hug and waved his hands in the air.

"I got into NYADA. I forget to tell you after flying in for my audition!"

"Oh my gosh that's great!"

"C'mon." Kurt hooked onto her arm, urging her to keep walking. "Lets talk, we have a lot to catch up on, its been like years."

"Actually, its only been 3 months."

"Well, it feels like years. Want to get some lunch and talk?"

"That sounds great!"

After talking about Kurts successful audition and Mercedes career, including the failed song writing, they made their way to Kurts favourite topic; romance. "So, how are you and Sam?" Mercedes twirled around a straw leading to her chocolate milkshake.

"Things are good." Kurt glared at her monotone answer, and so she finally confessed. "Ok, they could be better." Kurt immediately put down the fry he was about to bite and brought his full attention to Mercedes.

"Talk to me, whats been going on? I can't stand to see a friend sad, especially about a boy." Mercedes suddenly felt glad she had a friend again.

"Well," She took a sigh. "Sam has been gone a lot lately, and we barely spend any time together anymore. Recently it's been bad, it feels like he's lying to me about something...or hiding something." Kurt returned the sigh, but accompanied with a smile. "Hey, why are you smiling? This is usually the part where you pat my back and give me advice."

"I have an idea." He sprung. "Can I borrow the keys to your house?" As confused as Mercedes was, she didn't question Kurts plan.

"Fine." She handed them over. "Just please tell me what your planning to do first?" She figured it would be some romantic gesture.

"Lets just say, you and Sam will be surprised...in a good way. Trust me, it will be romantic. Bye."

Mercedes shrugged. Anything to help her love life would be nice. After sipping down the chocolate milkshake and munching on the leftover fries, she spotted Quinn at a nearby booth. Today really was an odd day. First Kurt and now Quinn.

"Hey, Quinn." She called while making her way over. "I haven't seen you in so long...oh my gosh, you're engaged!" Quinn looked down at the glistening ring on her finger, almost with a shocked face...as if she just got proposed to now.

"Uh-yeah-yeah I did. I'm sorry, it just happened so soon I forget." Mercedes nodded, understanding what it must have felt like.

"So, who's the lucky guy?" She asked in interest, but assumed it was Puck.

"Oh, um...Finn."

"Finn? I thought you were dating Puck?"

"Yes. Puck. Puck and I are engaged." She said, almost in relief. Anyone would have trouble believing her.

"Oh, ok. Take care." Mercedes waved, wondering if she got any sleep at all.

"Bye." She called, enough for Sam to hear when coming back from the bathroom. He took a seat in front of Quinn.

"How does it feel?" He asked. Quinn spun it around her finger swiftly, letting every sparkle have a chance to hit the light.

"It's perfect."

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When Sam and Mercedes made it to their apartment, arriving at the same time like Kurt asked, they walked into a utopian state. Candles were seen in every direction, (Although Mercedes knew Kurt liked lot's of candles), followed by harmonious piano music and a dinner table set and prepared with fancy dishes of food, almost if a rich person were dining.

"Wow." Mercedes mumbled. "I can't thank him enough." Sam took in the beauty, and then walked to the dinner table.

"This really is nice." He said. "Shall we eat?"

They took a seat and began eating, although Mercedes had something on her mind she wanted to talk about.

"This is romantic." She began, while Sam nodded. "But I have some bad news." Sam put down his fork, chewed and then swallowed as if to listen intently. "The boss declined my ideas. He hated the songs." Sam gave a look of sympathy and reached across the table to comfort her hand.

"I'm so sorry. I thought your songs were great!" Sam crossed his arms and pushed his plate away. "I can't believe he said that I'm going to do something about it-

"No." She interjected. "I appreciate it, but I think I can manage." Sam nodded, but you could tell he would do anything in that moment to make the boss change his mind. They shared a kiss across the table, and then sat back down, only the candle between them stayed light and vibrant, as both were haunted by Mercedes news. But, she wanted it to be romantic like Kurt said, he didn't put this together for nothing.

"Anyway...how is college going?"

"I didn't know being a teacher involved a lot of schooling and actually paying attention, but hopefully it will be worth it."

"Well," Mercedes had finished her last bite. "How about we blow a few of these candles out and you teach me how to cuddle."

"This does some like a fire hazard," he said...although their was something else on his mind.

Mercedes could feel his lingering thoughts, in fact she's been feeling it for days, and so whispered, "I love you."

Sam's hazel eyes returned to hers while gleaming from the light, only a few candles lit for him to see her beauty. He gulped.

"I love you too."

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Thanks for reading😊
Stay tuned to see what Sams hiding!