Tumblr ficlet: Bittersweet
It’s hard not to be nostalgic, even though everything in LA is going so well. She’s made a few friends in her UCLA extension classes, she has a weekly “date” with Puck at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, she’s got a record deal, she’s actually really happy with her life. But something about catching Kurt and Blaine in the car earlier, and now watching them sing together, it’s bittersweet.
She’s seen Finn and Rachel circling each other, as the obviously would, she noticed whatever the hell is going on between Santana and Quinn. But mostly, she just sees Sam and Brittany. She’d heard about them getting together through the grapevine, well, through Tina, who thought she should know.
That’s how Mercedes hears most things these days, through the grapevine, being on the West Coast just means she has completely different schedules than everyone else, though she she and Kurt have been texting more and more recently, and she’s missed him. So when she got a text from Tina around Christmas that said Sam and Brittany got married, well, she spent that week in bed with a tub of ice cream and some really bad movies.
The thing is that she knows they had something special, but the timing was just all wrong. She told herself when she graduated, she wasn’t going to hold on to old stuff from High School, and she meant that, but if she’d known there was a possibility of Sam coming back to Lima, she probably would never have dated Shane. They could have had the whole school year.
Mercedes shakers herself out of that line of thinking before walking over to the bar, where Santana and Quinn are getting progressively more drunk. She orders herself a diet coke, and turns around to watch Kurt and Blaine as they dance around each other. She smiles into her drink shaking her head at them, wondering when they were going to catch a clue.
Next to her, Santana grabs Quinn and pulls her out to the dance floor, where Santana intentionally turns her back to where Brittany is dancing with Mike. She feels a tap on her shoulder and turns around to see Sam smiling sweetly at her.
“May I have this dance,” he asks doing his best Denzel impression, which is actually kind of terrible.
“Still failing to get my boy Denzel’s voice right, I see,” she says, smiling, and following him out to the dance floor.
“What, it’s getting better. Blaine said it was getting better,” he laughs.
“Blaine needs his ears checked,” Mercedes laughs watching Sam dance.
“Think you can still handle white chocolate?” Sam asks, as he does his signature body roll.
“Please, the question is, can you handle me?” She replies, as she dances around him.
Sam smiles, “I could always handle you.”
They both fall silent, everything having shifted, and neither of them wanting to address it.
“So, you and Brittany?”
Sam nods, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself.”
She shakes her head, “It’s okay, Sam, I’m okay. You should be happy, I’m glad you guys are happy.”
“Are you happy? In LA?” He asks.
“I am, thank you for asking.”
When the song ends, they look over to see Brittany smiling and waving at them. When the next song starts, she continues to dance with Mike. Sam takes Mercedes’ hand and spins her around.
“You write any songs about me?” He asks with a cheeky grin on his face.
Mercedes laughs, “Maybe, you’ll just have to wait to hear my album.”
“Can I get an autographed copy?”
Mercedes smacks his shoulder playfully, “Boy please, you’re getting a dedication.”
He smiles sweetly as they continue to dance. This time when the song is over, Sam lets go.
“I miss you, Mercedes,” he says, and pulls her into a hug.
“I miss you too.” She says quietly before letting him go and watching him go walk over to Brittany and put his arm around her.
The rest of the night is spent catching up with friends, Mercedes and Mike place bets on who ends up with hotel rooms that night (Mercedes wins because Mike was not paying attention to Santana and Quinn). She comforts him after a brief and awkward run in with Tina.
The next day, as Mercedes heads back to her new home, she’s no longer feeling that bittersweet bit of nostalgia, she knows they’ll see each other again soon. Everyone is where they need to be right now.