Five Years Later

Saturday, October 15, 2020

Sam sighed, it's 8:30 in the morning, way to early for him on a weekend. He had to head to the school for one final rehearsal before Nationals at three. He took a shower, got ready, and was out the door by 9:15. He arrived, somehow not noticing all the extra people in the choir room as he went in to his office. He sat down and sighed, looking at the floor for a couple minutes, which is what he usually did before every final rehearsal. He was just thinking, which usually wasn't a good thing for him. There was a knock on the door and Marie was standing there.

"Mr. Evans? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. You know I stare at nothing like this when I'm thinking."

"You're tired aren't you?"

"Very. Can you tell?"

"Kinda. I've noticed your eyes are darker when you're tired. Don't ask why, I'm just weird." Sam chuckled and got up.

"I know you're weird, Marie, now go sit down." He said. She laughed and did as she was told. Everyone was sitting down now, blending in so he definitely didn't notice the Alumni.

"Alright, alright, alright. Whose ready for Nationals?" He asked, grinning. Everyone cheered. Marie raised her hand.

"Mr. Evans?" He looked at her."Isn't your birthday on Monday?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah, why? And how did you know that?"

"Facebook."

"Child, you needa chill with that." He said. She laughed.

"How old are you? Forty?" Ryan called. Sam looked at him.

"Do I look forty to you?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Sam rolled his eyes.

"I'll be 25 years old." He said.

"Damn."

"Language, Ryan." Sam scowled at him.

"How is he not noticing us?" Brittany whispered to Santana.

"You know Trouty is slow sometimes."

"Dude, since when were you against cussing? If I remember correctly, you used to cuss all the time." Puck said, standing up and waving at him. Then all the Alumni stood up.

"What the hell?"

"See!" Sam laughed and hugged everyone, receiving a kiss on the cheek from Mercedes and blushing.

"How did you not notice us man?" Mike asked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't go to bed until late last night."

"Why?" Kurt asked.

"I couldn't sleep. Thinking to much." He shrugged."I kinda need to talk to them so after rehearsal when they leave to go get ready we'll talk."

TIME SKIP

They won their fifth Nationals in a row, which wasn't very shocking, considering they always had different genres of music in each performance. After celebrating with the glee club, the Alumni went to celebrate at Carole and Burt's house.

"Congratulations sweetie!" Carole said happily, hugging her basically adopted son. He smiled and thanked her.

"Everyone sit down, we have a few surprises for Sam, considering this is his birthday party."

"Wait what?" Sam asked. Everyone grinned at him.

"Planned by Mercedes, by the way." Kurt said. Sam blushed slightly and smiled at her.

"We'll be here on your birthday too, and we'll celebrate, but we wanted to today since Monday is gonna be busy for you." Rachel said. He nodded. Carole came in holding a birthday cake shaped like a guitar that said 'Happy 25th Birthday, you old fart!'. Sam laughed when he saw it.

"Okay, who did that?" Sam asked.

"Me, duh." Santana said, grinning. He laughed. They lit the candles and sang happy birthday to him, and he blew out the candles. After, they all ate cake and talked about their lives.

"I have a surprise for ole Sammy Boy here." Puck said, walking in with...something. It was a poorly wrapped gift, oddly shaped into a guitar. Sam laughed and took it from him."This is from me and Mercy." He ripped the paper off and saw a simple guitar, but it had signatures from some of his favorite country artists. Keith Urban, Chris Young, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, and even more."I bought the guitar but Mercy got the sigs." Puck said. He looked at them and grinned. He bro hugged Puck and then hugged Mercedes. They hugged a little longer then they should have but he thanked them once they let go of each other. After a few more hours of gifts and hanging out, everyone began leaving until it was just Mercedes, Kurt, and Blaine left with Carole and Burt. Sam still lived with them since he couldn't afford his own apartment yet, he'd been saving up for one, but he paid them rent. Besides, they were usually gone a lot so they liked the fact that some one was usually there a lot. Kurt and Blaine went in the kitchen with Burt and Carole and left Sam and Mercedes alone.

"So um, I was wondering..."Mercedes said, looking at her hands."Do you want to go out to dinner with me Monday? You know, for your birthday?"

"Sure." He smiled at her. She grinned."I'll pick you up at 7?" He asked. She nodded.

"I'm staying with my parents for the next two weeks." She said."I'll text you the directions-"

"No need, I know it by heart, Mercy." He said. She blushed and smiled. He walked her out to her car and kissed her cheek."I'll see you Monday."

TIME SKIP

The both of them were incredibly nervous all day Sunday, up until their 'date' as Puck and Santana called it on Monday night. Sam picked her up at 7 and she looked beautiful as always. They were quiet the whole way to Breadstix. Once there, they ordered and Mercedes said,

"Happy birthday, Sam." He smiled.

"Thanks, Mercy. Happy late Birthday." He grinned, knowing that her birthday was last week.

"I keep forgetting our birthdays are so close." He smiled. They got their food and made small talk as they ate. By the time dessert came around, Mercedes said.

"So, are you dating anyone?"

"No, actually. I haven't really dated much in the last few years."

"Really? Blaine said that you had a girlfriend every month." Mercedes said. Sam rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Blaine's to into the married life to really listen to me when we talk on the phone. It's just a couple of dates here and there, nothing serious." He said."How about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

"No, I haven't really dated much either. But I'm kinda ready to settle down now that my career has slowed down a bit." She told him.

"Oh really?" She nodded. He smiled. They finished their dessert and Sam paid. They went to the park around the corner.

"Sam, I'm just gonna get right to the point." She said, stopping and facing him. He stopped too.

"Did I do something?" He asked.

"No, no, of course not. I just want to apologize for all the times that I hurt you when we were younger. I never wanted to hurt you. Never."

"I know, Mercedes."

"I just, I still love you, okay? I loved you even when you and Rachel had that...thing going on five years ago. I get it if you don't love me back, I just thought I needed to get it out there-" She was interrupted by his lips touching hers. She melted into it and wrapped her arms around his neck as he put his hands on her hips. They broke for air a few seconds later and Sam put his forehead on hers.

"I love you too, Mercedes. Always have, always will." He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"I love you too, Sammy."