The Model & The Singer

Chapter 18

Sam woke up to being in bed alone. He sat up and remembered telling Mercedes he loved her and how much. She seemed to want to say something but he had fallen asleep. He got out of bed and walked over to his bags and grabbed some clothes before heading to the bathroom to get dressed. Mercedes was in the middle setting breakfast on the table when there was a knock on the door. She placed the final pitcher of juice on the table before heading to the front door.

"Who is it?" Mercedes asked with a smile. "It's me, Cedes." A familiar voice spoke through the door. Mercedes quickly opened the door in disbelief and came face to face with her ex-boyfriend. "Noah?" She said with surprise. "Hey, sweetie," Noah said before kissing her on the cheek. "Mercedes, we need to talk," Sam stated before he began walking downstairs dressed in jeans, yellow t-shirt, and his bare feet.

Noah and Mercedes glanced up to see Sam step down from the last step before making his way over to where they were. "Mercedes, I thought you needed to see me?" Noah said, confused. "I did?" She asked Noah, who nodded. "Yes, babe. You said we needed to give this thing one more shot." He told her.

Mercedes looked surprised before she remembered what Rachel Berry told her yesterday. Suddenly, a flash of memory came back to her when she remembered calling Noah's cell while she waited to board the commercial plane she paid for. She closed her brown eyes and sighed, feeling guilty. "Mercedes?" Sam called to her. "Is that true?" She opened her eyes, letting them look from Noah to Sam.

She slowly shook her head before she spoke. "I just remembered how I felt after I left your family's home." Mercedes explained. "I took Rachel Berry's advice and stopped leaning on her ex and decided to lean on mine." Noah had a surprised but pleased look while Sam had a surprised but pissed off look. He stepped up to her and looked down into her beautiful face. "Exactly what did she tell you to do with him?" Sam asked.

"I came out of the bathroom crying again because of a text from Christian," Mercedes said before Noah cut her off. "Wait, Cedes, this is about Christian?" He asked with genuine concern. She turned to look up at him before nodding. "Wait, here." She told Noah before she went upstairs. Noah glanced over at Sam and sized him, while Sam looked at him and did the same.

"So, how long have you and Cedes been dating?" Noah asked Sam. Sam narrowed his green eyes before he started to speak. "We aren't." He told Noah. "Aren't what?" Noah asked. "Dating. We're just good friends. And I'm working in her videos." Sam explained. Noah raised his eyebrows before smiling to himself.

"Hmm. Interesting." He mumbled to himself. "What?" Sam asked with attitude. "I said, good to know," Noah replied. "She's still single." Sam turned to face Noah and closed the distance. "What does that mean to you?" He asked. "So, what. She's still single." Sam stated. "You think you're going to get another shot to come back and break her heart?"

Noah stared at Sam to see if he really meant what he just said. He started to laugh before he shook his head. "Me? Break Cedes' heart? Ha!" Noah said before he stuck his hands into his pockets. "Sorry, pal. You got that backwards. I never broke her heart. She broke up with me and broke mine. I'm sure if you know about Christian then you met Finn, Kurt, and Quinn. Just ask them. They know. She was the one who had me tearing up and shattered."

Sam was taken aback and was going to ask more when Mercedes walked downstairs with Emma and Tamara. Both men glanced at the three females as they walked off the last step and over to where they were. "Noah, this is why Christian has come up. Meet Emma and her baby girl, Tamara. Christian's daughter and my new niece. Emma, this is Noah. A childhood friend and my ex." Mercedes said, causing Noah's eyes to go wide.

"Wow," Noah said as he removed his hands from his pockets and extended his left hand for Emma to shake. "Nice to meet you." He said. "Likewise," Emma stated and adjusting her baby bag on her shoulder. She then shook his hand with her free hand that adjusted the bag. "Well, if you all will excuse us. We have a check-up to go to." She told them before she and her daughter walked out of the house.

That left Sam, Mercedes, and Noah alone. Sam was about to speak when Mercedes turned to Noah. "Come on, so I can fill you in." She said, leading Noah in the living room. "Coming, Sam?" She called back as he and Noah walked in the area together. Sam silently wished he could throttle Rachel for creating this mess before him. "Yeah, I'm coming." He said regretfully before following the two of them.