Together In Adversity

Written by WickedSong

Disclaimer : I do not own Glee, that's owned by FOX. The disclaimer for the song I use will be at the end, just because I want it to be a surprise.

"I need your help."

Kurt looked up from his copy of Vogue, to see Sam taking the seat opposite him at the table in the cafeteria. Looking at him, Kurt could see that something was wrong. He looked defeated, his eyes held little life in them and there was a redness around them that was a telltale sign he had been crying.

"What happened?" Kurt asked immediately, putting the magazine on the table, beside his tray of food. The first thought that came to the teenager's mind had been that something had happened in Sam's home life to do with his family's financial situation. Then he remembered that the Evans family had made so much progress in the last couple of months, Mr. Evans managing to find a job that paid well enough, getting the family out of the motel.

"It's... Mercedes," replied Sam. He had that hard, stony look on his face but there was a strain in his voice. Kurt could only wonder what had happened between the two, who had been smitten with each other during the summer.

"What about Mercedes?" Kurt asked, hoping that it wasn't too bad, feeling his stomach clench at the thought of something terrible happening to his best friend. "Is she alright?"
"She broke up with me."

Kurt was aware that his jaw had dropped as he looked at Sam, searching for him to say more but the blonde seemed to find that one sentence hard enough to come out with so he left him for a moment.

Why would Mercedes do that? It made no sense. The two had still been keeping their relationship under wraps, Kurt only finding out because Mrs. Jones had innocently mentioned that Mercedes had been spending a lot of time with 'that blonde football player' and Kurt had instantly put two and two together. The secret was still a safe one with no one in Glee or the school any the wiser. It couldn't be any drama coming from them.

"Did she give you a reason?" questioned Kurt, finally speaking up, realising that the entire cafeteria was buzzing with noise and that the two of them looked very out of place in their silence.

Sam nodded but then shook his head in silent frustration. "Yeah but it's so-"

"Hello there!"

At that moment in time Kurt hated no one's timing more than Rachel and Finn. The couple bounded up to the table, hands clasped in one another's, smiles on their faces as they held their lunch trays in their free hands. Rachel, her usual enthusiasm in her voice, had been the one to speak with Finn greeting the two with a casual nod.

"I gotta go," Sam said, standing. "Thanks, Kurt," he added, before nodding quickly in Rachel and Finn's direction and then hastily making his way out of the cafeteria.

"Is he alright?" Rachel quickly asked, taking the seat beside Kurt while Finn took the one across from his step-brother which had just been vacated by Sam.

"He seemed a little upset," commented Finn, before beginning to eat his lunch.

"No, there's not. He's fine," Kurt lied easily before Rachel began talking his ear off about something he would have probably been interested in but was now irrelevant.

Kurt knew something must have seriously wrong with Sam if even most of the time clueless Finn could pick up on it.

And the best way he could figure this out would be asking Mercedes.

When Kurt walked into the choir room after school mostly everyone was already there – including just who he had to talk to.

Kurt took the spare seat next to a distracted-looking Mercedes, sitting as far away from Sam as she could, he noticed, staring off into space. "I talked to Sam at lunch today."

The diva's head snapped straight round to face Kurt. "Don't start. Sam and I-we're different, that's all."

"I'm not starting anything," was Kurt's reply to her quick words, "but please don't lie to me, Mercedes." His voice was quiet, almost a whisper and it really couldn't be heard over the talking of the other members. "What happened?" he implored.

But before she could either tell him or refuse, Mr. Schue walked in, that grin on his face that said he had yet another great idea for Sectionals this year and that they would have an assignment this week.

For the second time that day Kurt cursed the timing of the students and staff of McKinley.

He tuned out of the lesson for that day, only noticing that Mr. Schue had wrote 'Self-expression' on the white board, and that the goal of the week was to say what you felt through song, any emotion at all.

Rachel spent the remaining time of the lesson going over with Mr. Schue what songs she could sing so that kept their teacher occupied. Glad of this, Kurt turned to Mercedes but she was caught up in a conversation with Tina and he knew that it was because of his interest in what had happened between herself and Sam.

Mercedes was definitely skillful when it came to avoiding what she didn't want to talk about.

Sam was also caught up in a conversation with Artie and Puck which he half-heartedly seemed to be joining in with – as half-heartedly as Mercedes was acting with Tina - so Kurt discussed the assignment with Finn, who said that he had no idea what he was going to do. The discussion wasn't exactly riveting.

Kurt was glad when Mr. Schue dismissed them, linking arms with Mercedes quickly as they walked out of the choir room. "I'm not letting you go until you tell me what's going on between you and Sam so you'd better spill."

Letting out a sigh, Mercedes walked to an empty classroom, pulled Kurt into it before she herself walked in, closed the door and sat on one of the tables. Kurt did the same, sitting at one opposite her. "You really wanna know?"

"Of course I do."

She sighed again, shaking her head. "It happened last night. We went to the Lima Bean to get some coffee and since we couldn't see any of you guys around we decided to stay for a while," she began, with a trace of a smile on her lips and Kurt knew for sure now that 'differences' were not the reason why she had broken things off. "Everything was good. He did some of his impressions, we talked about when we would let everyone know and just as he kissed me," at the mention of Sam kissing her, Kurt noticed her voice lit up but then her expression completely darkened, "these guys behind us started to say that us dating was 'unnatural' and 'disgusting'.

Kurt felt anger in the pit of his stomach as he watched Mercedes shake her head again, and he heard the tears in her voice that had been threatening to fall. "Why did they find it 'unnatural'?" Kurt asked quietly, afraid of what he would hear in reply.

"Because I'm black and Sam's white."

It was Kurt's turn to shake his head, feeling the anger in himself increase by ten fold as he thought of the ignorance that still prevailed around Lima, Ohio. Of course he knew about it, people didn't think that some things were acceptable, like two guys dating one another or someone who was black dating someone who was white. The hatred that could stem from these things was something he would never be able to understand; deal with, yes, but comprehend why people despised, no he wouldn't be able to.

"What did Sam say to them?" Kurt asked, knowing deep down that the football player would have defended Mercedes and himself, would have defended their relationship.

"He almost punched the guys," replied Mercedes. "I had to literally pull him out of the Lima Bean before he could. He was so angry." She looked down. "I broke up with him this morning. People won't accept us and can you imagine how much worse it would have been had we revealed it to the school?"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Kurt told her. "I've been there and Blaine and I still deal with the taunts, the insults, the threats."

She looked at him. "How do you do it? How do you stay so strong?"

Mercedes Jones, self-proclaimed diva, the strongest girl that Kurt knew, stronger than she knew herself to be, stood in front of him asking how he was strong through it all.

He knew this was wrong. She shouldn't be like this. Now she was and it was scary and it made Kurt – no matter how lacking in physical strengh he may be – want to track these guys down himself and make them feel hurt for a very long time.

Mercedes was still waiting for an answer. "It just makes us stronger. Now everytime someone makes an ignorant comment about us, I only hold Blaine's hand tighter or kiss him that little bit longer. They can't touch us anymore." He remembered the first time he had told Blaine that, at the prom and it was still true.

"Do you think I've made a mistake?" asked Mercedes. "I just let the first guy who ever made me feel beautiful – except for you and my dad – walk away."

Kurt answered with an honest nod. "But," he assured her, "it's not too late. You can fix this, you know."

Mercedes shook her head, quickly picking up her bag. "I don't know. I don't know if I can do it to him or to me. I don't want him to feel like he has to fight for us constantly if he doesn't want to. I would fight for us but-"

"And what if he did want to fight? Because it sounds like he does." Kurt folded his arms and the question stopped Mercedes in her tracks as she stood at the door. She opened it, not answering him, and he didn't try to stop her.

"So tell me why I can't do this in front of the club only?"

Kurt sighed, completely confused by Sam's lack of romance. "Because this is the best way to prove you don't care about anything that anyone says about you two."

Sam nodded, more than alright with that explanation as he held the top of his guitar and walked into the cafeteria, Kurt going in before him and quickly sitting at the same table as Mercedes and most of the Glee club. Nerves did set in but he knew he had to do this.

He wanted Mercedes in his life and he needed her to know that he was ready and willing to stand there with her and would be the luckiest guy if she would just know that.

"Excuse me, can I just..." Sam said to the Cheerios sitting at the table nearest to where she sat. Once standing on the bench, he made his way onto the table, standing, the eyes of the Cheerios on him and all at once he suddenly felt nervous again.

"What the hell are you doing?" one of the girls screeched.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Finn was the first of the Glee club members to notice Sam standing on the table and cocked his eyebrow up in surprise at it.

Sam looked as each of them in turn stared at him, Kurt smirking happily, the rest looking as puzzled as Finn while Mercedes stared at him last, obviously trying to avoid doing so until all the others were brought to attention.

By this time most of the cafeteria had noticed him but he only looked at Mercedes, smiling at her, while she looked unsure at him.

"Well, I just need to say something." He looked down at his guitar. "Or sing something. That might be more appropriate to say." Out of the corner of his eye, beside Mercedes, Sam noticed Kurt clap his hands excitedly and he also noticed she was about to give him a 'what did you do' face, before she was stopped by his next words. "Since we went to New York, Mercedes Jones and I have been in a relationship." Gasps, a few giggles (who they belonged to he didn't know but he wanted to confront those laughing anyway) and a few choruses of 'I knew it' went around the cafeteria, the latter coming from various members of the Glee club. "Some people may find that unbelievable, or unnatural or disgusting." He clenched his fist, quickly, reminded of the jerks in the Lima Bean only four days ago. "But it's not. She's the best thing that's happened to me in the past year here and so, I want her to know that no matter what, I want us to be together and I will fight."

There was a round of 'awws' throughout the room.

"He's going to sing? Right here? In front of the school?" someone asked.

"I, I need this like air in my lungs, this element tears through my bones, it keeps me fighting," he began singing without any warning, playing the guitar smoothly as the words rolled off his tongue, every word with meaning. "Emotions that swim through my veins, a fever that shows in my face that I'm not hiding, well this fire is alive in your eyes. I can barely breathe and I can hear the dark hearts marching and I won't go down easily." The only person Sam focused on was Mercedes, who was still looking at him unsure but also with a small smile. "Hold my hand and kiss me before the hearts collide."

As he went into the second verse, as he played the chords, he made his way carefully off the table, onto the bench and then onto the floor. "Cold, the feeling of fear on my skin, dying to find a way in the silver lining, the stars, they burn out like dreams all around, falling like rain to the ground." He didn't make his way to Mercedes just yet though. He just stood there, staring at her, realising suddenly that he loved her. That he honestly loved her and he wanted her to realise that. He wanted her to see that he would fight for them. "But you're still shining, this fire is alive in your eyes."

He repeated the chorus and that was when he slowly made his way over to stand behind her, everyone else in the club beaming silently at the two of them. Going into the last verse of the song he saw her turn around to face him. "Don't wake me up, I feel your touch, your love like blood runs through me, you consume me," he sang. "I can barely breathe and I can hear the dark hearts marching and I won't go down easily, stay here by my side, and we will be the last ones standing, hold my hand and kiss me." He believed that this last part was what she really had to hear, the emotion, the promise he gave her there. He would fight with all his strength, just for her.

He repeated the chorus, ending the song to the applause of the cafeteria and the cheers of the Glee club. Mercedes sat stunned. Sam slung his guitar round so that it was on his back. He held his hand out to her. "I love you and I want you to know that," he said simply, not caring if everyone heard it, not caring if only those around heard it, only caring that she knew what he said was sincere.

She looked from his hand, to his face, to his hand again and she was reminded of prom, where this entire thing had started. This thing, as she called it being the start of something amazing that she could never have imagined. She took his hand, confident in his song, in the strength it gave her. "I love you too." She stood up, her hand in his and he pulled her in for a kiss.

They would face all these problems together because together there was nothing they couldn't face. They both knew that now.

Disclaimer : Song belongs to Hot Chelle Rae and is called Last One Standing. Link to the live performance I used as reference will be on my profile! Brilliant performance.

I don't know what I want the writers to do with Samcedes in S3 but there is so much; trying to be subtle in hiding the relationship, insecurities, the fact that they are an interracial couple, the possibilities are there and I can't wait to see what they do! That's where this came from.

Also, on the song, I first listened to it when someone on the Glee wiki Sam and Mercedes page said that they could see Sam singing this to Mercedes so I listened to the song, fell in love and knew I would have to write this. So whoever that was I give you credit for getting the idea to use it and I hope, if you read this, you don't hate me for it!

I worked my butt off on this one so please, if you have time, leave a review! :)

WickedSong x