A/N: When I heard that Summer Nights from Grease would be covered on the show, I was so excited, that I had to write about it. And hearing that 30 second clip of Sam and Mercedes singing it had me super excited that I had to incorporate it into a story somehow.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Glee or else the show would be overrun with Samcedes!

Summer Dreams Ripped at the Seams

Mercedes

Mercedes loved being a diva as much as the next girl. Being the center of attention on stage was always something she took joy in, but unlike some of the great divas before her, she never was a fan of being the center of attention in her personal life. Since Sam had come back, making that declaration to fight for her, it got her friends, her current man, and Jacob Ben Israel curious and curiosity wasn't good when it came to her past relationship with Sam.

The very next day, JBI was shoving a microphone in her face and bombarding her with questions. "It would seem, Miss Jones, that you have misled us. Your relationship with Sam Evans appears to have been much more than 'so June'."

She rolled her eyes. Not this fool, again, she thought. It was uncool of him to be asking questions about Sam when her man was right beside her, holding her hand. Sam was back now. It wasn't like she was about to make something up or say hurtful things that she knew for a fact would get back to him. Mercedes had made that mistake at the beginning of the year with the so June comment that seemed to haunt her. It was being thrown back in her face yet again.

"Look, Jacob, don't you have something better to do than be all up in my business? Last I checked, I was just a glee kid. I'm at the low end of the food chain. Why do you care about my past relationships? Shouldn't you be off admiring Rachel?" she avoided the question.

"She always arrives three minutes before the late bell," his high pitched, annoying reply came.

"Baby, why don't you just answer the man so we can be on our way? Tell him it was just a summer fling. It was, wasn't it?" Shane pressed, squeezing her hand.

How anything between her and Sam was anyone else's business was beyond her. Shane was her current boyfriend. He had nothing to do with her past, and she didn't answer to Jacob so why on Earth would she divulge any of her personal business to these two and the whole of McKinley High. "My past, my business. Leave it at that." Because someone might get hurt, she wanted to finish. Letting go of Shane's hand she walked to her locker, grabbing books for class and walking away.

Mercedes wished that that little incident would have been the beginning and end of the Samcedes inquisition, but it wasn't. She'd gotten a text right before lunch from Kurt. Girl time! Lunch in the auditorium? Mercedes quickly agreed, knowing that she'd rather hide away than have to see Shane and talk about Sam with him. It kind of ticked her off that he thought he was entitled to know every sordid detail of her past love life.

When she got to the auditorium, Kurt wasn't alone. All the girls from glee were there – even Sugar. "What's up, guys?" Mercedes asked with a tired sigh.

"I don't know, Wheezy, you tell us," Santana commented.

Oh God another ambush! Mercedes thought. She turned on her heels, fully prepared to walk back out the door. It was useless. Kurt knew her too well. He'd had his hand in hers and his grip tight, holding her there. "You can either stay in here and talk to us, or go out there to face the entire student body that's seen the recent interview, where you look like a deer caught in headlights."

He had her there. Dealing with a few friends was much better than dealing with the judgmental eyes of her classmates, her boyfriend, and Sam. She joined the group on stage as they sat in a circle. "Okay, dish! You and Sam this summer?" Kurt pried, with amusement dancing in his eyes.

Even now, she felt like this shouldn't have been their concern, yet they all wanted to know. "Yeah, we dated. He's sweet." She kept it simple, not wanting to say too much. Mercedes smiled despite herself as she thought of the most wonderful guy she's ever known, let alone dated. That boy's inner beauty had far surpassed his insanely hot physique.

"That we know. He's a hopeless romantic, but how did you get together? When did you get together, and how serious were you?" Quinn questioned.

She didn't know what to answer first. She felt like she was being backed into a corner and she wouldn't be able to fight her way out of it with so many people pushing. Before Mercedes could answer a single question, Santana butted in again. "Forget that. I just want to know how far you two got. Did you let Trouty all up in your play land?"

"Santana!" Rachel chastised. "What she was trying to say was…was…There is no way I can spin that into something more pleasant."

"Just spill, Mercedes! Why all the secrecy. You know just about everything about my relationship with Mike," Tina pointed out.

Thus far Mercedes had been quiet, feeling attacked and pressured. She didn't understand why the entire school was suddenly on her case about one boy that she'd dated before school had gotten started. Finally, she expressed just that. "Why should I have to tell anyone anything? Why is it so important for everyone to hear me say that Sam is the most amazing guy I've ever met? What business is it of yours if I still love him? Does it make you a difference to know that he is so giving and loving that even when he had next to nothing he scraped up money to take me on a proper date?"

"Where'd he take you? How much did he spend?" Sugar asked.

It was like they knew she was hiding something and the more questions they asked, the closer they would be to finding something out. Mercedes sighed exasperatedly, finally realizing how Sandy must have felt in Grease. No matter how much she told them, they wanted more. She laughed, thinking of the date in question. It was one of her fondest memories of their time together.

Spending time with her boyfriend had quickly become Mercedes's favorite past time. It didn't matter what they were doing, whether it be babysitting his siblings, watching a movie, or just having a coffee at the Lima Bean, she always cherished their time together. Having him put his foot down and decided that it was overdue for him to actually take his lady on a date made Mercedes's heart soar. She hated that he was spending money that could have gone to his family on her, but he stubbornly insisted and when he put his mind to something he didn't back down.

When Sam pulled up in front of her favorite restaurant, she was overjoyed. She frowned because it seemed that the kids in Lima only knew about two hangouts– the Lima Bean and Breadstix. This place was a simple burger place that also had karaoke on Thursday nights. Mercedes barely missed a karaoke night here. They knew her by name because she was a regular. When she couldn't shine in New Directions, she sure made her mark here.

"How'd you know about this place?" she asked.

Sam gave her a dubious look. "I do listen when you talk, Mercy." Her heart always fluttered when he called her Mercy. No one else called her that.

Upon entering, Mercedes introduced Sam to everyone. This place felt like a third family to her, where as her glee fam was second. Sometimes these people were more supportive than her New Directions friends. She'd introduced him to the manager, Sherri. The sassy red head hugged them both, while whispering to Mercedes, "I approve. He's hot stuff! Where can I find one?"

Mercedes giggled. It was refreshing to have people know that she, Mercedes Jones, was dating the most wonderful and handsome guy to walk the halls of McKinley High. They were a secret to her friends, but not her karaoke buddies or either of their parents because she knew no drama would follow the revelation.

They ordered burgers and took seats near the stage. It wasn't long before her "soul sisters" Dina and Ari joined them at their table. Right in Sam's presence they gushed over him and Mercedes couldn't help but laugh at how deep a shade of red he was. Her two friends practically forced them onto the stage, and they picked the song for them. When the music started up, Mercedes and Sam looked at each other before laughing. He raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "Well, we are workin' on summer lovin' on most of these summer nights."

Sam took the mike off the stand and started to sing. "Summer lovin' had me a blast."

Mercedes shook her head, smiling before singing as well. "Summer lovin' happened so fast."

Sam walked over to her, caressing her cheek. "I met a girl crazy for me."

"Met a boy cute as can be." Mercedes lightly touched his nose and he smiled.

Instead of singing to the crowd they looked directly at each other. "Summer days driftin' away, to uh-oh those summer nights."

To their utter surprise, the crowd joined in, singing, "Uh Well-a well-a well-a huh. Tell me more, tell me more."

"Did you get very far?" Kevin, a guy Mercy had done a few duets, sang.

"Tell me more, tell me more, like does he have a car?" Dina sang in her best shrill Pink Ladies voice.

"She swam by me, she got a cramp." Sam grinned, finally turning back to the crowd.

Turning as well, Mercedes sang, "He ran by me, got my suit damp."

"I saved her life, she nearly drowned." Sam clutched at his heart as if that would be the worst thing in the world for her to drown.

Mercedes tried to stifle her laughter at his antics and look bored and unimpressed. "He showed off, splashing around."

Looking at each other once more, they sang, "Summer sun, something's begun, but uh-oh those summer nights."

The pair continued singing while the crowd joined in. Mercedes tried hard to stay professional until she started to sing, "He got friendly, holding my hand." Sam grabbed her hand, twined their fingers and kissed the back of her hand. Her soul sisters gave a chorus of "aww", but then her dorky hunk had to go and ruin the moment with the funniest thing of all.

"While she got friendly down in the sand." He waggled his eye brows.

"He was sweet, just turned eighteen."

"Well she was good you know what I mean." Mercedes and the crowd lost it when Sam did an over exaggerated suggestive thrust.

They'd missed a couple of lines because of their laughter, but Sherri got them back on the right track as she belted out, "Tell me more, tell me more. Could [he] get me a friend?"

Mercedes's voice soften, taking on the sad tone. "It turned colder - that's where it ends."

The diva snapped out of her reverie then as she realized how true the song had been. What she and Sam had shared was much more than a summer fling. It was a series of wonderful summer nights, sharing laughs and touches, kisses and hugs. They'd learned so much about one another, explored so much with one another, and given so much of themselves to one another. In such a short time, they'd fallen for each other, and they still were.

"Diva, is there something wrong?" Kurt asked.

Mercedes couldn't take the staring as all eyes were on her. She didn't want to divulge their special night with anyone. What happened at Sherri's burger shack was special and untainted by judgmental views of their friends. All summer had been theirs, and she wanted to keep it that way.

"I can't be here right now." She hopped off the stage and headed for the door, escaping into the hall where finally she could breathe.

Sam

"Who broke up with who, Evans? If you broke Sexy Mama's heart, I will pound you to a pulp," Puck threatened as they sat at lunch.

"I told her we'd still be friends," Sam admitted to the glee guys.

"And did you guys keep in touch after you left? Or did you just drop MJ like a bad habit?" Artie demanded to know. They wanted to know so much that he wasn't willing to tell. Sam didn't understand the importance of their line of questioning. Yes, they loved Mercy, but as far as they knew, it was over between them.

"Where are the girls?" Sam asked, realizing it was just the guys having lunch today.

"Probably grilling Mercedes for information too," Mike said.

Sam just shook his head. No one needed to know about their late night Skype chats after he'd gotten settled in at his grandparents' house. It wasn't like they planned for it to happen, and Mercedes was always there when he needed her. When things got bad, she was there for him.

Sam sat at his grandfather's computer, pulling up Facebook. He had every intention of checking in on his friends – mainly Mercedes – when the girl in question popped up for a chat on Skype. As soon as the video box popped up, he saw those beautiful chocolate brown eyes and that shy smile. Sam's heart was racing.

"Sam," she breathed. "Hey."

That sappy in love grin had crept across his face then. "Beautiful Mercy. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too."

It was true that they'd agreed long distance wasn't for them, but they talked on the phone almost every night, and now that he had access to a computer he had every intention of Skyping her as much as possible. She took his breath away, and there was no way he'd ever pass up seeing her and hearing her voice in any form.

"How are you?" she asked.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Things haven't been going that great. Too many mouths to feed here, too much electricity and water being used. We're a burden, so I got a better job to help carry my family's load here."

"That's great, right? What are you doing?"

"I start work at a club…as…a stripper." He hung his head, feeling lower than low. He was selling himself so that his family could eat and not drag his grandparents down into the same depth of debt that they'd experienced.

"Sam, you're doing what you have to do. I'm proud of you for always sacrificing for your family."

He looked up then and he could tell she was being honest. "So…could you help me with my moves? You know like give me pointers? Oh yeah and help me come up with a name? I start in a week."

"You mean to tell me, you want me to watch you strip for seven days straight?" She bit her lip, and Sam had to admit it was turning him on. "Oh yeah, I can do that." Her voice dropped to a seductive purr.

Sam snapped out of the dirty path his mind was going down before he wound up embarrassing himself at lunch. His friends didn't need to know that there wasn't a day that went by that he and Mercy didn't talk. They didn't need to know that he knew about Shane, but didn't see him as much of a threat because every night she'd proclaimed her love to him over Skype.

The guys were still hounding him, but he wasn't going to listen anymore. Instead, he got up discarding his tray and walking into the hall. When he saw her there, he smiled. They were walking in opposite directions. As they passed, he grabbed her hand lacing their fingers for just a second before letting go. Mercedes gave him that secret smile that he knew was only for him as she passed him by.

Sam knew that they were playing with fire. He knew that Mercedes was attached, and she wouldn't just drop Shane because she didn't want to hurt him. But Sam couldn't let her go. He knew that even if he couldn't have her physically, he would take stolen moments and Skype conversations until she was ready. Even though their summer dreams had been ripped at the seams, it was those summer nights that they just couldn't let go.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!