Day 8:

Mercedes' Office

Downtown San Francisco

It had been a long and tiring day. So much had needed to be sorted out and it never amazed her how others failed to cover her whenever she was absent. And yet despite her piles of work she still managed to find time to let her mind drift to a certain young man who was adamant that he wanted to get to know her better. A man who made her feel things she didn't think she was capable of feeling.

Sinking back against her leather chair she kicked off her shoes under her desk. It was seven thirty and everyone else had long gone. Much as it annoyed her to have to stay behind, she always achieved far more in an empty office. Plus with the extended lunch break she'd taken it was only fair. Her computer screen suddenly darkened from inactivity and she quickly roused herself, shaking the mouse to light up the spreadsheet again. Seconds later her eyes went back down to her phone. She'd spent a good chunk of the previous night on it talking to Sam about nothing in particular until her eyes had become too heavy to fight sleep. Something about him calmed and relaxed her like nothing else. Today they just seemed to keep missing each other. There'd been a couple of texts in the morning, but she'd had her phone on silent during lunch, missing a call from him, and when she came back to her office and tried to return the call it went to voicemail and remained that way. He was either without reception or battery.

And he worst part was that she missed him like crazy. Touching the screen softly she thought back to her long lunch...

The call from her father was hardly unexpected. After having ignored his text after she'd cancelled the first appointment she was sure that his long-time friend Rutherford would have filled him in on the dramatic events of the previous day. Only he would have been given only part of the story.

She noted the way he looked at her now ring free finger as she kissed him in greeting and they took their seats at the seafood restaurant. "We haven't been here in ages!"

"I know." Blaine took his napkin and folded it neatly across his lap. "Seafood has always been one of your favorites."

She nodded. "We went to the buffet at the Rio. It was really good."

Noting the way his eyebrow raised slightly at the mention of the word 'we', she paused and waited. If this had been Kurt, he would have been right in there shamelessly asking questions, but her father always had this way of holding back until she practically blurted out what she needed to say. But this time she wasn't going to do that. He had nearly made her make a huge mistake and she needed to get to the bottom of why even though she had her suspicions.

"You know I'm not a fan of buffets. I like my food freshly cooked to order. Quality over quantity."

"Yes I know that."

There was a slightly awkward pause. "You look tired."

"Yeah well I didn't get too much sleep last night."

Another pause.

"I heard you made rather a dramatic exit from Matt's office!"

"Yeah I guess you could say that."

He reached across and took her left hand in his. "Look. I came to say I'm sorry for what I made you do and what went down. I'd hoped-"

"I'm not!"

His head cocked to the side. "Huh?"

"I said I'm not. Not sorry that is."

"Why not."

"Because I finally understand what you were trying to do."

"What was I trying to do?"

"Protect me."

"You're a grown woman. You don't need protecting."

"Mostly true. But I guess I have to admit there are occasions when I need protecting from myself."

"I just don't like to see you hurt."

"And I don't like to be hurt! I don't like to feel forced into a corner. I don't like to be forced to make a decision before I feel I'm ready for it!"

Blaine bowed his head. "I came over too heavy with my ultimatum. I never expected the feelings between you and him to be so mutual so quickly."

"So I'm guessing you were also told about the kiss?"

He nodded. "This wasn't supposed to be painful for you. It was supposed to be a clean break before any attachments happened."

"When it comes to my life, nothing ever goes the way it's supposed to."

"I was only trying to help."

"And you did."

His eyes narrowed. "I did?"

"I thought back to our conversation over dim sum. You said you were worried about what he was feeling for me, but I understand now that you were really talking about my feelings for him."

"It doesn't matter which way round it went. You still ended up getting hurt."

She shrugged. "A little yes. I did end up losing my husband."

Blaine squeezed her hand. "And for that I am truly sorry."

She nodded silently before smiling back at him. "But I did gain something."

His eyes questioned her silently as he waited for her to clarify.

"My leaving that office isn't the end of the story. Sam followed me to the airport and we were finally honest with each other. I may have lost a husband but I've gained a boyfriend and a new honest relationship. I see now why you forced my hand. I needed to admit to myself how much I needed this and that only happened when I was faced with the prospect of losing him."

"So you're still together?"

She nodded again with a teary smile. "I understand now that you forcing me to end things wasn't to hurt me. It was to make choose what I really wanted. For me to discover if what I feel for Sam is strong enough for me to stand up to you."

"And is it?"

"Absolutely!"

Blaine leaned forward to caress her cheek. "That's lucky because Kurt's been giving me hell over this. I trusted that you would work out the right thing to do but he was worried that your heart wasn't healed enough for you to take leap of faith and trust another man with your heart."

"Uncle Kurt has nothing to be worried about daddy. I got this."

The sound of her phone ringing snapped her back from her memories and yet again out of habit she moved the mouse to wake up her screen. A picture of her and Sam kissing at the piano bar flashed up on her phone and she immediately grabbed it to answer.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself!" She bit her bottom lip, feeling like a giddy teenager. "How was your day?"

"It was good. Spent some time with Puck, travelled around a bit. Got some last second souvenirs and stuff."

"That's great. I'm sorry I missed your call earlier."

"No problem. I figured you must have been busy. Besides we'd already arranged to speak again tonight."

"And now we are!"

"Yep we are! So what are you doing right now?"

"I'm still at the office. I'm thinking of ordering some take out because I might be a while."

She could have sworn she heard him smile. "Sounds like a great idea."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No. But I'm starving. I'm about to have some Chipotle."

"That's not fair! I could totally do with some Chipotle right now!"

"I heard they have them in San Francisco too."

"I know. But it wouldn't be the same without you."

Again she heard a smile in his voice. "Yeah I was hoping you might say that."

Suddenly there was a knock on her office door. "Hold on Sam, there's someone here."

"No problem. I'm not going anywhere."

Holding the phone against her ear she padded over to the door. "Who is it?"

"Delivery!"

The voice echoed strangely and seemed slightly familiar. She wasn't expecting any deliveries but something made her open the door anyway. Gasping at the sight she nearly dropped her phone. There stood Sam with a take out Chipotle bag in his hand. "Special delivery for Miss Mercedes Jones!"

"Wha- what are you even doing here? You're supposed to be in Vegas!"

"What no hello kiss?"

She reached for a fistful of his shirt, pulling him down for a deep kiss. It was what she'd needed all day. That and the Chipotle. He returned the kiss, deepening it as he caught her bottom lip between his teeth. "Now that's what I call a welcome!"

Reaching up she touched his face. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Neither can I. Vegas wasn't the same without you. Puck can handle the last couple of days on his own and it's been years since I came to San Francisco so I decided to end my vacation here instead!"

Lost for words, she simply reached up and kissed him again before diving for the Chipotle bag and assessing the contents. Within minutes they were both on her couch with food containers all around them, acting as if this was something they did every single day of their lives and knowing that's precisely what she wanted. They could handle the distance and whatever else that would be thrown at them as long as they stayed together and stayed strong.

Mercedes smiled softly to herself as she watched Sam wipe a smudge of sauce off his chin with the back of his hand, knowing that her life was about to change forever.

Because there was no way in the world that she could have possibly foreseen that a spontaneous seven days in Vegas would be the start of something amazing…

I know people were expecting me to continue this but I lost my muse on this one although I may eventually do a sequel to fill in the gaps. As the seven days are over it's technically complete anyway.

I posted on Tumblr recently about fixing up my work and will post more of an explanation later about Familiar Faces.