Wait For Us,

Written by WickedSong.

Disclaimer : I do not own 'Glee' nor do I own 'Somewhere' from the musical 'West Side Story.' This came to me yesterday after watching 'I Am Unicorn' and relating everything, as I do, to Samcedes. Thoughts, feelings, would be appreciated and are highly sought after. Enjoy :)

She receives the flowers on the eve of her sing off with Rachel. Ten long red roses delivered to her door and the smile lights up her face as she thinks of Shane, her wonderful, loving, always reliable boyfriend of three months. It's just like him to be behind this sweet display of support. He's the one telling her that she deserves to be a star and that she has to go for it in order for it to become a reality - now she's going to make it so, tomorrow when she kicks the ass of the self-entitled diva, Rachel Berry.

Constantly there have been reasons from Mr. Schue, Finn, Rachel herself as to why she is the star that always has the chance to burn brightest, but tomorrow it is her turn to shine like she has always wanted. It will be worth it when she's Maria, and is allowed the chance to stand in front of her peers, her friends and her family and sing the memorable classics from West Side Story. People have always been quick to put her into a box, a category, to tell her what she can and cannot be or do. Tomorrow she changes that.

She puts the flowers to one side, smiling at the colourful vibrance they bring to her room as she runs over the song for the diva off tomorrow afternoon once again. There's no doubt in her mind that Rachel is doing the exact same thing and in order to be better - or at least better than better (which everyone else will just see as on par with the brassy girl with Broadway on the mind, especially Mr. Schue) she has to practice as much as she can. She is not lazy, and she is proving it now, knowing she'll always resent Mr. Schue for that hasty and unfair assumption days ago.

All the while she fails to note a note sticking to the back of the flowers, her name quickly scrawled across the front.

"Thanks for the flowers last night," Mercedes says when she first sees Shane that morning as she holds his hand in hers. The boy smiles at her kindly but confusion does cross his face.

Mercedes had brought them with her, to put in her locker for some sort of good luck charm for her audition. Shane takes them from her and carries them, a proper gentleman, she notes, just like-

She stops herself. His name is never meant to cross her mind.

Quickly nodding and joining back in the conversation just as Shane puts the flowers in her locker she's surprised to hear him say, "They're beautiful babe, but I didn't send them." He chuckles. "Maybe it was one of your glee friends."

She shakes her head. "Not likely," is the bitter reply. "I think they all agree with Schue."

Shane takes her hands in his and kisses her forehead. They're not a big fan of the whole PDA thing and keep that to a minimum, opting to hold hands in the hallways instead of making out like the algal bloom that has been known to be 'Finchel.' "Well then they're stupid," he assures her. "I'm sure it was Kurt or Tina who sent you them, maybe even Quinn. You said she was back in the glee club?"

The first bell goes and while Mercedes has it off Shane has stuff to do before football recruiters visit the school. He bids her goodbye with a kiss pressed to her cheek and then turns up the corridor out of sight. Once he is, Mercedes turns back to the flowers in her locker and examines them. They're a deep shade of red, long stemmed and she'll probably end up keeping one or two in her locker as decoration. If only she could figure out who gave her them. She looks for some sort of hint but always manages to avoid that note somehow.

She closes the locker door resigned to living in mystery and turns to the choir room where Brad should be for one final run through of her callback piece.

She's hurriedly shoving books back in her locker before going to change into her outfit specially picked for her callback having to be in the auditorium in little over a half an hour. She's going so quickly she's not even giving any thought to the mysterious person who sent her the flowers. She almost knocks the entire bouquet over and has the quick idea to put them back in her car, but thinks better of it, opting to do so when she's leaving for home after the audition.

She's closing her locker when a piece of paper falls out, gracefully falling to the floor. Her interest piqued she slams the door shut and picks it up. The hallway is deserted so she takes a moment to see her name across it. In his handwriting.

No, it wasn't Shane who sent her the flowers.

It was that infruatingly romantic boy from Tennessee, with the blonde hair, and the crooked smile and the perfect…everything.

She's tempted to throw the note, letter, whatever it is he's sent with the flowers away but she calms down considerably quickly and reconsiders her options. She can read it. It won't hurt. It's not like he's ever coming back, it's not like she could still be in lo-have feelings for-him anyway. She has Shane now.

Shane. Reliable. Shane. Loyal. Shane. Caring. Shane. Love?

It's too soon for love, she tells herself. It's always too soon for love.

For a minute she wonders how in the hell he managed to get a letter and flowers from Kentucky to Lima and she knows, she knows, someone has helped him. He's sent the letter to them and then they've moved it along. Whoever did so will have to remain a mystery for now however. She steels herself and makes her way to the bathroom. She refuses to look at the thing until after the audition, until after she's kissed Shane goodbye and is no longer holding his hand, until she's had her dinner, until she's acted normal in talking to her parents, until she's alone in her room and memories of warm summer nights with him can no longer be pushed aside and trust her, she's tried.

But all decisions go out the window with the thing on her mind. Calm down, she tells herself, it's a letter, not a nuclear bomb or explosive, calm down. She's putting something else in her bag and fate is messing with her because she keeps pulling out the letter accidentally, until it becomes clear that fate is persistant and will not leave her alone until she's opened it.

So, against her better judgement, she opens the note and scans it quickly, scans the familiar handwriting as a pang in her chest hits her. His handwriting. And God, it is crazy, as crazy as he could be, but she swears it smells like him. Faintly. If she lets herself remember, it's almost as if she can breathe him in. Her eyes are closed and it's like he's there with her.

Opening her eyes she's faced with the stark reality that he's not.

She shakes her head, ridding herself of the childish, fairytale-like thought for as long as she can.

And then she reads.

"There's a time for us, someday a time for us, time together with time to spare." I hope those are the right lyrics, if not, I'm gonna have to find the owner of Google and give him a good punch in the face for making me look like an ass when I'm trying to be…well, I don't know really.

She laughs, unrestrained, full of joy, he's still as dorky as she remembers, and maybe even more adorable. But somehow through all that the lyrics he has written hit her heart in a way she can't explain. She still remembers his promise. But she never took it seriously. Never thought that one day he'd-

What? Come back? Get real Mercedes and read the rest of this, a voice in her head warns and she does so.

This is just my way of saying good luck. I know, I know, we're meant to be not talking to make this whole thing easier but Quinn told me about Ea-West Side Story…

She notes he made the mistake but instead of erasing it kept it in, probably as a way to make her remember how endearing he was. Well it's not working, she tries to tell herself, you are not standing with the biggest grin on your face, Mercedes Jones stop it now!

…and I knew I had to wish you luck. Not that you need it. You are Maria. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Please.

All my love, Sam xxx

She doesn't know what to make of this. She has tried and tried but there is something about him that is hard to shake. He is calling out to her. She feels like something was missing. Not just by her side but in glee. She looks for him but he isn't there when Rachel is rambling on as she is prone to do. She goes to dance with him during a group practice but finds someone else instead.

Before she can think it through anymore however the bathroom door opens and Tina's head peeks around. She smiles at her. "Everyone's in the auditorium and Rachel's getting antsy. Just thought you should know."

Mercedes gives a quick nod, trying to contain everything she feels. Sam's face runs through her head and she has to suppress the urge to simultaneously laugh and cry.

"Are you okay?" asks Tina. "I'll wait outside."

Mercedes only nods and goes to stuff some other stuff in her bag, the note still in her hand, as she clings to it for what seems to be dear life.

She's just about to stick it in her jacket pocket but she feels the inherent need to read it one last time to help her - maybe this is the good luck charm she needs.

She notices something at the end this time that she hadn't seen before.

P.S. Wait for us.

I was just inspired when it hit me that this song could be so related to the period that they were apart. I fully believe that Sam told her never to give up on them and that he never did either, even with a state line and four hours between them.

WickedSong x