A/N: Okay so this is my very first FanFiction...EVER. I was just super inspired (and deeply heartbroken) about the news of Samcedes split in Glee S4, but mostly inspired by the couples infamous Summer Lovin' duet from the musical Grease. So I set this story in the time period in which Grease was set, the 1950's. I titled it Human Nature b/c of our fav couple's first lovely duet together, but also b/c of the race issues of the time, which of course will come into play into the story. The first few chapters will be pretty tame of foul language and sex references, but all of that will be thrown out the window eventually. I hope you guys like it, feedback is of course welcome. I do not own Glee or any works by William Shakespeare.

In the old age black was not counted fair,

Or if it were, it bore not beauty's name;

But now is black beauty's successive heir,

And beauty slandered with a bastard shame:

For since each hand hath put on Nature's power,

Fairing the foul with Art's false borrowed face,

Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower,

But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.

Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black,

Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem

At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,

Sland'ring creation with a false esteem:

Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,

That every tongue says beauty should look so.

Mercedes Jones hadn't been home to Ohio since 1951. She had left in search of higher education up in Canada and had planned to stay there; until that faithful day when her landlord had dropped off her mail and she found the letter from her mother stating that her grandmother was terribly ill. She had to go back. She had no idea how much time her beloved grandmother had left. Although she wrote her family on monthly, sometimes weekly basis, she was still rather anxious about seeing them.

As she drove into Lima city limits she couldn't help but slow down to see how much her little town had changed in 5 years. As she drove into the downtown area she marveled at how little things had changed. It comforted her in a small way, to know that her hometown was still the same, but frightened her also. She recalled being denied entry into many stores because of her race, having to walk off of the sidewalk if a white person was also on it, not being able to go to the good schools because of segregation.

But there were good memories too; she had her first date with Matt Rutherford at the diner when she was a senior in high school, or sneaking into the drive-in movie with her friends on warm Saturday nights. As she cruised to a halt in front of her parents tiny two bedroom house, she nervously fixed her hair and clothes in the rearview mirror, flew out the last of her cigarette, and took one last calming breath before exiting her 1947 Chevrolet and walk up the dirt walkway to her parents modest home and knocking on the door. She smoothed down her fitted navy blue sheath dress one last time before the door opened and she was greeted by the brown eyes of her mother.

"My baby!" Dorothy Jones exclaimed as she enveloped her daughter into a tight hug.

"Hi mama." Mercedes sighed as she let herself melt into the hug.

"Dorothy! Dorothy who that at the door? Is she here?" Mercedes heard her father yell from the back of the house.

"Yes Robert, it's her!" Dorothy yelled back to her husband as she let Mercedes into the house and shut the door.

"Is that my little Fatty Bread?" Robert asked as he rounded the corner, wiping cooking oil off of his hands with a towel, and was soon followed by her older brother Robert Jr.

"Yes daddy it's me." Mercedes forced a laugh at the old nickname.

"Well she's not Fatty Bread anymore pop's. Look at her! Like a negro Jayne Mansfield." Her brother laughed, but with a slightly shocked look on his face.

Yes Mercedes had been very chubby growing up, being showered in soul food, and not growing into her weight like her brother; she was short and a pudgy when she left for university. But being away from her mother's home cooking, and having to deal with the stress of being not only in College but in a different country, left Mercedes more than a little stressed the first year. The stress however, was a blessing in disguise; her 'baby fat' melted into sensual curves as she grew a few inches taller. As she noted that her clothes were falling off of her, she picked up a new wardrobe along with her new diet. Although she now had the body of a curvaceous bombshell, she was still a little insecure in her own skin; she had spent 19 years of her life being the heavier girl. This new body took some getting used to.

"Oh cool it Robbie." Mercedes giggled as she swatted her brother's arm.

"Hey I'm just speaking the word from the bird." Robbie laughed as he hugged his baby sister.

"Well you always be my Fatty Bread! Don't care what anyone say." Robert said as he engulfed his only daughter in hug.

She really hadn't realized how much she had missed her family until now. Being back in their family home, with them, it just felt right.

"So how's me-maw?" Mercedes asked, concerning her grandmother. She was anxious to see her; they didn't say what was wrong with her in the letter Mercedes received. "She been better these last few days. But I think its cause she knew you was coming." Dorothy said as she smiled weakly at her daughter.

Mercedes nodded her head in understanding. She knew what her mother was getting at; it had been years since she had seen her family, much less visit her hometown. She was very close with them but her grandmother especially, she could feel the cloud of guilt wash over her as she stood there thinking about how she had lived her life away from her loved ones.

"Where is she?" Mercedes asked.

"She in the last room on the left." Robert answered, pointing down the hall as he moved back into the kitchen to finish cooking.

Mercedes made her way into the dimly lit room and paused as she saw how tiny and frail her grandmother looked under several blankets in the bed. She had to choke back a sob as she took her in; she looked almost nothing like the sturdy, heavyset woman she grew up with.

She slowly made her way to the side of the bed, trying not to wake her from her peaceful slumber. She had just made it to the side of the bed when she noticed her grandmother stirring awake.

"Is that my lil angel?" her grandmother Barbara asked as she looked up at Mercedes.

"Yes ma'am, it's me." Mercedes chuckled at the nickname she actually missed hearing.

"Well c'mere gal. Lemme look at ya." Barbara demanded as she sat herself up. Mercedes noticed that while she looked like a weaker shell of her former self she still sounded the exact same, a soothing voice that somehow commanded power at the same time.

Mercedes went and grabbed a nearby handmade wooden chair, placed it as close to the bed as she could before sitting down.

"Look at baby. All growed up." Barbara said as he took in the sight of her favorite granddaughter.

Mercedes grasped her grandmother's hand while trying to hide a shy smile.

"How are you holding up memaw?" She asked.

"Well I's still up walkin and talkin. So I's say I's blessed." Barbara replied with a smile as she squeezed Mercedes hand. She could tell her granddaughter was worried about her health and that was why she was there, she could also see the tears starting to form in corner of Mercedes eyes as she struggled to hide them behind a smile.

"But I's know how I's doin. I wanna hear bout you and that fancy schoolin you got up North." Barbara changed the subject.

Mercedes took a deep breath before responding, struggling to keep her voice from breaking.

"It was really good memaw. Canada is great, and the school was amazing. There were so many class options that were open to everyone. The people there were extremely warm and welcoming. And it was surprisingly easy to get around there, you know, with no 'Colored Only' signs making things more difficult." Mercedes gushed.

"Hmm. Sound like heaven to me." Barbara said with a bright smile, happy to see that the subject change had set her granddaughter in the right mood.

"I wouldn't say that. I don't think heaven gets as cold as Vancouver." Mercedes and her grandmother laughed.

"Okay memaw enough of the distractions. Tell me what's wrong with you." Mercedes asked her grandmother seriously.

Barbara took a deep sigh before responding.

"I's sick lil angel, real sick. Somethin the midwife call Cancer."

Mercedes gasped as she clamped a hand over her mouth, tears immediately returning to her brown eyes.

"It's okay baby, ev'ryone gots to go sometime. Don't you be sad about that Mercedes Amber Jones. I's damn near 85 years old. The good lord done blessed me with a long, good life. I done seen some things, some and good and bad; but I's wouldn't change a thing about it. So you just go 'on and dry them there tears, ya hear." Barbara told her granddaughter sternly as she wiped at some of the tears that streamed down Mercedes face.

Mercedes obediently nodded her head and wiped her hand across her face. Once she calmed down about half an hour later, she and Barbara started talking more about Mercedes life in Canada and how it differed drastically from her upbringing in Ohio and that lead to the two women laughing and reminiscing on Mercedes childhood.

"You remember that there white family me and your mama worked for?" Barbara asked her granddaughter as their mutual giggles finally settled down.

"Um, yes ma'am, the Evans." Mercedes clarified, a little confused as to why her grandmother was bringing up the people she hadn't seen since before she left for school.

"Well that boy of theirs has been by to see me. Sam." Barbara said as she smoothed out her blanket. She her granddaughter had carried a torch for the cute little white when she was growing up, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

"Oh he has? That's sweet of him." Mercedes said, trying to keep her voice even, she would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about Sammy Evans and his family in the short time she had been in town.

They were extremely kind to her and her family growing up. While most other white families would've turned their noses up at the poor black family, the Evans treated them like kin. She played freely amongst the grounds of the Evan estate alongside Sammy, his brother and sister Stevie and Stacy, the prissy but sweet Quinn Fabray, Artie Abrams, who was crippled at a young age due to polio, the stereotypical ditsy blonde, Brittany Pierce, Brittany's close Latina friend and all around bully Santana Lopez, the unnaturally tall Finn Hudson, and Sammy's Jewish friend Noah Puckerman. Mrs. Evans would often fondly joke that she had the mini United Nations running around her house. Mercedes had fond memories of those times; she shared her first kiss with little Sammy Evans at age 16 behind the huge oak tree in his backyard during her 16th birthday which the Evans so kindly helped with, she had her first ever fight with Santana Lopez when she was 13, she went down but got in her fair share of hits, her first time in a swimming pool was when Brittany and Puck taught her how to swim. She chuckled inwardly as she remembered pushing Artie around in his wheelchair as they played hide and seek with the younger Evans children, or when she and Quinn tried and failed to give one another makeovers to resemble pin-ups.

"Yes he has, and he had asked me if you was comin' down here." Barbara said as she closely watched her granddaughter's reaction. Mercedes was snapped out of her memory daze as she heard her grandmother's words.

"He-he asked about me? Why?" Mercedes asked with deep confusion.

"Do I look like a mind reader? You gone have to ask him when ya see him, now aint cha?" Barbara demanded with a slight chuckle. Mercedes giggled nervously and was about to respond until she heard her mother calling her name. She excused herself from Barbara's presence, and went to tend to her mother.

"That your Chevy out there?" Dorothy asked her daughter, never looking up from dicing onions in the small kitchen.

"Yes ma'am, its mine." Mercedes stated simply.

"Hey sis how'd you get that chariot of yours?" Robbie asked from the couch in the living room where he sat listening to the radio with their father.

"How else would I have gotten it germ. I bought it." Mercedes said back to her brother as he was now looking out of the window at her car.

"Mm-hmm. Where'd you get the bread for that kind of car?" Robbie asked as he eyed his baby sister suspiciously. He didn't want to find out that his sister had some sugar daddy giving her things just so he could show her off like some accessory.

"Are you writing a book? I was talking to mama before you so rudely interrupted, so either pay dead or tune out!" Mercedes said as she placed a hand on her hip, challenging her brother.

"Hey easy there ankle biter, why so salty? I was only trying to get the skinny on your new rod." Robbie explained, trying to calm his sister who he knew could get as sassy and brazen as their mother.

"Whatever bug." Mercedes mumbled as she turned back to her mother who was too busy buzzing around the kitchen to noticed her children's conversation.

"Oh thank the lord, here it is." Dorothy exclaimed as she handed her daughter a piece of paper with a list of food on it.

"Go 'on and get that stuff for me so I can have it for dinner tomorrow." Dorothy demanded.

Mercedes gave her brother one last side eye as she walked out of the door to her car and drove to the nearby grocery store. She kept looking around at the people present in the store to see if any faces rang a bell, she was so busy looking at the back of a tanned skin woman when she suddenly collided with a tall hard body. She stumbled forward but was steadied by the strong pale hands of the stranger she had run into, both of them apologizing until they finally met eyes and Mercedes swore at that moment her heart had stopped.

"Mercedes? Mercedes Jones?" the handsome blonde with alluring green eyes asked hopefully.

"Sammy." Mercedes gasped breathlessly.

So what do you think? The way I picture Mercedes for this story is like Joan from Mad Men, the classic and sentual hourglass figure that was popular for the time period, but still a little thicker. Kurt will DEF be coming into the story as her bestie of course, but I'm debating whether or not Berry should be in it, and if so what type of role she will play into the upcoming character dynamics. Please leave feedback. THANKS!