"Hold on, I'm on my way…Quinn, Please!" Mercedes hissed, while her friend whined about how five minutes late she was for their coffee date. Trying to quicken her pace in her four inch heels that she mistakenly wore, Mercedes clutched her purple Birkin bag that her father bought her for graduation closer to her body, so none of her papers from class would fly away in the October breeze.

"I'm passing 60th street right now…" Mercedes looked over Central Park and it made her go into a daze while Quinn was scolding her, although she has seen it over 100 times in the past four years. She still couldn't believe that she was in New York, living the life she had always wanted…Well, almost. She had made a checklist of the things she had wanted to accomplish by the time she was 30 and she had finished two-thirds of them by 23. Go to College? She had just finished a degree of Open Arts at NYU and was continuing her graduate education there. Live in a lush apartment? That has a mid-check next to it. Quinn and Mercedes share an underwhelming, but luckily two-bedroom apartment in Queens borough and their neighbors are a senile old man who never picks up after his dog and a couple who argue as loudly as they make love.

The last thing on the list was to be in a relationship and technically, she has more than one. Mercedes and Quinn are best friends. The coffee dates they have are so important because in between school and work, they are like passing ships in their home and Mercedes' remorse for being late was growing the closer she got to Starbucks. Also, she talks to Kurt all the time on the phone. Kurt moved to L.A. to be with Blaine transferring from Parsons to FIDM in the process. She missed him all the time, but she didn't want to be needy. Partially, because she didn't want Kurt to feel bad for leaving but mostly for herself. She never wanted to be dependent on anyone, ever. Mercedes wanted to have the strength to leave anyone who held her down behind, even those she loved dearly. It sounds harsh, but her dreams became number one to her after seeing Rachel Berry receive her Tony Award nomination. Mercedes knew it was unbecoming to still feel like she was in competition with Berry after all of these years, but getting an invite to her headlining Broadway play in the mail just seemed like a dig at her. Seeing Rachel grace her cocky behind all over the stage and hearing her admittedly pitch-perfect voice resound in the huge auditorium forced everyone to respect her. Rachel worked immensely hard and she deserved all of her success, despite how annoying she was. Rachel had a goal and she made sacrifices to attain it. She was living her dream because of it.

Mercedes gripped the handle of the glass door and searched for the Columbia University logo on Quinn's Laptop. Mercedes quickly walked over to the booth that Quinn was in. The article Quinn was currently devouring reflected off the lens of her glasses. When Mercedes sat down, Quinn placed a large Mocha towards Mercedes' direction without looking at her.

"Quinn—" Mercedes started.

"Save it. I needed more time to study anyway. Lerkin's class is a nightmare." Quinn shut her laptop. "Plus, I know you didn't mean to be late." Quinn lightly palmed Mercedes' hand before smoothing her blonde hair back into a ponytail. It had just grown back to it's original length and she was still getting used to it. Quinn's dainty fingers was just about to grip her own hot coffee, when Mercedes' phone buzzed. Quinn rolled her eyes. They agreed to turn off their phones for their meetings. It was just their time. Mercedes made apologetic eyes at her bothered friend but could help but beam when she saw who just texted her.

"Lemme guess," Quinn raised her hands on the table, made them a bridge for her chin and sang sweetly, eyelashes fluttering "James."

The closest Mercedes had gotten to becoming a star was in the a Choir room of a Sunday Church in Brooklyn, where all of the kids she taught thought she shined brighter than anyone and there was James. Mercedes and James met during their Sophomore year at NYU. They collaborated on a project they had for one of their classes and later, most of the remixes and originals James made in his dorm room. James was an amazing rapper; his flow was subtle and his rhymes were clever. Mercedes singing over James' rhymes was like pouring gravy on Mashed Potatoes and often times their performances would turn out full houses. They worked together so frequently, that Mercedes developed a little crush on him.

"What does it say?"

"Nothing. He just wanted to tell me 'Hello'." Mercedes smiled to herself.

"Ugh, okay."

"What, you don't believe me?"

"I haven't believed you since that day I caught you…" Quinn's green eyes shifted to Mercedes while leaning in to whisper "Jamesing yourself."

Mercedes recalled the embarrassing event herself. She was in her tiny bedroom, listening to one his love raps and thought of them in the recording studio. The way he would lick his thick lips while listening to a new beat he wanted to try. His olive skin garnering beads of sweat due to that feeling of nervousness he got with a finished product. His long fingers grazing the switchboard so carefully, so tenderly, then he would scratch his thick dark scruff. But there was nothing more sexy than listening to him rap and sing. James had this swagger in his voice that was so commanding, it could hypnotize any woman. On that day, she let herself fall under the spell, so deep that she couldn't help but touch herself. Mercedes had the music up so loud that she couldn't hear anything but James rapping to her. Quinn opened the door to Mercedes' room to find her with her black bra loosened and her hand deep into her matching underwear, saying what sounded like 'James' and Quinn would not be convinced otherwise. Both of them swore that incident would never leave their apartment, so Mercedes was peeved with Quinn for mentioning it outside of their territory.

"I'm sorry, but you can't deny your feelings for that boy." Quinn wiggled her eyebrows while sipping from her mug. Mercedes laughed so that when her golden hoops hit the morning light through the blinds, the reflection on the wall looked like twinkling stars.

Mercedes shook her head and while curling her hair in her fingers "It's not feelings. It's just attraction. Like you and Professor Milton…"

"Hey! Hey! I am over 18, that makes me a legal adult, meaning I can date whomever I so choose. Plus, it's not against the University code…just frowned upon."

"Spoken like a true lawyer."

"Guilty." Quinn said while green eyes said something mischievous. Quinn has tried to explain her relationship with her professor on multiple occasions with no avail, so she has given up.

Then a few awkward strums of a guitar was heard in the crowded coffee shop.

"What was that? I didn't know they allowed performances in here." Mercedes' eyes peered over the people to see who was playing.

"They probably don't. It's just some bum trying to get discovered or something. I hate it when people think New York is an immediate audition for American Idol."

"Rachel Berry did and look where she is." Quinn shrugged her shoulders and returned to her laptop. Mercedes finally got to see the person playing holding the instrument. He had a Batman hoodie on and his big hands tuned the guitar. He finally looked up his audience. His eyes were wide and excited, like a newborn puppy.

"Ahem, hello. I am Sam, Sam I am." Sam chuckled nervously when no one responded to the joke. "And, um, I am going to sing a few songs this morning."

"Lord, here we go." Quinn muttered while typing vigorously. Mercedes hushed her and turned her attention back to the cute man about to play a song.

"Well, um, I hope you enjoy it."

He began to play a steady melody and Mercedes recognized it immediately.

Called you for the first time yesterday

Finally found the missing part of me

Felt so close but you were far away

Left me without anything to say

Mercedes started to sing along and lowered Quinn's laptop to personalize her performance. Quinn purposely ignored her and slowly moved to the left in the booth, away from Mercedes.

Now I'm speechless

Over the edge, I'm just breathless

I never thought that I'd catch this love bug again

Hopeless, head over heels in the moment

I never thought that I'd get hit by this love bug again

Mercedes and Sam's voices joined together effortlessly for her favorite part of the song.

kissed her for the first time yesterday

Everything I wished that it would be

Suddenly I forgot how to speak

Hopeless, breathless

Baby can't you see?

Sam heard a powerful and sweet voice singing with him, but he couldn't find a face.

Now I'm…

Yeah oh

Now I'm speechless

Over the edge, I'm just breathless

I never thought that I'd catch this love bug again

Now I'm hopeless, head over heels in the moment

I never thought that I'd get hit by this love bug again

Ohhh

Love Bug again

The audience applause scattered throughout the coffeehouse.

"Thank you," Sam grabbed another pick from his guitar case, then added in his best Elvis Presley impression "and to whoever was singing along you have a mighty pretty voice, little mama."

"Ha, did you hear that? He called you his little mama." Quinn mocked Sam's impersonation.

"Shut up, Quinn."

Author's note: Hi! Okay, guys, I'm going to need you to forget that Drake exists because he is the frame for the character James. He is just so beautiful, I had to include him in my story. Also, I am not sure how much of the actual history in Glee I want to use yet, but this is clearly a AU, where Sam and Mercedes don't know each other. I have more ideas, but I'll let them unravel with the story. This is a mature fanfic, so if you don't want samcex, please don't read. Thanks!

Songs featured: Lovebug by The Jonas Brothers.