The first few days after Sam leaves Los Angeles are the hardest. Things between him and Mercedes are on the mend, but also really vulnerable, which scares him. He can't help but wonder about how everything will progress between them, especially with the reintroduction of distance.

They go back to their individual lives—the same situations that almost unraveled them—and Sam worries that the same issues will pop up now that he can't just reach out and touch her, kiss her, or just share space with her at will. He knows that he thinks about her all the time, but he can't help his insecurities that she might find other things to occupy her time.

As precarious as their relationship is, he realizes how easily he could lose her, and the thought weighs very heavy on his heart—even still.

Instead of letting the thoughts fester in his mind, however, he brings it up to her this time, letting her know exactly how he feels. He's relieved to find comfort in her. She feels the same way, but she knows they can make it work if they really want this. Her determination and belief in their relationship appeases him and he feels even dumber for not having communicated his feelings to her earlier.

She tells him that if their rough patch has taught her anything, it's that she doesn't want to be without him. She confides that, in many ways, that's why what he'd done—the breezy way he'd dismissed her when he got upset—had hurt so badly. But, she's willing to move on from that, willing to rebuild, and willing to let him keep her heart if he wants it. She's willing to make the effort to stay together if he is.

Of course he is, and he enthusiastically tells her as much.

They make promises to each other in that conversation—promises to communicate, to be considerate of each other's feelings, to make time for one another, to make the effort to work together despite the distance—and Mercedes bursts out laughing at Sam when he tacks on love, cherish, honor, and obey.

She tells him they're not getting married. He tells her they're not getting married yet—and what a powerful operative word that is. She calls him crazy, but they'd long since established she likes that particular quality, so he isn't too worried about her hesitance. She'd get on board sooner or later—there was no other option.

Life comes at them fast after that—duties, obligations, and opportunities at every turn. Sam's got swim meets, football, and glee practices. Mercedes has the studio, singing gigs all over town, and school work. But, they also have each other and they work hard to make time for that despite everything else going on.

Sam has a growing collection of 'just because' cards from Mercedes that she sends randomly with pictures of them inside, pictures he hasn't seen of their time together in Lima over Christmas break to their time together in Los Angeles. They're each accompanied with cute little love notes and funny commentary on the back that make his heart swell, but also make him miss her terribly.

His locker becomes a bit of shrine. He even takes down some of his Chapstick to accommodate the growing number of photographs—resolutely ignoring Artie's new found love of bursting into I'm Sprung as he waits for Sam by his locker, and Tina's tendency to smile at him like he's an adorable baby animal every time he adds a new one.

He laughs the day he gets the link to his very first YouTube video from Mercedes, with explicit instructions not to go sharing the video publicly or deal with severe bodily harm. He shows it to Artie, Blaine, and Tina at lunch time anyway and the four of them spend the rest of that lunch period reminiscing about all of her amazing solos. It's Sam's turn to sing I'm Sprung to Artie as his friend teeters somewhere between poetic and entirely inappropriate in his praises of Mercedes. It starts out funny, but his laugh quickly turns into a side-eye when he stops to think about it. He resolves to keep an eye on Artie after that.

Mercedes shakes her head and laughs during their Skype call late that night as he tells her about Artie's attempts to steal his phone when he'd discovered the arsenal of Mercedes Jones footage stored within. He'd literally had to run away and Artie hadn't been above rolling after him.

From then on, it becomes a thing. They trade videos singing to each other as often as they can. They also claim Sunday, their most relaxed day, as their day and Skype for hours at a time, connecting on all the big and little things going on in their lives. Everything from major life decisions about college—going as far as to fill out applications together— to Netflixing random movies together happens on these calls and both of them find themselves looking forward to the time—making the weeks apart go by much easier.

At some point every day, Mercedes gets an .mp3 in her email which immediately joins the 'Sam' playlist on her iPod. Graham teases her and her toothy smile every chance he gets, but he's happy to see it, and not the tears he'd grown accustomed to during their fight. He's even joined in some Skype calls now that Sam's done being an idiot.

They're both really happy with the state of things by the time Mercedes' spring break comes creeping around the bend. Sam has a countdown going, completely impatient to see his girlfriend, to feel her again. They've done nothing but talk in the last few months—something they'd desperately needed—but they're all talked out. His stupidity is the reason he hasn't had sex since January, and now, in mid-April, he's downright antsy at the thought of having her to himself again. Teasing each other over the phone and Skype sessions has done absolutely nothing to take the edge of.

It nearly kills him when she cancels her trip back to Lima a few days before she's supposed to be back. He has to bite his lip against the disappointed groan at the back of his throat threatening to come out. The label books her to sing in a few sessions and tour with an artist which could be really important to her getting signed for a demo deal and she can't pass it up. He understands, but it doesn't appease the letdown any.

He wants to bang his head against a wall when she projects for June instead. June, meaning she'll miss his birthday and probably prom, too. He won't even get to open his college acceptance letters with her, which he'd planned to do, hoping he got in somewhere in Los Angeles and they could really start planning. With graduation just around the corner, it hits him that these plans are more than just a lofty wish. This is soon to be his future, a future for them, and his disappointment doubles at having to put it off.

Everyday that he knows she should already be there with him is torture. He misses her so much and it suddenly feels as if the world around him is intent on reminding him of her. All of last year's seniors are back in town, roaming the McKinley halls as they visit their old friends. Her absence is even more notable as he looks around at their faces. His locker is torture with the pictures of them together taking up every available inch. The prom posters that adorn the hallways are torture, bombarding his brain with memories of the last two proms spent together—when he'd started to fall for her, when she was finally his. This one should have been the confirmation that they'd made it. It's overwhelming how bummed he is that she won't be there.

Sam thinks he's actually going through withdrawals by the time his birthday rolls around. What else can you call it when missing someone starts to physically hurt you? Everything has calmed down a bit with school now that football and swimming are over. There are no applications to write. Finals are a few weeks off. He's got all the time in the world, but no Mercedes.

She sends him a text that morning. It's a travel day for tour, and she says they'll talk later but that had been it for the whole day. By the time he walks into Glee that afternoon and Mr. Schue announces a special guest, he's nonchalant, unable to stop missing her. He doesn't even lift his head when the guest walks in until he hears Tina gasp from her seat next to him.

He's up out of his seat in seconds after that, unashamedly rolling Artie out of his path. No one but him was going to get there first. He swoops her up into a bear hug and kisses her, ignoring the catcalls, protests from Artie, and Mr. Schue trying to get everyone to settle down. It's a long moment before he lets her go and he's breathing harshly by the time he does. His stares at her hungrily as he thinks of the quickest way to get her alone. Why hadn't he mastered teleporting yet?

Sam's polite, though, he gives her moment with her friends, but then he's dragging her out of the room, the school entirely, and back to his place at the Hudmels. From there they don't talk. There a million things he needs to say, questions he needs to ask, plans they need to make, but, for now, it can wait.

They've done nothing but talk for the last two and half months. He just needs to feel her and he does just that, relishing the fact that she's back in his arms again after way too long. The only words that pass between them during that time are affirmations of how much they love each other, still need each other, whispered hotly against each other's skin—until the feelings they stir within one another carry them straight into incoherence. They'd talk later.

A/N: How long's it been since the last update? Anyone still out there? Ha...but really. Anyone still there? Well, here it is. Hopefully you like it. I think there's one more part for this to be written, at some point. Yeah. I have no idea what's actually going on in S4 because I refuse to watch it, so this be my headcanon. Review?