Home is where the Heart is

"Morning, mom," Mercedes said happily as she walked down the stairs.

"Morning, sweetheart. How did you sleep?"Her mother asked. Mercedes went through the cabinets in the kitchen and grabbed a loaf of bread, placing four pieces in the toaster. She thought about last night, it was interesting, especially keeping a person hidden from your parents. She wants to tell them about Sam, but having a boy they never met before stay with them would result in the possibility of Sam getting rejected, and that was worse than the unknown. she faked a yawn.

"I didn't get that much sleep."

"Well...are you feeling extra hungry this morning?" Her mom asked while she looked at the four pieces of toast that were usually two. Mercedes kept her tone consistent.

"Yeah, starving."

"Well, just don't be late for school." She said calmly. Mercedes brought the burnt toast up to her room and ran up the stairs extra fast after seeing the time. She quickly made her way to the bedroom and shut it as fast as she could.

"Breakfast is served." She said while passing the plate to Sam and taking a bite out of one herself.

"Thank you, burnt toast, this is a gourmet breakfast." He said while digging in. She laughed with an eye roll.

"We don't have that much time. Schools about to start soon."She said. Mercedes picked up the curling iron and began to twirl her hair while hearing Sam crunch on her horrible toast making efforts.

"You have time to curl your hair." He said casually, as she finished and began to reach for the mascara. "And put on makeup," he added as she began to brush her lashes.

"Oh shut up." She moaned.

"What, I'm just saying. You don't need makeup."

Mercedes stopped brushing her lashes for a quick second when hearing those words. They felt nice, almost enough for her to skip the blush due to the red that grew upon her cheeks.

"Are you taking a shower?" She asked, trying to hide her gratitude from his hidden compliment.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." He replied. "but first, how are your parents not going to notice me?"

"My dad already left and my mom leaves soon, shes downstairs just about to leave for work." Sam nodded and headed for the bathroom.

Mercedes noticed she forget her favorite lipgloss, ruby red, in the bathroom, and so knocked loud enough on the door for him to hear over the running water.

"I'm coming in for a sec." She yelled, assuming he heard and walked in while shutting the door behind. She searched for the ruby red lipgloss in the drawers while peaking in the mirror and seeing the purple shower curtain draped over. Mercedes soon felt her heart drop as she heard a knock on the door from her mother.

"Honey." She called.

"I'm in the shower," Mercedes lied while internally panicking.

"I've left an important item I need from work in there, I'll be just a sec ." She said while turning the doorknob.

Mercedes didn't know what to do as her mother was almost in, and so the only thing that seemed the most logical was to simply hop in the shower with Sam.

"What the-

Mercedes quickly covered Sam's mouth with her hand and tried not to look down. Sam looked very confused but soon heard the banging from her mother while in the shower, making the confusion wash away.

Mercedes couldn't help but gaze at his muscles, it would be impolite not to, "wouldn't it." She thought. She could practically feel his breath on hers, as it was such a small space and such a hot shower, but the small space had nothing to do with her staring. After an awkward amount of time passed, Sam spoke,

"I think she's gone now." He whispered. Mercedes didn't know what to say. Anything she said at the moment would be awkward, and so instead quickly hopped out of the shower, grabbed her lipgloss, and headed to her room as fast as possible. Mercedes heard Sam get out of the shower and casually stroll into her room to get his bag. She pretended not to acknowledge him due to their interaction this morning, but Sam felt the need to.

"So...about what happened earlier." He began. Mercedes put her lipgloss back on her dresser and stood up.

"Let's just pretend that never happened." She said flustered.

"Ok, yeah...erased from my mind." He said will making gestures with his hand over his head.

"Great now we got to go, or I'm going to be joining on being late with you." She said as they both picked up their bag and headed out the door to begin walking to school.

"Hey, why are you always late?" She asked after moving for a family to get by on the small sidewalk. "Does it have to do with..."

"Being homeless. You can just say it you know." Mercedes nodded knowing she can use it and not treat it with sensitivity.

"And yes. School is pretty much the least of your priorities when you're homeless. I didn't care about the work, I mean-I worked till midnight every school night so I was pretty tired I guess."

"That makes sense."

When they made it to the school grounds, Mercedes saw Shane standing at the doorway and felt her heart flutter when she remembered who was standing right next to her. Her boyfriend didn't like Sam very much, especially after telling him he stole food from the cafeteria, which of course, is breaking a law, and he loved rules.

"I got to go, but I will see you at home," Mercedes told Sam as she moved closer to Shane who was busy on his phone.

"Oh, ok. See ya." He replied a little sadder than usual. Mercedes smiled and walked towards Shane.

"Hi, Shane. How are you?" She asked. He put his phone down and smiled.

"Happy, now that you're here." He replied. He kissed her briefly and then opened the door for her to walk through like a gentleman.

Sam then walked through behind, probably noticing them together, and then headed to his locker. But before he made it, a loud voice came from the speaker above.

"Sam Evans. Please report to the principles office."

Mercedes seemed more shocked than Sam as his name was called, and she had a good reason why.

"Did you tell the principal about Sam when I asked you not to?" She quietly yelled at Shane, as she watched Sam now change his direction to walk towards the office.

"I'm sorry baby, but I had to, what he did was wrong. Why do you care anyway, he's not a friend of yours?" Mercedes pretended he wasn't, because, for some reason, she didn't want Shane to know.

"I know that...but still." She said walking away. He didn't deserve that. Although stealing was wrong, Mercedes knew Sam's story, and that was enough.

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Slightly inspired from Pretty Little Liars...