Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 42nd cycle. Now cycle 43!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 43 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days!

This is a shift day [see above]. There will be another upload this afternoon: Familiar Strangers, chapter 3.

"The Hearts of Friends"
Kurt & Mercedes, Samcedes

Kurt had not been fooled. He'd seen the two of them going around like no one would have a clue, but then he wasn't just anyone. He was Mercedes' best friend, and in that capacity it was well in him to see beyond the surface. The girl had herself the hots for one Sam Evans, and the two of them had begun some sort of secret tryst… Kurt wouldn't intervene. Half the fun in something like this would be the anonymity, and she deserved some happiness. But as far as he knew, all it meant was just that: some fun.

But then there had been one hitch and then another. Sam and his family had left Lima, which had been bittersweet for all of them, sure, but then there was Mercedes, and no matter how much she'd try to hide it, he could see what she meant to keep under wraps. Suddenly he'd gone and felt foolish because he realized this was no mere tryst. She actually cared for him, liked him, possibly… if not now then definitely in the long run… loved him. And Sam had felt the same. The two of them had been dating, secretly, and now with this move the whole thing had fallen to pieces… and so had she.

One day she had shown up on his doorstep, and he could tell she'd been crying. He let her in, led her to his room, and there she told him her entire sad little tale. Like the dutiful friend he was, he'd pretended as though he was finding out the whole thing as though for the first time. Maybe she'd realized that he was lying, and that he'd already known, but either she could accept it, or she just really needed to tell her story and have it heard, she didn't mention any of it.

That story had ended with the pair of them coming to the collective decision that breaking up was all they could do. It had been hard on both of them, but that was just how it had to be. It had been a truth so difficult for her to accept, and now she needed Kurt, needed her best friend to help turn things around. He would do that for her, he promised himself and her both.

"First things first, you just go ahead and call home, tell them you're spending the night here, no argument," he told her, and she smiled.

"Okay." While she'd done that, Kurt had gone to inform his father of their guest's stay. When he returned to the room, he found Mercedes holding the frame Kurt kept at his bedside, showing him and Blaine together. When she sensed him arrive, she looked up. "Sorry, I…"

"It's alright," he promised, coming to sit with her.

"You know, for so long it didn't seem like either of us would ever have boyfriends," she put the frame back. He smiled.

"I remember," he nodded to her. "Although you did have me," he joked, and she chuckled. "Okay, not really, but a guy couldn't ask for better," he tapped her knee. After a moment of silence, he let out a breath. "Now that I have Blaine, it is hard to think back to when I didn't have him without feeling both… so sad for how things were, and so relieved and happy for how things are," he explained.

"Yeah… Kind of how it was starting to feel with Sam," she admitted. Kurt took her hand.

"You really cared about him," he gave a squeeze.

"I did, I…" she had to breathe deep to keep from breaking. "But then I just start feeling bad."

"Why?"

"His family has been through so much, and it's great that they're getting back on their feet… And all I want is to get my boyfriend back. It's selfish…"

"No, it's not," he promised her. She sighed, and he hugged her. "Okay, now listen to me. You have two options, and I'll follow whichever one you choose. Option one, we wallow, pull out the ice cream, put on tearjerker after tearjerker. Option two, we rise above, we sing, we dance, we make fools of ourselves until we forget what it's like not to be laughing." He heard a quick chuckle over his shoulder.

"I don't know if I have the singing and dancing part in me right now," she admitted.

"Comedy marathon then?" he suggested.

"So long as it doesn't have 'romantic' in front of it," she begged and he gave a short nod.

"Right," he smiled, pulling back to look at her.

So they got to it. Both of them had a pair of their pyjamas at the other's house, for such an occasion, so they had both changed, gathering popcorn and other snack-like items, along with a small stack of DVDs, before retreating into Kurt's room and setting up for their afternoon/evening together. Before long, she had her head to his shoulder, and he didn't disrupt her. It took some time before she allowed herself to get taken in by the movie, but finally she did, and with each new DVD that was put in, she looked a bit better.

"You're going to be okay," he'd declared to her as they waited for the fourth movie to begin.

"I know," she smiled to him, returning her head to his shoulder.

"But if you're ever not okay…"

"I know where to find you," she looked up to him.

When the stack of DVDs had expired, it was getting late, but neither was really too tired. Kurt was considering going down and getting another movie or two, but then he looked to Mercedes. She had this sort of thoughtful look on her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She turned to him.

"I think I'm ready for some singing and dancing now," she declared, and he smirked.

"Good come on, I've got a couple new things I've been meaning to show you," he got up and she followed.

In the morning she would remember about her break-up with Sam. It would still pain her, as well it should, but not nearly as much as it had the day before, and this would be the case again the day after that, and the day after that…

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!