A/N: A one shot for the pairing I doubt we will ever see. Which just so happens to be the type of pairs I enjoy shipping the most.

It was the night of the big freshmen dance at McKinley High. The majority of the student body considered it the lamest dance ever invented, but the cool freshmen considered it another chance to make others feel bad. As Finn's mom was correcting his tie for him, his mind flashed back to the facebook chat convo he had with Quinn the week before.

"Ask her to the dance, and when she says yes, you flurt with her for the rest of the week. Then, listen up Finn because this is the most important part, then you call her the night of the dance and tell her you got sick and you can't go. Make sure to put her on speaker so everyone in the limo will be able to hear"

He didn't know why she wanted to humiliate Mercedes so bad, but then again, he didn't understand a lot of the things he did to be popular. He just did whatever Quinn told him to do.

"Look at you my handsome man, Mercedes is a very lucky girl."

Finn looked down at his mother in slight shock.

"Who told you I was going with Mercedes?"

"Well her father is our dentist and at my last teeth cleaning he mentioned how excited Mercedes was that you were taking an interest in her. I gotta tell ya, I was a little surprised, you didn't tell me you broke up with Quinn."

Finn scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah…she's really nice."

"She is just a peach. I'm glad you found a nice girl Finn; I was getting a little tired of watching Quinn tear you down all the time. I promised myself I wouldn't get involved …but I was worried for a second that that mean little thing was going to be raising my grandchildren."

"Yeah…things change I guess."

Finn was willing to let his mother believe the lie. His recent growth-spurt did not the change the fact that his mother was still terrifying when she was mad.

*Knock-Knock* *Ring-Ring*

Someone was at the Hudson door and calling on the Hudson phone at the same time. Carole sighed internally as she knew this was undoubtedly another bill collector calling to demand payment. She directed Finn to answer the door while she took the call in her bedroom.

"Hello…Mercedes?"

Finn pronounced her name in the form of a question because he was really confused. She was at his doorstep in her street clothes less than an hour before the dance.

"Is it true Finn?"

"Is what true?"

"Don't play dumb with me white boy. Do you really want to take me to the dance or am I just being played?"

Finn's face was a dead giveaway and Mercedes had to swallow a lump in her throat to keep the tears from coming out. She was not going to cry in front of one of her tormentors.

"Who told you?"

"My older brother…he was very suspicious about you. I didn't want to believe him…but he was right all along. God I am such an idiot!"

"No Mercedes you're not. Quinn told me to do it and I'm sorry, I don't know what she has against you to want to humiliate you like this."

Mercedes scoffed at the mention of her name.

"It's because she's Quinn ya big dummy. Being mean to girls like me is what she does. It doesn't surprise me that she would do something like this, but it really hurts that you would go along with it…I thought you were different."

"I am."

"No…you're worse. We all know Quinn's evil and she doesn't try to deny it. You on the other hand, you treat a girl like a princess for a week and then you break her heart."

"I didn't want to…she forced me. She told me it would help our popularity."

"That's really disappointing Finn, I thought you were the type of guy who didn't care about things like that. You're a really good actor you know that, maybe you should be in drama club!"

Mercedes turned to leave but Finn awkwardly ran around her to meet her face to face again.

"Mercedes I'm sorry, I don't want to be some jerk that only cares about his popularity, and I want to go to that dance with you."

"Is this a trick?"

"No trick, I told you I would take you to the dance and I am a man of my word"

Finn's leg started to vibrate. He reached into his pants pocket and dug out his phone. He got a text from Quinn; she was warning him that the limo would be at his place in 10 minutes because they want to be in front of Mercedes' house when they humiliate her. "I want the two of us to lean out of the sunroof and wave as she cries in humiliation." As Finn read the message, a look of shame claimed his features as he looked down at the hopeful looking Mercedes.

"That was Quinn…they'll be here soon."

The hope vanished.

"And you want me to leave."

"It's for your own good they're going to-"

Mercedes interrupted him with a hand to his face.

"No, this isn't for me. You don't want to be seen with me, and that's ok. I'm gonna find me a man who loves me and appreciates me. Not some boy who lies to me and then offers me a pity date to clear his conscience. I don't need you K-Finn, I'm out!"

Mercedes stormed off to her brother's car. She slammed the door, sending shivers up Finn's spine. Mercedes' brother was silent for most of the ride, but turned to check on his sister while they were waiting at a red light.

"I can still beat him to death with a bat if that's what you want?"

Mercedes let out a little laugh at her brother's offer.

"No… he isn't worth it."

15 YEARS LATER…..

Mercedes takes a small sip from her wine glass as she looks out the second story window of her spacious mansion in Atlanta. It was a little early in the afternoon to be drinking, but she was turning 30 today, and that is a very good reason to get drunk. Especially if you are an aging diva trying to keep up with the fresh crop of new singers that keep trying to knock you off your throne every year. Ever since her debut album, record labels have been clamoring to find the "next Mercedes Jones" and they never did. She had the life she always wanted, but she was not happy. It turns out good men were hard to find even if you were rich and successful. Her little black book looked like the loser phonebook. Filled with the names of cheaters, liars, drug addicts, and closeted homosexuals.

*Ring-Ring*

Mercedes answered the door in a hurry expecting to see one of her celebrity friends, but it was just one of the gardeners. A very tall… very cute gardener… with a very familiar face.

"Excuse me Ms. Jones but if you could just sign here …wait a minute, are you the-"

Mercedes interrupted before he could finish.

"Holy crap you're Finn Hudson."

Finn took off his hat and rubbed the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. His hair was still as messy and adorable as she had remembered.

"Yeah long time no see."

"Yeah, it's too bad we all lost contact after senior year. What have you been up to?"

Mercedes knew this was a cruel thing to ask but she couldn't resist. It was obvious that he was a loser mowing lawns for rich people and she had become one of the biggest stars in the world.

"Well…after community college I moved to LA to try to become an actor but nobody would hire me. So I started working for my uncle in his landscaping business."

"How's Rachel? I assume you two are still an item."

Finn let out a little laugh which caught Mercedes off guard. Those two were inseparable last time she checked. But to be fare, the last time she checked was a long time ago.

"No I had to break it off. One of the draw backs to dating a bi-polar chick is that everything gets blown out of proportion. I needed to get away from her insanity."

Mercedes nodded her head at his explanation. She was examining him and she liked what she saw. All that yard work had been good to his body. And this older Finn was a lot more confident than the one she knew in high school. He had developed this quiet swagger that made him irresistible, even to a diva like her.

"Finn…would you like to come in?"

"Yeah thanks."

"Shoes off at the door."

Mercedes walked into the kitchen to refill her wine glass.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Water would be great"

"Ok…here you go"

"Thanks, it's really hot out there"

"That's why they call it Hotlanta!"

Mercedes was very disappointed in herself for making such a stupid joke. He should be trying to impress her, not the other way around. What was it about this boy that turned her into a high school girl all over again?

"Hey Mercedes…I read online that it was your birthday today and I was just wondering, when you're done with your big celebrity bash, maybe I could take you to this little jazz club near my house."

"Hold on wonder bread, you think I would be seen out in public with you. I'm a star, you're the help, and it would be really bad for my popularity to be seen with you."

This was the best birthday present Mercedes could hope for. It felt so damn good to stick it to Finn. All those skinny girls he chose over her couldn't hold a candle to the woman she had become.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I was out of line. You're a big star now and I'm just some Lima loser who managed to buy a bus ticket. I'll get the guys out of here before more famous people show up."

Finn's face was really sincere and it broke Mercedes' heart. Even though it felt good being the tormentor for once, she didn't want to turn into some bitter and angry diva that terrorized people. Plus, Finn knew her before she was famous; she could be honest with him instead of trying to uphold appearances. And he at least had the decency to admit to her that he was a liar all those years ago. Her last boyfriend, a 32 year old NBA star, had the audacity to use that tired "it wasn't me" excuse when the paparazzi caught him cheating on her with another woman.

"Wait Finn."

He turned around with a warm little smile on his face.

"I'll call you later. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to stop by a little jazz club. Public appearances like that are really important to my fans."

"Great, you can reach me on the same number as our flyer."

"I will…now clear out before someone snaps a picture of us."

"Will do…it's really nice to see you again Mercedes. I always knew you would prove all of us small town hicks wrong."

Mercedes beamed at him in triumph. Could she really have it all? The fame and the man? Damn right she could, she is Mercedes Jones, and those other skinny brawds aren't even worth mentioning.

A/N: Hope someone out there enjoyed this story as much as I did. R&R