Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N Inspired by Chord Overstreet's guest role in The Middle. It was a big surprise when he turned around from the board and ended up being the teacher lol

S&M

"Eli! Downstairs! Now!"

Oh No

She was turning into her mother. Mercedes had spent most of her pregnancy and Eli's infancy hearing that it would happen. Anytime she'd see a flash of Mrs Jones in her tone, she'd quickly correct herself. Suddenly now it seemed it couldn't be helped. Her mother's tone, facial expressions and hands on hips stance were now hers. Mercedes knew that her Dad was watching from heaven laughing his arse off about the way things had turned out. Especially since he had spent most of Mercedes adolescences listening to Mercedes scream from behind her bedroom door that she would rather die than be anything like her mother.

As she tapped her foot and listened to the flurry of footsteps running backwards and forwards upstairs, she had to admit her recent change had been somewhat justified. No matter how amicable a divorce was it was still a stressor. Throw in disgruntled extended family, moving house and young son starting kindergarten Mercedes decided she had more than enough reasons to become her mother. She promised herself that as soon as the heat died down she would return to her charming, charismatic self instantly.

"Mum, where are my shoes?"

Mercedes stared at her son, who stood at the top of the stairs.

"Aren't they in your wardrobe?"

Eli shook his head slowly and Mercedes sighed and started climbing up the stairs, muttering about how if people just put things where they were supposed to, everyone would be on time. Mercedes stepped into his room and for her mental health decided to ignore the state of things. She just needed the sneakers and to get the heck on the road. Mercedes spotted the white shoes in an instant, grabbed the hand of sock clad son and rushed them down the stairs.

"You can put them on in the car!"

S&M

"When am I going to see Dad?"

Mercedes studied the road, had Lima always been this busy? When did it start having 'traffic'?

"Umm, well you were with him this weekend, so I think that means Thursday night?"

Another major stressor was their complicated custody agreement. Mercedes thought it was cruel to suddenly rip Eli from his father, especially when there was no animosity. Despite this though, it didn't mean she wanted to see him every weekend either. Also, she knew that she would quickly become the 'unfun' school and homework parent while he became the playing in the park fun one. This meant more shuffling around and more phone calls with her ex then she thought should be strictly allowed but still, it kept Eli happy and sane.

Eli seemed content with this answer and resumed staring at the window. Mercedes glanced from the road to look at him. He was being quiet. He had always been a quiet child, but was he being more quiet then usual? Was it unusual for a young child to be generally quiet in the first place? Was it the divorce? It had to be, Eli clearly was blaming her….

Eli glanced back at his mother and smiled brightly. Mercedes returned the expression and looked back on the road. She was going to have to look up this all up on the internet. He might just pretend to be happy but was secretly trying to kill her out of anger and sadness. Wouldn't her mother just love that, she could imagine how smug she'd be at Eli's court hearing. Poor child never had a chance with divorced parents. I always told Mercedes that parenting means sacrifice…..

Mercedes shook her head, trying to rid herself of the crazy thoughts. Finally they turned into the school's street which was surprisingly empty.

Shit.

"I think we are late Mum"

Eli said conversationally as he unclipped his seatbelt. For some reason there was something about this action that finally alerted her to the fact that he was in the front seat.

"What are you doing sitting there?"

She asked panicked. She had just broken the law and didn't even realise. Suddenly the court room in her mind changed and she was in the hot seat. Bad Parent, stamped on her shirt.

"You know you aren't allowed to sit in the front seat yet!"

Eli shrugged and slipped out of the car, waiting for her to do the same. Mercedes swallowed, her eyes remaining on her son as she unclipped her own belt and exited the car. Grabbing her son's hand they made their way up to the school building.

Mercedes wondered if she was doing the wrong thing by taking Eli straight to his classroom instead of through the office system to officially declare him as 'late'. Mr Evans seemed cool, maybe he'd let it slid. She glanced down at her outfit, wondering if it would pass as being 'sexy' enough to seduce him into doing what she wanted. Instead of a figure hugging bandage dress though was just her classic 'Mum' tracksuit. Well, hey at least it matched today! Actually Mercedes wondered if that just made it worse.

Standing at the door, she peered into the classroom through the glass panel.

Mr Evans sat hunched on a stool, a clip board in his hand and the children surrounded around him on the floor. She couldn't be sure, but thanked the gods anyway because he was still marking the roll!
As if sensing her excited thoughts, Mr Evans looked up and by his expression Mercedes guessed her was surprised to see her outside waving frantically for him to come out to her.

He turned, saying something unheard to the kids and Mercedes grinned as he then made his way towards the door.

"Mrs Tinsley?"

He greeted unsurely and she smiled back tightly

"Actually its Ms Jones now…actually you know what? It's Mercedes"

"Can I go inside?"

The two adults looked down at Eli, who was watching his friends enviously

"Sure bud"

Mr Evans said smiling

"Do you have your late pass?"

The question made Mercedes suddenly feel cold. She did not envy her son for having to deal with teachers again.

"Mum does"

Eli said, pushing his way past his teacher to get into the room. Mr Evans looked back at Mercedes, expectantly. Mercedes wanted to throttle her son. This was worse than him possibly organising her murder.

"Actually I don't…"

"What's going on?"

Mercedes swallowed and then groaned.

"Please, can you not make me go to the office? I know this is like the third time and I should be punished but please not yet. Look how well he just slipped in, he has hardly missed anything….please…please"

Begging

Wow, what a great way to start the week!

She could tell Mr Evans was conflicted. Clearly he knew that they had missed the bell and should technically go through the office…Suddenly he disarmed Mercedes with a grin.

"Ok, but our little secret right?"

Mercedes was slightly speechless by his obvious handsomeness and discreetly looked down at his hands.

Married.

Always the way!

She grinned back at him

"Thank you so much"

Would it be too much to hug him?

"You just got me out of those horrible parent meetings with the vice principle"

Mr Evans suddenly looked sheepish.

"Actually, I was hoping to organise a time we could…."

S&M

"What do you mean you have training? You are the coach! Can't you organise it for another time?"

Mercedes knew she was being unreasonable. She wasn't crazy and plus she had been married to Shane for six years and was very aware of his training schedule. Plus, as Shane had so kindly pointed out it was her fault that she was even having the meeting with Mr Evans anyway

"Cedes, calm down! Mr Evans is a cool dude; he is probably just going through the motions. He has no reason to even be worried about E. Just show up, nod your head and call me when you are finished"

Mercedes breathed deeply. Shane was the most infuriating man on the planet. She had a meeting with a teacher about concerns he had about their son. He wasn't going to use this afternoon to just hang out. This was serious, like child protective services serious.

Oh No.

Mercedes breath stopped.

Mr Evans must have seen them out by the car. The kindergarten room had a window right? She must have driven passed and he saw Eli staring sadly out the passenger window. Should she tell Shane? She mentally debated for a second and decided no. Shane would tell his mother and his mother would bring in solicitors and suddenly Mercedes would only see Eli once a month through a glass window. The original Mrs Tinsley would absolutely love that and visit Mercedes every weekend just to remind her of what a failure of a person she is.

"Cedes?"

Shane's voice bought her back to reality and she brightened her voice

"Sorry Shane, I understand that you have your own work commitments and as you said, it was my fault"

She listened to Shane sigh on the other end. He thought she was being passive aggressive, another contributor to their failured marriage. She wasn't though, not really. Maybe just a little.

"How about I take you guys out after practise? And you can fill me in on how it went"

"I'm hanging up now Shane"

Mercedes couldn't be sure, but sometimes she thought she was dating her ex-husband. Somewhere between separating and finalising their divorce they became friends and as friends they would go out as a family. Mercedes needed to nip these little outings in the bud because it was so easy to just fall into the routine of being a family. Ok, so there was no avoiding the fact that they were family but they couldn't keep acting like husband and wife. It made her lazy and she was barely twenty five. She needed to start dating again and soon or Eli would wonder what the hell was wrong with his mother and probably start having unhealthy relationships with women and it would be all her fault. So the meals had to stop. It would confuse Eli and any future guy who was willing to look pass the matching tracksuits and actually take her out. Oh sorry I can't, I'm taking my five year old out for dinner with my husband…oh sorry ex-husband…but how about we go on an uncomfortable first date Friday instead?

S&M

"So aren't you a little young to be a teacher?"

"Aren't you a little young to be a mother?"

Bad start
Very bad start

Mercedes felt her face hardening and her glare intensifying.

Oh no her mother was making her way to the surface of her face again

"Oh….oh my god. I have no idea why I just said that"

Mercedes pulled a seat from one of the tiny desk and moved in front of his desk. It was then she realised that they chair that was built for a child and would no way accommodate her backside. Feeling foolish she decided that she would just have to commit to the chair. Her ego wouldn't let her explain that she just realised she made a mistake. She took a seat and her eyes could just see over his desk…and yes she was now staring directly at his crotch as he stood up.

"Um actually there is a small conference room where we typically have these meetings…"

If Mercedes didn't love her child with all her being she would have happily topped herself off in that moment. Mr Evans might have been a 'cool dude' but Mercedes suddenly had a burning hatred for the man. She watched, at eye level as he placed his hands in his pocket. No ring. Glancing up to meet his face, he looked the picture of relaxed and that just annoyed her further. He was clearing waiting for her to stand up, something she knew was going to be difficult to do but she had no choice but to stand up.

"Do you need a hand…."

She glared up at him, hard as she braced her hands on his desk to use as leverage as she pushed up.

"No, I don't…I'm young remember?"

At least Mr Evans looked somewhat apologetic.

S&M

He had been right, the room was small but the chairs were human size. They were shifting uncomfortably across from each other and Mercedes felt a wave of attraction as she looked at him closely. He had white shirt on, rolled to the arms and a deep blue tie. Shouldn't it be illegal for people to look like that at a primary school? She smiled softly at the thought of all Eli's female classmates being convinced they were being taught by a Disney prince. Mercedes was a grown woman though and she would not let his green eyes make her drop to her knees. She was better than that. She took a subtle but deep breath to calm her thoughts, damn he smelt good.

"So I hope I didn't conflict with work or anything"

Mercedes glare returned

"I don't work"

Is that what this was about? Shame her even further. She was looking for a job, but Eli had only been at school four weeks…..Eli had only been at school four weeks and she was already having emergency meetings with his teacher?! Things had to change!

"Oh, ok cool. Well as you can guess I wanted to talk about Eli"

Mercedes nodded and opened her mouth to defend herself, particularly regarding the always being late thing.

"And I wanted to know what you thoughts were on advancing him to the next grade"

Eli was smart? Ok yes of course her child was smart! That's probably why his room was a mess, he was too busy being a genius to clean up after himself.

"Eli is smart?"

OH why did she let that tumble out of her mouth?

Mr Evans chuckled, revealing that smile that Mercedes was convinced she would follow anywhere.

Wow she really needed a date

She also needed to stop watching Twilight.

"Yes Eli is very bright and I think he would really benefit from being moved ahead"

"But what about socially? Won't he be mixing with older kids?"

Mr Evans nodded

"I can see how that could be a concern but the grades ones actually have a lot to do with kindergartens and I really think he could handle it. He is quite the force in the class room"

"Force?"

"Like as is a bit of a ringleader. Very powerful personality"

"Eli is?"

Mercedes asked confused and Mr Evans nodded

"Are you sure were talking about the same kid?"

"Well I'm talking about the boy that you snuck into my classroom against policy this morning, are you?"

Mercedes smiled softly

"Well I'll have to discuss it with my husband.."

Mr Evans looked at her confused and she realised her mistake

"Oh sorry my ex-husband, force of habit….well you'd understand"

He gave her another confused looked, which Mercedes found reluctantly adorable. She gestured to his ring…well now ringless finger…

"You had a ring on this morning and now you don't. Did you put it on forgetting? I've done that"

Suddenly she felt sick

"Unless you are happily married and took it off to try and seduce someone…"

She glanced around the small room

"This isn't even a conference is it? You were trying to get up all on me? You sick bastard! Your married!"

She knew she was on a classic Jones tangent. Normally halfway through she'd have a moment of clarity and realise that she was being crazy. Usually didn't stop her from actually finishing the line of thought though. Mr Evans was waving his arms, they both looked like legitimate crazy people.

"I'm not married! I just wear it to put off some persistent mothers! I took it off before I met you, so you wouldn't get the wrong idea"

"The wrong idea being that you're married?"

What made her so special from the other desperate mums? She had just enough libido to be a sexual predator just like anyone else!

Mr Evans blushed deep red

"Um yeah"

"So you want me to know that you're single….?"

"Um yeah"

Tension

Tension like she had never felt before filled the room and nearly choked Mercedes. She had never had this feeling before. Even in High school when Shane used to blow her a kiss from the field. This was worrying.

"So…all that stuff about Eli isn't true? You just want him out of the class so you can…let me know you're single?"

"No! No! Of course not! That's all true! I just thought, while you were here you may as well know that I'm single"

Weirdness level 100

This guy was a nutcase. Yet apart of her was interested. Very interested actually but what would be the point. She wanted/needed to date, but her son's teacher? That was too crazy for someone recently divorced who still went on kind of dates with their ex-husband. What kind of example would that be to Eli anyway? Picking up his teacher on school property… so many levels of wrong.

"Ok, I'm going to stop you right there and give you a little heads up. I was a wife at nineteen and a mother at twenty. I'm now a divorced twenty five years old, with no job or degree. I'm supported by my ex-husband and his crazy, crazy, crazy family. My mother, who I realised this morning I'm slowly becoming, spends her days plotting ways for me to get back with my apparently perfect ex-husband because she can't understand how we are friends. Yes that's right; Eli's father is one of my closest friends. We can't be married, but apparently we co-parent like no one's business. Also, I think I'm accidently dating him…like not on purpose and definitely not because I like him romantically but because it's routine. So really think about all that before you start making all these declarations about being single. If you want to sleep with me, fine we can work around that but a relationship especially with someone in your position is just asking for more complications"

"We can work around me wanting to sleep with you?"

Mr Evans asked, bashfully confused. Mercedes just shrugged, so sue her, he was really hot.

A century of silence passed and Mercedes finally had the decency to be embarrassed by what she had just said.

Shit, shit.

She had just propositioned her son's first even teacher. This child of her never had chance at a normal life.

S&M

Thoughts? This whole story is going to be just Mercedes centric, compared to my others where it switches POV. Hopefully it works out!