Title: Tatter Tots and Broken Hearts
Author: emo_chick_87
Pairing,Character(s): Mercedes, Finn (slight Fiercedes if you squint)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 860
Spoilers: Season 2x07
Genre: Angst/Fluff
Warnings: a few curses
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
Summary: Mercedes' reaction to the hallway conversation. If you saw it you know what I'm talking about.
AN: This is NOT Kurt-bashing. I love him very much. But he was kind of a cock in this episode and this had to be done.
She thinks she hears herself say that she's going to talk to that Anthony guy. But she can't be sure because the sound of her heart breaking seems to drown out everything else. She smiles the smile she usually saves for when Mr Schue gives one of her solos away and is even more pissed off when Kurt can't take his eyes away from the creeper collage that is his locker door. She promises herself that she's not going to let any of them see her cry.
The last few days flash before her eyes and she feels her stomach turn. She remembers the way Kurt looked at her in the in the cafeteria. She remembers feeling like the third wheel during their friendly get-together. She remembers back to when they were both Cheerios and he made her feel like shit for eating a normal meal. She remembers starving so she wouldn't embarrass him.
The tears blur her vision and it isn't until she feels the winter wind on her face, that she realizes she's wandered outside. She sits on one of the bus benches and cringes when the cold wood seems to burn he thighs. She looks back and notices that she's sitting on one of her mom's real estate ads. One look at the eyes where she would only ever find love and she loses it.
The tears come faster than she wants to admit and she pulls off the lid to the tatter tots. She grabs one and rolls it between her fingers. It's cold and greasy. It makes her cry even harder. She isn't sure how long she sits there but her cheeks hurt and she can't feel her fingers. The hulking body that slides beside her catches her off guard and she sniffles loudly before blushing in embarrassment.
Finn is used to handling lady crying. He was raised by a working single mother. He learned early that when everything got to be too much, sometime you just have to cry. There is nothing you can do about that but he also learned that it helps when there's someone beside you. Someone that cares.
He really does care about Mercedes. The truth is that since Burt and his mom have been together he's really become a fixture at the Hummel house. Mercedes practically lived at the Hummel house. So he'd learned a couple of things. Like she could make a killer batch of chicken wings that put even his mom's recipe to shame. She could drink any guy under the table. They'd learned that during an ill-fated challenge that ended with him parting with his favorite football jersey. She could could rock Call of Duty so hard that she'd made Puck cry before kneeling down to worship at her alter. He'd learned that he didn't like the feeling in his stomach when she waved at Anthony from across the cafeteria. He'd learned that she was the kind of girl that was pretty even when she cried.
He sits beside her silently until her breathing evens out and her sniffles become inaudible. A bird tweets above their heads. One of the lone holdouts that decided she wasn't ready to head south. Like she was meant to be there on that day. Like she was meant to make Mercedes giggle.
Her giggle doesn't sound defeated anymore and it lifts the weight that seemed to sit on Finn's shoulders. He glanced down at her hands and saw the container for the first time.
"Hey, you have tots? Can I have one? Ms Sylvester even managed to get them outlawed at my house. Kurt's on the warpath, man. I'm jonesing. It's been like a week."
Her hand offers him the container with a weak wrist and he pops one in his mouth before she can warn him about how cold they are.
"Mmmmm... cold tots... my favorite." Finn's moan does funny things to her tummy but she tries not to think about it.
Finn's long fingers grab a tatter tot and hold it up for her to take. She hesitates before eating it but Finn doesn't let up until she takes it. She feels like a failure until Finn grabs another one for himself. His mouth is full when he talks but his words send a warm feeling rushing up her spine.
"Don't date that Anthony guy. He's a douche. You can do a lot better. Trust me. A lot better."
He drapes his long arm around her shoulders and she can't help but smile. She knows this feeling that is settling in her stomach has more to do with Finn's warmth than the cold tatter tots but she doesn't let herself examine it for too long.
That night, Mercedes is at the Hummel house again. It's chicken wings and sneaky wine coolers. It's her wearing his favorite football jersey and rocking Call of Duty: Black Ops to epic levels.
The twist of Kurt's face when he closes the bedroom door is priceless but Finn knows he has to do it. Because it doesn't matter how pretty she is when it happens, no one makes Mercedes cry.