My first fic! Perfect Two by Auburn.
Enjoy and review!
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"I'm so proud of you for getting into Yale! That's a really good school, Quinn." Mercedes Jones shuts her locker door. "After all that stuff with Sugar's party, I realized I never got a chance to congratulate you."
"No problem. Thanks. I had a really hard last few years but I'm not going to let anything keep me from my future. You know?" Quinn Fabray shrugs her shoulders.
Mercedes nods. "Sam and I are... what do you call the end of a relationship that never really started?"
"Doomed?" Santana Lopez skips up. "Face it, Wheezy, Trouty Mouth sucking the skin off of your face every time you wanted a kiss does not a relationship make."
"Thanks, Santana. Has anyone called you the devil today?" Mercedes rolls her eyes and starts off down the hall. Quinn and Santana follow.
"I'm serious. You have a gift and though those grassy green eyes and ole shucks sweetness that radiates from them are cute on a high school level what you need is someone more your equal." Santana pauses. "Look at Lady Hummel and Warbler Blaine." She points to Kurt and his boyfriend standing at Kurt's locker. "Blaine can keep up with Kurt in every way. That's who he needs to be with. His equal. Can you say the same about Big Lips McGee?"
Santana walks off to where Brittany is peering into her locker. Quinn and Mercedes are left to contemplate the Latina's words.
"You know she's right. I'm not saying Sam isn't your equal but you're every bit as talented as Rachel and I think you'll be famous one day. You need someone just as amazing. Not just musically but intellectually as well. Sam isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer." Quinn shrugs carelessly.
"But Sam's funny." Mercedes begins.
"When you're dating him but he's a lot like Puck." Quinn points to the jock in question. "Hot, talented, not too bright. But as we've dated both of them, completely obsessed with things we don't care about, whether it's Puck and his insane Super Mario Bro. conspiracies or Sam and his insistence that he sounds like Sean Connery. No one wants to be bothered with that. Especially when you're on your way to the top." Quinn shrugs and walks away.
Maybe Santana and Quinn are right? We've all dated Puck. And he's a lot like Sam. But Sam is sweet. Puck is a posing peacock at best; bullying jackass at worst. Yet Santana and Quinn both dated Sam. Maybe they know something I don't? I mean he is hard at hearing. I just don't know. I need Girl Talk. ASAP!
MJ
"Mercedes, what exactly are you saying?" Kurt Hummel pops a kernel of popcorn into his mouth.
Mercedes leans against Rachel's pink pillows and sighs. "I don't know. I'm so confused! That's the problem."
"Are you and Sam even dating?" Rachel Berry asks. "What happened to Shane?"
Mercedes rubs her forehead. "I cheated on Shane."
Her friends gasp.
"With Sam."
"Like Eric Benet on Halle Berry?!" Kurt is nearly shouting.
"I always liked to pretend that maybe Halle was my mother if Barbra was to be simply ruled out." Rachel plays with a lock of hair.
"Not about you, Berry." Kurt waves his hand in front of Rachel's face while staring as intently as possible at Mercedes. "You really cheated on Shane. How could you?!"
"It wasn't on purpose!" Mercedes defends herself.
"Does Shane suspect?" Rachel cuts in.
"No. I mean yes. Wait- no."
"Which is it?" Kurt asks.
"How could Sam help you cheat? Did he pursue you?" Rachel butts in.
"Did you pursue him?" Kurt throws out.
"I thought you were going to listen to your heart! Your heart couldn't have told you to betray Shane so shamelessly!" Rachel's eyes widen and she clenches her chest.
"Listen to her heart? When did this happen?!" Kurt screams.
"When we were thinking of ways to help Mr. Shue propose to Ms. Pillsbury. After our song, she fled the stage and told us she was thinking of Sam instead of Shane throughout it. We told her to listen to her heart!" Rachel says the last part accusingly.
"Can I talk?" Mercedes waves her hands to get attention. Kurt and Rachel look at her. She takes a breath. "I know. I remember what you said but while we were doing Michael, we sang Human Nature and it felt so right. At the end, he was looking at me and I was looking at him. I felt more connected to him than I have to anyone else in my life. And then we kissed."
Rachel and Kurt gasp again but much louder.
"I told Shane before Valentine's Day. He said it was like I punched him in his heart." Mercedes bites her bottom lip and looks away.
"I know that had to hurt him but why did you sing Whitney Houston's-"
"Rest in peace!" The friends say in unison.
"Song I Will Always Love You in the choir room? You and Sam can be together now." Kurt finishes.
"How? She cheated on Shane. She could cheat on Sam. It's a slippery slope." Rachel nods empathically.
"I know. That's why Sam and I are apart. I don't know who I am in love and I never want to hurt him. But it hurts so much being apart. I smell him everywhere I go. I hear his voice in my dreams. When I get dressed in the morning, it's to impress him." Mercedes expresses.
"Then go get him!" Kurt throws a pretzel at Mercedes. "If Blaine and I weren't together but I wanted him and I knew he wanted me, I'd never give up."
"Finn and I love each other very much and knowing that you guys support us with the possible exception of Kurt and Quinn is something that means the world to us. So if you want Sam, I say go get him!" Rachel squeezes Mercedes's knee.
Mercedes smiles. Then slowly frowns. "Speaking of Quinn, she and Santana think I should leave Sam behind."
"What?!" Kurt exclaims. "Santana is in love with Brittany, a love that is hard all on its own and she wants to discourage you from Sam?! That shrew!"
"Quinn is just a bucket of ruined dreams." Rachel purses her lips. "She told me I'd have to leave Finn behind, too. I think she wants to leave Lima so badly she wants the rest of us to be as alone as she is."
"She's had a rough few years, Rachel." Mercedes reminds the brunette.
"And no one empathizes more than I but she's made her choices. Forcing the rest of us to be lonely and miserable is just plain mean!"
"But it does make us more emotional singers." Kurt points out.
The girls nod.
"So I should go after Sam?" Mercedes asks, hope evident in her voice.
"Yes!" Kurt and Rachel shout, jumping on their friend.
MJ
Cuz you're the apple to my pie
You're the straw to my berry
You're the smoke to my high
And you're the one I wanna marry
"Ms. Jones! Ms. Jones!"
Mercedes jerks to attention. "I'm sorry?"
"Ms. Jones, it's so nice to have your attention. Would you like to tell us what is more interesting than trigonometry?"
Anything. "Nothing." She says immediately.
"Then what was so exciting about the clock?"
It's almost 3. "It's-"
ring
"time to go!" Mercedes gathers her things and sprints out into the hallway.
"I know he's boring but you never zone out like that. What's up?" Noah "Puck" Puckerman strides after Mercedes.
"I just have a song I really want to sing at glee club today and I guess I couldn't wait." She answers sheepishly.
Puck switches his books to his other arm and pushes open a shut door in front of Mercedes. "What are you going to blow us away with this time, Ms. Franklin?"
"I told you, Puck; stop calling me that. One day I will be a household name and I don't want people thinking I'm an imitator."
Puck grins. "What song will you be blowing us away with, Ms. Jones?"
Mercedes nods with confidence. "Perfect Two by Auburn. I found it last night and it seemed... appropriate so I decided to sing it today."
"Who's that?" Puck scrunches his face, trying to recall the singer.
"You'll know after I blow this song out the water."
Puck and Mercedes reach the choir room at the same time as Sam and Mike. Her breath hitches. He looks so good.
Mr. Will Schuester claps his hands and rubs them together. "I know we're riding high off of love songs-"
"Uh, Mr. Shue?" Mercedes raises her hand before setting her things on the chair behind her. "I have one more song. If you don't mind."
"Okay, Mercedes. You're up." Mr. Shue takes a seat.
"T, Britt. Can you back me up?"
Tina and Brittany stand behind Mercedes while she motions to Brad, the piano player.
"You can be the peanut butter to my jelly
You can be the butterflies I feel in my belly
You can be the captain and I can be your first mate
You can be the chills that I feel on our first date
You can be the hero and I can be your side kick
You can be the tear that I cry if we ever split
You can be the rain from the cloud when it's stormin
Or you can be the sun when it shines in the mornin
Don't know if I could ever be
Without you cuz boy you complete me
And in time I know that we'll both see
That we're all we need
Cuz you're the apple to my pie
You're the straw to my berry
You're the smoke to my high
And you're the one I wanna marry
Cuz you're the one for me
(For me)
And I'm the one for you
(For you)
You take the both of us
(Of us)
And we're the perfect two
We're the perfect two
We're the perfect two
Baby me and you
We're the perfect two
You can be the prince and I can be your princess
You can be the sweet tooth; I can be the dentist
You can be the shoes and I can be the laces
You can be the heart that I spill on the pages
You can be the Vodka and I can be the chaser
You can be the pencil and I can be the paper
You can be as cold as the winter weather
But I don't care as long as we're together
Don't know if I could ever be
Without you cuz boy you complete me
And in time I know that we'll both see
That we're all we need
Cuz you're the apple to my pie
You're the straw to my berry
You're the smoke to my high
And you're the one I wanna marry
Cuz you're the one for me
(For me)
And I'm the one for you
(For you)
You take the both of us
(Of us)
And we're the perfect two
We're the perfect two
We're the perfect two
Baby me and you
We're the perfect two
You know that I'll never doubt ya
And you know that I think about ya
And you know I can't live without ya
I love the way that you smile
And maybe in just a while
I can see me walk down the aisle
Cuz you're the apple to my pie
You're the straw to my berry
You're the smoke to my high
And you're the one I wanna marry
Cuz you're the one for me
(For me)
And I'm the one for you
(For you)
You take the both of us
(Of us)
And we're the perfect two
We're the perfect two
We're the perfect two
Baby me and you
We're the perfect two"
As Mercedes finishes singing, the room erupts into applause. She doesn't break eye contact with Sam as she, Tina and Brittany sit.
Mr. Shue stands. "We need to focus on Nationals." His voice fades out as Mercedes slips her cell phone out and texts Sam.
Did u like the song?
She gazes at the golden haired boy, waiting for the message to reach his phone. Santana leans over. "Was that song for Trouty Mouth?" she whispers.
"Yes!" Mercedes hisses between her teeth.
Sam puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out his cell. He checks the message and looks at Mercedes. She smiles.
"You're looking desperate, Jones." Santana leans back in her chair. Mercedes loses her smile. Sam checks the message and quickly responds. Mercedes looks to her phone in anticipation. She doesn't have long to wait.
yup
Mercedes frowns. That's it?! She hurriedly types a response.
what did u think?
Boys!
A kick has Mercedes focusing on Quinn, who is sitting on the other side of Puck. What was that? she mouths. Quinn points to Mercedes's phone. Mercedes frowns. Quinn pulls out her own phone and texts her. Mercedes' cell vibrates but it's not Quinn. It's Sam. When Mercedes goes to answer it, another vibration alerts her to another text. Then another. It's a continuation from Sam and another from Santana. Then one more from Quinn seconds later. Mercedes blows out a breath. Her phone vibrates again. She checks the screen. Puck. Puck?She looks at him.
He frowns. "What's going on?" He whispers.
"Puck. Do you have any ideas for Nationals this year?" Mr. Shue raises his voice.
"Something fun?" Puck raises an eyebrow. His teachers always think he doesn't pay attention but he regularly does.
"Well that's a good idea. We need something that will wow a tough crowd. Come on, people. More ideas. Keep 'em comin!" Mr. Shue waves his hands to enthuse the students.
Rachel pipes up. "I have an idea, Mr. Shue!"
"Of course you do, Rachel. Let's hear it."
Puck stops paying attention. Berry has a habit of droning on. Mercedes checks her phone to see what Sam texted.
It was nice.
Really?! She quickly checks the other message.
Y did u sing it?
Mercedes frowns. Why does he think?! She types back frantically. I sang it for u. How could u not know that?
She checks Santana's message next. Y did you sing that 4 TM?
Mercedes types back. Cuz.
She reads Quinn's message. What's going on? Who's texting you during rehearsals?
U! And Sam and Santana and Puck. We need 2 concentrate. Do u want Rachel 2 spaz out on us for not listening 2 her?
Mercedes suddenly remembers Puck's text.
r u ok?
idk She texts in a rush.
Her phone goes off as they all seem to be texting her back at the same time. Thank goodness it's on vibrate. Mr. Shue and Rachel would have her head.
Mercedes puts her phone away. No more distractions!
When Rachel finally winds down, the kids burst into energy. The time passes quickly and soon it's time to leave. Mercedes packs up her stuff. Puck sidles over to her. "Hey, wanna go to Breadstix? You seem really out of it today and I know nothing makes the ladies feel better than a night with Puckasaurs." He grins.
"Puck,-" She begins.
"I'm joking. Just come with me. Please? See I'm begging. Do I have to break out into an AfroJew number again?"
Mercedes laughs. "No. No. I'll go."
Puck throws his arm around her shoulders and leads her from the choir room. "I'll show you a good time."
Santana links her pinky with Brittany's. "Where is she going with him?"
Brittany S. Pierce shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe she got a cat and named it Lady Tubbington? Lady Tubbington and Lord Tubbington could get married and have lots of babies. Maybe then Lord Tubbington will quit smoking and spreading lies about me behind my back."
"Shut up, Britt." Quinn says crossly. "Santana, you can't possibly be upset over Puck. You're gay and Puck is so not worth it."
"I know he's not. I love Britt." Santana squeezes Brittany's hand. "But we warned her about Trouty. Now she's with Puckerman? That's jumping from the big lipped frying pan into the dense fire."
"Point is... Mercedes needs to be saved from herself. She's never going to reach her full potential if she's wrapped up in all these boys." Quinn frowns.
"So we're breaking up Puckcedes?" Santana asks.
"Yup. Operation: Save Mercy."