Disclaimer: I don't own glee or its characters.

Noah Puckerman was playing with his Hot Wheels when he saw a U-haul truck pull up. He sat up in slight curiosity at who was moving in. He was in his grandmother's front yard, she lived in a housing complex, not exactly Lima Heights Adjacent, but the same concept. The only difference was, it was cleaner and safer in this neighborhood. He continued watching as the truck reversed.

"Puckerman!" His dad called from in the house.

"Yeah, dad?" He asked from outside.

"Bud, you have to come in the house in a little bit, okay?" He asked and Noah shouted his understanding.

Puck looked up at the new neighbors which now had two cars. A purple Chevy Malibu, and the U-haul truck he saw earlier. He saw two boys who looked exactly alike, and about the same age as him. He watched as the family carried bags into the house. After the new comers were in the house, he focused his attention back to his cars.

Thats when he heard a grunt, like someone was struggling. When he looked up, he saw this pretty, little girl with long black hair that was braided down the middle. She had little colorful pin thingies that kept her baby hair from flying everywhere. Puck watched as she struggled a little more before he ran up to her to help unload her suitcase.

"Um, thank you." She said as she looked up to the taller boy.

"No problem." He said, going back to his house.

"Hey wait, what's your name?" She yelled after him, and he ran back by her.

"Noah Puckerman. But you can just call me Puckerman, or just Puck." He said, puffing out his chest which quickly dropped when she started giggling.

"Puckerman? Thats a funny name." She said, and he instantly got annoyed.

"Well, whats your name?" He asked, he wanted to see if her name was cooler than his.

"Mercedes." She said confidently.

"Like the car?!" He asked. Her name was just as cool as his.

"No! Like Mercedes, like me!" She said, pointing a finger to her chest and he laughed.

"Thats also a name of a car." He pointed out as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, well, I don't like that. I'm not a car." She said, hauling her small suitcase.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I have to unpack. We live here now." She said, grunting as she pulled the suitcase.

"Wait, what grade are you in?" Noah just finished third grade and was extremely proud that this summer, he'd be almost half way done with elementary school.

"I'm going to be in third." She answered with an almost toothless grin, and he scoffed.

"What's so funny?!" She asked while putting a hand on her hip.

"You're younger than I am. I'm going to be in fourth."

"So?"

"So that means I'm cooler." He said matter-of-factly. Mercedes felt sad, but then she saw an older guy walk outside from the neighbor's house.

"Noah!" He roared, and the boy jumped, "I told you only in the front yard!" He yelled at his son. Puckerman looked back at his dad.

"Sorry dad, I'm coming!" He said turning back to Mercedes.

"I have to go." He said, backing away slowly as she waved, a little freaked out by his dad.

She finally made it in the house when her mother, Jennifer, asked her who she was talking to.

"I think his name's Puck, or somethin'." She replied, looking around the house.

"Oh, so you made a new friend?" She asked, and Mercedes shook her head. "Why not? I saw you two talking and you seemed to get along fine!" She protested.

"No, mom. He said he's older than me, so he's cooler. Cool kids don't talk to un-cool kids." She said hanging her head.

"Is that so?" Jennifer asked, and her daughter nodded. "Well, thats the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Mercedes looked up to her mom.

"Moooom, you said the 'S' word!" She giggled.

"Well it is. Age doesn't show how cool you are. How old is he?"

"He says he's going to be in fourth grade." She said.

"Well, thats not much older!" Her mother shook her head.

"Its not?"

"No."

"But I thought that would be a million years apart." Jennifer chuckled.

"No sweetie, after you're done with third grade, you'll be in fourth."

"Then I'll be the same grade as Puck?!" She asked hopefully.

"No, he'll be in fifth," Mercedes looked confused, missing the point. "but I'm just saying, you're not too far away from him." She said kissing her cheek. "Now let momma help you take your stuff upstairs."

It had been a few weeks since they moved in, and Mercedes hadn't seen Puckerman much since that first day. Honestly, she sort of forgot about him. It was a hot day, so her mother decided to pull out the inflatable pool. Mercedes met Brittany, and Tina. They all lived in the same neighborhood and she invited them to swim in her pool.

"Where are your brothers?" Tina asked.

"I don't know. I'm just glad they're not here. The pool would be all icky." Mercedes said, and the girls laughed. Just then, the two boys came running in the inflatable pool with their trunks on.

"Bonzai!" Her oldest brother, Jensen called out. He belly flopped and splashed water all over the girls.

"Hey!" Brittany yelled. Jensen moved over to Brittany.

"I know they say I'm too young to be a fool in love," He said, moving closer, "But I can't help falling in love with you." He said quoting the infamous Elvis Presley song. Brittany made a disgusted face as Tina giggled.

"Jensen, stop messing with the girls!" Mercedes second oldest brother, Jacob, said. He jumped in the same time as Jensen, but he was much quieter about it.

"I don't have to listen to you Jacob." Jensen said. "I'm older than you are anyways." He said shrugging.

"By a minute!" Jacob shouted. They were twins, but Jenson never let it go that he came out a minute earlier. The boys were going into the fifth grade.

"Still, Brittany is too young for you." Jacob said.

"No she's only a year younger than us!" He corrected. The boys kept their banter up when their father, Michael came out.

"Boys, what are you bickering about?" He asked the twins.

"Nothing!" They both shut it immediately. No one messed with papa Jones.

"Hey girls, would you like some lemonade?" He asked addressing Mercedes and her friends.

"I do!" Jensen said and Michael sent a small glare at him, "I said 'girls.' Are you a girl?" He asked, and everyone laughed.

"No." He said with a bit saltiness in his voice and everyone else continued to snicker.

"Thats what I thought." He went back in after the girls answered and made the kids their drinks.

They had a fun time in the pool. Mercedes, Tina, Brittany, Jensen and Jacob played all kinds of games, and they ran around with the water hose when they got bored swimming in the pool.

"Puck!" Jensen greeted as soon as he saw the boy. Mercedes stopped what she was doing at looked up to where she assumed he'd be.

"Sup, Jensen." He turned toward the girls, "Ladies." He said wiggling his eyebrows. Mercedes rolled her eyes while Brittany and Tina shyly waved.

"Mercedes." Puck greeted.

"Puckerman." She said, getting back to spraying everyone with water, excluding Puck.

"You can wet me, too! My dad said its cool for me to play." He told Mercedes.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was too young for you to hang out with." She retorted with her nose in the air. Puck looked at her and thought to himself that Mercedes was probably one of the most badass girls he's ever known.

School finally started and Mercedes looked around the cafeteria. Jensen and Jacob were sitting together with Puck and Finn. Finn was another boy who lived down the road from them. Brittany were with her own friends, and she couldn't find Tina anywhere. She wanted to go to her brothers' table but after watching Puck flex his surprisingly big muscles for only being in the fourth grade, she decided she'd rather sit alone.

"Is this seat taken?" Mercedes looked up at a dorky looking kid with glasses. He had suspenders and high wasted pants.

"Um, no." She said picking at her peaches.

"I'm Artie." He said, holding out his hand.

"I'm Mercedes." She said taking it.

"Mercedes. Thats an awesome name." He said pushing up his glasses.

"Thanks. So is Artie I guess." She replied.

"What grade are you?" She internally rolled her eyes. Every time someone asked her about her grade, she thought of Noah Puckerman.

"Third."

"No way, me too!" He said and she smiled at him. "I wonder if we'll have the same teacher." He said, taking a bite of his bagel.

"Well, I have Ms. Osteen in B6." Mercedes said, she'd been memorizing it so she would be prepared for her first day.

"Sweet. So do I." Artie said taking another bite of his bagel. Mercedes looked over to where she heard her brothers laughing and caught Puck's eye. Her brothers and Finn were laughing; giving each other high fives and clapping on his shoulders while he had a small smile on his face. When he saw her look at him he smiled a little bigger. She quickly looked away.

"So I've never seen you here before. Did you just move here?" Artie asked, and Mercedes looked at him.

"Yeah, I moved here from Cleveland." She responded.

"Well, don't you worry about anyone picking on you because you're new. I'll be your friend and defend you." He smiled at her and she returned it. She already had friends, but having an extra one couldn't be bad.

"Thanks." She responded.

Artie and her became buddies by the time breakfast was over that day, and by the time the first week of school was over, they were best friends.

"So you mean to tell me you like Scooby Doo way better?" He asked and she nodded, school was already in session for a month and the dual were getting closer and closer. Sometimes Brittany and Tina would join them after school, but for the most part it was just them two.

"Duh, Artie." She said laughing, "I can't believe you like Power Puff Girls!" She said, and he chuckled.

"Something about superhero girls is so cool. Girls who could fly, and beat bad guys! I want my girlfriend to be like that."

"Ew, you're talking about that already?" She replied and he shrugged.

"What?" He asked and they laughed. "My dad said he knew he wanted to marry my mom the moment he laid eyes on her. You have to be prepared." Mercedes closed her eyes and laughed harder. She was so busy laughing she didn't realize someone was right in front of her.

"Oup!" She exclaimed, and tried to steady herself when she bumped into something hard.

"Mercedes. Archie." Puck greeted, arms crossed.

"Its Artie." The boy corrected

"Whatever." Puck said, his eyes never leaving Mercedes. "My mom says I'm going to my dad's so I have to walk with you." He continued.

"Is this your cousin?" Artie whispered to Mercedes, but Puck was the one to answer.

"No. My dad and grandma lives by her and I'm walking with her." He said and Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Noah," He looked around uncomfortably hoping no one heard her call him by his first name, "You can't just think someone's going to walk with you. You need to ask." She put a hand on her hip. Artie widened his eyes.

"Well, what are you going to do, walk alone? Your brothers have a flag football meeting." He scoffed, "I don't think you have the courage to, Mercedes." He challenged.

"I do. I've walked alone before. Its not even a block away." She said, matching his tone.

"Fine. Walk alone." He said, turning 180 toward the front of the school. It wasn't far from the Front Office where they were currently standing.

"Sorry about that." She turned to her best friend.

"Its okay. I never seen anyone stand up to Puck like that before." He said, adjusting his collar.

"He's not that scary." She said leaning in and winking.

"Really? Everyone's afraid of him." Artie shuttered and Mercedes laughed.

"Thats weird to think of." It really was. Puck never intimidated her the way he seemingly did to everyone else.

"What are you doing this weekend?"

"We're going down to the lake. Ask your parents to take you! Tomorrow. If you can't come, its okay, I'll just see you on Monday." Mercedes said and Artie's eyes gleamed.

"I'm going to the park near the lake tomorrow, so I'll ask my mom!" He said and Mercedes clapped her hands in delight. Just then his mother came up.

"Do you want me to ask my mom to give you a ride?" She shook her head. "Alright, well, see you." He said running to his car. With one last wave to his best friend he jumped in the van. Mercedes started walking home. She didn't like walking home alone, but its what needed to be done.

"'Cedes!" Someone called after her. When she turned around expectantly.

"Yes, Puck?"

"Oh, now I'm Puck. Why couldn't you say that when you were in front of Arnie-"

"Artie."

"Whatever."

"Isn't Noah your name?"

"You're ruining my cool factor, girl." She said, pulling his backpack's sleeve higher on his shoulder.

"I thought you left already." She said, continuing to walk with him by her side.

"I wasn't about to let you go alone." She rose a brow at him, "What?"

"Why don't you want me to walk alone?"

"Because only a boy with these guns can walk you home, Mer Mer." He said winking at her.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" She said, walking faster. He kept up with no problem.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Truce?" He asked, holding out a pinky.

"Truce." She said taking it.

"So the JJ's told me you guys were going to the lake?" The JJ's was the nickname he gave the twins, he said it was too difficult saying both of their names, and insisted they sounded cooler with the acronyms.

"Sure am." She said, kicking a rock with her shoe.

"Can I come?" He asked.

"Well, I don't know. You're going to have to ask my mom." She said biting her lip.

"You want me to come?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Am I like your friend then?" He bumped his shoulders with hers.

"Weren't we always?" She looked at him.

"I didn't think you liked me." He said. He always lost the bravado when it was just them two. She was different.

"Noah, of course I do. Its just, you need to be nicer. And Artie is probably going to come, so you have to be nice to him, too." She admitted.

"Why?"

"Because he's my best friend! And because you need to treat people better." She sassed, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Wait, he's your best friend?" He asked, not liking the idea.

"Yes."

"But he's a boy." He said incredulously, holding out his hands in disbelief.

"So? Boys and girls can be best friends, too."

"What about Brittany and Tina?" He reasoned.

"They'll always be my favorites, but Artie's my best."

"Boys can't be trusted." He said. Honestly Puck had no idea what he was talking about. He mostly just copied what he heard from his older brothers.

"Why?"

"I'm a guy, I should know!" He responded smoothly.

"Whatever. He's nice to me and others. Thats more than I can say about other people." She said and he became confused.

"Like me?"

"Yes." She said crossing her arms.

"Oh." He admitted, they were at the last crosswalk before they were in their neighborhood. He was a little bummed the conversation was going to end soon. He liked talking to her. She was seriously the coolest girl ever. Though he'd never admit it.

"Its the truth." She said, and he hung his head, "I'm not going to lie to you because I'm not afraid of you like everyone else."

"I know."

"And I'm also not going lie because I don't lie to my friends." She said and he quickly looked at her. "Just ask my mom if you could come with us to the lake tomorrow."

"I will."

"Good." She said. They walked in comfortable silence till they reached her house.

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked when they reached the walkway by her house.

"Psh, more like see you in five minutes." She said while she walked to her door as they laughed.

Puck wished he didn't come to the lake. It was beyond annoying watching Brittany and Artie laughing and running around. It was even more annoying that Artie kept giving Mercedes piggy back rides. Puck believed he should be the one to do it. Artie looked small and weak.

"Hey Puck!" Mercedes ran up to him and shot him with her water gun. He looked at her unamused.

"Attack!" The JJ's said coming out from behind the trees, shooting her with their own water guns.

"Help!" She laughed and shot water in every direction. Puck laughed.

"Ah-ha Mercy!" Puck taunted. That made up for some of his irritation. His laugh stopped short when he saw Artie running full speed toward the JJ's.

"I'll come and save you Mercy!" Artie yelled. Puck didn't like that idea of him saving her, he didn't like it one bit. In fact, he was now even more irritated than he was before. He sat on the side and sulked for a little bit. He hated Artie Abrams, and Mercedes Jones. Why did he need to save her? And why did she let him?