A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for joining me on the second installment of the Gleelight saga. I hope you guys enjoy this one.

Happy Reading!

And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own: The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Glee, any characters or places from either. Romeo & Juliet, Audi, Queen B (Beyonce), Leonardo DiCaprio, Ms. Kwan (that's a crossover from the Degrassi fandom) or anything else you can find in the real world.

THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D BUT PROOFREAD. ALL REMAINING MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL. APOLOGIES FOR FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

These violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume.

Romeo & Juliet, Act II, Scene VI

School had been back in for a few weeks and I was dreading the end of the current week. It was a dark day, Friday, September thirteenth. My eighteenth birthday. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have cared and I would have let my dad throw me a small, small, I'm talking tiny birthday party at Breadstix, but now things were different. I was with Sam and he was frozen as a beautiful seventeen year old. I was going to be older than him. At least in human years. I wanted to be changed and I wasn't going to change my mind. It was the only way to ensure he and I would be together forever.

Thursday night as I laid in bed, chatting with my mom, all I could think about was the fact that tomorrow, in just a few short hours, I would be eighteen and I was one year older than Sam. I knew that if I got any older it would look odd to people that this hot seventeen year old was holding hands and kissing an old lady. I wasn't really trying to go to jail because it looked like he was openly dating a pedophile. I ended my chat with mom and turned the playlist Sam had made for me on and drifted off to sleep.

I could feel my heart beating wildly as I ran through a sea of people covered in red cloaks. I was in a city I didn't recognize and there was some kind of celebration happening but I was panicked. I kept running – running hard and fast. The large clock on the tower tolled noon and I felt my heart jump into my throat. I pushed people out of my way and I ran faster and faster until finally, I emerged in the woods. In the meadow. The meadow I claimed for Sam and I.

The sun was shining brightly and across the way I could see someone coming toward me. She looked at me, I looked at her. There was no way I was looking at Grandma Caroline.

"Granny?" I muttered. We waved at each other. I was a little creeped out as I stood there and looked across the flowered field. My granny had been dead for six years. What the hell was she doing in my dream? I was standing right in the middle of the heavily scented meadow, when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Sam. Granny is not that far away from me but Sam is a good 100 feet away. "Sam, don't! She'll see!" I called but he just smiled at me. I shifted from on foot then the other as he flashed beside me. Now that he was next to me, I noticed a few things. One, I had had a missing feeling when he wasn't near me and two, his eyes were the glazed over with red and the black veins he usually tried to hide from me, crawled down his face. He was silent, so I was too as he took my hand and we walked toward Granny. As she walked toward us too, the nerves in my stomach were tying themselves into knots. I had no idea how I was going to explain was what going on with Sam and he didn't seem to care that I was about to spill his secret to my grandmother. We stopped a few feet from her. I put my arm around him and said, "Granny, this is my..." but I stopped. I had to stop. Granny was trying to say something. I waited but she was silent, so I looked at him and he gave me a gentle smile. "Granny, this is my..." I started again but when I watched her this time I thought I noticed something. Something odd. We examined each other for a moment. I reached out to touch her and she did the same. When our fingers met I was startled at how cool they were but crazy enough, so was Granny. I blinked slowly. I kept my eyes closed for a second. Just a second. I needed that second to think. About what; I don't know. I opened my eyes in hopes to examine the situation more closely but I wish that I hadn't.

I realized that Granny was standing alone with her arm out much like I had mine except my arm was around Sam. Upon closer inspection, I realize that she was surrounded by a gold gilded frame. Both of our eyes grew wide when I looked at my hand that was touching hers. It was worn and wrinkly. I looked back up into her eyes but I realized when Sam grabbed my hand that I wasn't looking at my grandmother. I was looking at my own reflection. I was a seventy year old woman standing next to the eternal seventeen year old Sam Evans-Schuester.

"Happy birthday, Mercedes," he said as he kissed my hand. I looked at him with a sad longing. A longing to be young and to still be something he wanted. He looked me in the eyes but before he could speak -

"Happy birthday." Gordon said knocking on my bedroom door. He opened the door and came in carrying a large flat gift and a digital camera.

"I thought we agreed, no presents," I smiled.

"Well, the one from me's not wrapped, so it doesn't count," he informed me as he handed me the dark purple camera.

"That's actually great. Thanks, Dad."

"It goes with this one from your mom. We coordinated. Well, she coordinated me," he said as I ripped the paper open. "It's to put your pictures in from senior year," he explained. He sighed and said, "Senior year. How'd you get so old so fast?"

"I didn't. It's not that old," I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. I didn't even want to think about the word old today.

"I don't know. Is that a gray hair?" he asked as he touched my hair.

"No. No way!" I exclaimed as I jumped out of bed and studied my hair in the full length mirror next to my bed. When I realized he was trying to be funny, I gave him an amused look.

"Happy birthday," he smiled with his hand ups in a defensive position.

"That's really funny," I teased. Gordon laughed and exited my room. I rolled my eyes. I took a shower and since it was my birthday I figured I'd dress up a little. I pulled on my indigo Levi's, white v-neck tee, black blazer with the zebra print lining and my black riding boots. I adorned myself with some sparkle and headed downstairs.

"Birthday breakfast," Gordon said as I sat down at the table. My plate had a pile of chopped fruit and a sandwich. It was three slices of turkey bacon, a fried egg, a potato patty and cheese.

"You made this?" I asked as I jabbed my fork into a strawberry.

"If by made you mean, I went out and picked it up from that little diner down the way, then yes I made it," he chuckled.

"Well, it's great anyway. Thank you," I smiled. Gordon kissed me on the top of the head and went off to get ready for work. I ate in silence as I thumbed through my busted copy of Romeo & Juliet. We had been reading the book in class and at home but we had been done for a few days now but I reread it. The tragedy of two, basically freshman, killing themselves in the name of love has always been interesting to me. Before I met Sam I didn't understand why you would off yourself for someone else; because when you get right down to it, they died because neither of them was patient enough to wait.

Romeo never got that letter so he saw her "dead" and wanted so desperately to find her in death that he iced himself but if he had just mourned for a few seconds longer they could have just run away together. But alas, they didn't and two young kids died because of a feud between two families that no one even remembered anymore. It's all very poetic and sad; but he's Shakespeare.

I finished my breakfast, rinsed my plate off in the sink, grabbed my backpack and new camera before heading outside. The day was sunny despite the cloudiness and chill to the air.

"Happy birthday, Mercedes!" my next door neighbor yelled before he got into his car.

"Thanks, Mr. Matthews," I called back, slightly blushing. Gordon came out of the house and waved to Mr. Matthews as he drove past our house.

"Have a good day, Merc," he said getting into his car.

"Thanks Dad," I smiled and got into my car. I put the key in the ignition and my baby rumbled to life. The radio came on and as I backed out of the driveway, I sang along with Queen B. I turned the station after that song because they started playing shit I didn't like so I turned to another station that usually plays good music.

'Another missing hiker brings the total to three presumed dead. Rangers are searching for the killer animal...' I turned the knob again. As horrible as it sounds, I wasn't necessarily in the mood to hear about death on my birthday.

I pulled into the parking lot of William McKinley High to find my friends hanging out beside Greg's jeep. It was nice to see that nothing had changed in the new year. I grabbed my bag and got out.

"Today's the big day, Mercedes," Trina said as I approached them. I looked at her. I didn't tell her that it was my birthday. April knew but that's because she's nosy and she saw it on Sam's phone. "R & J essay due."

"Oh yeah." I said, as if I hadn't just been staring at her.

"Wherefore art thou, Mercedes?" Greg asked doing his best impression of a Shakespearean actor. They all laughed but I couldn't find it in myself to laugh at the stupid.

"Let me take a picture of you guys," I said pulling out my new camera. "My mom wants me to put together, like, a scrapbook full of memories."

"Oh cool." Jerry smiled, as they pulled themselves together for a photo.

"I take them. I'm not in them," April said trying to slink away. Over the summer she had decided that photography was what she wanted to do with her life. She took brilliant pictures, so naturally I encouraged her.

"No, no, no, come here," Jerry said pulling her in beside him.

"Well, you are today," I commented.

"You'll photoshop this if my nose looks big, right?" Trina questioned.

"Or my forehead looks likes more like an eight head?" Sarah asked.

"Don't worry. I'm in the picture. No one will be looking at you guys." Jerry beamed. Jerry, Greg, April, Trina, Sarah and Robbie smiled brightly at me as I held the camera up and snapped a photo.

"That's good," I smiled. "Thanks."

"Oh, good. Schuester's here," Greg said in a fake pleasant tone. I turned just in time to see Sam stride across the parking lot.

"Yay," Jerry and Robbie cheered weakly.

"We'll talk to you later," April said with a grin as they walked away. Sam's strides were long and deliberate. Graceful. He looked as if he were floating.

"Happy birthday," Sam said finally reaching me.

"Don't remind me," I moaned.

"Mercedes, your birth is definitely something to celebrate," he smiled.

"Yeah, but aging's not," I said.

"Your aging?" he chuckled. "I think eighteen is a little young to start worrying about that."

"It's one year older than you," I commented.

"No, it isn't. I'm 109," Sam replied with a smirk.

"Well, maybe I shouldn't be dating such an old man," I teased. "It's gross. I should be thoroughly repulsed." He chuckled as he tensed a little and leaned in and kissed me. I know that he never wanted to hurt me. It would suck if he did since I'm not one who cares for bruises but his tension made the kisses intense and I'm almost not strong enough to resist wanting more. Almost.

"We have to go to class," he said breaking our kiss, his forehead on mine.

"Ok," I nodded. He grabbed my hand and we turned toward the school.

"Wait a second. Someone wants you," he said looking down at me. I looked over my shoulder to see a familiar face.

"Mercy." Maverick Blue called with a boyish smile.

"Mav!" I smiled back. I took a step toward him but Sam grabbed my arm. "What?"

"I'll leave you to talk," he muttered as he stepped away from me. I nodded again and turned back to Maverick closing the distance between us. He looked...different.

"Hello, biceps. You know anabolic steroids are really bad for you," I ribbed.

"Well, I'm just filling out, Mercy," he chuckled. "You know, it wouldn't seem so drastic if we hung out more."

"You should switch schools. You can come hang out with the palefaces," I said touching his muscular arm. I couldn't help but stare. Maverick had never really been a little guy but apparently the summer had been good to him. When I first got back to Lima, he was the kid I remembered. Long black hair, dark brown eyes, brilliant smile, tall, slightly muscular. An average teenage boy; but now, now he was...Maverick was hot. I couldn't get around that fact. I had always thought he was cute and his sparkling personality just added to that but now that he's "filled out" as he put it, the personality added to that makes him almost unbearable to look at. Almost.

"I'm all right. I prefer the rez school's exclusivity," Maverick said with a crooked smile. "They let any old riffraff into this place."

"I see. Then why are you slumming it?"

"I was just buying a part for the Rabbit," he said. Last June, Maverick called to tell me that he had bought a black 1992 Volkswagen Rabbit. He sent me a picture of his "new" baby. It didn't look like much but he seemed proud of it. "You should really come take a ride when it's done."

"Is it fast?" I smirked.

"Um...it's decent." he grinned. The air between us became a bit thick for whatever reason.

"I'm kidding," I laughed.

"Yeah ok," he chuckled. "Hey, happy birthday." My smile left my face. "Your dad told my dad, so..."

"Yeah, of course he did." I laughed softly.

"I, uh, saw this the other day and thought of you," Maverick said as he reached into his back pocket. It was a small beautiful wooden dreamcather with charms hanging from it. "It catches bad dreams."

"That's kind of perfect," I said taking it in my hand as my mind drifted briefly to Grandma Mercedes in the meadow with Sam. "Thank you."

"No problem," he smiled. "Good seeing you," he said with a glance at a waiting Sam.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," I said hugging him.

"Bye," he said embracing me tightly.

"Later," I smiled as we released each other. I waved as he jogged back over to his dad's truck and pulled away. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Sam smiled and uneasy smile as he watched Maverick drive away. We walked silently into the building. "So, how come Maverick Blue gets to give you a gift and I don't?"

"Because I have nothing to give back to you," I replied.

"Mercedes, you give me everything just by breathing," he tried to assure me. I exhaled slowly. He always said the most perfect things.

"See? Thank you," I said. Yes, I know that it would be a gift he was giving me and it's not mandatory that you give the giver something back but I felt like I would owe him. I mean he's given me so much love and just everything. If he gave me a gift on top of all of that, I don't know – I'd just owe him. "That's all I want."

"Mercedes!" Tina shouted as she jumped over the railing of the stairs and out in front of us. "Happy birthday!" she cooed as she wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Shh," I said hugging her back. She smiled a sweet, excited smile as she presented me with a square gift, wrapped in dark purple paper and a black ribbon. "I thought I said no presents."

"I've already seen you open it, and guess what, you love it," Tina said matter-of-factly. "You're gonna wear it tonight. Our place." I hesitated. I really didn't want a party. "Come on. Please? It'll be fun."

"Ok. All right." I sighed. I suddenly felt the urge to just be...compliant.

"Great!" she squealed. "Ok. I'll see you at 7:00." When she skipped off toward Mike, who was standing a little ways away, I felt this sense of not wanting a birthday party, no matter what, wash over me.

"Mike, no fair with the mood control thing," I said.

"Sorry, Mercedes. Happy..." Mike smirked. "Nevermind." He and Tina walked away as I tapped Sam in the chest with my gift.

"You can't trust vampires," Sam said as we started toward class. "Trust me." I chuckled and rolled my eyes. We stopped by my locker and I shoved the present inside. "Could you at least pretend to be happy?"

"I am happy."

"You're not."

"Well, I'm not going to do cartwheels," I said as we entered Ms. Kwan's classroom.

"That's too bad," he laughed as we took our seats in the back of the room. "But seriously, we don't get many birthdays, you know."

"You're...oh. I'm sorry. You're right," I said turning slightly in my chair to face him. "I'm being inconsiderate."

"It's fine, plus it's your birthday," he said interlocking our fingers. "You're supposed to be a little inconsiderate."

"Still. I didn't even think about the birthday thing or how it would be a big deal to you guys. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Sam said kissing me on the forehead.

"Good morning, class," Ms. Kwan said as she wheeled a TV into the room. "Pass your essays up to the front, please." Sam and I dug into our bags and pulled out our papers. He took mine and handed it to the boy in front of us. Once all the papers were collected, our teacher turned the TV on. "I had several choices when it came to picking a film version of Romeo & Juliet."

"Please tell me I get to bask in the beauty that is Leonardo DiCaprio?" Trina swooned.

"No," Ms. Kwan said flatly as she started the movie. I had seen it before at my school in L. A., so I was kind of paying attention.

'O my love! My wife! Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath hath had no power yet upon that beauty. Thou art not conquered. Beauty's ensign yet is crimson in that lips and in thy cheeks. And death's pale flag is not advanced there.' Romeo said in a brittle voice.

"I hate being celebrated," I whispered, deciding to ignore the movie all together.

"There are worse tragedies. I mean, look at Romeo," Sam informed me. "Killed his true love out of sheer stupidity."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Though I do envy him one thing."

"Juliet is like, perfect. If you like that obviously beautiful sort of thing."

He chuckled, "Not the girl, the suicide." I looked at him confused. "It's nearly impossible for...for some people. For humans, a little poison, a dagger to the heart. There's so many different options."

"Why would you say that?" still in disbelief.

"Because I had to consider it once," he said as he stared straight ahead. "I didn't know if I'd get to you in time after Jesse bit you. I had to come up with some kind of plan."

"What was the plan?" I questioned.

"That I'd go to Italy and provoke The Malignità."

"The what?"

"The Malignità."

"Now, who'd like to repeat the last few lines of iambic pentameter just to show they were paying attention?" Ms. Kwan asked pausing the video. "Mr. Schuester?"

"Uh, yes, Ms. Kwan," Sam said. He inhaled deeply as everyone in the class turned to face him and he began to recite the poetry word for word, "O here will I set up my everlasting rest and shake the yoke of inauspicious stars from this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last. Arm, take you last embrace! And lips. O you, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death!"

"Eyes on the screen, people." Ms. Kwan said pulling herself together. Everyone in the whole room was swooning at how beautifully pained and sorrowful Sam's reciting had been. I was impressed but also a little worried. About him and where all of these suddenly suicidal thoughts were coming from. There was still so much I didn't know about him but we had time to change that.

I looked at him, even though he never turned to me. It didn't matter. I just felt like I needed to stare at him because if I didn't he was going to...disappear.

After English with Ms. Kwan, Sam's mood seemed to pick up. He said it was because he was excited about my birthday party. I think it was because he wanted to see how red my cheeks could get. Either way, by the end of the day, I was excited to get home and open my gift. According to Tina, I love it and after Jesse, I believe everything she says...no question asked.