This has not been beta'd. Additional notes at end.
I do not own Glee or profit from this in any way.
This room feels so small. My bedroom back home was bigger, and somehow two of us are supposed to live here. I arrived first, so I get first pick of where I want to sleep. I choose the bed on the right and set my purse and small box down. My dad and brother are on their way up, lugging everything with them. I see that the micro-fridge me and my roommate ordered is already here. The desk and dresser duo is small and for a second I wonder how I'm going to fit all my things in there.
I check out the bathroom and sigh. Not very large, but it'll have to do. My family still isn't up here yet so I open the small box I brought up. There are pictures and small posters and keepsakes that I wouldn't have been able to leave at home.
Home. It hasn't hit me yet- that I'm so far away from home. About 2,300 miles away from me is my home. The Lima Bean. The lake. No.
I look in the box again and begin to take pictures out. There is one of me and Santana at our Cheerios competition sophomore year. I smile. She is as beautiful as ever. Sophomore year- it was easily the best, so many things happened. It was the year I met… I make a mental note to call her tomorrow.
The other pictures are in a collage format, a gift from Tina. She is so creative like that, and it was very thoughtful. I need to call her and tell her I made it safely. Later. My dad walks through the door, huffing. He complains about the elevator line and how he decided to just take the stairs. My brother, Ben, walks in and adds that he regretted the decision after the first two floors. "It's a shame you're in the sixth floor, Merce."
Sixth? Oh, I guess I didn't realize that. Six. Six was his number. No.
My dad looks tired so I shove the pictures back in the box and move it so he can sit. Ben starts to help me unpack and as we do, he tells me about his move-in experience at University of Miami. He has me rolling with tales of rush week and dorm mishaps. When I'm all settled in, my dad gives me a hug and wishes me luck. He's not big on emotions, but I know it's hard for him. Now both of his children are off at college on different sides of the country.
Once they leave, I set up my computer and printer. There is a meeting at 5 for us in the common room, but I still have four hours. I update my Facebook status, letting everyone know that I made it. Once I log off, my roommate comes rushing in. Though we added each other on Facebook, I'm still surprised at her beauty. She is like…the ghost of Grace Kelly.
"Mercedes!" she breathes heavily. "Sorry, we were racing up the stairs because the elevator stopped. I guess I won, huh?" she smirks and comes to give me a hug.
"Hey Quinn", I mumble into her hair. She is literally smothering me.
Her hold on me is still tight when someone walks in. Her boyfriend?
"Quinn! Stop fondling your roommate!" She lets me go and rolls her eyes at him. He extends his hand to mine. "Hi. My name is Sebastian. I'm Quinn's brother. You must be Mercedes."
This boy..this man is sex on a fucking stick. He's tall. Taller than…His hair is very nice, looks like he just got out of bed. Brown, good. Very different from blonde. I shake his hand and something shoots up my arm, but I'm not sure what. Sparks? I've only ever felt that with, well with him. I don't know what to make of Sebastian. I look into his eyes. He has green eyes. They're not the ones that I'm familiar with. No. Sebastian's eyes…they're darker, and different. Different is good. "Yes, I'm Mercedes. Nice to meet you. Are your parents here also?"
He stiffens a bit, but answers quietly. "No, they couldn't make it today, but me and my cousin are here to help Quinny." He smiles.
"I told you to stop calling me that. I'm in college now, Smythe!" She jumps off the bed, when did she go over there?, and hits his arm. He rolls his eyes at her, then smiles at me before excusing himself.
"Smythe?" I question.
She turns to me and explains that they are step siblings. Different parents who married each other when they were young. "Yeah, he's only 20. He's also a damn brat. Whatever though! I love your bed sheets! Grey and purple, it'll be a nice contrast to mine." She laughs and sets her bag on the desk. "I hope you don't mind- they're staying to get me settled in." Oh. Maybe I could call Tina sooner then.
"That's fine," I reply. "I wanted to check out more of the campus anyway." I grab my phone and notice a text message from an unsaved number. My heart constricts I know exactly who it is, how could I forget a number I've engraved into my mind? I put the phone down without reading the message.
I hear Sebastian's voice from the doorway. "We're helping Quinn then we're all going out to dinner. Right, Mercedes?" Is this an invitation? He stumbles in with boxes hiding his face and someone behind curses.
Quinn can see the question on my face and invites me. I'm not sure If I should, but I do. It beats waiting around till 5. Their cousin puts down the boxes he's holding and turns to face me. Damn..is everyone in the family hot? He introduces himself as Hunter.
Putting up Quinn's stuff actually turns out to be fun, she is very creative. She chose an orange and black color scheme and it does complement mine in a weird way. Her major is art and she has a lot with her. Instead of the textbooks mine was filled with, she has a suitcase full of sketchbooks. After about half an hour, we finish and head out to get something to eat. I grab my phone and delete the message before I read it. I've been deleting his messages ever since our last 'conversation'. Grabbing my purse, we exit the room. Sebastian is very gentlemanly and allows me to walk in front of him while still engaging me in conversation. He even holds the door open for me and helps me into his car.
Maybe college won't be so bad.
Originally published and last edited (briefly looked over, I'm so sorry) in 2012. Other than a few typo fixes, I have changed nothing from the original. Hoping to polish up the prequel to this ficlet because it was one of my favorites to write. I was pretty satisfied with this, despite the different style and first person POV, so here ya go.