"You guys want to see what twelfth place looks like?" Mr. Schuester said brightly, holding up a small trophy, no bigger than the one Rachel got for MVP at Regional's. All thirteen members cheered loudly, jumping up and down and waving their hands around like maniacs that are trying to catch a taxi.
Because Sam was closest, Mr. Schuester handed the trophy to him first. He brought it roughly to his lips and kissed and, and passed in on to Quinn beside him. After everyone got their turn to hold it, touch it, hug it, flaunt it and smile brightly with it, Schuester took it back and placed it on the piano. Everyone took a seat and Sam discreetly sat next to Mercedes without making it look like he was trying to.
"Alright everyone; as promised, I am going to give out this competitions' MVP award!" Mr. Schue enthused.
Everyone looked around; unsure who was going it this time-
"Finn Hudson!"
Sam snapped his head around to look at Finn's reaction. And good thing he did. He was wearing his dopey smile and his eyes crinkled when he smiled. He walked awkwardly up to the front.
"I really don't deserve this, you guys." He said, holding up the trophy as if they needed clarification on what he didn't deserve. "I messed up, big time. I blew Nationals for us."
"But you wrote a fantastic song." Brittany said in her usual airy voice. "I'm serious. It's better than Rachel's song to you." Rachel shot a glare to Brittany before looking back at Finn.
"I guess so. All I have to say is that it is a good thing Rachel took me back or I'd be really depressed." He said, smiling weakly.
"We love you Finn!" Mercedes said from the seat beside Sam. Sam shot her a smile before joining everyone in their shouts of agreement and a big motion to give Finn a group hug.
"Alright guys. Have a great summer, and stay out of trouble!" Mr. Schue said as everyone was standing up to leave. "I don't want anyone in prison or pregnant by the time school comes back, you hear?"
"Yeah, yeah, Schue." Everyone mumbled.
"Come on Mr. Schue. Give us more credit than that! That hasn't happened in this club!" Kurt joked.
Just then the bell rang for the final time, and everyone headed off to the Lima Bean together.
"Kurt Hummel you put that phone down right now!" Mercedes shouted from his passenger seat. He dropped his phone into the cup holder in the console and shot her a look before returning his eyes to the road. "Texting and driving is a no-no." Kurt opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off, "And I don't care if it's boyfriend-Blaine you're texting!"
Even though Kurt was looking at the road he could hear the smile in her voice. He smiled himself.
"So, you looked pretty damn happy when Sam and I saw you guys. What happened?" Mercedes said with a sing-song voice while tapping his shoulder gently.
Kurt's smile grew bigger. "He told me he loved me." He squeaked, and immediately flushed at how high his voice just got.
"Oh, my god! He did not! That boy, Kurt Hummel, he is a keeper!" Mercedes squealed.
"Yes he is." Kurt said softly, mostly to himself, but he knew Mercedes heard him. "Oh, do me a favor," he said, voice returning to full strength again, "Text Blaine and tell him to meet us at the Lima Bean. Please?" He added as an afterthought.
"Sure." Mercedes grabbed his iPhone out of the cup holder and clicked the home button. Kurt could see her tapping away with one pointed index finger and chuckled. It was always funny to watch someone who didn't have an iPhone try to use one. A few long minutes later, his phone beeped. Mercedes read the message in her head except chuckled while she read it. Kurt asked her what it said.
"Oh, he's coming. He's also a little confused, I think. Maybe turned-on." She said, clicking the sleep button and putting his phone down.
"What did you send?" Kurt demanded.
"I just told him to bring his sweet ass in those sexy black skinny jeans to the Bean pronto because you want to whisper a secret into his mouth." She sighed.
"Mercedes!" Kurt flushed deeply.
"He said he'd be right there." She paused. "And that he could wait to hear the secret!" She laughed her way through the last sentence.
"Mercedes Jones, I am not speaking to you for the rest of the day." Kurt said smiling, but still beet red.
"Oh, come on. Kurt that boy is fine, and I have no trouble saying that even though Sa-" she broke off, blushing. Kurt glanced sideways at her giving her a coy smile before she rushed on, "That boy is really fine, and he loves you, and he's so into you. I mean I know you guys have only been dating a few months, but if things are that serious-" she broke off.
Kurt flushed again before placing his hands at 10 and 2 on the wheel and staring straight ahead. He took a few deep breaths before he decided he had to respond. She hadn't really asked a question, but she didn't need to. "I don't know, 'Cede. He's sweet and you're right; totally fine. I'm just very uncomfortable with my body." He said quietly. Mercedes didn't ask why but he knew she was thinking it.
"I feel like a girl sometimes. I mean- obviously I'm not," He said, breaking the tension for a moment. "It's just. I'm very feminine. And Blaine seems like a man's man. Not a womanly man's man."
Mercedes gave a small chuckle, like she couldn't believe she had to say this to him. Like teaching a toddler that that's not the right shoe, sweetheart. Other foot. "You are a hot damn piece of eye candy, Kurt. I fell for you, and I'm picky. And yes, you are feminine. So what? Blaine likes you. Not some Mr. Six-pack-shirt-ripping-muscles guy he met at a gym."
Kurt could feel his emotions ripping up his chest and into his tight throat. He swallowed and forced himself not to tear up. He was driving after all.
"Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered.
"Mercedes, you can tell me anything." He said.
"Sam and I are sort of dating."
"I know. I saw the way you looked at each other. Blaine noticed too. We discussed it. I approve."
"Good to hear." She said laughing. Sobering up, she quietly added, "I haven't kissed him yet. Or rather, I haven't let him kiss me yet. He's so hot and tall and muscular and blonde and amazing, and here's me. I'm black, and I weigh more than I want to. Yes, I am the fiercest bitch in this city, but I feel scared when it comes to him."
Kurt didn't say anything. He felt the same; scared when it came to Blaine. They'd only kissed a couple dozen times, and once had a semi-steamy make out session when Kurt was dropping him off. Kurt stopped it once Blaine's finger curled themselves on the collar of his scoop neck, his knuckles brushing Kurt's chest. He wanted to go further, but he was scared at what Blaine would think of his body.
Coming out of his head and back into the real world, he defended Mercedes. "You, Mercedes, are the hot damn piece of eye candy. You may not be a skinny as the other girls, but that doesn't matter. You are the most confident person I know, and if you ever feel like you have too much, I'll gladly take some off your hands."
At this point they arrived on the Lima Bean, Kurt parking beside Finn's beat up rust bucket. He killed the ignition and turned to face Mercedes. He placed his hands on either side of her face and looked into her dark chocolate eyes.
"Kissing is the first step. It's easy 'Cede. Just lean in-" Kurt started to lean in, "close your eyes, and kiss!" He said as he planted a big kiss on her cheek right beside her mouth.
"You idiot!" she yelled playfully, hitting his arm. "You're not allowed to almost steal my first kiss from me- even if you are the most beautiful person I've ever met."
They both unlocked their seatbelt's and got out of Kurt's Navigator. He hit the 'LOCK-ALARM' button on his keypad- he has never been broken into and does not intend to start now.
"Anyway, you have all summer to get into Blaine's pants." Mercedes said, hooking her arm into Kurt's.
"And you-" he said, tapping her nose, "Have all summer to plant one on Trouty Mouth's guppy lips." He said jokingly, quoting Santana's god-awful song she felt the need to sing for Kurt one day in Glee Club.
He linked his arm in Mercedes like old times and they walked into the Lima Bean to find Finn, Rachel, Puck, Lauren, Santana, Brittany, Artie, Sam, Quinn, Mike and Tina all waiting for them to arrive. They sat down in the corner of the coffee shop with 4 couches, two loveseats, and four single seats, specifically for large groups. Kurt sat in a loveseat by himself, waiting for Blaine to show up. Mercedes took a seat next to Sam on the couch and grabbed his hand. This didn't go unnoticed, though. Finn raised a hand and pointed to them. Rachel gave an excited squeak and Santana gave the "You go girl!" look to her. Sam smiled brightly and pressed his lips to her hand still clasped in his.
Just then Blaine walked in, and instead of wearing the black skinny jeans he was wearing a pair of beige shorts with all sorts of pockets and zippers- a very manly pair of shorts, in Kurt's opinion. He was also wearing a tight fitted grey v-neck (nothing too deep, just enough that Kurt could see a few curls of his chest hair). It's not like he minded- quite the opposite actually. He might like to dress fashionably and keep up with the latest styles, but he was still gay. He liked the look of men. Call him weird, but he actually loved it when Blaine didn't shave that morning, or when he didn't comb his hair with copious amounts of his ridiculous Xtreme Hold Hair Gel.
"Hey." Blaine smiled his 100 watt smile. He flopped down next to Kurt, and placed a quick kiss on Kurt's cheek as he reached an arm around his shoulders. Kurt flushed slightly, and smiled back at him. Blaine quickly joined the conversation, and began to lightly trace patterns on Kurt's shoulder. Whether he was aware he was doing it or not didn't matter to Kurt.