Mercedes braced her back against the wooden headboard of the Queen sized bed and closed her eyes so that she wouldn't cry in front of the blonde sitting beside her. She was extremely frustrated about the fight that had happened the night before with Jay and she felt like everything was simply falling apart for her. Quinn sat beside her on the pink flowered bed. She had invited Mercedes over to her place the moment she had seen her face that morning at school, the poor girl looked absolutely exhausted. The blonde leaned her head against Mercedes and held the shorter woman's hand in her lap. She didn't even have to ask her friend what was the matter, the only thing that seemed to make Mercedes unhappy was her so-called best friend Jay. If Quinn had it in her power she would keep the curly haired blue eyed jerk away from Mercedes, she thought that she deserved better, more supportive friends. Mercedes took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. She shook her head as if it would cure her from her frustrations.
"Cedes, why do you let that boy mess with you the way that he does? Don't get me wrong, I know ya'll are best friends but...there needs to be a line drawn somewhere hun." The blonde spoke with her southern drawl casually slipping out from time to time. It made Mercedes smile as she pictured Sam and his more exaggerated way of speaking. A long shaky sigh slipped out from her lips as she tried to figure out a way to explain the unusual bond she had with Jay. Sometimes she wondered why she found it so difficult to let him go, but realised that she needed him just as much as he always seemed to need her. "I mean, he's alright looking aside from those crazy eyes and his tendency to stare at people like they're gum between his toes, but sweets you need to swat him away like a dirty old fly at a picnic." Mercedes laughed at the visual and shrugged.
"Jay...Jay means well, I mean he was yelling at me b-because I got involved with a guy I d-didn't know and he wanted to p-protect me I guess."She opened her eyes and squeezed Quinn's hand. "He's not a b-bad guy and he means well, he just d-doesn't understand love and has trouble showing it...he's lost a lot of p-people in his life and he's trying not to drown." She turned her head to look at Quinn. "I can't let him drown...I just can't. He's always been there for me and that was his way of showing me that he loves me and cares." Quinn moved on the bed so that she was facing Mercedes and not sitting beside her anymore.
"Woman, what you're explainin sounds like abuse or something, it's not healthy and you need to cut the apron strings, you are not his mother, his grandmother, his girlfriend, he is not your responsibility." Mercedes shook her head, she knew that Quinn wouldn't understand. The blonde could already see that she was making absolutely no progress with the woman in front of her and she didn't want to have to see something really bad happen to Mercedes before she finally realised what Quinn had been saying all along.
"We're responsible for each other, he will always b-be b-by my side and I need to b-be b-by his." She shrugged. "It's hard to b-believe it but Jay would rather die than ever hurt me." If Mercedes was sure of anything, it was that. As much as Jay looked insane to other people, he did have a large heart and without her with him, she didn't even know what would happen. From the very beginning from their first meeting he had done his best to keep her safe, to make her feel loved, how would she ever forgive herself for leaving him after all of that?
Quinn gave Mercedes a deeply worried expression and wondered if she should call Mercedes' sister at college and have her level her out or something. Yet, at the same time she was scared of going over Mercedes head and losing the one good friend she had made so far. "Fine...what were you guys arguing about anyways?" Mercedes shifted uncomfortably on the bed and averted Quinn's eyes. Quinn raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "Was it about me?" Mercedes shook her head no and bit her lip.
"I was on the phone talking to a guy and Jay eavesdropped on the conversation. He d-didn't like that I wouldn't tell him who I was talking to." She said quickly praying that Quinn didn't ask her who she was speaking to as well. She wasn't sure if she could handle telling Quinn about her upcoming date with her older brother.
"Are you freakin kidding me, first of all why was he eavesdroppin on a damn conversation that had nothin to do with him in the first place? Why does he think he can make any demands from you? I swear if I could just get my hands on him...I would beat him until his curls turned straight." Quinn was furious about the situation and wanted to give Jay a piece of her southern mind. "Who was it that you were talking to anyways?" She wanted to know out of curiosity, but wouldn't have pressed Mercedes to tell her if she didn't want to. Mercedes shifted again on the bed and prepared herself to tell the truth, she hoped that the results wouldn't be too bad, who knew maybe Quinn would be okay with it. She looked towards the open door as a way of not seeing Quinn's expression when she told her.
"Uh...Sam." She said slowly. Quinn looked puzzled.
"Sam?" Just then tall blonde man walked by Quinn's open door towards his bedroom.
"SAM! HEY SAM!" Mercedes yelled out and the blonde man moonwalked back to the room. "Sorry I saw him and got d-distracted." She said quickly with an awkward laugh.
Quinn turned to look at her brother and rolled her eyes. "Oh! You saw Sam...I thought you were on the phone with him...that woulda been ew" She laughed and looked back at Mercedes. "We'll talk more about this later." Mercedes laughed along with her.
"Oh ew, yea no! How insane would that be?! Right?" She laughed awkwardly as Sam stared at them in confusion. His eyes landed on her and he winked. Mercedes' eyes widened and she smiled warmly back at him.
"You ladies rang?" Quinn looked back at her brother and hopped off of the bed. "What you want Quinderella, there ain't no fairy godmother here to make you look good and send you to the ball of the nerds." Quinn sarcastically laughed and pinched her brother's arm hard. "Ow woman, I bring you food and this is how ya treat me squirt?"
"Yea, because you act like a fool most times and if you don't bug me now you will later. But thanks for bringin food home." She turned to Mercedes, "Are you hungry?" Mercedes shook her head and the blonde woman smiled back, "Okay, I'm goin to go check out what he brought, be right back." She turned to her brother and poked him pointedly in his chest. "Don't bother her." She stepped out of the room and Sam stood there listening for a second before he plopped down on the mattress beside Mercedes.
"Howdy sugar pie honey bunch," He said quietly as Mercedes looked at him and bit her lip. The man was absolutely delicious in his dark blue jeans, black tank top and red plaid button down shirt on top. "You excited for Friday?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her and Mercedes couldn't help but giggle.
"Yea I am, are you going to try and b-bail on me?" She was partially kidding, but was still worried that this was all a dream and that he was going to burst her bubble. He looked hurt by her question and shook his head.
"Hell nah, why would I do something as stupid as that? Your sister almost beat me to death, so I ain't turnin back now, I've worked too hard to get ya." He grinned and kissed her on the side of her mouth. "Sorry, couldn't help it, your lips look delicious, and if I recall they taste like honey." Mercedes rolled her eyes and laughed.
"You're such a smooth talker Mister Evans." She couldn't deny that it was having an effect on her. "Those are very d-dangerous men from what my mom tells me." Sam put his hand on his chest and looked genuinely surprised and insulted.
"I am simply a southern gentleman who has my eye on a beautiful lady. I am in no way dangerous I promise you and if I must meet your mama and let her see for herself, then I will." He smiled genuinely and brushed his shoulder against hers. "I'll keep you safe on Friday, well to the best of my abilities." She turned her face towards his and noticed how close they were to each other. Her eyes wandered down to the pink smooth lips. She slightly leaned in towards him and he did the same when they heard footsteps running up the stairs. "Dangit!" Sam quickly rolled off of the bed and dropped to the ground as Quinn entered the room. He started to do push ups and groaned as if he had been doing it for a long time. "...thirtttty eight, see it's all in the technique Mercy." He stood up and Quinn rolled her eyes at Mercedes as she handed her a sandwich. Mercedes tried her best not to laugh at the scene.
"Can you leave now sasquatch?" Quinn shook her head and laughed.
"Damn you're so uppity. But alright, alright, I'll let you girls talk about the boys you like." Mercedes almost choked on her sandwich at his statement. "Or choke on sandwiches, whatever ya'll females do." He grinned and headed towards the door, but not before mouthing the words 'call me' to Mercedes over his sister's head. She nodded quickly and he smiled before he turned around and walked into the door. "Did ya'll see that?" He turned to the girls. "I nearabout broke my nose. Who put this wall here?" Quinn and Mercedes stared at him for a few seconds before they both burst out into loud laughter. Sam narrowed his eyes, "Horrible people," and walked out with his bruised dignity. Mercedes couldn't wait to spend some alone time with him where they could finally feel free to be themselves.
Jay absentmindedly watched as Carrie played at the foot of his bed. He had made her dinner already, so he knew that she was fine and content for the time being anyhow. He was just going to let her play with her dolls until she fell asleep. His body was itching to get out and meet someone, he needed a release from the anger and sadness that he felt pent up inside of him. His mind wandered to the night before and he took a deep breath as he relived the anger and hurt he had seen in Mercedes' eyes, he never wanted to be the one to make her feel like that. He closed his eyes as he silently thought about everything, only to feel a sharp tug on his hand. His eyes opened and he stared at the red haired little girl who was staring at him. "Daddy, why are you sad?" She asked in her quiet childlike innocence. Jay sighed and opened his arms for her to move towards him and lean against his side.
"I messed up Care Bear...I wanted to protect M, and only ended up hurting her more." She snuggled underneath his arm and Jay held her closer. "She's...talking to strangers who could hurt her. Remember what I taught you about strangers Care Bear. They're all bad people." He rubbed his forehead as a knot of tension built up around his eyes, he was going to need a joint very soon. "I think I'm just going to leave her alone and let her do whatever the hell she wants." He said more to himself than anything.
"But daddy, you can't do that. You have to protect her like the hero's on tv who wear those funny suits and have swords to fight!" She said excitedly and Jay couldn't help but laugh at his little sisters observations. "She's a beautiful princess and you're the night time in tin foil who has to save her daddy." Jay couldn't help the snort that escaped his nose.
"Care bear I think you mean, knight in shining armour." He laughed and the little girl smiled triumphantly that she had made him feel better. He mulled over his sister's advice and realised that she was right, it was his duty to keep Mercedes protected and safe and he would only be able to do that if he stayed close to her and watched what she did. He had left her once and she had been snatched up by some dude who probably didn't care about her. The headache pounding in his head worsened and he rubbed a cool hand over his face. "I need to go out kiddo, how about you sleep with mom tonight okay?" The little girl looked at him in confusion and then stared at the door.
"No, I don't wanna. She's always grinchy and never gives me kisses anymore." Jay sighed and moved off of the bed. "Please can I stay here, I like it here a lot better." She pouted and her older brother didn't have the heart to send her away. Her lip began to tremble and Jay quickly gave her a hug.
"Calm down Carrie, you know it's not good when you get upset." He lightly tapped the space over her heart. He wiped the tears that had already trickled down her cheeks. "If you're really good, I'll tell you all about the surprise I have planned for you soon. But you need to be a good girl okay?" Carrie clapped excitedly as she laid down on the bed.
"Really?!" She squealed and Jay could only laugh as he listened to her.
"Yes, really really, now lie down and play." He handed her one of her dolls and grabbed a joint from his drawer. He climbed out of his window into the tree and thought out a clever plan to stay on Mercedes good side and protect her from this new guy.
A few hours later Mercedes walked into her bedroom feeling exhausted from the day's events. She hadn't slept well the night before and was feeling the repercussions of it now. Throwing her backpack down on to the floor, she thanked God that she had finished her homework over at Quinn's place. It was nice that the Evans had invited her to stay dinner where she was able to watch the family interact with each other. She told Quinn that she was going to have to come over and share dinner with her family too someday soon. A loud knock came at her door and she sighed before opening it. She looked out and then down and saw her uncle Kevin with a drill in his hand and a tool belt around his waist. "Hey baby girl, let me in I have some things to fix."
"Uh, uncle Kev...what are you d-doing?" He bent over to the side and picked up pieces of wood that were bigger than him and wobbled into the bedroom. Her eyebrow's furrowed together in confusion. "Wait, d-does d-dad know you're trying to fix something b-because remember when you tried fixing the light bulb in the hallway that one time." She folded her arms over her chest and her uncle gave her some side eye.
"I didn't plan for that fire to happen thank you very much Ms. Let me remind you of all your failures Jones. I got it out in time didn't I? Nobody got hurt." He said with a scoff.
"Um, there's still a b-black spot on the wood where it happened." She laughed and he rolled his eyes as he moved towards the closed window.
"Anyways, little child. I'm going to board up your windows so that you don't get any more bed intruders. No more climbing in your windows, no snatching my nieces up, tryin to kill em, so you need to get some wood, get some nails, get some weed, get a hammer, and board the windows up and stop curly head from coming here." He burst out into loud laughter and smacked his knee. "Man Cedes...I could have been a rapper, call myself After Eight, like that minty dark chocolate." He shook his head and then walked to her window. "I'm dark and fresh!"
"Uncle Kev, you can't b-board up my windows and Jay's not going to try to kill me." She picked up the wood and dragged it back into the hallway. "We got into a little fight, we'll fix it." Uncle Kevin stared at her like she was dumb.
"That boy stole my cereal and he made you cry, he is one train stop short from crazy town Cedes. The car is running, but there's no gas, he is one big mac short of a patty, are you seeing what I'm saying. White folks are crazy Cedes! Don't you watch the damn news?" Mercedes rolled her eyes at her uncle and shook her head.
"I'm not going to let you b-board up my windows." The shorter man stared at her with concern in his eyes and shook his head. He handed her his hammer.
"Take that and hide it under your pillow, if he comes in here trying to kill you just pretend that you're going to grab your pillow for a quick cry and then Chuck Norris his ASS, you beat him like a damn Whac-a-mole. You understand me?" Mercedes laughed and nodded.
"Yea, uncle Kev. Thank you." She smiled and slid the hammer under one of her pillows to make him feel better. "I'm feeling kind of tired, is it okay with you if go to sleep now. I'll keep my window locked." He looked at the window hesitantly before walking off with his toolbelt. She watched him leave and sighed deeply before closing the door. Everyone thought Jay was this violent creature that only aimed to hurt her and she wasn't sure how to change their minds when all he did was act irrational. She rubbed her forehead and opened her window to hopefully clear her headache. Grabbing her night clothes, she left her bedroom and walked into the bathroom to change. When she went back to her bedroom, she threw her dirty clothes into the hamper, turned off the lights, and slid into the cool sheets of her bed. The second that her head hit the pillow she could feel sleepiness slowly overcome her until she heard the sound of light footsteps on her floor. Her eyes slightly opened and she sighed when she felt the bed dip and the covers move up. A cool arm wrapped around her waist and she felt the tip of a cold nose against the back of her neck. She could smell a heavy mixture of men's cologne and weed radiating off of the man behind her.
"Jay, if uncle Kev finds you in here, he will kill you." She said quietly as he snuggled closer behind her.
"I know...it's the risk I was willing to take to come talk to you."
"What d-do you want?" She said almost inaudibly. Why can't you just leave me alone? She felt him move behind her and she could imagine his face in the darkness.
"I wanted to say that I'm sorry...I really overreacted and I shouldn't have even been there when you were on the phone with that guy...I shouldn't have yelled at you. You're almost 18, an adult, you know and I shouldn't be trying to control you." She could feel his breath tickle the skin of her neck. "I just want to protect you...and I feel like I'm failing at it." Mercedes turned in the darkness to face him. She could see his features in the light that shone through the window.
"You're right, I control my own life and I love that you want to b-b there for me...b-but you need to give me space to grow, to breathe, to b-be alive." His blue eyes bore into hers before he looked down. She knew that her words were hurting him, but it was all she could do to make her position clear for him to understand. "I want and need you in my life, b-but you gotta start supporting me." She tilted his chin up to look at her. "Can you d-do that Jay?" He sighed and nodded.
"You sure this guy is a good guy?" He asked after a few moments.
"The b-best." She couldn't stop the smile that tugged at her lips as she thought about the green eyed southern boy. "He's a really good guy." Jay could see her smiling in the dark and felt sick in the pit of his stomach. He was going to have to trust her to be okay on her own and to make good calls without his influence. He hoped that whoever this guy was was worthy of her and wouldn't hurt her no matter what, or he'd have to deal with Jay. "He's a p-protector like you." She grinned and Jay reached out to trace the shape of her lips with his finger.
"O..kay. I'll do my best to give you the space that you want... I love you M." He said softly. He was going to do his best as usual to stand by her.
"Okay. I love you too Jay." She replied back. The two fell into a comfortable silence and Jay didn't move until he heard her breathing slow down and knew that she had fallen asleep. As he held her, he devised a plan to meet this protector of hers and make sure that he knew that Jay was in the picture, and would always be there.
A/N: Thanks to those following the story, please let me know what you think if you have the time. Do you think Jay is just being a good friend, or does he have an unhealthy obsession with Mercedes? Thanks to JG for all of your help and support.
