Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing of Glee

A/N: It's been forever I know. It's not my fault, blame Crossing the Aisle...actually okay it is my fault and I really am sorry about the wait. Thank you to those who've been waiting patiently. And as always I have to give a special shout out to my lovely beta Jill. Enjoy!


Because We Said So

Summary: Stevie and Stacie have grown tired of Sam and his satisfaction with his sad train of girlfriends. But when Stacie sneaks out one night, a dose of good fortune-or bad luck appears and she along with her brother and his good friend Ebbie McDaniel, decide to take things their own hands.

Chapter 7 – Just Underneath the Surface

"Hell no," Ebbie snapped furiously as she brushed through her classmates in the crowded hall. Stevie was struggling to keep up with his curly haired friend. It was bad enough that someone had pissed her off, which cued her bitchy cheerleader mode, but what he needed from her…

"Actually fuck no," Ebbie added stopping abruptly in the hall and turning to face a flustered Stevie. There is no way in hell that you or Stacie are going to con me into being Rachel Berry's bitch."

"That's not what we're asking," Stevie pouted. She usually caved when he pouted, claiming that he looked like a kicked miniature poodle—her favorite dog.

"Really?" Ebbie scoffed, "You could have fooled me. Running errands at the drop of a hat for someone who has yet to make it on Broadway certainly sounds like being their bitch! No Stevie. Find someone else."

"There is no one else," Stevie argued. "Stacie can't do it, because Rachel would know that something was up, and the same goes for me. But Rachel barely knows you. She has no reason not to trust you. And technically you'll be the director's second assistant."

"Yes, second assistant which means that the first assistant is too damn busy to deal with that high strung diva's bullshit," Ebbie snapped.

"Ebbie, I promise to make it worth your while," Stevie swore. "How about for the next month and half I forgo every Saturday afternoon to at your mercy."

"How about for the next three months, you promise to be my bitch," Ebbie amended. "That way I can channel my aggression in a useful manner."

"Just on Saturdays?" Stevie clarified.

"I still feel like you're getting off too easy with this deal," Ebbie groaned. Stevie looked around quickly to see if anyone of great importance was around. After all, he had a reputation to protect. Seeing no one, he knelt in front of his best friend of five years and said, "Ebbie Michelle Anita McDaniel, I swear to commit myself to you every Saturday morning and afternoon in return for you doing this great favor my sister and I. And while I plan to uphold this promise unless detained by Mother Mary herself, I do think that some form of punishment should be shared with Stacie Ann."

"What the hell is going on here?"

Stevie turned to see Margie Henson approaching them. Margie was a fellow cheerleader. The two girls had kindled a friendship when they both joined the squad freshman year. Personality wise, Margie and Ebbie were two peas in a pod, which often to Stevie's disadvantage.

"I'm proposing," Stevie explained quickly before turning back to Ebbie. "So what do you say?"

"Just get the hell off of the floor," Ebbie sighed ignoring Margie's raised eyebrow. "I'll see you Saturday."

Stevie smiled brightly and nearly picked Ebbie off of the floor as he hugged her in thanks before scurrying down the hall.

"I don't know what's more pathetic," Margie began, "the fact you've been friends with that nerd for so long or the fact that you've been friends with that nerd for so long and you're still not honest with each other."

"Excuse me?" Ebbie replied.

"Ebbie, I am one of three friends that you actually bother saying more the "hello" to on a consistent basis," Margie said. "Don't you think I'd notice when you have a legitimate crush on someone?"

"I'm sorry I need you to repeat that," Ebbie said shaking her head. "I just had a hallucination in which you suggested that I for some reason have non-platonic feelings for Stevie Evans."

"Not hallucination," Margie told her. "It's called reality. I'll see you at practice."

"Stay off the drugs!" Ebbie said as Margie walked away from her.

Thankfully, Margie didn't bring up Stevie later that day during rehearsal. By that time, Ebbie herself had completely shaken off the conversation. Margie had a habit of starting conversations that she had no intentions of finishing; her latest opinion about Stevie would go with all of the others. Besides, Ebbie was quite sure that Margie didn't even like Stevie. Stacie, she would admit was funny, but Ebbie's admittedly pretentious friend never had many nice things to say about the blonde boy that she often kept around, so why would she care if things changed now?

It was nearing seven o'clock by the time Ebbie made it up to small theater where Jungle Boys was rehearsing.

"Are you Ebbie McDaniel?" a balding man asked exasperatedly. He had bags under his eyes and the glasses that were perched on his long nose were askew.

"Yes," Ebbie responded. "You must be the director."

"Welcome to the team Ms. McDaniel," the man smiled warily. "Now I'm sure that you were informed that this is a volunteer position only correct…"

I love my best friend, I love my best friend, I love my best friend, Ebbie chanted bitterly in her head as she answered, "No I wasn't but I guess it's a good thing that I love the theater so much!"

"Great," the man laughed. "I'm Bob by the way and I do hope that we can pay you for your services after the show premieres."

"I understand Bob," Ebbie said. "Just show me where the monster is."

"So you heard then," Bob chuckled uneasily. "Well I guess it's time we introduce you to Rachel Berry."

Bob didn't follow her all the way to Rachel's room. An attendant had come to pull him away and a few of the cast members warily pointed to Rachel's dominion. Ebbie pushed the door open to find the young brunette and another cast member in a middle of vocal rehearsal.

"Leslie, you're already late. It's after 6:15 and between six and seven I am not to be distributed so that I can focus completely on—"

"I'm not Leslie," Ebbie snapped, before Rachel's rant could drive her to irrevocable acts.

"Oh, I wasn't aware that Leslie would no longer be with us," Rachel frowned. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I'm friends with Stevie Evans, Sam's little brother," Ebbie explained.

"Oh you're his little girlfriend," Rachel cooed.

I am too young to go to jail, Ebbie groaned to herself before she corrected Rachel saying, "No I am his friend."

"Well if you ever want some help on how to snag an Evans man, I'm your girl," Rachel winked before scurrying to her desk. "I have a schedule for you. I'll need you to make a copy in the upstairs office for your own records."

"Rachel, I can't be here at 9 am," Ebbie frowned as she read over the paper. "I have school."

"We can edit and compress," Rachel replied. "You'll just have more things to do in the short time you're here and prep for the morning. How late can you stay?"

"Till 9."

"Mmm, 10 would be preferable. What about 9:30?" Rachel bargained.

"My subway train leaves at 9:20, Rachel," Ebbie said flatly.

"So 9:15 perfect!" Rachel beamed. "Now why don't we start today off with you getting my coffee order. Now there's a Starbucks off of E 87th and Lexington Ave—"

"That's over 10 blocks away!"

"-order my grande cafe mocha, no sugar, no whipped cream, extra dry, with half skim, half full milk. No I don't want 2% milk, just a mixture of the both. And raspberry syrup, mix with the milk, then the coffee. By the time you get back it'll be at the perfect temperature and please don't try to nuke it if it gets too cold. Just simply go back and order another. The microwave completely distorts the taste and if Jungle Boys is going to be a show stopper, then its star has to be in prime condition."

I love my best friend, Ebbie began to chant again as she took a deep breath. That and Sam better fuck Mercedes through the mattress once this is all said and done.

"I'll get on that Rachel," Ebbie final said plastering a smile on her face.

"Fabulous! Now Ricardo, let's start again from the top," Rachel said to her aide who seemed to be acting as a music stand.

Ebbie slipped out of Rachel's dressing room and was half way to dialing Stacie when she nearly ran into a mass of man.

"Oh sorry about that," he apologized. "You're Rachel's new assistant right? Here I thought you might want this."

He had a Starbucks coffee cup that had the name Rachel Berry scrawled across the side complete with a golden star.

"Stars are sort of her thing," the guy continued. "A metaphor, I believe she once told me. Hopefully you'll like it here, some of her other assistants haven't but the show is great, Rachel's really great. I mean she's the best singer I've ever—"

"Okay, what is your name?" Ebbie interrupted the fan boy.

"Oh, I'm Finn, Finn Hudson," he introduced sticking out one of his bear claw hands.

"Finn Hudson with the enormous hands," Ebbie said. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ebbie McDaniel."

"Well welcome to Jungle Boys Ebbie," Finn beamed. "You should give Rachel that coffee. You know before it gets too cold."

"Right, thanks Finn," Ebbie smiled. She snuck back into Rachel's room and sat the coffee down before slipping back out to call Stacie.

"Hey I've got a five minute break here at the studio," the youngest Evans greeted. "How's it going at the theater?"

"Remind me to kill you and your brother later. Before we get to that, however" Ebbie began casting a second glance at the retreating Finn Hudson, "I've got some news that's going to make your day."

By Saturday, Stacie Evans was walking on air. Every day she got news back from Ebbie that confirmed their mutual suspicions: Rachel had a huge admirer in Finn Hudson. It was a shame; Ebbie was certain that Rachel didn't have any affections to return. Ebbie observed that the girl's head was so far up her own ass that she couldn't possibly recognize any of Finn's "advances" as anything other than obvious praise. All in all, it was good news. Ebbie did state that she didn't want to try to get Rachel to cheat on Sam with Finn. While the large understudy wasn't the smartest guy of the bunch, she believed that he had a good heart.

"Let's feed into their friendship," Ebbie suggested instead. "Let's put Finn in the perfect position to be the comforter once everything is said and done between Sam and Rachel. That way Rachel still gets a decent guy out of all of this, though I'm still not quite certain that she deserves it. If Finn Hudson wants to wait on her hand and foot then God Bless him."

It was a valid point. Focus on rekindling the magic between Sam and Mercedes and with a few light pushes from Finn, and things would fall right in line for Rachel in the end. Eventually they were all going to walk away happy. However, if any of this was going to work, Stacie was going to have to tackle one very important element—Sam. Her oldest brother hadn't been very happy with her since the Rachel-Santana fiasco, but he was finally agreeing to a brother-sister lunch at one of his favorite delis.

"For the record," Sam said as he sat down in one of the outside booths. "I'm not paying."

"Relax monkey breath, this is my treat," Stacie replied.

"I don't have monkey breath," Sam frowned checking anyway.

"I know that but I also knew that you wouldn't be able to resist the urge," Stacie grinned watching her brother fight his own smile. "So tell me how's Rachel?"

"You care now?" Sam asked flatly.

"About you, yes," Stacie answered, "and since you and Rachel are sort of a package deal now…"

"She's an important part of me," Sam added, "and you seem to have the most trouble accepting that fact."

"I told you that the whole Santana thing wasn't my fault!" Stacie defended. "I asked Stevie to tell me what times she wasn't working. How was I supposed to know that he gave me all the times that she was?"

"Not the point Stacie," Sam argued. "You could have left, gone somewhere else to eat, yet you chose to let shit hit the fan."

"Rachel caught Santana's attention before we could get out of there."

"You know what, let's just drop it," Sam sighed. "I'm sick of going back and forth with you on this. It happened, you messed up but I'll let it slide, okay?"

Stacie gave her brother a genuine smile.

"Now tell me how's school going?"

Stacie was never able to answer that question as the heavens seemed to open up and deliver the greatest of blessings. The sweetest part was that she didn't even have to scheme her way to get it.

"Sam? Stacie?" Mercedes asked as she paused on the nearby sidewalk.

Stacie practically squealed whilst jumping into the older woman's arms as Sam sat at their table in shock.

"It's so good to see you Cedes," Stacie grinned. "Isn't that right Sam?"

"Uh, yes definitely," Sam stuttered. "You look really good Mercedes, not in the creepy ex-boyfriend way but…"

"It's good to see you too Sam," Mercedes cut in, giggling softly. "And you look good too, but not in the creepy ex-girlfriend way of course."

"Of course," Sam repeated smiling despite his own embarrassment.

"You know I should go check on our food," Stacie announced setting her flower pendant headband down on the table. "Feel free to take a seat, Cedes. I'll be back in just a few."

The minute she made it back inside the deli, Stacie whipped out her phone and called Ebbie and Stevie.

"Check Stevie's computer screen right now," Stacie told them. Stevie and Ebbie were lounging in Ebbie's living room—well Ebbie was lounging, Stevie was trying to undo the mess that his best friend had made with his hair.

"I hope you never have a girl," Stevie grumbled as he fumbled with the green hair ties. "You'll have her looking like the bride of Frankenstein!"

"The camera's working. We're up and running over here," Ebbie said to Stacie, ignoring Stevie. "I'll call you back in ten. I think your brother has finally stopped stuttering."

"So what are you doing in New York City?" Mercedes asked Sam as Ebbie and Stevie watched on.

"Working with this marketing firm," Sam answered. I mainly help with all of the visual designs that we pitch for other companies looking to revitalize their marketing strategies. What about you? Will I be hearing a Mercedes Jones single anytime soon?"

"Ha! I wish," Mercedes replied bitterly twiddling with her fingers. Sam reached across the table to still her hands and said, "You're going to get there 'Cedes. I know it."

Mercedes' whole body seemed to still under Sam's touch and her eyes didn't waver from their simple embrace until Sam shifted uncomfortably and said, "Is this too weird or?"

"No! No, you're fine," Mercedes said. "It's just been a long week. Thank you Sam, I really needed that."

"Well, I'm here anytime," Sam promised. "And now that you and Kurt are here, I've got to show you two New York City and not the tourist bullshit version, but the real New York City."

"A Sam Evans exclusive," Mercedes laughed.

"Exactly," Sam smiled back. "So…uh, have you caught up with anyone else from the past like…?"

"Quinn?"

The demeanor between them seemed to shift at the mere mention of their friend, which set off alarms in Stevie's head.

"Listen Sam, I want to clear the air about the whole Quinn thing," Mercedes began. "What happened was in the past and there's no point of licking old wounds."

"I completely agree," Sam added. "I really just want a do over, if you're okay with that 'Cedes. I miss my best friend."

"I've missed you too Sammy," Mercedes told him softly.

Ebbie had to imagine that Stacie, even without being able to hear the conversation, was nearly wetting herself at the fact that the two of them were still holding hands. The chemistry was definitely still there and perhaps it wouldn't be too difficult getting Sam to leave Rachel after all.

"Where is your sister?" Mercedes asked after a while, untying her fingers from Sam's.

"Probably saw one of her girlfriends in the deli," Sam sighed. "She'll be in there for hours."

"Like you were any better at her age," Mercedes teased. "I can't get over how big she and Stevie are now."

"Yeah," Sam chuckled. "Stacie's a real crack up now and Stevie reminds me so much of myself at his age, it's really not even funny!"

"Which part: the world's biggest nerd or being in love with one of his best friends?"

Mercedes eyes widened the second after she finished speaking. She hadn't realized that she'd said it aloud.

"Probably a bit of both," Sam answered.

They both smiled shyly at each other as Stacie re-emerged with their food.

"Bon Appétit!" she said with a shit-eating grin.

"Well I should leave you two to your lunch," Mercedes said as she stood.

"No please stay!" Stacie said.

"Yeah, 'Cedes stay. I'd be happy to buy you a bite to eat," Sam offered.

"No, I have to go. I have rehearsal at the Sugar Shack," Mercedes explained. "Speaking of which Sam, I met your friends Santana and Brittany a few weeks ago. We're doing a set together next weekend."

"Really?" Sam nearly choked. "You and Santana get along?"

"Yeah, why do you sound so surprised, Lemon Head?" Mercedes asked.

"Hey, we agreed to let that nickname go," Sam blushed. "Besides, Santana normally hates my girlfriends, I mean ex-girlfriends."

"Oh? Well then, maybe you're dating the wrong type of girl," Mercedes teased. "Tell Stevie I said hi."

"We should hang out some time," Stacie suggested, "just the four of us, for old time's sake. That is if someone can get their schedule cleared."

Stacie glanced pointedly at Sam, who said, "I think I might be able to make something like that work."

"Great," Mercedes smiled. "You all can work out the details and Sam will fill me in over drinks next Saturday at the Sugar Shack."

"Sounds like a plan," Sam grinned.

"Your brother is so fucking whipped, and that's not even his girlfriend," Ebbie commented from the comfort of her couch as she and Stevie watched Sam's eyes linger as Mercedes Jones walked away.

"It's like we said at the Sugar Shack," Stevie said as he pulled the last of the colored hair ties from his head. "Mercedes is my brother's future wife. He just doesn't know it yet."


I really do love these crazy kids. Thank you so much for reading and please don't forget to leave a review!

Much Love,

Santiva Potter