Key Lime: Tina & Mercedes
The summer after Mercedes breaks up with Sam and Mike breaks up with Tina, the two girls decide to take a weeklong trip down to the Florida Keys on a whim. It's the first time the friends will be apart in years, with Mercedes landing on the West Coast to start working on her album and Tina staying back in Lima for her senior year. Mercedes had always been Tina's best friend, even if she wasn't Mercedes's (that belonged to Kurt). Neither of them know what they're going to do without the other around in the months to come.
"Who else is going to let out those killer notes?" Tina worried when she thought about the glee club's lack of a ringer.
"I guess you'll just have to lead now," Mercedes reminded her. "You can do it, Tina. You always had the potential, and without Berry around, it's going to be your time to really let it shine. Besides, at least you'll still have people who have your back! I'll be in LA all alone."
"Puck will be there. He can always help you out in a pinch. You know he would," Tina reasoned, even if she wasn't sure it was true. She believed it probably was. "And you don't need anyone else to do this. This is all you, Mercedes. Your voice and your talent are too big for Lima, Ohio. I know that everyone always said that about Rachel, but I think it's even more true about you."
"Oh, Tina," Mercedes laughed. The Asian girl was always an undercover softie, hidden beneath the gothic threads and dark eyeliner. "Enough of this feeling sad, we're going out dancing!"
Dressed to the nines with all the swagger the two could muster, they ended up at some beachfront disco that let out into the sand beneath the hot July moon. Tina was proud when Mercedes ended up pressed against some tall guy they said played defensive line for the Dolphins. Mercedes was equally impressed when Tina fell into conversation with a tall Asian guy in glasses that looked the perfect mix of both her ex-boyfriends. But they went home together at the end of the night, just the two girls, and holed up in their pajamas in their hotel beds, giggling over junk food from the mini bar.
"Who else is going eat junk food with me at 2 am?" Tina complained.
"I'll get Blaine on it," Mercedes promised. "You convince Puck."
"I've seen him eat after a football game. It won't take much convincing."
"You're gonna be okay, Tina," Mercedes said in a soft voice. "You're going to be amazing."
"I know, I know," Tina smiled back. "But thanks for telling me. You know you got this too, right?"
"Of course, I'm a diva," Mercedes grinned. "Alright, enough of this melodramatic dialogue on growing up, we're starting to sound like Rachel. What do you say we prank Kurt?"
Tina threw her head back and laughed. "I happen to do a really great Ryan Gosling."