February 2012
Sam found a seat in time to catch Vocal Adrenaline's final number—Cherry Poppin' Daddies' "Zoot Suit Riot". It seemed that Sunshine was doing a good job keeping up Vocal Adrenaline's high standards and pristine performance reputation. They jived their way through the number and finished with a bow as the crowd gave them a standing ovation. Only a few minutes had passed before the MC announced the New Directions. He sat up a little straighter in his seat as some of the glee club members took the stage. He noticed it was all the boys but he chuckled softly when he realized they were performing an N*SYNC number.
When the number ended, he clapped along with the rest of the crowd, but found himself smiling the moment he spotted Mercedes' silhouette take the dimly-lit stage. The second pop number was entertaining but Sam's eyes were mostly on Mercedes from the beginning of the number, right through the New Directions' finale of "Got To Give It Up". His lips stretched into a smile at their choice for a funk number, and was amused by the various moves executed for their Soul Train. By the end of their full performance, everyone in the audience was on their feet, clapping and cheering for the New Directions, including Sam. He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, "Wooooo!" above the other cheers. When he caught Mercedes' eye, he smirked and blew a kiss at her.
Now came the less exciting part—the judges had twenty minutes to deliberate and determine which of the three glee clubs was going to Chicago in May. After a minute of waiting, he took out his phone and moved his thumbs across the screen.
"You looked beautiful up there, Stormy."
He hit send and leaned back in his seat, finding himself skimming through the photos on his phone. There was one that had been a favorite of his; while sitting behind his desk, he caught Mercedes mid-smile during Puck's brief rant on who would win in a fight—Batman or Superman.
"Bruce Wayne's got the money to hire someone to find Krypton, bring back some Kryptonite and embed it in his bat suit. Boom—fight's over!" Puck had said.
She had laughed and told him he should make a mini comic about it.
"Way ahead of you, Ororo," replied Puck. "It's in my secret stash."
"Secret stash?" she'd echoed, cocking her head at him.
"Yeah," Sam had joined the discussion after admiring the photo on his phone. "We'd made little comics on some of our favorite super heroes and villains back in high school but…a lot of them aren't Marvel so we keep 'em to ourselves."
They had continued on working, but Sam would frequently gaze at that photo, adoring the candidness of her gorgeous smile. Some time later, his phone buzzed in his hand and he returned to his text messages to read Mercedes' response.
"Thank you, Captain ;) Love you! See you in a bit!"
He smiled again. It felt nice to have his feelings out in the open and it was even better that she reciprocated them, just as her father told him, weeks ago.
"Oh my gosh you guys—we were amazing!" gushed Sugar.
All of the New Directions had filtered back into the choir room to wait, with the exception of Mercedes, who had excused herself to the nearest bathroom.
"I don't know," spoke one of the other freshmen girls. "Vocal Adrenaline killed that Zoot Suit song…what if we lose to them?"
"We won't," spoke a confident Joe Hart. "And even if we do—we had a good time, right? Mr. Schue said that's what's important. Right Mr. Schue?"
Several of the students looked to their teacher, who was rather terrible at hiding his feelings. He looked as wary as the freshmen girl seemed to feel. However, when he spoke, he told them, "That's right." Deep down, going to Nationals was what mattered most to him, but he knew it was important—as an educator—to say the right things to his students.
Artie spoke up, waving off the debate, "Well I for one had fun. Win or lose, the throwback theme was boss."
Tina fanned herself while smiling, "You guys were like N*SYNC 2-point-oh up there. I think I saw a couple girls jump out of their seat and wanted to rush the stage."
A bunch of the girls and guys chuckled at her remark, but she noticed she was getting icy looks from Rachel. She found it easy to ignore as Mercedes entered the choir room with her head down, smiling at her phone.
Tina flitted over and asked, "Are you texting Saaam?"
Mercedes giggled, "Yeeeesss?"
Tina's lips spread, "I still want the four of us to go on a double date when Mike comes next month for his Spring Break—and not to Breadstix. We'll go to Panera or Applebee's or something instead."
"Did I hear someone say something about a double date?" asked Kurt who sidled up to the girls.
Mercedes and Tina were both smiling at him now. "Tina mentioned it," Mercedes told him while slipping her phone back in her bra.
"Can we make it a triple? And my vote's for Panera. They have a chicken Caesar salad that I love."
"Ooo and their bread's so yummy!" added Tina.
"I've never eaten there before," Mercedes admitted.
Kurt and Tina gave her a bug-eyed look, "What?"
"Okay, we're going there," Kurt decided. "When's Mike coming so we can make this official?"
"In a month," Tina quickly answered. "He'll be in town the whole week."
"Perfect! I mean Blaine and I did the double date with Mercedes and Captain McDreamy and let me just say—keeper!" He beamed while Tina let a soft squeal escape her lips.
"I can't wait to meet him! What's he look like, Mercedes?"
Mercedes smiled, biting her lip as she thought of how to describe Sam without getting herself hot and bothered in front of her friends. "Well…he's tall…dark blond hair…muscular."
"That man has a six pack—I know it," interjected Kurt.
Mercedes rolled her eyes, "Will you stop?" She chuckled, shaking her head at Kurt and went on, "He's got green eyes and he does this really adorable crooked little smile when he's really, really happy about something."
"Ooo, do you have a picture on your phone? Does he have a Facebook or something?" wondered Tina.
"Yeeees he has a Facebook," said Mercedes as she fiddled with her phone again. "But he doesn't use it a whole lot. It's mostly to promote his comics and sometimes keep in touch with friends in Kentucky and Tennessee."
"Ooo," Tina grinned, "a southern boy, huh?"
"A southern man," corrected Kurt. "Seriously, Tina. He is a man."
Tina laughed, "With the way you talk about him, Kurt, you'd have us thinking you were the one dating him!"
"Right?" giggled Mercedes.
Kurt shrugged, unabashed, "I'm appreciating my best friend's boyfriend for his good looks and gentlemanly charm. Is that so criminal?"
Mercedes shook her head, "Don't worry—you're harmless for the most part, Ivory." One hand left her phone to wiggle her fingertips with Kurt's, and then she pulled up a picture she took of Sam and Abby one day when they and Puck took an accidental break to play with the littlest Puckerman. Sam had Abby in his arms and was puckering his lips to her cheek while casting his green hues on Mercedes.
"Awwww!" Tina squealed but quickly quieted when Mercedes gave her a look of warning. "Sorry," she whispered, "but he is pretty cute, and this picture's so adorable! I bet he's gonna be a good Daddy."
Mercedes lowered her phone away, giving the photo one more glance before sticking her phone back in her purse. The next words to leave her mouth were half in response to Tina's comment and half spoken to herself. "He's going to be a great Daddy."
The three kept chatting until the Master of Ceremonies came to inform them that they were ready to announce the winner. Mercedes gripped Tina and Kurt's hands, beaming an anxious but excited smile at the two. They each gave her hand a gentle squeeze back and headed out with the rest of the New Directions to take to the stage again.
Once under the warm stage lights again, the New Directions huddled in between Vocal Adrenaline and Oral Intensity. Mercedes eyes scanned the crowd again to find Sam and when she spotted him, she smiled and gave him a flirty wink. Kurt playfully nudged her and she grinned at her best friend.
"You're so not subtle," he whispered to her.
"So?" she whispered back. "That's not what I'm trying to be subtle about right now. And speaking of…I can't wait to get these damn Spanx off—my bladder's gonna burst."
Tina sniggered and Kurt rolled his eyes at her. But they settled down once one of the judges stepped up to the mic.
"First, I'd like to congratulate these three show choirs for making it this far. And now…in 3rd place…Oral Intensity!"
The crowd clapped and a few cheered as they were rewarded with a two-foot tall trophy. As the crowd died down, the judge went on.
"And now, the 2012 Regionals Champion…"
Mercedes resumed squeezing Tina and Kurt's hands. She still felt confident in the New Directions, but the repeated certainty in her mind didn't keep her heart from beating faster than normal.
"From Carmel High, Vocal Adrenaline!"
The audience went wild. Vocal Adrenaline celebrated loudly and the New Directions took their loss in silence. Mercedes watched as Mr. Schue was handed the three-foot second place trophy. She looked back out into the crowd and saw Sam standing with a weak smile that translated to, "It's okay. You were still amazing to me."
She returned the faint smile as she stepped off the risers and headed back to the choir room with her fellow glee club members; Mr. Schuester stayed behind to shake hands with the other show choir coaches. As soon as they all reached the choir room, she was prepared to get her things to change but Rachel rounded on her, shouting in front of everybody.
"I told you this was going to happen! But you didn't listen to me!"
"Rachel we didn't lose because Tina got the solo you wanted. We lost because the judges thought Vocal Adrenaline was be—"
"We lost because you're an incompetent leader, Mercedes! And the New Directions deserve someone better. Someone that's not gonna go sleep around and get knocked up during the school year."
Mercedes froze as the whole room fell deafly silent. She ground her teeth while simultaneously clenching her fists. If Rachel were any more wrong about her, God himself might smite her where she stood.
"Yeah, I'm sure you guys didn't know that but it's true!" announced Rachel as she looked around at the rest of the glee club. But she turned back to the curvaceous teen as she said, "Mercedes is pregnant. I heard her admit it! It's why she's been sitting out of practices lately. It's why she's been looking bigger than usual, and it's exactly why she hasn't been able to lead this glee club properly!"
That had done it. She withstood a lot of Rachel's snide remarks in the past but she pushed Mercedes to her limit, the moment she began her barrage of accusations, just a few seconds ago. In two strides Mercedes was close enough to smack her, and she did. She threw all of her weight into her heavy hand, causing Rachel's head to whip to the side while a loud "WHACK!" sound filled the room. Rachel shrieked and some of the other members gasped in shock at Mercedes' lost composure.
She geared up to take another swing at Rachel's face, but Tina rushed over and firmly held her back, "Mercedes, don't!"
Mercedes was shaking with rage.
"How could you, Rachel?" Kurt wondered with quiet fury.
"Because she's been bringing this team down all year," shrieked Rachel with a hand cupped to her cheek. "It's time someone did something about it!"
"Bringing this team down?" Mercedes mocked, outraged. "Right 'cause that's why my suggestion to do Chicago as the musical was such a failure. That's we didn't make it past Sectionals? That's why everyone seemed to be having a good time so far this year except you?"
All eyes were going back and forth between Rachel and Mercedes. Rachel hadn't moved her hand away from her cheek and Mercedes looked like she was going to yank away from Tina and tackle Rachel.
"This team would've been better if you weren't captain, Mercedes," said Rachel. "And I'm not the only one who knows so."
Mercedes put her hands on her hips, "Oh really?"
"Yes, really!" Rachel turned back to look around at the others, "Everyone who thinks we would've gone to Nationals under my leadership, raise your hand."
Mercedes watched with private shock as a few hands started sprouting up. Soon, half the club had their hands hesitantly rising towards the ceiling; the ones to fold their arms or keep their hands lowered were Artie, Joe, Kurt, Tina and Sugar. Mercedes could tell Artie was gritting his teeth behind his settled lips as he glared at the raised hands. Joe looked sad and Kurt and Tina were shaking their heads.
Mercedes coughed a breathy chuckle and nodded her head a couple of times, "Okay…you know what? Yeah, Big Mouth over here's right—I am pregnant, and not that it was anyone else's business but I was going to tell you guys tonight." She turned deliberately to Rachel, "But thanks for beating me to it." She then let her eyes wander over the rest of the group, "And thanks to all you guys who had so much confidence in me, just because I hadn't been feeling well. I'm glad it mattered to you guys that despite my schoolwork, my health and my life outside of this club, I still managed to be here every single day to help some of you with choreo or vocal runs when I didn't have to be."
"We don't need you anymore," Rachel decided.
Mercedes stepped to her but quickly halted, trying to put her temper in check. She swallowed back the bubbling rage and threw a blatantly fake smile at her rival. "You're right, Rachel. Apparently you're always right. You guys don't need me anymore—especially since there's no more competitions to prepare for. And I sure as hell don't need to keep coming somewhere I'm not wanted. You want Rachel as your captain?" Mercedes put her hands up, "Congratulations. Enjoy your lame duck leadership, Berry. I'm out."
Battling the hot angry tears that were trying to swell in her eyes, Mercedes turned her back on the group—turned away from Joe and Sugar's stunned faces; away from Artie's quiet yet apparent disappoint, and away from Kurt's grimace and Tina's deep frown as she loosened her grip on her arm. Mercedes had nothing left to give to the group. She felt like she was the one who had been smacked in the face—first with Rachel following through on her threat, and then discovering that some who she considered friends now revealed their true feelings about her leadership as glee club captain.
She scooped up her duffle and purse, and left the choir room without a backwards glance. Behind her, she could hear an argument ensue between Kurt, Tina, Artie, Rachel and some of the girls who had raised their hands. She didn't catch much of what was said since everyone was talking over everyone, but she didn't truly care. Her vision blurred slightly though not enough to keep her from making out Sam's silhouette coming down the hall—first at a normal walking pace and then he was running towards her.
"Mercedes? What happened?"
She shook her head, letting the warm tears trickle down her cheeks; when he reached her, she felt his strong, comforting arms close around her—protecting her. Mercedes buried her face in his chest and softly pled, "Can we please…go?" Her parents had brought her to the school earlier, before leaving town for the weekend, so Sam was her ride home. She shook her head a few more times against the fabric of his shirt; letting herself guiltlessly breathe in his Irish Spring aroma to put her in a happier place. Right now, she needed that more than anything. Rage, hurt, and disappointment were ruling her mind, making her desperate for the comfort Sam was now providing her.
They stood in the hallway embracing one another for an immeasurable amount of time. Sam only let her go long enough to relieve her of her duffle bag and when she looked up at him, she felt his dry, thick-skinned thumb move tenderly along her trails of tears. Mercedes closed her eyes, sniffled and sighed a ragged breath, lolling her head into his open palm.
"Come stay at my place tonight," she heard Sam quietly suggest.
She opened her eyes again, looking directly into his pair. "What?"
His thumb moved in light circles along her cheek, "Come stay at my place tonight. Your parents aren't coming back in town until Monday, and I wouldn't feel right leaving you alone when you're so upset."
"I'll be fine," she rasped.
Sam shook his head, "I'm not gonna force you to come over, but I really do think you shouldn't be alone. Whatever just happened in there…" his sentence trailed off as he nodded towards the choir room but his eyes came back to her pair. "I don't wanna see you carry it around when you could talk to me about it."
Mercedes grimaced; he was really too good to her sometimes. With another deep breath and a shaky sigh, Mercedes leaned back into him and started walking down the hall. "Just one night."
Please leave reviews! Sorry this took so long to get posted/published; I hate writing out angst. Grrr. Anyway..more is coming soon!