Mercedes had had enough.

She held her hand up like a cop stopping traffic. "Will all of you just SHUT UP! And just ONE person, please tell me what the HELL is going RIGHT NOW on before I lose my shit with everybody!"

Three voices immediately began to speak and Mercedes held her hand up again. "Nope! My child is peacefully SLEEPING upstairs and that it is the way I intend for it to stay!" She looked out into the street behind Quinn and Puck adding, "And I sure as hell am NOT going to have a shouting match in front of the new neighbors!"

Sam could only watch on in horror as the whole chaotic scene unfolded.

Mercedes' voice was strangely calm. Too calm. It seemed deceptive. But he could also tell that she was going to blow any second. All eyes were on her as she paused for a moment and rubbed her temple. He could literally hear her world crashing around her. She looked as if she wanted to cry and Sam wanted nothing more than to touch and reassure her that somehow, even though he didn't know how, things were going to be okay, but he knew she'd just push him away. For all she knew, he was a part of whatever this shit was and he needed the chance to prove that he wasn't.

Instead it was actually her small hand that he felt on his arm. He had no idea that he'd been inching menacingly forwards towards his now former friend until he felt the gentle pressure holding him back. It wasn't much pressure but it was enough to stop him from getting blood on her new paintwork.

The blond woman's face was a myriad of emotions. Anger and shock at Puck, confusion and recognition at him and desperate panic at the hurt in her best friend's eyes. Obviously she was just as much of a victim in this as he was. Sam clearly remembered her as the woman who had been with Chey when they had first spotted her in the diner, but there was no indication at the time that he actually knew her in any way.

Mercedes was shaking but somehow managed to hold her voice steady as she spoke. "Right, here's how we're going to do this. We're all adults and we're going to behave like adults. There's a couple of things I've learned from the whole situation with Sam over the last few weeks; the first is that we can never assume the other person is in possession of the full story, and second, people withholding information can screw up lives. So this is what's going to happen. We are all going to go right now, sit around the table in the dining room and nobody is moving until we get to the bottom of this shit. And I swear, if anything comes out which is to the detriment of my child, then I will be forever thankful that there's no carpet in there so the blood I'm gonna shed will easily be wiped off the floor!"

Knowing it was best to just get this over with, and eager to hear answers for himself, Sam shot a dark look at Puck then led the way and watched on darkly as they all took their seats in strained silence.

Mercedes drummed her nails on the table. "So who's going to start us off?" She looked to her friend, "Quinn?"

Sam turned to the speechless blond who was staring at Puck with so much rage and betrayal in her eyes that it was clear to see she didn't have any answers and was desperate for some herself.

"Sam?" Mercedes turned her attention to him and he knew as soon as she saw his face that she could tell he wasn't in full possession of the facts either. All he could do is shake his head in disbelief at the whole situation.

"So I guess that leaves the one common denominator… our mysterious stranger!" She turned her attention to Puck and eyed him with suspicion. "Noah, or Puck or whatever the hell your name is, would you kindly care to share with us what the fuck is going on? Because clearly there are three people around this table who have no idea what kind of crazy game you're playing, and if you don't speak fast we have plenty of time to dispose of your body and come up with an airtight alibi before you're even missed!"

Sam watched Puck's Adam's apple move as he audibly gulped. Mercedes' voice had that kind of deceptive calm that scared the shit out of him and he wasn't even the one being addressed!

Puck opened his mouth and tried to form words but she interrupted him before he had the chance. "You know what? Before we even start, I need to know who I'm talking to. Are you Noah or are you Puck or who the hell even are you?"

Finally he answered. "I'm both. My name's Noah Puckerman. Most people call me Noah and that's how I introduced myself to Quinn but Sam still calls me Puck because that's how I was known in high school."

Mercedes looked to Sam for confirmation of if this was true and he nodded his head. So far Puck hadn't lied but the night was still young.

Puck looked stressed and rubbed his shiny head with one hand nervously before coughing to clear his throat, the heat from three intense stares burning him like a gamma ray. "Okay so know I owe you all answers. But first of all I just want to say that I'm really sorry, I never wanted this to happen and it was definitely never supposed to go this far…"

Quinn's chair scraped back as she lunged towards him and Mercedes had to grab her to hold her back. "You've hurt me and you've hurt my best friend! I can't believe I liked you-"

Sam was quite happy to leave her to attack him but that wasn't in Mercedes' nature to allow it to happen. "Let him speak Quinny! Everybody gets one chance, even if it's to dig their own grave. If he's done anything to hurt you or jeopardize my relationship with Chey then we'll give him hell, don't you worry about that!"

Quinn backed down slowly but gave him such a hateful stare that Sam would have felt sorry for him, other than the fact he would have been right there with Quinn ripping into him given half the chance. He couldn't hold himself back: "You're the only person I talk to about Mercedes! The only person I trusted with everything. Was this all a fucking huge setup?" He could feel his voice rising but still caught Mercedes' warning glare that it wasn't yet his turn. "Just speak!" he finally muttered through his clenched jaw.

Puck looked pained and turned to look at Quinn sadly, "Please listen to me!"

"Just get on with it!"

"Okay so, I guess I should start from the beginning…"

"I should hope so!" Sam growled, fists clenching even tighter. He wasn't a nice person when he was angry and Puck knew it well.

Noah Puckerman felt that he was sitting in the middle of a tight circle of vultures, all poised for attack. He was super aware of the beads of perspiration forming on his head as well as other places. "Alright, alright… So it all began in the diner. I'd been there a couple of times before the first time we saw Cheyenne. I'd heard about the burgers from a guy at work and Sam knows I love my meat. The very first time I went I was with Beth."

"Beth?" Mercedes questioned.

"My daughter Bethany. She's four. Anyway, Beth really liked the ball pit and I liked the burgers so later that week when I was alone I popped in for one and saw Quinn sitting studying. I thought she was cute but it was just a passing thought. I smiled at her but she didn't see so I didn't say or do anything. Then the next time was when I was with you Sam. I saw Beth playing with the other little girl and figured that might just be my opportunity to finally get to speak to the pretty blond who I'd assumed was her mother.

Anyway, when I made my statement to you Sam, about the little girl looking like Stacy, it was just a passing thought. I swear on everything that is precious to me! It only came because I'd been staring at them so much while watching Beth. But then you took it all seriously and followed them out then went batshit crazy talking about lawyers and stuff. Then it became this whole drama of finding this woman who was the mother of your child.

I knew that you already had someone looking into it, but just for kicks I thought I would try and do some detective work of my own. Figuring Quinn was a regular at the diner I went back a couple more times and worked up the courage to say hi to her, both with and without Beth. Then I worked up the courage to get her number-"

"Oh my god!" Quinn's face was pale as a sheet, "this was all because you were trying to get to Mercedes!"

He shook his head. "Quinn, please! Let me finish. That's not true at all!"

Sam could see the fire in Mercedes' eyes and knew it matched what was already in his own. He'd had no idea about what Puck had been doing and he desperately hoped that Mercedes could see that too.

Puck played with his hands as he continued. "So I had her number, but then I was torn because I already kinda liked her but didn't want to use her for information."

"But you did!" Quinn was in tears now and Mercedes was rubbing her back while her eyes darted around the room, probably looking for things that could be used as weapons.

"So I even though I wanted to, I didn't call." He turned and looked at Sam with a pleading expression, "But then a couple of days later you called and said Mercedes had been found and you were going over there to confront her. I know you Sam. I knew you would probably say or do something rash, but you wouldn't listen to me. You might not believe this right now Sam, but I had your best interests at heart. We go back nearly twenty years and I know how headstrong and impulsive you are. I knew that you would just go straight up to a woman that you'd only met once in your life and you would let rip at her. It's your nature. But I also knew from my dealings with Sugar over Beth that that's never the way that you handle a woman with a child. I'd already learned that lesson the hard way, you were there and you saw what happened. I just didn't want you to go through the same yourself if it could be avoided.

"I tried to warn you Sam, and I tried to repeat what it was that you needed to do, but I knew you would lose your rag anyway. You'd had two weeks of emotional buildup and some poor unsuspecting woman would have it unleashed on her like a freaking tsunami without warning. Whatever way you looked at it, it was a recipe for disaster. Then when I called and you told me how badly it had gone down I only wanted to help. I knew that I still had Quinn's number and thought maybe if I spoke to her and indirectly got a little bit of information about her friend, we might be able to use it to establish some common ground to help you and do some damage limitation."

Quinn was now shaking her head and sobbing. Puck reached out to her and she snatched her hand away, shooting daggers at him.

"So that afternoon I did call... Guys, I swear I was only doing what I thought was for the best. Sam's a dad. He deserves to see his child. A few years ago I wouldn't have given two shits about the whole situation but now that I'm a father myself I know that I would move mountains to get my time with Beth. I knew that the way he would have approached you," he nodded towards Mercedes, "would have shattered any hope that he may have had to see his daughter and I just wanted to see if maybe there was anything I could do to help sway things in his favor. Sam's my best friend. He's my 'brother from another mother'. I could never do anything malicious to him or anyone he cares about."

"So Sam didn't ask you to call Quinn?" Mercedes' eyes were hard and she was having trouble believing him even though she desperately wanted to.

He shook his head. "No. All I said to Sam was that I was going to make a call but I didn't say who I was making it to. Hell, he was so mad after his encounter with you that I don't think he even remembers the conversation!"

"That's where you're wrong. I remember it well. I was in my car, I was angry, but I remember it."

"Then you'll know I was trying to be the voice of reason. I wasn't trying to set you up."

Sam thought about it and calmed a little. But only a little, because as long as Mercedes was riled up, then so was he. And she and her friend were still riled as hell.

Puck continued with his story. "So it took me a couple of hours to work up the courage but I did call Quinn. The plan was just to chat to her for a bit, then see if I could sneak out any information I could about her friend."

Quinn audibly sobbed, Mercedes grabbed her hand and Puck looked as if he was going to cry too. "I'm so sorry baby. You have no idea how sorry I am about all of this but it was never my intention to hurt you. I won't lie. I did call that day with the intention of maybe finding stuff out but I didn't do it. Do you remember that call Quinn? We were on the phone for nearly two hours! I loved just talking to you. We chatted and laughed and made stupid conversation and the time just flew. I forgot the reason why I was calling and simply enjoyed the opportunity to speak with you. I smiled throughout the whole call and for days afterwards. It was like being a teenager again. Tell me it wasn't like that for you too Quinn. Tell me you didn't feel the instant connection between us."

Quinn avoided his eyes and that's when Sam began to piece things together in his own head as he watched his friend address her directly.

"All my intentions of using that call to get information from disappeared within the first few minutes of speaking with you. I realized that I actually liked you. Really liked you. As a person, not just as a hot blond I saw sometimes in a diner. You were clever and funny and had this gorgeous laugh which gave me tingles. It still gives me tingles Q. And then the next time we met in the diner I knew that I liked you for you. I wasn't there to pump you for information. All that was forgotten by that point. I was there to meet this girl that I really liked and who I really hoped I could get to like me too. And then I was faced with this impossible dilemma. I'd put myself into an impossible situation because now here was this girl that I cared about, but my best friend and her best friend were going through drama and whatever way I try to explain things, it was going to look bad not just for me, but for you too Sam. I just somehow got myself so caught up in this huge shitty mess-"

There was the sound of a chair scraping again and Quinn was up, running out of the room sobbing with Mercedes hot on her heels.

Puck looked on the verge of tears himself as he looked at Sam pleadingly. "Sam, I-"

"Just shut the fuck up Puck!"

Sam also stood and walked up to the window, facing outwards, just so that he could stare at something other than Puck's face for a moment as he tried to straighten out his thoughts. The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity as Sam attempted to digest the whole bizarre scenario. There could actually be truth in his friend's words. He had no reason to lie. But it was still a betrayal. Puck had been his confidant when it came to all things Mercedes and Chey related. He was the only person in the position to know the details of practically everything that was going down with them. If he wanted, he could have used that power for great evil. But had he? All Sam knew for sure was that Puck had recently been distracted because he was really into some girl he'd met. That could just be an excuse or it could genuinely be Quinn. The way he was looking at and addressing his words to Quinn definitely showed that there was some feeling there. On both sides if Quinn's response was anything to go by. And yet her reaction of feeling like she'd been used was totally understandable too. Puck had held back a lot of information from a lot of people. Mercedes had nearly flown off the handle when she realized that who she had thought were two separate unrelated people was actually the same person with different names!

He felt for her because, following the whole Rachel Berry debacle she absolutely had every reason to believe that someone was out to shit on her. And their new easiness with each other could still be broken after the huge amount of time that it had taken them to build up a trust and what he liked to think of as a bond. Looking at it from Mercedes' point of view, it did look like a massive conspiracy, and one that he may well have been involved with, if not completely behind as mastermind.

But he wasn't. He just needed a way for her to be able to see that.

Actually, he was pretty proud of the way Mercedes had reacted. She'd forced them to sit and listen before responding. He would have punched out all of Puck's teeth first then listened to his story halfheartedly while watching him spit out mouthfuls of blood.

But why the hell had Puck been so stupid?

He stiffened as he heard the sound of the final chair scrape and the sound of Puck walking up slowly behind him. Stopping at a safe distance he began to speak again.

"I'm really sorry Sam. I know I let you down."

Sam continued to stare out of the window. "Why didn't you just come to me?" Even to his own ears his voice sounded tight and forced.

"And say what? Hey Sam, I really like this girl. She's the best friend of the long-lost mother of your child, and us even being seen to know each other could be taken as suspicious and destroy any chance of you ever seeing your daughter, but hey, I thought I'd go for it anyway because I'm sure you'd be cool with it eventually!"

Sam scoffed. "I might have been alright with it."

"No Sam. You wouldn't. And neither would I if I'd been in your position."

He paused, "But you had to know that it would have to come out eventually!"

"Obviously! But the more I got to know Quinn... I just couldn't give her up. I'm addicted Sam. And then things got more and more complicated. Quinn would invite me to places that I knew Mercedes would be at and I would have to make all sorts of excuses not to be there. Then you'd tell me things in passing that I already knew from Quinn and I'd have to pretend that I didn't already know. The longer I left it the harder it got. I knew that one day I would end up meeting Mercedes and I'd have to pretend that I didn't know who she was. I was getting more and more tangled up in my lies and deceptions and it was killing me. I just wanted to be with Quinn and have our friendship. Believe it or not I was going to come clean with you. I was going to do it on Friday. That's why I'd already texted you to say we should meet for an extra games night. I'm sick of being shady as shit all the time. I wanted to speak with you alone and hopefully convince you that this could work out somehow without either of us losing the new women in our lives.

"I owe you all apologies. I owe you Sam, for getting in the middle of your shit and making it even more complicated. It wasn't my place to and even though I started with the right intentions it was still wrong of me. I owe Mercedes for creating a scenario that gave her stress and heartache, all out of my own selfishness. And I owe Quinn for the way things began. I thought she was just some blond in a diner but she's so much more than that. She's amazing Sam and being with her… it's just incredible. I know I started out for the wrong reason but I carried on for the right ones. She's special Sam. It's been a long time since I've felt that way about anyone. Hell, I'm not sure I've ever felt this way about anyone. This isn't like it was with Sugar. This is real. And I can't lose her Sam. I know that I haven't known her for long but I already know that losing her would break my heart the same way that losing you would break my heart.

"I need you both in my life and I'll do whatever it takes to fix that. However long it takes, I promise to do everything in my power to rebuild your trust in me and Quinn's trust in us."

How the hell was he supposed to stay mad with his friend after a speech like that?

Sam turned around to respond to Puck and saw two figures stood in the doorway. "How long have you guys been there?" he asked quietly. Puck immediately spun around in shock, clearly not knowing they were there either.

"Long enough." Mercedes' expression was stern but no longer as hard as it was before. Her arm was still around Quinn who looked as if she was falling to pieces. "Noah, you've pulled some serious shit. I'm expecting an epic apology from you, complete with bells and whistles on top and so is Sam. So epic, in fact, that there's no way you would be able to pull it off right now even if you tried. You need to go away and plan how to apologize for the shit you've made me and Sam feel for the last half hour. But I'm a patient girl, I can wait. And Sam loves you so I'm sure he can wait too. My friend here, on the other hand, you've ripped to shreds this evening. She thought she was going to be picking up some cookies then heading out on a date. The magic third date no less! I suggest you take her away right now before it gets too late, talk to her, be honest with her and fix your shit with her first and foremost. Then we'll be waiting."

Puck turned to look at Sam for his reaction but Sam was saying nothing. There was nothing that could be said to Mercedes when she was in full Dionne Carter mode. Let no man say that Sam Evans is not a fast learner!

Instead of speaking Sam simply nodded to his friend who pulled a slightly resistant Quinn by the waist and led her to the door. "Guys' I'm really sorry again-"

"Just go before I stop feeling so forgiving!" Mercedes' tone said that she was still taking no prisoners and luckily Puck was clever enough to do as he was told.

Quinn turned and hugged her friend one last time before they disappeared.

Sam silently watched them leave, suddenly realizing that he never actually did get a proper introduction to the second most influential woman in Mercedes' life after her mother….