DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE NOR ANYTHING ELSE.
Leo Bridges- Peyton 'Alex' Smith
Daisy Evans- Laura Oceane
The weekend couldn't come quick enough for Mercedes. After the icy reception she received from the team, she happily left the field and headed to her car. Her brother was picked up by their mom earlier so it was just her and Quinn. The ride to her house was unsurprisingly fun and the excitement was clear as day. The girls were pumped about the weekend, which they knew early on without a doubt they were going to have a good time.
"Wow..oh wow, what do your parents do again?" Quinn asked in shocked as she stared at the large three story house once Mercedes' pulled into the driveway, already knowing what they did though.
Mercedes chuckled as she opened the garage and parked, turning off her engine, "I promise, it looks bigger than what it really is." She unbuckled her seat belt and opened her door, getting out. She closed the door and wrapped around her car, watching as her friend got her bag out.
Quinn placed her duffle bag on her shoulder before following behind Mercedes in the house. Looking around, she was amazed at how beautiful it was inside as well.
Vivian had came into the living room when she heard the door to the garage close. She knew that Mercedes was bringing a friend over and she couldn't wait to meet her. Coming out the kitchen, she was fully prepared to welcome the girl but was stopped in her tracks in surprise, "Lucy?"
Quinn eyes went wide when she saw the familiar woman, "Dr. Jones? Wait...you're Mercedes' mom? Oh my god, I can't believe I didn't connect that sooner."
Mercedes asked confusedly as she looked between the two, "Who's Lucy? And how do you two know each other?"
Quinn sighed as her eyes left Vivian's to look at Mercedes, beginning to fiddle with her hands nervously, "Lucy is my real name and your mom is my therapist."
Mercedes stared at her for a minute before looking at her mom, who just nodded in confirmation, "Oh, okay."
"I'm guessing Quinn is your middle name?" Vivian smiled when the girl nodded, going over to give her a hug, "Well, I certainly see why you and Mercedes immediately took a liking to each other."
Quinn let out a smile as she pulled back from the woman, "She's become a best friend to me already."
Mercedes smiled as she sat her keys on the counter before directing her next question to her mom, "Where's dad and Moses?"
"They are having their boys night." Vivian giggled as she gave her daughter a knowing look before crossing her arms, "Pizza should be here in about thirty minutes, money is on the counter. I'm going to get out your hair and I'll be in my room if you girls need me."
"Thanks mom." Mercedes spoke as she watched her nod before walking out, turning back to Quinn, "Let's head upstairs."
Quinn nodded as she followed behind her and walked up the stairs, once they got the second floor, they turned to the right to where her bedroom was located.
After the girls got settled in and took their showers, their were now sitting pajama clad in Mercedes' bed. They had finished just in time because the doorbell had rung with the pizza Vivian ordered. They learned so much about each other, their families, and even shared a lot of stories. They were both so happy that they gotten to know each other's likes and dislikes. The girls were having such a good time that they didn't even know that it was after one.
Quinn played with the end of the fuzzy blanket, looking over at Mercedes with a knowing look, "I know you want to ask, so go ahead."
Mercedes turned her head on the pillow, knowing exactly what she was talking about. It has been on her mind since she has met her on why she got pushed in the hallway, what Barry said about her once being popular, and what was with the tension with her and those cheerleaders, "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine."
"I want to because it's a big part of who I am and why I need to see your mom once a week." She let out a dry chuckle as she tucked some of her hair behind her ears, taking a deep breath, "Last year ended up being one of the worse years of my life. From family, friends, and what I thought was love..everything just went wrong. I got pregnant over the summer and you can probably guess who the father was.."
"I'm guessing Eric."
"We had been dating since eight grade. Honestly, he was such a sweet person..I just don't know what happened. Anyways, things started to change before I found out I was pregnant. He started to cheat on me with different girls in the school and once he found out about the pregnancy, he started spreading rumors about how much of a slut I was and that it could've been anyones baby. That's when my 'friends' turned their backs on me. He told me that I needed to get an abortion because there was no way he was taking care of a kid. My family surprisingly didn't disown me for it, and agreed that they were going to help, but I ended up decided to give him up for adoption." Quinn sniffled as tears rolled down her cheeks, feeling Mercedes grab ahold of her hand, she gave her a sad smile, "After I was released from the hospita, my parents and little brother got into a horrible accident..they all died at the scene."
"Oh my god." Mercedes gasped in shocked as she listened to the story, tears evident in her eyes. Having to deal with idiots at school, giving up her baby, and losing her family broke her heart. She couldn't imagine losing her parents or siblings, she would literally fall apart. She was glad that the girl beside her had enough strength, and trust in her to share her story, "Quinn, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry you went through all of this. No one in the world deserves this."
"Up until I started seeing your mom this summer, I thought I did. I thought this was God's way of punishing me. I had a real hard time trying to cope with everything. So, I dropped out of every activity I was in, didn't have any real friends so I just stayed to myself mostly and focused on school" Quinn took her glasses off and wiped her face, sniffling as she turned to her, "We've only known each other for five days, but you are the realist friend I have ever had and I'm thankful that you are in my life."
"Dammit." She felt her tears finally fall as she leaned over and hugged her tightly, "Is it too soon to say the L word? If it is, oh well..I love you, Quinn and I'm so thankful you are in my life too."
Quinn chuckled as she hugged her back, laying her head down on her shoulder for a second, "I love you too."
After a few more moments, Mercedes finally let her go and wiped her own eyes, sighing, "You're so strong, thank you for sharing your story with me."
"Thank you for listening."
"If you don't mind me asking, where are living now?"
"My uncle actually took me in. My mom was his sister and he said there was no other place where I belonged. He says I'm the fourth child he never knew he wanted." Quinn placed her glasses back on her face before smiling, "So, it's been pretty good and actually therapeutic to be around family."
"Family is everything." Mercedes smiled as she gave her hand a squeeze before letting go, sitting up a bit, "Let's take a break from the heavy, emotional stuff. I want to share some big news. I haven't told my parents yet, so you'll be the first to know."
"What is it?"
"I got recruited to be on the football team." Mercedes chuckled when she saw her mouth drop and eyes go wide, "Growing up with brothers, I fell in love with sports and football is something that I really love and enjoy playing."
"Oh my god, this is great Mercedes. Do you know how many barriers you're going to break? And don't get me started on the history." Quinn said with a smile as she gave her a hug before pulling back, "What position?"
"Quarterback."
The smile from Quinn's face immediately dropped as she placed her hands over her mouth, "Oh no.."
"Oh no, what?" Mercedes asked confusedly once she saw how she reacted, "What?"
Quinn removed her hands, wincing a bit at the revelation and the one she was about to spring on her, "Sam Evans is my cousin."
Mercedes jolted up and stared at her in disbelief, "Holy hell..you can't be serious."
"Oh yeah, and I'm pretty sure he didn't take it well."
"Not at all but I could care less. He's a conceited, arrogant ass."
Quinn chuckled as she nodded her head, "He kind of is but once you get to know him, he's a sweetie pie."
Mercedes grunted as she rolled eyes, turning on the TV so they could watch a movie, "Yeah, that won't be happening anytime soon. My opinion of him will never change."
"Never say never." Quinn said with a smile as she laid back on the pillows, watching as she shook her head no. Chuckling, she rest her eyes for a moment and ended up falling asleep.
The rest of the weekend went really well for the girls. Quinn got to meet Mercedes' dad and younger brother, who instantly took an liking to one another. The girls spent their Saturday exploring and shopping around Houston. Sunday morning, Mercedes had taken Quinn home, which she didn't see why Quinn was so shocked at her house when she was the one who literally lived in a mansion and she was thankful no one was there because she didn't want to run into Sam. Speaking of that subject, she had shared the news with her parents and let's just say, she was expecting the reaction she got. Her mom was not here for it at all and left it at that, while her dad was beyond happy but also worried about her safety, which her brothers were as well but they were so proud of her.
Wednesday had snuck up on her so quickly that she didn't have time to get herself together mentally for this practice. She knew that these boys were gunning for her, but she was not going to let that fog up her mind. She didn't have to prove herself to no one and she definitely wasn't going to do it for them. They had all received copies of plays to study for that weekend. The first practice started off simple with Coach Mac wanting her to do throwing drills first. As she did so, the rest of the coaching staff got to see what she was about and they were impressed. With two weeks of practice in, they were getting ready for their first game that was going to be next week.
"She's taking these hits like a champ." Mike commented as he looked away from the field once he saw the line purposely not blocking for her, causing her to get hit every time, "Hate to admit it man but she has an arm."
"But she's not better than me, Mike. There's no way in hell she should be taking my spot, let alone be on this team." He argued as he tore his eyes from the girl and looked at his best friend, "We're going to be the laughing stock of this city once news get out that we have a girl as a quarterback."
"Stop whining, Evans. This isn't the first time a girl has played football. You need to chill out and get over yourself." Leo said as he sent his friend a glare before picking up his helmet and walking out to where she was.
Mercedes spit the mouthpiece out her mouth, huffing loudly as she laid back on the ground, squinting when the sun hit her eyes. Okay, the practices have been going as she expected. They were intentionally not running the plays correctly, causing her to get hit. Thing was she knew this was borderline hazing and she just hoped that when it came to the games that they could actually be a team and block for her. The coaches pulled the guys out who were doing it and had them sit out for the remainder of practice. Coming out of her thoughts, she looked up when she noticed a hand out reached, seeing that it was Leo, she gave him a small smile as she grabbed it, thanking him for helping her up. Along with five other guys, he has been nothing but nice to her since they've met.
"Sorry these guys are being a bunch of sexist assholes." Leo commented as he took some of the grass off her helmet before helping her take it off.
"Don't apologize. Unfortunately, I expected it all, but let me just let you know Leo, it's not going to break me. They and anyone else out there who doesn't like it, are not going to make quit." Mercedes shrugged with a smile, brushing some of her hair back behind her ear, "Quitting is not in me."
Leo smiled at her as he tilted his head, "That's a good thing too." He looked to the side and saw a couple of news trucks coming up to the field, "Well, looks like the news is about to break."
Mercedes followed his line of sight and sighed, "Great, just great."
Leo patted her shoulder, causing her to turn back around, "You're going to be fine, Mercedes. Coach is going to make sure of that."
"Stop flirting with your teammate Leo and get out here."
Leo glared at the defensive back, Aaron before rolling his eyes, looking back at Mercedes, "We can talk later."
Mercedes nodded at him before turning around, hearing her coach call her and Sam up, rolling her eyes when the boy glared at her, "Well, here goes nothing."
Sam opened the door to his home and closed it shut, throwing his keys down on the table. He was so over today, scratch that, over these past couple of weeks, he didn't know what to do. He had came into this school year excited not only ready for his junior year, but prepared to lead his team to their first championship. He was absolutely frustrated and upset that he probably wasn't going to get a chance to do so just because of the changes that has been made.
Daisy heard the front door shut and she slid off the stool, picking up her bowl of grapes and heading to the living room, where she saw one angry looking brother of her. Twenty year old Daisy was the eldest out of the three. She was working her on her teaching degree at The University of Houston, "I just saw the news. I'm sorry you lost your spot Sam, but seeing those clips, she's a total badass."
Sam rolled his eyes as he plopped down on the couch, running his hands over his face, "And here I thought you would be on my side and see that this is completely wrong. Not only is she a girl playing football, but she took my spot."
"And I didn't know that my brother was a sexist. Girls are just as capable of doing what boys do..if not, probably better." Daisy pointed out as she down on the table in front of him, "You're acting like you're not playing at all. Coach literally said that you both will be getting equal playing time and you know that man never lies."
"You don't get it, Daisy."
"I don't? Then explained it to me, Sam."
"I've worked my ass off since the beginning of freshman year to get where I am. To see someone come in and just snatch that away from me hurts and it pisses me off."
"And you know what, I understand bro, I really do but be grateful that you're still on the team." Daisy stated as she leaned forward, "Look, just keep focusing on you. She's not going to get in the way of you accomplishing that. Let's be realistic here, come to senior year, scouts are not going to be looking for a girl to play college football, they're going to be looking for you. That's just the reality of this world, so like I said, you only need to worry about what you're bringing to the table for the next two seasons."
Sam listened to what his sister was saying and nodded. She was preaching nothing but the truth. As much as it angered him that he was going to be the second string, that wasn't going to effect his potential scout looks. He raised his head once he heard the door close, seconds later, his cousin appearing around the corner, "Hey Q."
"Don't hey me, Sam." Quinn said as she walked over to where he was, catching both of her cousins off guard, "Just so you know, Mercedes is my friend, has been since the beginning of the school year. The way you guys are treating her is straight trash and purposely hitting her in practice is an all time low. I can't believe you out of all people would let someone go through that." She stated as she glared at him before walking off angrily.
"Wow..okay..yeah, I'm done with you for now little brother. Regardless if you like her or not, that's your teammate. I just pray to god that this season you boys actually block for her against opposing teams."
Sam winced as she smacked him upside his head and got up from the table, leaving the room. He groaned to himself as he laid back on the couch. This was too much to handle, and no matter how much he voiced his frustrations and thought that he was in the right, it always ended up being his fault.
A/N. Let me know your thoughts. Are you guys enjoying this story? Can't wait for y'all to read future chapters!