Keep in mind when reading this I used the Glee version of Aretha Franklin's song "Ain't No Way" from episode 2x17 "A Night of Neglect"
Come Back to Me
Chapter 6
January in Lima, Present Time, Senior Year.
Quinn has been distant from Sam. When he asks to take her out she makes up excuses so she doesn't have to go. Tonight was the fifth night in a row that Quinn has told Sam that she couldn't go out. She claimed that a case of fatigue kept her from wanting to do anything for the past couple of weeks and apologizes for it. Sam doesn't say anything to her about the lack of dates and her lame excuse because he thinks she is just being a girl and that she needs her space and doesn't know how to ask him for it. Quinn still talks to him and is affectionate with him at school, so he guesses that she will come back around when she is ready. He doesn't push. Quinn has always been honest with him so he isn't worried, besides he just uses his free time for extra workouts, and he can't complain about that.
Quinn is cancelling dates with Sam because she doesn't think she can keep up the act for much longer. She is no longer able to stand Santana and Mercedes' relationship. She wants to be happy for her best friend. She knows that Santana could use someone good in her life, someone who truly loves her back, someone as great as Mercedes. When Brittany told Santana that she was just phase to her Santana was crushed. She never told Brittany, but Santana cried for weeks over her. She really loved her. Quinn let Santana cry on her shoulder. She didn't know but Quinn felt her pain. She knew what it was like to lose the one you loved. Quinn wanted to see her friend happy, she really did. She just didn't want her friend to be happy with Mercedes. Mercedes was hers, her Mercy, her one and only, and she planned on getting her back no matter what.
Quinn has been thinking about how she would approach Mercedes for weeks now. She know she needed take her time and not ambush Mercedes. She knows she hurt Mercedes when she left. Quinn hurt too, but she needed to give Mercedes time to adjust to Lima, time for Mercedes to soak her presence in, and she also needed time to get her own emotions together. She needed to make sure she was strong enough for their first conversation after over a year of separation.
She is lying on her bed clutching what looks like an ugly stuffed frog to her chest. Quinn could never figure out what the stuffed animal really was but if you tilt your head to the right, and close your left eye a frog is what you would see. She loves that frog. Mercedes won it for her at their school carnival in Seattle.
By the time Mercedes finished her shift at the Glee table the carnival was almost over and all the nicer prizes were gone but she told Quinn she wanted to win something for her, and she did. She threw balls at milk jars and knocked them all down; she got three tries and did it in two. The student at the booth handed her the frog looking animal and when the girls scrunched up their faces he said, "I know guys, but it's the only one left." Mercedes takes the frog and kisses it. Both Quinn and the student look at her questioningly. "I just wanted to see if it would turn into a handsome prince, like in the books." Quinn takes the frog from Mercedes' hand and kisses her cheek, "Aww thanks baby, but I think that only works on real frogs. Besides I already have my princess, there is no need for a prince." She winks and causes Mercedes duck her head and blush.
It had been over a month since Quinn had left Mercedes that note in her locker. She had done it on impulse. Realizing that Santana and Mercedes were finally official, she needed to get to Mercedes somehow, get it in her head that Quinn hadn't been oblivious to her. Sitting up she decides that she will confront Mercedes face to face tonight. She knew she couldn't wait anymore. Lying in bed reminiscing wasn't helping her. She needed her girl. She got up got dressed and headed over to Mercedes' house thinking about their first real fight as a couple and hoping it would help her prepare for the fight she was about to have.
…
February, Boarding School in Seattle, Sophomore Year.
Mercedes bursts into their dorm room in search for something, "Hey baby I know I said I wouldn't see you until after the show, but of course I forget my makeup." The glee club was putting on a show to raise money for charity. The school could afford to pay for all of their Glee Club needs so they put on shows to help others. When Mercedes found what she was looking for she turns around and sees her girlfriend for the first time since entering their room. Quinn is sitting on her bed and she looks happy, but a different happy. She walks over to her "Hey you look different, did something happen today?"Quinn wanders how Mercedes can tell something about her be just looking at her for one second, she smiles because only somebody who is in love with her can know her like that. "I got a call from my mom today."
Mercedes hoped that that isn't the reason why her girl is so happy, "Okay, wow. How did that go?"
"It went really well actually. She asked about the baby, about how I'm doing, I even told her about you." Mercedes' face was not a pleased one, "What, why are you looking like that?"
Mercedes steps away from Quinn, "Excuse me if I'm not as happy about this situation. Did she even bother to apologize for sending you away? For not making sure you get proper care, for leaving you high and dry?" Mercedes tone is harsh.
Quinn stands up, ready to argue with her girlfriend, "Well she said that the wished things could have turned out differently and that she can't wait to see me. She said that she and my father have come around to the fact that I am having a baby and that they want to be with me for the birth."
"And you really believe that? You really believe that your prim and proper conservative parents have come around to the fact that you're having a baby at sixteen; the fact that you're dating a girl, a black girl, that you're in love with that black girl, and that you plan on raising the baby with her?"
"Yes, why is that so hard for you to believe?"
Mercedes shouts, "Why isn't it hard for you to believe?"
"You aren't the only one that can have a loving family Mercedes" Quinn shouts back.
"Is that what this is about? Honestly Lucy really? You are my family now you know that. My family is in love with you. Trust me they tell me all the time. I don't think that you should be so willing to trust yours especially because of what they did to you. You don't find anything strange about this, nothing at all?"
"I'm not stupid Mercedes. I asked my mother about the sudden change, she said that they have been going to therapy since I left. They got help to see things from my point of view, and when I told her about you she sounded happy that I was able to find somebody I can depend on while I'm here, happy that I wasn't completely alone."
Mercedes doesn't say anything. She just shrugs her shoulders as if she saying "so what"
"They can help us too. Take some pressure off of us and your parents; they also gave the school the okay for me to end my semester early so we don't have to lie about it now."
Now Mercedes was furious, "You told her about our plans? So your parents know that we are doing extra work to get out of school mid April? She knows that we are going to be living in LA in my parents' house with the baby until you finish high school? Did you tell her what we're having?"
"Yes I told her everything, it's not like we were keeping it a secret. Everyone at this school knows and the entire Jones family knows. Why is a problem that I told my parents?"
"Why would you…you really don't see how this could hurt me, how this could hurt us? You didn't think to talk to me before doing any of this. We didn't need your parents help for the past four months and we don't need their help now. They are playing tricks with you I know it. People don't change overnight, it takes time, and they haven't had enough of it."
Quinn is crying now, "It wasn't overnight and why are you being this way Mercedes?"
Mercedes gestures to herself in disbelief, "Me, we don't need your parents. Why don't you think that I'm enough for you? I'm late I have to go." And with that she grabs her makeup and storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her, leaving a crying Quinn standing in the middle of their room. Mercedes allows herself to cry until she reaches the auditorium. When she reaches the rest of the glee club members they could tell that something was wrong from her red eyes and puffy cheeks but before they could inquire she puts a hand up and tells them, "Don't ask" and they don't, they all continue to get ready for the show.
Quinn's eyes are beat red and she can't stop crying she is thinking, "How could Mercedes think that she isn't enough for me? Mercedes has been my everything for four months and she will be everything for the rest of my life. She knows that. Why is she so threatened by my parents? Maybe I should have spoken to her first, but still… My mother even cried on the phone and that has never happened before. I know I can trust her, I can trust her right…. Well even if my parents go back to their old beliefs it doesn't matter because I'm never leaving Mercedes." These thoughts roll over and over in her head. When she finally stops crying she wipes her face and looks at the clock. "Shit I've already missed most of the show." She rushes to change her clothes and put on her makeup. When she makes it to the auditorium she finds her seat in the third row center next to R.J. and his new girlfriend. He doesn't say anything but he knew something was wrong when Quinn didn't show up at the start of the show, and he can clearly see that something is wrong now that Quinn is finally here, Quinn just looks straight ahead.
The M.C. announces the last solo number, "Now usually the last solo number goes to a senior vet of our club, but because this lady is finishing her semester early and will not be going to nationals with us, or returning next year, how could we not give the last solo slot to our power house vocalist. She is one of a kind and we will miss her greatly, so without further a due will everyone please put their hands together for Miss Mercedes Jones." The whole entire audience applauds. When Mercedes walks out to the center of the stage Quinn's jaw is floored, her girl looks breath taking. In a dress that stops right above her knees and the blue sequins make her shine. She even has that feather clip in her hair that Quinn gave her for Christmas.
Mercedes steps to the mike, "Hello everyone, my name is Mercedes Jones and I'll be singing this song for someone very special in my life. I hope you enjoy." The music starts and when Mercedes starts singing the audience is in awe.
"Ain't no way for me to love you/If you won't let me" Quinn is staring at Mercedes and the word, "Breathtaking" leaves her lips. R.J. looks over at her and smiles but her attention remains on her girl. Mercedes continues and she gets even more beautiful with every word. Her attention is not on Quinn or on anyone else in the crowed, but somewhere in the distance. The audience can feel every word she is saying. She continues to sing and then there is that moment when she stairs directly at Quinn and their eyes lock, "Stop trying to be someone you're not/And if you need me love you say, say you do/ Don't you know that I need you?" Mercedes is singing to Quinn and only Quinn. Some of the audience members follow her line of sight and they too begin to look at Quinn and smile. One woman in the audience whispers to her friend, "Well isn't that sweet"
Quinn sucks in her lips and a tear leaves her eye. Mercedes sings the last four lines, "Ain't no way, baby/ (Ain't no way)/ It ain't no way for me to love you/ If you won't let me" She closes her eyes when the song is finished, the stage lights dim, and the crowed erupts in a standing ovation. She says, "thank you" into the mike before exiting the stage.
Before the rest of the Glee Club return to the stage to perform their final number Quinn wipes her eye and turns to R.J. "Hey, it was good seeing you guys, but I have to go. I'm not feeling well." R.J. can see that Quinn is lying, but he will pump his little sister for information when they go out for dinner. Quinn returns to her dorm room and cry's herself to sleep.
…
Mercedes returns from dinner a little after midnight. She changes into a tank top and shorts, turns off Quinn's tiny night light, and out of instinct she goes to lie behind Quinn. Before she touches the bed she remembers that they are in a fight and goes to lie down in her own bed. The girls have not slept a part since the first time they kissed which makes Mercedes restless. She rolls around in her bed trying to get comfortable wishing she had Quinn to hold, but she is still mad that Quinn can't understand why she is upset. Eventually she finds sleep.
It's two in the morning when Quinn stirs awake. It takes her a minute before her eyes adjusts to the dark lighting. She knows Mercedes is back without even looking over at her side because she always turns off the tiny night light, Quinn thought she hid well at the side of her bed. She smiles to herself before gets out of bed. She goes to her dresser draw and pulls a brown paper bag out before she walks over to Mercedes' bed. She turns on the desk light and she can tell that Mercedes was restless because there is a little crinkle on her forehead. She kisses the crinkle and rubs Mercedes' head, "Mercedes baby wake up." She kisses her head again, "Wake up." She moves a little but does not wake up. Quinn leans down and starts kissing Mercedes' lips. She continues to kiss her until she finally starts to respond. Mercedes isn't up yet but her lips start to move with Quinn's. She thinks she is dreaming. She pulls Quinn closer to her and even begins to deepen the kiss, she releases a moan and her hands start reaching for parts of Quinn's body. Quinn is getting hot, but before things get too out of hand Quinn pulls out of the kiss chest heaving up and down, "Wow." She clears her throat and shakes Mercedes, "Mercedes, Mercedes, Mercedes wake up."
Mercedes wakes up with a jolt, her body shoots up and she is sitting on her bed. "What, What, are you okay, is the baby okay, what's the matter?"
"Hey calm down. I'm fine." Mercedes closes her eyes and shakes her head, "What is it Lucy?"
"Don't be that way."
"Tell me how should I be?"
"Will you just listen to me" Quinn is pleading with her eyes. Mercedes nods her head, "Okay"
Quinn sits on the bed next to her girlfriend, eyes cast down on the paper bag in her hand. "You know you're wrong. You are enough for me. I love you Mercedes I really do. I know I have a tendency to be insecure and worried about what other people think about me, but there is one thing I will never doubt or feel uncertain about, and that's your love for me and my love for you." She turns a little and lifts her head to look at Mercedes. "When my mom called today I wasn't thinking about you or the baby, the only thing I could think about was that fact that she and my dad were finally making an effort to try and understand me. My whole life I wasn't allowed to color outside the lines, and when I finally do in the biggest way possible they ship me off to a boarding school. I was happy that they're trying, and that's all I ever really wanted from them; for them to at least try." She intertwines her hand with Mercedes', "I stopped being upset with them on November 24th." Do you know why I stopped holding a grudge for my parents on that date?"
Mercedes looks down at their intertwined hands, squeezes, and smiles, "Because I told you I loved you." Quinn lifts their hands and plans a kiss on Mercedes' hand, "Because you told me you loved me, because you declared your love for our baby, because that's when I knew that I wouldn't have anything to worry about because I had you." Mercedes' eyes are getting cloudy. "There is no need to feel threatened by my parent's sudden involvement because no one compares to you and no one can keep me from loving you. I am madly in love with you" She leans in to kiss Mercedes on the lips; the kiss is pure and gentle. Their faces stay close when they part. "Lucy I'm just scared."
"Scared of what baby?"
"What if your parents are lying, from what you have told me about them, how can I trust them?" Quinn unlocks their hands to wipe a tear that has fallen from Mercedes' eye and kisses the spot where the tear had been. "Aren't you the one that said everyone deserves a chance, so just give my parents a chance, for me?"
"I knew my words would come back to bite me in the ass... I can promise that I'll try, for you."
Quinn pecks Mercedes' lips, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love you." Mercedes is giggling, "I said I'd try, and I love you too."
Quinn opens the brown bag in her hand and pulls out a long box. "I was saving this for Valentine's Day but I thought you could use it now." She hands the box to Mercedes and watches as her face lights up, "Lucy this beautiful." In the box there is a white gold diamond key necklace. The head of the key is in the shape of a heart and on top of that heart there is a smaller heart with an extra diamond on top to make it look like a crown. "When I saw it I knew I had to get it. I especially like it because the top heart reminds me of a crown, a crown fit for my queen."
Mercedes kisses Quinn on the lips. "You're beautiful. Thank you." Quinn takes the necklace out of the box and gestures towards Mercedes' neck, "May I?" Mercedes leans down so that Quinn can clasp it around her neck. She admires her new gift, "This must have been expensive." Quinn slaps Mercedes' leg playfully, "Hey don't worry about that. Just know that now you have a tangible version of the key to my heart." Quinn scrunches her nose, "haha cheese ball"
"Hey you love me and my cheese"
"I do. I really do."
Quinn clears her throat, "You know before you woke up you were getting pretty hands on with me" she raises an eyebrow. Mercedes covers her face with slight embarrassment, "That wasn't a dream?"
Quinn starts fanning herself, "It most certainly was not a dream. What kinds of things do you dream about doing with me?"
"Well…" Mercedes kisses Quinn on one cheek, then the other cheek. She then takes her hands and uses the tips of her fingers to ghost down Quinn's arms. Quinn is holding her breath. When she reaches the bottom of Quinn's shirt she doesn't have to ask anything because Quinn lifts her arms automatically. Mercedes fingertips begin to ghost over Quinn's chest and leans in really close so that their lips are almost touching, "Why tell you…" She licks Quinn's lips, "When I can show you."
…
Present Day Lima
When Mercedes opens the door her eyes widen before she says, "Hey Santana my dad is calling, can I call you back?… yeah I know... haha I will, okay bye." Mercedes looks to Quinn and says with no pleasure in her voice, "Lucy, oh wait its Quinn now right. What are you doing here?" Already anticipating attitude from Mercedes, Quinn came prepared. She decided on the 20 minute walk to Mercedes' house that she wasn't going to back down; no matter how ugly things got.
"We need to talk."
Mercedes is standing with her hands crossed, tapping her foot, she rolled her eyes, "Well you lost that right when you broke my heart."
Pleading with her eyes, "Please, Mercy." Mercy, it was Quinn's nickname for Mercedes. She hadn't heard that name since the last time Quinn used it, and that was over a year ago. Mercedes hung her head and after a minute she replies, "Okay" She gestures for Quinn to enter the house. When she closes the door she passes Quinn and begins walking up the stairs, "Where are you going?" Mercedes turns around, if looks could kill, Quinn would be close to death.
"We can't stay down here. My dad will be home later and if he sees you he will kill you. I'm not joking" Quinn does one of those cartoon gulps out of fear and nods her head rapidly, "Okay, where's you mom"
"She is back in LA on business." She nods her head and follows Mercedes to her bedroom, a place she has dreamed about being in for far too long. It smells just like the girl, lavender and a hint of strawberry, it's almost too overwhelming for her. When Mercedes sits on her bed Quinn gestures to the desk chair, "May I?" Mercedes nods her head.
Nothing is said for a few minutes. Quinn is too busy taking in her surroundings and Mercedes is too busy grilling Quinn, but she eventually decides to break the ice first, "So Quinn why are you here." Quinn winces when Mercedes calls her by her middle name. A name she kept secret from the girl. It doesn't sound right when she says it.
"Don't call me that."
"Why? That's your name right; Quinn."
"Actually Lucy is my name. I started going by my middle name Quinn in high school. I got a new look and I wanted a change."
"So why didn't you introduce yourself as Quinn in Seattle?"
"Because I was pregnant and needed another change…It's no big deal, I'm still me and that's not why I'm here." Mercedes scoffs because she thinks that in this whole fucked up mess whether or not Quinn prefers to go by her first name or middle name, it really isn't the big issue here.
"Why are you here Lucy?" Quinn cracks a smile on the inside.
"Mercedes I never stopped loving you. It breaks my heart to see you with someone else when you should be with me." Mercedes throws her head back and gets lost in a fit of laughter. "You have some nerve." Before Quinn can speak again Mercedes adds, "You broke my heart Lucy. When you left it felt like you ripped my heart right out of my chest and stomped all over it. I was messed up for a long time Lucy. Then by some one-in-a-million chance I wind up living in the same town as you and you pretend you don't know me for months, and now you want to tell me you still love me? Now? Now that I finally figured out how to stop loving you and maybe start to love someone else?" Mercedes begins clapping her hands "Bravo Lucy because this is just great."
Mercedes has tears running down her face and her breathing is heavy. Quinn held back her tears. She scooted closer to Mercedes in her rolling chair and Mercedes stands to move out of her reach. "No, don't touch me, you don't get to touch me. After what you did, I can't even believe I have you in my room right now, my parents would flip, R.J. wouldn't know what to do with me, my therapist will think I've gone crazy again, I've been avoiding you for months and I thought I would be ready to talk to you when the time came, but I was so wrong, so, so wrong, I can't handle this, I thought I could but I can't, I can't, I can't handle this…" Mercedes has been pacing back and forth and rambling to herself. It looks like she is having an anxiety attack and Quinn's heart continues to break.
"Mercedes look at me, Mercedes listen to me, MERCEDES, MERCEDES!" By the time she shouts the girls name for the last time she is standing in front of her both hands grabbing Mercedes' arms. Mercedes looks out of it. "Breath baby just breath, in and out, in and out remember." It registers to Mercedes that Quinn just called her baby, and at that moment her legs give way. As she falls to the ground Quinn follows. Her hands are now wrapped around Mercedes tightly. "What happened why did you leave me? Where's our baby? You said I was enough, what happened?" Her head is on Quinn's chest and she is whaling hysterically. Quinn is unable to hold back her tears. She has never seen Mercedes in such a state and its killing her. "Mercedes no, it wasn't like that. It wasn't you. I love you baby I love you."
…
Mid May, LA Hospital Delivery Room, Sophomore Year
"Ahhhhh Mercedes if this baby doesn't come out now I'm going to make you go in there and pull it out yourself"
…
Thank you for reading guys. I hope you enjoyed. Don't be shy review!
Special thanks to Drako The Kid, cr8ziigulr, thinkur101, beach trumpet, and guests for commenting. It means a lot :)