Note: Whew, y'all, this is a long one and it feels like it took me forever. So, when I was around the same age as the Glee kids, I was in a group that existed before me and continues to exist long after me. We have sporadic reunions - sometimes for people just from certain years, sometimes for anyone who ever belonged and attendees will span thirty-some years of membership. Whenever we get together, we re-hash the same old stories and re-explain them to those who weren't there for them and it always feels like no time has passed and we are all teenagers again. There are people who naturally dominate the conversation and people who just sit and listen. So that's the vibe I tried to capture in this part. (And of course, threw in plenty of little samcedes moments for my fellow shippers!)

Anyhow - hope you enjoy - please let me know!

Saturday evening, Hudson-Hummel Home

"No, what about when we did that Barbra Streisand flash mob at the mall to convince Rachel not to get a nose job?" Mike said and Kurt burst out laughing.

"Right! And Rachel, you thought Barbra was actually there somehow. At a mall in Ohio," he said, still laughing.

"A girl can dream," Rachel sniffed.

"Oh my gosh, that was a glee club thing?" Marley said suddenly. "I was at the mall that day, I remember thinking it looked so fun! But I was in middle school still, I think."

"That was wild," Mercedes said. "But I think the legit craziest thing we ever did was when you-" here she pointed to Tina "- and you-" here she pointed to Rachel "-and me and Lauren joined the football team so there'd be enough players for the championship game."

"That was insane," Sam said, "but it was AWESOME too. Like, that's when I first really knew that the glee kids had each other's backs for real."

"So, wait, how did that work?" Ryder said. "Did you guys – girls – actually play?"

"For the first half, yeah," Mercedes replied. "We suited up and got on the field. But Rachel and I didn't really participate in any of the plays. Neither did Tina at first either, but then she decided she was gonna go for it."

"Nearly gotten taken out, too," Tina chimed in. "And Lauren was all over it."

"Where is Zizes these days, anyway?" Quinn asked. "I feel like we all lost track of her after that one year she was in the club."

"Oh, she was at the auditorium dedication two years ago," Kurt said. "We're friends on Facebook, she's still on the pro wrestling circuit."

"We should have invited her this weekend," Mercedes said. "I guess since she wasn't on the 2012 champion team or part of the 2013 team, it just didn't even occur to us." She pointed at Kurt. "Make sure we include her next time."

"Yes, ma'am," Kurt replied with a mock salute.

"Yeah, the football thing might have been the craziest thing the girls ever did – but as a club? Let's go waaay back," Tina said before singing, "ooh baby, baby – buh baby" and Artie automatically threw out, "Get up on this!" as Kurt and Mercedes burst into hysterical laughter and Rachel half-laughed and half-groaned, "Oh my God, 'Push It.'"

Quinn laughed. "Oh my God, I was SO horrified watching that."

"I don't know," Mike said, "I was kind of intrigued?"

Sam glanced at Blaine. "I feel like we do and we don't want to hear the story of this one?"

Blaine laughed. "You haven't heard about this one?"

"Oh, my God, it was ridiculous. It was our first ever assembly performance," Mercedes explained. "And somehow we came to the conclusion that we needed to convince the school that glee club was sexy? So it was all hip-thrusting and ass-shaking and at one point Tina and Kurt and Rachel were, like, sexy-crawling across the stage to Artie and me and Finn. We thought we were being sexy, but we probably just looked insane."

"Little of both," Mike said with a grin.

"Okay, so what did we do over the years that actually was sexy?" Tina asked.

"Marley and Kitty's 'Holdin' Out for a Hero' was pretty hot," Ryder said.

Kitty laughed. "That ridiculous whip, oh my God."

"Anybody else still have their copy of the Men of McKinley calendar?" Mercedes asked with a grin.

"Wait – how did you even get a copy of that?" Sam asked her.

"How do you think?" Mercedes asked him before pointing across the room at Tina, who had raised her hand. "August was my favorite."

"You're welcome!" Tina called across the room.

"I think I've still got mine too somewhere, thanks, Tina," Kurt said.

"Our assembly performance of 'Toxic' did start a sex riot in the gym," Rachel said.

Quinn shook her head. "That was really more just JBI being his disgusting self as opposed to a sex riot." She paused, thinking. "The routine was pretty hot though."

"Ooh, what about when you girls did that Stones/Bon Jovi mash-up?" Mike said suddenly. "That was HOT."

"Ooh, yeah, it was," Sam said. "Any chance you've still got those leather pants?" he asked Mercedes.

"Hey," Quinn said, reaching across Mercedes to swat Sam's knee. "Weren't you my boyfriend when we did that? Why were you looking at her leather pants?"

Her tone and expression clearly indicated that she was only teasing, but Sam was still caught off guard by the question. Mercedes and Quinn looked at each other and started laughing.

"Looks like you will-" Mercedes said and then sang the next part "-make a grown man cry."

"Oh, you know it," Quinn replied with a laugh.

"That's why," Sam said. "'Cause when she sings, you can't help but look at her. The leather pants were just a bonus."

"Fair enough."

"Anyway – the mash-ups were always fun," Tina said. "That Tom Cruise one you guys did was good. Not so much the flight suit part – sorry Artie – but you three-" here she pointed at Jake and Ryder and Sam "-the Risky Business white shirts and undies? I quite enjoyed that."

"Oh, yes," Sugar agreed.

Then Tina continued, "Although Sam in his underwear was really nothing new at that point. Remember Rocky Horror?"

"Yes!" This was a resounding unison answer from all 2010-11 members of the club who were present.

Mercedes grinned at her husband. "Any chance you still have those gold shorts?"

Sam grinned back at her. "Maybe." He suddenly sat up and started pulling up the hem of his sweatshirt.

"You're not wearing them now, are you?" Kurt asked in alarm.

"No!" Sam said, pulling the sweatshirt off and smoothing down the t-shirt he was wearing underneath. "But look what else I do have – I found it when I was looking for my letter jacket yesterday! My t-shirt for 'Born this Way!'"

He was indeed wearing the plain white t-shirt with 'Trouty Mouth' ironed on it in black letters.

Kurt leaned across Blaine and Sam to point at Mercedes. "You signed on for this. You said 'I do' to this."

Mercedes laughed, nodding. "Yup. Sure did," she said, kissing Sam's cheek.

Kurt shook his head. "This man is your kryptonite, I swear."

"Oh, speaking of kryptonite, do you still remember 'Superman'?" Ryder said to Jake.

"Yeah, I still do. Still good," Jake replied.

"Anyway, the man's not wrong. 'Born this Way' was a fun number," Tina said.

"The big group numbers always were," Quinn said. "I actually have to admit, I recently came across my New York City t-shirt from when we did 'Empire State of Mind' in the courtyard."

"The performance that got me interested in glee club, whether I realized it then or not," Sam said. "Again, your voice…" he said, grinning at Mercedes.

"You know what was always really fun?" Marley said. "When you guys would go all boy band. Like singing 'No Scrubs' at the Sadie Hawkins dance."

"Wait, who did that one?" Quinn asked, laughing.

Sam raised his hand. "Me, Artie, Blaine –" he paused, looking around the room, "-and you two, right?" he asked, pointing at Joe and Ryder, who nodded.

"Oh, I wish I'd seen that!" Mercedes laughed.

Unique nodded. "Oh you definitely do wish it."

"I liked when Artie and Rory were fighting over me to be their Valentine," Sugar piped up. "And Artie put together a whole boy band just for me." Beside her on the couch, Tina rolled her eyes.

"Yes! 'Let Me Love You'," Kurt said. "They actually had me in the boy band that time, it almost never happened."

"You were in it two weeks in a row that time," Mike said. "Remember, Sam had us do that Spanish song for Mercedes the week before and we had those crazy Mexican hipster boots?"

"Those were amazing," Kurt said.

"I think that might be my favorite song you sang to me in glee," Mercedes said quietly to Sam.

Quinn was suddenly laughing hysterically. "Oh my gosh, you guys, I'm sorry – I was just thinking about – I don't know if it was the music or the boots or what, but Puck was ridiculous during that song. Just being completely goofy."

"He would always have those goofy moments," Mercedes said. "Like, when he and Sam and Artie did 'Friday' at the junior prom, and Sam, you were singing the part that literally is just laying out how a calendar works –"

Sam laughed. "Oh yeah, the yesterday was Thursday part?"

"Yes!" Kurt chimed in, remembering. "And he was acting like he was completely astonished to learn that Sunday comes after Saturday. Ridiculous."

"Ugh, I wish we had video of some of this stuff," Tina complained.

"Speak for yourself," Kitty countered. "Some of the things we did don't ever need to be relived."

Marley shuddered. "Yeah, like Katy or Gaga week? That was awful."

"Y'all, Mr. Schue was clearly in a terrible place at that point," Ryder pointed out. "We did have one hell of a year."

"That may be true, but I still maintain he had no right to suspend me," Marley declared.

"Okay, yes, Katy or Gaga week was pretty bad," Tina conceded, "but surely there are some things that would be fun to see again. I mean, I know some of it did end up on YouTube at various points and I know we all probably have stuff on old cell phones somewhere or whatever, but I mean, like wouldn't it be great if it was all easy to find?"

"Oh! We are actually working on that, an official McKinley YouTube channel," Sam said suddenly as he remembered. "Blaine, where's the remote?" Blaine handed it over to him and Sam pulled up YouTube on the TV before he continued speaking. "Not of anything in the choir room, but we've had the video graphics kids working on getting the old competition performances posted. Will found the video archives a while back – I don't know how they missed getting destroyed by Sue. We don't have everything, but we've got at least some stuff!" He started searching for 'McKinley High School New Directions' and clicked on the first video that popped up.

"Oh…" Rachel said softly, her hand flying to her mouth as she and Finn appeared on screen at the 2011 Nationals in New York and Sam quickly hit pause.

"I'm sorry, I should have asked before I just jumped in – is this okay?"

Rachel nodded slowly. "It's okay. I just wasn't expecting that right away…but, no, it's fine, really." She glanced around the room. "I mean, that's why we're here this weekend, right? It's why we're ALL here – we all felt the pull to be together again and remember all the things we did together and the people that we love and miss, right?"

There were nods and motions of agreement from around the room and Sam hit play again.

Rachel rested her head on Jesse's shoulder as they watched, Jesse sliding his arm around his wife's shoulder. He had long ago made peace with the fact that a part of Rachel's heart would always be reserved for Finn.

"You know, I never thought about it before, but you and Mercedes were already kind of dating when we went to New York, weren't you?" Mike said to Sam. "I remember you helped Finn a lot with writing this song.

Sam grinned. "Yeah, like we knew we liked each other but we hadn't really said it yet, so yeah."

"Oh, look you guys, it's my big NYC rebellion haircut!" Quinn said with a laugh as the other club members began filing onto the stage. "Don't even ask," she added, glancing at her husband. "This is gonna be a ride you're just gonna have to hang on for and I'll answer all questions on the long drive home."

Ty laughed and said "It's a deal. I'm just glad y'all are letting me be a part of this party."

Mercifully, the video graphics kids were all working on their editing skills as well and thus they were spared the kiss at the end of 'Pretending,' and moved straight on to 'Light Up the World.'

Quinn pointed a finger at Mercedes and Sam. "This song is when I figured out there was something going on with you two."

Mercedes looked confused. "What? How? We didn't even dance with each other or anything."

"Just wait," she said.

"Rachel, you really went kind of full-on manic near the end of this one," Kurt said to her and she laughed.

"Yeah, I kind of did," she agreed. "I just got so caught up in the moment – New York, Nationals – I was excited, I guess!"

"Okay," Quinn said to Mercedes as the song neared its end. "Song's ending, we're standing next to each other on one side of the stage, everyone's hugging and excited – and here comes Sam, running over from the other side of the stage to hug you."

"Oh, right, I did do that," Sam said and Mercedes shook her head.

"Well, none of the rest of these unobservant fools noticed anything," she said with a laugh. "But it's kind of sweet to be able to look back on."

The song ended and the next video popped up – the 2010 Sectionals and Sam's voice filled the room before he quickly hit the pause button.

"We can definitely skip this one," he said, glancing from Quinn to Mercedes, and Quinn nodded, even as the rest of the room protested.

"Yeah, we don't have to watch this one," Quinn added and Mercedes laughed again.

"Um, you guys?" she said to her husband and her best friend. "As we discussed earlier this very evening, I was there when you were dating, I know it happened. Hell, Sam has kissed almost every single woman in this club."

"Not me," Marley piped up.

"Or me," Sugar chimed in.

"Me either," Kitty said, adding in relief, "thank God."

"Nope," Unique said with a haughty sniff.

"Not me either," Tina said and Sam, Mercedes and Blaine all turned to stare at her. "Oh, right, yeah, me too, that one time. Ugh."

For once in her life, Rachel kept quiet.

"ANY-way," Mercedes said, "my point is, I got over being jealous of any of that a long time. I know I'm the only one he's kissing now, so whatever." She concluded her statement with a shrug.

"That's right!" Sam said emphatically, leaning over for a kiss, as if to prove the point, and Mercedes rolled her eyes, but let him kiss her, much to their friends' amusement.

"C'mon, Sam, I gotta see you rocking that Bieber cut," Artie said and Sam just shook his head, pressing play again.

"I don't think I've ever really heard you sing," Ty said to Quinn. "Not like for real, like this. You have a beautiful voice."

They did sing the song beautifully, Mercedes thought – but she also wasn't ashamed to admit she was glad when it was over. It was one thing to know that something had happened and quite another to watch it play out on screen.

And then she heard the opening notes of 'Valerie' – somehow, she'd forgotten this was coming. Judging by the quiet that fell over the room, everyone else had too.

"Oh, you guys…" the tears were already evident in Tina's voice as she said this.

"She was so good," Rachel said quietly. "I never gave her enough credit, but God…"

Kurt glanced over at Rachel. "It's okay, Rach. She knew she was good, she told all of us all about it all the time." His statement was funny, but sincere and it broke the tension as soft laughter rippled through the room, accompanied by more than a few sniffles.

"Mike, you and Britt were AMAZING in this," Jake said during the dance break. "I need you to come down and guest-teach some of my classes some time."

Mike grinned. "I gotta say – no offense to any other dance partner I've had – but Brittany was always my favorite to dance with and this routine was our best." His grin faded a little as he added, "I wish she'd come over tonight."

"Yeah," several voices agreed before everyone fell quiet again to watch the end of the song.

"I'll try calling again in the morning," Quinn said after it finished. "Maybe we can still get her to the brunch."

"Maybe we should all text or call her," Mercedes said. "Even if she doesn't want to go, at least she'll know that we all love her and are thinking about her."

"Yes," Rachel said, "that's perfect. We'll just surround her in a giant bubble of New Directions love, even if it ends up only being virtual."

The next video started then and Mercedes looked at Sam in surprise as the opening notes of 'Survivor/I Will Survive' played. "You put up the TroubleTones performance too?"

"Of course," he said. "We brought them back, remember? And we actually got our crap together so that they compete in the correct division, against other all-girl groups. Besides," he added, "you were amazing. I couldn't take my eyes off you that night."

She smiled. "Yeah, well, I didn't want to admit it then, but same."

"I knew it," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah, we all knew," Kurt said and Mercedes threw a piece of popcorn at him.

"Shut up, you did not!"

Kurt shrugged.

"We really were awesome," Sugar said. "But I guess you guys were okay too."

"Um, we won," Tina pointed out. "You're welcome, everyone."

"You guys really were good," Mercedes said as on the TV, Tina started singing 'ABC.' "And I am still kinda sad that I didn't get to be part of the Jackson tribute."

"Me too," Rachel agreed.

"Kurt, that jump! That was incredible!"

Kurt waved off the compliment as he pointed at the screen. "Look at how much Finn's dancing had improved by then. It's really amazing."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, he really, really worked hard on that."

'Control' started then and Mercedes looked at Quinn. "I'm not gonna lie, you scared the bejeezus out of me when you started that spoken part."

"Whew," Quinn said. "This was such a weird, weird time in my life. To say the least."

"And we're back around to a boy band again, sort of," Tina said as Finn, Artie, Puck, Blaine and Sam started singing 'Man in the Mirror.'.

"It really was just so lovely, though," Quinn said. "And look at those two together, Finn and Puck. Even when they're being sort of serious, they were having fun."

"I miss them," Sam said quietly.

"Yeah," Jake said.

Sam looked at Mercedes. "What do you think they would say about us getting married?"

"Oh, that's easy," Kurt said before Mercedes could answer. "Finn would be thrilled for you but he would be terribly confused about the fact that Mercedes proposed to you." Everyone chuckled at that and Kurt continued, "I mean, can't you just hear him? 'Wait, the girl can ask the dude? They're allowed to do that?"

There were several noises of agreement from around the room and then Artie said, "And Puck would also be thrilled, but he would be one hundred percent down with Mercedes asking."

Jake nodded. "Except he'd express that in some completely gross way like, 'hell, yeah, my boy Sam makes the ladies beg for him.'"

"Oh, God," Mercedes said, laughing. "Yeah. He totally would say that."

Sam shook his head. "And I'd have to fist-bump him for it."

"It is true," Mike agreed. "But what you guys are forgetting is that he was a total softie at heart. So he'd say all that raunchy stuff at first, but then he'd be sitting off in the corner now, watching you guys all cuddled up together and he'd have that look on his face where you know he was about a millisecond from crying."

Blaine nodded. "That is also true."

The next video started, of the 2012 Regionals, and they fell quiet again, watching the TV.

"You guys?" Artie said. "Is it bad that I literally do not remember this competition?"

Mercedes shook her head. "I was just thinking the same thing and look, there we are singing together. It's the second-to-last competition of my senior year, how have I blocked it out?"

"Well," Kurt said slowly, glancing at Rachel, "a lot was going on that day."

"Yeah," Quinn agreed quietly.

Mercedes reached for her friend's hand as the memories came back – Finn and Rachel's non-wedding, Quinn's car accident, all of them sitting in the hospital waiting room for hours, waiting to hear something. "I am so glad you're still with us," she said to Quinn, who smiled back at her.

"Me too."

The TroubleTones number started then and Quinn shook her head. "You and Santana," she said to Mercedes. "You two were just magic together."

"My favorite duet partner, always," Mercedes said, patting Sam's chest and adding, "Sorry, babe."

Sam shook his head. "Nah, I can't even be offended or argue with that."

The next video started up and Mike whistled. "Ooh, y'all, this is old."

"Our first Regionals!" Tina said.

"Oh my gosh," Mercedes said as the curtain came up. "Look at us, babies, every single one of us."

"This is amazing," Kitty said. "You all do look like infants."

"Look at our hair," Rachel said. "Those damn bump-it things Santana insisted on us wearing."

"She probably just need a better place to store the razor blades she always claimed to be carrying around," Kurt cracked.

"But they hurt," Tina said. "My head was so sore by the end of the day."

"I don't know if I ever said it, but I really appreciate that we picked a style of dress that didn't make it obvious I was up there literally hours away from giving birth," Quinn said, shaking her head.

Mercedes shook her head. "Talk about a day that had a lot going on!"

"All I know is I could not dance around like that right now these days. There is a lot to be said for youth," Quinn said.

"Well, at least you have an idea of what might induce labor if you get to a point where you're desperate for it to start," Kurt pointed out. "Just dance and jump around for a while."

"Seriously, though, you guys are amazing," Sam said admiringly. "How did you not win?"

"Because we were competing against Vocal Adrenaline in their prime," Kurt explained.

From the back of the room, Jesse spoke up. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"No, you're not," Kurt shot back, but not meanly. Since Jesse had come back into Rachel's life, he and Kurt had developed a friendship of sorts, or at the very least, they could be cordial to each other.

Rachel smiled. "I've always told them, they just don't know. They missed your amazingness."

"Mike, do you still keep in touch with Matt?" someone asked and Mike nodded.

"Yeah, he's still in Texas. Doing good."

"Finally, something I'm in," Kitty said as the 2013 Nationals appeared on-screen.

Sam rolled his eyes. "We can't help it if you were only in the club one year."

"Um, excuse me, I was in the club for two years and I am also a national champion," Kitty retorted.

"Oh yeah."

"Anyway – Tina, you looked and sounded gorgeous. I think I told you that then, but I'll say it again," Mercedes said, changing the subject.

Tina smiled. "Thank you."

"Carole was so touched by this performance," Mercedes said. "Burt too."

"I'm glad you were there with them," Kurt said.

"Please, I never missed a New Directions competition performance, for like four or five years straight," Mercedes said with a laugh. "And I guess I'm gonna have to start going to them again now," she added, making a face at Sam.

"I sure hope so," he replied. He glanced back at the TV and then looked at her again. "What do you think, should I bring back the ponytail?"

Since they'd started watching the videos, they'd been sitting with Sam's arm around her shoulders, her arms around his waist and her head mostly resting on his shoulder. Now she leaned away from him and pointed her index finger at his face. "I will divorce you."

Kurt burst out laughing at that and he and Blaine exchanged a glance.

"Harsh. But okay. Noted," Sam said, pulling his arm away and crossing both arms across his chest.

"Told you she didn't like it," Blaine muttered under his breath.

Mercedes smiled, shaking her head at Sam. "I mean, I actually don't hate how it looked at that point in time, when it was long enough to be a proper ponytail. It's the growing-out in-between part that I'm not such a fan of."

"It does look awfully scraggly at that point," Tina agreed.

Sam considered this. "Okay, that's fair," he conceded, putting his arm back around Mercedes.

The next video started then – the 2011 Regionals and Rachel singing it 'Get it Right.'

Kurt made a disgusted face. "It is obvious that this is during the Dalton period, because girls, your dresses were atrocious at this competition."

"Hey!" Rachel protested, but Quinn, Mercedes and Tina waved her off.

"No, they're terrible," Quinn agreed. "Somehow they look bad on all of us – the diamond-y things –"

"-the butt bow," Tina added.

"And somehow not flattering to any of our bustlines," Mercedes said. "Awful."

Rachel huffed. "What I was going to say was that it's easy for the guys to say, all they ever had to do was find a tie and decide if they were going to go with a vest or suspenders. They had it way easier than us." She frowned, looking at the screen. "And these were probably our worst dresses ever."

"I agree," Kitty said. "That material is tragic."

"Oh, the fake confetti slushies," Kurt said. "That was a fun way to end it."

"See, this is what competition dresses should look like," Kitty said as the 2013 Regionals began on-screen. "These were lovely."

"They really were fun, all swirly and twirly," Marley agreed.

"That was just a fun set of songs," Jake commented.

"Yup and then we had a surprise wedding!" Kurt said happily.

"Oh, finally, our Nationals win!" Tina exclaimed.

"These were good dresses," Kurt said. "Even if Tina almost ruined an entire bolt of the fabric when she fell in that fountain."

"Really, Kurt? That's your takeaway? I could have been concussed!"

Mercedes snickered. "Did you ever tell him what he said to you in that coma dream you had?"

"No and don't you dare tell him either," Tina shot back.

"Anyway," Sam said, not entirely sure what this conversation was all about, "you ladies kicked ass on this performance. Especially you two," he added, directing this comment at Mercedes and Quinn.

"Yeah, not bad for a hundred-degree fever," Mercedes agreed.

"Or a girl who was only able to start walking again a few weeks before this!" Quinn added.

"Rachel, you really sounded amazing on your solo song," Mercedes said and Rachel smiled.

"For once, I agree with Mercedes," Jesse said. "You were phenomenal. You all were, actually, you really earned that win."

"Oh my God," Mercedes said with a laugh. "Do my ears deceive me? Jesse St. Sucks agrees with me and paid us a compliment?"

"Wonders never cease," Jesse replied lightly.

"That competition was just so much fun," Sugar said. "Like, that's what I remember most, is that we just had so much fun together on that trip."

"Is that it?" Ryder asked. "That's all you've got? Our sectionals was missing, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, we opted not to post that one, what with Marley fainting and Tina butchering the Korean language and all," Sam said.

"Hey," Tina said indignantly as Marley looked embarrassed but appreciative.

"What about our first sectionals?" Quinn asked. "We really killed that one, especially since we literally figured out our set right before we went on since the other choirs stole our stuff."

"Don't have that one, I guess," Sam said.

"You know, it might not have gotten recorded. Remember, Ms. Pillsbury took us at the last minute after Schue got suspended or disqualified or whatever because of the whole mattress thing?" Mike suggested.

"Wait, mattress thing?" Jake said. "What's that about?"

Mike laughed and launched into the story.