Thank you kind people.
I appreciate you all giving another one of my stories a try. As I said before, this is an adaptation of a story I previously did for Merlin.
I do not own Glee or the characters.
Back then...
Mercedes Jones wasn't always in the mess she's in at the moment.
She was a bubbly, vivacious girl and those traits followed her into her teens and at the beginning of her adult life.
She grew up, as an only child to her parents…her father a dentist by profession and her mother a nurse by profession.
She had a relatively normal and happy childhood, until tragedy struck, and she lost her parents in a horrible accident, at the tender age of sixteen.
Her parents weren't wealthy, but they'd left everything they had in the world for her. And it was enough to finance her studies, keep a roof over her head and food in her mouth.
Her aunt Jasmine, from her father's side of the family, had stepped in for the next two years of her life and with great reluctance, gave in and allowed her to live on her own, at the age of eighteen.
After careful consideration, Mercedes decided to rent out her parents' home, leaving her aunt to take care of everything.
With a heavy heart, she moved away from the area where she'd grown up and moved closer to where her best friends lived.
Her aunt knew deep within her heart, that it was hard for her niece to stay in her childhood home and although her heart hurt when Mercedes decided to leave, she threw her full support behind her and made her promise to come home, if things weren't working out.
Growing up, Mercedes was always considered to be pocket-sized, because of her short stature and her plump, curvy body.
Her friends were always towering over her, except for Tina, but she always fitted in and got along with everybody.
They were a tight-knit group of eight…three girls and five guys…after two other friends moved away to work at bettering their lives.
The three girls were her, Tina and Santana.
The guys were Kurt Hummel, Mike Chang, Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, Brody Weston, and the dashing, extremely handsome, Sam Evans.
They all met at different time in their lives, but she met Brody when she was nineteen years old.
They hit it off, almost immediately and after about six months, of knowing each other, they decided to try dating.
All of the other guys had girlfriends, except for Kurt, who was interested in guys and Sam, which was strange, because girls were always after him.
He was like a magnet to women. Wherever he went, girls would always try to get his attention and though the guys ribbed him about it, he shrugged it off and focused on his studies.
As time went on, Mercedes and Brody became official and dated exclusively.
Eventually, Sam met someone also, a girl by the name of Rachel and they started dating too.
Things were going good for Mercedes and after a while, Brody moved in with her.
He was her first in everything and she found herself helplessly falling for him.
In the beginning, he treated her well and made her feel loved, but as time went on and her life started to change, he began to act and treat her differently.
The first sign came, when they were invited out, by the others in the group, for a night on the town.
Mercedes scanned her wardrobe and picked out her attire, for their night out. She chose a black, strapless jumpsuit, with a black belt and black strappy heels. For her accessories, she chose a black and silver clutch purse, silver hoop earrings and a long silver chain-necklace.
After showering, she entered the bedroom, and found it empty.
Calling for Brody, she stepped outside, heading for the living room, where she found him dressed and speaking quietly into his phone.
Assuming it was one of their friends, or something to do with his work, she turned around and silently went back to the bedroom, to get dressed.
After a while, she stood in front of her mirror fully dressed, to take a look at herself.
Giving herself a nod of approval, she left the room in search of Brody.
She found him sitting with his head in his hands, as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Instantly, her caring, protective mode kicked in and she rushed to him, wanting to make whatever it is, that was bothering him, go away.
"What's wrong, Brody?" she asked worriedly. He lifted his head and instead of answering her, he snapped at her saying,
"What do you think? You know how long I've been waiting for you? I'm sure the others are thinking we're a no-show. What took you so long, Mercedes…you don't look any different. And why are you wearing that?"
Mercedes was well and truly taken aback.
She recoiled, as if she'd been slapped.
Tears stung her eyes and she turned away and fled to her bedroom.
She threw her purse on the bed and kicked her shoes off.
She couldn't believe that Brody had spoken to her like that.
There were times before, that they were going out, and she had taken much longer than this, and it wasn't an issue for him.
His words permeated her mind and just like that, she felt ugly.
After a few minutes, the door opened and she heard him enter.
He walked towards her and sat on the bed.
"I'm sorry Mercedes…I…I…um…I don't know what came over me. I've been under a lot of pressure recently…mostly to do with work. And I know…I know it's not an excuse, but I'm truly sorry. Can you forgive me? Please?"
Mercedes didn't know what to think, but her kind heart overruled her and she nodded yes to him.
He took her hand, pulling her up with him and said,
"Let's go have some fun."
They met up with their friends and they all decided to go to a club, in search of a good time.
There was dinner, dancing and great fun, but somehow, Mercedes couldn't shake what had happened earlier.
She pasted a smile, on her pretty face and tried to enjoy herself.
Kurt looked at Tina, who looked at Mike and a silent conversation passed between the three of them.
Out of all of them, except for Santana, who had a previous engagement and couldn't be there…including Brody, those three knew her best.
So with that in mind, Tina rose from the table and with her hand out-stretched, she asked Mercedes,
"Would you honor me with a dance, my lady?" Mercedes went speechless and everyone began to laugh, except for Puck, who whistled and asked,
"Can I join you two out there? I think we would make a delicious sandwich."
At that, everyone, including Tina and Mercedes, laughed out loudly.
The girls escaped to the dance floor and Tina didn't waste any time.
"Okay, Mercedes, spill," she said.
The minute Tina had asked her for a dance, Mercedes knew something was up. She decided to go with the half-truth, as opposed to the whole truth.
"Something happened earlier and I can't seem to get it out of my head," she softly replied.
Tina looked skeptically at her friend and the raw emotions clouding her features, floored her.
"What is it, Mercedes? You can tell me anything, you do know that, don't you?" Mercedes nodded.
"What happened?" Tina finished. Mercedes could see the concern on her friend's face and it tugged at her, but she decided to stick to her plan.
"Now isn't the right time, Tee…I'll tell you later. Just know, that I'm fine."
Tina wasn't satisfied, but before she could voice her disagreement, Sam appeared and asked,
"May I?" She nodded, patted Mercedes' hand and said,
"Sure Sam."
She excused herself thereafter and headed back to the table, with the others.
At the table, she caught Brody checking his phone, with an expectant look on his face, so with a puzzled one on hers, she turned her head in the direction, that everyone else was looking…at Sam and Mercedes.
Sam took Mercedes in his arms and drew her closer than deemed appropriate, and whispered,
"You look gorgeous, Mercedes." Mercedes felt her cheeks heat up. She looked up at him shyly, with a smile on her face and said,
"Thank you, Sam." She looked as though, she wanted to say something more and he gently prodded her.
"You can tell me anything, Mercedes…you don't have to hold back when it comes to me. I hope you know that."
Mercedes felt her cheeks heat up again. She lowered her head and softly said,
"You look really handsome, Sam…as always."
Sam suddenly felt light, as though he was adrift on a peaceful ocean somewhere. He tightened the arm that was around her waist, as he looked down at her bowed head.
"Lift your head up, Mercedes." She complied.
"Thank you. Coming from you, that meant the world to me."
Sam wanted to say so much more, but he decided to file it away for another day and started on a more lighthearted subject.
"So, who do you think wears the pants in Tina's and Mike's relationship?" he cheekily asked.
Mercedes looked at his handsome face, bedecked with a devilish grin and started laughing.
Over at the table, there were mixed reactions from their friends, as they sat watching the two of them on the dance floor.
Tina's and Mike's expressions were identical. They were both smiling happily at the two, as was Kurt, who was actually wearing the biggest grin ever.
All of the others and their dates, except for Brody, were wearing looks of realizations and some were crossed with awkwardness, feeling as though they were intruding on a private moment.
Rachel was expressionless.
She looked as though, she couldn't care less about what was happening on the dance floor.
Brody on the other hand, was showing mixed emotions.
At first, he looked upset. Next, he wore an awkward look, bordering on satisfaction. But then that changed, and he wore a look of defeat, as he watched them talking and laughing with each other, whilst dancing.
The last emotion that clouded his features, was jealousy, as he noted how much closer they were standing together, with Sam's arm anchored snugly around her waist, although the music had stopped and changed.
For the rest of the night, Sam and Mercedes stayed out on the dance floor, immersed in each other, chatting about any and everything.
None of the others, including Rachel and Brody, made an attempt to separate them, or intrude in their intimate world, because, it was obvious to all of them, that those two, were definitely in a world of their own.
Keep safe and much love to you.